Eric Robson

Hi Danny, I had this fear that I would have to strip it down to get it in the car. I have the Flair SE5 which is not a lot smaller and that went i the car no bother. When I tried the Fury it would not fit and my wings don't separate. I found if I put the tail plane in first into the recess of the rear small window and held the plane high over the wheel arch I could swing it in and it would sit diagonally in behind the front seats. A shoe horn would have been useful. Eric.

Seagull kits are mass produced with labour costs and materials a lot cheaper than can be had in this country, a fact that has killed off a lot of our small kit producers. If you look at the price of Seagull kits to build , the Zero and Thunderbolt the cost is not much less then the ready built one that just has to be assembled, and by the time you buy glues and covering material it would probably cost more not counting the hours building it. I bought the Musketeer when it first came out at Sywell show in the late 1970's it was £23 but that was almost half a weeks wages then. It was a nice flyer with an OS max 35. it met its end when a big aerobatic model coming out of a loop cut it two.

Can't sport the Boris Johnson hairstyle, I could buy a wig or just stick some of my wiring on my head.

I will not show you my wiring as it may drive you over the edge. it is on a par with my work bench which is anywhere there is a space.

Hi Ron, have you tried piece of fuel tubing over the threads of the needle, I find it helps stopping air being drawn in along the threads.

Be careful sanding you wont need a lot off. On you first picture it looks bowed, remember the balsa sands away faster than the ply so keep checking that you are sanding flat. I have done a drawing it is exaggerated but should get the idea, don't take anything off the top

Hi Jonathan, just checked mine it has 10mm down at the wing tip. You can check it by laying a straight edge on the top of the wing and aileron, then take the aileron to its down position and measure the distance. The only way to get more movement is to sand the angle to increase the gap, make sure you sand it flat if it bulges in the middle you will be no further forward.

Hi Jon, it may be the angle but there does not seem to be much down movement on the aileron. Blue tape is ok, there is too much red tape these days in model flying.

I know the feeling Martian, I rebuilt the centre section of the Seafury as I was happy with it and eventually used a cut down Brian Taylor Tempest wing plan. Your camera timer is like Hilda Baker's watch, or is that before your time? Cheers Eric.

Nice for a Westland Whirlwind or Bristol Beaufighter?

Graham, if you can get a Top flite 10x6 prop they are ideal they are flexy plastic I used the same prop over a period of 10 yr on 4 different models first with a 600 brushed motor then with an Axi 2820/10 then with a MVVS similar to the Axi . 3 were hand launch warbirds the 4th a Miles Magister with fixed u/c it finally broke when the Seafury went in from a great height nose first.

Hi Dave, I use UHU por to glue any type of foam I have made a Flite test Lockheed Lightning with what they call Maker foam using a glue gun but you have to work quick as it goes off rapidly with UHU Por you have more time before setting . A P51 Mustang would be a better subject for cardboard as it has not as many curve as a Spitfire. Cheers Eric.

Looks like quite a twist in the fuselage.

Hi Trevor, I see you have followed Paul in fitting the magnets on the frame, I looked at this and found there was only enough magnets in the kit for 2 sets in the hatch and 2 sets in the air scoop and noticed the holes in the formers which are laser cut the size of the magnets, which is what I used. As it happens I did not feel they were strong enough to hold the scoop on so I used Velcro on the scoop which has stayed in place, the hatch however blew off first flight . I have since made air outlet holes in the battery tray and followed Paul in putting a flap behind the air scoop. I held the hatch on with an elastic band and as yet have not removed it. Eric.

Hi Dave, I am all for anything unconventional, I tend to use Depron a lot but it is hard to get now so I am using foam board or Maker foam. I do still buy kits and build conventional air frames but with the increasing cost of balsa and shortage we had for a while set me off trying to reduce the balsa content. This Seafury is built with a 1/4" square balsa frame rear of the wing and sheet forward to the bulkhead. the formers are foam board sheeted with 1/8" depron and covered with brown paper. I have just treated myself to a Seagull Chipmunk 80" span which came in a big cardboard box, so there is a possibility I have got two kits using your method. Cheers Eric. DH 9.

Chris, some of the heavy model aeroplane kits I built in the past were not the best floaters either,

Hi Tim, I have an NTM Propdrive I had intended to use but it has a fault. It weighs 100 gram more than the Racestar I am using, so you should be ok with it. My P51 handles much better on the ground than an FMS one that a club member has. He struggles to get away on the grass without nosing over, I don't have a problem with mine so it must balance well or mine may have the wheels further forward, we as yet have not had them together to compare. Cheers Eric.

Looking through the worries on c of g I think with the predator motor and a 4s 4000 you will have no problem with the balance as mine is built with the box as plan and the motor is heavier than the Predator. I do not have sound so nothing extra on the front. At this time I am flying with a 2 blade prop and no spinner I am going to mod. the ali spinner to take a 2 blade prop when I get round to it and fit a 12" prop to increase flight times. I am making use of the good weather so not much done other than flying at the moment.

I did not do that on mine and have had no problems so far. If it does work loose I will retro fit the plate as the dowels are shorter than the W.B. Spitfire. After many flights I have not dropped a wing the stall has been straight so no cartwheels to loosen the dowels.

Look on the Flite Test website there is a lot of models which can be made of foam board and do not need a hot wire cutter or the glue gun they use , I stick mine together with UHU por.

Do not worry about the imperfections Chris, I have a friend of almost 50years who has to have everything perfect. He spends months on a job on the house that could have been done in a week. He has started on 5 R/C models and 2 large steam locomotives in the time I have known him and is yet to finish one, he was saving some for retirement projects and now I doubt if he will ever finish anything as he is now over 80 and has yet to learn to fly. So cast a blind eye to them when its finished none but you will notice. The blizzards have gone and I have had 3 good days flying. Cheers Eric.

Mine is still attached to the box, I forgot about it (old peoples home beckons). It fits on the front of the wing it will help you to shape the leading edge to blend in to the fuselage, Had some more flights with mine today the wind was a lot lighter than yesterday the 10mm difference in C of G did not seem to make any noticeable changes to flight pattern it looked great drifting in with the flaps down and gently caressing the ground as it rolled to a halt, a shaking bundle of nerves. The plane that is not me.

I am happy your blizzard has moved on but not in the fact it has parked itself over here in the North East of England. Still it may be gone tomorrow. Cheers Eric.

Let down by the uneven spacing of the cable ties.

I flew mine today with the FMS spinner and blades replaced by a 13 5.6 2 blade prop and no spinner as I did not have one suitable. The FMS spinner and prop weigh 1/4 lb the APC weighs 1oz. the c of g is now 100mm back and despite a very strong wind it performed as well as the 4 blade prop set up. the first landing was when a strong gust came over the strip and it floated on then wind sheer caused it to drop it held straight and level and despite hitting the ground hard the undercarriage took it . there was 34% left in the battery after 5.5 mins flight. the second flight still in very strong wind was good and the landing perfect as I done it when the wind was steady, I did not use flaps at all as the wind was to strong. I need to change the connectors on my watt meter then I can check the motor output. Eric.