i12fly

If it eventually comes down to keeping your batteries 'warm'..... in my cold damp garage, I use a couple of biscuit tins with a 12W CFL bulb in each, then place my lipo bags in a couple of tin boxes on top. Keeps Jack Frost at bay -doesn't drop below about 8deg. in winter overnight or above 18deg. on a warm spring day. Must be reasonable as I'm still using some lipos bought in 2016, and 2019 and....

Don't think this helps but..... I have a twin aileron model with New Power servos, model stood for some time (2 yr?). On powering up one servo drooped about 20 degrees as if the centring was haywire. Servo worked up and down from this 'new' centre. George at 4max suggested it was the pot at fault, something he'd heard of on New Power after a lay up. I didn't feel like risking a cure so I scrapped the NP servos...

I've played with Hobbycraft foam board.... but... How did you manage to get those lovely smooth curves on the fuselage?

Really nice! Handy size.... Any chance this could become an RCM&E plan?

I've only made three, Harlequin, Ballerina and Grumpy Tiger Cub. All are brilliant aerobatic flyers with no nasty habits and don't bite! They wont be the last. I also look forward to the Miles Magister, my father learnt to fly in one and passed his PPL. Thank you Peter.

Has no-one had New Power servos? I'm not sure whether to use them or not. I've done a short cycling soak test and they seem OK, but I'll give them a longer soak test then decide.......

Best wishes Matty, I can appreciate how you feel but you will gain confidence as each day passes until it becomes a distant memory. Take care.

Geoff, I've got a bare Wot 4 balsa fuselage, it is one from a kit build model and looks heavier than the ARTF version. It fits the wing profile of the ARTF version. It came with an item I got on ebay so if you want it you can have it (free....). I'm only a couple of miles from you.

I have some unused but several years old New Power XL-37HB servos. Does anyone have any experience/ opinion as to reliability of these? The reason I ask is that I had a model fitted with a different larger version of New Power servos, they operated for about 1 hour then one of them suddenly decided to shift the mid point quite significantly. Fortunately spotted it before flying, I've scrapped it and replaced the others as a precaution as it is a valuable model (to me!)

Hi, have you managed to find the info you need? If not, if it helps I've got the artf version. The top wing separates at the middle so I could draw round it, scan it and email this to you with dimensions. The tip is more tricky as it is angled but I could measure all the relevant dimensions. If this helps pm me with an email and I'll send the info.

Nice bit in tonight's episode with Summer Fisher and her helicopter. They didn't try to belittle her like they normally do with their 'customers'

In the latest CAA survey on RID /etc I argued basically against requirement but added that if it was to introduced then all costs should be carried by those who were going to profit from the system (supposedly millions££), and not carried by hobbyists, who gain nothing at all 🤬

The baby socks selling in the shops seem to have a lot of nylon in them -do they still work ok or do they melt onto the iron. I haven't dared try one as removing burnt on nylon from the iron would remove the remains of the non-stick surface.

My tests a few years back showed Ronseal water based polyurethane was quickly attacked by neat 10% nitro fuel, but the high VOC solvent based was ok when neat 10% nitro fuel was left on for half an hour. The only 'problem' now is that after about 5 years the whole plane has turned a slightly brown colour.... 🙄

Well, just to be awkward, I charge indoors at < 1C but watch over them like a mother hen. I've got aquarium thermometers on each so I can see if the temp is rising. I store at 4.0 volts per cell or thereabouts and yes it might lose a bit of life but some of mine are from 2016 and 2020 and still going strong. It means that I can charge up the night before flying in about 20mins per two on my 2 channel charger. During winter and I'm not flying for a couple of months I store them nearer to 3.8 volt per cell. They are stored in a brick garage, when the weather is freezing, like now I've got a couple of light boxes to keep them warm. These are two metal biscuit tins with 13W bulbs in them, the lipos sit in metal boxes on top and keep the temperature about 6 to 15 degC depending on outside temp.