SIMON CRAGG

What a great idea......thx BMFA. Our club really enjoyed last years attempt, despite the xxxx weather and one mid-air, it was deemed a great success. The wheels are now in motion to find a coordinator for this year!.

4Max is also you friend when it comes to covering!

I use the "Mitre Bond" two part kits from Toolstation. Medium Cyno and bottle of kicker. Brilliant stuff!.

Thanks chaps. Yes, models were all in situ prior to his visit as I had already checked access to the tank as I anticipated him wanting to get too it. Just clumsy. Hurry up and wait time!

Thanks Barry. Its not so much the actual damage, its the way he just legged it without saying anything, as accidents do hapen. How can you price up the damage when we all spend HOURS finishing . fettling / tinkering with our models. And of course the prices of models these days is astronomic. Could do without the problem anyway!.

It could only happen to me!. Due to one of our radiators at home being stuck on all the time, we triggered our British Gas cover, and an engineer turned up today. He changed the TRV and at some point had to go in the attic to turn off the water. I was in and out at work. My wife was working from home. With all my hanger queens in the attic, I thought I would just check after he had gone to make sure they were all ok. To my horror, my large foamboard Vulcan was on the floor having collected my brand new Freewing F86 Sabre on the way. Snapped tails, wingtip damage and lots of foam hanger rash. At no point did the engineer say that he had knocked something / anything over. Got in his van and pushed off. After a bit of faffing about, I now have to wait up to 8 weeks for a suitable "damage report handler". Oh, they did offer me a tenner!. Deep joy.

Back in the day I used to tune and rallycross a variety of cars. I never, ever heard of anybody kicking the backside out of the their tuning regime to the extent of burning a hole in a piston. Like anything tuning, a bit of common sense is required. If it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't. Timing is not a black art, its nothing to be scared of.

The only "gotcha" to be aware of is if the motor starts to squeal according to George.l! I have heard this on club mates models in the past, but not that often. Its a bit like "pinking" when we used to tune car engines in the past, by turning the distributer to obtain the best running, which was just before the engine started to pink. So, if you have got a model that could do with a small power increase, its got to be worth a go!. Probably worth playing around with a few different props, Lipo "c" ratings and the trusty Watt meter, so you can build up some sort of picture, as to what works and what doesn't.

I recently attended a presentation by 4Max, and George gave a very interesting overview on timing matters. For example, he confirmed that Hobbywing Skywalker ESC's are usually set to Low, and that it was always worth experimenting. Armed with my Watt meter, I recorded the various readings on High, Medium and Low settings, and there was an appreciable difference. Not something to be overly worried about, but if your new pride and joy seems down on power, try adjusting the timing, as it could make all the difference!.

Well done Jon for highlighting this issue. "Buyer Beware" has never been more relevant than it is these days.

I would think a safe bet would be the flight pack. NIMH have a horrible habit of dropping one cell as they get older. One of the reasons I changed Life packs years ago. Before things get too complicated, I would ditch that NIMH pack asap, and purchase a new one or go down the Life road. Hope you find out the cause anyway!.

Well done Bonzo, always enjoy your adventures on your great flying site. Please be careful with those pusher props, one of our club members badly damaged his hand the other day. Prop tore into his forefinger as he checked the model Badly lacerated lacerated broken finger.

First of all its not a silly question, starting out with electric models can be VERY confusing, especially if all things "electric" have always been a bit of a mystery! (Like they were to me). Best bet, is to decide what sort / size of connectors you would like to use (ESC / power lead / battery). Ask any ten modellers which are the best and you'll get ten different answers. After trying a few, all my 20+ models have EC5 plugs and sockets. I buy them by the bag full for next to nothing from e.bay or Aliexpress. Next, get a decent soldering iron, some heat shrink tubing, a small vice and one of those cheap "helping hands" devices with two clips and a magnifying glass. Lots of good videos via Google on how to solder RC connectors. Once you have gathered all the items together, have a play! Like most things, after a bit of practice you will get the hang of it. Good luck and hope this helps you.

Tried this back in the day. Got a horrible virus off the dongle somehow. Cost me a lot to get fixed. Binned the lot and got the latest Realfight. Worth every penny.

Cold up the patch, but hardly any wind. Perfect BAE Hawk weather!

I'm afraid I gave up on YEP Esc's a couple of years ago, and resorted to the good old Hobbywing Skywaker series. I found the YEP card, way to complicated and fiddly to set up.