IanN

Ah, would have said hello if I'd realised. I wouldn't worry re the landing. Conditions were a bit breezy and bumpy, we saw plenty worse, and for some of us "a bit messy" counts as quite a good landing providing the model is still in one peice

Was that your Rothmans Stampe flying with N.T.'s Tiger Moth towards the end of the afternoon, then?

A very enjoyable Sunday at Much Marcle today, plenty of variety Does anyone know what size / scale / origin the multiple Fokker DR-1s were - the Flair kit design perhaps?

Yep the LMA forum lists the traders - copied and pasted below ..... I'll be going Sunday, meeting with Dad and hopefully an uncle and a cousin or two. Much Marcle is one of my favourites. Usually has a great programme and a really relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Not one of the biggest shows, but all the better for that imo UPDATED 29/08/16 A B Military Als Hobbies Balsa Cabin Cambrian Model Co DB Sport & Scale Ltd De Maniss UK Ltd Esoaring Gadgets UK Falcon Aviation Flyteam Flying Tech ltd Grabit Adhesives Inwoods Kingfisher Aviation Lena's Books & Toys LMA Liquid Weld Microaces Ltd Midlands Air Ambulance Model Technics Ltd Old English Sweets Peak Tools Propguy Puffin Models Ltd R C Heliguru Real Model Pilots SLEC Solutions Southern Modelcraft SSD Sunglasses The Drone Worx Traplet Turbine Solutions W E Models Whites

Posted by Tom Sharp 2 on 01/09/2016 19:42:23: Al's have closed at least two shops in the past, As have a huge no of other retailers, large and small, in recent years to survive, adapt, and progress as economic circumstances change

Als in MK (actually, Wolverton) is indeed very helpful. I can (just about, if I get a move on) get there and back in my lunch break from work, and that's baled me out a few times when I've been in urgent need of something or other. Anyone planning on going out of their way to make a special visit may want to be aware that the shop isn't huge and that the range - in some areas - is a little idiosyncratic. For example engine mounts are, bar just one or two items, almost exclusively AlsZone own brand, so if its a direct replacement for e.g. a SLEC or RadioActive etc item that you need then you're likely to be out of luck. They also didn't used to stock snakes - none at all - although I now see there are now a small no on the website. That isn't a criticism, just an observation - peeps can always phone ahead and check any particular requirements. For my part, I always find it impossible to go in without lingering over the vintage kits that are always on display in the left hand window at the entrance. Pure nostalgia! Edited By IanN on 31/08/2016 17:08:28

A lot gentler than some of our crashes

I flew an aileron/elevator model powered by a PAW 1.5 fed from an old Keil Kraft type team race tank - basically, a rectangular tin box with the fuel feed pipe going to the rear at the bottom - and it was fine. Looped and rolled without so much as a burp

Posted by Martin Harris on 19/08/2016 11:18:26: Length of piano wire and a vice? We never did anything else, back in the day If this were me I'd bend up the main legs myself, and buy a coil sprung noseleg - there's bound to be one that's close enough to do the job from the plethora available in LMS's and on the net

Posted by John F on 18/08/2016 08:03:54: If we really were talking about a "what if" moment why do we not have fireproof bags for mobile phones, laptops, cordless drills etc? They are known to catch fire, so why not them too? To my mind lipos are safe and you don't need a fireproof bag especially if you consider the safety precautions that you should consider with all battery charging; don't charge a damaged battery, charge at the correct rate and don't leave them unattended. Because there are more variables and therefore more potential for getting it wrong with our r/c use LiPos then there are with your lap top or phone. Those generally use a wall wart type charger with no ability to select the wrong battery type, or charge rate, or change the settings, or plug it in the wrong way round, or introduce other bits of kit into the equation (parallel charging e.g) etc etc I don't use one, but I charge all mine outside as a result of an incident when one "spat" at me. Turned out the balance lead socket was shorted on a parallel charge board. Melted the balance lead to one of the three packs that were connected. The pack didn't catch fire but once experienced, never forgotten. Statistically, incidents are very rare indeed v the nos of LiPos in use, but statistics are of zero comfort if you are the one that the very rare incident happens to. A medical procedure may be 99.9% safe but if you happen to be the unfortunate one in a thousand who dies on the operating table then you are 100% dead ..... I totally agree that LiPos are inherently safe. Bags provide a bit of leeway if you make a mistake

Wots Wot demonstrates it's tremendous low speed handling on a back yard low puss

Posted by Terry Walters on 15/08/2016 10:40:02: Anything that flies except wasps and hornets! Exactly, but add pigeons to that

I saw a full size Catalina at close quarters once. I was doing my PPL at Redbird Airport (now known as Dallas Executive), Texas, when one landed and taxied across the apron right in front of us. Even the most grizzled and cynical of our instructors rushed out to watch it. One of our group of students had a scary moment when he unwisely taxied behind it, just as it ran its engines up, and the Tomahawk was in serious danger of getting blown over until someone got word to the tower to alert the Cat's crew and the danger passed. Happy days! Looking forwards to seeing this one finished

