Denis Watkins
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Posts posted by Denis Watkins
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Hi Mike
Google Plastruct
Modellers use the channelling
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Matt, you are quite rightly very keen to get ready to fly, but the seasonal weather is slow to clear at the moment. Just be patient now, you have a good amount of kit, but you are at the stage you need to see the models being operated. You need to see both electric and IC in operation, and all that the ground crew do to get the model airbourne safely. You cannot second guess now your future requirements until you see where your passion falls as each of the disciplines will take you along a seperate requirements path. Many of us fly both types of model, electric and IC, but there a huge pitfalls in buying haphazardly. If you buy now anymore kit, you can easily spend a fortune on little used items.
Read all you can, and enjoy your time looking at what you beleive you would enjoy flying.
Be patient, for your next step, going down to the field, where the boys can answer you directly, and demonstrate the items.
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Agreed on the 14 x 6 if you have the ground clearance Dave, its ok compacting all your power into a small disc and course pitch.
But I have often found better "braking effect" on idle for landing with the larger disc of air from the larger diameter prob.
I hope I am not just mad, but I love flying...
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2 things Jon,
1. Thanks for the info on fuel, I appreciate what you are saying to be able to recommend a fuel, and I reinforced this looking on the Laser site, also
2. Has your survey thrown up any preferences, especially with small motors?
As a 61 would appear big in my hangar, and you start at 70 size
Thanks in advance
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Hi Glyn
I looked back a bit on the posts, and see you are doing well, and taking note of many experts on this forum, not least Jon Laser. If any newbee looks in, take note to simplify your 1st flights. Use your thumbs however they land on the sticks, and dont be drawn into an unatural configeration. My own technique with arthritic hands is thumbs on top.
The dreaded EXPO was mentioned in posts. Listen to the experts while you are learning, you need all the stick movement you can get, without diluting your control with expo. When you get proficient, you may want to soften the stick with expo.
In a nutshell, a new flyer needs as little to think about as possible, and not be distracted by rate switches and odd stick settings. Just small tasks to do each new flight, looking atbthe model in the air, as we all know.
Keep asking, keep practicing
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Hi Jon
Surely it is no secret that you can buy 4 gallon of 5% synthetic from the internet, delivered to your door by carrier next day for £52.50, and less for straight fuel. Maybe I have missed the post where this fuel is deemed inadequate, but after 5 years using it, I detect no anomolies with it. Again, I cannot claim it is " the best " , but it does suit me not carrying fuel in this quantity from the shows, and it is found to be far superior in some respects to some brews on the market. I would pay £70 - £80 for 4 gallon if it was a no choice situation as I love flying
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Hi Ross
All the guys are giving you good sound advice.
Consider everything, even half size servos to keep the weight nearer 4lb though 4.5 lb maybe your limit.
Consider a lightweight homebuilt u/c, with fetherlite wheels, balsacabin do ideal wheels.
Your fe battery is heavy, get a low mah, about 1000mAh if you can, nihm battery.
Much lighter, And a 1000 will give you a days flying
The 10 x 6 is too course for the 30
Fit a 9 x 6 to unload its power, even a 9 x 5 will transform it
I will watch with interest
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It is always worthwhile revisiting new materials and retrying construction techniques with a view to innovation and maybe find overlooked ways and building techniques, with a view to saving on time and cost, but unlike Depron, balsa is not brittle, and exhibits a strength along the grain that outstrips most lightweight materials in existence, and even gives expensive carbon fibre a run for its money, due to adverse costs and handling of said the said fibre. If aeroplane construction could be completed in a jigsaw interlocking manner, without the aid of glue, I believe that Depron would win hands down on time and cost. But again, with the addition of glue and emulsion paint, the established balsa material, due to its strength to weight ratio far out strips Depron in longevity and the usual mishaps colliding with Earth.
Depron does win in the 50 gram – 100 gram indoor flying league, as the flat plate wing is efficient in such aircraft, flown in a still air atmosphere, but once we retreat into the wild blue, something of greater strength and substance is needed to hold all manner of surfaces squarely and stiffly aligned with the fluid we call air.
This is just my opinion.
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Percy and Pete
Coincidently with your comments on parts shortage, I was desperate for a new needle for the 48, and found a guy on the common auction site who had many spares, in Canada ! He was very reasonable and so too the airmail.
There does, as you say, seem to be a revival in small 4 strokes due to these Mass Builds, as most you see, many have a 4 stroke at the front, negating noise issues to boot.
It is difficult to combine a better duo than balsa and an oily 4 stroke.
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Hi Guys
Your pictures are tempting me towards this traditional build as good work always photographs well.
Both the 48 and the 52 Surpass behave superbly, and sound like the real thing, as I still fly both regularly, both
bought from new, the 48 I beleive has done 17 years, but put me right if I am remembering the wrong season that I
bought it.
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Your Saito 56 will give you a great deal of pleasure on that model Richard, go ahead and complete the job.
A 4 stroke model combination cannot be beaten for sheer fun, and the sound is perfect.
