Chris Walby

Hi Richard, As predicted 🙂 please add me to the list of ME110's if you are making up the kits (standard + any extras as usual), cheers Chris

I'll calc the P38 and OV10 as it will be interesting to compare Flightline models. I know the OV10 is heavier (55 inch) compared with the P38 (63 inch), but the twist is the OV10 has a plank of a wing and the wing loading is less than the P38. 🙂

Looks a lot of model for the money...and a good bit of assembly time. Did you managed to measure the wing root and tip length + wing length or width of fuselage and I'll take it off the wingspan?

Manual handbrake, what's that for? I have an automatic car that disengages the handbrake automatically when I pull away and reapplies it once park is selected. When I worked everyone who drove on company business had to pass a driving assessment, one point that was made was that you should NEVER stop an apply the handbrake (while on route) and that at any junction the brake pedal should be applied (optional to take it out of gear). The reason was that if you were rear ended it would lessen the likelihood of hitting the car in front. The point was reinforced by my late wife when we headed back to her native Northumberland and carrying out various right turns on the A1 (Great North Road, single carriage way). Check behind, indicate and move into the hatched right turn area, stop and wait for a gap in the opposing traffic with your foot applying full brake pressure and wheels straight ahead. When a gap appears, check off side mirror and then carry out the right turn. The number of serious injuries and fatalities by cars pulling out to overtake with cars stationary/turning right is quite high. The consequence of being hit from behind by a car at 60mph is bad enough, but when it then takes you into the oncoming traffic (possibly a HGV) it not worth thinking about. And yes the rear view check has saved me a number of times as the overtaking car realises that I am not overtaking, but turning right...HGV passes on the nearside, idiot passes on the right and oncoming car with lights/horn blaring. Would driver less cars really be that reckless? On the subject of stop/start, like it or not I can't see reliability being an issue as manufacturers put bigger batteries to cope so I would assume they beef up the starter etc

But the breather is in line with the crank and near the highest point with the engine inverted of course oil is going to accumulate in the rocker cover. More inverted fling I say and give it a chance for the oil to be expelled. Why pick it to bits...put it in the test stand with the cylinder head uppermost, start it tune it and give it a good rev against the prop until too hot to touch. I wasn't going to say this, but how did all the oil get in there? Slobbering too rich as the oil has to get past the rings to get in the crankcase?

So you are not flying slow vintage then....must be one of those jet jockeys! I think clarification with James Gordon is called for. I don't think you can compare OW with Buckminster as the local rules and organisers are different. E.G. Buckminster has no weight limit and jets are allowed! The RC line location on this historic airfield has loads of available space in which to enjoy flying your models. We want your day’s flying with us to be as enjoyable as possible in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere, but for the safety of yourself and others, there are certain regulations that you must comply with: • We will introduce our friendly and helpful team to you at the briefing, as well as locations of toilets, catering facilities etc. • Please book in with transmitter control, with proof of insurance and competency. All pilots must have a BMFA B certificate or equivalent unless flying a slow vintage type aircraft where a minimum A Certificate is required. Your transmitter will also be checked for compliance (CE mark or SMAE/MHTF Type Approval).

Entirely if up to you, but personally I would fly it out of the box for a good many flights before butchery. Adding weight to anything that flies in my experience does not improve the flight characteristics (some worse than others). Be interesting to work out the wing loading and then you would have a more informed idea of how much you could add...then see what's available camera wise + you might choose to loose some battery weight to compensate for the camera! Needs an update but you get the idea My SpeedAir which was my main model after the RIOT as it had more mass and a higher wing loading taught me lots, but once you get into warbirds its a hole new game! PS Measure wing root and wingtip length, length of wing and I'll do the rest.

