twinstar

get an cheap RC flight simulator like RC planemaster. £20 learn loads on your computer and save a fortune in crash repairs !  get someone to teach you. - if you self teach there WILL be many, many crashes before you figure it out.

ive just ditched my old pootaba for an aurora 9, its easy to program and feels so, so so much better in the hand , a much more quality feel. tons of features and a logical layout touchsreen. makes my old 6exa look like rubbish.

now for sale. see RCME classifieds

great count mne in

my models last well, my easyglider has outflown 2 sets of servos and taken numerous beatings, all repaired and flown again, and still going strong circa 80 flights west wings orion with 4 years of service, circa 50 flights now needs a recovering as its a bit tatty (solarfilm) in places. multiplex twinstar, minor dings only after 2 years of regular flying circa 40 flights Pss Mb339 in epp, 20 flights and several beatings, bit tatty on the nose but loads of life leftRCME plan built whizza (ballistic !) with a non-folding prop and no landing gear 4 flights still looks like new, needs a folding prop though!!  self taught flyer: i trashed in 10 flights a cheepo artf electric glider called electra sport.and wore out an EPP synergy acro, but sold off as still airworthy after 15 flights including some full chat horizontal landings on vertical tree trunks.(thanks to the spruce spar resembling a tree trunk itself)  as you can see my fleet has been mostly dosile or tough and bouncy, its all down to the choice of model matching your ability.. moved on to balsa plan builds and now going into moulded gliders..

bit overpriced but i reckon itll sell like hot cakes anyway see youtube vid about half way through http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBYi3q7llts Edited By twinstar on 10/02/2011 19:07:08

how about the recent RCME free plan of Pix-e majojr a very dosile and floaty 2 channel electric model with dihedral wing. have to agree though, that a well setup aileron model on low rates is just as suitible. Thing with the pixe though, is its very dainty, not sheet sides.. its all built up structure.  I learnt to fly on a chris foss uno-wot (aileron) - kit not aplan tho, and it was a very solid model, its a bit like a skinnier wot 4,.  other easily repairable trainers are the elapor multiplex foam planes like the mini-mag, magister and twinstar (which on low rates can pass as a second stage trainer). ding an elepor wing and 3 mins later the superglue has set and you can be airborne again.  

having flown and loved an orion, i can heartily reccomend this lovely floater. "  some minor mods i did to improvbe it were:  use some shear webs on the wing spar to stiffen it and add a bit of strength. Make the rudder a bit bigger, and stiffen the tailpane a bit with a small carbon tube along the trailing edge / leading edge of the elevator  with these mods you can fly the orion in rougher conditions with more confidence and pull quite tight loops and other 2 channel aerobatics

Posted by David Ashby - RCME Administrator on 26/12/2010 06:32:03: Grand idea David   Just a few suggestions though.......   If we specified a trad build model (something simple) then we'd get some variation and innovation along the way. Would be difficult to have it in a day admittedly. The only trouble about having everyone build the same ARTF (or similar) is that you'd be horribly surprised how few kits of a certain subject there are about.   What about say a little cheapie electric model like the Nigel Hawes designed Smart Dart ...   ....something people will have a bit of balsa for in their work box - budget motor and ESC and Li-Po etc.. Dead easy to make from a plan.   As I say, just a few thoughts, I'll go with the flow....          is that not a P.R.A.Thttp://tucanobuild.tripod.com/prat/Edited By twinstar on 27/12/2010 12:35:42

how about the homegrown british alternative: http://swinger.propercornishslopers.co.uk/?page=Plans

id really like to see peter millers designs in there (all ic) has this database been promoted in the mag?

