Jonathan M
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Posts posted by Jonathan M
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Here's me fiddling with the needle and compression on my 0.55 a few years ago:
https://vimeo.com/1081874884?share=copy#t=0I really ought to build a suitable FF model for it one day...!
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The online instructions here https://www.eifflaender.com/engine-instructions are exactly the same as the printed ones in the box, the same for all their engines. I have a 0.55cc PAW from new and got it running fine just from the instructions.
Normal needle valve setting is 2-3 turns open.
Compression screw: if too little compression the prop will flick easily over and over, if too much you'll get hydraulic lock when fuel in there, you'll soon find the sweet-spot.
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I agree with JD8. Read the instructions and go from there, you'll soon get the hang of it.
P.A.W. used to have a video on their website which showed exactly how to set up and tune their 0.55cc engine (if I recall correctly), but it's down at the moment: https://www.eifflaender.com/videos
There are however various other videos on YouTube...
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I'm with Nigel...
(1) After emptying tank with the pump, restart to draw last of fuel out of pipework and to clear the carb and engine, then close throttle fully (*).
(2) Hold the model nose-up up to let last exhaust drips drain out the silencer.
(3) Wrap a folded kitchen paper towel around the exhaust deflector, secured with a rubber band, then tie a strip of cloth (old cotton bedsheet ripped into strips) around the whole assembly - acts as an absorbent nappy.
(4) Tie a similar small strip of cloth around the nose covering the carb for good measure.
Yes, dog boot-liner as extra security but the above method means no contamination either in car or in storage at home.
NB (*): Additional step here is to squirt a couple of drops of after-run oil into fully open carb and hand-flick prop to distribute around engine, then close throttle fully.
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All the engines in my small collection seem very happy on 5% nitro, summer and winter, so why do some folk use 10%?
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I suspect your AA battery glow-starter is simply sagging under load (or there's a fault with it?).
Either use a glow-starter with leads attached by croc clips to a 12v lead-acid 7Ah or similar power source which won't notice the load at all, e.g.:
https://www.modelshopleeds.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=97359&srsltid=AfmBOoqCt7_SDTY-HFy3MTcP7qOYPcUP_novpBtspQKHbisXaTJ5fetIhttps://www.modelshopleeds.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=97359&srsltid=AfmBOoqCt7_SDTY-HFy3MTcP7qOYPcUP_novpBtspQKHbisXaTJ5fetI
Or use a glow-starter stick with rechargeable sub-C battery, e.g.:
These days I only use the sub-C rechargeable type, as it saves carrying a heavy battery to the patch, also less hazardous than having loose leads near the prop. Charge overnight using the wart-plug supplied. Sub-C has a nominal 1.2v rating but settles at 13.5v when fully charged. I have a spare that I also bring just in case.
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1 hour ago, Daren Cogdon said:
I loved my Gangster. It was the old one, so must have weighed in at about 10lbs fully loaded (Super Tigre 63 power).
It flew great, and even survived a mid-air! It was one of those I wish I hadn't parted with (same with my Splatfire).
They are fab - which is why I bought mine back from my chum!
Technically mine at 5.5lbs is more semi-skimmed than Lite (MR quotes 4lbs with a 40 engine) as I preferred to add more wing sheeting and cap-strips, all-sheet tail surfaces and various other beefing-ups than the kit provided, and I think the extra weight benefits the model type, which was always based on the full-fat version anyway.
It's my datum for comparing other models' wing-loadings and power to weight ratios.
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48 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:
WARNING - the following video contains images that some viewers may find disturbing.
Yes... those wobbly knees!
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https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=6296
Shouldn't be too difficult for George to spec a powertrain - originally for a .29 to .35, wing-loading circa 17 oz per sq ft.
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Lovely early evening sesh with the Gangster 63 Lite. I hadn't flown it since last year and, especially after tooling around with the Irvine Tutor recently (very nice but a bit of a bus really), I'd forgotten just what a superb precise classic aerobat it is! Goes exactly where one puts it, rolls like a dream, does all the other stuff beautifully, slows right down without a hint of a stall yet burns rubber when the throttle is opened up.
But the session didn't start that way...
The first thing that was amiss was in the car park after attaching the wing - ailerons were completely unresponsive! Checked the outputs screen on the Tx which confirmed zero aileron signal, same when loaded other models from the memory. Only thing for it was to unscrew the back and check the several right-stick gimbal connections into the PCB by pulling the plugs off then pushing back in place - which did the trick.
Second worry, having carried the model and the field box for ten minutes to our patch, was a refusal to start - and my arm was beginning to hurt! I'd recently removed the heavy 12v 7Ah Pb battery and the electric starter to lighten the load, as they're not usually necessary with any of my engines, and I knew the obvious and only reason was an engine full of after-run oil from before the winter plus a new fuel recipe. So I just carried on flipping and flipping, priming and clearing and flipping at various low throttle settings until eventually the Irvine 53 burst into life!
Next thing to deal with was re-tuning for the new fuel mix (was MT Bekra 5, now Southern Modelcraft Laser 5) as the engine kept dying at low revs. I'd had the same issue a few days ago with the Tutor's OS46AX, found the solution then was to richen the low-speed needle a quarter-turn, so immediately tried the exactly same thing here and it was perfect. Funny that. 🤣
Then two tankfuls (total 25mins) of totally dream flying! The best bit was being able to spin reliably every time in either direction, and slowly enough to count the turns and exit on the same heading. I filled a third tank but the kickback I sometimes get on hand-starting eventually loosened the prop nut and the second 'locking' nut together... and I didn't have a cross-head screwdriver of the right size that could remove the spinner! But it was time to go home anyway and fix a late supper... a perfect evening.
