Martin Harris - Moderator

The thing that upsets me about the film is that despite many of the crash scenes and airborne "on fire" action scenes using rather unconvincing models - the Mossy "flown" by Johnny Briggs impacting the cliff half way up during training and then a minute or 2 later sitting burning on the top of the mountain being a particularly unconvincing bit - I understand that they did destroy at least 2 real Mossies during filming. That said, many of the bits filmed with the 3 airworthy aircraft are probably the best quality footage of Mosquitos you'll ever get to see. Has anyone ever seen "Mosquito Squadron" the sort of sequel to this film?  Everything I've read about it says it's the worst aviation film ever but I would like to see what sort of flying footage they got...although I have a suspicion that some of the 633 footage may have been used...Edited By Martin Harris on 31/12/2009 12:06:37

Nick, You may have shifted the bearings back in the impact.  It's not great engineering practice but given that you don't have a puller, you could try removing the rear cover, heating the engine to @150 degrees C in the oven and, holding the crankcase with a gloved hand, giving the rear of the crankshaft web a sharp hammer tap using a piece of hardwood or plastic as a drift  to relocate the bearings (piston set at top dead centre to get the con rod out of the way).  Don't go mad with the hammer though - a gentle tap should suffice and holding the engine in your hand will lessen the shock.  It is quite possible to damage the bearings microscopically doing this which will shorten their life - however they may already have been so in the impact and you're not likely to be much worse off.  Cheers, Martin Edited By Martin Harris on 30/12/2009 21:49:03

Your "hardened insert" wouldn't happen to be the split taper collet would it?  If so, it should be tapered on the outside with a single cut along its length to allow it to locate and tighten on the shaft when the taper in the driver compresses it. When you say it's moved, what makes you think that?  Is it binding when the prop nut is tightened - there may be a washer missing from between the bearing and the prop driver...I haven't got an Irvine at hand to check but a lot of engines are designed to have a spacing washer there.. Edited By Martin Harris on 30/12/2009 16:29:59

What an incredible demonstration of hand/eye co-ordination and mental agility!  I've seen some pretty astonishing heli-flying before but the level of precision close to the ground had to be seen to be believed.  If I'd been the cameraman I'd have wanted to be in a (thick) polycarbonate box that close to those rotor blades - one tiny error of judgement and all hell (in the form of carbon fibre shards or jagged lumps) would have broken loose!  What a shame it does nothing for me as an aeromodeller...but that takes nothing from the performance which was amazing.

It's going to depend on a lot of factors - cable size, type, how it's run, spur or ring etc. etc. so you really need your electrical engineer to sort out your requirements. This work comes under "Part P" building control regs which our wonderful nannying government has imposed to make it difficult for total morons (good), well intentioned and reasonably competent amateurs like me (not so good) or even skilled persons (quite ridiculous)  to do most domestic electrical work, even in their own homes, unless they are suitably certified or pay a qualified person to do the work or sign it off.   Basically, you will commit an offence unless the engineer is properly qualified under Part P if you do or commission other than certain minor new electrical work, and any new electrical work in a kitchen, bathroom or outbuilding. It will no doubt affect your home insurance and definitely affect the sale of the property if you don't have correct paperwork.  I wonder if it's co-incidence that the wiring colours were changed around the same time that these new regs were imposed?Edited By Martin Harris on 27/12/2009 23:47:25

BB - if you apply full up and left rudder as per Phil's advice what do you expect it to do? I would expect a spin and there's very little reason to expect almost any model not to be recoverable.  In my view it is the very best thing to do.  There is the least chance of overloading the airframe, the model will travel the least distance from where you last saw it (best chance of seeing it) and if the worst happens and you've held the controls until the model has ceased flying somewhere, the impact energy and flightpath is least damaging to whatever was in its way.

They do all the big shows and what I've seen on display looks fine.  They are in Bolton or somewhere similar oop North.  I certainly agree that traders shouldn't debit money before goods are dispatched though.  Hope you get it sorted soon.

