Peter Roberts

  Interesting discussion. What's clear is the passion everyone feels about their club which is really important. There is also a huge variety in number of fields, premises, facilities and availability. We have a lovely club with 40+ members and sometimes a waiting list for a single mown field just out of town but a good flying arc facing North with an east west strip of 80 x 20 m with flared corners (haven't the space for two strips).We have reasonable relationships with a farmer who demands 000's in rent, grows stuff around us and drives his heavy tractors along a soft access road to the strip. Of course it would be nice to have a Tarmac runway, better access road and clubhouse but we don't have the money and the farmer wouldn't allow it - hate to think what he would want for rent. We also have planning permission which cost a lot of time effort and fees over the years. We have a new sit on mower after years of a hand petrol mower. With a relatively small club we do charge a one off small joining fee which has been important to help us save for the lumps of expense that come our way (new mower, fees, she'd etc). Cost of membership is in the middle range of the survey which we think is a bargain for a hobby where we have availability for 3 afternoons during the week until dusk and Saturdays and Sunday's during the day. Electric only on a Sunday and after 7pm. Most members prefer to pay their BMFA subs through the club and we reduce fees for juniors and families. We are lucky to have an obstruction free grass strip with no animals as there is little space in our locality for strip with good flying space away from neighbours or residences. We welcome all types of flyers but are mostly fixed wing with a few quads and helicopters. We rely on one or two members as teachers but have ages from 8 to 80 and welcome all experiences.   Edited By Peter Roberts on 07/11/2016 10:35:57

I've finally managed to get near my glider to continue!! - Lots of things happening in our house over the last month including my breaking my left foot - which makes standing in a field for flying a little more challenging. However... I've managed to get the RX installed next to the elevator servo under the canopy but have found that the flaps only seem to travel down and not up at all and the horn is in top of the flap hinge and seems to need a rod through the wing at 45º from the servo. I've read somewhere that the servo arm needs to be set 30º toward the leading edge to get the necessary throw for max flap movement! Does anyone else use this? Do you have to adjust the sub trim for flaps to get enough travel? The saga continues

Thank you Gary, I look forward to trying this all out with my JR 9XII! Really appreciate the help, thank you Peter Edited By Peter Roberts on 04/07/2016 22:24:29

Wow - thank you guys I really appreciate your help and look forward to trying this out. If the motor goes into channel 7 what is channel 5 (gear) used for?

Gary, I would be interested to understand your programming set up? Steve J, thanks - interesting idea of putting the remote receiver into the stabiliser. How do you programme the left slider to be used as spoilerons instead of the Throttle stick? As you can tell I have very little experience of programming on my JR9XII. It was a triumph to work out how to get dual flaps and dual ailerons working on my Cirrus 22T. The ideal of the left slider for spoilers seems a neat solution and leave the throttle on its stick all the time. At the mo - programming makes my head hurt! Thanks for your help Peter PS Any photos for Spekky rx installs in glider? Edited By Peter Roberts on 01/07/2016 22:30:14

I'm a novice to gliders although a club fixed wing pilot for 8 years in both glow and electric. I'm struggling with 2 things related to my first glider a) rx mounting? - I want to fit a Spekky 7 series receiver in a glider - does anyone have a photo how they've laid out the cockpit area please? b) programming my JR9XII for 6 servos and motor I've now got a V2 Vitesse 3 meter lovely looking glider and I want to fit my spekky 7 DSM2 rx and satellitte into a narrow glider fuse which is already very full of motor, esc, lipo and elevator servo. Any innovative ways so as deal with all the cables and ensure that the 2.4 aerials don't get crushed and the satellite is suitably fixed too. The only photo I've seen of a layout is that in the Hangar 9 Mystique by downloading the manual. Next challenge is then programming my JR9XII radio. I've downloaded a couple of articles from the web and clearly the throttle stick is to be used for the flaps and one 3 position switch gives launch, cruise and landing modes with the motor I think on a switch and only accessible for takeoff. What if I need to go around ? is there any way of using the motor on the stick if the crow braking is not activated? Any articles, setup of photos or advice gratefully received please. Can anyone help me please? Many thanks Peter Edited By Peter Roberts on 01/07/2016 18:12:35

I've now got a V2 Vitesse and some of the issues have been addressed although I still had to trim 2 mm off the base of the rudder and getting linkages to fit rudder would have been easire with a very small connector (not supplied) I still had to carve out some of the access at the rear to allow the rudder linkage to operate. Too much cable for wing servos is still an issue. Wings are very tight to fit the Multilok - the red plastic wedge they supply is obviously to help separate the wings after a flight. I'm struggling with 2 things a) rx mounting? - I want to fit a Spekky 7 series receiver - does anyone have a photo how they've laid out the cockpit area please? b) programming my JR9XII I've picked up one article from the web but ideally would like to be able to program so that I have motor on normal throttle stick at least during launch phase understanding that I'm not sure wether I'll need it available during landing and how I go on if I need it during another phase. The programming article I've found sets up launch, 'normal' landing. - Any articles, setups or advice gratefully received please. Many thanks Peter Edited By Peter Roberts on 27/06/2016 14:31:28

