Martin McIntosh

M.C., it looks like you just caught them in time, I tried that and was not so lucky. Regarding storage, most of my Tx`s have LiFe packs and they of course would not get that because they are (were) in constant use, so the Rx ones get treated the same. I was trying to clear up why the OP could not get much charge into `stored` packs since they probably not actually at that level.

There is absolutely no point in putting these to a lower storage voltage even if your charger is a very clever one which could do that. The chemistry is way different to that of a Lipo or Li-Ion pack. As I said above, I have some which have not been used from a full charge for a few years and are still full. For peace of mind I always check by doing a discharge/charge cycle manually before using again. A recharge on these only takes 1 hr i.e. a 1500 mA/hr pack is charged at 1.5A.

Whatever your charger may tell you, you cannot put LiFe packs on a storage charge since the voltage will always be 3.3V/cell. I try to leave mine fully charged and have several Zippy packs which have seen no action for a few years. They now take 10mA/hr at the most and are good to go. I have managed to kill several by forgetting to disconnect them from Failover switches until it was too late. Once these are discharged to zero the only place is the bin.

Certainly faked copies. I had the same problem with so called Tower Pro ones. If stopped by hand they would not restart without a Tx input; no wonder that the autogyro they were in behaved strangely. Bin them.

A agree that you must have a faulty unit. Is it 5kW with integral tank or only 2kW needing a separate tank? Mine works fine in my wooden 5m x 3m x 2.5 to apex, lined with 25mm foam with hardboard covering. Be very careful with butane/propane. I used this in the past and found that I felt drunk after an hour despite there being plenty of ventilation. It was of course CO poisoning.

I have found that the quickest way to warm my shed on a very cold day is to stand a small oil filled radiator running at about 1kW in front of the diesel fan for a short time (10 mins).

Shimming a mount is fine but adding washers to engine lugs not only can distort the crankcase as I said above but the screws will no longer be at 90 deg and the heads will definitely shear off in time.

Sounds like a very complex solution to a simple job. Chop the bearers off and use a proper mount.

Assuming that the motor is either upright or inverted and you use wooden bearers you are stuck with only being able to change the downthrust. Those things were notorious for the bolts/screws working loose due to compression of the wood. They also added considerable weight. It is a very bad idea to pack the lugs on an i/c engine with washers because the crankcase can easily distort. As Peter says, attending to these simple details from the word go can make a huge difference to a model, not to mention that the pilot can then concentrate on improving their flying rather than fighting the thing all the time.

You probably will not need to use them but I added flaps to my 81" leccy one. The inner flaps are fixed to the rear of the nacelles which retract inside the front part, as per the full size.

No doubt that mixers apply now, but when I was flying F3A in the 70`s we were lucky to get even rate switches let alone anything else. Many models are being built these days from the `golden era` and the plans show engine offset, which I still do. Interestingly, Spits and Hurries have none as per full size and do not show any adverse effects but then, they were not designed for precision aerobatics.

They reignite the plug and run on high during shut down. When I was rebuilding the unit I googled them and excess soot is supposedly due to an over rich mixture for which there is no adjustment.

Some models, such as the Curare, have no firewall angle, compensated for by an increase in wing and tail incidence. Much simpler.

Mine fired up a couple of years ago then died. I found a new one for £100 shipped from the UK so it arrived undamaged. It came with a remote this time, simply set it to a heat level between 1 and 6, no messing with upper and lower temperatures. I stripped down the old one and found that it had a huge build up of soot. The glowplug worked but the protective gauze tube over the end had clogged and half burned away so new parts were fitted (slight problems with differing connectors). Worked fine so kept it as a spare but later flogged it to a mate. The exhaust on each is identical so simple matter to refit. Forget a lipo because you cannot leave them on a trickle charge. Any old car battery should do if left at a low charge, or even a 12V/7Ahr lead acid would light the plug for the short time needed on power up/down.

Setting the firewall at the desired angles of down and side thrust is usually the first job to do on any model, and they all differ in construction. One way would be to use tangent tables but a simple protractor is all you need. Mark the prop driver centre on the plan then place the protractor centre over it, aligning with the model centre line. Mark at 1.5 deg. and draw a line through the two points. Where this touches the firewall will be the new mount centre so draw a line at 90 deg. to this to get the new angle. Side thrust can then be done using the same method, so the mount will now be offset upwards and to the left. Much easier to do than explain. In practice a little inaccuracy with the angles should not be noticeable in flight but you must end up with the prop driver exactly central. The nose ring, if fitted, should follow the same angles as the firewall. Always use a commercial mount, not old fashioned wooden bearers.

Worth waiting for because it sounds a better and simpler option to the method shown on the plan.

You are very lucky to have acquired such an extensive collection. Those Keilkraft and Veron kits date from the 1950`s and are very much sought after, never mind the engines.

Bruce, the reports were far from gossip, just factual day by day events which you never get to read about in the mags., most of it quite amusing. Just getting gear built on the required frequency for the country, making motors run in alien conditions, and setting up the models to perform at 5000ft ASL, huge transport problems etc. Anyway, they are inaccessible now.

Hi again Jeff, not forgotten you. I would love to tell you about that era but it could go on and on. I once wrote w/c reports for the classic aeros association but they never did get published, probably because the recipient passed away. If you wish please let me know how much detail you would like and I can come up with something interesting, This could be rather long so I would have to write, save, and then attach to a mail. PM me with your mail and phone No. please. Martin.

Now for a few pics. I forgot to say that after the basic 3/32nd sides I gave up trying to bend the stuff I had around the tight curves so changed to 1/16th. The only thing I have had to buy was some more Guild paint since my old tins had dried up somewhat. The satin lacquer is Rustin`s plastic floor coating. I shall not bother to make the turret or canopy until I know that the model flies OK. Very much doubt that spinners and inner cowls would be practicable.

That is encouraging to hear, John. My motors say E-Max 11806 2280kV, same props.

You won`t because he got sent home in disgrace from the 1975 W/Cs. Do not want a lawsuit against me but if the OP wants a little more detail, PM me.

Er yes, it was. That guy came from nowhere with a simple tail dragger and beat us all. Got his comeuppance at the Swiss W/Cs though.

Looks just right to me, along the lines of a Ripmax Gangster which was a very good model, in fact somebody won the F3A Nats with something very similar.

Hi all, I decided to wait until the model was completed before posting again. With 2x TGY 3s 500 HV packs configured as 3s2p plus all the other extra bits and pieces it comes out at a pleasing 712g so very much the same as the original slope version. The Lite Span over sheeted surfaces has not turned out too well despite much previous use on open structures, but it will have to do. Fettling the linkages etc with the wing connected up has been a nightmare, with some evil gremlin seemingly changing things overnight, but got there in the end. One thing I have never done before was to hinge the surfaces before painting. Big mistake. When the satin lacquer set it gummed up all the hinge lines and has taken a lot of work to free them up. I said above that pics were to follow soon but the weather is so dull that I shall leave it for a while longer.