I've used them on many occasions.  The B&Q testers give excellent coverage and you can choose from their charts or they will scan and mix to a colour sample if required - try to provide a decent sized sample if you want it scanned. As supplied they dry to a nice matt finish but I rather like the result of using acrylic varnish supplied for glass clothing (I use SkinCrylic from Falcon) which leaves a slightly glossy but supremely effective fuel proof finish - overnight!  ...Rather reminiscent of the finish of most WW2 aircraft in museums/flying today. I have thinned them a little with water and sprayed them but you need a reasonably large spray nozzle to avoid clogging.  However, brushing leaves a good finish as well.   Being water based, there are no fumes and brushes/spray equipment just wash out . You will see a marked change in colour when they dry so don't be unduly worried if the mix in the tin seems too dark. They also seem quite a light finish as all the water evaporates. I would (and do) thoroughly recommend them - and at £2.09p for 250ml of custom matched paint they are a real bargain.   Edited By Martin Harris on 24/12/2009 16:13:07

I called there once to pick up an on-board glow unit and he seemed very genuine and a keen modeller.  I bought another unit a couple of weeks ago by mail order and it arrived very quickly. I'd be very surprised if there's any dodginess going on - the post is certainly disrupted in some parts of the country. It didn't seem to be a big operation (i.e. a one man band?) so there might be times when delays occur if things crop up.

Found a couple of different engines needed the old "finger on the exhaust outlet" trick for a second or so during cranking when starting them in sub-zero temps last weekend. Only works if you're runnng exhaust pressure to the tank of course.  Oddly, this seems to work much better than manual priming - perhaps the higher velocity fuel atomises better?  Don't overdo it or there's a danger of hydraulic locking...

I've noticed a small improvement in driving skills since the snow last year - but when we've only had serious snow once or twice in a decade, is it reasonable for everyone to invest in chains and a set of winter tyres as do most drivers in countries where it snows properly every winter? Put this together with the incredible overcrowding of our roads and it's not much of a surprise that chaos reigns. The generation of drivers that has grown up in the last 20 years of mild winters (that was when scientists were predicting the return of the ice age, BTW - before the realisation that you could raise taxes on the back of global warming) has to learn skills that we took for granted before that.  Oh yes, and a typical car was running on 145 tyres, not 195s upwards so the contact pressure was much higher than the lightweight fuel efficient cars of today, running on wide floaty tyres - I know the hill climbing ability in snow of the average car has deteriorated beyond all recognition.  Traction control might help by simulating a limited slip differential if you've got it - unfortunately there are very few cars where you can half apply the handbrake to the driven wheels in order to share the drive from a spinning wheel any more.  ABS can help an inexperienced driver to stop and steer but the limiting factor is really the tyre grip.

Can we have a "tongue in cheek" smilie please, David?

The waitress at our club Christmas lunch badgered a clubmate for a go with his (steady now) Perkins one and flew it really well.  Mind you, she did mention that she had a heli at home... ...however, it was incredibly stable and accurately manoeuvreable (within the constraints of the design)  and seeing these clones at an even cheaper price than what must already be a bargain, it didn't take many seconds before I was logged on to eBay!

Posted by Erfolg on 22/12/2009 12:10:55:  As for flying models, no fear!  You don't know what you're missing!

...and me!  Are you on commission, Weasel?

He could try Als Hobbies - I think it's the old Michael's Models shop in Finchley.  864 High Road Finchley London N12 9RH Tel:0208 445 8999 Nearest Station Woodside Park, Approx 20 Mins from Euston on the Northern Line ...or if the Oyster card goes out to Croxley underground station, Moor Models Address: 141 Watford Road Croxley Green Rickmansworth Watford Herts WD3 3DY Telephone: 01923 896 129 Opening Hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 to 19:00 Saturday 10:00 to 18:00 Sunday CLOSED   ...have a very good selection of coverings (especially Profilm which I prefer - never heard of Dupron, I'm afraid) and are in a building attached to the station!   Edited By Martin Harris on 21/12/2009 21:03:46