  ..not something i really had a problem with, thogh it was a bt fiddly, i filed a groove in the aileron with a rounded needle file, for the torque rod to sit in, drilled a hole where it pokes into the balsa, just angling it a bit so it didnt run too close to the surface, and pushed the rod in, you need to use torque rods that are not too fat, but are stiff enough to not allow too much flex in them. circa 2mm 

the phase 6 sport is a popular traditional build glider for a good reason. the phase 6 pro has  fully symetrical wind so needs a decent slope to fly well, genreally speaking the p6 sport is amore verstaile model. The aileron version of the middle phase is pretty good too.  Easyglider from multiplex flies well but and has no vices but its quite slow and not very aerobatic due to its slow roll rate. for the price of a phase 6 and covering you could get a cheap mouldiehave a look at the filip 600 sport or the speedo pro from revolution models in hong kong (shipped to to uk for under &60) and lots of chat about it over on the RC groups forum) http://www.revolutionshop.com/eng/proddetail.php?prod=rcpl71016_p_code  other nice models  were the dynaflite talon which is now really hard to get hold of however the designer has now developed several other models that are even better such as teh zip 33 and zip55 they have all ply construction and wingeron rather than ailerons, which is unusual but ther are light and fly really well, have a look at the zaerotech website and youtube for videos     

no balsa is used at all Its all ply ! theres some threads on RC groups all about it in the slope gliders section whre the designer has been showing his progress. later there will a Zalon, a sort of pimped talon zaerotech website

the guy who invented the talon has come up with some much better models now, have a look at his web site zaerotech.com. he will send kits to the uk. thay are all made from the most accurately laser cut ply ive ever seen and the z33 and z55 are wingeron models (twisty wings) 

maidened it today. its pretty darn quick and will chuck launch at just over half throttle (at which point holding onto it becomes uncomfortable), nice roll rate on reccomended settings. Would benefit fromn a folding prop if belly landing it. I found it hard to make mine without it coming out tail heavy, reccomend puttingg the tail servo's infronmt of the main former as others have done and gaoing for a 3000mah 3s pack at least. I anchored my batt pack with 3mm liteply a  divider driolled with air cooling holes splitting the nose into two halves, Esc goes one side battery the the other, A small balat traingular stock peirc stops battyer moving forward to touch motor back plate and it wint slide back as teh wing retaining bolts hold it snug.

. Can anyone confirm if this is the correct balance point, or do I need to add weight and get it balancing at 140mm? If you are flying this model, or a similar one - what balance point is working for you? Thanks, Arun  try thisflying wing c of g calculator or this one Edited By twinstar on 17/10/2010 18:09:59

each to their own but at that price id rather buy another model,   - I suspect a lot of wallet concious beginners will spend 20 quid on a basic sim to get the basics then when flying for real,  get the model up high and practice all the aerobatics stuff etc up there. once you have the basics and can fly with some safety then the bast practice for flying is err.. flying  Its nice to have a 3d sim and im sure in time the prices will fall and you wont get anything other than a 3d sims for sale, but for now the price is way too high for me.  

Well done chap. warmed my coccles that one.

instead of printing a copy of the the plan and ironing it onto the wood you can simply draw around the parts on the plan using a biro and tracing paper, then iron the back of the tracing paper on a mild heat, down onto the wood and the ink with transfer across.bad idea for very thin balsa though. heat will warp it.  on some awkward shapes what ive done is to cut a template (tracing paper), making sure its accurate to the plan, then tacking it onto the balsa with tape / dabs of pritt stick, then marking dots about every 5mm around the edge of the tracing paper, the template is then removed and the dots joined up. you then cut outside of the line and offer it up to the plan, you can then trim the part accordingly with a david plane or sanding block until its just right.. its a bit of a faff but sometimes works well for me. just try different techniques and see which works for you, though as important as accurate parts is accuracy and straightness in the build much of which comes with experience / practice.. rulers wheever possible, use clamps so stuff doesnt move, use a flat building board that will allow pins into it. Make sure all parts that are the same on both sides of the plan are actually the same on both sides and not slighly different, (do this by holding both of them together to make sure, ligning up their flat edges against a flat surface usually exposes any ares aheres theres a difference between them) measure lots, use set squares wherever theres a 90 join (eg a rib to a spar) and when you do cut parts use a sharp scalpel. when cutting through the balsa make sure the blade is at 90 degrees to the flat surface of the balsa and not some other almost 90 degree angle as otherise one siude of the part may be a bit bigger or smaller than it should be. straight scalpel blades are for cutting curves, becuase they are narrower in depth and curved scalpels are for cutting strght edges. Always cut along a metal ruler where possible, rather than freehanding it... the list is endless.  

