Gareth P

Gaz, No need to consider indoor for winter.. just make some ski's for your Boomerang! Winter flying is great..calm..(cold!!) days, with good visability...The snow only stopped me once last year..but tempted to make some ski's for this year.....

Hi Scott, My advice is find a local club and go for a Seagull Boomerang which can be picked up for around £42.99. Equip it with a 40 size 2 stroke motor, and buy the best radio gear you can afford, you may change you plane in the future, but you can keep hold of you radio as you progress, if you get a decent 6 channel set up. Personally, I use Futaba. All in all, with club membership and all the ancillery bits and pieces, budget at £250 to get started if you opt for I/C option, maybe £300 if you get a better radio. Build time on your first attempt on this type of kit would be around 8-10 hours, and you will need to get your model checked over by someone who is an experienced modeller, who will also hopefully test fly it for you, and get you started on a buddy lead (safest solution by far) Worst case scenario, if you do crash it, you strip eveything out, spend another £42.99 and start again! On your second attempt, build time should be around 7-8 hours, as you will have a better idea!! All of the above from personal experience! Good luck!

Has anyone else got any thoughts on this subject, or had any experience with a similar set up? Feedback appreciated..thanks

Looks like I missed all the action! Will go on Saturday next year I think...

Hi All, For those of you who were pondering going to the LMA show today and didn't... Good decision! I climbed out of bed at 7am this morning, and headed down to sunny Cosford! On arrival, a nice chap in a day-glow jacket kindly advised me that there was no flying, but that the trade stands were open, and the RAF museum opened at 10am. I could only assume that the flying had been cancelled due to the fact that any pilots who wore glasses (like me) would be unable to see due to the monsoon conditions in the local area! Not to worry though, the nice chap in the day glow jacket said admission was free! Not wanting to sink on the grass, I opted to park in the museum car park, break out the wellies, and head over to the strip. Shortly after consuming a bacon butty, I wandered over to the small array of tents (aka stalls) running parallel to the main runway. After a few minutes, more day glow jackets arrived (with radios as well!) and started "instructing" the traders to pack up and go, as they didn't want them to get stuck, as the field was slowly turning in to a lake!! With no stands in the vicinity looking as thought they sold IC or electic boats..I decided best bet was to do a quick sweep of the remaining stands, and head back to the museum. Five minutes later, laden down with a gallon of fuel (saving £2-50 on RRP!!) and a bottle of ZAP (not sure if this was a bargin at £2..but I was happy) I headed back to the car for a change of footware. Having arrived at 09:15am, I was inside the museum at 10:30am, along with about 200 other model enthusiasts, who had travelled from near and far. Wandering round, conversations ensued such as "That one would be hard to model" "Why's that then?" " Coz of all the struts!" For those of you who have not been to the museum at RAF Cosford, my advice would be.. next time you get a no fly day.. head down there and spend 3 hours looking at the amazing display's of all things areonautical..you won't be dissapointed!! Planes, Engines, Bombs, Guns, Models (lot's) Rockets, Car's and even a Nuclear Bomb will keep you entertained for hours! So I missed my first LMA show.. am I dissapointed..yes..but through no fault of the organisers..but there's always next year.. As my non-flying companion said to me today.."If we'd have seen the show.. we would have missed out on the museum"... I could'nt agree more!! No flying but still a great day! See you at the field ....(when the rain stops!!!)

Thanks Chris. I am running 16% Nitro (Model Technics Bekra 16) Overall, I am happy with the power output which is more than enough! Just wanted to check out the technicalites of the RPM / Prop scenario,and your reponse is very informative. Thanks again.

Hi I have just purchasd a Saito FA82a four stoke. Having sucessfully installed it and run it in as per the instructions, I have a query relating to maximum RPM. The instructions state that you shoud achieve 10,300 on the tacho, then wind the needle valve back to settle the revs at 10,000 on the ground. Having run in, checked valve clearances after 1 hour (as per instructions) and having put 1 gallon of fuel through it (Bekra 16), I still only max out at 9000 RPM. However, I am running a 3 blade prop, a 12x8 Master Airscrew, as the engine is in a P51, so the 3 blade looks the part! The manual recommends 2 blade sizes of 13x7 -13x8 or 14x5-14x6 or a 13x6, so I think I am OK with the 12x8 3 blade. Would the extra blade cause the reduction in RPM I am getting? The low end is set up to idle, and pick up is fine. Power is not an issue, but should I be achieving the maximum revs in this case? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Also worth noting, any serious accidents are subject to investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority Air Investigation Branch (according to notes in BMFA handbook)as per full size planes.If you can join a club, I am sure you will be offered instuction FOC..worth considering not only because binning your precious model costs time and money, but going out of control at 100 feet may damage property or persons in the vicinity... If you go down to a local club and the members don't seem willing to help, just find another club in your area. There are lots to choose from on the BMFA website. My experience is that most club members are a friendly bunch, who are happy to help. I hav'nt passed the "A" cert, but I consider myself to be a trained, safe pilot..

Hope to see it fly again after the "modifications"required after last flight!

Looking forward to seeing it fly Ian!

Try the Vemar Escape with a 40 size engine. I have just progessed from high wing trainers on to this model. Easy to build, easy to fly, overall build quality good with exception of covering film. Expect to get the iorn out/ recover as required on the fusalage, and you have a great low wing trainer! Check out the review on this site.It won't break the bank, and has the tricycle undercarriage as required.

I built this model about 2 months ago, and have flown sucessfully as a first low wing trainer, having moved on from high wing models. My only dissapointment has been the quaility of the covering, which has lost color in places and the clear top has peeled off in some areas. Not relishing any re-covering work having never attempted it, I have left it as it is for now, but it makes the model look past it's best. If Vemar used a better quality film, even if this meant a slight increase in the price of the kit, it would in my opinion make this model perfect as an ARTF low wing kit. A friend has also had the same problems with the covering on this model.