Geoff S

We aren't all nesh 🙂

With a Spitfire you don't need to open the door to get in.

To get out of a tight spot you just need a steering lock like Triumph Spitfire - it almost turns the wheels at 90 degrees! Never had any problems 'unparking' - or parking for that matter when we had one. 🙂

I know exactly how you feel. I grieve my former life, too. I was in a similar position back in 1990 when I was 50. I did regain some of my fitness over time - and time, I'm afraid is what it takes. I was super-fit back then and you seem to be the same and that helps a lot. It's not easy but you're a very intelligent, determined person and I'm sure you'll overcome your difficulties. I can only offer my best wishes for an eventual recovery.

That sounds horrendous and must have been terrifying. People have been killed by automatic cars pushing them into an obstruction. It's not only cars that hi-tech is taking over. One of the big improvement to pedal cycles is in the gearing. I started out with non-indexed downtube shifters which have the advantage of being uncritical as to mixing components. However indexed gearing has big advantages. Our tandem has a 9 speed cassette at the back and a triple chainset at the front. Changing to the middle ring often means changing up a sprocket at the back for a comfortable gear - the gear change is so good, both can be done at once. Things are getting silly, though with electronic wireless shifting that's used on the most expensive bikes as used by prop road racers. The cable changers work well on our tandem, even with the long cables needed when there's room for two. Why change a simple, easily maintained length of bowden cable for an expensive (and potentially difficult to repair) piece of electronics? I feel the same about car handbrakes.

Yes, I remember my dad once saying that about the same period he witnessed the result of a head-on collision between 2 cars on a narrow Peak District lane when he was out on his motorbike. The consensus was that they were unlucky they happened to meet on a corner because the roads were so quiet. Of course, my father never needed to take a driving test 🙂 I have a photograph of our shop taken in 1956 on the main road between Nottingham and Ambergate on the A6. It's obviously the middle of the day because the shops are open but almost no parked cars even without any restrictions. The increase in traffic since is amazing, yet accidents are fewer.

Yes, so did we. The poor horse had to pull the laden 4 wheeled float up the hill from the Co-op Dairy into the town but it knew the round and provided manure for roses at the same time 🙂

Well, that'd help me when I changed up the BSA way 🙂 My 1965 Lightning swapped the gears to the left and made it up for up, which was OK until I 'forgot' when accelerating hard in 3rd and changed up to 2nd! Fortunately, I realised in time before any damage! Lovely 150cc Terrier. Someone's spent a few hours on the restoration. You? I did search for 1953 98cc Excelsior Consorts a few weeks ago (my first bike) and found one on eBay advertised at £3000! That's 100 times what I paid for mine in 1956! I did a lot of miles on mine but, as it didn't have a speedometer (not required on <100cc bikes) I've no idea how many.

Back in the late 60s I attended a short night school class series delivered by a traffic policeman. I remember his saying regarding 30mph speed limits that you're generally OK if you keep below 40mph! How things change! Nowadays I tend to keep to speed limits (though occasionally on a slight downhill I creep above 30) and I've never been a 'casual' driver (an attitude encouraged by being both a motor and pedal cyclist, when any accident can be more serious). I'm not too sure about these extra aids. I feel that the encourage a more lackadaisical attitude when what's needed is concentration at all times. I'm not sure if it's just my age but since buying a car with an automatic transmission I've become a steadier driver. However it certainly accelerates when needed and I still do that when overtaking as I feel the less time on the 'wrong' side of the road the better. Will speed limiting 'aids' make overtaking more dangerous when a very brief and minor excursion over the limit can be safer? I hate tailgaters! Overtaking is best done from well back as I learned when driving the well-handling but somewhat under-powered 850cc Mini I 'married' back in 1967 🙂

My wife complained yesterday that her single set of headphone cable got tangled. In this case you obviously don't need two to tango(l). I used to keep my meter, oscilloscope, signal generator etc cables tidily in my bench drawer at work - i was convinced they were reproducing they were so hard to extract.

My BMW R69S broke down in the middle of nowhere. I was pretty sure it was simply a matter of cleaning the points which are concealed under an aluminium cover at the front of the engine. I unlocked the toolbox and found it empty - I'd forgotten to replace them. In those days motorcyclists stopped to help a fellow rider and one did. He gave me a Bahco spanner and, saying he could get another at work, left me to go to said work. I was on my way in minutes and I still have the spanner 40+ years later. I have a bigger one I found at the side of the road when pedal cycling. They're brilliant .

Is that a wooden (built or ARTF) or a foamie? Glow or electric, in the first case?