instead of printing a copy of the the plan and ironing it onto the wood you can simply draw around the parts on the plan using a biro and tracing paper, then iron the back of the tracing paper on a mild heat, down onto the wood and the ink with transfer across.bad idea for very thin balsa though. heat will warp it.  on some awkward shapes what ive done is to cut a template (tracing paper), making sure its accurate to the plan, then tacking it onto the balsa with tape / dabs of pritt stick, then marking dots about every 5mm around the edge of the tracing paper, the template is then removed and the dots joined up. you then cut outside of the line and offer it up to the plan, you can then trim the part accordingly with a david plane or sanding block until its just right.. its a bit of a faff but sometimes works well for me. just try different techniques and see which works for you, though as important as accurate parts is accuracy and straightness in the build much of which comes with experience / practice.. rulers wheever possible, use clamps so stuff doesnt move, use a flat building board that will allow pins into it. Make sure all parts that are the same on both sides of the plan are actually the same on both sides and not slighly different, (do this by holding both of them together to make sure, ligning up their flat edges against a flat surface usually exposes any ares aheres theres a difference between them) measure lots, use set squares wherever theres a 90 join (eg a rib to a spar) and when you do cut parts use a sharp scalpel. when cutting through the balsa make sure the blade is at 90 degrees to the flat surface of the balsa and not some other almost 90 degree angle as otherise one siude of the part may be a bit bigger or smaller than it should be. straight scalpel blades are for cutting curves, becuase they are narrower in depth and curved scalpels are for cutting strght edges. Always cut along a metal ruler where possible, rather than freehanding it... the list is endless.  

how  about building a nigel hawes whizza if you fancy a plan built home build? with a sheet wing and sheet sides its a quick build  whizza video  pictures  http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=13041&p=8  wot 4 is a very popular model, and rightly so, now available as both electric or a greasy ic. balsa, or foam

if your slope soaring one then ive found that  a moderate lift slope itll go in about 12mph, depends how you built it though as if you build one a bit heavy with standard radio gear, lots of lead in the nose and lots of cross weave tape over the whole wing and then a heavy iron on covering it, it may be indestructible but will neeed more lift than one using lighter radio gear, less lead, crossweave tape and a lighter covering. of course on a wing your setup is important too because if your eleveons are slightly too up they will act like spoilers meaning youll need more wind / lift to stay up. what wind..? well thats a relative term. Lift is effected by more than just wind: as the slope you choosto fly off and the air temperature also play a part.. you might need 18mph off a shallow slop in mid winter but only 12mph for a steeper slope in summer when the air is warmer  i bought a zagi some years ago becuase it was a cheap mnodel and i was a learner back then. however if you are going to stay with foamie wings there ae a lot of other well respected "epp wings" out there that fly well  and some of NFCM models are pretty popular.  

i charge mine in my kitchen on the worktop., i have an old glazed teracotta pot  and i put the lipo in the pot and put an old pan lid on it. that way if there was a fire it would be pretty much contained and the oxygen supply would get used up. the main thing ive found you must be really careful with is to not short out the +ve and -ve terminals, on some types of connector (i had gold plugs on the end of mine and occasionaly theyd short, you then come to the pack a few hours later and realised its puffed. i now use atype from goaint cod with a plasic spacer between the two plugs so this cant happen. we should take some precautions steps when charging lipo's and i always use a balance charger. some folks like to charge them in flame retardent bags called lipo sacks. However when you think about it.. theres a lot af dangerous stuff in the home.