Malcolm Fisher

Gurth I gave my foam Phoenix a couple of coats of water based varnish. So far this has stopped muck from staining and has also prevented water absorption when landing on wet ground. This was quite noticeable when flying with a friend who has a similar model. His untreated model became noticeably heavier after a few landings in the wet grass. Malcolm

Am not I the lucky one - it's MY local model shop. Malcolm

There was also a Northern Model Show at Newby Hall in the Harrogate/Ripon area which then went to Ripon Race Course. On the race course the event had buggy racing, yacht and motor boats on the lake, water planes plus conventional fixed wing. Helicopters were few and far between I seem to remember at that time. Sadly the annual event came to an end when the race course allowed a weekly car boot sale and the people responsible for that wouldn't allow the model event organisers to have the one weekend in the year for it to be run. A replacement venue couldn't be found. Malcolm

I punctured a SLEC tank many years ago in a hard arrival. The engine mount screws were left too long and one went through the front of the tank. A successful repair was made by cutting a piece of aluminium sheet big enough to cover the hole by three or four times the size of the hole. After cleaning the area around the hole, the aluminium was put in place and heated with a soldering iron until it melted into the plastic. I kept lifting the iron away to stop it from getting so hot that it could burn a bigger hole. The tank never leaked and is still serviceable over twenty years later. Malcolm

It's not difficult to make canopies. I have made several for such as an Easy Pigeon and a Kamco Kloudrider. Carve a plug of the required shape with a bit extra on the bottom. Cut the plan outline of the canopy in a piece of ply allowing for it to be slightly bigger to accommodate the thickness of whatever sheet you are using to make the canopy. Mount the plug on a thick piece of ply with a 1/8 th ply spacer underneath and the outline piece in place over the plug. Drill a couple of holes through both to position some 1/4" dowel to act as guides cut a piece of the sheet for the canopy and make holes for the dowels. Pin the sheet to the underside of the plan outline ply, heat with a hot air gun then push the whole lot down over the plug and allow to cool. Trim as necessary and the job's done. We used this method in a school workshop using acrylic sheet up to 1/4 inch in thickness but in this case we heated the acrylic in a small electric oven. Gloves were obviously needed to prevent burns to tender fingers. Malcolm Edited By Malcolm Fisher on 12/02/2015 21:06:52

Hello Jez, I don't know if you could manage to squeeze some round tubing to get the section you want, but I have some10 mm copper tube which might just do the job. Pressure between two pieces of wood in a vice could work. If you can find a friendly plumber you might be able to get the sort of length you need. I could send you a bit if that would help - pm your address if that will help you. Malcolm

This isn't a new situation. I fell foul of the import duty requirements many years ago when I sent a Flight Link transmitter for repair. It transpired that the company had moved to one of the Channel Islands and I was charged import duty on the cost of the repair even though the radio had originally been bought in the UK when it was posted back to me. I had to pay the duty before I could receive the package. Malcolm

Dave, Much depends on how much room you have, but a decent band saw could be had for what you are prepared to spend. A band saw, IMO, is a much better, more versatile machine than any type of scroll saw and the blades last much longer as well as being able to deal with bigger section materials. Malcolm

I made a number of similar all sheet C/L planes based on the KK Champ and the Jasco Trojan, the main differences being the upright engine on the Champ and a "sidewinder" installation on the Trojan which I preferred. I didn't bother with any sort of undercarriage. Engines used were always diesels as I found these needed much less of a support system and at the time I started with power models the fuel cost was the same - half a crown for a half pint can or bottle in some cases. Many of these planes were flown on fifty foot lines which gave a longer circuit time so less dizziness although on windy days this could lead to loss of line tension on the upwind side of the circle. When teaching school pupils, I made a sort of rigid wrist from a length of plastic 4" dia pipe. It was a bit heavy bit did the job and allowed the use of a conventional handle. Malcolm

Sorry , double posting. Malcolm Edited By Malcolm Fisher on 04/11/2014 19:18:42

I often use the old fashioned "figure of eight" sewn hinges using some strong synthetic thread. Doesn't need any slotting or gluing, is easily replaced on the very rare occasions when a hinge fails. Using the covering as a hinge is another favoured method. Malcolm

The replies to this have been interesting and enlightening. However, about inserting a Wattmeter still extends the length of the connection between battery and ESC but only by the length of whatever circuitry is within it so I assume that it won't cause a problem if used for short periods. Some time ago I was using a commercial "loop" as a means of easily disconnecting the power from the battery. This was inserted into the battery lead and extended the length by a considerable amount, and the positive lead by about twice as much as the negative lead. After several flights the ESC lost its magic smoke during a flight which had used a lengthy run at a low throttle setting. I lost control of the plane which landed quite a long way downwind. Fortunately, apart from the ESC, there was little fire damage. I now wonder if the "loop" was a contributory factor especially given the length of one of the wires. Motor was 1050 KV with a 3S battery and an 8 x 6 prop. Power drawn was well within the ESC spec at full throttle according to static bench tests. Comments from people with more knowledge of electric power trains would be welcome. Malcolm Edited By Malcolm Fisher on 23/10/2014 20:05:50

