Moth Flyer 1

It was a spendid day, Jon. I heard no grumbles at all. We all came to enjoy ourselves and that we did indeed achieve. We all rumbled along together and flew as we felt inclined. Personally, the day ticked all the boxes perfectly. Thanks to Chris and Ron for gently supervising flightline activities. It was difficult to tell how many of us were pilots and how many were just watching activities. Did anyone count the number of airframes in the pits? There were models of all sizes and classifications. A triplane to a trainer, war birds to sport planes. A nice cross section of models all powered by our favourite power plant. A unique day which non of us will forget. I`m so glad to have met Neil Tidey. Something I`ve always wanted to do. A legend in his own lifetime, a proper gent and such a nice guy to have a chat with. It was also good to meet Geof, Managing Director of ACG Sales and manufacturer of our highly prized and valued engines. Some terrific flying took place. I much enjoyed watching Ron`s Giant Revolver being given a workout. Jon`s flying with his Stampe and Sea Fury was very nicely presented. He certainly displays both models well and endevours to show off the character of each. I do hope we can get another get together sorted for next year. I`ll attend if we were to get something together. Thanks to everyone for making such a nice day occur. I`ve added a few images here. Not really shots of any quality due to not being able to see what I was looking at on an i-phone in bright sunlight. There was one chap on the flightline using a nice camera. Perhaps he might be able to post some of his images here for us to see? Cheers guys. Mike

Nice to meet Chris and a couple of other guys at Buckminster this afternoon. Weather was rather cold and draughty but is seemingly set to improve overnight. I`m now settled into my local accomodation. A pleasant enough place even though I had to bleed the room rad and open a closed lockshield valve. Years of hotel staying has taught me to always carry a bleed valve tool, a TCV body and a pair of mole grips......I`ll close the lock shield before I leave. Everybody happy! I hope to arrive at the flying site around 09.00am. Mike

08.00hrs, Wednesday morning. Both the Met Office and XCWeather sites show reasons to be cautiously cheerful on Friday. XC is perhaps slightly more encouraging in its forecast but both portals point to a sunny day after about 10.00am. Wind speed about 11mph with gusts to about 22mph. Mike

OK. I`m still up for it.....having waited for this special event, I really don`t want to miss it or cancel my hotel booking. Image shows my first attempt at getting everything loaded. My second attempt is rather more satisfactory. Fingers crossed. Van loaded with all models, batteries all charged and check list double checked. I`m ready to go on Thursday morning.

Weather for Friday.... Forecast from Met Office for the Grantham area as shown on Tueday 30th at 1543hrs. Leicester (Leicester) weather - Met Office Lets see what develops. Not much more we can do. Mike

I can easily do a weather report on Thursday evening. I thought I might have had just about the last remaining BNIB AcroWot XL kits still in existance. Tonight, 29/05/23 another has surfaced on the BMFA classifieds site. Certainly rare...move fast if you want an example if this fine and rapidly disappearing classic. It suits a Laser 180 to perfection. All the best to everyone. Mike

Glad you are having a good session, Chris. You seem to be getting on nicely with the Cub. I had another good pre-Buckminster session this week at Dartford. The weather was fantastic which added to the pleasure. My diagnosis on the fuel feed issue on one of my Wot4 XL models was as expected. I`d managed to split the fuel feed pipe to the carb when building up the tank. A quick fettle to remove a sharp edge from the brass tank pipe and replacement of the flexi pipe cured the issue at a stroke. No further problem experienced. So I now have 2 x Acrowot XL`s and 2 x Wot4 XL`s all in reasonable flying condition for our 40th aniversary bash. All four fit into my Peugeot Tepee van thing together with all the usual flying bits and pieces including a couple of folding chairs, extra fuel and an overnight change of clothes. Everything is now fully charged and all that I need for Friday has been checked off on a tick box list as I`ve started to load the van. There is nothing worse than leaving glow sticks, wing spars or wing bolts back at base camp! Given a little more time and a bigger vehicle, I`d like to have bought the Wots Wot XL with me. Sadly it will have to miss the party. So be it. Mick and I will be heading up to Buckminster mid morning on Thursday and will then check into the Blue Cow Inn after 14.00hrs. That done, we will head over to Buckminster to see the lay of the land and hopefully hook up with anyone who may be attending the Laser bash next day. The Blue Cow Inn appears to have a very cosy bar and a reputation for good bar meals at reasonable prices. Mick and I intend to establish head quarters there for the Thursday evening. Anyone wishing to join us will be more than welcome. I don`t make a habit of putting my phone number on the internet generally but here it is for anyone wishing to hook up with us on the Thursday or Friday. Perhaps I could edit the number out of this post once we have all returned home. Please call me if you wish. 07974 131127. Cheers guys. Mike

