Bruce Collinson

Ken, Ought you to have unfastened the floorboard from the dining room floor first? BTC

Ken, Ought you to have unfastened the floorboard from the dining room floor first? BTC

It will drip oil after use, so I try to remember to bung mine before putting in the wife’s car and of course open it before starting. BTC

Fascinating Jeff. 2 questions. What’s the other end designed for, is it some sort of radial mount? Will there be a tacho fitted behind the “firewall”? BTC

Well done Peter, fly well don’t they? BTC

Mounting the engine. Getting it right without leaving the firewall like a colander, Thrust line central, exhaust at the right angle, throttle connection viable, does my head in. BTC PS I fully realise it’s just me.

All very helpful to me, thanks. Interestingly, before I succumbed to the draw of the warbird, I had already started making longer, faster and flatter take-off runs with everything with big enough wheels, a Wot 4, an Acrowot, a Mentor and particularly the late Excelsior and latter Infinity. The little foam Explorer and especially the tiny Great Planes Sukhoi are both prone to tripping over sheep turds and I'm afraid they're still in the flat out and yank category but I can and do forgive myself. We have c. 100m of mown strip to which aforesaid sheep have unlimited access and it's less than level, ok in a westerly, slightly downhill with lumps in an easterly. Roll on spring and at least one cut a week. BTC

Very helpful as ever Jon. Identical switches is a lesson already learned, though having just switched radio gear it's a work in progress! Landing flap? Max? BTC

Tim, small favour, would you check the distance from the firewall to the prop driver as I’m not achieving anything like 145mm per the manual. Nearer 130 I reckon. Save me making surplus holes in the firewall and cowl. Insert emoji of choice here. BTC

Very helpful Jon. Oleos it is. Is Tim's tank tight to the underside of the plate rather than sitting on the bottom? Preliminary squinting suggests it will strap onto the plate via the helpful cutouts and still line up quite well with the spraybar. Also, the manual is silent on flap angles. Does c. 10 deg takeoff and full flap which looks to be c. 40 deg landing sound about right? Did wonder whether to cheat slightly, leave off the silencer and use the flexi which came with the Laser, smuggled out well to the rear of the cowl, but will it need extra vent exit holes anyway? BTC

Well it's in build, wings fairly easy and a good fit, slight trimming needed to the servo arm slots but trivial. Tail left well alone till engine and tank in. Stared at pushrods and nylon tubes for half an hour then twigged that there's a third pushrod slot formed by the hatch cover, so servos can go in easily, after more re-gluing and some skinning epoxy inside the fus. HK seem to be ambiguous re the retracts and their website is so clunky. Could have mended my Wot 4 (again, Darwinian issues re aileron direction) in the time it took to realise that there are several versions nearly identical so had to go back to this thread yet again. Wise heads down the club all concur, beefy servos and use the supplied retracts. Am pondering. Are your oleos telescopic/sprung? If this seems naive, this is a first warbird and first retracts for me but indirect experience shows a seemingly limitless potential for bending and ripping off with greatly graver consequences than a couple of nylon bolts and the odd plate rebuild. I'm treading carefully. Was about to drill engine mount holes then remembered the warning re the cowl dimension so that's to check first. BTC

weather's the pits, n'est pas? Got mine repaired, u/c plate replaced, new wheels to reduce bouncing and even an exploratory hole in the bottom cowl for the exhaust and needle valve. Still not fitting it, nor the spats, until it has had a few more "proving" flights. Just need less wind! Good luck with the pepper pots. If I were a betting man, I'd have £5 on minus 1 dB and minus 300 rpm per pot. BTC

Ron, You're a credit to our hobby. I have broadly similar potential projects in binliners scowling at the back of the mancave. Happy to share with you if you're at a loose end? BTC

Or use a battery, the leisure battery I use for recharging LiPos on site is easily heavy enough and its handles support its weight, by definition. BTC

Come the revolution, we should repeal every Statute of the last twenty years, pass one agreeing to no new statutes for a minimum of a year, then wait and see whether things improve. BTC

It’s all caused by the race to the bottom, cheapest is invariably the best option, the throw away philosophy and the fact that certain economies are adept at stealing technology and copying it with cheap labour and scant regard to all the shackles which the West has self imposed, industrial relations, H&S, town planning etc. are we allowed to rant on this forum? Before I press the button, my second paragraph ends with a question mark on my screen, not a round yellow thing. BTC

Yes, forgot the dog anchor. Last one I bought was really cheap but chrome plated as opposed to galvanised is it has less friction and penetrates deeper. BTC

Restraint ... a 50 is likely to swamp the standard Y-shape spike, in size as well as thrust, but perhaps use yellow/white webbing, rope or whatever to avoid what happened here last week when a certain ex-Chairman nearly pulled the whole tail off my pal's new pride and joy by tripping over dark coloured restraint straps. My pal was so livid, he kicked his guide dog. BTC

A beefy starter. Gallon can of fuel, petrol compatible pump, Tygon plumbing. Spare towels or microfibre cloths for spills. Tachometer. Big beefy restraint. Elastoplasts. Spare sparkyplug and spanner. Lots of cable ties. Dedicated assistant. A proper model stand helps a lot with big planes especially at this time of year. Make really sure the ignition switch is wired and labelled correctly so there’s no doubt when it’s safe and when it’s live, for priming. Noise meter. Petrols are loud. Whatever tools you need to set the jets whilst retaining all 10 digits (see dedicated assistant, above). Which reminds me, I’m about to put new batteries in my little infrared thermometer, bought for fishing but really comforting when running in anything. Based on a steep learning curve, hope it helps. When they’re set they start easily and are frugal, until then they’re bitchy. Oh yes, borrow the wife’s car. Drain out meticulously, wrap the business end in a Radley handbag outer bag to reduce the fume smell. BTC

they're annealed, aren't they; will they need to be re-tempered? BTC

Wot 4 with an unfeasibly large engine, like a Laser 80. Mine had a short but interesting existence with an ASP 90; Wot 6. BTC

Most of my u/c dislocation episodes may have involved the edges of our mown strip, which is marginal sheep grazing land and has long, snatchy tendrils which leap up and ensnare any low flying objects. Just saying. BTC

Touché.

Bought a whole box of assorted tension springs from Maplin, who appear to have done a Phoenix and are back online. BTC

David, You either do it now by disassembling it in controlled circumstances or later when the almost inevitable ensues. I have only experienced the latter but as I recall posting above, next time I’ll retaliate first. i suspect there’s little to be gained trying to fill in the cutouts but lots of epoxy in the joints might help, then ply, and I would glass and epoxy it too. Also triangular stock in the joints. Jon H posted a pic which I tripped over earlier, showing a sacrificial u/c plate with nylon bolts instead of the design steel bolts. That prompted a reply that it would lead to collateral damage to the wing or tail as the cart clouts them on the way past; struck me I’d rather patch yellow Oralcover than rebuild the bottom of the fus. Also mitigates the problem of getting the nylon stubs out of the T-nuts if they shear flush. great all rounder, love mine to bits. BTC