John Robertson 3

The material is a bit fragile and doesn't take bad landings well, but greasers? No problem. It glues well with Gorilla Glue (polyurethane) and I plan to build a few more "interesting" models in the future. The 'plane? A Jedelski-ish wing which holds up well, but flutters VERY interestingly if a bit of speed builds up. As pictured, it was rebuilt after a low-level loss of attention resulted in a power-on nose-dive into the magnetic ditch. The wings were almost perfect, but the fuselage was in 3 large bits and many small bits. Lollipop sticks were simply glued on to join up the 3 big bits and I just left the "open areas" where the many-small-bits had been as they were. A 3mm carbon tube joins the bottom of the fuselage together again to give it some integrity, so all that was left to do was re-maiden it following the photographs. A successful flying session followed, revealing a need for a hefty dose of downthrust to be added (4 off 3mm washers is my high-tech solution). It even survived a landing exactly on top of the fence wire attached to the post of the photo. Bang-on the wire, longitudinally, one mark from the barbs, and it fell off sideways, when stopped. Picked it up, quick check, then off up into the sky again. Touch and Go? No undercarriage. No problem. This 'plane looks absolutely ridiculous on both the ground and in the air, but it cost very little and, so long as the motor & radio gear survive crashes, it owes me nothing. I cut out 3 sets of blanks when I first built it (it seemed rude NOT to), so a re-build is probably quicker than a repair session, but I DO like the "steam-punk" nature of the beast. I laugh every time I fly it. What more could you ask for?

I've used this 5mm Vitrex (see David Mellor above): https://www.homebase.co.uk/vitrex-5-star-sound-reduction-underlay-9-76-sq-m_p100707 to build this: "The Fish" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kobJpBQO3hs

Flying twice today - mid-morning and at dusk. Morning, -5C. Dusk - a balmy +1C. As a change from the "posh" models above, today's offering are a Robotbirds chuck glider conversion and a re-built, re-maidened slow-flier made from laminate-flooring underlay, 5mm. Plus quite a few iced lolly and Magnum ice-cream sticks. Jedelski - ish wing, which flutters beautifully at "speed".

"I don't know if John's DX6 is of the newer generation - mine is a pre-2015 basic DX6i - but I don't suppose it would make a lot of difference, if any.​" - Yes, they are both Gen2 models. "if you are watching lights on the satellite, you are too close to the receiver." ​I would agree with that - stay away and watch the screen. By all means angle the Rx for 2-3 metres distance visibility, otherwise too close "swamps" the Rx.

I now have my 34mHz DigiFleet Tx back from RCModelGeeks with a 2.4gHz board and new batteries. It felt lovely to have the old girl back in my hands again, fully functional. I can't give any further details as it is wrapped up, with a couple of Rxs from T9 for my Christmas present FROM my wife. She doesn't know what it is, just that it's what " . . . I want, what I really really want . . .". Got to cover one's backside, eh?

I have a couple of DX6s - binding is as per Paul C's post above.

T9? I, too, have had excellent service.

And a 2-piece wing with 1 pop-up spoiler on the upper right, perfectly balanced by 1 pop-down spoiler on the upper left! Who . . . Me?

Correction to above . . . "... sent off to RC Model Geeks ...".

Kim - Perfik! Your message has magically arrived in my Inbox in the last couple of minutes. The "Inbox" tab was flashing at me, so now I know all is well. I was considering contacting the administrators about the apparent problem, so - well timed. I have SO enjoyed handling my old DigiFleet Tx that I sent it off to RC Geeks this morning for a conversion to 2.4 and new batteries - I don't want to chance losing a board due to my lack of skill and practice, as the Tx appears to be in absolutely pristine condition. I'll report back in due course. Back to the shed - I took the nose off my converted chuck-glider this morning by dropping it into the base of a bunch of rushes. I got too close to a fence on landing and had to drop it earlier than anticipated. Nothing major - a clean break, so 5 minutes work at the most and an overnight cure. This forced me back to the camper and my Bixler 2. I had put 4-step flaps on it a month or so ago after having had difficulty with 2-step flaps (either too much or too little extra lift/drag). I'd been putting it off while I struggled to get the chuck-glider trimmed properly, then once I had done so I found it so fun to fly that I couldn't bring myself back to the Bixler. Success - greaser landings almost every time, in spite of varying wind strengths and directions. I can see the old Fleet Tx being used in that one to get infinite flap settings.

Kim. Thanks. PDFs sent by email. Nothing in "Inbox" as yet. Message sent via "pm" to see if my account - or me - needs retraining. Retired. No job. Plenty work. Prefer model flying stuff.

Scanning done. Surprisingly easy - I left it to "Auto" and all pages scanned as pdf files. Is that of use to you? I had worked out that "Inbox" was probably the place to look, but nothing there a minute or so ago. It's empty, of course, as I've never used that facility before.

