Jeffrey Cottrell 2

Hi Guys kc After all your help, that's the least I could do. Expect a pm shortly. Need to get in touch to tell him I've found a solution, so I'll pass on your suggestion about Outerzone. Brian Not sure if it's a bit cheeky to make his design public. What I'll do is to pm you the information, same as kc. Expect pm shortly. Jeff

Hi Guys Problem solved, or at least kc solved it for me, in a roundabout sort of way. Here's the deal. When I click on the pdf file I get a some options. One is marked 'save file', pretty obvious, and another is marked 'open file in Firefox (my default browser). What I've never used is a third option marked 'other'. Anyway, clicked on that and one of the options was 'Acrobat DC'. After kc's mention, thought it was worth a try, so clicked on that. Print page came up with all the options already set, except for cut marks, which I'll tick on the next run. So, tile printed on that and it came out exactly right. Woo hoo! Still can't get my head round why Acrobat produced the right result, where Firefox didn't, but I'm not really worried. Thanks to everyone who contributed, but especially kc who set me on the right track. All I have now is the minor issue of building the damn thing. This will involve balsa and sharp knives. At least I know something about those. Cheers Jeff

Hi Piers, thanks Couple of good thoughts, but neither applies. I did try a couple of on-line printers. True, they only wanted about £1 to do the print, but when you add in minimum charge, shipping and handling etc it comes out to more like £10. Ok if I knew this would solve the problem, but I still don't know where the issue lies. Also, once I get a correct size file I will cut the templates out, stick them to the balsa and cut round them. Assume I goof with one (not unknown with me) and need a new template, will I have to go through the ordering and cost process again? As regards my settings. I have set the size on the pdf to 'Actual Size', then I tile print on A4. Prints on to 4 sheets which I the sellotape together. Don't think 'fit to page' applies here. When I go to my printer dialog box, I have the choice of either scale printing or poster (tiled) but not both, so I don't think it's scaling issue. Thanks anyway Jeff

Hi Adrian, thanks PM sent Jeff

Hi Bruce Can second your recommendation to Peter. While I had the motor down, I sent the crankcase to him to fit new bearings. This he did very well, but he also did a couple of extra jobs I hadn't asked for. Total time, including shipping, less that a week, and cost a very reasonable £36. Wouldn't hesitate to use him again Jeff

Hi kc How we got from computer printing ribs to how to re-cycle old printers, I don't know. Talk about thread drift!!!!! Anyway, thanks for bringing us back to topic. Here's what I have. On the top of the pdf page is a box labelled zoom. I have that set to actual size. As an experiment I tried setting this to 110% but it still printed to the same size. Obviously that affects what you see on the screen, but not what is printed. When I click the print icon on the pdf page, it does include a scaling factor which I tried at 105% but printing from that page only gives me a print small enough to fit on one A4 sheet. Whether it's 105% bigger than what's shown on the screen, but it's far too small to use. To enable tile printing I have to go to the dialog box for my printer, but that doesn't include any scaling. So far, I'm lost. Got in touch with the guy in Toronto and he did a test print which came out exactly right, so the problem is at my end. Don't have a print shop local, so it would mean a trip to Eastbourne, which I don't relish. Did look at a couple of online printers, who only quote 50p or so for the print, but when you add in minimum charge, shipping etc comes out closer to £10. Quite happy to pass on the pdf if someone on here could print it out and check. Might highlight where the problem lies. Other than that, considering going with what I have and building the wing some 3/8" shorter in chord. After all, wouldn't see that when the model is 400' up. What's your thoughts? Jeff

Hi Dad_flyer Thanks for the thought but I don't think it's that. The guy in Toronto did all his measurements in inches, because that's what the plan is in. On his test print he measured exactly 12" for the root chord, which it what it should be. The pdf is designed to fit on A2 sheets. I don't have an A2 printer, so I did it with my A4 printer in 'Tile' format. Done this many times with plans downloaded from Outerzone, and it's never let me down before. can't help thinking the problem is at my end somewhere but can't think where. He suggested I go to a local print shop and get it done in A2, but I don't have a local print shop (small town) and the nearest one would be in Eastbourne. Not the easiest place to get the car into, even on the best of days. Jeff

Hi kc Seem to be being beaten at every turn. Posted the question on RCGroups as well, and got a reply from a guy called Harry in Toronto of all places. He is obviously fluent in using Compufoil. Managed to look at the Chili Wind plan, sorted out the nearest aerofoil, tweaked that in CF till it matched and printed out the intermediates, all in one evening. Cracked it, says I, not so. He e-mailed me the pdf and I printed it out here, only to find the rib lengths were off. Not by much, about 15mm on the root overall length, but enough to spoil it. Been in touch and he tells me he did a test print before he sent it and the length was spot on, so the issue is at my end. just can't figure out where. He suggested I take the file to a print shop and get them to do it, but I live in a small town and do not have a local print shop. Nearest big town is Eastbourne and I'm sure they would have one, but not looking forward to taking the car in there. Ho hum. The battle continues Jeff

