Andy Stephenson

There are a number of second-hand Henley Solon soldering irons for sale on ebay. I used one of their irons in the 70s, they were pretty awful as the bits corroded in no time.

Kit manufacturers always, without exception, specify a "safe" GC. My AcroWot flew best with the CG 1/2" behind the most rearward point recommended.

Bruce, It will be a while before I get out flying again as I hibernate during the winter months so if I remember by the time spring comes, I will report back.

After reading this thread, I checked my Saito 82 powered Angel. It turns out it was set at 145mm at which, it flies well but I always wondered if it could be even better. I added 55g of wheel balance weights to the tail to get it to 165mm. If this works out, I will move the rudder servo to the tail and remove some of the weights.

MacGregor's own manufactured radios back in the 70s were never regarded as completely reliable. There was a rumour they were using Russian capacitors in their radios. I confronted their sales rep on their stand at a show about this, he went ballistic.

I was just surfing ebay showing ads there for drones with no reference to CAA requirements. It didn't say if they weighed less than 250g but all come with cameras. Without a public awareness campaign, there will be plenty of unwitting law-breakers. Should it be a legal requirement of the seller to advise about the regs and if so how do you legislate for the likes of Bangood and Ali express.

External drives are so cheap and have huge capacity these days, the only reason for the cloud is to get remote access to your data.

Nigel, Thanks for that explanation.

This software looks interesting but what do they mean by "polars", is this as opposed to Cartesian coordinates?

Are the outward thrust lines to counteract the loss of power from the engine on the other side? It looks like it might have some effect.

The power you need will depend on whether it's the traditional foam wing, slab-sided kit or the new Lite version.

Did the people who named the Yamamoto realise how ironic the name was for a model plane named after a WW2 Japanese Admiral who was shot down by the allies whilst flying in an aircraft.

I nearly didn't fill the CAA response form because the questions were couched in such a way as to put off anyone who wasn't familiar with government-speak. My answers probably didn't accord with anything they were expecting as a response but I laboured through it to try and make my thoughts known.

I've heard of self-adhesive Velcro being used as it's made from polypropylene, which is extremely wear resistant and it's easily replaceable if it gets dirty.

John, It was Ashtec who supplied these, long gone now, unfortunately.

Someone gave me the plastic parts of a weather station, which didn't include any of the electronics. I thought I might design the electronic parts myself but then I discovered XC weather. Glenn, I won't ever do anything with the parts so if you need the wind direction and strength gizmos, you are welcome next time I come across them in the loft.

No chance the Yanks still use imperial sizes.

+1 for underneath, as it prevents the sharp end of the eyelet from sinking into a wooden bearer, which would lead to the rubber grommet being compressed too much.

I used to use Pritstik to attach plans to balsa but I found that water based glues make the paper expand so I only use double-sided tape or spray-mount.

The model called "Avanti" on Sarik website looks somewhat different to the one on the Aerofred site, BTW there's also a jet called the same name, you might want to check out which one you want before ordering the wrong one. ETA I just noticed Sarik has both versions.

I should add, it's also necessary to thoroughly mix the two parts, so going above and beyond in the stirring process can't be stated too strongly.

Some epoxies have to be mixed by weight rather than by volume and when mixing small amounts it can be quite difficult to get the mix as accurate as it needs to be for laminating resins. I use a jeweller's digital balance that reads down to 1mg. As far as the non-setting layer is concerned, I wouldn't ascribe that to adding other layers on top, as I have never had this problem. It may yet go off if left for a while or under the effect of heat. Interesting note, epoxies set better in the absence of oxygen, especially at its surface.

Sarik are another supplier of canopies but their range is specified for their plans and short kits so it may be a good idea to send them a sketch and they can recommend something that might be suitable. https://www.sarikhobbies.com/

The Lipos I ordered on Tuesday arrived today Thursday. They were listed as UK stock.

They really should have put a comma in there, as I read this entirely the wrong way, the first time.