Back in from the shed. Set up the vertical stabiliser on a COSMO 10SR 1990's high-winger, partly built at that time by a family member. 3 degrees C. Brrrr . . .! 6 channels - 4 on the sticks, 5th the slider on the front left-centre (eg flaps), 6th on the 2-position switch on the top panel right, labelled "Ch Sw" (eg spoilers,, retracts, bomb-drop). Now off to scan manual and see what a "pm" is.

Kim - that looks like the 6 channel set without a tickover adjustment knob. As is mine, which is numbered 025617. I have the manual - 9 off A5 pages, excluding front cover and Guarantee page. 11 in total. I'll be happy to scan them into my pc ( a bit of reading will be required!) or simply copy them and post them. Your choice - although you'll have to advise me on how to get them to you over the net thingy (an attachment to an email? - I'm not well versed in that sort of stuff).

Thank you all - very helpful. Piers - I've had a look at the mask and it sounds just the ticket. Joe - a grand idea. I built a new shed for modelling last winter but have yet to move in as I can cope in my old shed and I MUST keep the missus happy gardening, cycling, "spending quality time" with her etc. during the other 3 seasons. Power is laid in but that's it. I'll be back in there soon, so I can build myself an extractor-booth area with as many fans and ducts as I like. From Peter and Keith's comments, it sounds like I've had a relatively easy time of it and should heed my body's warnings.

"I now stick tissue up my nose" plus a pair of pencils for the ears and Blackadder rides again!

Looked out my 6ch Digifleet XP/FM set. The Rx is 4.8v (4 x 1.2v NiCad). Separate rate switches for the aileron and elevator. CAR In/Out/Rotary Adjustment and all - "... de-luxe and Super only ..."! No tick-over adjustment knob, though, as it was only available on the "Super", so I obviously had the cheaper version. I can't see the Tx battery as it's hidden below a plate and the manual makes no mention of the voltage. If need be, I could find the charger and check the output on its plate - I know where it's stored in shed No3. Holding the Tx with the aerial extended brought back the memories. I like the Tx, but I don't know if I'd have the courage to try it again - 2.4.stuff is just sooo reliable these days.

Yesterday, I was working on the wing of a COSMO 10SR - a Korean high-wing power job - and started coughing. As I am currently undergoing tests for a long-running chest infection (antibiotics, proton pump inhibitor (??), chest X-Ray, poo-sample) I thought nothing of it. The 'plane is something which my grandchildren's father started building in Stockholm in about 1990. His father thought it would be something they could do together and off they went. Eventually, the project was sidelined as neither had the skills required. However, on a visit to Sweden in September his sister pulled out a black plastic bag full of bits and pieces from the loft and I was surprised how well they had actually done, given that they used a Swiss Army Knife for cutting out ribs etc. I offered to have a go at the build and spread the plane through various suitcases and got it home. The fuselage had survived perfectly, but the glue in the wing structure fared less well, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with some judicious CA and Deluxe's Superphatic. I set-to yesterday and worked mainly with CA for an afternoon. Up close, peering into the wing between the webs . . . That evening, I thought my ribs would break and my head explode! Wheezing, coughing, snottering, not snottering - the lot! I thought that if my breathing got any worse I'd be visiting A&E or making that 999 call. Whilst waiting to die, it occurred to me that it might NOT be my chest infection getting worse. Could it be that I had pushed it too hard on the cyano? A web search led me to this old thread and all became clear as my symptoms were described by others. Well done those members! I began to feel better towards 1am and managed to get some sleep, and by 9am actually felt that I would like some food. By Noon I was out flying my Robotbirds - supplied Mininprop Felix IQ XL converted chuck-glider as in http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=127942&p=8 with a Mobius mounted for the first time, with a repeat session at 1600, curtailed by rapidly-falling dusk. I am now looking for a suitable face-mask so that I can continue to use CA (I have a couple of Multiplex Elapor models to "build" and Zacki CA is the only recommended adhesive). Does anyone have any experience of those on offer in Screwfix's catalogue or of other offerings? I have chosen to post on this thread as it may help others come to terms with the problem or act as a warning to newcomers - "don't push your luck"!

