Graham Davies 3

Morning Jon, The cheapo one I bought seems to work well. It is being used for a mechanical tailwheel retract driven from a cheap mini servo. The whole set up including retract, wheel, servo and speed reducer weighs 40g, so it's all lightweight and 'low demand'. I guess horses for courses!

I can't comment on the T6K, but I solved a similar problem with the tailwheel retract on my Yak3 and my old 9CAP by using a servo speed reducer. £7 delivered from Ebay and does exactly what I needed. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352752970945

Looking good Peter. It looks like I can now sort out the ballast issue. On my final flight this evening, rather than break the prop, which happens depressingly regularly, the firewall came off! I have had various balance/ vibration issues, so I think this has been coming. The good thing is I now have unhindered access to the underside of the motor box so can relocate the lead and kill off the vibration issues once and for all. Yours will be lighter, particularly at the rear, so shouldn't suffer these problems. Regardless of all this, it does fly really well...

Hi Matty, Apologies to all, this may go off-piste for a moment as this is an issue that I am struggling with. In my 'real job' I am trying to source compliant product to sell in the EU and UK. We WILL NOT breach regulations. One product we sell to schools is FPV cameras and transmitters. These have a clearly defined transmission spectrum. A spectrum that 95% of product available in the UK do not meet. Further, all product must be CE (now CA for the UK) marked. For this, a self declaration is required, but this must be backed up by a technical file. It's not enough to simply say "yep, meets regs..." Banggood used to supply this product, amongst others. However, they could not and would not provide the relevant declarations and technical file. They are acting unlawfully, sadly as are most UK suppliers of similar equipment. So as good guys, we can't commercially compete. Given this sorry state of affairs, forgive my deep cynicism regarding ANY declarations made or implied regarding compliance. I think any decisions about product lifespan are driven by purely commercial reasons, and compliance may only come into it as the various manufacturers use it to sling mud at each other. Our regulator, Ofcom, have so far done sweet FA to provide any clarity or protection. Free market? Be careful what you wish for! But I'm not bitter; we'll find a way. We always do. Graham

Oh my word. That is a thing of beauty. I am often humbled by the skill and artistry of our membership!

That has to be the best summing up of model styles I've heard!

That's brilliant modelling Andy. Two really good solutions for problems that I have! Do you use screws into those 2 brackets to secure the cowl? Are they countersunk into a plate in the fus to draw the firewalls together? Graham

You might be right Peter. I think for me, the weight distribution is key. It may be a PITA to make the change though. Cutting a few holes at the back might be a good idea though.

Hi Eric, Paul Johnson suggested I make up a swatch card by painting the 'best nearest' paint I can find onto white card, and matching to this. I like this idea and am trying this for my Yak3. I've got some MIG and Vallejo acrylic paints in those little 17cc pots used for airbrushing, so will use those. We'll get those matched and I'll let you know how it goes. I've got a cheapy paintgun that will allow me to spray emulsion, so that should kit me out.

Hi Peter, First flight was with the servos as recommended. After that I moved them hard up in front of F2, so in the battery box area. It took a bit of work to keep them clear of everything else, but anything ahead of the CofG helped. 1/8" balsa will be fine. It will also help to shape the lower rear fuselage which will also save some weight (and look better!). To me, balsa/ ply doubler puts the strength where it's needed, not the weight where it isn't. I do recall that the lower fuselage sheeting was a bit heavy too. Some nice soft stock here would help. The ME109 looks great, doesn't it? I think you've seen my post, but the finishing is a mixture of gel pens and chalk. Really enjoyed that process (thanks to Richard Wells), and it still looks good 30+ flights later. Graham

Hi Mark, None of the above! 38g matt finish laminating film, painted with emulsion paint. Who would want to paint their house in those colours?!? Graham