This is c 35 years old, original covering, still good. Wing covered in bog standard solarfilm, no additional fuel proofing to the film - just over the transfers. The key is not to let any fuel - neat or exhaust - lie on the film for any length of time. That said, I would think twice before using it in the engine bay area. For that I would probably, as suggested above, use one of the Polyester based products

Posted by Liam Ryan on 01/08/2016 16:50:58: Hi everyone, I'm wondering how to sand an acceptable leading edge for a trainer? I'm building the chapter one and just about to finish up the wing. I was going to attempt it freehand with a sanding block but I'm sure there must be cleverer ways to do it. I know you don't want to spend a lot upfront but the concave Permagrits are brilliant for making a very decent fist of this, and they will last you a lifetime Once your enthusiasm is on an upward trajectory - which it will be - then I'd recommend them. Anyone who's used them wouldn't be without them **LINK**

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 14/07/2016 20:47:31: OK lets do this the right way round! With IC you start with the engine - but you don't with electric power. Paradoxically the motor is almost the last thing you select. We start with the weight - for a Wotty that's about 5lb. Then we decide how much power we want - well 100W/lb will give us "good sports flying" - maybe a tad more woruldn't hurt - but let's target 500W. Next up we select a battery. Let's look at a 4 cell - nominal voltage 14.8v so to give us 500W it would need to supply a current of 500/14.8 - that's about 34Amps - sounds good. That is max power - full throttle - average power would be about 60% of that (maybe even less - but let's say 60%) so that's say 20A. If we want to fly for 10mins with 20% left in the battery on landing that is the equivalent of flying for 12 mins at 20A so the capacity of battery we need is (12/60)x20 or 4Ah - that's 4000mAh. Now we look at ESCs - we need one that can handle the peak current plus a bit. Peak current is 34A so a 40A would do - 50A would be better. (Your 80A is massive overkill!) Now the motor. We need a motor that can dish out around 500W and handle a max current of 40A or so. We also need to work out the kV value we need. We can aim for a max prop speed of around 10,000rpm at full throttle. The 4s battery is 14.8v so the target kV would be 10,000/14.8 that is around 675. So in summary the motor we want is a '500W/40A/675kV' job. So the G46 is pretty well spot on. The first motor you link to is much more powerful than you need at 1300W. So the set up is - 4s 4000mAh battery, G46 motor, 50A ESC, which will give you lively performance but not ballistic and 10min flight times! Can't be bad Hope this helps not just in answering your direct question but in terms of equiping you to be able to work it out for yourself in future. BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 14/07/2016 20:53:08 What an excellent summary I think I "sort of" knew quite a bit of that - although not as logically, or in that order. However, I was wondering where the prop selection comes into the equation as that (in my head, anyway) has some bearing on the final output Or is it a case of follow the process and then experiment with prop dia/pitch to fine tune the end result?

That's excellent Westland Whirlwind cake for my birthday please!

Maybe a slightly scaled down version of this? **LINK**

With the free upgrade about to expire I took the plunge yesterday evening on the household desktop pc. Fingers still crossed, but at first glance it appeared to go smoothly and all looks to be in order.

Yes, always surprising how much can be hidden under the skin of some second hand models. Sounds like you did the right thing by taking the plunge.

Some excellent points throughout this thread, which all go to reinforce that - both i.c. and electric have their own pros and their cons - all of which are relatively easily overcome by the respective practioners - both probably cost the same, or similar in the long run As an i.c. flier who also uses electric (rather than the other way around) I do think that electric has obvious advantages for the beginner, providing you have enough batteries or charging capability to get through a session . Assuming the power train is carefully selected and set up properly it should be pretty much "fit and forget" - and it does remove the i.c. tuning variable from the equation. Yes, I know that you shouldn't fiddle but when you're a novice learning to run an engine, or - arguably worse -at the mercy of the club "expert" (who probably has more deadsticks than the rest of the club membership put together) that's easier said than done. Start electric, then follow whichever path you fancy as you grow into the hobby

Brett, condolences. I really enjoyed following his posts Edited By Pete B - Moderator on 25/07/2016 10:55:00

That's very sad. I was following this one closely http://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=104878&p=1 Edited By IanN on 25/07/2016 09:17:36

Posted by RICHARD WILLS on 24/07/2016 16:09:39: Also Ian , I did send a PM regarding the WW , but maybe it didn't get through ? Richard Richard, replied to your PM but perhaps that got stuck in the ether for a while. Seems to have got through at last,as I got your text yesterday - for which thanks - will call in the week

I differ from BeB in that I rarely charge on site. There are plenty of budget LiPos with decent performance so I buy enough, and charge them all before your flying session. That said, I admittedly normally take two or three models including one i.c. and my club does have a couple of decent power supplies should I ever need them, so lack of electricity is never a problem for me If your club, or wherever you are flying from, has a decent power supply for your charger then there is no reason at all why you shouldn't charge at the field, Liam. However, if not then be aware that you will need to spend a hefty sum on top of your existing budget for a Leisure Battery to power your charger