Geoff S

When I wore out my first Riot (for some reason, the ailerons became reversed - I never worked out why or how) I took it apart to salvage what I could (the undercarriage is on my Liddle Stik) the fuselage has a substantial plywood skeleton which makes it very strong. You only have to take out the steel weight at the front to get the CoG back a bit and increase the throws a bit to make it very agile. I never moved up to putting a 4S LiPo in any of mine but I would think that's another step you could take. The foamie Wot4 is NOT a 'step up' from a Riot. Nothing wrong with the Wot4 (I only have a wooden one (actually two) ) but it's just a similar model.

I added spar webs to my scratch, plan built Das Liiddle Stik back in 2020. It's been one of my 'go to' 3S models ever since. I also slightly modified the ribs so that the top and bottom spars were at the same angle to allow easy fitting of the spar webs. As the drawing. The spars aren't in line. My ribs. The wing with spar webs but no sheeting to complete the 'D' section or cap strips on the ribs ... and the complete model. It's pretty rugged (so far!)

Well, I've ordered the 'buy-it-now version' of the Parkside digital gun. Thanks for the suggestions. One thing I did use my old one for was to open my weekly jar of olives (I'm addicted to them!). Sometimes the metal lid is so tight it needs some heat to expand it a bit. Not been too bad for the last few weeks, but I don't have the grip I once had so the gun had another use. I've also used it to heat glow engine crankcases to get the main bearings out. It's a handy thing to have available.

@Engine Doctor You're right, but I'd love to know what contsmibation means 😜 It's a lovely word, and I'm delighted that, as an electrically powered model builder/flyer, I avoid it.

Interesting so far. I hope there's more to come.

While it is amusing, it's also very common. Exactly the same thing happened at RR, where I worked, when there was a paved path round a grass patch that was shortcut in exactly this way. IIRC, they gave in and paved the popular route 🙂

If you have a smartphone, then there are applications for levels that work well. I've had a Robart Incidence meter for years and find it useful for checking biplanes, particularly the top wing, which sometimes seems to hang in mid-air with minimal reference to the rest of the model 🙂

I think my wife used a Word Perfect version at one time. I never did. The first dedicated editor/word processor I ever used was Wordstar and that was before mice were invented (the computer version, that is, not the mammal!) and cursor navigation was all by keyboard control characters. I wrote all my early Assembler s/w on it.

Well, I do need one fairly quickly. My old one got frequent use - mostly for shrinking electrical insulation on connector etc. It had no temperature control - what temperature would you set for (say) shrinking film on a built-up wing? I just used to waft mine around and avoided keeping the heat in place for more than a couple oof seconds.

The router's working fine as it is. I have adequate data speed for both my wife and me to watch any video streams separately and simultaneously. The only s/w updates I want are those relating to security. I've written enough s/w in my time to be aware of the temptation to do just a bit more for personal amusement and satisfaction to be wary of it in commercial environments. I use an ancient version of MS Office Pro (97) which does more than all I need, and an equally ancient version of Photoshop likewise. As hardware gets more powerful, much of the power is absorbed by programmers and data hungry high level s/w packages. I only use what I need or what I find useful.

I still use the Frank Castle's 4 figure tables I've had for 60 years! I find the trig functions easier and more certain in printed form - I rarely use the log tables, but still get my slide rule out occasionally - it hasn't ever needed new batteries in a similar amount of time 🙂

Actually, according to the plan, it's 1 deg positive. Nevertheless, much less than 5 deg, which does seem a lot to me, but I'm no aerodynamic expert.

Thanks, Philip. @Andy J Other than the balance connector, does any battery we use have anything more sophisticated? It's quite complicated to monitor the current delivered or drawn from every cell in a battery.

I sometimes isolate one branch of the motor feed from the esc to prevent the motor running, rather than the whole system. If that fails (unlikely) then I still have control of what is now a glider. It also avoids extending the battery/esc leads, which should be kept as short as possible.

I simply don't like leaving electrical equipment on when not needed. I never have. When I was working, I always switched any equipment I was using off before I went home - oscilloscope, signal generators, logic analyser etc. I just do the same now. The router power supply is plugged into the same mains distribution unit as my PC, so gets switched off when I switch off my PC in the evening. In any case, we probably don't get wifi from the router upstairs anyway - wifi doesn't penetrate thick stone walls very well.

What was the problem on the maiden? Not so bad that your modified Wot4 didn't get down in one piece, I assume.

BMS?

IIRC, Erflog has built a replacement fuselage for a foamie Wot4 and, presumably, is trying to get it to fly like the original. Just guessing.

They would be - all you have to do is pull them off her feet 🙂 I usually use my iron without a sock anyway - a sock doesn't seem to help.

A car drove down our lane this afternoon with the registration P 1 NUS. (Because of the very rough surface and the massive potholes, most drive very slowly, so I had a long time to look - we'd just come back from a walk)

My well-used hot air gun started making funny mechanical noises yesterday. It still worked (I was using it to shrink tubing onto electrical connections) but instead of leaving well alone I investigated and in the process broke the element (it had become very fragile over the 20+ years I've had it). I need a new one. Any recommendations?

When the battery is charged on the bike, there's a simple mains powered 42v rough dc source connected straight to the battery case. Inside the battery case is a balanced battery charger for the 10s5p Li-Ion battery. My modified battery to use for charging at the field is 5s10p (now 4s10p, because of one faulty 10p pack) and I charge that with my iCharger in Li-Ion mode.

Be careful, Toto. A lot of motor/esc connections are 3.5mm for some strange reason. Not a problem if you've got them but I can't see a problem with using 4mm except the weight increase and possible space. I have a range of esc of various types and never really had a problem. I have a number of mostly 60 amp Frsky Neuron esc which are great with the telemetry feedback, particularly on maiden flights - mostly current draw, which I have on voice, selectable on a switch.

Got it finished today but not without some hitches. I wired it fully and started to charge it but one cell (actually 10 in parallel) had very high resistance and once the 5 amp charge started had a much higher voltage than the others (probably because of the high IR), Fortunately it was at the end of the line and I opted to remove it electrically and go for a 4S10p battery - still more than capable of supplying my iCharger. The balance connectors I ordered arrived so I've connected the last 2 wires (the most positive) to the same place. I still plugged it into the 5S socket, but it thinks (quite rightly) that there's only 4 in series, and it all charged OK. I have another 'scrap' cycle battery that I replaced for my wife because of its intermittent operation. The batteries may well be usable, so all is not lost. I may make up a flight pack and try it in a model - more watt hours than a LiPo and capable of delivering a lot of current. It will need some investigation. So here it is. I decided not to vent the ply retaining box because there are lots of bare connections in there and I didn't want to risk dropping a tool and shorting out parts of the battery. I may try and find some close plastic mesh if there's a problem. All I need now is some decent weather for my old bones 🙂 The balance has stress relief inside by holding it with tie wrap. The connection from the battery to the 2 terminals is able to be released as I've included 4mm bullet connectors.

Yes, but this is in the middle of a sheet. It's a perfect fit and doesn't compromise the use of the sheet but it's so well done and must cost some time. I'm just surprised they bother repairing rather than scrapping a short section.