Piers Acland

I appreciate that you don't have the Mossie in mind but I endorse Martin's comment wholeheartedly. Managed to finish BT's 82" Mossie but it was pretty fiendish and has ended up quite heavy (18.5 lb without the 2lb of lead needs up front). Very doubtful that it will survive the maiden.

Thanks for the info Nick

Lovely job on the doors Nick. Is the resin between the carbon fibre and the balsa sufficient to hold the profile before glassing or did you do it all in one step (carbon fibre resin plus glassing at the same time)?

Thanks Jon! I have a couple of Laser 70s already so only two to go ... Piers

Thanks all, Really useful information. I think I'm headed for the Laser 70s. Piers

Thanks Denis. The plane I have in mind is Jan Hermkens' Short Sunderland - 4 engines, 136" wingspan, 18 kg. So quite big. He used four 0.45 two stroke glows but I would prefer to use 4 strokes. As Andy says, petrol engines might add too much extra weight so probably looking at 4 stroke glows.

Dear all, Is there a rough and ready way of converting from a given size of two stroke glow engine so as to get the equivalent power from (i) a four stroke glow engine (ii) a two stroke petrol engine and (iii) a four stroke petrol engine? So if the plans recommend say a .50 two stroke glow, what size of engine would be appropriate if I wanted to use a 4 stroke glow, a 2 stroke petrol or 4 stroke petrol instead? Mant thanks Piers

Great work Nick. As you said earlier, it gets quite tight at the back end. Have you checked that when the tail wheel is raised, it does not snag on the closed loop wires running from the rudder servo back to the rudder horns? Just a thought.

Thanks v much gents. Just what I needed. Piers

I haven't spray-painted with these paints before. Apologies for being dim but what should I use thinners-wise? Thanks

Thanks Ron I will give the clear a try. Piers

Ron, I have used the foaming brown plenty of times but not the clear version. How does it (the clear) generally perform in your experience? Thanks Piers

Scratch that. I should have read the text more carefully!

Very nice Nick. What is the shroud made from and how did you shape it? Piers

Thanks Gents. More choice than I thought!

Hi all, Any thoughts/advice welcome about the best glue for adhering a canopy to balsa fuselage. Is canopy glue (like ZAP 560) better than epoxy? My inclination would be that epoxy would be stonger but may be wrong. Thanks Piers

Great work Nick. Following with real interest.

Looking good Nick. Fingers crossed. Piers

It's readable Danny. Quite persuasive too. Piers

Genius! I have struggled in the past getting RDS torque rods properly aligned - I resorted to measuring angles off the plans combined with some pretty rudimentary trigonometry. But this is far more elegant. One question Nick. You say that the final adjustment will be made after glassing and priming. Do you envisage a small pilot hole in the wing sheeting for making this adjustment and then plugging the hole with filler?

Thanks everyone, I will give Asit a call. Piers

Hi Frank, I'm part way through the BT Mossie. The U/C was a real struggle. Like you I tried Unitracts but without success. Ended up replicating the same design by following PeterF's build (he used Unitracts) - search for “brian taylor mosquito retrospective build log” on Google. A retired engineer up in Scotland called Ken King made some of the components for me - he did a really fantastic job. However you might be better off looking into the Richard Wills' approach as per the previous thread posted by Graham Davies - could be quicker, cheaper and lighter. Good luck! Piers

I have used this outfit in the past for copying large plans if it helps: Plancopy & Print Services Ltd in Malvern Tel: 01684 575984

Thanks all, Very interesting and informative. Piers