Martin McIntosh

I have a biplane with four aileron servos, two of which are standard and the other two of the same type HV. On a 6.6V LiFe pack they all operate at the same speed so I can only surmise that the HV ones have a different voltage regulator, almost certainly to allow operation with Lipos.

An |XT60 will handle 60 Amps and a 90, 90Amps. I would very much doubt if your Radio Queen would require anywhere near this. If the Lipo comes with a 60 then that is all its wires are expected to carry. Most wiring is fitted with a cross sectional area to cope with the maximum current demand expected from the battery, so fitting a larger connector would be pointless. Having said that I have a new twin ducted fan model which exceeds 60A on a full charge and the XT60 gets a bit hot. A plug always has pins and a socket, well sockets. We call servo connectors plugs but they are actually female so they are sockets.

Why not try LiFe Rx packs? Much more reliable and safer and you would be surprised at how little recharging they take after a flying session. 1100 if you only have about six servos or 1800 if more (definitely NOT nanotech ones though).

Just my 2p worth. I now use an Axminster Jet saw which is very good indeed, pity the quick blade change version came out soon afterwards; also one with a 90 deg. blade option would have been good. I simply temporarily screw a piece of wood to the bench to stop it from being pushed back.

I have been using Orange Rxs for a long time and have never experienced a failure, mainly 9ch which match my JR 921`s for range, although the 6ch ones have a shorter range even with two aerials and a satellite. Despite trying, I have never managed to fly even a basic Orange park fly one out of range. My Precedent Stampe and a Mustang have had 9ch ones in from day one and after 10 years they are fine. I do however use JRs on the rather more valuable models. A Spektrum 7ch went dead after a year of languishing in a heated shed. From what I can gather it is Spektrum Txs they do not get on with for some reason.

Depends on what the builder put inside the wings as fixing points. I screwed bent brass plates to mine, one end has mini SLEC ball links and the other kwik links, coupled with 2mm rods inside litho aerofoil tubes. Not great as the tubes can rotate and there is a gap top and bottom but it is easy to de rig. Distance between the wings is about 13", same as at the cabane strut end.

Interesting video, I have never seen vacuum bagging being done before.

OK back to the glue. Tried washing down the foam with IPA on a test piece. Same result, the whole lot simply fell off. Should be alright on polystyrene though. Slug pellets? When I read that they would become green I wondered about the ones I am already using and found that they are indeed `green` but they work fine. The things dry out very quickly once dead so no self respecting bird would look at them. Copper grease painted around access areas to pots stops them in their tracks before they can get near my chilli peppers.

Thanks Andy, I got some of those from one of the above on line stores and they were fine, could even have been ebay. You pay your money and take your chances sometimes. Never buy ebay servos though.

That is a thought. Every scrap of it easily lifted off the foam and I rubbed it off the balsa. The foam is from a large batch I bought a long time ago so should be the same. The Copydex bottle roes not appear to be any different to previous ones. I shall `stick` with the POR. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies; I was definitely logged in correctly, it is a saved login. Started from scratch and tried again but same result when I tried to checkout. Unfortunately some of the parts I wanted are not available elsewhere. I have used AliExpress and Banggood a fair bit recently and found delivery to be fairly quick. You have to be very careful on Ali because it can be quite confusing as to what you are actually buying i.e. three glowplugs or just one piece.

Just tried gluing a 2mm Depron skin to a balsa wing frame with Copydex. Despite giving it plenty of drying time before bringing the surfaces together it virtually fell off the next day. I have used this many times before without any problems. Re did some using a fresh piece of Depron with UHU POR and it sticks fine, so has the glue formula maybe changed in some way? £18 quid for nothing!

Has this place died altogether? Just tried to order a number of items and it comes up `No current shipping method to UK`.

