Martin Harris - Moderator

I’m sure the Flying Squad won’t see taking on any spot checks as part of their duties but woe betide anyone involved in an incident that comes under the spotlight if they aren’t compliant.

I had two memory cards that I used in turn to transfer print files to my printer...one lived in the PC and the other in the printer - then the printer control board failed to read either of them. So I bought a replacement PCB and fitted it. It still failed to read either card which definitely had files on as I could read them in my PC. I put another memory card in it with an STL file on it and it read it perfectly. Printer working and all was well but I never found what had happened to those cards - which still worked fine in other devices. I tried reformatting in every format that could conceivably be read to no avail...

It’s important that they shut down “gracefully” and they enter a cooling/shutdown cycle when shut down from the control panel or remote. Simply removing the 12V supply would cause very damaging overheating internally. I suppose it would be possible to hack into the control panel or remote to initiate a start and/or shutdown from an external thermostatic control but for most purposes the high/low output controlled by the internal thermostat works well enough.

They use only a small percentage of the figure quoted at the lower output but I’ve never used mine to maintain a low temperature. They work on 2 heat outputs and the thermostat switches between them to maintain the setting so they’re always on one or the other i.e. if the set temperature is reached with low output then it continues to run regardless. Oh, and mine fired up with no drama after the long layoff.

I have to admit that I was unaware of this facility but we have a member who invariably attends on our club’s behalf so maybe our secretary didn’t feel the need to highlight it. I try to stay aware of BMFA matters but I don’t think I spotted it in an email either so perhaps it could do with publicising a little more prominently?

I’m led to believe that the difference between our field being classified as a sporting facility and as a recreational one would cost us a couple of thousand pounds a year in rates, so while there may be sporting aspects to our hobby (much of which takes place in the privacy of our workshops) I would hesitate to use the term in official dealings. By all means promote the sporting involvement stemming from our hobby but realistically, only a small percentage of the BMFA membership actively participate in the sporting side. While it provides both mental and physical benefits to a largely otherwise sedentary and older section of the public, there is an element of misrepresentation in describing the whole hobby as a sport - perhaps accepting that it is the backbone of the sport of competitive model flying is more realistic.

Welcome to the forum Barrie. Do you fly smaller models yourself?

Yes - a friend used the 1/4 scale gun - I always refer to it as the Magnatilla Tankbuster ...

I’m still none the wiser!

There will be losses due to the extra blades working in disturbed air but the ability to turn horsepower into thrust was the reason the blade count increased from 2 to 5 over the life of the Spitfire, for example. Larger diameters would have been more efficient if ground clearance wasn’t an issue.

I’m missing the point there Rich. Mention of WW2 planes though reminds me that people sometimes have problems establishing the “CofG” (longitudinal balance point) on typical fighters with low wing positions - and of course this applies to any low wing model… The reason is that the true CofG is above the wing so balancing the model on fingertips or a jig is almost impossible - the slightest movement shifts the CofG in the same direction so the model tips rapidly as it’s inherently unstable. The answer is to invert the model so the CofG is below the pivot point making it stable and allowing the slight nose down stance often recommended by the designer to be checked accurately.

Time to switch threads, I think!

As it seems to be rather winterish and we’re into December, it’s time to use this thread again!

We have a sub heading for incident reports. Nothing to stop anyone creating a topic in there. Just keep it factual and don’t speculate about the supplier.

We’ve had a report that a member has been conned out of a considerable amount of money by a recently joined member. We can’t comment on the veracity of the claim but it’s a good opportunity to remind anyone buying or selling through messages on the forum of the potential risks. While the majority of people on here are honest, there is no security in this type of transaction - unless you know someone personally or by strong reputation it’s very much a case of buyer/seller beware.