Geoff S

Isn't this exactly the sort of thing the magazines should be doing? Critical independent testing of the relatively inexpensive components we're fitting in our models. Servos, receivers, plug in modules, budget brushless motors are cheap enough to buy and test rather than be supplied free for review. And, of course, if they're good enough, the reviewer still has them to use in a model. Interesting review. It's surprising to me that advertisers can claim something that is so easily verified like ball bearings. In fact it's illegal to do so. Geoff

I usually fit the webs before the capping strips and before the top sheeting. In fact if you're careful not to squeeze them too tight you can use them to position the ribs accurately. I've never found any need to notch them. They just go from the top of the top spar to the bottom of the bottom spar and any other sheeting covers it. There's nothing to notch for. Geoff

There was quite a long report on the BBC R4 6pm news this evening. Geoff

I bought the plan and CNC cut parts from Traplet but there were shortages which have eventually been corrected. Hopefully any subsequent buyers will have fewer problems. In addition to the CNC pack you need to supply 3mm Depron for the wing upper sheeting and some 6mm Depron for the fuselage as well as other parts including the undercarriage and some balsa. I'm not sure about the CNC pack. None of the parts look difficult to cut and as you need to buy extra Depron anyway I think it might be better (and a lot cheaper) just to buy the plan - it's on 2 large sheets and full size. I think the wing/fuselage bolt plates have holes that are much too big (12mm dia) so I'll be making replacements from 3mm birch ply. Other CNC cut parts like the fuselage formers need to be doubled up to make 6mm thick light ply. I did all that first. Then the rudder, elevator halves and fin are laminated from 1.5mm balsa and 6mm Depron. It makes very light, very stiff structures. That's all for now. Now I have my extra Depron and the missing parts I can continue. Geoff

Traplet posted me the extra wooden parts needed and I've managed to source the extra Depron needed locally here. Another oddity in the supplied parts (and the plan) is that the wooden wing fixing parts which take the T nuts and the nylon wing bolts have enormous holes. They're about 12mm in diameter. I'll make some new ones from 3mm birch ply - it'll add a little weight but not much, if any, as they're doubled up 3mm light ply anyway. This has the makings of a great little sport model and it's a credit to Tony for the design. I ordered the CNC cut wood/Depron kit because I thought all the Depron would be there and I don't keep it in stock. However, as you need to buy extra Depron anyway and, I assume some wood too, I would advise any fairly experienced plan builder not to bother with the CNC parts. The drawings are on 2 big sheets and nothing is really difficult to cut out so it's fairly straight forward (I hope!). I'll start a new thread for my build so as not to clutter Tony's thread. I'll probably be referring to it myself from time to time. Geoff

Well after some effort I've managed to acquire some 6mm Depron. It took 2 trips to find it because despite using my Garmin GPS it struggled when a vital road was closed because of extensive roadworks. I drove round in circles and eventually passed right by it without realising. I'm usually quite good at finding addresses but failed this time. Today I went straight there by employing a slightly circuitous route, most of which I know well. According to someone I spoke to there, Depron Foam import all the Depron sold in this country from Germany. They did sell me a few sheets but the normal order is 20 if bought on line. They also sell UHU Por and 3M 77 spray adhesive, both foam safe. So if you're only a moderate user it might be a good idea to do a joint purchase with fellow club members. At last I can continue with my Three-way Depron/Balsa model. So much for a quick build! I also passed the former Rolls-Royce Hucknall airfield for the first time since it was sold for building. It's almost covered already, though some building work is carrying on. Very sad because I enjoyed many hours flying there but I guess people need somewhere to live. Geoff

Ours is a total of £80 for almost unrestricted flying on both tarmac and grass runways. A bargain IMO. We have a solar farm in easy sight but no-one flies that far away intentionally so it really isn't a problem at all. Geoff

To be fair, Michael, I think you may be right. There's lots of stuff on their site at reasonable prices, like spares, batteries, receivers etc for WLToys stuff such as the V911 helis. I just wish they'd remove the advert rather than employ the 'set a ridiculous price' technique to stop people buying. Some ignorant (to RC model prices) people may be fooled and cough up. I wonder if they'd return the money? Geoff