Hi Guys, Phew, what day I`ve had with my friend at Dartford Nomads Flying Club with my friend, Mick...You should be able to meet him at Buckminster on the 2nd June this year (2023). Since Jon began to pull the 40th Laser celibration together, this has been my prime objective in my 2023 flying calendar. As previously said my efforts to attend have been somewhat deflected by the large amount of remedial work needed on my parents property. To say I`ve been spinning plates in my attempts to fix the house and have an imput in the Laser event has been something that I`ve struggled with over the last few months. To cut a long story short, the house is gradually getting fixed and my efforts to get models flyable has been something of an epic. Today I turned the crucial corner. Mick and I took my two 180 powered AcroWot XL`s and two 150 powered Wot4XL`s to our Club for final trials and set ups. All has gone reasonably well. It`s sometimes no quick or easy matter to get models to a 100% all good flying status. In theory provide you get components installed and set up correctly, all should go well....especially if you have loads of model builds under your belt. Inevitably, some aspect of the commisioning regime gets out of hand and testing and set up can become a real frustration. As we will all no doubt acknowledge, sometimes it take more than just one session to get a model to a reasonable level of acceptability. That scenario did indeed hit us a couple of times but we are now over the worst. Out of the four models fielded today, only my newish Wot4XL shows any sign of irritableness. We have air bubbles in the carb fuel line which caused running issues. I suspect a split fuel line possibly caused by one of the brass fuel tank pipes puncturing the feed pipe and allowing air to enter the fuel feed line. Fortunately I have time to repair the issue and will be able to confirm a success before I leave the workshop on the 1st June. So tonight I only have this outstanding issue to sort out. I`m hopeful that a couple of hours work tomorrow will have to problem fixed. It all takes time and effort but I`m confident all four selected models will be with Mick and I on 2nd June. How is everyone else making out? Mike

Evening Guys, Now just under two weeks until we hook up at Buckminster for our Laser celibration bash. Thanks indeed to Jon for organising the event for us. I`ve been mega busy sorting household matters. A new central heating has been installed, six barrow loads of gunk removed from gutters and numerous other limited access matters attended to. Sadly my late Father left me with a huge maintenance nightmare which I`ve had to begin to resolve before water ingress began to wreck the place. The effort required has left me rather exhausted and caused me to halt modelling activities for a couple of months whilst I attended to these pressing and urgent domestic matters. Now aged 65years old and with ciatica attacking me with a vengence, the work doesn`t become any easier with the passage of time. Pleasingly though, I`m now back to modelling activities again with the coming week or so being totally devoted to sorting out the two AcroWot XL models selected to make an appearance on the day. More thanks to Jon who built me a 200FT and has overhauled two of my 180`s during my enforced layoff period. So I`m ready to roll on the Thursday, will be staying at "The Blue Cow" overnight and will be at Buckminster BMFA from about 09.30hrs on the Friday. If anyone is in the local area on the Thursday night and fancies a beer in the evening, please let me know. Cheers guys, Mike Kennedy