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JUSTENGINES.com give many silencer mount spacings Jim, as that is all they sell
And none are 33mm, check it out Jim
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No, Matt
No dual rates on a flight sim needed
Learn to fly the sim without these distractions
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Change the VIEW on settings Matt, to include the ground and follow your model
As you found, ailerons alone will not maintain height in the turn
Use the elevator during the turn, to maintain height and sometimes to tighten the turn
Dial up a highwinger like a CUB, to liven things up
Do not get involved with expo at this stage
Expo takes out any chance of you learning a routine flared out landing
And always WARN your instructor if there is EXPO anywhere dialed in to your TX
As it can be quite a surprise to pull a stick and nothing happens
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That is the trend Chris B, and from some experience similar to yours, I feel it is normal in life that there are the "doers" and there are those that look on. Every Committee should have plan B. To embrace those interested members and to co-opt likely candidates to posts within the club to nurture for the future. Easy to say I know, but along these lines, the tasks can be broken diwn to lesser posts, so that more Committee individuals do less work. One member will always emerge that does more than the others, but a conscious effort has to be on the agenda at all times, to support each other. I am well aware that with your experience, that you know all this, but it may surprise you that the unlikelyest members respond to being singled out and asked to help the Committee.
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You are right BEB. Committee members do take an interest in this site. You can see how the othef half lives. True, it is human nature for most folk to want to turn up and fly, it is a common theme in clubs that there are a small few who get on with club business. The forum offers so much. It often ratifies our private notions, experiences and ideas. The forum can answer any question, and shows the complexity of getting parts and materials airbourne, and demonstrates the thrill when we get it right, and a plan does come together. My greatest thrill is showing someone a way to fly that suits them, and their 1st landing, going back to the pitts, they cannot stop talking, and smiling.
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I would put a decent 52 OS Surpass on your model, making it most reliable and making the model flyable in skilled manner.
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That sight is heartbreaking, but ask yourself if your prop ever went supersonic during flight? I beleive it is not so much the speed that causes vibration, but the prop flapping about side to side at the tips. I sadly watch a 60GT shredding props for an ill informed pilot, as he smiles at the supersonic drone noise produced, throwing bits of prop off ocassionally. I expect he will experience some of your dismay shortly. Again, ask yourself, could your prop go supersonic, even in a dive?
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The Irvine 46 mk iv is a glow motor
There is a glow plug in the cylinder head
They are a premier reliable motor
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A correctly fitted, and adjusted servo, is as you know suspended within rubber grommets screwed through to wooden bearers and suffers very little vibration.
Also, a soft mounted IC motor exhibits less vibration and less noise, than hard mounting, though you still get the " real " sound of the reciprecating engine.
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It is a huge shock when the motor cuts, and your model goes in. You do look to blame everything else. But to go forward with our equipment in a confident way, we do try to ensure that we do not repeat the crash process.
Once a bullit proof set up is acheived, that care of installation should be repeated in every model. Installation instructions should be adhered too, and maintain the flight pack as you do your TX pack.
All is common sense, and well stated in publications. Just be aware that 2.4 gig is no x-ray
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This is not a problem with Spekrum, this is a problem with 2.4 ghz, and can be replicated with similar makes of 2.4 ghz equipment.
Take a 2.4 ghz Rx, and place it deep inside a fuselage, masked, usually by 3 complex bricks of bits called servos.
Orientate this at 90 degrees to your aerial, ( LANDING), and add to the masking of the tiny receiver by 3 servos and a heavy metal flight battery, a huge lump of aluminium and iron ( YOUR MOTOR ) and hay presto, failsafe kicks in
I have replicated sending a motor into failsafe mode consistently by aiming the signal through our aluminium power lump, our IC motor
Rx mounting is paramount as is dual aerial fitment. Microwaves, at our power levels 10th watt, will not pass through a petrol motor, they try to find the Rx aerial either side of the obstacle
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Just a note about flying in wind Matt, do not assume calm days come easily. Official figures for the UK, which are mean values over the whole UK, showed that we had 5 days last year officially "calm"
Averages, do mean that someone got 20 days of calm, but the rest of us got none !
So consider 2 aircraft, in your trainer stable or use your common sense and get an aircraft of substance initially around 5lbs weight, to fly in the usual breeze we get, rather than a 1lb foamie blown round like a paper bag.
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The best ever thinner I was ever advised to use with acrylic in an airbrush was one drop of glycerine, and windowlene spray, not the purple cream, the blue spray, mixed to milky consistency. Try it guys.
The one drop by the way is a tiny drop from a pin.
Beginning to fly rc sim
in Beginners
Posted
Try this before you wipe and reinstall the Pheonix Tony
Everthing off, Computer and TX OFF
Plug in TX and USB to Computer
Put the Pheonix Disc in the tray, in the Computer ready to load
Switch on the Computer
The TX will light up by itself, even though it is switched off
This should work.
If not, wipe the Programme with no disc in, and do a " clean up" from your accessories.
Re install the Pheonix and start at top of page again