Tom Gaskin 1

Solarbo 'morphed' into Amerang, who then iirc, bought Ripmax. Tom

Today eight of us turned out for the latest round of the SRFC Hanky Planky derby. Blue sky but oh so windy and cold! I'm quite happy as I managed to secured a win 😀 Tom

Lovely weather in the Beautiful South with nine of us committing aviation: F5L gliders, Wot4's, Hanky Planky's and a small EDF all got flung skywards. Tom

I use 66% of the stated rating for my electric setups. I have yet to have an esc 'die' in service. Tom

Peter Russell (a long-time columnist for RCM&E) always advocated the adding of piano wire wing struts to the standard wing. My old boss had a Fully aerobatic one powered by a 60, complete with struts! Tom

Five of us got out at the Sussex field this afternoon, a balmy 3 degrees with light winds. No breakages so a bonus! Tom

David, Add webbing to both sides of the mainspars to really stiffen things up without adding undue weight. Tom

I use an HTRC T240 Duo charger, which for under £60 can do all of what you need, also charges two separate batteries at the same time. Tom

Six of us braved the temperature at the Sussex field this afternoon. Acrowot, Wot4's, a Tiger Moth, Spitfire and a Convergence all got an airing in the gloomy skies. But it was nice to get out and chatter. Tom

As Leccy says, it needs charging. Some of these simple chargers draw current from the battery once the charge cycle completes, so you could have inadvertently discharged the battery overnight! Your battery should take no more than a couple of hours to fully charge (a YT video on your charger took 50 minutes to charge a 1300mA battery) Stick it on again in the garage and find 'garage jobs' to do, so you can keep an eye on it. Seven months uncharged since purchase may be a mite long to get any recompense from HK Tom

Foam wings use the veneer as a stressed skin so use bandage to spread the load. An open weave surgical bandage can be used with PVA ( the flexible stuff) as Leccy says. A built up wing uses the ply braces to connect the main spars together, so it's 'horses for courses'. On built up high wing models you don't need a too strong centre section if you use struts. My original plan built Senior Telemaster had balsa spars and 16swg struts from the bottom of the fuz, out to mid-span, and could be looped and flick rolled with impunity! Tom

Sadly it is a small percentage that will take part in our club competitions, but we do organise these: Hanky Planky using Ron Gray's rulebook Fun fly E-glider RES e-glider We also have an electrified KK Caprice glider comp! The usual suspects (me included) will partake in all of these. Tom

Five of us at the Sussex RFC field yesterday with Acrowot's (one with retracts), Wot4's, a Voltiguer, a Spitfire, and even a glider! All pleasantly electrically powered 😀 Tom

I use the B&Q XPS foam in two sizes, 6 and 3mm. There are two grades of the 6mm foam, the greenish type is softer, while the black stuff is much closer in look and feel to Depron. My Hanky Planky is built from the 6mm stuff, while Jake's 150% one uses both 6 & 3mm. The softer material simply requires a bit of carbon strip or rod for strategic reinforcement. Covering with laminating film toughens the structure nicely. Tom

For a good few years now I have been using a pair of 'Running gloves' from Sports Direct. They are very thin for good feel of the sticks ( I use finger & thumb), but keep enough warmth in to be comfortable for the duration of the flight. Afterwards I put on bulky ski gloves to properly warm up again. Tom