Christopher Wolfe

The Barnstormer is a lovely classic design but why do aeromodellers insist on shaping a solid slab of balsa for the moving control surfaces (typically rudder/elevator/ailerons) when even in the 1930's and 40's high performance metal skinned aircraft utilised fabric covered control surfaces? Not an aeronautical engineer but pretty sure that the exerts did their sums back then. To my thinking, this is just adding weight where it is not needed 🙃

Anti-freeze ch Not all anti-freeze is created equal nowadays so if your 'variant' is not pure ethylene glycol then it might explain your poor results. Chris

Seasons greetings to you all from Australia. Opposite problem here down under, weather fine but getting a bit warmish. Wherever you are, stay safe and well, may your takeoffs be smooth and your landings be gentle. Chris

Well, it's that time of the year, so here goes; Have a safe and merry Christmas Chris

Damp one side of your balsa sheeting and it shall curl along the grain which greatly assists in fitting to a curved structure. Then use masking tape to hold things in place while the glue dries 🙂 * Chris *

Here in Australia I have had quite a bit of success with this product CLR O&G remover. Sometimes it is simply a matter of applying the liquid to a castor oil encrusted engine component, wait ten minutes and then flush under a tap in conjunction with a bit of a scrub from an old toothbrush. Possibly you have an equivalent product available in the U.K. ?

Just don't count on Tesla to fix your problem 🙃

Talking of phones.....

New in box ???? https://www.ebay.com/itm/403593889824?hash=item5df8120820:g:idMAAOSw0qRiUmNc&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoPjlh7doF64DRH81U1Sn4sC9czTk8IRTHvAE8aB3iZn0783%2FSnidLJamPIgeuO%2FEKVrtcY%2Fci0dIg0uJDHL7R%2FxVu%2FU1QoMc1Sx%2FRAv%2FBwHkjnmRu%2B%2FvixUhq2KHfBvT2f%2B2cvas5MJ7RzXGJ1ywbSolc9Mdl%2B9zmF4q3oORGSdXnLaS4RarE3B4iR2Q0%2BElVbZGJz%2BiqDMDLvC%2Bmcuwdnk%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR6Cu0Z2bYQ Somebody has a creative imagination!

Very proud of the lads though I wondered which team The Crown Princess Mary of Denmark was barracking for? Next up are the Argentinians so it could get a little Messi. Regards - chris 🙃

38 micron Doculam laminating film, tissue of your preferred colours and a few coats of thinned dope is lighter and stronger than a traditional doped tissue finish. Also, because of the Mylar covering, it is easy to position the coloured tissue strips in any pattern to suit your tastes.

I have used a layer of one or more short pieces of heat shrink tubing to increase the diameter of a prop shaft to suit a hole in a prop. Shrink it in place with a heat gun until the prop is a snug fit.

Interesting difference between fakes and clones. Clones are just a rip-off of the original design with a new name and possibly minor changes (are there actually copyright laws in a communist country when everything belongs to the people?) Fakes are however, marketed and sold as the genuine article. I still have my genuine 'Pierre Cardin' jumper that was purchased for $10 H.K. in a Kowloon (HK) market. (It has the label) 🙄 One interesting observation that I have noticed is that sometimes the cloned article is actually better than the original. Not very often though! The example that I am referring to is that an ASP or LEO .46 piston and chrome plated liner is considered by some people to be superior to the peeling nickel plated liner of an O.S. .46 AX/ FX 🙃

The reason that I raised this subject was that this local (Australian) advertisment piqued my interest https://www.rctrader.com/category/409/MotorsEngines-GlowNitro/listings/126572/RC-PLANES.html. I informed the vendor (he may have been a victim of a scam himself) as the fakes look very convincing - until your model hits the deck. No reply! chris

Although the aeromodelling community is a small market compared to many consumer goods it appears that it profitable enough for certain people to invest in the cloning and faking of many popular items. Name brand glow plugs and servos seem to be favourite targets for the scammers. Here are a few that I am aware of. Fake O.S. Glow Plugs: Often offered online at a great price, check out this O.S. announcement to determine if you are actually purchasing a genuine glow plug or just a cheap fake. https://www.os-engines.co.jp/rule/kinkyuu2021_10_12e.html Fake servos: Just type 'Fake Servos' into a search engine and be amazed at how many manufacturers have been targetted. There may be other popular r/c items that may be 'fake' that I am unaware of. If so, let the rest of know and please point out how to spot them. Chris

That's a pretty corny joke 🌽

As a flytyer/fisher-person I happened to have a bit of UV Cure Epoxy on hand https://www.threebond.co.jp/en/technical/seminar/ucuringvresin/ so decided to try it on\\for attaching a canopy to a model. Dries clear, slightly flexible. This is what I used and it was cured within 15 seconds using a UV torch from the supplier https://loonoutdoors.com/products/uv-clear-fly-finish Still hanging on after 23 flights chris

Don. Try an offcut to determine if the colour runs when wet. (If it does, forget it) If all is good, cut strips and panels and lay in place dry over Doculam covered test frames. Then spritz with a light spray of water from a deodorant pump (SWMBO's scent sprayer ideal) and seal the outer periphery with a thin brushed coat of WBPU. When dry, if the tissue has shrunk, apply WBPU to the rest of the tissue on the test frame and if it works then you are home and hosed. BTW -It would be interesting to discover if the tissue colouring is compatible with thinned nitrate dope. Chris

I once sold an OS. 80 four-stroke engine to a collector in the US of A. He was very keen to obtain such a 'rarity' and it fetched a premium price 🙃 Apparently they were not marketed there but Australia was sometimes used as a 'test bed' for new engines so we sometimes had a limited supply of such rarities. Chris