Peter Christy

Some good advice above. I've found a good way to clear a blockage is to attach a can of WD-40 to the inlet via a short length of fuel tubing, and give it a good squirt! That usually shifts any old oil or small dirt particles. Also worth doing with both needles removed in case there are any larger bits lodged in there. Here's a step-by-step setup for the ST Carb... 1) The fuel inlet nipple should be pointed at the front engine mounting bolt (See Chris' comment above). 2) Wind the idle needle out quite a way, then close the throttle barrel to the point where it just traps a modelling pin. Easiest way is to temporarily adjust the throttle stop to this point. Wind the main needle out quite a way (3 or 4 turns). Attach some fuel tube to the inlet, and blow down it. Adjust the idle needle until you can only just hear a faint hiss. 3) Reset the main needle to 2-3 turns, and the throttle stop to your choice. That should get you started, and you can then lean the main needle as necessary. Done correctly, this should have the idle needle very close to the optimum setting. One other point: although it will run OK on an OS No.8 plug (good plugs, BTW), the ST is designed for long reach plugs. These are hard to come by these days, but 4-stroke plugs fit perfectly! 5% nitro won't do it any harm, but straight is cheaper if you can get it! I run all my engines - and have done for decades - on pure synthetic. Some of them are now over 50 years old, and still running just fine. While a small trace of castor won't do any harm, it won't do any good either, and should be consigned to history!

I remember my first lecture on "Materials Science" at the polytechnic: The lecturer came in, and covered the board with equations, without any explanation other than recommending a book! After an hour of us all sitting there with glazed expressions, he left the lecture hall, leaving us all wondering what on earth he was talking about! This continued for the next four years! I still have no idea what it was all about!

I usually find that if the CofG is too far aft, I regret leaving my bicycle clips at home.....

Has anyone else had the problem of print shops refusing to print - or even copy - plans, however old, if they contain a copyright message? Mine wouldn't even consider copying my existing (tatty!) plan from a company long out of existence for this reason! -- Pete

Nigel is right. The peak voltage is quite a bit lower on NiMhs compared to NiCads, and a NiCad charger is unlikely to detect when the batteries are fully charged. Is it not possible to rig your model charger to charge the new pack? You might just need to make up a suitable charging lead. -- Pete

Still trying to figure out how it would be possible to fit one of these into my single-channel Sharkface or Sub-Mini alongside the rubber driven escapements! 🤬 Like most legislation, it is only any good if its enforceable. This strikes me as being something that is - for all practical purposes - unenforceable, at least, until after the event! Since I generally only fly at recognised sites these days, its not high on my priority list. Having said that, the cost of the FrSky unit, alluded to above, sounds realistic. No doubt some will be cheaper and some more expensive, but i can't see it being much different. More to the point, even that wouldn't fit in some of my models. Obviously something dreamed up by someone interested in appeasing political interests rather than for any practical purpose. Not something I'm prepared to waste time on! -- Pete

You have no idea how true that is!!!

I have a classic car: Had it 16 years now. (Wasn't like that when I got it!) Been all over Europe in it, one trip to Interlaken (Switzerland) and another to Ballenstedt in the old East Germany for the model helicopter championships. Never missed a beat on either trip. I do all my own routine maintenance. Also play baritone Ukelele in a band, doubling up on bass guitar when required! 😄

Not sure I entirely agree with this. A lot of Txs in days of yore used folded aluminium cases, which make a pretty good Faraday cage. They also improve capacitive coupling between the RF sections and the pilot, improving (slightly) the effective radiation from notoriously inefficient telescopic aerials. When plastic cases became the norm - usually from mass produced sets - it became much, much easier for outside signals to break in. Eventually, as technical regulations tightened up on spurious emissions, they started treating the inside of the plastic cases with a conductive coating, to try and replicate the Faraday cage effect. They also had to screen the electronics better at circuit board level, for much the same reason. So yes, there was a brief period when older Txs were more vulnerable, but the really old ones are pretty much bullet proof! -- Pete

Strangely, the incident I witnessed (referred to in my earlier post) also involved a Multiplex Tx, though on 35 MHz and using a JR receiver (for some strange reason)! I've regularly heard the speakers on my computer at home make a terrible rasping rattle when my mobile rings, and it was also something I experienced at work if a phone rang nearby. As I said, its the PEAK power that matters, not the average. It is unlikely to break through into the RF sections of a transmitter, which should be adequately filtered, but the encoders are another matter. Would probably be exacerbated by the use of a buddy box lead, which would act as a pretty good aerial feeding into the encoder! Airplane mode on the phone should be OK, but rather defeats the object of having a phone in the first place - unless you're just using it as a camera. Like I said originally, and others have confirmed in this thread, I believe its a problem pretty much consigned to history - but you can never be absolutely sure. And remember, ALL our systems are built down to a price, not up to a standard! If our systems were built to commercial aircraft standards, we'd be paying 10x the price for our gear - may be more... -- Pete

Actually, that's only partly true. Its not the frequency they operate on that matters, its the peak envelope power of the pulsed signal that mobile phones emit. Haven't you ever heard a mobile phone breaking through into audio speakers? It sounds like a harsh digital rattle. The average power output is low, but the peak power is surprisingly high. Mobile phones constantly vary their power output depending on feedback from the cell tower. Since flying sites tend to be in rural locations - a long way from the cell towers - the power is likely to be higher than in an urban environment. It is possible for a mobile phone to break through into the encoder circuits of a Tx, but most manufacturers have now wised up to this and improved the screening in the Txs. A decade or so ago it was a real problem, and quite a few models were destroyed by it. I believe the BMFA issued a recommendation not to have a phone on you while flying, but to leave it in the car. Having said all that, the only time I witnessed this happening - and it could be repeated, so there was no doubt - was back in the 35 MHz days. I haven't heard of it happening to 2.4 GHz gear as they generally have to be better screened anyway to get approved. But it is theoretically possible. However, I would have expected the result to be random twitching of ALL controls, or a total freezing of the system - which should be followed by a failsafe. The symptoms described by Rocker do not sound like phone interference, but it might be worth leaving the phone in the pit area or car while flying... -- Pete