Trevor Crook

Yes, Rapid RC say on their website that they are not attending any shows this year. A shame, but you can understand the reluctance to be in a confined space with lots of customers. It will be interesting to see what happens next year, as all indications are that this thing will still be around and at some point we have to just learn to live with it. Regarding catering, I never use it, just make my own lunch at home and take a cool box.

I was just desperate to get out to a show for the first time since the 2019 Nats, and enjoyed it more than I expected. I do like to see models that I can afford and buy demonstrated, but I agree with Jon that with the distance to the flight line, you need big models to put on a show. Besides, most artfs on sale are reviewed on YouTube!

Yes, I thought it was pretty good under the circumstances. Very good turnout from the punters, and the bring and buy was very well stocked, although some of the prices seemed very optimistic. I actually enjoyed watching jets etc. that I don't normally see at the club field. I think normal club size models would have looked very small at the distance they have to display at now. All in all a good day, which at many times felt "normal".

Phew, glad I'm not the only one! Yes, I've used a clay bar too, worked wonders on an old MX-5 I bought, which had white paint speckles on it's dark blue paint. I haven't clayed my current car as that had paint protection applied when I bought it. I don't use any expensive products, just mist on Carplan "Demon Shine" when I dry it with my microfibre cloth. Water still beads really well after nearly 3 years.

I've used one of the waterless products on a mildly dirty car, and it worked pretty well. I am a bit worried about dirt abrading the paint though. I confess I'm a bit of a keen car washer, I find it therapeutic. I like cars, they cost lots of money, so I like mine to look its best. A proper wash for me involves clearing off the worst of the dirt with a pressure washer. I then use a snowfoam lance on the pressure washer, followed by a hand wash using a microfibre mitt and the two bucket method. A final rinse with the pressure washer is followed by leathering the windows, and drying the bodywork with a large microfibre cloth and spray on shine. Oh, and I use wheel cleaner and a wheel brush on the alloys. All this is more than most people do, and most will consider it a waste of time and effort, but I enjoy it! A quick look at YouTube shows that lots of people take things to a much higher level......

I have found that I have the odd pack fail within 20 charges, but beyond that they go on for a hundred or more. My packs are all budget brands, mostly from Hobbyking. My first lipos some years ago were also budget ones, from a company called RCMDirect. Despite being at the bottom end of the market, a 2200 3s 10C pack was about £30, which puts today's prices in perspective.

I recently bought some 4000mAh 4s lipos from Hobbyking's UK warehouse for £24 each, which is cheap enough. They are only rated at 20C but I measured their cell impededence and it's lower than some 30-40C ones I have. They have plenty of punch in practice too. Comparison of EV batteries with the types we use, or indeed phones etc, is fairly invalid, for the following reasons: 1. They use different chemistries, optimised for performance, cost and longevity. EV manufacturers typically give an 8 year battery warranty. 2. They are used far more gently than our cells. A modern EV will typically travel for 200 miles on a charge, which at an average of 50mph equates to an average drain of 0.25C. Home charging is typically around 0.1C, although public rapid chargers will give 1C, and sometimes more. 3. The car's battery management system (BMS) is very sophisticated. It will moderate the charge rate depending on charge state, temperature etc. It will also prevent you driving until it's flat, of course. For instance, the VW ID3's 58kWh battery has an actual capacity of 62kWh, but the BMS prevents it from going down to 0% or up to 100% to prolong its life. Hope this dispels some of the myths.

I think your list of gear should work, hillclimber. Its a decent size airframe so should be able to carry 2200 3s packs for longer duration.

Mitchell, I would buy an 800kV -ish motor capable of coping with around 80A and use the rest of the kit you already have, I think you will be in the right ballpark. You will need a wattmeter though if you don't have one already. Start with your 12 x 8 prop and measure power and current. If you have at least 100W per pound of model weight, it should fly OK, but make sure the current is well under 80A. You can try different props to get different power outputs. I normally set my flight timer to 5 minutes initially, then adjust accordingly after I measure how much is left in the pack. Have fun and mind your fingers!

All I would add to the above is to find out if there is a "most popular " RC brand in the club you have just joined, and consider getting one of those. This will have many benefits if you have queries on setting up etc. Of course, if the most popular make is something like Jeti, you will need deep pockets to follow suit! Regarding batteries, I would always prefer rechargeable cells in my Tx. 2.4 G trannies tend to consume less power than the old 35Mhz ones. My new Spektrum tranny runs for many hours on a single 2000mAh lithium cell.

I bought a couple of 4s 4000s last week for less than £24 each from HK's UK warehouse. They are Zippy Compact, and are only rated at 20C, but the cell impedence I measured is less than the 40C 3000s (Turnigy) that I had been using. In the model ( an FMS Bf109 ) they provide more current and give more punch than the 3000 packs, so I just ordered another at the same price. I didn't notice any unexpected charges at checkout, just the postage. No complaints from me on the grounds of this purchase.

https://www.spektrumrc.com/Air/Radios.aspx Robert, this page contains a PDF download of a comparison chart, which shows the antenna configuration of Spektrum transmitters. Don't know what the 10t is though - are you sure you've got your designation correct?

