TJ Alexander

I have ordered two Swann Morton retracting blades - one for scalpel sized blades, and the other more robust. I think this is a flying start.

Don't be so verycilious!

An interesting range, there. Think it may be a while before I can justify that many options (though a balsa saw seems a reasonable investment) Thanks for the replies so far. Plenty to ponder on. I looked at the Swann-Morton website, and it brought back memories. My gels scalpel was a No.3 handle, cut down and filed round at the end, and I kept it in a pocket of my wallet, along with a couple of blades. I bought it from Don Alexander's (coincidentally, also my engineer grandfather's name) in Sheffield, a shop which sold only Sheffield-made products. A palace of delights But I digress. The S-W site shows a number of different ranges of blades, and not as much interchangeability as I would have hoped, which is a shame. I notice a lot of pointed blades in John Lee's toolkit. I would have thought that for cutting lines without snagging, a curved profile would be best, though I acknowledge that a point would give precision.

Bravo Mike!

I know that a good knife is important for a successful modeller. I've been using my trusty Stanley 99E for building, but I wonder if I could improve on this. I note that Americans tend to use 'Exacto' as a synonym for knife, and I wondered if this was the brand to be looking for. Being round, I'm surprised this sort of knife is so popular. I remember my brother had an orange knife with a bulkier handle, but I don't know what brand. ISTR the screw was in an awkward place. Then again, I used to have a sawn-down scalpel for cutting lighting gels when I worked in rock & roll. I wonder if that might be worth looking into? And that's before we start on about blade shapes. Anyway, over to you...

There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Posted by Dave Hopkin on 26/02/2018 16:56:34: Posted by Old Geezer on 26/02/2018 15:53:17: Regarding Johnnie Foreigner - Quote Unquote on R4Extra this morning - attributed to a now deceased member of the Royal Family just back from a Royal Tour: ( I paraphrase ) "Abroad is absolutely awful, and full of nobody but bloody foreigners" Sounds suspiciously like a "Phil the Greek-ism" that one....... mind you for a Greek Matelot he married well... King George V or VI IIRC (I heard it too, but was driving at the time, so not really concentrating on Mr Rees

Posted by David Mellor on 26/02/2018 15:59:47: The origin of the word "pedant" appears to be french or Italian. Means "schoolmaster" both languages (in 16th century). To be pedantic..... And no, that wasn't me. I don't support Chelsea either. Edited By David Mellor on 26/02/2018 16:00:27 Are you the cutlery designer, then?

Posted by DH 82A on 26/02/2018 12:17:50: I say, chaps, this will not do ! Must not sully the English language with words from Johnny Foreigner ! I agree! We must use sound ENGLISH words ike Fuselage, Camber, Nacelle, Decalage, Aileron, Cabane, Amphibian, Torque, Monocoque, Empennage, Autogyro, Canard, Longeron...

Thanks both. A bit more investigation needed!

Tried the AR636, but, though it bound OK, I can't seem to get any response out of it. I'll put it in the Conscendo, and check the Orange as well.

Good idea. I have an AR636 I haven't refitted to my Conscendo yet. Worth a try.

Thanks. The number of different receivers is a bit confusing. But the AR610 seems reasonable. Need to avoid counterfeit, now.

Thanks. Everything seems to be in the right place, but a bit more testing shows me that the ailerons move slightly when I activate the elevator, as well as other unexpected movements. There are no mixes programmed in. I don't know much about aeromodelling electronics, but I'd suspect some crosstalk. Cable insulation looks good, so the prime suspect would be the Rx. I'll change that, and see how I get on. Any recommendations for a 6-channel DSMX receiver for this type of model?

It has an Orange Rx fitted by the previous owner. I am tempted to try a Spektrum Rx, but there's no guarantee that will help

I have a DX6. And an e-flite Beechcraft Bonanza <3 I use the DX6 for my other models, and don't seem ot have a problem. But when I use it with the Bonanza, a couple of odd things happen. 1. The rudder is off trim left 2. The flaps go down when I switch it on, and nothing I can do will move them. I have tried assigning a different switch, but that's not affected it. 3. The ailerons seem to work fine to the left, but travel is a lot shorter to the right. I've been right through the menus to see if there is something astray, and I can't find what might be causing this. Any suggestions?

That seems reasonable. Sorry if it was a daft question.

As a result of this, I've spent a lot of time on YouTube looking at mixing, and at electric gliders with flaps. I rather fancy something like the Staufenbiel Mistral V, but may end up with something rather cheaper like a Walrus. One more question remains for me: Why do people use two channels for the flaps, when they always seem to work together?

These are all good points, and I am planning to up the channels a bit when I can afford that. I do see the argument on spoilers being ineffective at that scale, and perhaps I am overreacting to the difficulty of slowing a big glider (Radian) without flaps to land. Given that, I am somewhat reconciled to a simpler system. I reckon 6 channel can handle split ailerons and flaps, can't it?

It seems that there are quite a few electric models around. And lots with 4 channel set ups. And some with flaps. But...what are the choices if I wanted: Throttle, Rudder, Elevator, Ailerons, Flaps, and Spoilers? In a manageable 2m-ish size I know of the Arcus M, but that also has a retractable undercarriage (cool feature, but I only have a 6-channel TX currently). Any suggestions?

Ah. I had assumed that it set the low voltage level automatically. As I have the battery pack fitted (why didn't they make one the battery cover could fix over?), I need to check what the range of acceptable voltage is. Thanks for the prompt.

Very very impressive.

It's an impressive plan. I wonder if they need a manager? I might make myself available

Hate to put my foot in it, but isn't that a DH9a, not a DH9? As a small child, I remember dragging a member of staff at the IWM in London into a WWI exhibition to point out exactly this error in labelling 1/72 models on display. I have no recollection of his response, but i don't think he was impressed. Or remotely interested lol

Interesting. I hadn't been aware of the Welkin up to now. What a magnificent machine!