Piers Bowlan

Good answer Graham. I agree it is frustrating Kevin but like Graham said if someone had wanted to start building the Foka 4 last month they would have had only half a wing and half a fuselage which would have have been equally frustrating 😭. It is a big, complicated model so perhaps buying another plan or getting it copied is not too onerous a task in the circumstances.

One word, WOW!

I like your column Dave, keep up the good work. Neat looking flying wing with square section carbon spars and no D-box LE, your own creation presumably? Perhaps a future plan in the mag, hopefully? 😃 Likewise, I thought your little depron Debrayer Pelican in the March issue very cute. Would be nice to see a few depron designs appearing in the mag, especially a larger version of the Pelican you mentioned. Quick and cheap to build, would encourage others to have a go. I have built several flying wings including a couple of O.Ds. You can never have too many!

My JR9303 manual states the output is 750mW. The European (UK) max is 100mW. I believe this equates to a 2 to 3db difference in the power at the aerial as it is not a linear relationship but correct me if I am wrong. My JR 9303 transmitter was made in Japan although bought in the US. Strangely it has a CE mark on the back along with FCC for the US. I don’t know what the Tx power output limit is in Japan. I have used it for slope soaring in the US, UK, Japan and South Africa. Nowadays I tend to just use my XG11 in the UK. Both Txs have always worked perfectly and Ouse quality, shame they are not made any more.

Hi Mark, I can’t identify the model but I am sure someone will be along soon who can. Your glider conversion looks possible. As an alternative you could leave the servos where they are and cut a hole in the fuselage beneath the wing for the receiver, provided the control pushrods don’t get in the way. You could try Robotbirds for a suitable motor/ESC. Send some photos and a few details including weight and span. This motor as a suggestion? 4Max can probably suggest a suitable powertrain too. Good luck with your project. ps, does it really have a solid wing when the fuselage is so light?

The Leaf is quite a bit bigger than a Ford Focus in terms of internal volume but smaller than a Mondeo for sure. On a freezing day it's round-trip range drops to about 180 miles. With the rear seats down it will accommodate a 1.8m wing (6ft in old money) if the passenger seat is forward. There is quite a choice of EV cars on the market now but one of the things about the Leaf I like is the e-pedal. Switch it on and you only need to use the one pedal for driving. Press the accelerator, it accelerates, lift your foot off and it brakes. The more you take your foot off, the faster it stops (it also brings on the brake lights too so the guy tail-gating you knows what you are doing!). I drove Swanage to Hazelmere and never touched the brake pedal once. It’s the regenerative braking that slows you down and gives you another 15% of range, for free! 😁That is one of the reasons you rarely need replacement brake pads with an EV. My last service at a Nissan main dealer cost just £92.

I don’t really get the point of constant EV bashing articles in the popular press, except the fact that their motoring correspondents seem to be dyed in the wool petrol heads. Yes, EVs are different to ICs, get over it! Range can be an issue so that may well be a deal breaker depending on the type of driving you do. 7500miles annually is average for private motorists apparently (just over 20miles a day!). But that is no consolation when you make a trip of over a couple of hundred miles, so a recharge is in required. However my Leaf regularly takes me to Hazelmere or Worthing and back from Swanage, Dorset on one charge. Not bad for a car that is only good for ‘local trips to the shops’ according to my friends. Admittedly it is a not so practical in the winter, so I then top up from a 13A socket in the garage of my daughter’s or mother-in-law’s house for a few hours. Battery range with the leaf was only 70 miles when they came out 11 years ago, more like 230 now. Batteries have improved a lot and will no doubt continue to do so. My leaf has done 30k miles and the tyres are still looking good. My new Nissan Leaf Tekna cost the same as a top of range Ford Focus in 2021, admittedly with a gov. subsidy. I just like the way it drives and it suits me, I am no eco warrior that is for sure.

Wing finished with servos etc. Fuselage, a way to go yet but most parts made.