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1 hour ago, Adsjking said:
Also best place to get 5%nitro fuel model tecnics or optifuel
...or Southern Modelcraft (new stock of Laser 5% due shortly I believe):
https://southernmodelcraft.sumupstore.com/product/5-nitro-laser-1-gallon -
35 minutes ago, Outrunner said:
I think there is enough evidence here for the OP to ask the Moderators to change the title of the thread.
I agree.
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I don't imagine perfect equality is either achievable or necessary. It's all to do with cost and quality-control. Manufacturing to finer tolerances is presumably possibly in technical terms, but costs would go up accordingly. Cheaper brands might be cheaper because of less expensive processes and/or lower QC standards, and sometimes greater variation between batches. There will always be a tolerance range which is acceptable to a marketplace.
Our task is to buy the best we can afford, to understand what's important, and to keep an eye on things, but not to expect perfection.
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Just heard back. Yes Southern Modelcraft are very much still in business. Low on stock at moment so currently doing new mixes for glow and diesel, and taking orders by email and phone.
PS - they'll be at Weston Park.
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I've messaged and emailed Southern Modelcraft - will see if I get a reply.
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Had a good couple of hours with the Irvine Tutor this afternoon - alone on the meadow except for herds of curious cows whose close presence made me stop ops for a while! - giving its now slightly less than brand new OS46AX several more tanks, including plenty of WOT.
Mixed new fuel (Southern Modelcraft Laser 5) with the last of my old (MT Bekra 5), which for the first time with this engine produced a dead stick, cured by giving the low speed needle a quarter of a turn more open than before.
Fab engine! Hand starts very easily. Still playing with props (11x7, 11x6, 12x5, 12x6) and tweaking the model's travels and expos a bit but essentially there. Tutor not as precise as the Gangster 63 Lite, but it's now nicely set up for casual aeros and a great model for buddy-box training.
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I personally don't know enough about the science to advise you, except to say that, everything else being equal, one's going to get some variation between brands. Also I wouldn't get too hung up between a reading of 14 and 16 or even 19. The things to look out for are (i) a massively different reading between one cell and its siblings in the same pack, and (ii) if one pack goes massively out relative to the others in the same set.
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3 hours ago, Andy Stephenson said:
There seems to be limit on file size they don't make clear.
That's the essence of it - they need to be clear and explicit!
Easy enough to reduce unfeasibly huge image files to a more modest size.
Preview on Mac's have a simple way of doing this. I typically reduce all my phone camera files to 72dpi and 70cm wide before uploading, but this could go down to half that width and still be more than large enough to see all the detail one needs.
I'm sure PCs have just the same quick and easy method.
The above image reduced again, now to 35cm, i.e. half as wide again - size now just 400 KB but more than good enough resolution:
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14yr old at our club started earlier this year, a natural, quickly got his A, already very skilled flying his foam taildragger (the usual 3s 2200mAh PNP bush-ranger thing with big wheels plus flaps) inverted all over the place, etc. I suggested he look up the B Cert schedule and start practicing that.
I let him fly the Irvine Tutor - his first experience of IC and a model with proper weight and presence in the air - which he had no problem with and enjoyed, but will he ever go down that route? Will he ever get a balsa ARTF and fit it out from scratch with an assembled powertrain, let alone build from a kit or a plan for either IC or electric? I don't know, but the likelihood isn't high.
The magazine? He's never heard of it. Likely to ever buy it? I very much doubt it. What for?
This forum? Never heard of it. Maybe he'll have a look, but YouTube is really his native habitat.
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2 hours ago, Dale Bradly said:
The reason i can't play chess: I can't think 3 moves ahead, just not how i work. Sometimes this means i dig myself into a hole, and then just have more work to get out.
I think most of us are in the same boat. With experience we learn how to avoid pitfalls, but also with that same experience we can find ourselves overthinking things - paralysis by analysis! Sometimes one just has to go for it and deal with any unforeseen consequences afterwards.
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Measure the IR at storage charge (3.8v), not when full which gives higher readings.
Smaller lipos have much higher IRs than large ones, allowing for variation between brands, age less critical but abuse will be, e.g. some examples from tests I did a while ago:
- Purple Power 3s 3300mAh = 7mΩ average each cell (range 6-8mΩ)
- GNB 3s 550mAh = 20mΩ (better than both larger and smaller Overlanders below)
- Overlander 3s 900mAh = 29mΩ
- Overlander 3s 450mAh = 50mΩ
- Hacker 2s 350mAh = 60mΩ
- Nanotech 1s 750mAh = 77mΩ
- Radiant 1s 700mAh = 84mΩ
- Nanotech 1s 300mAh = 133mΩ
- Volantex 1s 400mAh = 200mΩ
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11 hours ago, David Matin said:
Well.... once they were flown the decision took less than 30 seconds. internal combustion noise was needed!!
👍 👍 👍 👍
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1 hour ago, Christopher Wolfe said:
Use a thin steel washer under the insert head to protect the plywood 🙃
👍😁
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I've now ordered a Carbon Copy u/c. Will fit it in the normal rear position to see what difference it makes. If bumping along still tips the model over then can later move it forward for tail-dragger.
@Nigel R I'm sure my stock of K&S 8SWG would be stiffer than the original cheaper legs, but our patch is rough (cattle and wild pony hooves, and we can mow but not roll it flat) so this model really needs a stiffer solution.
@Christopher Wolfe those look like a neat solution, but I'd worry if after a few pull-outs the ply base would start to bruise and loosen...? I've got enough depth in the existing torque-leg block to use a pair of threaded inserts for M4 nylons.
Popham airfield r/c airshow May 10-11th
in Shows, Club Events and Competitions
Posted
Can one just turn up on the day, or have to buy an advance ticket?