? But the original post said: I bought my Laser 150 NIB in 2017, from 2019 it has been flown frequently in a 82" Seagull Spacewalker. I have never been able to get more than 7400 rpm, on Laser 5% & a Graupner 16*8 & using an OSF plug. Last weekend I had to abort a take off because of a loss of power on the 1st flight of the day. On running the engine in the pits the rpm audibly fell & the engine began hunting gently. I used a tacho on the next start & saw that the RPM was 7400 but that quickly by 1000 rpm & the engine was hot. Another start, with a richer mix saw the rpm fall from 6000 to 4300 with more hunting. Martin, I can't see how you can make this statement "From the description in the OP, this seems to be a sudden onset in service problem so unlikely to be due to installation or interference." Ok the problem has got worse, but it gas never been right...install issue or someone else and messed around with the engine!. As for the engine being full of oil (as its being run inverted) just shows that the valve guides are in condition and there is lots of oil around the cams/valve gear. Once it over fills the timing chest it will go past the rings and be burnt....or somehow squeeze out of the vent line. I would gain confidence that there is plenty of oil in the engine rather than it being bone dry and if it needs emptying more frequently then just fly inverted for a bit. 🙂 I do like the little puff of smoke from the engine when doing a gentle roll Again "You could add camshaft or follower wear (particularly if case hardened) restricting valve opening/duration to the list. Cam wear wouldn’t show up on a valve clearance check as the base circle is unlikely to be affected." but Anthony's comment "When I took the valve cover off an inordinate quantity of clean oil flowed out" If the cam surface were would you not see metallic particles in the oil from the rocker area? IMO if you can only get 4300 rpm out of an engine because the cam/followers are breaking up it should sound like a bag of nails...and lots of metal in the oil!. My money is still on...nothing wrong with the engine, problem with : Glow plug Throttle not wide open Tank vent restriction Fuel line restriction or hole allowing air in Exhaust restricted Failing all else, engine out and onto the test stand and see what that yealds. If revs out then its the install, if not it can't be the install and must be the engine...simples.

Ordered from Ali Express 3 weeks ago and still waiting and no delivery date, ordered from 4Max and arrived next day... you take your pick and pay your money...perhaps the Ali Express ones will turn up at some point.

Depending on size of model Now comes with an XT60 so ideal for a lipo or Available from the internet or 4max

An exception to the 5% nitro and 15% synth oil rule ..all Laser engines sold post the introduction of low oil variant 😉

Tin hat on as other people opinions will differ, but I use Lipo/UBEC or Lipo/switch with integral UBEC in everything from sub 60 inch to 108 inch IC models. Reasons I use flight lipos as IC RX batteries, if they can't stand the demands of powered flight then I don't want them as a RX battery I use lipos far more frequently than the life or nimh packs and that means I have to specifically test them to see if they are ok. Life and nimh don't have a very high C rating which means its difficult to determine if they are any good in a high load situations (just when you don't want the RX to drown out and reboot). Ok do a duration discharge and recharge, but that takes hours and still does not prove it has enough grunt to deal with a high load event. A high current rating UBEC will supply enough current to clear the problem without dropping the RX voltage. I have had a couple of occasions where a stalled servo was destroyed, but at least I could still fly the model and get it back on the ground where I wanted it. If the model has a canopy I don't bother with a switch (the curse of the devil) just plug the lipo into the UBEC close the canopy, start and go fly. If it has no easy to remove canopy then its a switch with integrated UBEC. These are designed for RC and I have never had one fail on me (as opposed to the crappy slide switch type). Hope that helps ....others will have their opinions

I am sure Ron will report back from todays testing, but its a puzzle for sure, well to me!. Still not convinced its the engine, but something to do with the difference between static and in flight factors. Perhaps some time in the naughty corner and a stiff talking to will help.

Heavy? Its 78 inch wingspan and sub 3KG (without batteries so still under 4kg with lipos) compared with the 63 inch P38 that's knocking on 3.5kg with battery. I am pretty sure the B24 will have a proportionally bigger wing area as well. The Ta154 (80 inch) was over 6.5kg and probably less wing area compared with the B24, now that's heavy. I think it will be a really nice flyer, but lots of experience with high wing loaded models before letting the B24 wheels leave the ground. Totally agree with the flight duration, its a high workload for the novice, gear, flaps etc oh and that other odd thing not on the A test.....rudder!

