Sandy Wood

Hi Mike, You thought about building a slope soarer, well a recent article in RCM&E showed a Cris Foss Middle Phase with a multiplex elapor glider. I know which one looks nicer. I learnt to slope soar a very long time ago at Ivinghoe Beacon with a MK1 Middle Phase and it was almost indestructable. Launching it off the West slope when nobody else was there was scary. The middle Phase flew using just the trim levers for the first couple of minutes. Fin and tailplane could be made / remade in 2 evenings. The wing was tested trying carrier deck landings ie crashes on the barbed wire fences. Another lump of foam with balsa spliced in fixed it. The fuselage survived vertical dives into the ground with only crushed nose blocks which repaired themself if left in a jar of water overnight. I still have the model 30 years later and must get round to giving it an overhaul. The sense of pleasure building a proper model yourself cannot be measured. Just enjoy what you are doing. It is supposed to be fun. Regards Sandy

Hi Steve, My kit for the hurricane 150 has been delivered today. The sharkface /sharkfish? has been delayed due to problems which I can understand. When I finally got an email from these guys they do seem to have tried hard to restore my confidence. It is frustrating to get no response, most people can understand if there is going to be a delay if they are informed. I guess getting a kit delivered to the states provides far more possibilities for it to go wrong. Regards Sandy

Hi "the unmagnificent man". I got a reply when I sent a very blunt email after waiting 2 weeks. I understand "cottage industry" companies very well and most people understand if you communicate with them (well most of the time!!). If I cant deliver for any reason or am away I let people know. This is why I dont offer Paypal because payment is instant and if you are away or unable to send the order the customer gets pi..ed off. I have not tried DEPBOND but had an awful time with UHU POR for weeks but the problems just disapeared so mayby it was the depron I was using. Trust me to order ungluable depron. Regards Sandy Wood

A reply at last, Replikit emailed explaining the problems with manufacture etc. I wish they had emailed earlier to save the hassle. Still looks like I will be balsa bashing shortly.

Am I alone here. I ordered and paid by Paypal for 2 kits from the new REPLIKIT company and have received nothing. Emails are not answered and after 2 weeks of defeaning silence I am annoyed. This has nothing to do with the old replikit company whose service was better than superb. Shame really. I guess its a warning and I will have to get in touch with Paypal to try and retrieve my money. Edited By David Ashby on 12/03/2012 10:32:50

Hi John, The probable cause of the high shipping cost is likely to be the length of aluminium angle used to run the stripper along. Ask the stockist to sell you one without the angle strip and they can bung the rest in a small box. I assume you have DIY stores down there/upside down?, buy a length of aluminium angle. It has to be a lot less expensive than shipping costs. Whilst you are in the DIY store have a hunt around and I am sure you could make your own for even less money. If you need help with the design I could email a simple design. Regards Sandy Wood

Hi Phil, Were you connected with the MFA kits?. If you were then sorry if you are offended by my comments re the wing on the hummingbird. Its the fact that there is very little curve on the lower leading edge ie more like a "proper" Clark Y section. This is the part of the wing section I have altered. The original wing is very strong and I still have 2 of them somewhere. The main problem was always the radio gear / motor setup. I only had very cheap (ie very nasty !!!) radio so motor control was via micro switch with lever moved by sliding wooden block operated via rudder. A quick flick of right rudder gave power on, a flick of left gave power off (all very single channel elmic escapement like. Those were the days dont get me started on veron mini robots!!!). A big problem was the nicads I used which whilst capable of powering the model when flying needed to be charged upto the eyeballs for launching. They were consumer cells so probably not able to provide the required amps at the current required. Any model designed for a brushed can motor and nicad/nimh is totally transformed by modern replacements. The islander 2 with brushless / lipo will fly great. I am looking forward to being reaquainted with the 2 versions of the hummingbird I am building. It has to said that the plan is very well drawn unlike modern plans which range from adequate to downright dire. I don't understand this as CAD is so accurate (or supposed to be!). Must go I have an appointment with Pro film / iron. I will post photos / flying report if interested. Regards Sandy Wood.