Hi Nigel According to the plans ailerons are 1.5" wide, which is why I said 4" sheet. Anyway, still stand by what I said. Aileron stock is expensive, but the alternative methods don't save too much either. Guess we'll just have to get used to these prices. Can't see them coming back down, even after Covid threat becomes manageable and the chinese start making rotor cores out of foam. Such is life Jeff

Hi kc Agreed, that is expensive, but so are the alternatives. Had a look on SLEC, and came up with this. The ailerons on the CW are 19" or so, so couldn't be cut from one sheet. So, it's either two sheets of 3" wide at £6 each, or one 4" wide at £8.47. Ok, the 4" is cheaper, but I do not posses a bandsaw, so most of it would end up a shavings on the floor. Much as I resent spending that much on a couple of pieces of balsa, guess we'll just have to get used to our hobby getting more expensive. I blame the chinese, and their wind turbine blades. Jeff

Hi Brian Not sure what Chilli you have, but those numbers look strange. My Chilli Wind plan has the lengths printed, but these are 12" at the root down to 8"at the tip. Thought it might be the Breeze you were measuring, but even that measures at 10 11/16" at the root out to 7" at the tip. Have you discovered an unknown smaller version of the Breeze, perhaps a Chilli Draught? Considered using the %'s on an enlarger, but would this not reduce all dimensions by the same amount? I'm concerned about the trailing edge depth. At the root it is some 14mm, but since the tip is only 2/3 of the root, I think you would find the trailing edge depth at the tip only some 9.25mm. Would need some shaping of the te section to acommodate this. Just my thoughts Jeff

Hi all Just a follow on from my last post. SLEC order just arrived, and the te sections are straight enough for me. Woo, and occasional Hoo! Jeff

Hi Nigel From the plan I have here, bought not downloaded, I measure the root chord as 305mm, not 335mm. This is backed up by measuring the wing cut-out on the fuz side, where I get the root at 300mm. If right, that would make the thickness 13.6%. That's quite enough hair splitting for one day. Not sure I follow your point about the trailing edge. If I use a scaling system rather than plotting, surely that would reduce all dimensions, including the te depth by the same factor. Since the tip length is about 2/3 of the root length, would that not reduce the te depth from 14mm at the root to 9.25 at the tip. kc Good point, but I'm not sure your conclusion is correct. Looking at the plan, a foam wing would be cut to the size of the wing panel alone, so even if I got panels cut I would still have to buy te section to suit. So cost of foam panels + £12 for te. Only way round this would be to get the panels made to the complete dimension including the ailerons, then cut those free for hinging. Might be a better way to get a consistent section, but introduces more issues than it solves. I do have a problem with two te section pieces of standard stock size costing £6 each, but ho hum. Just hope when they arrive that they'll be straight. That sort of cost for bent pieces would be cause for concern. SLEC order due to arrive any minute, so I'll soon find out. Fingers crossed Jeff

Hi Guys, thanks Nigel Given up on trying with Acrobat. From what I understand, being able to edit images involves downloading the professional version, and I don't want to clog up my computer with software I'll probably never use. I suppose if I would want to do this regularly, might be worth getting to know Accufoil or Profili, but this one's a once off, and I'd much rather be building. That NACA foil looks pretty close. Not worried about the different LE. I'll be sanding that to an eyeball profile anyway. Did notice Kevin asking for more detail on the structure, but I didn't read that as an offer, and didn't want to presume. So, Kevin, if you're about. Is this a job you could do for me, and I would be happy to pay you for your time? Andy Good point about the TE thickness, and this would apply to the LE as well, so that's out. kc As I said to Nigel, this will be a one-off. Learning Accufoil or Profili is simply not worth the time for me. Did print off a copy of the Dirty Birdy ribs, but apart from the thickness the depth at the trailing edge is only about half the Wind. If I wanted to use those, I would have to adjust each rib separately, which rather spoils the idea of having them printed. Having spent £6 (six) each on a couple of TE sections from SLEC, going to make sure I use them. Having said that, Joe Bridi certainly designed some pretty models. Might put the 40 on my 'sometime' build schedule, along with the Birdy 10 and Baby Birdy I already have the plans for. So, I guess it all boils down to whether Kevin was offering to do this for me. Over to you Jeff

Hi kc, thanks for your help Trying your idea with Adobe, but still lost. I have the plan up on the screen in Acrobat reader, and I can highlight the section with the profiles, but I can find no way to either print just that section of the plan or print to custom sizes. I'm assuming these are in the 'edit' option, but that means I have to open an account, which it won't let me do because it says my chosen password is invalid. Seem beaten at every turn. Jeff

