Chris Walby

I will third what Jon said about the SG Hurricane, even if SG gave me one I would give it back. It has major issues and at best will land like a dog, sort of fly ok and never really be a pleasure to fly IMHO as at some point it has to meet the ground. Others have had some success by adding inches to the nose and remaking the fuselage, moving the UC mounts and adding a gyro, but is it really worth all that effort to end up with a dog?

Sort of on topic for a GTC Somewhere on the forums I remember a GTC modeller adjusting the rudder/tail fin shape to reduce the pitch/yaw /roll effect and was wondering if anyone can pinpoint said thread? Its a great model and flies superb on elevator and ailerons, but mine is quite feral in flight when using a lot of rudder!

Perhaps see what the plans says as they are for the IC version or await a comment from Peter himself. I asked Peter regarding my electric standard size GTC and the guidance was no down or side required and very politely suggested that is what the rudder is used for when taking off. As for in flight he mentioned that the GTC was very benign to the point IIRC he flew an entire flight on one engine as he other quit shortly after take off. I don't think either my Dual Ace, Mosquito, Tiger Cat (all IC) and foam P38 have any down/side thrust(although the P38 does have counter rotating props in the "wrong direction to convention, but scale to the full size). PPS adding side thrust might produce a weird effect in flight as you increase power and engine speed is slightly different..a bit like Dutch roll and the model yaws and pitch changes. Don't fancy that myself!

Just to confuse Toto, quite a few ARTF's have handed servos. e.g. one travels in one direction and the other in the opposite direction as it saves a channel or servo reverser! Applications I have come across where this has been done are gear doors, nose wheel steering and flap servos ether just because they can spec or they can't be bothered to design the issue out...guess if you are buying hundreds at a time the servo manufacturer will accommodate the request. Have others come across other applications?

Balanced view? You decided not to buy on line You decided to turn up at probably the busiest time for getting into Weston Park although you live "local" Ok there were less stands than previous, what do you expect from a hobby that is dying? Plenty of stalls selling ARTF stuff, SLEC balsa and carbon composites if you wanted Half the display line have been there previous years. What's the cost of a good size IC warbird £5k to £10k, yeah like I would be changing a model every year Cambria funfighters , expensive? Very poor value for £23. well that's your opinion. I am not saying it was good value, but no one was forcing you to attend. Flying included something for everyone including a good display by full size. Sure they would be criticised if it was focused on only one type. Stands were not rammed packed and I could hold some meaningful conversations with suppliers that I would not normally be able to Sales for foam chuck glides seemed to do well..even if the parents put the wings on upside down! In perspective I could have used the M6 toll at £14.30 or sat in the que for 30 minutes, making a round trip 6 hours. It is what it is, don't attend or whine about it and they will probably not bother the following year, but that won't mean people will automatically go to another show just less shows. Tin hat on and off to the shed. 😉

I had a HK UBEC and three small digital servos, just bench testing an idea before putting it to the 38inch model and stirred all the sticks. And the RX browned out! Measured the voltage on the RX and everything worked until all 3 servos were asked to travel quickly at once. Changed the UBEC to another make and all was ok

Flew yesterday morning before the wind got up after12 and then again this morning Most of the time it was less windy than the photo and a very variable direction Coffee, canned drinks, good chats and 7 flights, more nose weight out of the P38L and T33 + I'll need to take the nose plate off the Habu2 for the lead removal (lead for 4S lipo, but now flying 6S).

Just a few comments and apologies if I stepped on anyone's toes as it was not intentional, merely a product of the situation at the time. Can't say I was really expecting Manny to ask me to be point of contact at Buckminster, but knowing Jon would not get to Buckminster until close to 10 was happy to be there if anything should happen (although site staff are more than competent when on site). I thought it went very well with a relaxed flying, no major que to fly and some super Laser powered models flown very well with the conditions at the time. So I would give it a 9 out of 10 and be happy to attend again. Now the 1 out of 10, In life there will be those who complain and I very rarely find they actually organize anything. Okay the flight line could have a couple of marshals, but you would need two or even three people to totally dedicate their day to this + have the authority to do so. I was totally disgusted that at model air people verbally abused organizers/OW staff for whatever reason it is not acceptable. Yesterday there was a short discussion about how to set the flight line up (totally out of my area of expertise) and agreement, then guess what, most people stuck to it and a minority just ignored. The same with people flying and then others joining with inappropriate models as it was not like there was a rush to get your next flight in. With the numbers attending my vote is to keep it as an informal fly-in, but if people what o have greater control then please volunteer. Well done Jon and all of his helpers for arranging this, best not leave it another 40 years thought! PS IMHO there is benefit in booking Buckminster early....its in the diary then people can decide if something else comes along and clashes to attend or not. PPS perhaps a couple of manufacturer demonstration flight slots for Jon to have some fun and the rest of us sit back and see how its done!

From 2014 it looks no different to me, BBC or the Met office if the data is taken from 13:00 hours sample data (min, average and max wind speed)...unless you can see something I can't?

