Christopher Wolfe

Reminds me of when I was asked why I wasn't going to Robbo's funeral. I replied that 'Well, he won't be coming to mine!' * Chris *

A few years ago I used to teach some new aeromodellers to fly R/C models and I was always asked why I concentrated on landing approach, distance, height, throttle and speed before teaching them how to take off. My usual reply was 'What's the use of of teaching you how to take off if you can't land the model on the strip' * Chris *

Toto, after a year of of adventures then your signature tune should be Learning To Fly as along with many beginners the line 'What goes up must come down' is very important. Best of luck with your 'A' certificate Regards * Chris *

Little Jane asked her father "Daddy, where does my intelligence come from?" Father replied "You must have got it from your mother, ................... because I still have most of mine!" .... and .... A bloke and his wife were driving through the country and had not spoken to each other for over an hour after an argument. As they drove past a farmyard with a full pigpen and a few donkeys the bloke remarked "Relatives of yours?" His wife replied.................."Yes, in-laws." * Chris *

That reminds me of when after a few years of marriage my darling wife remarked that when we were married she thought that I had lots of money because I flew model aeroplanes. It was with a wry smile that I told her that was why I didn't have lots of money 😊 * Chris *

I subscribe to RCG and lately when logged into RCG site (Via Firefox) I have noticed the occasional uninvited download request of a PDF or an HTML document in the background that was not requested. Sounds dodgy to me. Beware! * Chris *

I have used a right angled bend on the end of the wire pushrod with a corresponding hole in the side of a carbon fibre tube. Insert the wire and juggle the end into the hole. Then insert a dowel plug of suitable diameter to fit inside the tube with a groove cut to suit the pushrod wire diameter and epoxy into place. It won't pull out. * Chris *

Use this tool to see who is watching, takes a bit of learning though but the results are interesting wireshark. if you go online then let the fun begin 🙃

I have made a few nice vintage style fuel tanks by recycling the clear plastic tops that come with some drink bottles. Check them with your intended fuel before using. Regards * Chris *

Toto, have you tried what was advocated a while ago and using a Wattmeter or Ammeter to measure the battery draw whilst selectively connecting servo's? To kill four ESC BEC's in a row either you are dead unlucky or there is a problem somewhere in your setup. * Chris *

For a beginner builder I don't think that a 'short kit' is the best option as a bit of experience is required to select the appropriate remaining parts; longerons, stringers and wing spars. A full kit from one of the above mentioned manufacturers would (hopefully) include suitable selected grades of wood for the airframe. Next problem is selecting suitable adhesives, but that is well covered in many recent threads. Best of luck, enjoy building. * Chris *

Actually, that's just like what the serious Free Flight F1C flyers have been using for over a decade. Incoming thermal detected, glow on, push, disconnect glow and launch. Quite handy for use with folding props on a screaming .15 doing 20K+ RPM 🙃 * Chris *

Just like here in Australia, when the mobile towers go down a UPS would be of little help - 500 down in yesterday's storm Yesterday's thunderstorm damage in Victoria, Australia * Chris *

I actually taught some of my early pupils (my children) to fly around with basic manouevers and then land before before I talked them through how to take off because I thought at the time (quite a few years ago);- What's the point of teaching them to take off if they cannot land the model? Being aged 9 - 13 it actually took them about three weeks to fly solo and I was quite proud when my 9 year old daughter gave a 13 year old lad a lesson in how to fly a model - Next flight he did not crash and break the model due to pride (or loss of it) because all his mates were watching 🙃 Model was a pretty tame vintage model (like what D.D. is setting up for his friend) so when things got a bit awkward I just told the students to reduce throttle to 50% and let go of the sticks. Lots of mistakes high of course. * Chris *

Sorry John I must beg to disagree with this statement. Sure, it is easy nowadays to dial in a bit of trim when engine thrust varies but is it efficient? As a free flight tragic I have found that to trim an r/c model (aerobatic or otherwise), fine tuning the thrust line is as critical as fine tuning the c/g and the control surface. To fly fast without significant trim changes, it is also important to also have not only the thrust line through the c/g but also have the wing and the horizontal stabiliser along the same thrust line and ideally the fin/rudder equally distributed. As an extreme example, I fly a few model floatplanes with the engine mounted above the (high) wing; they often require quite a bit of upthrust for stable flying characteristics. The same applies to full size aircraft of similar layout. * Chris *