There are probably as many different types of club as there are types of flyers.  My own experience when I returned to model flying ranged from initially joining the BMFA purely for insurance and teaching myself to hover a Concept 30 helicopter at quiet times on a patch on common land provided by the local council, where I enjoyed the challenge but had no companionship, through a dedicated helicopter club some distance from home which, although people were friendly enough, was still really just somewhere to fly to my present club where I was welcomed with offers of help and (almost) dragged to the pub afterwards (I'm not a drinker).  This despite the fact that helicopters weren't (and aren't) particularly popular within the club. Since then, I've become thoroughly involved in the club, seen the light and gone back to bolting my wings securely to the fuselage and gained a great bunch of friends along the way. Clubs are really made or destroyed by a few individuals who set the tone of the club.  I was lucky enough to find that my local club was one that was lead by a core of people interested in promoting flying, fun and responsible operation which hopefully is the norm - and has been at clubs that I've visited. I believe that we actually have a reputation locally as a rather rule bound club but none of the rules (all open to challenge at AGMs anyway) are, in my opinion, anything other than common sense and good practice in order for the membership to enjoy the facilities in relative safety and keep the neighbours as friends (this hasn't always been the case) and doesn't restrict enjoyment of any reasonable flying style.  From observation, I would say that new members can make or break their relationship with the club by their attitude.  There are those that push the boundaries (sometimes literally!) or decide existing rules don't apply to them and others that have unfortunate attitudes to fitting in, perhaps expecting special attention or for instructors to be instantly available when they decide they wish to fly - remember that instructors are giving up their own flying time and it's sometimes a little galling that pupils sometimes emerge on the only really good flying day for weeks expecting to be able to make up for lost time.  Those who turn up on the bad days as well tend to make friends more easily with existing members who have time to spare and pick up valuable experience in poorer conditions anyway. In summary, Elliot, in my experience I'd say you probably have been unjustly put off clubs and can only recommend giving it a go.  I'm sure a visit prior to making a commitment would be the best approach - a good chance to gauge the friendliness and spirit of local clubs.

You could have struck the nail squarely on the head, John!

What is welcome is when someone acknowledges a post which has helped them - brings a warm glow...reward enough for most of us, I'd guess.

What does seem a bit odd, looking at the results so far and bearing in mind the profile of the average club member, is that 4 of the 18 winners so far are of the female persuasion. I'd be only too happy if the other half would show some interest in modelling but there seem to be very few of my clubmates whose wives do more than tolerate our hobby and female flyers are very few and far between (we have one in our membership of @75). Is there a latent explosion of feminine flying about to happen?  I can see the "cuddle" method of instruction making a comeback!

Disappointingly short skid marks today (for the ski equipped) due to the snow being too powdery...last year's was much firmer.  I managed to taxi out the Limbo Dancer and take off OK but other than the odd skim and puff of snow, slide and goes proved impossible again like on Friday.  I'd hoped that the lower temperatures (@ -3) would have crisped up the crust. The vertical takeoff technique with my foamy worked fine although getting it to stay sitting upright in the powder was a little more tricky this year.

What's all that green stuff in the picture?

Isn't the point of the comps to encourage people onto the website/forum?  I know we may never hear from most of the winners but wouldn't even one or two recruits to regular posting be welcome...?Edited By Martin Harris on 19/12/2009 22:41:56

Already had the day booked off work as it was our annual Christmas fly-in and lunch (followed by a liberal application of alcohol - there will be quite a few thick heads tomorrow!)  After getting through the snow into the field (battering down the snow with our 6 foot wide tractor pulled mower to get the cars to the car park where necessary) various models were flown although gathering and lowering cloud made things interesting later in the morning.  The snow was very powdery and once things warmed up a bit , the skis on my Limbo Dancer tended to sink in which limited the long touch, slither and goes that I had fun with last year - perhaps it will compact a bit overnight?  Look carefully and you can see where the prop tips started to sink into the snow before a rapid stop!   Great morning to be out in the fresh air!