I`m also happy to go with the flow on the day. Jon has been busy overhauling my leaking Laser 180 and building a new Laser 200FT for me. I collected these two engines from him at the factory on Tuesday last week and I greatly appreciate his efforts in getting my engines sorted quickly and efficiently. Packets of Hobnobs certainly ease the passage! The 180 is earmarked for my coming Stampe rebuild and the 200FT has now fitted to my recently aquired Wots Wot XL. This can be seen in the attached images together with my various Wots all fitted with Laser engines. The new cowl came from an aftermarket seller on ebay. Clamshell cut along the colour trim line, fitted with drilled and taped ali brackets, it fits to the model well and allows the top half of the cowl to be removed to gain access to the carbs and linkages. The lower half of the cowl can remain fitted to the model whilst the top half is removed. I`ll detail more fully on the Wots Wot XL thread also running on the RCM&E forums site The two Acro Wot XL examples (the orange white and black recovered example was previously owned by Bill Macleod) are both fitted with 180`s. The two Wot4 XL`s have 150`s whilst the Wots Wot XL has the newly built 200FT fitted. All models shown now urgently need to be set up and test flown prior to our 40th Anniversary bash. I`m going to have to get moving as the date is now moving up on us fast. In all probability, I`ll only be able to fit three of my models in my space limited little Pugeot van thing. The WWXL will certainly be in attendance together with one or possibly two AcroWots. The Wot4 models may have to miss out on the party. I`ll have to see if I can make up a poly pipe arrangement in the van as racking. As we all know getting several sizable models into an undersized vehicle can be a real pain. Do we know how many people we are expecting on the day? Count me and my pal Mick in as two flyers. Cheers guys. Mike

I wasn't aware of that, Ron. Thanks for the heads up on the matter. An ingenious answer to the issue. I always wondered what the centre thread in the Laser nut was for. My lack of attention. To protect Jon's place in the market place, may be our Moderator could delete my post on the nut issue? My bad I'm afraid. Naughty step for me.... Humble apologies. Mike

Not come across the Eurobat before, Chris. Seems to handle the stormy weather nicely. A small update on the Laser sticky labels. Jon has seen some of the first ideas from my friend Emma. I`ve asked her to come up with a unit price for each "label". Her initial renditions appear as images below. None of this is set in stone and the art work is fairly easily modified. More news in due course. Comments appreciated. My recently aquired pre-owned Wots Wot XL fitted with the 180 Laser borrowed from one of my Stampes, has had to be returned to Jon today for overhaul. Left nose down overnight it deposited a puddle of nasty brown oil on the workshop floor. Clearly it has a defective front crank oil seal which needs recitification before being pressed into further service or perhaps disgracing me and its manufacture in a very noticable fashion at Buckminster! This return to "Daddy" combines with me asking Jon to build a 200FT for use in the WWXL. The finished airframe should be similar to the one owned and flown by Ron. Thanks for the videos Ron. It helps confirm my own engine installation prior to Jon coming up with my engine. I hope I shall be able to collect the overhauled 180 and the new 200FT in the not too distant future and have my latest Laser models tested and flown in time for the Laser event on the 2nd June 2023. The recently aquired BNIB AcroWot XL is now assembled and balanced. The 180 fitted is one I bought from Richard Street last year. This has proved to be a great engine when fitted to my Space Walker during 2022. It has never missed a beat and has proved totally reliable. This AWXL has metal geared Macgregor 10kg servos fitted. The elevator servos are fitted under the leading edge of the tailplane and a 6v 2300NiMh has been shoe-horned into the fuselage void under the tailplane. The CoG is spot on the mark with the 180, prop, spinner and specially made Just Engines manufactured prop nut parts fitted. My other AcroWot XL previously owned by Bill Macleod has been extensively reworked and now sports a new colour scheme and the registration G-ACRO. As a model, it is mechanically almost identical to my newly aquired BNIB AcroWot XL. The new AcroWot XL is some 3oz lighter than G-ACRO. The NiMh battery in G-ACRO is located mid fuselage where as the same sized battery in the BNIB model is located further aft. Both models can be seen in the image upload attached to this post. I hope to bring both airframes to Buckminster. I`ve been working with Andrew White at JE to design and produce a prop nut and washer system that can be lightly reworked to allow end user modification when using typical 18x6 or 18x8 props in conjunction with typical 4mm centre bolt spinners. Andrew fully understands the prop, spinner, nut, washer issues that modellers encounter when attempting to construct an engine propulsion system from differing manufacturers parts sources. If you can work with what Jon supplies, that is obviously great. If you need something specific tailored to your own special needs, then contacting Andrew at JE often provides a bespoke solution at a very reasonable cost and avoids pestering Jon for unique parts that would interupt his normal production routine. May I assure every one that I`m not attempting to divert part supply away from Jon in any way. I simply mention that on occasions I need special parts made for my own applications and contact Andrew to avoid bothering Jon. Jon obviously has his production line set up for his own production needs and attempting to divert from main stream production to after-market products is a very different matter. Its very much a case of horses for particular courses and there is a need for both Jon and Andrew to cover very different aspects of this part of the hobby. I shall be using parts from both Jon and Andrew at the Buckminster 40th Anniversary event. This statement keeps this event thread on topic! So the clock has moved to BST, the evenings are longer and hopefully the weather will be improving. The months are marching by and our event is little more than about two months ahead. For me, it will be a high point in my year especially as I`m grabbing a night in a hotel on the 1st June. If you are thinking along similar accomodation lines then perhaps join me at The Blue Cow the night before we all hook up at the BMFA site next day. Cheers guys, Mike Kennedy.

