Michael Barclay

Andrew. Just like fly rods. Mostly made in China. One can pay a lot more for a slight improvement in finish but often built on the same blanks. Even top of the range rods from what were UK or US manufacturers now mostly built in China or the far east. C'est la vie.

Ok. Thats much as I thought. Just wanted to make certain I was not missing something. Will stick with Hobby King motors. Just fitting the Propdrive 42-38 750kv to my new 60" Depron DH2. Probably too much power for a plane which looks like coming in at 2000g. but we will see. Edited By Michael Barclay on 19/02/2019 12:46:52

Just wondering what people think are the best motor brands and what they are using? I have been using NTM and they seem ok but seeing that there are other much more expensive motors on the market I am wondering if they are worth paying extra for?

Sorry that should read EPDM foam.

Building in Depron I searched for a good material to make simple tyres. My first thought was neoprene cord and although otherwise very good it is very difficult to join succesfuly. I then tried EPDM sponge cord and this is excellent. Joins well with superglue and is very hard wearing. Tyres on my 48" depron version of Flair Magnatilla type ww1 fighter have now logged over 100 landings and are still good. Just make usual 2mm ply and depron sandwich with brass tube bush to suit piano wire size and cut the EPDM foam to circumference of wheel. No need to glue it to the wheel it will stay in place if you make it a stretch fit on the wheel. Best to make a scarph join on the EPDM as it gives a larger glueing area. Hope someone finds this useful. (EPDM foam cord obtainable in many diameters online from Polymax.) PS. Would be nice to know what others use. Edited By Michael Barclay on 09/02/2019 18:18:48 Edited By Michael Barclay on 09/02/2019 18:26:44

Thanks Chrsi. Will remember that. Have only built single engine planes until now. My next scratch build will most likely be the Handley Page Hayford. I like these oldies. Building Focker v23 at the moment, 50" span in Depron. Last build was Se5a in depron. I like that one as it flies great. Also did a scratch build copy of the Flair Magnatilla in Depron. Great trainer. I have more than 100 flights with that and no crashes. Thanks for the tips. Mike.

Sounds like a good tip Chris. Thanks.Mike.

Hi Allan. I did not have any problems with synchronization but the guy who posted the video on youtube said he had encountered problems and therefore fitted the ferrite coils. I was just wondering what problem he might have had that caused him to fit ferrite coils and if anyone else had encountered the same problem. Mike.(op)

Thanks for the replies guys. The article simplifies things nicely and the ferrite coil smoothing out voltage spikes was my guess Daithi but I have not seen them mentioned on any other utube twin motor setups so just wondered why he needed to use them on his setup.

Could someone please explain how the use of ferrite coils would fix the problem of syncranization in twin motor setup.as used in the video. Any other info on problems to be wary of in twin motor setup would be helpful. Thanks in advance. Mike.

I am truly amazed at how the wording of my original post has been transformed from using a one and a half inch brush and lightweight fiberglass cloths as used in model covering to using 200 gram csm and a two and a half inch brush. Neither did I say that my expertise was in laying up mass produced hulls which work is not undertaken by highly skilled boat builders. I will say again that the technique is to apply the epoxy by one and a half inch brush (a size which I am quite adept at using without damaging the fibers in any way) onto the substrata or wing as I stated in my example. With a little practice the correct amount of epoxy suitable to the weight of cloth being used can be spread evenly in one coat. The cloth is then laid over the resin as in my example and the brush used to gently help settle the cloth into position .A heavy nor indeed any stippling action is usually unnecessary with the lightweight cloths used in modelling and for the most part the epoxy will simply bleed through from underneath as the cloth settles into position. I usually find that laying two layers of paper towel on the layup and pressing gently will remove any excess resin and I am so adept at this now that the paper towels are for the most part dry when removed. When one is trying to create a strong hard laminate covering any excess resin is undesirable and any method which leaves a heavy varnish like finish is in all probability resin rich and therefore weak. If you are not trying to create a strong hard laminate then why bother. I offered this method as a contribution to the general knowledge and as I said in my original post anyone who gives this method a fair try will probably stick with it and if they do not then as we say in France "aucun probleme"

Hi everyone. Let me start by saying that I am a newbie at model flying, but as such have been reading and viewing everything I can on the hobby and I keep coming across the same mistake being made when covering with GRP. (It was repeated again in the June issue of RCME).Namely that the advice given is always to lay the glass cloth on the model and stipple or roller the resin through the cloth. Having spent a lifetime in the boat building industry let me say that no one doing high quality work would use this technique when laying laminate on a hull The correct technique is to lay the cloth over the part to be covered (let us say a wing) then fold the cloth back for half it's length before wetting out the now exposed part of the wing. Now lay the cloth back over that half of the wing and stipple the cloth with a brush. This brings the resin through the cloth from the underneath ensuring that the cloth is fully saturated and bonded to the substrata. Now fold back the second half of the wing and repeat the process on that half. Finish the job by sponging out all excess resin with kitchen towels. Remember that first class GRP work requires that the resin has full contact with the substrata (ie no air bubbles trapped in the laminate) and that the cloth is fully saturated but not over wet as happens with a resin rich (weak) layup. I can assure those who might like to try the correct method that they will not go back to trying to stipple the resin through the cloth from above. I generally use a one and a half inch brush for the job. Rollers are not necessary on model work.

Thanks Denis. I thought that was the case but I have been trying for a few days now and not been able to download. Guess I will have to be a bit more patient. Mike.

Hi everybody. I am new builder and flyer (Hopefully) Just completing FT Pietenpol from plans in depron and considering FT Spitfire for next build. Trying to download plans but keep getting error 503. Seems to be a problem with the site. Anyone else had problems with ft downloads? Anywhere else I can get a copy of the plans?Thanks Mike.