I've got a gen 1 DX8 and the screen is fine at all temperatures. Worth speaking to the retailer in the first instance. These are getting scarce now as the NX8 is replacing them.

Basil, I think you are in the right ball park. I have an Avios Spitfire that flies on 6s with a 380kV motor turning a 15x10 3-blade prop, and pulls about 1200W. If you start with the 15x10 2 blade that Danny uses, you should pull less than 1kW, which should be somewhere close for the Auster. You can tweak the power by changing props once you have an auw, I agree with KC that 70-80 W/lb would be about right for that kind of model.

Indeed, it's for brushed motors. I've found my FPS-36A instructions and need to correct a couple of my statements above, which were from ageing memory! Although the green wires do indeed control the brake, the default is ON, so you have to short them together to disable the brake. Also, the instructions state that the red coloured version can supply up to 40A long term (up to 10 mins) and 60A max for 15s. There is a thermal protection feature, which I remember when I foolishly used one of the 25A versions in a Multiplex Cargo, and got all 4 motors shutting down after a couple of minutes. Changing up to the 40A version fixed it.

Hi Robert The two green wires are used to enable/disable the brake. I think the default position is OFF, so shorting the wires together should apply the brake for folding props etc. I used to strip the two ends, twist them together then cover the bare wire with a little bit of heatshrink. Of course, you could wire them to a switch if you wanted to have easy manual control of the brake. The BEC setup is standard, the RX is supplied via the (Fleet specific) servo connector. I believe it is a 2A BEC. The red sleeving over the esc indicates it's rated at 36A continuous, the 25A ones were blue. I'd be inclined, as with all esc's, to under-run it!

On my electric models, I give the airframe a coat of Plastikote lacquer from an aerosol. It's available in matt, satin and gloss, and hasn't reacted with any of the decals or paints I've sprayed it over, mostly foamy warbirds. Obviously I've no idea how it resists fuels.

Douglas, are the lights wired to a connector, or are they just 3 pairs of red and black wires? If they have no connector, you will need to wire them to one or more servo connectors, using the same connections as a servo connector, red in the middle and black on the appropriate outer pin. You can then plug them in to a spare rx channel, via a y-lead if necessary. You will not have any control over them, they will illuminate whenever the rx is powered. I have assumed that the leds fitted are designed to operate from 5V, or have series resistors fitted, which is normally the case with ARTFs.

It looks very well specced for the price. A couple of questions: How do you switch between the different protocols, is it done via the buttons and screen? If using with Spektrum rx's, does it support Modelmatch?

Thank you for your clarification Andy.

I too got that email today. Checked using the BMFA portal that my Op ID expires in Feb 22. I'm guessing that the CAA have yet to process renewals submitted during the BMFA 2021 renewal process, and Andy will probably confirm that we don't need to take any action. I looked at the "6 months to renewal" in more detail, and it actually says available to renew in 6 months.

Pete, I believe the "no mixing of makes" rule I mentioned in my earlier post came into being some years ago after there were a couple of incidents with Spektrum tx's and Orange rx's. This was in the days of DSM2. I asked a couple of years ago if this rule would be reconsidered, but the thinking is that there is a risk that a reverse-engineered version of a protocol may not be as well tested as the oem product. As members of the public walk their dogs on the land where we fly, the committee considered that any additional risk, however small, was not worth taking. It's not a major concern for me as I regard the Spekky receivers I use as reasonable value anyway. Apologies for missing a predictive text typo in my earlier post, OpenTable should be OpenTx of course!

Rob, I bought a QX7 a couple of years back when things were looking a bit flakey with Horizon Hobby, and I had (unfounded) concerns about continuing support for my Spektrum gear. The QX7 is an amazingly capable piece of kit for the price. Although it has a slightly cheap appearance it feels solid enough and the stick feel is excellent. I had an initial problem because in my ignorance I ordered a "universal" rx, only to discover it was anything but, and T9 Hobbysport replaced it with an EU/LBT version which worked with no problem. I've had quite a few flights with it and it's been perfect, but I have struggled with setting up as all my other models have Spekky stuff, so I don't use the FrSky gear enough to get familiar with it. Meanwhile, issues with Spektrum/HH seem to have settled down, and FrSky have confused me with ACCESS and various other updates, so I've decided to park it and keep going with Spektrum, which I have always been happy with. MattyB is a dedicated and knowledgeable OpenTable user, and his summary above is very balanced. Keep us posted on how you get on with the Radiomaster. That would not be an option for me as one of the clubs I am in does not permit mixing brands of tx and rx.

Forgot to mention, there are also triangular MT-30s, which are very compact, but only accept fairly thin cable. I managed to use heatshrink as well as the backshell on the MT-60s, but that will depend on the cable you use. I got all of mine, together with cable and heatshrink, from The Component Shop. Very good source of connectors etc and quick service.

Yes, I think the triangular ones are called MT60s. I've used them, very good. Useful for a twin with the escs in the fus. The triangular ones are not reversible, which is handy if you are plugging them together each time you assemble the model.