Howard Tomlin

Update:   I've been having a lot of trouble getting the laser to run properly due to the carb being positioned below the tank and also airflow.   Unfortunately today the laser shed its inlet tappet during a trial flight, which led to the engine losing all power.   I judged that I had plenty of height so I ruddered it around ( This is where it all starts to unravel- I should have carried on in a straight line) and whilst turning it started to drop a wing,   I let it recover some airspeed in a dive and attempted to return to level flight at which time it tip stalled and fell - literally- out of the sky. Tthis time too close to recover, smash!, in it went.   Damage was terminal, wing sheared in half on starboard side 1/2 way along, fuselage broken in half and bulkhead torn out.     I got it home and removed the radio and engine, and traced the fault to the inlet tappet     I was surprised to note the general lack of glue!, this was shown by the way that the bulkhead and other parts came apart, all along the glue lines.     Perhaps this is the way of the ARTF, light and cheap due to lack of glue????   Ah well onwards and upwards!  

I bought on of the new artf's in white, its great!   I fly mine with a saito 90 Twin cylinder, looks awesome on show bolted to the airframe for all to see and pulls it around the sky like a train.   Prop hanging,  tail slides, blenders, flat spins , harriers, I could go on and on but seriously there is nothing it can't do.   my first panic (circa 1988) flew for the sum total of 5 seconds before it was totalled - my dad had the elevator servo reversed and looped it on take off into the deck - full chat !   My second panic is an original with foam wings etc..  its 99% complete after a total rebuild and re-cover - soon I will fly this one again.   My third panic is the artf one mentioned above.   I think its great how ugly it is, some of my fellow club members cant stand anything which isnt scale so I can see the pain on their faces when they see it on the flight line.   Ok, its not a scale biplane plane, but its a biplane so has a lot of  character, and mated to a beatiful looking 4 stroke twin with a distinctive twin engine beat, couple that with being able to pull every trick in the book and great flying performance - It mess's with their minds!!!! Edited By Howard Tomlin on 18/03/2009 12:47:53

    nylon doped fus, glass cloth wings, tail in tissue and dope?   have you gone mad?   just solartex it!     talk about making work for yourself, that acrowot I had was solar tex'd and painted with cans, looked great!   I'd be interested in the all up weight of your model cos it sounds like its going to be verrry heavy.

John,   I'm going to try your suggestion, it is very tightly cowled so this might help.   Are you using the grey rubber tubes with the corrugated bend in them used to angle the exhaust away from the plane?   Thanks for your suggestion.   Howard

my 75 went like a train on a 12x6 prop!  too many years of castor fuel have lead to coked up exhaust valve, but it still soldiers on.  my laser 90 has been a pig by comparison, and my laser 150 blew its bottom end out in flight due to oil starvation.  I honestly prefer saito now , however you cant beat that laser noise!

i'm running a laser 90 in a graupner extra (patty wagstaff jobby), its inverted and absolutely has to have pressurisation as it wont run well (if at all without it).  I've had a shed load of trouble making it work, the carb is way way lower than the bottom of the tank as the engine is inverted, this leads to it running ok on the ground and then goes rich in the air!! the complete opposite of what you would expect.  I've tried rotating the spray bar to control the amount of fuel that gets drawn in to the carb and thats made little difference. The only real way to tune it is to have it running really lean on the ground and fingers crossed it doesnt go rich in the air.  I'm seriously thinking of doing away with the aesthetics and mounting the bl**dy thing sideways!  If your glen is as heavy as my extra then i think you may find the 80 a little underpowered too, sorry to break it to you...

I'm putting the twin in an avicraft panic, and am wondering which prop to use for maximum funflyage.  Would a 13x4 be suitable? IF not then whats your thoughts. Many Thanks Howard

wow!, spelling pedants are rife on this forum!

To be fair (or Flair!!) the magnatila is a good trainer.

they fly very nicely on a gold old laser 75 and a 12x6 prop (yes i know it was under propped but it never complained and went like stink)  loads of prop clearance too!

well its horses for courses, you'll know when you're running before you can walk as your instructor will tell you so (and tailor your lessons to suit)or you'll attempt a flight on your own too early and possibly stuff it in. You'll gain confidence quicker with a model that you're not frightened of, and believe me there's nothing frightening with a junior 60. With the right instructor and a standard aileron trainer you'll get your confidence in time, and you will be straight on to ailerons  the timescale is down to how quickly you get your confidence up and in some cases its easier to get confidence with a slow flying easy to take off / land model like a junior 60 and then move on to a  4ch.channel model. One advantage with a 4 channel trainer is that they generally have more "penetration" in windy conditions as any model with a light wing loading and loads of dihedral (junior 60 etc.) can be flipped around when a gust gets under the wing.  Why dont you try someone elses 4 channel trainer with your instructor to see what the difference is and see which you think you will make more progress with?  I'm also a very keen advocate of flight sims ( phoenix etc.) as these can teach you the basics, in any weather , from your living room. Stick time is everything and a sim can give you that stick time to get you confident with the model. Of course its only 90% realistic as in real life when you stuff it in you need to repair not just reset, but you will find that you can be adventurous with your flying and learn what works and what doesnt. I'll bet you money you'll pull off a nice (sim) landing within a week.... BTW. are you flying buddy lead?- this makes a big difference to the time allowed for the rescue of a plumetting trainer - if your instructor is on the ball the situation shouldnt arise in the first place.... Howard

I learnt on a super 60 rudder elevator only, then progressed to a rudder elevator tinker  biplane, then a hepcat, rudder elevator vintage thing, then a howard metcalfe models (are they still around?) moonraker a smy first aileron trainer, Acrowot Wolfgang Matt "joker" pattern ship,  and on and on and on up to the models i have now which are mix of scale,3d, pattern mono and biplanes. having a plane which will fly itself (if all else fails) is a bonus,  the confidence you will have when moving to ailerons will be much higher if you have some rudder elevator experience. I still fly rudder elevator, and the guy i'm teaching to fly at the moment is using a radio queen on rudder elevator and is doing very well!!

I always try to fly both models that i take, i always have a spare in case i get a problem with one. You're not alone in noticing the people who turn up without models (just for the social - which is fine)

what time, what site, what password?  I will be under the name of maverick

the latest version of phoenix now includes a flying club in moscow and a new apache helicopter in elec, nitro, and turbine version.