Alan Gorham_

Jamie as I said earlier if your Futaba radio has the battery failsafe feature it is not user configurable - you can't enable or disable it, it's on while the radio is on. If your radio has it (and I think it does) then it will have shut the throttle to warn you that your Rx battery was dying. This was the point of my first post to you - if you'd known about the battery failsafe you could have landed immediately and saved the model instead of carrying on the flight until the battery was completely dead. That was why I asked you about your battery charging as I suspected this was the cause. It's too easy to just say "oh yeah my throttle servo must have gone dodgy and this ran the battery down and crashed the model". I wouldn't want you to then put a potentially suspect battery (as you have since proved) into another model and then have that one crash too....

Yes it is normal. Your battery had reduced capacity. that's why it's not a great idea to rely on the wall trickle charger, especially if you haven't flown the model in a long time. It's best to cycle the battery a few times and if it's capacity comes back up close to the rated capacity on the label, then all well and good. If it doesn't then it's time for a new battery. I think it's clear now that your battery simply went flat in the air.

Personally I'd be tempted to try an extra 5% nitro in the fuel first as this retains the heat of combustion and means you don't get the extra complexity of on-board glow and the weight of the battery. What fuel are you using and what glowplug?

I've just looked at the manual for the 7C which is a later model than mine. Battery failsafe does still exist in the 2.4GHz systems. It's detailed on page 40 of the manual here: **LINK**

I think you need to read the manual for the Transmitter rather than the receiver. I use a Futaba FF9 and it has the feature. I'll dip into the manual and get the relevant bits. I know your transmitter is different to mine but I'm not sure why Futaba would drop this quite useful function. Maybe they have though...

Jamie Futaba throttle failsafe is not the same as user settable failsafe. You as the user have no input over the positioning of the throttle servo when it kicks in. You can get throttle control back for a short time by throttling right back and then opening up again but it seems you might not have done that. I was only pointing out a feature of your equipment that you may not have been aware of and that may explain the way that your model lost control. If you want to reject my suggestions then feel free - it's only my opinion after all and it's very much a second had diagnosis.

Jamie As Paul Adams mentioned on page 1, Futaba radios have an Rx battery failsafe where, if the receiver detects the Rx battery voltage falling then it brings the throttle back to around 1/4 as a signal to the pilot to land sharpish. My money is definitely on this being the cause of the crash and not the throttle servo failing because you ignored the warning and carried on flying until the battery was exhausted. Your equipment tried to warn you! PS - don't think that a 6V pack will stop this from happening again. A flat or knackered battery is a flat or knackered battery. I would be interested to learn how you charged your battery and determined it was fit to fly. Did you cycle it? Did you use an intelligent charger that tells you how many milliamp hours it put into the pack or did you use the wall charger supplied with the radio?

Bob After years of slapping on the horrible, thick glass bandage and trying to fair and smooth it down to the veneer without cutting into the veneer I gave up and started doing it the way you have. It works.... With your method it's also possible to extend a few layers of the cloth further out into the span of the wing to spread the stress. Actually it seems that you've done that too, so I wouldn't worry

Excellent stuff Peter! I've enjoyed watching the build and the results are just gorgeous. I'll keep an eye out for the plan then....

It's good fun isn't it? Especially indoors on a cold, dark, rainy, windy night in winter when you haven't been able to get out flying outdoors for weeks.

I used Ballards to buy a pole, some lines and motors a couple of years ago.

Well I see what you are saying but the term "trim" is quite a loose term and mainly comes from free-flight where you had to trim the model to glide safely and then trim it to fly under power safely. If you intend to fly the Lazy Bee around for most of it's flight at half throttle because this gives you the type of flight you desire and you find it flies straight and level, hands off the sticks at this power setting then great, why bother to do anything else? Be prepared for the nose to rise under more power though... And to pick up on your wing or control surface issue then surely you can detect this by climbing to height under power and then stpoping the motor and checking how the Bee glides, so ruling out any power trim issues. My main point is that ANY thrust angles given on a plan are what the designer used on their prototype to suit their power system, their airframe with possible warps or bends and maybe different incidences to those you have ended up with and also their style of flying. I.E. they are a compromise. What you are discovering now is that YOU may have your own ideas and preferences and they may be different.

How do you know the sidethrust/downthrust angles you build in right for your model and power combo? I'd be tempted to fly the model prior to final completion e.g. fitting cowlings etc and seeing what thrustline changes are necessary in an ideal world. The reality is that it's not that simple and thrust adjustments are a compromise at best so both of your methods are sound, it's just a case of horse for courses...

