Adrian Smith

the very nature of park flying is that you will be flying close so the lightest r/c gear is going to make for a nice controllable flight. if you want to bat it around then sturdier servos are called for but please please have a friend close by to watch for people out enjoying themselves. i know this is going to look silly as you may say that you can keep an eye out yourself but believe me, when you are concentrating on the plane, you will develop tunnel vision. fly safe! 

the slat is best positioned in the direct path of the airflow over the aileron. as to position in relation to the centre line of the wing, the extreme forward edge of the slat is inline with the wing centre line. think of the slat being in fact the leading edge, come rearwards about 25-30% of mean chord and mark a slot the same width as the aileron and about 19-25mm wide. now mark the underside of the wing, again in line with the aileron this time marking a slot 10-12mm back from the leading edge. carefully cut through from the top slot to the lower slot to finish up with a gentle curve down from the top surface of the wing  to the lower surface at the rearward slot line and at the front edge of the slot, cut through to the lower slot at a lesser angle so as to give a wedge shaped slot with a wider air entry and a narrower air exit. radius the leading edge of the front portion of the formed winglet but keep the rearward lower edge of the slot sharp.

Hi walt, i hope the build goes ok. send in details as tif takes shape regards adrian s

Well done jim, I couldn't have put better myself........ where did I put the midazalam, jeez I need a lay down!

your're still mad !

Dings are annoying but can be remedied by adding water to the dent and allowing to dry, the water makes the balsa expand, once dry, little filling is needed regards adrian s

I have just finished reducing the free tiffy plan by 75% It gives it a wing span of 42" just right for a park flyer. Tomorrow looks like being a wet day so its into the workshop to start cutting wood, any one else playing around with the plan i.e. scaling up or down? regards adrian s

dont give up on scaling to your choice of finished size, think about wing areas, power to weight ratios, the old rule of thumb for free flight scale used to be one pound per square foot of wing area per CC of engine size. now I know that this too light for rc but its a starting point. remember, build it light to fly right.

Hi cris, yes, park flyers are small, probably max wing span 40-48" ....but the most inportant thing as with any plane is weight! and the skill to fly safely in a small restrictive area, remember that other members of the public are entitled to use the park, have consideration for others at all times.

I like jetsomes method of fine tuning a plane, to commit a pride and joy to a possibly final flight to establish a correct c.g. is insane. he is obviously a rich man and probably packs a few black bin liners in his flight box when he goes flying!!!

Hi Rob, I have used ALIPHATIC glue for a few years and it has  never let me down. it has a fast grab, use it like a pva white glue but most of all it sands well. if you use white pva on planking, it has a tendancy to drag out of the joints, being slightly rubbery, with aliphatic glue, it dries hard BUT not to hard that you sand away the balsa around the joint leaving the glue line proud. regards adrian s.

Starting engines for the first time is fraught with danger so be careful please mike, enlist the help of a friend. incidently, this is going to look absolutely rediculous when you read it but it does work and it keeps your fingers well out of the way when the engine bursts into life (hopefully!) Ensure that the prop nut is very tight . turn the engine over compression with one finger covering the carb air intake a few turns to draw the fuel from the tank mto the engine, connect the glow plug lead, turn the engine over again, you should feel it "bump" as it goes over top dead centre, close the thottle to idle setting and then..... wait for it! flick the prop over BACKWARDS!.... I know that looks daft, but it does work and is the safe way to hand start an engine. Now I am waiting for all the indignant emails to come flooding in calling me an idiot, I suggest that before they do however, TRY IT! It really works. regards adrian,

Dennis Bryant (ELITE MODEL PLANS) used to supply cowl and canopy for his model tiffy, the cowl would I'm sure fit the RCME plan and  the canopy was for the early typhoons in that it was a framed version, not the bubble type. as a matter of interest, did you know that the mustang p51 used tiffy canopies when they redesigned it with a lowered aft fuz top? regards adrian.