Hi Duane, It is very easy to scan a 3 view into a computer. I have done this over a long period of time. If it is an A4 page then scan at a high number of dots per inch say 300dpi. You are in luck if its a black and white drawing because you will have a smaller file size compared to colour. Import this file into a cad / drawing package. I highly recommend Corel Draw. You can then enlarge the drawing to a larger size. It is unlikely that you can go straight to the size of model you want to build but you can draw round the outlines you want to duplicate. If you expand to the full size you will find that you will be trying to draw a line round a series of blocks. Try it a few times to find what suits you. If possible draw your plan to a scale of the full size. Say 5% or 10%. Example Hawker Hurricane Full size wingspan 480 inches. Enlarge your scan to 24 inches or 48 inches wingspan. Go over your tracing of outlines to smooth them out. If you use 5% or 10% you can then easily scale your outline to whatever size you want. Hope this helps Sandy

Ha Ha, All over the house !! kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms. I have a very understanding missis who has even learnt that the peculiar rattle you get when hovering up a vital widget will need investigating / retrieval.I do that (fairs fair it is my fault!!) She cannot get round the idea of needing so many ribs. Two should be enough and finds it amusing when i'm on my twentieth. She also keeps upgrading her mobile phone with better video capability when I go flying. I can't think why.

I built 2 hummingbirds. Neither very good because heavy radio, no brushless motors / lipos and to top it off appalling wing section/foam wing. Having torn the model apart I must say MFA were way ahead of the time. We just didnt have the radio stuff we have now. If you have a plan build a modern version and all the figures add up to a really nice compact very cheap sport model. I am building another 2 hummingbirds 1 As per plan but built up wing and modern gear. Original weight quoted was 35 to 39 oz phew I hope to half those weights. 2 A 34" wingspan mini hummingbird with bellcan motor 2 lipos very light radio (a park flyer with attitude!!) First flight of mini hummingbird within next 10 days Oh! final thought fuselage at front bulkhead designed to be cracked to bring sides in at nose. A situation which you just know will break (it did often and repairing with araldite epoxy didnt help!). Better to use very soft balsa sheet nose doublers and get sanding. It would be nice if other people had a go because for some strange reason I think it is very attractive.

Hi Christopher, Thanks for the reply. Balsa Cabin have been suggested by various people so I will give them a good try. Sad news that richard at Wycombe Models is closing down so I can no longer sneak down claiming that I am going to B&Q. Stike another one to the internet/chinese.

Hi Mike, Thanks for the reply. It has been suggested that I use Balsa Cabin by the guys producing the replica Frog rubber powered models. Seeing the quality of the upper nose block material they supply and your recommendation seals it, I will give Balsa Cabin call. Many thanks Sandy ps I am lucky because my local shop Wycombe Models do try very hard (and succeed) to provide an excellent service.

Hi Danny, Yes I just read another thread re ASK18 wing and each half is almost 2m span which is somewhat larger than any I have done. Re scanner I printed an accurate rectangle out using corel draw, then measured it to check the printer and finally scanned )all using the lexmark) the printout back into corel draw. Maybe I was lucky with my printer but it is pretty accurate. (put another way it is as accurate as I can build and probably as accurate as the original plan)

Hi Michael, If you have a scanner you can scan sections of the wing plan into a drawing package and produce a very accurate copy of the wing which you can then flip over to produce the other side of the wing. I use a very cheap lexmark printer/scanner (grit your teeth over the cost of the ink cartridges). You do not need a high scan resolution (keeps the imported jpeg file small). Print the drawing out on A4 sheets and stick them together at convenient rib positios. I have access to corel draw which is superb. If you need help with Corel draw then I can help if you need it. I will be shot down by the experts re my use of Corel draw BUT IT WORKS GREAT FOR ME. Regards Sandy

Hi Adrian, Thanks for the reply, I use a balsa density spreadsheet which I wrote in Excel. Pelaero balsa is available from Mike Woodhouse at Freeflight Supplies but he can only post 18" lengths aaargh!! Cheers Sandy