Paul Cox 2

Hi All, The chaps and I at Chobham Common have been having a fantastic time with Richards 'Bitty' which I actually completed a few months ago, but it's taken a while to perfect the launch cradle. We had quite a few hairy flights where the launch plane (a Durafly Tundra) was a bit of a hand full. All sorted now thanks to advice from several sources and much tweaking. Rather than ramble on I've put a short video together that speaks volumes. Thanks again to Rich Harris for giving us yet another vessel of entertainment. Paul. https://youtu.be/-B9u_xLUeXQ

Dear All, It's been a while since I last posted, but having successfully flown my Atom last week I thought I might 'share'. Our patch at Chobham is somewhat rough so getting the Atom to bounce along the ground has proved quite tricky. To this end I had a go at a hand launch and was surprised at how easily it was. Probably not to be attempted with my Panther though! Anyway, here's some footage - assuming I've done it right. It was gusting to 15mph, but the Atom seemed to handle it quite well. Thanks again Richard for your time and effort - you really do make a lot of people very happy. Paul. https://youtu.be/5bVkgLwmBAc

Absolutely superb Steve. Must admit I've never carried out a second build, but I enjoyed the construction of the Panther so much... Had my latest Panther outing on Saturday - weather was perfect for our 'challenging' patch at Chobham Common. It was quite successful although I fear that the CofG was too far back causing the trimming to be problematic. My landings are also in need of work as I'm treating it too much like a helicopter - must maintain ground speed. Anyhow, she lives to fly another day. Link to a little bit of video from the day if I manage to get the You tube bit right! Regards to all, Paul.

Dave, Wow! that is fabulous. Following is a phot of my illumination solution. The wheel spat leds work quite well but I wish I'd put brighter ones in the fuselage. Not about to cut it all open at this point... Andy, Thanks for your kind offer of assistance. I read it after I'd consigned the model to its' maiden. No harm done so far, and it's good to know that there is another Panther operator in the area. We should try to hook up being so close but not sure how best to share contact details? Going to try again on Saturday, but still not sure about my using all the 'elevator' back trim. I've removed some nose weight, but not touched the main blade shim (currently at 0.20mm). Could use some advice... Paul.

Dear All, Fist flight last night. All went well. Pilot error on take-off - pulled back too early on both flights (sorry Rich!) hence the slight roll left, but got away with it. In my defence we have a very short patch and the wind direction made it shorter, but should know better. The electric drill start was a great help (thanks to Paul Cann for the adaptor). Most of the footage was out of focus (knocked off infinity focus by accident), hope to have some better footage from various smart phones later in the week. Had to put in full back trim and needed more - c of g too far forward? Also, plenty of left trim. Most of the flights spent on throttle and rudder and learning the characteristics. Throttle is key - so true! Regards, **LINK**

Dear all, Success! Third time lucky on Bisley Village Green today with half a dozen or so hops. Thanks Rich for your advice on the required trim. Think I still need a little more left roll, but hard to judge with such short 'flights'. But, at least it has flown! I'm chuffed to bits, can't wipe the smile off my face. My missus did the filming, for which I'm very grateful - it lets analyse stuff once the adrenalin has calmed down. End build was 0.20mm of shim and running a 4 cell pack rather than 3. 4 cells helped initial acceleration and I had ballast up front and figured I might as well turn it into power rather than dead weight. Incidentally AUW was close to 1.8Kg - 400gms more than the plan and no idea why so much heavier. Will go for a full flight Tuesday eve if the conditions are favourable - we have a very short and rough patch at Chobham Common. Hope to attach the Youtube link for people to peruse... Paul. **LINK**

Ah, it all looks so familiar. Good luck with the build Steve. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Going to attempt to add some video of one of my first hop attempts, but I'm a bit green at these things. Might take a few attempts... **LINK** Paul.

Rich (and other interested parties), Yes the tail lifted on several of the initial hop attempts, also the left wheel became 'unstuck' - I do have some video of this but it's poor quality and probably of limited value. I've since noticed that the head is not spinning particularly freely - caused by an over tightened top nut that has (I think) pre-loaded the bearings. I've cracked this top nut off a fraction and all is now freely rotating. Tried the Panther on my drive this evening with a fresh breeze blowing and the head seemed to spin up well (now with 0.20mm of shim). If the wind and weather is agreeable this weekend then I'll be out again. Not about to throw in the towel after a 6 month build. Two photos are of the finished Panther (obviously) and an illuminated dash. I bunched some fibre-optic cable into a plastic sleeve, carefully drilled a small hole in the receiver casing above the 'bound' orange led and ran the fibre optic cables to the dash through which some holes were drilled to receive the fibres. This means I'm confident that the Rx has bound and get an illuminated dash to boot. Regards to all, Paul.

Dear All, Just a quick question, when checking the c of g should it be with the blades on or off? if on then obviously where the three blades sit in their cycle will affect the results. Likewise if the blades are off then should I ballast the head to replicate their weight? Or does none of this matter as the blades are generating the lift and of little consequence? My Panther is now complete and I've attempted a few hops but with limited success - model becomes light but doesn't actually leave the ground. All attempts have been on calm days and running no shim. Slightly old photo attached. Will post another from home tonight with the full livery. Really enjoyed the build. Paul.

Andy, Koen, Rich, Everybody!, I don't think that my triangle plate is out of circularity, it was drilled off quite accurately and used an optical centre punch to spot the holes. There is always a risk of off-centring a hole when using a standard twist drill, so I use a centre drill first for critical hole positions. Been very busy this weekend with our Village Fayre (5:30am start and only just finished - very tired), so not too much progress other than a little bit of covering on the rudder and battery hatch. Still a few weeks away from a maiden, but after a 3 month build I'm not about to rush things now and muck it up. I do really enjoy the build process, and have thoroughly enjoyed this build, it really Is a pretty looking thing. Regards to all, Paul.