John Minchell

Oh and the other thing is you'd be better off with the Inside F5J for an extra £20 or so, instead of the Introduction. As it has ailerons as well as flaps and allows a bigger flying envelope in gusty weather etc and more controlable for damage free landings. John M

Couple of lads round here have them and I was given a broken one to rebuild. They are not particularly good in anything over 10 or 12 mph winds. Brilliant gliders in calmer conditions. Also the instructions say cover with Oracover light. Don't as the wings and tail flutter too easily. Best covering with at least normal Profilm/Oracover for a few grammes more weight, or even better still tissue over mylar which has proven to be the most resistant to fluttering and allows flying in 15mph ok (even it it is going backwards most of the time)! Stripping the covering off is a pain, so do it right at the build stage and you won't be disappointed. John M

Ah, so tissue over mylar then for covering- thanks chaps. And about 120watts is ample. Thank you. John M

Thanks Phil, Shaun - that gives me something to work on. John M

Anybody have or built a Veron Deacon and powered it with an electric motor/esc/LiPo powertrain? Can you recomend a motorsize suitable? Just want to float about in a vintage manner with rudder elevator controls. I have a spares drawer full of older brushed speed 300, 400 & 500 direct drive & geared motors and some small 28mm dia outrunners so hoping one of them will suit it. TIA John M

I have both the Introduction and the Wot4 motor as well as a Hacker A20 geared motor. The Ripmax Wot 4 motor is way bigger than the outside dimensions of the fuselage at the front. So it won't fit. The Hacker A20&box takes it up at 50degree climb and the wing and tail surfaces flutter. If you are going to build an Introduction then please consider the following. If you are going to overpower it, then do not use Oralight as covering you will need tissue over mylar for stiffness (which means covering it twice) or some form of nylon or tex or heavyweight plastic heatshrink covering which will all put up the weight. If you use the low powered motors and keep the weight down by only using around a 500mAh 3S LiPo then you can cover it with the light Oracover heat shrink as it won't be overly powered and flutter the surfaces. You only need a couple of seconds of violent flutter to destroy a model so its best avoided. John M

I tried to subscribe and I got " this email already exists" and no way to get around it. Maybe because I am already subscribed to the BMFA Scale news from the scale website, I dont know. John M

As an ex-member of the Scale Tech Committee I was around when we first started to work on bringing the Scale WC back to the UK. Many discussions were had about where to put the big marquee for hangar space and judging, car parking, also what services would be needed. I am not in the loop with the latest decisions however, I would suggest that a large generator unit or two would be provided as well as extra showers and toilet facilities. There will be many foreign competitors and teams needing to camp for 10 days or so. Therefore its a safe bet that a visitors campsite as well as competitors would need extra mains or generator power. John M

Sorry for the delay in replying, only just seen these comments. Yes it is not a charger or discharger as such. It allows me to use remaining energy in a battery once I get back home to then use in charging up my other devices (phone, powerbank, tablet etc) rather than sticking the Lipo on a storage discharge cycle of and waste the energy I have already paid for. John M

I bought a Toolkit RC MC8 Multi Checker. https://www.hobbyrc.co.uk/toolkitrc-mc8-cell-checker Because it has a USB output socket and I can recharge my phone, tablet, Powerbank and laptop with it. That way I don't waste the charge in any fully charged but unused batteries at the field or indoor flying. Please note it does not automatically cut off when the battery gets to 30 or 40% storage charge point. So I either have it alongside me and manually check progress, or I can add a LiPo alarm set at 40% to the battery. Saves on wasting expensive energy. John M

Willing to be corrected here, but that looks like an 80's Multiplex Tx. You may have more luck searching for MPX manuals online and identifying it from those. Certainly all the switch and rotary adjusters look identical in their respective groups. John M

E.D. - I was trying to renovate one of the first ever foam models - a late 70's/80's Byron 1/3 scale Pitts S1. Sadly it has defeated me so far - you can't sand off the adhesive and colour left on the surface because the stringers and "sag" of the covering between ribs and stringers is replicated in the moulds and hence detail on the finished model. You can't use a hairdryer or heat gun to ease the removal of the solarfilm 'cause it melts the polystyrene. Parcel tape trick pull of lumps of the foam too. So only option left is fill the holes with lightweight filler and then skin it with glass cloth and then paint it - but that is a lot more weight. John M

All the above pre-supposes that the underlying structure is wood (balsa or ply). How do you get the glue and colour residue off if the model is a foam one? Because you can't use heat or thinners? John M

GPS satellite sensor generated data used to be used for speed telemetry in GPS Triangle glider racing. That is not accurate enough in competitions, so now a pitot tube / head is used for more accuracy. The GPS trace is used to plot the track on Google Maps. Correct me if I am wrong, but FlyinFlynn - if you are at 230m to 240 metres above your house, are you not breaking the 400ft rule (122m) for drone with camera? John M

What a superb flying site you have there. Where is it please? John M

I will endorse Dick's recommendation of the Kingmax servos. In all my larger (and faster) models than your Fly Fly DG and they are faultless so far (a few years). John M

Well I always have discharged any cells I use or ones that are still fully charged and didn't use back to storage charge. Including the 150mAh 1s indoor cells. I have not had to throw away any battery for over a year now. However, since this cost of living crisis, I have been using the larger batteries 3,4,5 & 6 cells to charge up my phone, or tablet or laptop. Since I have already paid the utility company to charge the battery anyway why waste it on storage charging the battery back to 40% and still paying to top up the phone/etc from the mains. Works for me.

OK all, Paul Bardoe bought up the rights to all the PFM kits a couple of years ago. I borrowed the NOS kit of the Zlin from Colin Leighfield (above) and Paul copied everything to re- start making the Zlin & some of the PFM kit range. The Zlin is now available from PB Models and he should have the plans and patterns for the Cranfield too. Get in touch and ask if you are still looking for plans.

Sorry, but as an engineer and user of 3D printer, I would never make such a flight critical part as the elevator bell-crank out of anything which could be suspect. A local club's existence is potentially in the balance due to an elevator failure and crash into the farmer's garden. So personally I wouldn't make a bell-crank out of anything less than a sheet of G10 glass or carbon sheet - to ensure its mechanical strength and longevity. Also all the Micro Mold plastic bell-cranks I have in the spares box will remain in there now, as most of them are 20 to 40 years old and God (if there is one) only knows what the material degradation has been. Just my 2 pence worth. John M

Peter, here is one option for B&B right next to the Sherlowe airfield ready for the next one in August. https://www.ercallmill.co.uk/ Regards John M

Thanks Andy I'll keep an eye out next week.

So when do we find out if last years record was exceeded or not? There's nothing on the BMFA website.

As I have this engine in mind for a large scale powered glider project, are there any feathering props commercially available that are suitable and safe for IC engines on the market? Since the cowl shape precludes a folding prop and the obvious electric power option.

Thanks All

I have a Saito 36cc petrol engine and considering the installation in a model by looking at the plan. Unfortunately in the inverted installation there is not enough space for the magnet pick up inside the cowling (now on the top of crankcase). Is it possible to substitute a different Hall sensor pick up for the magnet in the prop driver (much smaller & lower profile like the Rexcel one) and for it to work OK with the Saito ignition box? Saito is 18mm tall and wide and Rexcel is 7mm x 7mm and a DLE one is 8mm x 8mm. I'm not sure about compatibility. Anyone done it? Thanks in advance for any help.