Kicking the prop loose can also be a sign of a too lean setting at full throttle Tony. Give the tappets a check, fit a new glow plug and a decent non-wood prop and tune it 3-4 clicks rich of best setting at full throttle and you will be there or thereabouts.

Tony You may be running too lean at full throttle giving the mechanical sound. However it's good practise to check/reset tappet gaps after long storage. At least you will have ruled out a potential snag doing this. One small point re wooden props on four strokes: they are often not recommended as they are low in inertia and can cause detonation which will kick the prop loose worst case or at least can cause uneven running at idle or lower throttle settings. You may have better results with a heavier glass-filled nylon prop. As John says, get a look at the kosher OS manual and you will know everything you ever wished to know about your engine.

Andy - sympathies on that one. You seem to have been on the end of some pretty dodgy building on that model. I really don't like the look of some of the workmanship in there and no wonder it broke, it was a ticking time bomb. Hindsight is wonderful isn't it? You would never normally have been able to inspect those areas without stripping the covering or breaking the wing. I think you've got a cast iron case for replacement personally as that wing was clearly no good.

I think the Phoenix Models that John F refers to above IS NOT the manufacturer of the Accipiter mentioned by the OP. The Phoenix Accipiter is one of a range of ARTF power models - I think they used to be distributed by logic RC but may not be now. The Phoenix Models linked to by John F is run by Stan Yeo and are well known for their slope soaring glider kits. Not much point in complaining to the wrong company.....

Just to endorse this, Mike diagnosed and fixed a problem with my Hitec Optic 6 tx in November last year. I liked the tx and would have been sad to replace it, but Mike's service was cost effective and I've used it for an extended period since the repair with confidence! Problem was caused by me and not any inherent fault with the tx.

I had one and it was a great little flyer! A bit tricky to hand launch using the skid underneath but I never broke it... Yes, no throws in the manual and I sold mine and didn't keep a record of the throws. I remember setting up dual rates with expo on the ailerons and elevator and guessing the total amount of throw. Bear in mind the all moving elevator (or should that be stabilizer or even stabilator?!) will be quite effective and again if I remember, the linkage doesn't allow you much movement anyway, so just go for the most movement you can get without stressing the servo on high rates and perhaps 60% of that on low rates. I definitely had a bit more throw on the ailerons than elevator, but again the linkages limit the movement to a certain extent. And I did the same trick with rates. I reckon I probably had 8mm total throw on the elevator and around 11 or 12mm total on the ailerons. I used to fly with full rates on the elevator all the time, but I did used to use the low rate settings for the ailerons to give smooth, jet type banking manoeuvres. If this is your first EDF or jet type model, then bear in mind the relatively small control surfaces and small movements will tend to lose effectiveness at lower speeds, so try and keep the speed up, especially in turns as you will notice the nose dropping and will have no elevator authority to lift it! Sorry for the dimly remembered waffling, hope it's useful and bear in mind that the model is a little cracker in the air and doesn't really have any bad habits, I'm sure you will enjoy. Mine was the RAF camouflage version and was, hmm, interesting to orientate in the typical grey murky light we get in NE England

Plastikote was one of the paints I had problems with.....On white expanded polystyrene. Misting on thin coats from a distance ok, anything more or closer and meltdown.... YMMV

I have found that the propellant used in some aerosol spray paints melts foam if the can is held close to the foam, even though the paint is compatible with the foam. If I respray a foamie now I use Tamiya acrylics through an airbrush and don't melt things.

An electric motor....

It is the Precedent Aeronca Champ. I've got one and it's 104" span. It looks to just be missing the struts on the wings... Just for info, Carbon Copy do a GRP cowl for it which tidies up the front end nicely and gives more clearance internally for the engine/exhaust etc than the built up wooden one does.   http://www.carboncopyuk.com/acatalog/Aeronca_Champ_Precedent.html Edited By Alan Gorham_ on 19/04/2014 18:12:19

I think that the BMFAs stance may well be similar to the existing position with tests and examiners. As a fixed wing examiner, you are able to take a candidate for a heli A test (although it is preferred to use a heli examiner). Also, as I understand it, when the Achievement scheme was first created, then so were the first batch of examiners. Although I have been told that as secondhand information, so don't quote me.

I feel a bit of a luddite as I still use a Futaba 9CAP, but since this is a modular transmitter I have been able to fly some of the excellent Parkzone models by fitting a Spektrum module when necessary I have also expanded the model memories by fitting a CAMPAC. I'm not in any hurry to change transmitters as this TX has a very comprehensive set of mixing functions so hopefully I will have several more years of good service from it!