Andy Day

Thanks for that Bert, I shall order one! There were a few Impalas at the Beacon Eric, Also Graupner Amigos, including a twice size one - now who made that?

The Soarcerer was a 4 ft or so rudder elevator slope soarer, traditional built up construction, designed by Dave Hughes. Very popular at the Beacon in the late 70s, It needed a fair puff to fly, 12mph or so upwards, and ran out of penetration at about 20mph so it was by modern standards a bit limited. But it taught a lot of my friends and I to fly, I'm sure many others too. You could even build a Kipper wing for it and learn to fly ailerons. I progressed to a Phase 6 which I still have, and a Kamco Kloudrider for floaty evenings. But I gave it all up to go Kart racing - 100 Britains -  in the mid 80s and stopped flying then.  Overcome by nostalgia I feel the desire to build another Soarcerer to join the Phase 6 and Kloudrider in the workshop, and maybe even to rejoin the ISA and go up the Beacon again. Does anyone have a plan they would sell or loan for copying? I know I'm stuck in the past, but I'm not in the least moved by all this modern stuff that does 200mph vertically off the edge of a cliff, t'ain't flying to me!

Hi Folks, Just building my first model for 25 years, got to the covering stage. I want to do a two tone finish with solarfilm. I never mastered it 25 years ago, always got an uneven edge and pulling apart of the overlapping film surfaces, plus bubbles in the overlapping bits. Any clues about the process?

Hi thanks for that Alistair. I appreciate the need to test any new rx for compatibility, but I run on a very limited income so  i'm reluctant to spend cash that may be down the drain! I'd love to join a club but although thats possible - I was in the Ivinghoe Soaring Association - As I'm not allowed to drive any more for medical reasons attending any meets would be difficult, if not impossible. Fortunately I'm mates with a local Farmer and can have an "arrangement", so all I need to sort is insurance. And a big bag to put on my back containing the model when I cycle to his farm! Of course all my kit is pre - pcm, digitally encoded, failsafes, rates, throw adjustment or anything. Just a plain old FM modulated bitstream with a period for sync, then 4 pulses with varying pulse width for each channel. These pulses are positive going ttl levels, so you may say they are "digital" but apart from being of digital levels, ie a one or zero thats it. Does anyone still sell such technology? Now a few more specific questions. Does anyone know if modern servos need a 5volt supply - I suspect they do, or what polarity pulse they need? With regard to modern FM receivers, all receivers must include a decoder I imagine, does anyone know what sync pulse length they need if there is indeed a standard? I know these Q's are a bit techie, but after all, the mag is Radio Controlled Models and ELECTRONICS!

Hi Folks, I've just discovered this forum and have the following questions. I have an old Sprengbrook Sportsman 4 Channel outfit, 35mhz narrow band. It was one of the best outfits of it's era, I bought it when 35mhz was illegal in this country, but we were cheesed off being shot down by 27mhz cb radio and lads with cheap rc cars. This pirate move to 35mhz put pressure on the authorities who eventually changed the rules. I haven't flown for about 22 years, but now I'n retired a have a reviving interest, probably in Electric power assisted gliders, for which due to cost constraints I'd like to use the old Sprengbrook. I've fitted new cells to the Tx and Rx and they work fine. Now this old outfit is an analogue system, the data  is encoded as a serial string with a period for sync and a frame for each channel whose width can be varied to give servo position. 1 ms plus or minus if i remember correctly. When I look in the modeling press there is no mention of the encoding or data transmission methods of modern kit. I understand that higher level outfits use a digitaly encoded word to give servo position right through to the servo, but is this true of all modern rc kit? I see companies offering receivers and servos which are of a manufacture not matching any "combo" manufacturer. how does one know that they will be compatible with ones transmitter? All the servos supplied make no mention of plug compatibility, is there now a standard which is assumed?