Dad_flyer

I was puzzled by that in the mag. as well.

My thoughts based on the estimated weight are clearly way too high, from the advice of those who actually have the model! Ignore me. ?

You need separate ESCs for each brushless motor. I think most people would have one battery for a twin, but two would also be fine. Having passed your Phoenix 2000 on, have you still got other electric models? If you have, what batteries have you got? Having different size batteries for each model is a pain, and expensive. If it comes out around 4lbs then something like 4s3000mAh or 3s4000mAh or 2×3s2200 would have the energy you require. Then what prop diameter do you want? Edit: 7cell 1700 NiCd is very small, it must have been two of those for a 4lb model, surely?

Another part of the refurb is conversion from 35MHz. Out with the receiver, and unfortunately everything else because the plugs are different. Then crimp new connectors to the servo leads. So I now have the servos out of the fuselage. Three Futaba S148 and a S3001. (I have only now realised that I did not do the aileron servo leads. Bother.) Which is best for which control surface? Previously Rudder was an S148 and the elevator was driven by the S3001 teamed together with an S148. Left to right: rudder, elevator, elevator, throttle. The previous owner said it came to him like that, looks odd but works. I would have left it if I did not have to take the servos out anyway. My thought is that mostly I see people put a bigger servo on the rudder than on the elevators. So if the S148 has been enough for the rudder on this model, than just the same should be fine on the elevator. Then I would not have to try to be sure that the two servos are not fighting eachother.

Mine came today.

According to Airfix, the red civilian spitfire G-FIRE is a MK XIV and not clipped wing. I have always liked that scheme, and the pink PR spitfires.

Good advice for care of lipos: https://www.4-max.co.uk/pdf/prolong-life-lipo.pdf

That is over the £135 threshold. As in Kim's post:

@Alan Hilton thank you for the confirmation. @Martin Harris - Moderator I was thinking this would be a good testbed for my DIY telemetry sensors setup. Monitoring height would be a very good reason to do it. I shall still try to keep weight down because that is always useful, but I shall not fret about the 7.5kg.

@kc the structure is covered with card or similar. It is a Paper Aviation model. It is finished complete with rivets, which looks great. The card over open structure gives a good impression of dented aluminium panels. I don't think I want to remove all of that, although it could take out quite a bit of weight. It obviously flew a lot, so must have flown well. So the weight is only about being over or under the magic article 16 number. I think it can be done, some batteries are lighter than others, and I can be careful with motor mount weight. But actually am I going to need to be over 400ft, and not at a site with authorisation? You are right, the cowl is huge. I was planning a box in the centre for the motor mount, with the lipos one each side. To get the CG right I think the batteries do not go right forward and will stick out at the back of the cowl alongside the fuselage. I can make covers to channel cooling air and make them look like exhausts.

The main task is to fill this gaping space with power. All my models are electric, mostly on 4s. This is quite a bit heavier. I think most people would put in 6s, but I shall double up 4s give 8s. It will then share 4s5000mAh with Child_flyer's Black Horse Renegade. The only issue with 8s is that it adds to the cost of the ESC, as mid-range ESCs will only take the voltage of 6s. I am looking at 4-Max 6366 230kv with probably 20×12 or 20×11 prop. With batteries the take-off weight is on the edge of 7.5kg. The question is, should I try to keep below 7.5kg, or should I live with the 400ft limit?

I have a Regal Eagle to refurb, courtesy of a kind Forum member. It has clearly flown a lot on IC, being complete with grass embedded in the oil on the underside of the wings ? That will probably stay, as authentic patina. A nice big model with a two-piece 85" wing, so it fits the car much better than Double Diamond which has a one-piece wing with lots of dihedral that angles across the boot.

Not much light to shed. But yes, you need a separate login to message someone offering on the classifieds.

Do you mean it rocks side to side? Or it is just not tight?

Yes, that too! It would have been great with only the model part, but the full size visit was a real bonus.

I would agree with Chris, the carbon cub or similar if you are still finding SAFE is getting you out of trouble. You have flying right by your house, which is really convenient, but joining a club would help with improving and seeing what is out there, even if you don't fly there most of the time. Even when I am not having an instructor, little comments from other flyers about my flights, or listening to others discussing flying problems expands my general flying knowledge.

Child_flyer and I went on Sat. It was smaller than before, in display models, trade, swap meet and punters. Still plenty there to make a day of it. It was really quite windy, so as newish flyers it was interesting to see how the smaller models coped. The Dawn Patrol paused stationary over the runway, not quite flying backwards. A glider tow went out at the usual shallow climb attitude, but got something like 200ft by the end of the runway! The show is not far for us, and adults are only £10, so still a very good day out. We went partly because I wanted to support it to be able to come back properly next year, but being there I had missed shows more than I had thought.

I have used colour catcher sheets from the washing machine as a wing join bandage. They are rather thicker and have dimples, so not a great finish. I had lots to hand, in many different colours.

Which actual model are you building?

You are probably already at the 12A max current stated there. So you would need a different motor to get more power.

Ecalc indicates that you probably have low pitch speed and low thrust, but also low current draw so there is space to go up. What can the motor take? A 10x6 should still be a sensible current and gives very useful amount of extra speed, and thrust of 850-900g. Depends exactly what the motor specs are. My Airmax 2830/1000kv in another model is 18A/200W with a 10x6.

What motor are you using? I have a 2830 1350kv with a 9x5 prop on 3s (~9800rpm with a battery at mid charge). It weighs 1kg with battery as it is the Hobbycraft foamboard which is heavier.p Dumb thumbs bent my one and it was not up to another repair. Everything is stripped out to build a new one.

The circuit is very simple I think, just needs one cut for each diode on the + wire of each ESC. The receiver goes to the three pins at the top, the ESCs are side by side at the bottom. The first ESC is basically straight down, the second ESC has the three short yellow wires to step across the board by three lines, etc. Each ESC central + connection has a diode in series, pointing from ESC to receiver. The trace in the stripboard just needs cutting under each diode. What I don't know is which Schottky diodes would be appropriate. You need high current and low voltage drop ideally.

There is a review on the 3mm from an RC builder comparing the B&Q sheets to Depron. Also the price per square metre implies that there are 8 sheets per pack, even though it says single sheet in the description. The review also says 8 sheets.

My experience is with foamboard for speed of building, particularly wings. For covering I have used just paint (brushed or rattle can) or covered with iron on film or laminating film. It can take moderate heat, but not solvents. Cutting foamboard blunts a knife very quickly, it might also be hard on a milling cutter. It is really good for thick-ish wings. No need for ribs, just folding over a spar. Also really good for boxy fuselages. So perfect for a Stick, a 3D / Funfly, or Telemaster-type. Ok for cartoon scale warbird. I don't think that it would be very helpful for an FB5. The wing section is quite thin and there is not much of a fuselage. All probably much easier in balsa, especially if you have a CNC. Balsa is in many ways nicer to work with, and also nicer to repair.