JackCook

Well this thread certainly got the keyboards rattling. That was good exchange of views. Despite the assurances that walbro carbs can deal with ethanol if drained after use, I think I'll remove the ethanol using the water method and keep my engines ethanol free. Its not much effort and it'll get rid of any doubt. I mix my own glow fuel so I'm used to having to prepare fuel. And since I won't be able to do that in the UK, de-ethanolisation will give me something to do 🙂

So two camps with opposing views on ethanol. I have another question. E5 is 98 octane (correct me if I'm wrong), what will be the octane once the ethanol is removed using the water method?

Thanks for the comments folks. I had never heard of alcyl fuel. I will research more. I can buy 91, 95 and 98 octane without ethanol here. I use 95 or 98 with shell synthetic 2 stroke favoured by motocross riders. My UK classic motorcycle friends are removing the ethanol from pump petrol to run in the old bikes. Which is fine for occasional runs but not a daily runner 🙂

What petrol do you use in your plane engines? I ask as I can still buy regular unleaded petrol where I live. But I see UK petrol stations are now ethanol only. Can my walbro carbs deal with ethanol? Or does it rot the diaphragms? Or do you remove the ethanol as per the youtube scientists? This may be a dumb question but I've never had to deal with ethanol before.

I think its funny that whenever fees are discussed it inevitably leads to "its only X per week" or per day or whatever. And someone always draws the golf comparison. I'm not saying these are not valid arguments, but golf does offer a little more than model flying. If the flying club had a subsidised members only bar, the club would be more popular 🙂 Personally I think up to 50 quid is very reasonable for what the BMFA provide and I have no issue with the fees. But I am invested in the hobby. It is a large part of my life. As will be the case with most contributors to this forum. I wonder how many "casual" members the BMFA have. The ones that are not so invested as we are. The ones who have given up flying and attend the club for the social aspect. Those are the guys you lose if the fees go up. I wonder what percentage are "casual"?

I am used to national organisations in another country. Which charges the equivalent of 67 quid a year. And they work AGAINST their members. Unless you are a mate of the committee with a jet worth 20K. Article 16??? They have more rules for members than non-members have???? Anyhow. Rant over. You may not agree with everything the BMFA does. But they clearly do their job in representing model flyers interest to those that try to stop us. And that's worth a few quid. Take it from someone who has lived in a country where that doesn't happen.

Yes worth clearing up. DSM2 cannot be supplied new within Europe any more. But existing DSM2 equipment is allowed to be used. I thought the power level was 100mW. But I may be wrong. Interesting info re DSMX development. Its always good to learn more 🙂

I'm glad you guys have had no issues. In more than 10 years flying I have had only one. When Spektrum developed the 2.4GHz digital system they invented DSM. When the transmitter and receiver are turned on, they communicate with each other, scan the band, chose an empty channel and then stick to that channel regardless. Realising this may have issues they made DSM2 which is the same but it choses two channels. So if one gets interference the other will continue to work. This is a good system. So good that Spektrum didn't patent it. They thought that other manufacturers would use it and it'd become the standard. And if they had it would have worked well. But that's not what happened. The others made frequency hopping systems which transmit on all channels all the time and were not compatible with DSM2. This forced Spektrum to make their own frequency hopping system, DSMX. DSM2s saving grace is that its channels are much wider than the narrow channels used in their competitors frequency hopping systems. This makes it more resilient to interference. Incidentally DSMX also has wide channels. Making it the best of both systems. None of this is the reason its no longer legal to supply in Europe. DSM2 and Frsky D8 protocols are both no longer supplied. D8 is a frequency hopping protocol. But they are not "listen before transmit" and therefore do not comply with European legislation. I don't understand why that's an issue as these systems were designed to ignore other transmissions. But that's how it is. I lost one plane due to DSM2. I was doing a low fly past. The plane was passing in front of me. But at that moment a friend who was standing next to me turned on his transmitter and my plane hit the dirt. It was an old foamie so no great loss. At the same club another bloke lost three glow engine planes. After crash no,2 I suggested he stop using DSM2. After crash no,3 he did. No more losses. I'm not going to argue about this. I am merely recounting my thoughts and experiences. If you disagree, I respect that. Happy flying.

I'd check to see what protocol the orange receivers are using. DSMX no problem. Good system. DSM2, I'd consider stopping using them and upgrade to DSMX. DSM2 is a good system for solo flying, or if everyone around you is also flying DSM2. But it is not compatible with frequency hopping systems used by all the other manufacturers and can suffer interference.