I tried a year of digital magazines but decided not to renew because they're so difficult to read. I read a lot on my PC so it's not because of any particular objection but my vdu is low and wide (ie landscape) whereas the magazine, even in digital format, is the opposite (portrait). That means I have stacks of screen space to spare but it's not usable. I thought I'd be able to read it on my tablet (which can be either landscape or portrait format) when away from home but it doesn't work with Android. Pity, really because I wanted to keep the pile of paper to a minimum. I'll go back to buying an occasional copy from time to time. No particular criticism of the content, except the number of MR articles which have minimal interest for me, so it's a pity. I bought a paper magazine for the Ballerina drawing, misplaced it, bought another, found the original! Can't win Geoff

It's not so bad - it's free postage Geoff

Can't say I'd heard of the Fugly but now, having looked at the excellent on-line instructions, I want one. I suppose it's rather like the problem I had at work when very occasionally the water supply was cut off for maintenance - I was immediately thirsty Geoff

One I took a few years back of an 'interesting' but successful YT P38 landing. Good job the pilot was skilful because when the starboard engine stopped is quite a way off. Engines are RCV - .90 size IIRC. Geoff

My second cousin's son, John Sleath, makes a living tuning drag cars. The live on a farm in Conisborough so have plenty of space. My cousin (actually our father's were cousins) is also called Geoff Sleath but we have different middle names Geoff

Definitely get a decent charger and buying extra batteries is a good idea as it'll extend your flying sessions without having to wait for a recharge. How do you know how long to fly without inadvertently discharging your battery so much that you damage it? Well fly for a short measured time (say 5 minutes), then land and check the battery state with a battery checker (I know, another gizmo that makes electric flight seem expensive but they're not too dear and very useful). You'll then have some idea how long you can fly and still leave a safe charge. Geoff

I know. When we got married almost 50 years ago (just a few months to go) I didn't realise I was willingly signing up to sleep with an old age pensioner Geoff

Pat, you definitely have a NE England accent but perfectly understandable. I once met a Durham miner on a motor cycle trial down in Cornwall. I'll never forget his name - Gary Cooper Even when he was trying to speak clearly so we Derbyshire lads could understand - we mostly couldn't so I have every sympathy for your French lecturers. Geoff

Yes, Pat. It is, as you say, a fine toothed comb. I haven't enough teeth to comb these days.  My dad used to plaster my hair with Brylcream. The nit-nurse obviously hated it Another misuse of words that's really wide spread and very annoying is the use of the word 'creative'. It's invariably used to describe artists and fashion designers, even to the point of re-creating () it as a noun - creatives. Just about everybody on the forum is creative in one way or another. I don't if they think Laser engines just materialise out of thin air or Peter Miller's models appear like magic as free plans. I suppose it's because the media (of all types) tend to be run by humanities and arts graduates. There's nothing wrong with those disciplines it's just that they tend to have a blinkered view of we horny-handed sons of toil. They also tend to get their arty hands on technical and science programmes and dumb them down to huge extent. Geoff Edited By Geoff Sleath on 22/10/2016 21:37:10

Posted by Glyn44 on 22/10/2016 16:53:50: Geoff, That sounds dreadful. What is club going to do for a flying site, after the march of progress? Have got somewhere lined up? Fortunately we bought our land off the farmer. Not sure what the prognosis is. It's unlikely building will start in the next year or so and we may still be able to fly depending on where they actually start. In any event if they build over the whole airfield it'll be a significant increase in the population of Ashbourne and will need extra schools, doctor's surgeries and perhaps other public services. I suppose it's more important that people have somewhere to live than we have somewhere to play but it's a bit of a downer. I suppose if we keep the site for 5 years that'll do me. I can't see my still flying much at 81 I can't imagine how much money the farmer will be making. It's a whole WW2 airfield. Geoff Edited By Geoff Sleath on 22/10/2016 18:18:46

Gee that's tough. No model stands or any spare 13A outlets! That's the case at Ashbourne even if there's no-one there! If my cup's unwashed then it means I didn't wash it when I was at home. Anyway, it won't be too long before there's mains electricity, water and drainage close at hand. Unfortunately we won't be there to enjoy it as there'll be houses spread across the runways Just be grateful you have somewhere to fly Geoff Yes, retirement's hard. I haven't had a holiday for over 20 years.