Tony, you mentioned that the nylon/dope covering had a cracked surface appearance.... the old boys that used to cover control line combat planes used to add a couple of drops of castor oil to the mix of thinned dope. this plastified the gloop! this might solve the problem. regards adrian.

when you order your retracts from possibly a company such as UNITRACT for instance make sure you specify total travel at 96 degrees... this will give you the correct forward angle veiwed side on, the correct outward spread of u/c when veiwed from the front and the wheels will pop into the wings correctly with no need to pack the wheel covers to lay flush with the wing surface. they are a tad pricey (£65) but you will get a qaulity product! Brian Taylor uses them so they must be good. Dont forget to balance the plane with the wheels up..... I know that this will be seen as obvious but better safe than sorry. there are a good few less experienced modellers out ther that have homed into this plane build. happy flying regards adrian.

hi Walts, thanks for replying. I was aiming my comments at the less experienced builder/flyers amongst us remembering of course if it was not for people such as these, the hobby would die, If you read some of the email coming through I think you will agree that there no shortage of enthusiasm but! I have seen in my years, people taking off and switching the tx off in their excitement...having the ailerons working the wrong way (boy that was an exciting flight abeit very short)...and many other near misses and I just admire anyone who would build a model of this type but I would hope they take advantage of a experienced flyer for the first few flights.regards adrian.

Sorry Tony, in my first email i said to take my observation as critcism ! I meant the opposite! PLEASE DO NOT TAKE MY OBSERVATIONS AS CRITICISM. regards adrian.

Hi, its me again. dont forget when buying the retracts to ask for total travel to be at least 97 degrees to allow for the out of square fitment in the wings. DO NOT buy 90 degree types other wise when the wheels are laying in the wings and the wheel covers are flush with the wing skin, they wont extend far enough to be parallel to the fuz and will also be tipping in, (ala Fw190) ( If you look at a tiffy head on, the wheel struts actually cant outwards slightly. anhedral wing (as per full size) or flat centre section, it would still look better. If you tony or anyone else would like to take me to task regarding these or any other matters... please feel free.. I would love to chat. regards adrian.

hi, I've been around in the modelling scene for quite a few years and first wanted to build a typhoon when I saw P.E.NORMAN'S plan in 1970. After that DENNIS BRYANT designed a tiffy for 60 power in the mid 70's. since then there has been a few others. But I have to say, your plan for the tif is the most clear and the most logical build I have seen. congratulations on designing and building a fine replica tony. Please do take my next comments as criticism, only experienced observations noted whilst reading your write up in R.C.M.E. tailwheels....FREE CASTORING.....not a good idea unless it can be locked in the fore and aft position for take off and landing as in the full size. groung looping is the main problem coupled with the frantic stick bending to get straight tracking until the speed builds up to the point where the model is up on its main wheels. pitching..... if the side view of the fuz is observed, it should be noted that the wheels are ahead of the balance point when in the down position, and if the underside plan view of the wing is looked at, you will note that the wheels now lay behind the balance point when retracted. and thats the reason for the nose rising when the gear is retracted after take off, there has been a rearward shift of weight making the plane slightly tail heavy. SOLUTION. balance the plane with the gear retracted,( when the gear is lowered prior to landing, the forward shift of weight will give a slight nose down attitude, most favourable as it will decrease the stall albeit at a raised landing speed). tony, you took the nose rise as a factor caused by the drag of the raised gear being reduced, possibly you are right but I think it prudent to alert future fliers of the gross inportance of the balance point. It doesnt matter a jot if the plane is tail or nose heavy when on the ground but a tail heavy plane on its first flight is a sight to see and experience even for seasoned pilots.

hi, tony. whats wrong with the freeplan? regards adrian

hi, regarding the tiffy article in rcme and plan. excellent article by a very skilled builder and designer dealing with one of my personal favourites, however, two points spring to mind whilst reading the write up on the free tiffy plan, build and flying report. CASTORING TAILWHEEL.... to fit a free revolving tailwheel is asking for problems, sorry tony! all full size aircraft employing a castoring tailwheel lock it fore and aft for take off. if left to rotate, it will be influenced by the ground texture and any cross wind, resulting in endless ground loops and subsequent over compensating rudder imput. MESSAGE therefore.... keep it straight ( ground manuevures are still possible with a fixed tail wheel). PITCHING..... Tony mentions in the flying notes that the nose pitched up when the gear was retracted and sermised that this was due to the decrease in drag when the wheels were tucked away. Yes in part he is correct BUT the main reason for this condition is the change to the c.g. point. I'll explain, look at the side view of the fuselage and you will see that the wheels are ahead of the c.g. point, but if you now examine the plan view of the wing, you will now see the wheels are behind the c.g. point when retracted. and there you have it. wheels down ....nose heavy.  wheels up, tail heavy. SOLUTION: balance the plane with the wheels up, this will give a good flight attitude with the added bonus of being slightly nose down upon extending the gear for landing.  I'm looking forward to building the tiffy myself this winter and welcome any correspondence. happy balsa bashing. regards, adrian.