Nice to hear it is a good-un Jonathan, what flying prop will you fit? I have an un-run OS 30 FS too. After a decade long break I am finally fitting it in my as yet unfinished Peter Miller’s Ally Cat. 🐈‍⬛

My recently delivered FMS Fox (2.3m) foamy just requires the Rx to be plugged in and programmed before I can fly it, so that will make me a ‘model flyer’. The Chilly Breeze I am currently building from last months RCM&E free plan however, makes me an ‘aeromodeller’ perhaps? You are right; as long as we enjoy the activity, what does it matter what we choose to call it?

Returning to the OP, I think proximity to a suitable slope and one’s fitness has a big influence on how ideal RC slope soaring is to a beginner. I was lucky in that I was living in Fife with an abundance of hills on my doorstep when a friend and work colleague gave me a magazine plan for a Rivington Hawk. I liked the design but I can’t think of a more unsuitable trainer, being small, slippery with no natural stability! Eventually when I had it set up properly the penny finally dropped and I was able to cruise it up and down the slope to my hearts content, by which time the model was mostly epoxy held together with a little crushed balsa! The morale here is to start with a suitable model and I can think of no better choice than a Wild Thing for the slope as it is pretty much indestructible, being made of EPP. Incidentally, I bought a Zagi flying wing in the US, back in the day and modded it so that the wings were slotted together with carbon fibre tubes. Velcro kept them together as were the wingtip fins. Secreted in my suitcase my Zagi accompanied me on my travels around the world, sometimes flown in exotic locations including, Hong Kong, the US and Japan. Try doing that with your club trainer 🤣

I don’t know about the best way to start in this hobby but slope soaring was how I did it many years ago and am hooked on it to this day.

Really excellent video Stubbsy so thanks for that. Good luck with your future projects.

If it flies as well as it looks it will be fab! Good luck with the maiden. A free plan in the mag soon?

Very much looking forward to the plans appearing in the mag. Richard. This months RCM&E plan, SDZ Foka 4 by Chris Williams, might be a work of art and fly extremely well but I wonder how many will actually get built? I would guess not many people these days have the skills or time for a project of this scale or complexity sadly. Richard, your Shifty duo designs ticks so many boxes; simple, quick and cheap to build. Quirky (stylish), chuck in the back of the car, type of models. I foresee quite a few getting built. 👍

I found the BMFA/LMA guidance invaluable in completing the consultation survey, infact I probably might not have bothered were it not available. So thank you all those who gave their time and knowledge to make this guide available. Thank you also BMFA for the timely email reminders. 👍

Sent response 10min before deadline! Phew 😥

I should start by saying I have never built an autogyro so maybe I shouldn’t comment but presumably the motor offset from the model’s centreline is to counteract yaw as a result of the slipstream effect from the pusher prop on the fin and rudder? Could you not achieve the same fix by introducing a few degrees of motor side thrust rather than offsetting the entire motor? Just a thought.

Presumably all servos purchased at the same time from the same source? Duff batch? Now for one of my sillier ideas… have the control linkages seized up or corroded in some way restricting their movement? I said it was a silly idea! I have a lot of HS85 servos in models stored for years in an unsuitable location (a barn) but never experienced this kind of problem. Were the models stored with batteries connected in them? Black wire corrosion?

Some great looking models there Andrew. Love the VC10. Looking forward to hearing more about your aeromodelling exploits in the future. Welcome to the forum and Seasons Greetings from me 🎄.

Brian, it looks fast just standing still! What motor and LiPo did you fit?

Welcome to the forum Arthur. What do you fly and what part of the world. Do you build from kits/plans too or do you prefer ARTFs? I hope you find the forum to your liking. Have fun.

I think you are getting your spars and ribs mixed up Toto, which makes reading this a little confusing at times. Incidentally, for (rib) cap strips I use cyano. A dot of glue one end, make sure it is positioned correctly, then hold in position while you glue the other end. Thin cyano wicks along the length of the strip. You don’t need the wing pined to the board and a lot quicker than pinning and using aliphatic. Just don’t glue your fingers to the wing!

‘FW109’. We know what you mean! 🤣