Christopher Wolfe

No wurries, it's all over now so Mr. Botham can eat his words ? The Navigator is from an original kit, it's a classic flying boat, I had another many years ago. Now the workshop entertainment is 'Glen Miller's Greatest Hits', it puts me in the mood for building vintage models ?

I have a few nylon wing bolts sourced from the US that have a 1/4" x 20tpi thread, Dubro is one typical brand. Pretty popular here in Oz so might be worth checking.

Well, at last your lads are showing a bit of fight. Well done! Actually building an old Jetco 'Navigator' in the den so the test match is just a pleasant background amusement on the radio.

A very merry Christmas from down under.

After all the local crap promotional ads by Ian Botham the wheels fell off. Is it true that your test team bypassed quarantine because they cannot catch anything that comes from a bat? Just fishing and waiting for a bite ?

Well, while many of you have to put up with the snow and ice, here in Australia it's just the opposite; sun, surf, lobsters and prawns. I like this forum so decided to send you a special treat from down under, people in lockdown might appreciate it. Making Gravy Keep safe and well. Chris

A few from down-under

I would pop a mould (plaster ok) from the cowling before butchering it as then you have a starting place. Also a plug with holes in it can present few release issues. chris

I have been experimenting with UV cure adhesives for canopy glue and it works pretty well. It allows one to position the canopy before the UV torch is shined onto the canopy for 15 seconds to fix it in place. Also fuel proof. I use my fly fishing UV resin but cheaper alternatives appear to be available online although I have not tested them. Remember, the UV light must be able to reach the resin so only good for visible joints ?

When your as poor as hell, but still need motor mounts.

Here is a nice little bargain for the cashed up! bargain Enya His/her other stuff is just as tantalising. Chris

After using various epoxy adhesives over many years my observations are that 5 minute epoxy 'dries' to a rubbery compound that slowly deteriorates to a crumbly yellow mess. Quite useless for building a model aircraft unless one predicts a short life expectancy. Traditional slow cure epoxies are are another matter. I still have models built over 25 years ago using 24 hour Araldite to secure the engine bearers and bulkheads and the bond is just as good as the day that I built them. Sometimes it pays to be patient and wait for the glue to cure Araldite Chris

Also Velocity Tube Manufacture expands on this subject with a practical example. Regarding re-circulating crankcase oil, a few people have also diverted the ejected crankcase oil into the rocker covers of four stroke engines. Chris

I was under the impression that most modern 2.4 GHz receivers with twin antennae use diversity switching so that the antenna with best quality signal is selected. Both antennae are interrogated multiple times and due to the orientation of the model changing during flight, positioning the antennae at 90 degrees to each other ensures that at least one of them should be obtaining a signal . More info here Antenna diversity Chris

G'day J D 8 Saito have been known to even paint the inside of some combustion chambers. Saito FA-100T Vert strange indeed ! Chris

I remember running-in a few a few pylon racing ABC engines many years ago. The advice at the time was to fit a a smaller prop than usual and run it to the desired revs with a slightly rich mixture and to back off the needle every 30 seconds after a short peak run. I used to pre-heat the heads of really tight ABC engines with a heat gun prior to starting them. Seemed to work out ok. chris

Thank you Denis. I am aware of the requirement to level the gyro according to the instructions. The model is capable of take-off and landing as a 'conventional' model so that shall be my first option to sort out the basic trims. The few reports that I have is that it is a bit 'hot' on a conventional landing but fortunately my local strip has 250m of tarmac and a lot of long grass at the end. I am still interested in converting this model to electric power so still wondering about what sort of motor, ESC and battery would be suitable replacement for the original i.c.power of a Super Tigre 75 which I reckon would be about 1.5 HP so about 1300W- 1400W

G'day, I just saw a recent thread regarding this stabiliser so rather than hijack the original question I decided to open a new thread. I note that the Futaba GYA460 is for electric powered models only (and presumably gliders). I have recently been donated one of these Futaba GYA460 gyro units which I had hoped to install in a VTOL model kit (similar to a Lockheed XFV https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_XFV) that I purchased many (20) years ago from Saturn Hobbies in Melbourne, Australia. The original design calls for a .60 - .75 i.c. engine, I have a Super Tigre .90 (*just a bored out .75) that was supplied with the kit. The original design calls for a Futaba PA-2 https://www.rcmodelscout.com/Tx-and-Rx-Systems/Futaba-PA-2-Pilot-Assist-Link-Auto-Pilot-FUTPA2/337801 but as this equipment is a bit old (although I have one) I was wondering if a Futaba GYA460 would be a suitable modern option, but the 'Electric Only' caution makes me suspect that the device is sensitive to the vibration of an i.c. engine. The Futaba PA-2 was also supplied with the kit. But this is 20 year old technology that depends on a cloudy day and a level horizon to work well. So my options are to either locate a similar modern 6 axis gyro that would tolerate the vibrations of an i.c. engine (maybe adapt an i.c. helicopter gyro) or convert the model to electric and use the Futaba GYA460 gyro. As for the electric option, I reckon that about 1200W-1500W is the equivalent of the i.c. engines. Not very experienced with electrics though so all advice welcomed. Also, the gyro stabilisation is only required for the vertical ascent (and hopefully descent) parts of the flight regime so the 'device' has to be capable of 'on and off' from the tx. Chris

Most commercially available diesel cetane improving additives seem to work in my model diesel engines. I used to use IPN (Iso-propyl-nitrate) but as it is becoming difficult to acquire I have found that something like this (just a typical example) works quite well at 1.5% https://www.best-synthetic-oil.com.au/diesel-cetane-boost-16oz.-bottle Just one bottle lasts a lifetime and my Oliver Tigers love the stuff. chris

Well, is the dream of all electric powered modellers about to come true? I heard about this on the ABC (Australian) news yesterday and it looks promising. By adding a teaspoon of sugar to a LiS battery the end result is a lighter battery with up to five times the storage capacity of the same weight LiPo. Looks promising and quite proud that this was developed here in the Land Down Under. https://newatlas.com/energy/sugar-doped-lithium-sulfur-battery-capacity/ chris

To increase prop shaft diameter to fit a prop with a slightly larger hole I found that heat shrink tubing is quite useful. Use a few layers as required to snug the prop. It's quite concentric and easy to remove. chris

chris

As Andy said, after a light sanding and spruce is great material for where a bit of extra strength is required without adding too much weight (I like it for wing spars). Aliphatic resin or epoxy is fine. I seem to recall that real aeroplanes (two wings and wire) were made of spruce and even Howard Hughes chose this for his giant so maybe the aeronautical engineers figured out the answers many years ago. Chris