GrumpyGnome

I can do that with my cheap FlySky tx that I use for my sim...... thanks OpenTX 🙂 It's delaying rather than slowing movement?

I found bonding a bit hit and miss too, so I'm now trying with tissue doped on top of the lam film..... maybe an airbrushed approach works better than a brush on the film ...?

My SE5 has now been covered in lam film; the fuselage has been covered in tissue (some of which was found in my wife's 'odds and ends' drawer), given a light sanding to remove wrinkles, and is ready for paint. I have enough cream for the bottom of the fuselage but not enough for the wings, so I'll need to visit B&Q........ I'm aiming to be airworthy by 31/1/2023.

I've long hankered after a Barnstormer, but other things keep getting in the way. Watching with interest.

Would you mind if I added a link to that on my club website ?

They probably do know more than most of us. But the cynic in me says they want to lock you into their own world, where you have no choice but to continue buying their products, and theirs alone. Then they have total control over pricing and profit. P.S. I'm not a Spektrum hater - I've had several of their transmitters, and still use a number of their receivers.

So, I've spent a few hours pottering with some electric retracts using my Radiomaster TX16 with EdgeTX, and a servo tester. Firstly, with the servo tester: with the knob fully rotated one way, the retract is in fully up; gradually rotating the knob has no effect; when the knob is rotated as far as it can go, the retract comes fully down. Rotating in the opposite direction has no effect until it reaches it's limit. The retract moving from fully up to fully down, or vice versa, takes under a second. The conclusion is that only the extreme outputs (-100 and +100) have any effect and the proportional channel is behaving as a switch. I then set a two-position switch to activate the retracts. Up position (-100 output) made them fully up, and Down (+100) made them move to fully down. Again, the retract moving from fully up to fully down, or vice versa, takes under a second. No point in adding a curve; adding 'Slow' values has no effect as the output is either -100 or +100 instantly; adding Delay does not slow the operation of the retracts, just delays when they start to move. I then plugged the retract into a receiver on Channel 1, mapped to the elevator control. Full down on the stick (an indicated output of -100) moves the retract to fully up; full up on the stick (+100) moves the retract to fully down. The proportional channel is behaving as a switch. I can add a curve so that a mid stick position is -100 or +100 and when the stick creates the -100/+100 position, the retracts activate; only -100 and +100 have any impact - the proportional channel is acting as a switch, but I do not need to use full movement of the stick. I added a 'Slow' value of 5 seconds and it has no effect - as soon as the output hits -100 or +100 the retract operates and takes under a second to fully deploy. Delay does exactly what it says - you hit +/-100 and after the delay value, the retract operates; once it starts, it takes under a second to fully deploy. So..... in my experience, nothing we do at the transmitter effects the actual speed of deployment of electric retracts. We can delay one or either leg so it looks more realistic, but the speed at which the retracts actually come up or down once they start, is fixed. Maybe more expensive retracts are different.....

The muffler was hanging off my 15cc petrol for a flight and I noticed no 'growth' in the noise at all...... 😞 I too fly in a pretty remote area so noise is not a huge concern.

As I said earlier, I'm afraid I went Chinese for my Stinger and it was under £130, delivered. Took about 2 weeks to arrive, and I was happy to gamble on no after-sales for that price. Not sure about spare parts - I know they're available from China too. It sat on a shelf in my Pigeon Coop (workshop) for about 15 months, then started first spin of the starter......

Indeed, that's why I'm using tissue over lam film on my SE5.. 🙂 Not sure the advocate for nylon was suggesting using over lam, or instead of....

Yup, exactly what mine do - no need for any other electronic gadgetry to go wrong.

Yeah, from a little to a lot. I have two 'Stingers' - both, I am slightly ashamed to admit, came from China and were half the price of a DLE....... good, reliable engines. Supplied muffler is useless though.

Just doped Nylon, or over lam film ?

I don't want to be argumentative, but that looks like 'Delay' rather than 'Slow' tbh. My mechanical ones take 2 seconds to come down and 1.5 to go up, using the 'slow' function - I use 'delay' of 0.25 seconds on one leg to take them up/down at different times (right and left legs are on separate channels, with a mix). Using EdgeTX.

Stinger 20 goes well, powerful and easy to use. DLE seems more........ refined; but is, if course a bit more expensive. Both are quite noisy so you may need to spend quite a lot on an effective muffler.

Had a lovely few hours on Xmas eve - warm, gentle breeze. Nice flying, nice chatting - just 2 of us there. Xmas day wet and windy. Today was crisp..... calm this morning but I had chores to do; turned breezy later on 🙁 Forecast now pants for days!

I've found paint flakes off open structure areas, even if tye film is keyed - especially if there is any flex. Mt P47 will be treated to a recover in a few months... Tissue over film SEEMS to give better paint adherance (and looks a little more like fabric) but my SE5 covered like that is still only part way through finishing.

Yeah, I suspect so..

I thought electric retracts only reacted to max and min inputs so a curve us of no use...... similarly a slow function has no effect........ no? How'd you make it work?

You use all four main controls, plus 8 switches plus a knob? How do you remember what all the switches do? I struggle with 3 - flight modes + retracts + flaps.....

I have one. It's powered by an old 70 four stroke. Mounted on it's side as that was the only way to get the tank/carb aligned. Not fitted the cowl as i'd have to remove loads of it..... Flies very nicely. Cabanes are a little soft so bend relatively easily, as does the undercarriage. Enjoy!

Best get someone to spell check the web page in the first link Andy...... and the link 🙂

Retired a few years ago. Not a single dream about work; just a few thoughts about the job; few more about the people (many many more about some.... ☺️)

Those little Arrows edfs are great! Hawk is deffo the nicest of the bunch, even on 3S. My second one is quite battered now, and in need of a quick lick of paint and some more varnish to make it nice and shiny again..... if they brought out a Hunter the same size, I'd snatch their arm off. Re the thread, there is already a Winter one which has some posts from this month. My tongue was in my cheek when I made the comment 🙃

P'r'aps we should just ask the mods to change the title to "who's been flying" :-)