Futura57

That reminds me, I must book a B&B soon. I'm really looking forward to it. I do hope the weather plays ball. Unfortunately, I've had precious little modelling time in recent months to prepare due to extensive building works at my property, some of which I'm doing myself. Patios, walls, steps, paths and and an extensive garage renovation, which will eventually pay dividends. I've also felt the need to be omnipresent to avoid any hasty finishing work being done to cover over any 'cut-corners', if you know what I mean 😉 So the upshot is I may only be bringing one model. But I intend to soak up the atmosphere, do plenty if chin wagging and have a good look at all those wonderful WR warbirds. Chocks away.

I plan to come along one day, since I'm venturing up to Buckminster from Caterham for the Best Of British.

I agree with the sentiment of putting ones efforts into contributing to the magazine. I was interested to read Kevin's appeal in the June issue, page 8, for people to become an RCM&E designer. As a long time modeller and subscriber to the magazine, I had my first design published last June. The problem for me was that I had to give up copyright to my design. This has put me off offering my latest design, which has garnered some interest from a small UK kit manufacturer. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in it for any financial gain (small though it might be) but rather for the prestige and glory. Sad, I know. I shall be showing it off at the Best Of British event at Buckminster at the beginning of August, if I don't crash it in the meantime.

What an amazing achievement. A fantastic looking model and a great flyer, if the remaiden is anything to go by. A nice scale-like take off with a long slow climb out straight and level before that first turn. Sounds like a real turbine. I'd be interested to know what throttle level she was using for most of the flight. At times it seemed like it was pylon racing, weaving between those wind turbines. A bit disconcerting, but adding to the drama. Very brave in those blustery conditions. Well flown and a good landing. Brilliant. I look forward to seeing the RCM&E article.

As a life long Queen fan, and having spoken to Freddie Mercury in person in 1982, I reckon he would have retired gracefully long ago had he still been alive today. I saw his very last concerts at Wembly and Knebworth in 1986. Even then his voice was declining due to chain smoking and shouting more than singing. I chuckle at pensioners like Rod Stewart, Elton John, Mick Jagger, Barry Manilow, Cliff Richard, Billy Joel or even Brian May and Roger Taylor. It's embarrassing. Quit when you're ahead, I say. I guess it's ego and the buzz of playing and the crowd adoration. Surely it can't be for the money, which I certainly wouldn't shell out for any of these artists, some of whom feature in my vinyl album collection.

I was going to suggest one of these. I've had one of for donkeys, but sadly they are now discontinued... https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbyking-powerstrip-fuse-protected-power-distribution-board.html Aliexpress do this... https://www.ahttps://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003109641446.html

I made the half hour trip from Caterham to Epsom Downs Race Course yesterday for my first flying session in three or so weeks. Preparations for the Derby were early this year, which meant that the usual fencing went up close to our runway and telecoms towers sprung up all over the place. In two of the last five years I've had loss of radio signal resulting in one minor and one major crash. Only when the towers come to town do I have these issues, so I now abstain until after the temporary telecoms towers come down. The wind forecast was 10 gusting to 15mph, though it felt a little higher. Nevertheless, four of us turned up who didn't otherwise have fathers day commitments 😉 I put another four flights on my Strange Quark Mk2 EDF jet, which must be well in excess of 50 flights old now. She handled the wind really well with the onboard gyro. No flying pictures, just an old static shot of my baby.

They're tricky to hand launch though, I find.

3 cycles can show an increase of as much as 10% discharged/charged between 1st and 3rd cycle. At least on my charger. I don't claim it to be best practice. Sorry I ever responded to this thread. Good day.

I like to swap out the fat lazy electrons for some fit new ones 🤣 Yes, I do know about the low leakage characteristics. Like I say, I have the same regime for all my flight packs and my glow sticks. I don't commit to memory which particular chemistry is buried in my many models. So I play it safe. I recently flew my OS37 powered Hirobo Lama Heli, which I hadn't played with for a couple of months. Turns out it has enerloops and the battery state indicator was fully green. But it did dip into yellow a bit when loaded by wiggling the servos for 30 seconds. Rather than risk it, I gave it 3 cycles the night before. Confidence and piece of mind is why I do it. "It was working the last time I used it" is something I hear too often at the field when there is an incident. On occasion it has been a flat battery or a radio issue. So I choose to cycle my batteries after layoffs and do a range test each session.

Any NiMh battery I haven't used in anger for more than a couple of weeks, including Enerloops, I give at least a couple of discharge/charge cycles. It costs virtually nothing, and I can see how much comes out and goes back in to give me confidence to use it in anger again.

There are far too many shots of tidy workspaces here that I won't embarrass myself by posting any of mine. I have my new hangar/workshop to fit out later this year. Whilst I always start with good intentions, my workspaces soon become messy and chaotic.

My new hangar/workshop is now weather tight. Recent rain has meant some small adjustments to the guttering are necessary. The ceilings are boarded, plastered and painted and the lights are up and tested via an extension lead from the house. Awaiting the electrian to come and connect both ends of the armoured cable to the four way unit and the house board and to certify everything. I'm also having two substaintial heating/air-conditioning units installed which each have inside and outside units. They have to be properly commissioned and gased up. One to cover the main downstairs area and another for the smaller workshop end of business where I can work more cosily in the winter months. The upstairs storage area is all insulated and has the floor boarded. There is a large hatch and fold down ladder for occasional access. There is much building work to be completed in my front and back gardens: Driveway, patios, walls, steps, paths and general landscaping. I'm doing some things myself alongside the builders and fetching and carrying, all in a bid to shave a few grand off the huge outgoings. This means I won't get to start decking my hangar with benches, cupboards and shelves until later in the year. Basically, I've written off 2025 to deal with all the mess, stress and expense. I haven't flown for weeks and my projects are backed up awaiting resumption. My wife is under the illusion she can share my new space! I think the bifold doors with integral privacy blinds have attracted her. I probably should have used a different thread to post this. I just wanted to round things off here. I have no intention of posting (anywhere) a blow-by-blow account of fitting out and organising the space. Onwards and upwards ✈️🛩🚁

I'm already a "Country" BMFA member 🤭

Simply sublime.