26/7/17 post by Stephen Jones: "Hi, John Robertson 3, I take it you have both the Playtive XL Glider from Lidl and the Fleix IQ XL from Robotbirds, It would be nice if you could do a comparison for us all, while you do a conversion of the Fleix IQ XL glider. I read the stats of the Fleix glider is a little smaller than the Lidl one which should not be a problem but how is it in regards to strength and width in order the take radio gear. Any observations or thoughts would be much appreciated . Cheers Steve" And my reply: "I only have the Robotbirds' Felix IQ XL - the Lidl glider does not appear to have been sold in my neck of the woods, so no direct comparison is possible, I'm afraid. The Felix fuselage is 52.7mm wide at the wing's leading edge, depth is 93.1mm. The canopy is a mere tight push-fit. No glue is involved other than a dab on the (socket-headed) bolt-noseweight. Wing thickness is about 21.4mm at the root, 14mm at the tip. The trailing edge is about 8mm thick, tapering to about 4mm at the polyhedral break. The flat-bottom of wing section is about 153mm. Judging from the videos I've been watching today (rainy and windy) the wing looks to deflect about the same as the Lidl one when testing the possibility of flattening at the tips." Well . . . I have to report that I have at last sorted out my Felix IQ XL and it's flying surprisingly well. I determined that I would attempt initially to have it as a 3 channel set-up using Rudder, Elevator & Throttle, mainly to see if it was feasible in such a small but hefty machine. Initial flights showed that it was indeed possible, although with a fixed prop the initial flights were exciting - on throttle-off it glided like a brick with an un-braked fixed prop. Throttle-on and it reared up and sideways. "Fun" indeed to land in small area! I reckoned that the motor was too powerful and needed side- and down-thrust and also that the rudder and elevator weren't powerful enough. A smaller and folding prop was next and so it went on - motor braking, soft-start, some side thrust, some down-thrust, increased throws, no side-thrust, more, more and more down-thrust. Finally, last week I had it almost spot-on and to my delight there was a gentle Westerly straight on to my slope. Felix drifted nicely back-and-forth for a while, still exhibiting a need for more down-thrust, but making the flight quite relaxing for part of the time. Landings were much less problematic. The following day there was a strong, blustery wind from the same direction. I cracked towards evening and had a go, back a bit from the slope. Manageable for a few seconds, but then I lost it and had a few uncontrolled landings as the tail couldn't overcome the wind. I decided that larger tail moving surfaces were DEFINITELY needed and resolved to do that before another flight. But, of course, I didn't. I added a little more down-thrust and this morning popped down to the slope (half-a-mile from home). Bingo - perfect power-on/off behaviour and, with an almost calm, dry day I could land it power on or power off on the way in. Ya Beauty! I could bring it down in a shallow dive, then power-off and the little fat wings would give a little whistle as it went by. Power on, kiss the rushes with the tail and smoothly on up into an almost-prop-hang session (possible with a fully-charged 2S 1000maH battery). Great fun, and well worth the experimenting. Why Rudder/Elevator? Because I can pull the wing out of the fuselage quickly and simply and replace it just as easily. The wing doesn't seem to move at all in flight, no matter how violent I've been and, in bad landings, moves in and out without damage. I've had a couple of cartwheels through the rushes and been back in the air within seconds. It's easily packed away and the material seems REALLY resilient. I have this evening removed the elevator and cut a double-sized version out of a part-sheet of 30-year old soft balsa from my stock. With cross-grained tips I'm not going to spend too much time getting this super-light as I have some tail-weight I can remove. I will remove the rudder in the morning also, as I could see that even at full deflection, really, really far over, it struggled to impose itself on the flight path. That one will be built-up, as I intend to give it plenty of area. At first I was somewhat intimidated by the speed of the plane - I'm a returnee after 3 decades - but now I enjoy the way it rips through the sky, the way it can climb almost vertically for most of the charge state, the way it will glide around quietly with just a whisper of throttle on and how, even with a short, fat, bent-up-at-the-tips-only wing it behaves rather nicely around the stall. I think I'll just stick with it the way it is and explore how it handles in much stronger winds than I've been up in hitherto. I may even try drifting around on the sea-wall, something I've been doing with my little UMX Radian (which has attracted favourable attention from other beach users, who seem intrigued by this little 50 gram "bird" that I hover in front of them and sometimes show off by landing in my hand). Then again . . . maybe not.

I've had cracking results from 6 Charsoon 250maH 30/60C cells from Banggood at about £3.80 each. I run them in a little UMX Radian. I bought original eFlight 250 maH 25C cells, and also tried a 45C version. Of the 5 x eFlight cells, only one (a 25C) has lasted the season. The eFlight cells weighed 5 g (L 44.1mm W 11.01mm D 6mm) and the 250 maH ones 7g (L 53.7mm W 11.55mm D &mm). The 250maH cells gave the motor MUCH more punch and the plane would climb at a VERY steep angle, which it would not do with the eFlight versions. If not using the full 60C kick I can easily get 15 minute flights, with a bit of wind assistance, whereas the others gave me concern after half that time. The Charsoon cells are still with me, apart from I which was physically damage in the connector are by me and my clumsiness.

Bruce has dione a review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=limh6QwdK_I&t=60s As have others, but I think he can be trusted to tell it like it is - good, bad or indifferent.

Another with no problems loading and old copy of Phoenix - I ran it on an old HDD PC on both W7 and a "free" upgrade to W10. I took the Phoenix updates as offered by them. I later bought a new SSD PC with W10 on the boot drive and had no problems installing Phoenix from my original CD (v4, I think) and updating to v5. I all cases the software has been loaded into "Program Files (x86)" and no fiddling has been required.

Cover the rear fuselage? Why? Surely that's part of the charm of the thing?

Another short-listed build and a builder with the same "power" query,

Open TX? Open sphincter?