Martin Harris - Moderator

You can’t keep a good man down!

A windmilling prop can make a considerable noise - perhaps that’s what you heard while gravity was doing its thing?

This is a favourite topic in car restoration circles. When agreement can’t be made over colours in living memory, what chance is there in reaching any positive conclusions over aircraft painted with hand mixed paint from a variety of sources and scraps of original material with well over a century of aging, exposure to UV and airborne pollution? As is often quoted, paint is only original once and any refinishing or modelling can only be an impression of the original. I don’t see how any scale judge could make a pronouncement of scale infidelity on a small shading or tinting variation. Anyway, any student of the period photography will confirm that WW1 took place in black (or sepia) and white…

While I normally advocate separate channels for most, if not all of the reasons mentioned above, if it’s not possible for some reason, many beginners - and perhaps some more experienced model flyers brought up on modern radios - may be unaware that a measure of differential can be incorporated by linkage geometry. As an example, using a multi armed horn or drilling a disc appropriately so that the upgoing surface’s arm is positioned past 90 degrees to the horn linkage will give more upgoing and less downgoing movements. But in these days of almost universal computer transmitters, this is rather a poke and hope token gesture which is so much easier with two aileron channels. I have experienced two occasions where having separate channels has meant that I could land a model with an aileron failure. One was a wiring problem and the other a servo failure. While it could be argued that a problem was twice as likely to have occurred, this still leaves me with an average chance of having a failure on one of the models - and with my typical luck…both!

Welcome Tom, Sadly, or perhaps thankfully, I have no specialist knowledge of eyelash serums but you should be safe with any of the bottles of 100% pure castor oil advertised on Amazon. Probably better value unless you need the dropper bottles! My distant childhood memory of motor rubber is of a mixture involving glycerine…

I think the clue is in Richard’s reply!

TLAR (that looks about right) will probably suffice. Get guidance from any similar models (or plans - outer zone would be a good start) that you can refer to. The higher the thrust line, the less downthrust will be required. When test flying, remember that thrust line has no effect when the power is off so reducing throttle will tame any wayward behaviour. It may be advisable to enlist help with initial test flights or trimming if you’re relatively inexperienced.

A lesson learnt during fire training at work was to use any extinguisher from outside the area of the fire. Any form of stored pressure extinguisher may actually spread a fire if loose items are involved. Standing instructions were to use a maximum (and then only if it was considered safe to do so) of one extinguisher and evacuate if this was unsuccessful in putting the fire out. My only "live" fire fighting experience during modelling activity was a flight box fire - very dangerous with clear burning methanol involved - which a fire blanket dealt with quite efficiently. It's worth having one available in the shed...might even provide a barrier to a LiPo fire spreading?

As far as I’m aware, it was moulded ply/balsa sandwich as they used Hornet (and from info on the ‘net, for the two seater version, Mosquito) based nose sections. Interestingly, the prototype was all metal - perhaps some bright spark at Hatfield noticed the similarities to the new Hornet’s front end, which was being developed around the same time?

You appear to have linked to a private video!

Look on the bright side - you’ve been associated with intelligence! Welcome to the forum. Feel free (but not obligated) to introduce yourself.

I would imagine that Don was referring to limiting charge voltage to 4V - not discharge!

Don’t get too hung up on IR values reported by chargers as it requires good quality instrumentation to measure them accurately. I have two of the same make and get quite different values although with consistency in relative cell readings. It’s more useful to use them to compare individual cells in a pack. Over time, IRs will increase but a large difference is a warning sign that a pack is dying.

I’ve always been given to understand that bare wood provides better adhesion for film coverings and any priming or sealing should be avoided. I would agree with ED’s advice.

There was a time when the only two members of our club who regularly flew in testing conditions were myself and another regular contributor to this forum. Some said we were brave - although most shook their heads at our apparent stupidity. However, things are changing with the ready availability of light but capable foam models and I was delighted to see all the attendees at our regular Thursday afternoon gatherings taking to the air yesterday in winds forecast to be gusting over 40 mph, with no damage or uncomfortable incidents other than the odd non-damaging tumble when gusts hit around touchdown. The low energy retention and groundspeed helped a great deal in this respect. The most popular models for these conditions are little belly landing Arrows Hawks, which handle all conditions admirably. However, we flew a variety of propeller and EDF models although prudence led to some deliberate wheels up landings with retractable undercarriages. The moral? Maybe start to explore the envelope in slightly higher wind conditions than you’re used to with suitable models and I think some of those complaining that they never have an opportunity to fly these days may find a lot more fun and flyable days appear!

I understand that their non fatal accident record applies to pure jet operation.

Hmmm - according to my map, the bottom half of the country starts just north of Edinburgh (don't forget that the UK extends to the Shetlands). While average intelligence won't follow a straight line distribution, with a tiny proportion of the population living in the north, this suggests our Scottish Highlands and Islands friends may be rather happy with your supposition!

Post deleted. Sorry - no politics on the forum.

Just to put your minds at rest, the mods have been looking at this since this morning.

Master Airscrew props appear to be very efficient - at turning power into noise. .. On numerous occasions at our club, models failing noise tests have passed after changing to APC propellers of the same size. However, in addition to their traditional square ended ranges, they do now have a range of “scimitar” props which I have no experience of - perhaps these are more efficient?

I find that while on the buddy lead, there’s a stage where pupils make mistakes but start to recover from them. The key is for the instructor NOT to intervene unless the model is in imminent contact with something solid. Not only is muscle memory and situational awareness enhanced, but the pupil gains confidence from having dealt with the situation.

Hi gwe, You haven't mentioned your experience level. While Jon's advice is sound as a starting point, it assumes you have a reasonable amount of prior flying experience. Perhaps a few words of introduction would help us get to know you and tailor advice to your personal level?

Hi ido, Welcome to the forum. Although we have international members, this is primarily a UK forum and your pricing suggests you are in the USA (or other dollar area). Perhaps an idea of where you are located and details of any localised radio specifications would help? As you may be aware, there are different radio power and frequency ranges in different parts of the world.

It’s the British Model Flying Association so there’s no distinction between types of flying membership. Drone is the term chosen by the CAA to cover any remotely controlled model aircraft. Membership fees reduce towards the end of the year to reflect that the BMFA membership year is from January to December and those joining at any time (simplified slightly) renew the following January.