Hi again David, I have had a few expected problems with the flimsy nose leg but now hopefully sorted. With the stated cg %age from the LE the model would sit on its tail if pushed down. Fixed with a couple of washers under the front of the main units. As above, I had to guess at the position of the legs. Due to some eyesight problems having cropped up it may have to join my queue of unflown projects, but not having flown anything at all since last September I took up a fun fly a couple of weeks ago OK, so with the blacked fan nacelles it should be visible enough. (And yes, I did warn club members flying on the same day that I could have problems). Empty bench now and a cartoon style military drone is on the way with some rather unconventional construction. Watch out for `Dr. One`.

Got mine to the point where it could be maidened when I can. Lots of problems have arisen recently, mainly the fact that with the rudders linked up the linkage jammed at the servo end due to it fouling on a tail rib. No choice but to take a saw to the rear end, replace the smelly burnt out servo and sort out the problem. For some reason the nose leg has gone in to one side and fouls but easily corrected. Now it was crunch time. Luckily a 4s 5800 easily gets the cg correct but I may need to bend the main legs rearward a little. Scales next. I could not possibly have built the airframe any lighter and was hoping for 5lbs but it is actually 5lb 13oz. Still fairly chuffed with that though, considering that it is much larger than the original. Some pics in my shed since it is precipitating down outside.

I know the problem only too well. I watched TN fly his Concorde from the BMFA centre patch and it went off fine which prompted me to build one since I have a TN Vulcan with cheapo HK fans. I could have walked faster than it was on grass but was able to test fly it at Barkston. Despite my efforts I have not been able to get at the fans to upgrade them. I tried the Concorde at my local patch; it would have gone if I had let it but there was a noseleg problem. Tried again but there was mulch on the patch and it ground to a halt with all four fans clogged up. Need to put FOD guards over the cheat holes before I venture out with it again. Hoping that with a proper u/c to raise it the A 10 should be OK.

Now that I have the wiring done I have been testing the fans. The stated wattage per fan is 628 but with both running on a full charge I am getting just over 1kW. This soon dies a bit as expected since the batteries were intended to be used in pairs on outrunners and the connectors are only XT60`s, not 90`s. The static thrust is enormous. Got myself in a pickle with the screwed on rear nacelle parts. With them on I cannot fit the thrust tubes and if I do it the other way round I cannot get at the screws! Found a way round it. The fans are quite heavy at 135g each and the wiring to the ESCs is also weighty since I did not wish to extend the battery leads so I shall later find out if this affects the cg. I can now fit the elevator servo and finish off the covering so still plenty to do.

Well done. I like the colour scheme; unfortunately mine will look rather more plain until I find out if it actually works.

What make of fans and escs are you using? I believe that the esc timing needs to be set to high. I may well run into the same problem myself since I am now at the stage when I can make up the wiring loom and check what is happening.

After much hassle for some reason I have at last got a set of nacelle mouldings after reverting to my old method of producing these. They are from a single layer of 160gm/sq. m. cloth and are vert light. I decided to glue the N4 parts inside them so that they can be screwed in place, thus giving access to the fans. I had to make a canopy from very expensive balsa so it is a bit skinny and none too scale.

I have never seen anything quite like that. A big round of applause for everyone involved.

A radio set I used for many years had very heavy Orbit sticks which suited my style of flying. They were nowhere near as precise as later types and had quite a bit of play at the centre, but I could perform a slow roll by just leaning on the stick a bit during inverted (I fly mode 1). I briefly changed to Simprop but the sticks were incredibly light and I could never get used to them. I now fly JR with the springs as heavy as they will go (i have always been a thumbs flyer).

After very many fits and refits I have got my nose wheel centring to work properly. When retracted, the springs keep tension on the closed loop. The wires have now slackened off since fitting so will require re tensioning. The nacelle moulds are still causing many problems but I think that I can now get round those. Awaiting the nose block glue to set so that the fus. bottom can be enclosed and shaped.

Thanks, I have now installed the steering servo just in front of the wing LE. I have a cunning plan to keep the leg central but if it does not work I shall whip the thing out.

When I saw a program about how Thames Water treat raw sewage then sell it back to you as drinking water I decided that pure Scotch was the best way to stay alive.