EvilC57

We have strict rules about model handling in our club, for both IC and electric models. Both types must be retrained with a crutch or peg of some kind, and cannot be started (or battery connected) until out on the flight line, i.e. not in the pits. Once an IC engine is running, the user must go behind the prop to make any adjustments etc. If possible, batteries must be fitted (or at least connected) from behind, with the model already restrained. Anyone not observing these rules is quickly jumped on by 'the management'. The only exceptions tend to be small EDF models, which we do sometimes connect up with the model on our lap while sitting in our chairs in the pits. However the rogue prop catching you out isn't really an issue with these. Several years ago, I changed the engine kill/gear switch on my DX8 to an 'aerospace' style locking toggle switch, which can only be operated by deliberately pulling it upwards first. Obviously the most likely failure with this arrangement, is that I still have to make sure the throttle is closed before I operate it. So far (touch wood!), it's never happened.

If anyone is in any doubt over how we ended up in this situation in the first place, can I suggest they watch 'Article 16 & model aircraft and drone flying from 1st January 2021 with BMFA CEO David Phipps' on YouTube here. Specifically the part between 57:30 and around 1:05:45 where ex-CAA employee Cliff Whittaker explains the background, which dates back to 2001, and had nothing to do with model fliers.

I did wonder at first if he was just completely unaware that there are any rules. I think he is, but he's just not (or wasn't) bothered. I think the clue's in the name he operates under, 'Lone Wolf Films'. He obviously sees himself as a bit of a maveric, and the rules the rest of us abide by don't apply to him.

Seems to me that HK have had their day as far as we in the UK are concerned. Shame, because some of their stuff was good value. Same applies to Banggood, their prices are now much higher than they ever used to be.

Just coming in to land my MPX 330S this afternoon, and ended up getting chased by a large dog (the model, not me)! The dog was clearly determined to get hold of the model, as in abandoning the landing to go around, said dog continued to follow the low flying model around the field. Catch 22, I had to land as my timer had sounded and I knew I would be low on battery, and yet I didn't know what the dog would do to the model once on the ground. After much shouting from me the dog was captured, and somewhat unsettled, I made a hasty and rather inelegant landing - fortunately with no damage. Apparently the dog owner did apologise to club members nearby, although I didn't hear them. First time in over 20 years of flying that it's ever happened to me, but quite unnerving at the time!

Apart from Formula 1 ?.

My understanding is that if you have a receiver which also has one of the little satellite receivers on the end of a cable, you should ideally set the aerials so that they are in the X, Y and Z planes to each other; in other words one along the axis of the model, one across and one vertical if you have space. If you have no satellite, then at 90° to each other as Nigel says above.

Presumably they’re sold as Air bars in the USA then are they?

I’ve done this by making support blocks from 1/8” balsa to pin under the (false) leading edge and trailing edge of the wing every few inches during construction (see photo). This method has worked well for me on a number of occasions.

I remember a doctor once told me, if you fall off a ship and have to choose between a shark or the ship’s propeller, choose the shark, because a tearing type rough edged wound heals more quickly than that from a sharp edged cut. Hope I never have to prove either!

The bigger they are, the harder they fall unfortunately. As I spent several months in the planning, and around 9 months building my twin from scratch, I was very careful to do a lot of testing, confidence building and familiarisation with the twin throttle setup on the ground before I risked the model getting airborne. Indeed (much to the amusement of a number of club mates) the model visited the field some five or six times before ground testing was complete and it was thoroughly debugged, until all the conditions (including weather) were right and I finally ran out of excuses not to fly it. None of the ‘instant gratification’ you get with a foamie, but the development & testing was half the fun. As so much work went into it, I have plenty of lesser weekly ‘hack’ models I can fly in windier, less than ideal days, while I can preserve the twin for the best flying conditions.

As a follow up to my earlier post, the mix I described above works well in reality. The model I alluded to above was finished earlier this year and has had 3 flights so far. I can start and leave the left engine running at a fast idle, while turning my attention to starting the right engine, before resynchronising both engines to operate together by flicking the gear switch. I found that the RH engine was prone to stopping earlier than the left when the throttle was reduced, so I was able to prevent this by modifying the Mix 1 values slightly. I also have to remember to kill the engines by turning the Aux 3 knob to its end point, rather than using the Trainer/Bind switch as I usually would.

Most of mine are Turnigy Nano-Tech from HobbyKing, many of which are several years old and still going strong. However, I recently bought two Radient 800mAh 3S lipos to replace the E-Flite ones which came with my Blade 200S heli. One of the new Radients lasted for two flights before swelling up, going over voltage on my charger, and nearly exploding - despite me always carefully checking that the charge rate setting on my charger is correct. And the other new Radient is already showing signs of being rather fragile, with flight times on the Blade 200 being below what I would expect; so won’t be buying them again in a hurry. As I’ve already alluded to, two E-Flite lipos I’ve had also didn’t last very well, however I have some very old Hyperions which are still OK after more then 15 years.

I never learned to use a slide rule properly. However my Dad who worked on Concorde as a structures designer did, and once said that when electronic calculators first came in he and his colleagues didn’t trust them and used to check their answers with a slide rule.

Ah yes, I forgot about the vintage TEAC reel to reel tape recorder in my office, which I bought 2nd hand on eBay a few years ago to digitise some old recordings my father made of my siblings and I when we were children back in the 1960s and 70s.

I can beat that too. I have a working DVD player, CD player, record deck and LPs, which I still play occasionally (in between building and flying models). And I only sold my Acorn Atom computer on eBay last year - although it had been in the loft for 30 years!

Same here. Before attaching decals to foamies, I smear some UHU Por onto the model and let it dry for 10 minutes first.

Remind me of the ‘flying’ surf boards I saw for the first time down in Devon last weekend.

Just been reading in this month’s Which? magazine a warning about so called Amazon ‘brushing’ scams. Apparently people in more than a million households in the UK have received Amazon parcels they didn’t order, usually containing random cheap items. These are sent by unscrupulous Amazon Marketplace sellers to unsuspecting people, and falsely logged as genuine sales to make it look as though they’ve sold more products than they actually have. This bumps them up the Amazon search rankings (increasing the likelihood of increased genuine sales). The article says that Amazon advises customers who get unsolicited packages should contact customer services, and they pledge to act against those who violate their policies. They say that receiving a mystery parcel does not necessarily mean your personal data has been compromised online, as limited (name & address) data is easily available online for most of us already.

He's badly shaken up though ?!

Not sure whether this is a good idea or not. The CAA say the intention is to raise awareness of the regulations, but I can’t help thinking it’ll just encourage more people to fly where they shouldn’t be, to try and get a good picture.

I recently had an important document delivered to me by RM Special Delivery signed for post. It dropped on the mat with no knock on the door from the postman for a signature. Checking the tracking number shortly afterwards on the Post Office website, it correctly said that the item had been delivered, and had an image of what was supposed to to be the recipient’s signature, which certainly wasn’t mine - so presumably signed for by the postman, or persons unknown in the local sorting office. I suppose they would blame Covid, by saying they’re minimising social contact, but it seems to me we’re paying a lot of money for a special service we are not getting. It seems to me that there is a danger in this, in that if the item is accidentally delivered to the wrong address and disappears, you have absolutely no recourse.