Martin McIntosh

So in a tube that large it will still flop about will it not?

Why on earth do you want to put leads in tubes? Just run them through holes in the ribs which saves removing and refitting plugs.

I needed one to build my modelling shed. First tried a cheapo from Home Base but it was rubbish and taken straight back. I then got a Skill saw from B&Q which saw a lot of work for 22 years until someone stole it. Makita are expensive, particularly the batteries but are very good. If yours is not going to do much after that job then you may be able to get one from Lidl or Aldi for a fraction of the price. Never had a problem with any power tools I have bought from them.

I too would like to see the answers to those questions, particularly as to how the ducts were made.

Hi David, I shall have a look at your blog. The retracts will need new legs making when I can get a suitable size of wire. Not sure of the correct position for the mains but am thinking of 50% chord. I never use a single bolt on a model like this; also never use dowels since any wear and tear is not easily fixed. I always use a ply tongue which is much simpler to fit and align with a slot in the LE former. Sorry about the delay with photos, I got sidelined. Centre top is now sheeted and am about to cut the braces.

Pics.

Some pics, but really just a larger version of the original so far. Since the wing centre section ribs did not have a rear spar to stop the TE from floating around I have added a simple 1/8th sq. one to the top. The wing outer panels are shown without a W1 rib at the join so they will get one to make life easier. I shall glass over the dihedral joins because there will not be much else holding them together. Centre ready for top sheeting and I shall stay with 1/16th. Last pic shows the diminutive retracts. The larger 65mm wheels will eventually be fitted. Anyone tried these ESCs? I have a brand new pair of hopefully quality TGY wing servos for this but need a couple of others since I shall be fitting rudders. Found a donor model in the shape of one of my Atom autogyros which has the servos, wheels and a suitable Rx.

A mate (not a modeller) had just returned with some and since I was passing the shop anyway could not resist a look. Three times round the middle of Lidl before I spotted them.

Just got some Velcro straps from Lidl, 13mm wide x 200 or 300mm in packs of 20 for £1.99, ideal for holding Lipos. Leccy lovers go get some quick.

Bert, I know that you flew at W&W in a much stronger wind than that. Remember when they were crying out for models in the air and we were the only ones brave enough with our flimsy bipes?

On the first day that evening electric r/c flight was allowed at the Nats I was first to take off with my Cap 21. Immediate aileron reversal! Very embarrassing, and I probably did not even have a mobile at the time. Gear was a 6 ch Spektrum on DSM1 and previously very reliable.

This is strangely similar to what happened to me with very well flown and tested JR gear. I throttled back my giant Limbo dancer at height soon after take off. It immediately put its nose down and I had no control whatsoever. Needless to say that no fault could be found with any of the gear which was subsequently flown again. Same a little later with, as it happened, my 1998 Ripmax LD which did the same thing but this time on full power. No failsafe operation and no faults found with the gear later. In each case I stripped down the switch, Rx and all servos which were then examined under a high power magnifier. No battery or connector problems either. My patch was known to have problems with a nearby gas pumping station maybe causing telemetry induced interference on 35mHz but not 2.4.

Hi David and thanks for your interest. So far it is just a larger version of the original and nothing much to see. The nitty gritty will come when I have to make GRP fan housings and a canopy from scratch.

Amazingly, the retracts arrived today. I thought that the box must only contain a couple of ESCs since it was so light. The units are very small but should be fine, having metal trunnions. The supplied legs are short with only 50mm wheels but these will be replaced by 65mm super light ones. Not bad for the price. Not sure yet as to whether to make the nosewheel retract forwards or backwards since I have already provided for a none scale rearward option. I have moved the offending stringers on F4 to where they should be. Fairly obviously the plan was drawn showing them on the wrong side of a line. I have now started the laborious task of copying the ribs to plain paper then onto balsa by drawing round the outlines in ink. Tried many ways of doing this over the years and this is the best by far. Don`t like solid balsa tails since they put a lot of weight where you could do without it and had already decided to make it built up. I see that the ceiling tile A10 on the rear cover of the March RCM&E appears to have a very thick tail section.

Hi Henry, there is little space between the d/f pods and the fus. to fit props.