My HK Gloster Gladiator is always fully assembled and is easy to transport. My Flair SE5a would also fit easily, though I usually assemble it at the field as I do my DBS&S 58" Moths (though at 58" ws they'd be a bit of squeeze assembled)

If a bipe doesn't need working rigging, then you can simulate it with quickly attached elastic thread and retain the look. My smaller scale DB Cirrus/Gipsy Moth looks reasonably OK even with one flying wire missing 🙂.

You can see all the 'Look at Life' series here as well as lots of other old films etc. It's a fantastic site.

I was fascinated by the fact they all wore smartish shirts and ties until I remembered that's how I always dressed at the time. I wore an MCC (Motor Cycling Club - oldest sporting motor club in the world!) tie every day for years. - I still have it, unworn now. I was also surprised to see the float plane being flown from a sailing club slipway at the same time there was a dinghy race underway (I would have been much more likely too have been sailing than model flying), especially as it ended up diving uncontrolled into the water. It's interesting how thing change unnoticed because it's gradual but looking back decades later they are stark. I stopped wearing ties in about 1973 when I was working on multi-head knitting machine development and a tie was a risk hazard. I've worked/played with electronics since I was a child (we lived at the family radio/TV shop) and I've gone from valves, through transistors, integrated circuits, microprocessors, programmable logic devices, and now the current sophistication of individual computers we carry in our pockets. The rate of change seems to be accelerating, too - frightening!

Absolutely. My Hobbyking Gloster Gladiator came with a couple of 4S 2200mAH LiPos and the maiden flight was almost 10 minutes because it wouldn't come down, even with the throttle shut (clumsy me had been trimming the throttle rather than the elevator - I wondered why it still climbed a bit even after trimming!). I needn't have worried, there was still plenty left after I landed. I had been thinking of flying it with 4AH 4S packs, which will go in easily, but I think the extra weight would spoil its performance. I'm sure the Wot4 will be fine on 3.3AH 4S LiPos

Crikey! How many batteries do you think you'll need? It'll fly fine on your 4S 3.3AH LiPos just not for quite as long - and you get extra landing practice 🙂 In fact it may even fly better because it could be lighter as you'll be able to add any extra balancing weight further forward so its moment effect will be greater. Mike: I doubt if there's space for 2 3.3AH LiPos. It's not that roomy, though my home-made fuselage allows a bit more room compared to the original.

I assume you mean an electrified Balsa Wot 4 - the one that can be either glow or electric powered. I did my own thing with the electric installation and it balances perfectly with a 4S 4AH although in its original state I added a few grams on the tail for around 8 minutes (more than enough for me). After I remodelled it a couple of months back and made a new fuselage it flies OK with the same packs without tail weight. I think with a smaller battery you'll need some extra nose-weight - obviously duration will be less, how much less depends on your enthusiasm. I use 4S 4AH LiPos in other models so it wasn't an issue for me.

I've printed this out for my wife to take to her yoga class this evening 🙂

If you mean to change the colour of the covering before applying it then you would need to experiment to see if the covering iron didn't affect the paint. I've a feeling that an iron hot enough to stick and shrink the covering will melt the paint - at least a bit.

Yes. I wish there was a similar fun event here.

That's a shame. It sounds like a very enjoyable and popular event.

Like you, I would think a lower kv motor would be more appropriate. It seems odd that an 1100 rpm motor on 3S would be happy with a 13x6 prop. Even the 1040 rpm/v motor you suggest only recommends a 12x6 on 3S. Personally, I'd go for an even lower kv. However, if Outrunner's set up works OK then who are we to differ? With electric motors there's a lot of options to play with, which is why many users familiar with liquid fuelled propulsion have problem with electric drive trains, I suppose.

Decided that it's time to start my most unfavourite part of modelling - finishing in general and painting in particular. I've stuck 1/32" Chartpak (the stuff that used to be used for making PC board layouts) along the line of the hull to simulate the planking. The scale is 1/24 (1" = 2') so a 1 foot plank is 1/4" (sorry for the Imperial units but the scale factor seems to demand it - and the prototypes are well pre-metric in the UK). The idea is to spray with build primer (Holts acrylic cans) with several coats then remove the tape to reveal groves representing 1' planking. It won't be obvious but still visible. Then spray the final coat. I think pale grey but possibly black. The colours of barges changed throughout their working lives. The decks were usually painted but I'm going to varnish mine. I can always paint over the varnish but varnishing over paint isn't likely to work well. In actuality you can see the planking. The hole in the middle is the fin mounting - it's a tube which ends well above the waterline. There's a few imperfections I'll fill before another couple of primer coats but barges were work horses and got quite battered in use. They shouldn't look perfect. The bottom of the hull below the waterline will be red because that's the colour of anti-fouling paint