BEB, Now I'm confused. I was under the impression that it was better to lengthen the wires between the battery and the ESC as there is some feedback between motor and ESC which could be affected by longer leads. Perhaps I have misread something somewhere. I know that when I'm using a Wattmeter to test a motor/prop/battery combination, the meter goes between battery and ESC and effectively increases the lead length between them. Malcolm

I'm not sure if they are still available, but years ago I bought boxes of brown "Parcel Bands" from a stationery supplier. They are/were available in a variety of sizes and 8" , 7" and 6" bands filled the bill for me. The boxes each contained one pound weight of bands and lasted me for years. They were cheap enough to use for a few times and then discard. I used to wash them after a flying session if they had become covered in oil then dry them off with unperfumed talc and store them in a light proof container. These days I am using bands cut from old inner tubes where needed for one or two of my gliders which still have banded on wings. Malcolm

Mark, Take care if you do put the names into a hat - you could end up with six and seven eighths. Malcolm

Simon, much depends on just how near the airport is. From memory if you are over around two and a half miles away you should be OK unless as Keith says you are under a flight path. Some years ago, the field I flew on was just outside this limit, but we informed the airport's ATC where we were and the times we were flying. Sometimes light aircraft en route to the airport, where there was/is a flying school, came down quite low seeming to want to have a look at what we were doing. This usually generated a call from us to ATC and other planes made a detour round out patch. Presumably the instructors were told about our activities and avoided directly overflying our field. We always kept a lookout for such full size planes and came down low or landed whenever there was one about. HTH, Malcolm

As I have said on another thread, it is possible to solder stainless steel. However a phosphoric acid based flux is required. Years ago when copper tube prices rocketed, stainless tubing was used for central heating systems and these were soldered using capillary fittings in the same way as copper tube is done. I have soldered clevises to steel pushrods and Bowden cable types and never had one fail. As for soldered joints not being suitable for pulling situations, the nipples on brake and clutch cables for motor cycles used to be soldered and I never had one of those fail either. Cleanliness and sufficient heat are the prime requirements for successful soldering. Malcolm

If you are OK with soldering, stainless steel can be soldered using conventional solder. However, it needs a phosphoric acid flux rather than Baker's fluid, resin cored or the fluxes used with plumbing fittings. This was OK for the cabane struts I made from stainless steel spokes for a Tiger Moth but I don't know if it would be suitable for your project. I have also brazed stainless steel but it is very difficult to clean up the black oxidisation afterwards. Malcolm

fly boy 3 The cheapest way I know is to use whatever paint you have to hand. I have used a mixture of acrylics, emulsions and gloss paints having first primed the brown paper with Polycell or similar paste as used to stick it in the first place. As a fuel proofer I have then used water based varnish, my preference being for a satin finish. HTH Malcolm

I have used a range of papers to cover models both conventional built up and foam. In all cases I cut the paper roughly to size, drew it through a shallow water bath and allowed it to drain before sticking it to the structure with either wallpaper paste or PVA. It worked well and I can't remember any issues with warps. A further coat of wallpaper paste after it had dried saved a great deal of paint. Malcolm

There has been at least one death when a model and a hang glider had a collision. IIRC, the model glider hit one of the bracing wires which broke causing the hang gilder wing to collapse. I also know of hang gliders sharing the slopes where I fly. There was again a fatality of the hang glider pilot, but this time no model was involved as all modellers there had decided that the wind had become too turbulent for safe flying. The hang glider took off and was carried sideways into low level high tension wires and electrocuted. Both very sad occurrences. Malcolm     Edited By Malcolm Fisher on 18/04/2014 21:07:34

If you're in a hurry, the applicaton of heat from your covering iron (or even a domestic one but don't tell the wife) turns the moisture into steam and swells the balsa more quickly. Malcolm

There is a commercial safety plug of this type. Not sure who markets it but it was mentioned in RCME some months ago. I think Nigel Hawes said somethoing about it in his column. Don't have the magazine to hand but 4-Max comes to mind as the source. I use one of these and find it does the job very well. Malcolm

I also had a Gentle Lady and stupidly gave it to another club mate years ago. As for power pods, I have two which I used with it - both diesel engines. One has a DC Merlin .75cc and the other a PAW 80. The Paw was the better as it had a bit more power and a longer engine run with its separate tank as opposed to the Merlin with its integral tank. The Merlin ran for about two minuts whereas the PAW gave about six minutes. Each gave a reasonable height gain from a flat field and I could manage some quite long flights when there was thermal activity. Malcolm

If you belong to a BMFA affiliated club, then you autonmatically get the BMFA insurance - it's a condiion of affiliation that all members join BMFA. I am now a Country Member after the club to which I belonged was wound up. Prior to that I was covered under my household policy - now no longer available. I believe every model flyer should belong to the National Body and encourage anyone I meet to join if not already a member. Fortunately I have never had an incident which gave rise to a claim, but after I had a model fly away was very relieved that it did no damage but at least I had the peace of mind to know that I was insured. The model was found over five miles away "as the crow flies" and had crossed two major roads in the process. The potential; for a major claim againbst me was, to say the least, worrying. Malcolm