John Minchell

Thanks chaps - I will get one of the LiPo alarms as they are cheap enough - a mate also suggested trying a 2 cell pack and it may give enough heat, if not then try the 3 cell pack with out having to get a power regulator. Some experiments needed. John M

I have a motorcycle heated inner jacket which I would like to use when flying so I don't freeze over the winter. I have a number of 3 cell lipo packs which would be nearly 12volts straight off charge and could power the jacket. How and what do I make up, to be able to work out how long each pack will power the jacket before becoming too far discharged and would it be possible to to utilise a controller of some sort to vary the heat down and up. The jacket is 35watts at 12volts when plugged into the bike accessory power feed. I make that nearly 3amps current draw. Whatever I make or buy, it has to be portable and fit into a pocket along with the LiPo. Any and all help from the electrical wizards on here will be much appreciated. John M

To be really proper about it, you need to degrease the carbon spar tube as well, or wear vinyl gloves when handling it, as that ensures the cyano bonds well to the surface of the carbon.

Spent £10 on a 12 month subscription to ecalc and you can play with all the fan, thrust, battery, airframe and esc combinations under the sun - that will tell you what will work and what wont. It will also get you through 90% of the EDF learning curve too without wasting money on buying the wrong components. https://www.ecalc.ch/calcmember/signup.php John M

I have found it is the 5 and 30 minute varieties which set rubbery. 24hr old fashioned Araldite or new Locktite Hysol 9466 are fine and set hard properly. John M

Of interest is to take a look at the recording of the BMFA Scale Zoom session Andy Sephton did on flying the old aeroplanes at Shuttleworth. Here:- The bleriot was flown as rudder only as the main steering control and not using the wing warping. John M

Thank you gents, I will do a test with Cellulose thinners (in the garage) and see how it goes. John M

I am refurbishing a solartex and glosstex covered model. What can I clean the surface with to remove ingrained dirt & grime in the weave and also where stickers and graphics/lettering has been removed and the yellow of the tex is now a different colour. Cillit Bang does not work, failing a clean up, what paint types stick to the surface well and what preparation is needed please? Any help gratefully received. TIA John M

Well whatever he builds make it robust and well engineered, ARTF's especially scale tend to be fragile in comparison to twice size Wot 4's and Greenleys. So ensure high tensile wheel axles, glass or ally u/c not carbon, which is too stiff as it needs to soak up the landings. On a typical aero tow day the tug will do up to a hundred take offs circuits and landings and each glider pilot will do 4 or 6 or so and then sociallize drink coffee and chat. The tugs regularly go unservicable - having just organised the last aero tow of the year here in Shropshire - Saturdays list of issues was 4 tugs - one with u/c mounting breaking out of the fuselage bottom and formers. One with water and epoxy like crud in the tank and carb from the fuel can. One with a not yet diagnosed cut under power so he switched to his back up model. The last one was a tow line caught in the hedge on landing which stopped the model dead in mid air and did damage on the ground/model interface seconds later. The previous event had a fuel tank bung dissolve, another u/c wiped off, and two tug no shows. Tug pilots spend more on fuel, replacement props, spare servos and maintenance of their models so that others can have a good day gliding - be nice to your tug pilots.

Funnily enough I was just emailing with PB and his comment was "Why don't people contact us to ask"? Or words to that effect. ?

You may find something useful on this site https://www.assocspring.co.uk/welded-end-gas-struts.html HTH John M

Ron, that Dane RC device looks like a rip off of the MPX design which I have been using for the last 20 years+ Apologies to Dane if it is not, but the working principals are exactly the same. MPX is cheaper too - from Nexus (and other MPX vendors).

Try balancing a 6m moulded glider weighing 16 to 18kg on your fingertips and you'll be shouting for someone to drive you to A&E with broken fingers. Vanessa rig is highly accurate, cost me nowt made out of the scrap box and does for all my bigger models and I use the MPX balance beam CG device for all the smaller models. Once they are balanced at the kit, or plan CG, then fine tune in the air by moving tanks or batteries etc. The only one which gave a problem was the Precedent Stampe as the CG on the plan is 30mm or so too far rearward and so the maiden flight was rather lively. Once corrected it was fine, but that was not a problem caused by the Vanessa rig, but by the incorrect location on the plan. John M

Many of the competition glider and aerobatic pilots still fly mode 1 and loads of guys in Shropshire and north wales are still flying mode 1

Leave the motors out, put all the radio gear and RX battery at the front to get the CG right and use it as PSS with reflexed up ailerons for the washout. At least in a good breeze you can keep the relative airspeed up and hopefully not tip stall and spiral in on every flight.

Thanks Tore - that's very useful, I had not spotted that on the PS site before.

Thanks Frank - will take a look. The spare tuned pipes I have were in with the deal when I bought a S/H Zenoah 80cc twin. They are KS 40cc to 50cc size so should be ok if I can make up a header/ manifold.

Anyone know if the Zenoah 45cc petrol engine responds well to a tuned pipe instead of a cannister type silencer? I need to quieten it down from the standard oblong box with the two exhaust outlets and have already got a spare 40 to 50cc KS pipe on the shelf. Is it ok to use this rather than buying a silencer can, will it make the engine more peaky or wear it out quicker - and will it need re-tuning on the fast and slow needles? Any help appreciated.

The more oil in the methanol or petrol / oil mix, the weaker you are running the engine at the same fuel consumption rate. Maybe why you needed to run it "rich" so that it actually wasn't running lean - assuming that none of the oil was being burnt. A common missunderstanding some two stroke motorcycle racers had back in the day, more oil means leaner mixture so needs bigger carb jets for the same correct combustion.

I can put up with the petrol smell due to the ridiculous price of Aspen fuel. Between 4 and 6 times the price of supermarket pump petrol looking at ebay & local Aspen stockists.

Good point Frank - and with two tugs in the car.......................the stink would be twice as bad! I feel a turning session on the lathe coming up for two nice knurled edge ally pipe bungs.

Thanks chaps - three pipe set up and I have a new felt covered clunk (petrol) for the carb feed line and will make the filler pipe able to empty as well with a short length at the front of the tank and close it off for flight use just leaving the breather line open.

How do you empty the tank if you haven't run it dry when the clunk is direct plumbed to the carb? The filler only pipe stops just past the bung and the vent to the top of the tank. Does a second clunk need to be fitted just for emptying?

We have a reccomendation but not a rule that no one can fly solo - beginner or experienced from a safety point of view. But then we are flying models on one of the busiest live full size airfield's in the country - Sleap in Shropshire. It has its compensations though - aerobatic Pitts Specials and Slingsby Firefly, Bucker Jungmann and Jungmeister, Avro Anson and two WW2 Yak fighters, a taxi rated Jet Provost and all manner of light general aviation aircraft. Always something to watch while you have a coffee between flights. No beginner can fly without supervision till they pass the A cert.

Matt Carlton As far as spectators are concerned at the scale nats, I suggested you contacted Chris Allen as I was not sure about spectators. You haven't, so I did, and the situation is as follows:- BMFA Members are allowed as long as they abide by the Buckminster site rules. There will not be roped off areas - ie don't wander about on the flightline or runways when competitors are flying or about to fly - etc. List of visitor protocols on the Buckminster website. Non BMFA Spectators - situation and entry fee, if allowed, still under discussion. As far as using alternative RAF sites to Barkston - I am informed that all outside agencies (BMFA and us modellers) are not allowed to use any RAF facilities till further notice & C19 pandemic is over. So that would preclude using any other airfield until life is back to normal, at which point we will probably be allowed to use Barkston again.