Can I say. My post 5 above this one comes across as quite critical of the NFC. I didn't really mean it to sound that way. I was more having a whinge about the terrible situation where I live now and projected that onto the UK. I see that there are people working hard to benefit the members and forward the hobby. And that's brilliant. I'll stop whinging now. 🙂

I am currently living in Australia. Moving back to the UK soon. Its interesting to read the views on the BMFA. I am looking forward to joining the BMFA. It appears to be an organisation which actually fights for, and represents its members. I'm sure some can make some criticisms, but overall they seem to be doing a good job. I'm glad the UK has such an organisation. In Aus we have two national societies. They are at best overbearing and controlling. And at worst criminal. I used to be on one of the committees and have seen the appalling behavior first hand. In the UK you have article 16. In Aus the national society members actually have stricter rules than members of the public. Not due to the aviation authority, they did that to themselves in order to control the membership. Insurance is weaponised so you have to do as you are told or your insurance is not valid. I complained about unfair treatment and my insurance was cancelled. A national flying field is a difficult issue. I've seen it here. The field benefits those close at hand and is only a financial burden on everyone else. It sounds a good idea, but unless there can be one in every region its always going to be accused of favouritism. It has to pay for itself to be realistic. Paying events open to the public etc. Anyhow. Just my antipodean 2 cents worth 🙂

I have had issues with OS and Enya 4 strokes which were not mounted the right way up. Does the engine idle if you leave the glow plug connected? With one OS on its side I fitted a on-board glow setup. Set to automatically switch on at about 1/3rd throttle and lower. That cured the running problems, even if it was a bit of a bodge.

Thanks for the info. And the general good humoured banter. An aspect of the hobby sadly lacking in Aussie aeromodelling. There is a lot of anger and conflict here. But that's another story for another day. We know where we are moving to and I have already visited the local clubs while on regular trips back. I've even already got my flyer ID (tsk). So I'm sure the transition will be easy. To drift off topic for a moment, since deciding to move back to the UK I have been surprised by the number of people telling me I'm wrong. Always in jest. But the message is there. I spent the first 33 years of my life in Scotland. Travelling mainly by motorcycle so I am intimately acquainted with the weather. We visit the UK often. In fact last May we had a very nice holiday visiting the narrow gauge railways in Wales. We are getting older and want to be with our families. We both don't like the heat. And I am not that keen on Australians. Its time to go home.

Thanks for that. I am not a bmfa member. Yet. But I will be so its good to know such a facility exists for when I get to that stage. I have requested to join the B-M-F-A sales group, but often these groups don't let overseas members in. Which is understandable I guess. Most of my current hangar is made up of retired flyers and deceased estate sales. I enjoy a restoration project. I'm currently selling off the bulk of my fleet and only keeping a few small foamies. I hope to return to large models once moved and settled.

Greetings fellow flyers I live in Australia but I am preparing for a move back to the UK. (I know I know. brexit, bad weather etc. I have my reasons) Here we have a really good RC plane trading website. Rctrader. Where do you guys find/advertise your used gear on the web? I see there is a section here for that, but was wondering if there are any dedicated websites or if its all on facebook marketplace and gumtree. Thanks Jack

I worked in the swimming pool industry for 16 years here. I was driving around with quite a few of those banned substances in the back of my van. Hydrochloric acid, oxalic acid, hydrogen peroxide. They are all available off the shelf in pool shops in as large a quantity as you like. Although, in a country which doesn't really have rusty cars I managed to rot the floor out of two vans. Its just as well the UK is to cold for swimming pools cos you cant buy pool products.

Holy cow! Really! I buy 5 litre cans in toy shops here.

Thanks for the input guys. You know you can remove the ethanol from petrol if you want to? Search youtube. There are loads of videos. Its easy. Just add water. Ethanol mixes with the water but the water/ethanol doesn't mix with the petrol. So wait until it separates then drain the petrol off. I've never needed to do this as I can buy 91, 95 and 98 octane without ethanol. But some UK vintage motorcycle riders I know de-ethanol their old bike fuel.

Thanks Gnome (you dont sound grumpy at all) Premix is between 33 and 38 pounds here depending on nitro percentage. So not to different. I dont mind premix, the stuff we get here is basically what I mix myself. But self mixing is about half the price. We have weird shipping rules. If I mail order nitro it can be sent regular post, but if it crosses a state line it gets about 50 quid added for being a dangerous liquid. Even though the shop over the state line is much closer than where I actually get it. Imaginary lines on the map can be costly.

I live in Australia but am considering returning to the UK. We have been through all this nonsense here. I was the guy who was mapping the registration exempt model flying fields for the Australian Miniature Aerosports Society. Commercial drone registration happened. And then recreational drone registration was cancelled. No reason given. We aren't getting it. Reading between the lines of discussions with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, they realised it would be a huge workload for zero return and would be unpoliceable with much unregistered use expected. Also all commercial drone licenses were for piloted flights for surveying, photography etc. All the autonomous drone delivery trials which were operating in some towns for years, have been scrapped. There were loads of noise complaints. Privacy complaints. Drones and payloads going missing. Drones found smashed up and stripped for parts. It turned out drone delivery is a way to deliver something tiny with zero security. So it has to be tiny in weight and value. The dream has died. Also rather pleasingly CASA now understand there is a difference between drones and model aircraft and have become very easy to work with. I hope things go so well for my British friends.

Hi Folks I'm a Scotsman living in Australia (please don't hate me). I am considering returning to the UK to live. What is the cost and availability of glow fuel in the UK these day? Here is Aus I pay about 65 UK quids for 5 litres of Klotz oil. 80 quid for 5 litres of nitro and 30 quid for 20 litres of methanol. I have to mail order the oil and nitro but the methanol is local. How does that compare to your prices? Also, how are you managing with ethanol petrol? Do model aircraft engines run OK on it? Or are you separating the petrol? We can still buy 98 octane unleaded here. For the moment at least. cheers Jack PS excuse my colloquial terms but my Aussie keyboard doesn't have a pounds sign.