Thanks John, it must be other than the one I was looking at. Anyway, I shall start again here. I have built four of the TN d/f models plus my o/d 90mm Hawk but for various reasons have not been able to try any in the air as of yet (ill health, eyesight affected or just too scared to). Fed up with just sitting around all day with nothing to do in the shed, I spotted an A10 blog so got the plans enlarged as per my Hunter. The 64mm FMS 4s fans have arrived very quickly from AliExpress but the ESCs will take rather longer as will the retracts which I intend to fit. Got a job lot of high grade thin balsa from a former club mate and now have the basic fus. ready for skinning. Almost all of the formers have been made from balsa ply to save weight and wood sizes kept as per original where possible. Small error on the plan whereas the stringer slots in F4 do not align with the ones in F2 and 3 but I may correct this before proceeding further. Pics later when I have something worth showing.

Just starting a TN A10 plus at 130% of the original plan size. Tried to put some of this on another thread but my scribings seem to have got lost so here we go again.

About to start a thread entitled `A10 plus` for my 130% version of TN`s.

If I may add a bit here I would say that most Laser sales are to scale modellers who already appreciate the advantages of a reduction drive on some of the larger petrol powered models. I understand the reluctance of a factory owner to invest in a new project because he has to pay for it, but any niche in the market must be worth exploring since there must be little competition in geared 4 strokes. In the 70`s, Hanno Pretner stormed to a win with a huge Dalotel powered by 2X two stroke geared down belt driven 60`s in the Las Vegas Tournament of Champions. Nobody at the time could believe that a model of that size would perform so well with such small engines. Long ago I bought a Webra Speed geared 60. The helical gears produced much more noise than the exhaust and prop. combined so that was obviously the wrong approach at the time.

Great idea. Wish that I still had my i/c TN 11` one to fly on that date as I am an avid fan of the Rhur raid and visited the breached dams in 1975. If you do not mind me rabbiting on I have an o/d leccy Lanc of 81" span which got shot down by unknown interference (on 2.4) some years back at an event. Repaired and flown many times until a flimsy HK 3 blader shed them just after take off. Tried other props but no use until I got rid of the spinners which would no longer be of use on 2 bladers and took it to my local club scale event. It dutch rolled from side to side becoming inverted each time and only became `controllable` after reducing power. Now fitted with APC 2 blade props but I am now forwarned as to what may happen. Not had the chance to try it yet. Regarding the HK one which I also have and assuming that it is the later one without `working` bomb doors, here is what you need to do before you think about flying it. The battery needs to be at the front of the wing but as far back from the LE as possible which means cutting away the foam from the centre. Get rid of the lousy push rods to the elevators and tailwheel and replace the elevator one. Remove the steerable tailwheel and replace with a castoring one. Hinge the rudders so that they can be used and fit a micro servo at the tail centre, connected to the rudders with thin carbon rod. Use coupled aileron to rudder, at least 50% or the thing will just adverse yaw when you try to turn it. This took me at least 3 days to do but was well worth the effort. Finally, re glue the retracts in place or they will simply fall off.

The clips I use are sound, either wire types or flat metal. I also got a reel of s/st wire to do the same job from Al`s Hobbies.

Thought that I had previously replied to this thread but it must have got lost. I am just starting a +130% version for 64mm FMS 4s EDFs. Got the plan scaled up at my local print shop for £15 on two sheets of proper paper. So far, I have only made up the fus. formers from a ply of 1/8th and 1/16th balsa to keep the weight as low as possible. I intend to fit retracts since the increase in size should make these viable, but shall have to wait for the only suitable ones I could find on AliExpress. I have had to take a chance with the ESCs and hope that if I need to extend any wiring they will be OK, having been caught out before despite the correct type of extra capacitors being fitted. I have been scratching around for suitable balsa but a job lot of quality stuff has just been made available for collection tomorrow at the right price so Ye Hah! Not been near my shed since the completion of my Sea Fury due to ill health causing lack of interest in anything at all but this design has inspired me to make an effort again.

I have done a couple of tiled plan resizes (during covid lockdowns) but it is a real pain. Much easier to get your local print shop to do it now; it does not cost a lot and will be on quality paper.

Had a look at the above link and it would seem that we all encountered the R2/R6 problem. The only pic I could find showing packing had 3x 3mm pieces of lite ply, presumably at around that point.

Just as Andy says, but I was not to know that at the time and brushed it on neat. Only tried it because there were concave parts.