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Andy Gates

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Andy Gates last won the day on November 23 2022

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  1. I though it was just me struggling to get it to work on switches. I came to the same conclusion, yet to test it in the air though.
  2. Best decision you can make. Before you do join a club, visit others in the area to get the best fit for you as not all clubs are the same. Speak to folks on site and see what the instructors are like and their availability. Here is a link to a thread on the larger 1700mm wingspan version of model you are looking at. https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/index.php?/topic/54155-fms-pa-18-1700mm-super-cub/page/3/#comments Again, before you buy, speak to your instructor at the club and get his thoughts on the machine you are looking at. I can't vouch for the Super Cub but I can for the Ranger. New member started in July and has now gone solo and passed our club proficiency in February. No crashes or dramas although it does like to nose over on our grass patch. Best of luck.
  3. I was going to suggest working out where the battery pack will need to be so the formers can be adjusted - a little late I think! I have done much the same with the Graupner Amigo II and the Galaxy Models Condor, both flew great until wind shear tore the wings off the Condor at 1800ft from memory. Took ages for the wing panels to come down. Good luck with your modifications.
  4. Neddy, I agree with FF, I would wait until you have the ability to switch the stabiliser off, and not switch it on until a healthy altitude is reached. Is there any particular reason for sticking with the Spectrum offerings in terms of transmitters? What sort of budget do you have?
  5. Click on user name and a screen will come up with the option to message the member
  6. I have a Jumper T16S Pro which is the ancestor to Radiomaster Tx16. In the earlier ones there was an issue with all the ribbon cables with silver connections loosing connection due to oxidation. Free replacements of all the ribbon cables to gold contact ones cured this fault. Radiomaster use a different system with wired connections. I have broken 1 switch with a long lever. That is it since December 2019. My radio is really heavily used, every weekend that is flyable in almost all weather conditions. I use it as the master for Buddy boxing for training at the club I belong to. True OpenTx can be a steep learning curve but if you use the wizard and a bit of assistance from UTube videos then it becomes quite useable. It certainly breaks from propriety systems where you HAVE to follow their way of doing things, which can certainly be frustrating - and I do mean Spektrum & Futaba systems. Never had an issue with range or reception, and I use Jumper, FrSky, Spektrum and Orange receivers all running from an internal 4 in 1 module
  7. I used to have the same issue with a small coping saw until I found some fine toothed blades which had been properly hardened. Love the plane - keep going!
  8. Mike, Nice build. Can I be so bold as to recommend a couple of braces between the forward UC mount and your motor bearers? I can imagine the vibration of the single cylinder motor on those long (1/4" spruce?) bearers causing quite a bit of movement at the prop.
  9. Neddy, Definitely get that tail alignment sorted out before trying to fly your machine again. As it stands your machine will keep trying to stand on its tail. Also double check the CoG as your repairs will have added weight behind the wing making it tail heavy which will add to the nose up / tail down attitude you have from the bent fuselage. Good luck
  10. Hi Dave & welcome, Totally agree with others above, 1st step is finding a club and trainer you can work with. If you read one of Toto's threads on here, he had a poor start with unreliable training and suitable models which left him frustrated with inconsistent results, not really anyone's fault but just they way things go sometimes. Speak to your trainer after a few goes on the sticks and see what machine they recommend. To me, bigger the model the better until it gets unmanageable. Aim for 1500mm (52" ish) to 2000mm (72"ish). They are normally steadier, can handle wind easier and are easier to see. I have trained using 48" all the way up to 78" including a twin. Try and keep it simple as there is a quite steep learning curve. Most of all have fun!
  11. KC yours is showing as being due 2025 on the membership page I use so all is well
  12. Does anyone here use specialist software? I used to but with training people it just got too hectic to record accurately. I used to use Flight Log. I will see if I can find it and post it for people to try
  13. Of course KC. My Chipmunk started off using 3S 1000mAH Kokam packs as that was what I had at the time - shows how long ago it was. I was flying from a football field in most weather conditions. Winter meant a puddle covered field so I used to fly between the puddles. Chipmunk performance was such that I could take off by the time it went from the touch line to the 5 yard line. These got replaced with a by 3S 2200mAh packs for quite some time. I used the Chipmunk for my A test too. Later I started training people using the Chipmunk and added a second 2200 pack in parallel to give a easy 20 min flying time. During its life the motor had a change of bearings as I wore then out. She sadly died when the ESC burned out in flight. The Mosquito flies off of 2 x 3S 2200mAH packs in parallel although I now use 2700mAH packs as that is what I have. Same applies for the Beaufighter, Mini Catalina and Twin Otter. Sorry to go slightly off topic
  14. I am the culprit here and as stated I have a few "Ivans" machines and I am a member of the "BIMBO's" - see RCG for clarification. My machines can be seen here. Ivan plans come from a time of electric flight powered by NiCads and geared brushed buggy motors, not the lipo and brushless stuff we use today. This means the airframes had to be light and resilliant not unlike free flight machines. In other words they are "built to fly, not to survive crashes". With them being so light they fly well and quite slowly so they do not carry much energy into a crash if they have one. I have carried Ivans building principles into other machines. A David Platt Miles Magister flies quite nicely for me as it is about half the weight of the original. I have almost finished a TN FW190 made in the same fashion, aiming to be at 60% of the originals weight. So next time you are building, look at what you are doing. How many times have we seen errors in plans? Think, does that piece really need beefing up or strength (in my view weight) added? If you add strength are you not moving stress elsewhere? That means more mods to strengthen the next bit. All that adds weight and increases flying speeds that needs more power / bigger batteries. I stick with Ivan and "build in lightness"
  15. Weather was just too good not to fly this morning. I have flown in fog and I have flown in icy conditions - today was both! Very strange having to de-ice leading edges and propellers after a flight, and full and free movement checks took on a whole new light as we could hear ice cracking off during testing. So the exercise for today was closer in accurate short circuits - great fun and sharpened the mind.
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