Hi Guys, thanks kc Had a look at Profili2 website. Couldn't really understand much, so I signed up to their forum and asked if someone could guide me through the process. That question never even got on to the forum. I think I saw a notice that all posts have to be approved by the moderators, so still might make it, but I'm not holding my breath. Nice idea about pinching rib outlines from another plan, but not sure if that will work. Actually got as far as downloading the rib drawings from the Dirty Birdy 40. Looked very close in section to the CB ones, but the trailing edge area is much thinner. To use them, each rib would have to be individually modified to suit the TE section I have already bought. Rather spoils the object. Kevin I am a complete novice at this sort of thing, so if someone on here could help me out I would be most grateful. Agreed that if you don't use software regularly, you forget how to. Bearing in mind I don't know how to use it in the first place, I'm doubly lost. Spars are going to be 1/4"sq spruce, one top and bottom at the widest part of the rib. All conventional stuff. Plan does say the tip rib is slanted forward, but even that can be done with a block tip, so all the construction is entirely conventional. Just need rib profiles, everything else I can invent. Anybody help? Jeff

Ref: Cloud Dancer. Hi Roy That's a very pretty little model, and you've obviously made a good job of it. However, how easy or difficult was the build? Reason I ask is, some time ago, I bought a T30 low wing trainer from the same maker. Not to put too fine a point on it, it was awful. Non existent instructions, parts cut wrongly, and overly complex structure. Struggled with it for a while, even contacted DW about it, but eventually decided it would never be a model I could show in daylight, so in the bin it went. Pity, it wasn't cheap either. Anyway, interested to hear of your experience of the build, good or bad. Thanks Jeff

Hi Adrian, thanks for the quick reply. Did have a look at the site you linked to, but it seems only to be a way of plotting an individual aerofoil according to your needs. Might be missing something, but I couldn't see it being used to plot intermediate rib profiles, from root and tip templates. Am I getting this wrong? Jeff

Hi Guys In the first stages of building a Chilli Wind, but with a built up wing rather than foam. For the first time in many years I tried the sandwich method to produce the ribs, but so far, results are not encouraging and I doubt they'll get any better. So, looking for a better way. Keep hearing about various rib plotting programmes, such as Compufoil etc. but I have no experience with these, and my computer skills remain firmly in the stone age. So, can anyone suggest a simple to use programme I can download, and a quick 'how-to' on using it? Hoping for some help Cheers Jeff

Hi RottenRow Got an e-mail into BMFA asking that same thing. The ideal solution would be able to sign in to Azolve and be automatically signed in to classifieds as well, but since that won't be happening any time soon, having the same sign in details for both is a good compromise. Meanwhile, changing the subject. Anyone know why a listing should disappear from the classifieds? Looking at them yesterday I saw an advert headed 'Balsa, balsa, balsa from a guy selling of his stock of balsa. Couldn't message him then, now I can this advert seems to have gone from the site. Any ideas? Jeff

Hi Guys While I agree with everything said here, still can't see why I shouldn't be able to use the same log in details for Azolve and Classifieds. I do hope the classifieds are retained when they finally migrate to the new host. I find e-bay to be full of overpriced rubbish, and I am not a Facebook member, and don't intend to be. BMFA is a modelers only site so the things advertised are directly related to what we do. Meanwhile, got a couple of replies to my e-mails. First was a link to reset my password. Don't know if this refers to the classifieds, but probably not. To be on the safe side I reset my password to the same one I had used all along. It gave my username as my current e-mail address, and I can now log in to classifieds using that e-mail and password. However if I want to sign in to Azolve, I still have to use a 2 year out of date e-mail as my username, even with the same password. Wonder if BMFA will let me change my username, so I can have the same log in details on both sites. The other e-mail has just got me confused: 'Your user account at The British Model Flying Association has been recently updated to include access to the following Security Role:' Role: Senior Apparently I now have a senior security role, eh???? Wonder if I'm getting paid for it! Right hand, left hand, say hello to each other. Cheers Jeff

Hi EarlyBird Nicely done. Just got an e-mail from Alastair Strang, so I'm in business. More than one way etc......... Thanks Jeff

Hi Guys Eric Not surprised you gave up, me too. Wonder if anyone on the forum does have authorisation to use the classifieds. If so, could they have a look at item number 113586, listed by Alastair Strang. Any chance of getting a message to him asking to contact me either on [email protected] or through this forum. Thanks Jeff

Hi Guys Trying to message a member selling in item on the BMFA classifieds. Tried to log in to the BMFA but somewhere my username and password have fallen off the perch. Finally logged in using an out of date e-mail as my username, and managed to reset my password. Ok, good to go, oh no I'm not. Apparently I need to register separately to use the classifieds. Tried using both my old and new e-mail addresses and my newly reset password, with no result. Why do things have to be so complicated. I can just about understand if I wanted to use the classifieds to sell something but all I want to do is contact a member about something he is selling. Anybody shed any light? jeff Cottrell

Hi Bruce, thanks. Must admit with 20:20 hindsight, I should have used a proper after-run. Ho hum, live and learn. Anyway, jury's still out on Rocket Vs Chilli Wind. Did chop out a couple of ply ribs for the Wind, so I could use sandwich method for the ribs. Basic structure is easy, but I would like to use wing mounted u/c so I'm getting clear in my mind how I want to fix those. Very much work in progress. Can't seem to find Peter Vidgeon on the BMFA site. Could you point me towards him. Got a job he might be able to help me out with. Jeff