Glenn Howcroft

Peter Yep control liners are fun ... but hard to land .... when your so dizzy you can hardly sand ... lol. I tried them at Barton(manchester) with a friend who used to do it as a kid !!. The club members are really great. Very helpfull to newcomers. Picked up a nice .10 size os engine second hand for a tenner off a club member. Me and my mate had a few good months with 2 or 3 of our own designs before he became too ill with the cancer. It finally got him last year ... I've not been to the Barton club since .. but must make the trip again sometime soon. Carrier deck is something to behold as well ...

I agree with David A. Last time I was at a club site there was about a 60/40 split (i.c / elec). A few years ago there would have been only one or 2 elecs there. Easy to see why though. there quiet, always start and you dont need to clean loads of gunk off em after. RTF electric models have made it REAL easy for people to get into flying. I know I used to sell loads more elec beginners models than i.c. when I worked in a local model shop, (now sadly closed). Most customers liked the idea of charge and fly kits. Like the electosport to name but one. Me .. well I fly electric only at the moment, but thats due to moise problems not a dislike of i.c. If you,ve never tried it have a go at control line ... its fun !! ... and noisy ... lol

This thread is fun ... Why can't we all accept that we are all different. Some of use will never like electric ... or I.C. for that matter. I dont think that theres all that much difference in cost these days either. I have just been looking at a direct 1.10 4 stroke replacement brushless motor for Less than £60. Brand new, off a respectable UK dealer. Lipo batterys are also coming down as well. Yes theres the cost of spare batterys and the charger, but then again if you add up the cost of the starter, power panel, a years worth of fuel etc it's not so different. As for sound, ... well when have you ever heared a 2 stroke or even a 4 stroke sound exactly like the real thing ?. Never i should think. Yet its easily possible with a 60 ish size electric and a sound module. In the end it all comes down to what we as an individual are happy with. Will electric models become more popular ... yes. Especially with flying site noise problems. Are they better ? who knows ... Lets just have fun flying whatever the power source.

Hi Nick .. The Aquastar looks very nice, as do the rest of the models. I really like the look of the Gladiator. BTW hows the repairs going on the Catalina .. I'm still working on the Fun Fly 400, typeing this as the glue sets on the front former actually. Don't think I'll get round to the 600 size model for a few weeks as I've got a Mini GTM Rigger Hydroplane,(boat), to build for my 12 year old. Bought it unbuilt really cheap from a mate. Should go well on a 4000 rpm/v brushless ... LOL. Hope to get about 30 - 40 mph out of it.... but enough about boats ..

Cool ... I'd love to see it, post some pics when it's done if you can ..

Hi Nick... I will have a good look at that site. The Ripmax Spit was nice but I didnt like the tail snakes. Both rudder and elevator are by snakes supported at the servo end and where the exited the fuselage at the rear, but no supports in the middle, at least on mine, quite a long unsupported run. This allowed the snakes to flex under load and I had control problems at high speed, i.e coming out of a dive etc. I replaced the snake runs with old stlye hardwood rods with 2mm piano wire ends, solved the problem for me. Flew great after that. Allo Bustergrunt ... The Walrus is OD. I got the 3 view from Eduardospage, (hope I spelt that right). anyway if you do a Google search for Eduarospage you'll get there. Excellent for 3 views. I then imported the 3 view pic into my CAD pack, resized to a 30 inch wingspan and then traced the outlines. I didnt need ribs or the like as I used 1/4 sheet balsa for the wings and 1/8 for the tail bits. There was no plan drawn as such, just the outline. The hardest bit was the motor mount which is just a layered up balsa box sanded to shape with ply motor mount on the end. All cabane struts where 3 or 4 mm carbon rod, mainly becasue I had it and it made for a quick build.

Hi Nick ... Sorry to hear about the Catalina ... hope the repairs go well. The wifes been really good about the plane building because I've not built one for nearly a year. I been into fast electric speed boats for the last couple of years. So have been concentrating on them, and Heli's. Although I still have a F27 Stryker foamy to play with. With upgraded motor and cells of course. I don't usually build from kits either, the Walrus is scratch built as is the 400 fun fly or will be when I finish it !!. I've had only one true ARTF and that was the Ripmax Spitfire 600 size. Went very well with a Megga 22/20/3E Brushless motor on 8 x IB3800 NiMH Cells and a Cam 9 x 6 folding prop. I'm actually looking for a good subject for that same power train at the moment. Thinking of maybe a ME109 or maybe doing a 600 size Pushy Cat type. I'll have to spend a few hours on my CAD pack and see what I can figure out for the 109. I drew up some rough plans for the 600 size Pushy Cat a few months ago but never got round to building it because someone at my local model boat club said they wanted a Walrus for scale day, and I got tied up with that. Oh the joys of R/C models ...

Hi Nick ... Thanks for the info .. thinking about the flights with the Walrus it does not need much aileron to start a turn and I do need to put some opposite in, to hold it in the turn . Its a certainly feels very different compared to other scale planes i've had, mainly ww2 fighters ... I'm afraid I've not tried it on the water yet, it's not been sealed against water .... yet , or painted. Might take a while with work etc .. and the fact I've already started to build a 400 size fun fly, very similar to a Limbo Dancer or Couger. Wings are complete just doing the fuselage.

Well ... Flew ok. Hand launched on only 2/3 throttle and of she went. If anything its overpowered. Struggled a bit on the aeleron turns, need coupling with the rudder i think. May also move the CG further back as its a bit nose heavy.

Hi ... I've just uploaded a few pics of my latest project to the Gallery pages. A 400 Brushless powered Supermarine Walrus. Pics are before test flight. If it comes back in one piece !!!... i'll add some detail and paint ... Well i'm off to test it .. fingers crossed.

Currntly 3 electric models flying, 1 in production. Started out on ic models, the last a Capiche 50 ... sold or scrapped them all as electric has improved. 100% electric fligh time. Electrics will not kill the traditional hobby, there's room for everything. Assuming no more noise regulations by the people in parliment. RCM&E probably has a little too much electric coverage. also to many ARTF reviews. Electrics make scale building a bit easier, especially in the cowel are. Plus you can also use a sound generator like the scale boat lads. No buzzsaw screaming , just the sound of a real merlin etc.

My vote goes to the sunderland ... A flying boat is unusaul enogh to be very appealing to many people ... and you can have it in WW2 colours or civilian ... My attempt at a 400 brushless Walrus, stand of scale, is progressing. Wings are built with engine pod in place .. just fitting the servo's in the fuselage. If work permits i'll have it ready to test fly in a couple of days ..

Hi Tony ... Thanks for the info .. that helps a lot. From the Photos and 3 view drawing I have I thought there was a slight difference. I'll let you know how it all turns out once I finish the model ... See Ya ...

Hi .... Tony i missed your article on the small SE5. Part of your Dogfight doubles I think .. Can you give me some hints as to what angles you rigged the wings at ... I.e. were both wings at the same angle of attack or did you rig one at a slightly higher angle ??? I'm building a 30 inch span Supermarine Walrus, sheet wings. Brushless 400 powered.