Bruce Collinson

L, There are three types of accountants, those who can add up and those who can't. If you laid all the economists in the world end to end, they still wouldn't reach a conclusion. Etc. Arguably, four questions. Like a joiner's bit storage roll? Great idea! Now, where's the wife's sewing machine? Where's the wife? Many thanks! BTC .

Right then. Q1. All my LiPos and ESCs are on Deans. I'm contemplating swapping them all to XT 60 after losing a bruising battle with a 5S pre-tinned LiPo and a soldering iron (yes I did cut the tinned length off first). These ok with 5S 5000mAh? Do they need a sparky suppressor thingy? When answering, bear in mind that the LiPos are used in different planes, some of which would struggle with XT 90s. Q2. What's the elegant way of carting the spare prop collection to the field and back? Considered and rejected 4" fallpipe with caps; can't find a Really Useful box which is long enough, say 17", without being too fat. I look forward to answers! BTC

Wondering whether steam would work. Stickmakers bend and straighten walking sticks of many different hardwoods by putting them in a plastic soil stack tube, sealing both ends then connecting to a wallpaper steam stripper. That's how umbrellas and walking sticks get a 180 deg bend for a handle. I believe an hour renders them extremely ductile, and they set on cooling down. Clearly, raw steam would be unhelpful for a wing, but if the temp could be regulated, maybe a big plastic storage chest would work with regulated exhaust too ... just thinking out loud. Balsa is a hardwood. Lots of info on t'Interweb, as ever.

Ooh that reminds me. Last Sat when doing noisy tests the Best Flier in the Club, who kindly checked and maidened it prviously (it's the keyboard skipping strokes not me and I'm fd up going bak) brought his spirit level and concluded that it needed a tad of negative incidence. A medium length debate ensued as to how to achieve this, the consensus being that elongating the bolt holes and installing further ply location tabs to move the bolt position was the best bet. If I got this right, and don't quote me, Terry believes that to fly properly it needs this adjustment. We agreed to defer it until the silencer, c of g and cowl are addressed. Whether this would deal with Gary's bent wings is another matter, I suppose. Presumably trimming the ailerons is anathema? Didn't finish the battery tray. Out tonight. Touch and go for Sat.

Martin, Nasty? It was serious! Brand new wings, almost certainly for the same variant (see above), probably take £20. Probably, when I post something nasty, you’ll know the difference. Now to build a battery tray. Wonder if my wings are bent?

try to find the new wings which were at Elvington?

And how much weight is Diana requiring in the tail? You confirmed my fears about the batteries so far back, although I need to compare your pics with my fus as I'm not sure I have the horizontal former with the circular/oval hole immediately behind the canopy. I start to wonder whether Seagull continually modify this plane. Things lying around, per Cymaz; a plank, string and deadweight ... it is a very useful bit of kit.

Loads of favourite methods of mixing epoxy. Packet of cup cake cases (ask i/c Catering to acquire). Mix with coffee stirrers, free if you support your local filling station or maybe a quid to Sooty and whilst you're about it, a packet of diesel pump plastic gloves to keep it off your hands. I use electronic scales for mixing epoxy, as I had a set for other reasons; I believe the Chinese are now knocking them out very cheaply indeed.

Of course I’ve drilled the cowl! Just Vannesa’d post heavy exhaust addition and it looks like my batteries are going where yours are. Has your tray worked out ok? Looks fiddly to get at the batteries so far back. It’d better fly after all this!

Set OF bits.

Cheap set on bits for the field, amazing how often somebody needs them but no one has them. They do often have a small battery drill for doing up wing bolts.

Gary, can we assume these fit the spats, or are you flying without them? Need another trip to the Precious Shop and they’re shut tomorrow when I will be nearby! BTW picked up spare spats at Elvington swap meet for a fiver, but resisted unused wings for £25 on the basis that I have yet to wreck a wing without demolishing the fus. Have put hard blocks on firewall for cowl screws. BTC

Cymaz, can we try it as a "Kylie"?

Why, was she hanged in Greek mythology?

Just testing. Some woman anyway. Whatever.

We had lots of problems with Spektrum txs and Lemon rxs this summer, resulting in txs going to Germany for testing, Spektrum rxs going into I/c planes and a wholesale migration to Jeti in one instance. After much telemetry frame counting, some flawed rx installations we improved and strict range testing, 30m, I wouldn’t risk what you’re describing. I wonder if there was a good reason why it was sold?

Ah. Now you tell me. Mine fell off after noise tests on Saturday; funny I didn’t hear it. We put it back in and when I worked on it last night, there it was, gone. Ordered another from Mr. McGregor. Another redundant spare part. Still, if the cap goes on more easily, it’s an ill wind.