Stu, can't see anything wrong apart from that grey prop...how could you 🙂 And you had space for a sound system as well, top man.

...One other word of warning when departing from a carefully designed and tested model...you might adversely effect its performance. Just a wild guess but say you want another 3 minutes out of the B24, ok stick batteries that are 50% bigger and now you have a very forward C of G. This is because the designers didn't expect such a large battery in the battery bay, but that's ok as you can just add weight in the tail. The problem is with the combined weight of the bigger batteries and lead in the tail you will increase the wing loading. The model will need to fly faster (more drag so the batteries don't last as long!) and will probably have a more abrupt stall so you have to land faster causing more UC damage. Just my advice, but stick with the designers recommendation for the first few flights Overly heavy and high wing loading is not a good combination and does not matter if its electric or IC.....how do I know...

Throttle management, if you cane it around on full throttle (not scale) it will hammer the batteries, but if its gentle take off and mooch about with some nice scale low bombing runs down the runway it will probably do 7 minutes and land with 30% left. I flew the OV10 for 7 minutes and used 30% battery capacity, but with the 3 bladed props if I go over 75% throttle it does not go much faster, but will discharge the batteries far greater. Fly at full power all of the time and it probably won't make 5 minutes and you will be dead sticking it in. The problem is people want a warbird to scream around the sky and do un-scale like things, but IMHO that's not the point. I don't care if my cub can prop hang or do 3D, I just wait for a nice day and mooch about...if I want scary then I have the Focke Stick for that.

IMO I was given some very good advice pre and post A test, and that was to fly as many different models as possible, but especially ones with higher wing loading as its a new and important skill to learn about the mass of the model. As far as I am concerned models sub divide into two groups and that is those that fly like their full size kin e.g. Its a model of a B24 so it flies its full size or those that have been sterilised and fly like a big trainer and have no vices. The problem with the latter is they aren't so rewarding to fly and secondly you will learn less in the long run. Plus one day you might fly a model that is far less forgiving and they can really bite. Still learning to fly my 108inch ic cub, why, because it flies best with just the rudder and elevator...just like the real thing (so I have been told). PS I have had more one out on electric that IC twins, but its the same technique for both. IMO its best to avoid the possibility through PPPPPP.

Everything except the dead stick and it would be ok..... just an impressive full flap dive with well timed flare... Most dumb thumbs occur after the A and B tests..not before

I have the P38 and OV10, both fly very well as long as you don't take liberties with them 🙂 + I hear the Tigercat from the same stable is another great flyer. 7 minutes of flight time is plenty long enough unless you cane it around in an un-scale like way, anyway you have plenty of batteries.

I should be there weather permitting 🙂

DW tank position accepted and engine mounted inverted I would expect the engine could still be set up to max RPM on the ground (although in flight it would be suboptimal) and then problems in flight would materialise. If the engine won't rev out its either Glow plug Throttle not wide open Tank vent restriction Fuel line restriction or hole allowing air in Exhaust restricted Someone has picked it to bits and screwed up the valve timing Valve spring, but IMO it would run My money is on its not engine, but one of the first 5 options.

What orientation is the engine?

Didn't say if it was NIB from Laser or someone else, but if it was NIB then its early days for valve clearence or wrong timing...unless someone has picked it to bits and put it back wrong! Good point from RR...tank or plumbing...had a pinhole in a fuel line... only drew air when it was flat out.

I heard from a very reliable source that the crankcase breather could be blocked off. I can see the point as running an inverted engine with the vent near the top is a bit pointless unless your are flying inverted the majority of the time! i suppose it lets the pressure inside the crankcase and outside to equalise, but is it really necessary? Perhaps the previous owner filled it with oil.... 🙂 Assume you are using the normal set up procedure, then IMO must the the plug...or the wrong prop (but you say its 16x8, but is it. IMO 16x8 is quite a big prop for a 150 and the 155 is a more powerful engine.