I love my Hangar 9 22T Cirrus which I have kitted out with an Electric setup power by 2 x 5s 5000 lipos. I like it so much I have started to fit lighting to it. However I have one really irritating problem. The nylon nosewheel mount keeps breaking frequently and you have to buy a whole new front wheel kit to replace. I am fairly careful with my landings but the slightest error results in the nylon mount ripping apart. I'm looking for a good design to replace this and wonder if anyone else has solved this problem. I admit I fly off a lovely grass field which is well mown. Can anyone help please? Many thanks Peter Edited By Peter Roberts on 06/03/2016 23:39:26 Edited By Peter Roberts on 06/03/2016 23:40:03 Edited By Peter Roberts on 06/03/2016 23:40:39

I originally bought a Vitesse from the Dortmund show a couple of years ago and had to return it when I discovered that there were tailplane issues. Staufenbiel suggested I ripped out the tail servo and put a different one in but as I had bought it PNP I decided that if I damaged the plane they wouldn't want to recompense me! They tell me that the latest batch of V" has solved all thse problems and as this is 2016 I hope so and have ordered one. I wonder if anyone has any 'improved experiences' other than those listed here? I wonder as a subscriber whether I can download Mike Freeman's October 2013 article as I think the instructions (in German) don't translate well and realize how good Hangar 9 instructions are by comparison. Peter

Robert I'm sure others will tell you more accurately than I but I think it is already in force and it says that if you already have DSM/ DSM2 you can carry on flying using it and buy only as long as existing stocks last as none can be manufactured for sale in the EU countries! I was going to buy from the USA where they are still on sale until I realised that they would be to US spec and power. Pete Thanks for your advice - I didn't think the new X Rx would work with my Spektrum module and I was told at W&W that Horizon weren't prepared to license Spektrum software to JR so I guess it would be up to them if they produced a module to fit my 9. Peter Edited By Peter Roberts on 28/06/2015 14:44:32 Edited By Peter Roberts on 28/06/2015 14:49:03 Edited By Peter Roberts on 28/06/2015 14:49:25

Thanks for the advice guys. Obviously you've found some interesting solutions to the problem. More things for me to look at and consider. Naively I had hoped to be able to fit my existing 35 and spectrum DSM modules to the JR XG11 module version which having spoken to JR and looked closely at one being sold off realise that wouldn't work. Didn't like the feel of anything else I handled although some features sounded interesting. So thanks for giving me others to look at. I am still interested to know about anyone else who has gone through this process from or with a JR9. Thanks so much Peter

I bought a JR PCM 9XII a few years ago and thought it would be the last Tx I would ever need. It has been wonderful. Yet here I am flying a couple of 35mHz and mostly Spektrum DSM models via Spektrum / JR module. The EU regulation banning DSM 2 faces me with a problem. How long can I rely on the DSM Module I have (when I can't get a replacement) and therefore which radio should I go for next? Whatever direction I go none of the new radios retain backward compatibility with all my existing receivers which I would have to replace so when I invest what should I choose? One of the reasons I jumped ship from Futaba to the JR9 was because the radio fitted so beautifully in my hand and felt quite substantial too. At Wings and Wheels I looked at the Spektrum and JR models on offer. All the Spektrum models felt cheap and plasticky and the screens were notably smaller than my current JR9. Of JR's offerings the XG11 seemed slightly bigger and a bit lighter than my 9 but at least had the big screen and access to the latest JR DMSS and X bus technology. The XG14 like the Spektrums felt too light and plasticky and had a much smaller screen. Quality and reliability are at the top of my list and I also I do like the roller wheel programming on my JR - so where do I invest? There were some offers on JR XC11 yesterday - why is it so much more expensive than the XG14 - so I was tempted but wondered if the price meant it was about to be scrapped? What's around the corner? Is anyone else going through or has recently completed this process and can help me see through this? Peter Edited By Peter Roberts on 28/06/2015 10:11:34 Edited By Peter Roberts on 28/06/2015 10:11:51

I find it difficult to understand why this should happen when the wing seating and tailplane are set by the fuselage sides which are lazer cut out when you but the kit. The wings are pre formed so is puzzling. Thanks for your suggestions I will try both sets and see what happens. I think the wing bands are pretty strong but then there will be quite a force on them I suppose so will add some extras to be sure. Many thanks Peter Edited By Peter Roberts on 22/06/2015 18:10:38

PS the prop, motor, battery combo pulls 950w at full chat and draws around 40+Amps

Wow - have finally built the Kite using a Mk 3 kit. altho the fuse is lighter than the ic equivalent all up weight is over 8lb! I therefore felt the need to change the motor to a '60' equivalent (using the hobby king one with a 12 x 8 prop and a 6s 4000mah battery. My 5s 5000 battery was heavier so didn't go there. Initial problems were climbing when adding power. That has been solved by putting about 4º of downthrust to the motor and reducing the prop size slightly but without a lot of downtrim on the elevator she will climb anyway. CoG is spot on for the model - although that took a fair amount of weight at the back end and I want to diagnose why it needs so much down elevator trim. Concensus at the club is incidence problems which seems surprising as the wing was foam core and sheeted and the seating for the wing is clearly built into the model plan and side shape. If anyone has any ideas I would be grateful - especially as my aerodynamics is not up to the idea.? Peter

I think that the only circumstances where you would remove the red wire from the throttle lead from ESC to the received is on a BEC ESC and where there is a separate rx battery power supply being used. Peter