06:00 am weather check! Runway looking good and just getting a trim for tomorrow Going flying now with the FW190

Had a cracking 6 days up at Longhorsley LMA event and could not see the point driving past Buckminster (+ 2 hours to get home) only to head back up tomorrow so stopped off and will camp until Saturday.... then its Baldock scale day on Sunday 🙂

Report from Buckminster 🙂 Cloudy, light rain and rather blowy. Will head out at 10:00 and try a bit of electric flying...if it calms down I'll get the FW190 out. Looing a bit like a admin day until things improve (sun is trying to beak through as I type). Forecast (Met Office) suggest improvement towards the weekend. I think the DR1 will be left in the hanger, but Dual Ace and possibly the Cub should be okay on Friday.

Postcard from Northumberland as I am attending the LMA Longhorsley weekend fly-in (actually got there Wednesday!) great bunch of ladies and gents with fabulous hospitality. The Dual Ace (twin 70's) has had a good thrashing almost every day and the icing on the cake was the re-maiden of the of the Balsa USA cub with an FT200 in it. Mr Doughnut got al the way up here and then twigged I only the 18 x 8 off the Eurobat (Jon did say a 20 x 6 would better suit it) and right result Arthur (visiting flyer) gave me a 20 x 6 prop. Result Took off with 3/4 throttle, cruises on half and can low and slow on quarter throttle + what is surprising to me is how adaptable the engine is..from fast and furious in the Eurobat to pootler on the cub.

Why don't you go for a Cambria fun fighter, modern design, laser wood pack and known standard electric conversion. Details can be found on Facebook (Darren) Guess it depends if you want traditional or modern take?

Two options spring to mind from lots of shall we say bitter experiences. Dollies, don't bother unless you have good power to weight ratio and the model has a benign stall (worst thing you can do is let it off the dolly if its doesn't have enough go to climb (a bit) and gain air speed to gain control. If you are prepared to retrieve a dolly then the bungee is a better option in my book. Pretty much guaranteed rapid acceleration in the right direction until the control surfaces become effective. The Vulcan I look after has very poor thrust to weight ratio, pusher props and is very heavy (IIRC 6kg) so a dolly, bungee with 25Kg and 20m long, pulled out close to 40m gets the man hold cover, sorry Vulcan into the sky. Now there is an alterative and no doubt some will say you don't need it or its cheating or something else, but it works for me and others that embrace technology. I have an SU47 that has a good few issues (power to weight, floppy wings and some plain weird flight characteristics), which means we hand launch a 2.5 kg model and it sits somewhere with enough AOA to miss the ground and accelerate to controllable air speed or not. Now I might achieve this just about 50% of the time without damaging the model, but if I use an RX with gyro and Safe (or equivalent) for a 5 degree climb out then the success is much much higher. Once the model is away and up to speed, switch safe off and try and fly the unruly beast! PS - the critical factor is power to weight and every time I repair a model...it gets heavier!

Very hash there Kevin...it does come with a spares box 🤣

Change of plans, incomplete models and flying is all getting in the way, but I have managed to move the G30 out and the FT200 into the Cub so if all goes well it should be at Buckminster! PS Weather permitting I'll be coming down from Northumberland and be at Buckminster from Wednesday (camping) + some others camping from Thursday so if anyone is around and about then pop in.

I find Deans very inconsistent, some tight and some that will fall apart. GNB come with XT connectors so and moving towards that form the EC3/5's that seen to be on the general way out

The space ship was absolutely fabulous...it flies, but without apparent wings ! Thanks for coming up to the oily end of the runway, although I think I'll stick with 1, 2 or 3 wings 🙂

Well what a difference a day makes! Saturday being cold and a bit windy and then Sunday with next to no wind and bright sunshine all afternoon. Good to chat with ACE and Ron + a few others and of course big thank to the guys that gave me a R clip and spare prop for my DR1 after the wheel fell of on the take off run The Dual Ace with a pair of Laser 70's go a good few flights in (might have been the only IC twin there?). Ron, I didn't think the Revolver was too loud, but then again its never going to pass 82dB, but sounded sweat all the same.

I am with David and Ron and personally I would never fly an electric without taking the lipo out and measure its capacity post flight. With exactly the same reason I use a hand pump and count the turns to fill, refill and empty at the end of the day. For me its an absolute requirement as I fly either twins or models that have glide ratios like manhole covers. Plus I think its poor form for any sort of forced landing to say you ran out of fuel (electrons or liquid) as the reason when it could easily be managed with telemetry or previous experience. In the big scheme of things, my largest tank (not in the largest model) takes about 50 turns so about a minute max? so hardly delaying the impending flight. Use one pump and carry a spare (prevents sods law of the first packing up!).

Much better weather than yesterday up at the flying field and as the models had been checked over and a thumb dialing flight with the GTC it was time to maiden the Habu. Now E-flight say its 4S to 6S however with our length of grass it was never going to leave the ground on 4S A bit of hunting around and 45 minutes later bringing the 6S lipo out of hibernation the maiden was on. Much better progress down the runway and a nice gentle climb out, plus a bit of trimming and it flies really well. The T33 was hand launched and flew well, I think it may benefit from moving the c of g back towards the manufactures recommended position, A fellow club member has one and ended up with his C of G 30mm forward (where I maiden mine). I had an unsuccessful left hand lob so I need to work on that or fit a gyro for launching, but it does fly well.

Thanks guys, yes its a JST....Mike I did think of that until I get to the retract controller and then the std servo plug won't fit.... PS I really don't like making these up so just buy the ones with a short lead and then inline solder/heat shrink sleeve.