Chris, One of my friends has a decent vinyl cutting machine. She cuts my model registration letters for me. I`ve run the sticky Laser label idea past her and asked her to come up with a few designs. Its work in progress at this moment but I hope to receive a prototype design soon. Obviously there will be money to pay her for each sticker produced. I`ve no objection to buying and funding a batch from her and selling them on to interested people at a unit cost plus post basis. If Jon is happy with the design, it could be that I perhaps could have some available in time for our Buckminster event. In the meantime, I`ll keep everyone informed of the design progress. My nice pre-owned Wots Wot XL is now complete and presently has a Laser 180 fitted to it using one of Jons "top hat" radial mounts. It is the same unit that Jon fits to the 160 and 200 FT series engines so it makes light work of fitting a flat twin onto the airframe at some point. Having seen videos of Ron`s WWXL fitted with his 200FT, I`ve had a chat with Jon with a view to buying one when he has the next production batch ready. This would free up my No3 180 which I had originally aquired for my Stampe rebuild. All things come to those that wait. Assembly of my BNIB AcroWot XL begins shortly. This example is also likely to have a Laser 180 fitted. It must be one of the very first kits ever produced by Ripmax. Sifting though the hardware the other evening revealed the clevises were of the early type with the threaded part being badly formed and swaged. There exists a 1-2mm gap which makes for an exceptionally loose fit onto 3mm wire pushrods. It is now a well known issue where clevis and pushrod can part company from each other as a result of these poorly manufactured parts. I`m now awaiting decent quality replacement components to arrive in the post. I`ll also be installing new metal geared 10Kg MacGregor servos to get this model off to a good reliable start. I see no reason why it won`t make an appearance at Buckminster. I must appologise for my last posts duplicating and causing our Moderator to sort out the ensueing mess. I`ve not yet found a cause for the issue at my end. Perhaps someone has previously encountered the problem and could advise how this can be corrected. Hopefully this post won`t duplicate. Mike K

In the interests of Forum political correctness, I have now removed the offending Saito stickers and patched a cut in the under covering. The white was a doddle but I didn`t have any of that dreadful pink/purple colour. Then I found a scrap of used covering removed from the AcroWot XL during the overhaul that I carried out recently. A perfect and almost invisible match satisfying all concerned. Suggestions for a sticker? Answers in ink, preferably via a nib. "Laser Engines...lovingly hewn from solid alumium by Hertfordshire craftsmen." "Laser Engines...the pensioners choice." "Laser Engines never knowingly run backwards." Everybody happy again? I`d upload an image but this new W11 based electronic heap is resisting dragging images off my phone and struggling with putting them in the picture gallery. Mike

A good question and so nicely presented. A simple answer, Jon. The previous owner put them on the model and one covers a ruddy great hole in the covering! I`m so sorry!! The issue will soon be addressed. Wouldn`t it be good if some self adhesive Laser Engines stickers could be produced? Think of the advertising value whilst assisting modellers to patch holes in airframes. Clearly Saito foresaw the potential of this multi use flag flyer.....🤣