Posted by gangster on 22/10/2016 14:08:13: And another thing. What about all this Team GB , team Mc Claren , team Lotus etc business. Where has that all come from ? Surely it should be The GB team etc Maybe it's an EU directive and we will be required to follow the French way and talk about the cow brown and the car red I understand the BMFA will be changing It's name to Model Flying Britain Well I'm old enough to remember a racing team called IIRC (it's long time ago and I can't remember if it was cars or bikes) Ecurie Ecosse ie Stable Scotland and another called Ecurie Sportif. Then there's the ridiculous change in name for what is the oldest touring club in the world -the Cyclists Touring Club (founded 1878) to Cycling UK. Steve, although I've driven a lot in Europe it's been mostly our own vehicle with RHD. On the few occasions I've driven a car with LHD the most problem I've had is with the gear lever because the positions of the gears aren't mirrored and my right arm control is less then ideal. Coupled with the fact that if I'm not careful I open the door every time I want to change gear it makes driving 'interesting' in the Chinese sense Geoff Edited By Geoff Sleath on 22/10/2016 16:26:42

The 'fine-toothed comb' as opposed to the 'fine tooth-comb' has been my wife's (and my) bugbear for years. It probably stems from the fact that I'm probably one of the few people not to comb my teeth every morning. Despite having earned a living as an engineer, the structure of the English language has always interested me. I've even gone to the extent of writing the odd short story for my own amusement. I never understood how anyone could fail 'O' level English Language when they speak it every day and I always regretted having to drop English Literature at 14 because I wanted to follow the Science stream. I have one big moan about modern usage (well I have more but I wouldn't want to bore you) and that's the loss of the word 'disinterested' as meaning detached. A judge, for example, must be disinterested in the results of trial whilst being very interested in its conduct. It's usually used when the word wanted is 'uninterested'. I'll not mention 'fewer v less' or the more esoteric misuse of gerunds (actually they're often not used when they should be) or I'll be here all day. Geoff

Don't Spektrum Dx6i transmitters use the larger AA, rather than AAA batteries? Not sure about the razor. I haven't used one for 50 odd years. I'm obviously no expert but why does a wet razor need batteries? Geoff

I've bough something a McDonald's three times. Once in London about 30 years ago out of curiosity. Once in Kendal on New Year's Day because we were cycling and it was the only cafe open. Once in Orange, France, because we'd used their toilets to change out of our cycling kit and felt guilty so bought some chips (we were waiting for the bike bus to come home). I stir my epoxy with a screwdriver and wipe it clean with a piece of kitchen towel. I mix it on any piece of scrap cardboard. Geoff

Bob, just because your new charger is capable of delivering lots of current into high voltage LiPo packs doesn't make it any less able to be used at the field provided you don't exploit its high capacity. In fact it may well be more efficient and use less current than other chargers when used to charge smaller packs or bigger ones at lower currents. Of course taking enough charged batteries for the day's flying is another option and one I opt for myself quite often. Otherwise I take a charger and a 12v battery. I would never charge from my car battery - it's a long walk home Geoff

Oddly enough I visited the only model shop anywhere near me yesterday, GeeDee's in Nottingham. It's on the edge of the old lace marker area and not much more than a stone's throw from the dance hall where I met my wife over 50 years ago. Our rare visit to Nottingham was more of a nostalgia trip than anything because it involves 2 buses rather than the one which takes us into Derby. I just find driving into a city centre and finding (and paying!) for parking tedious beyond belief so almost never do it now we have free bus travel. The shop was OK but it caters mostly for model railway or plastic modellers. The skills of the top makers of plastic display model aircraft is outstanding but, for me, a model aeroplane has to fly - at least once . There's a small section devoted aeromodelling which is well stocked but nothing like as well as the shops I used to use a lot that have closed. I made a couple of small token purchases. I'll be surprised if the shop survives in its current location. Geoff