Hi Pete, My wife bought me this kit for Christmas and it's been in regular service since lockdown ended. I love flying it; it's stable, fast and fun and certainly has enough 'spitfire-ness' to be evocative. Some things worth sharing: It's no lightweight, and the choice of lightply fuselage sides does not help the balance. I have seriously struggled to get it to balance (so much so that my first flight ended in disaster!). If I do another one I would use 3/32" balsa for the fus with 1/32" ply doublers frome behind the wing to the bulkhead... ...to prevent a clear breakpoint at the leading edge. My first disastrous flight snapped the fuselage at the wing leading edge; a ply doubler here would have prevented that (a lighter rear end would have prevented the need for it!) There's no room for ballast. I needed 2-3 oz and fitting it inside the cowl area took some imagination. Go with the rudder. Way easier to launch right handed with your thumb on the rudder to catch the swing. Also gives you another servo to get up front! Plan for the servos to be as far forward as you can get them There's also not a lot of option for ventilation. I made a scale-ish Mk2 radiator as an air outlet (hole through the wing) but it still gets worryingly warm inside. Otherwise I'm sure you'll love it Graham

Ron, is the tank 'soft mounted' on foam? Vibration can cause the fuel to 'foam' which usually gets worse when there's less in the tank. I'm sure you've checked but it's just a thought.

Hi Jeff, In my 'real job' I had Banggood as a supplier for Eachine products. Eachine is owned by Banggood. I needed CE compliance information for an Eachine product, and Banggood were worse than useless. As such I have discontinued the product and will resource. My advice? If you want to buy a Radiomaster product, buy it from Radiomaster. and preferably from a UK supplier. You stand a chance of some support, which has to be worth a lot more than the £40 you will save. Graham

Hi Frank, It might be worth looking at this thread: Richard Wills has created a really nice, simple option. Graham

That's a work of art Ron!

Hi Glenn, Are you referring to funfighters? I've never used a dolly, so I can't really comment. I'm a solo flinger and have never had much trouble. I use a high arm and a good push and don't get worried if it gets pretty close to the ground before gathering it all up. Those 6ft give it chance to get a bit of airspeed! Mine doesn't roll left too badly, but I do have rudder to keep it in line. That said; it's not easy to poke all 4 axes when you've just given it a good hurl! Graham

Thanks Ron. That's true enough; what if you open the taps again? Not sure I may ever need to but I'd prefer that to be less traumatic!

Ron, what stops the stacks getting damaged? Do the blades just 'ride over' them, or are they clear?

Great pictures Peter. I can attest to it's wide envelope. The climb out was so gentle, it was like a very benign trainer. Until you unleashed the full rates. I can see this being the sort of model that is 1st on the list when planning a day's flying. Graham

Yes Chris, I am a bit concerned about this. However, even with the nuts as tight as I can do them with my fingers (which is not particularly tight!), I don't think the blades will fully fold on wind pressure alone, if at all. The grip of the blades is really quite high. However, as soon as you touch the throttle they seem to pop open nicely. If I go with them, I may just make a disc to fit behind the hub and prevent the blades folding fully flat. As you say though, I may just carry on and only revisit this if I run out of standard props!

Further update: 3 flights yesterday and no breakages! 10x6 as supplied by HK, and very little wind to assist slowing the bu66er down. All three were flat and into the crops. A nice 10x6 folding prop arrived from Gliders UK. I didn't use it yesterday as a power check revealed that it loads the ESC considerably more to the point where it was a risk. It certainly provides some welly, and may be a solution. I will either need to buy a beefier ESC, or some smaller or shallower blades. Having not used one before I was unsure how it would work without stops to prevent the blades pulling forward. This doesn't seem to be an issue as the naturally swing to the widest arc and still provide huge forward thrust. The blades are quite stiff in the hub, so I don't think it's an issue that they will collapse against the fus if the motor is stopped in flight, but I may put some stops in place to limit this. As it stands, tightening the blade screws so they grip quite tightly will be ideal as it will still allow th eblades to be pushed back on landing. Graham

Congratulations Nigel. Been watching with interest! So, this means you can publish the plan? ?

Works Richard. Nice engineering!

I will probably remove the inner skin, but retain the outer. The outerskin is where a lot of the strength is, so paper then film will be tough as old boots!