Rebuilding mine tonight with the modified Harmer silencer; we overlooked the fact that the plug angles back so the procedure is now, engine out, HT cap on (is it me or are they tighter than a tight thing?), silencer on, thread throttle rod through, engine on, connect LT cables and fuel. Getting it down to sub-30 mins; Williams beware! Unless Valerie proves that we were quite a way out with fingertips under wings, I'm aiming for about 130 next time. Very good luck. My clubmates have just advised that Wednesday forecast is grim and they're flying tomorrow, whilst I kick the recalcitrant wheels of commerce into life. Watch the aerials re the wing tube and tank. My satellite is in the wing as a result. I have modified the Veronica slightly to make it more accurate, robust and adjustable, I put it on another thread re C of G earlier today. I'm very unlikely to rely on fingertips ever again, especially for a 9 lb mid wing plane; different with smaller high wingers. Incidentally, what did you decide re the front wing bolts? I followed Gary M and made them dowels, but this didn't meet with the approval of my elders and betters, who provided a pair of wing bolts with small holes in the heads and a net curtain hook on the end of a short dowel which acts like a crude UJ to get initial tighten, then the tank brace has been modified to vertical/central (I discovered an M3 captive nut in the floor sub-frame which was handy) and the foam pushed forward so it's just possible to tighten them finally and lose the 2-3 mm gap at the LE root. Fingers crossed for a successful outcome, remember to fly it in. I only know because I was told to. BTC

Talking of DNA, as you mostly are, did you hear that the forthcoming series of "CSI Moss Side" has been shelved after one pilot episode? Apparently there are no dental records, and all the DNA is identical.

All the more reason for Veronica then. Further refinement to mine (think it was in the Seagull thread); bought new 11 mm dowel, couldn't find a tight fitting bit, bored it 12 mm using bench drill, put a 3mm hole at 90 deg and introduced an M4 machine screw which happened to be lying nearby. Now, when the c of g is close I can nip up the dowel whilst fine tuning. BTC

May have sorted the noise issue. My very generous club mate Jeremy “Sheep” Harmer has built a silencer box out of aluminium box section, sheet and tube and it has it down to 82 dB with the seal of approval from my elders and betters (well betters then). Most of the aluminium was significantly thicker than the tinny exhaust supplied and its significantly heavier. Also, the engine has had to be moved forward about 15mm. There will be some serious rebalancing to do. Built a Veronica rig, best thing since sliced bread. John, yes you could use it inverted but I can’t see why you would want to with the Yak. The Geordie Dating Agency (Screwfix) sell a bike storage system which is based around pulleys which will readily screw to the Mancave rafters and the supplied rope is suitable too, slightly softer than e.g. parachute cord. I got a pair of miniature bubble levels off Ebay for a quid each, one to zero the tail and the other temporarily fixed close to the c of g so the tail one can then be removed. Hoping to fly it again midweek and see what effect all the mods have had. BTC

Same plane, same horticultural mishap; the Glue Guru at NLMFC prescribed Foam Tac and Blenderm; flew again 10 mins, aileron still on (as is the nose and the battery tray). I suspect that there are several contact adhesives doing the rounds which are foam friendly, but Foam Tac is now available on a large interweb retailer (ask for Jeff). They're a hoot, aren't they? BTC

My clunmate has a similar NGH 25 with similar noise issues. He bought a replacement from a prominent UK maker and thought it was an improvement so when we finished at Elvington yesterday we tried both silencers. Admittedly the acoustics in my drive are impure but the gist is that both original and aftermarket cans scored 92db at 7 m. Propping up an inch made not rhe blindest (deafest?) difference. We’re starting a home made one, biggest we can get inside the Yak cowl, before saving up for a Laser. BTC.

We’ve metered the standard setup to BMFA standards, that’s how we know it’s at 86 dB. There is now a chance that the JE Duo might be better than first thought and objective tests are about to begin with both the DLE and the NGH, plus a larger prop, then the cowl and eventually I suppose a 3 blade. The main issue is going to be the lack of space inside and just outside the cowl. Also, one of my generous club mates is challenged by this conundrum and is determined to fabricate a can with baffles which will reduce the noise significantly. Oddly, a Zenoah 20 with stock pressed steel exhaust does not sound excessive, subjectively, although we haven’t metered it. I’m grateful for the responses and will keep you posted as the experiments progress. It seems faintly ridiculous that this huge hobby has failed to provide a robust solution in the after market. Will also check Krumbleshield. BTC

Can feel a replacement composite u/c looming too. BTC