Robin Colbourne

That prop on the right in the picture looks like it is on backwards. If you look at the blade root on the top right there is more projecting clockwise thabn anticlockwise, plus the lower right blade appears almost flat in the middle compared to the camber on the blades on the other side of the aircraft. Maybe it was a standard prop fitted just so there was something on that side for the photo?

Edgeflyer, bear in mind that J'En engines are ABC with a pronounced pinch at the top due to the tapered cylinder bore. If the one you are viewing is nearly new it should be fine, however a good look at the state of the bore, particularly around the transfer ports, is probably a better judge of condition than apparent 'compression'. Another J'En thread worth reading. Post #34 suggest that a lot of the mid-range problems can be overcome by leaning out the idle needle a couple of clicks and richening the main needle a couple of clicks. One of our club mmebers hada J'En 56 whci hwas throwing out a lot of black in the exhaust residue. It transpired that the exhust baffle weas loose in the silencers and it was this vibrating and wearing that was making the mess.

I have a few J'ens, so I did a bit of reading up on them when I bought them, all secondhand. They have been designed to give maximum power for their size, and have large carburettor throats to achieve this. The downside is that many owners report mid-range sagging or hesitation, and I did experience this to some extent on my J'en 37. Once you have got the settings sorted out it is a good powerful engine and an easy starter. I avoid using an electric starter and had no problem handstarting mine. There's an old thread on them here; mixed opinions as one might expect. Apparently Just Engines have a document on setting up and running in J'ens if you ask them. I've not seen it, but it could be worth getting.

I'm looking forward to following this thread. I've been fascinated by the Vought V-173 & XF-5U since reading an article 'Flying Pancakes' in Speed & Power magazine in the 1970s. Some video of the V-173 here. An R/C XF5U I'm sure the much smaller than scale props lose some of the benefits of the design though.

I was at the Popham Show today, and 'A Plane Olde Bargain' had several Cox 049s on his stall at £15 each. That is a lot less than ebay prices.

DC Wasp & Bantam, Testors/McCoy and Cox are all 1.5V. It is best to use a nicad or Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) cell as anything over 1.5V runs the risk of burning the plug/head out.

That will be for filling. These Cox 049 instructions infer that there is a small hole near the needle valve for venting. I've not studied one of these later ones though. This backplate on the Cox international site makes it clearer. The vent hole is right next to the base of the filler tube (see red circle in the picture). Hover your mouse over the picture so it zooms in and you will see the vent hole at about 10'o clock if you use the base of the filler tube as the centre of the clock.

Ben Buckle do. Sid King Novice Plan.

Edgeflyer, If your Babe Bee has been assembled from random Cox parts that someone had laying around, it is possible that they used a Golden Bee or Black Widow backplate, which doesn't have the filling pipe on it. In this case the filler projected from the top of the tank itself, whilst the vent projected from the bottom, as in this picture. You may need to either get a Babe Bee backplate or a Golden Bee/Black Widow tank, carburettor pipe and mounting screws (the latter being longer than yours). Otherwise, if you're prepared to butcher the engine, then just drill a small hole in the top of the tank to fill it (dismantle the engine first so you can clean away all the swarf). A Babe Bee back plate should have either a filler pipe to the left of the needle valve or a pipe each side like this: Given how many Cox engines were produced, the price they sell for these days is insane. A look through the various Cox engines for sale here gives some idea how many variants there are, even this small selection shows three different varieties of extended tanks. Den's Model Supplies on the Isle of Wight is the 'go to' place for Cox spares in the UK these days.

This comment by Stevehed on Britmodeller is interesting given the Germans' name for the Pup: "I've always gone with the brown PC10 school mainly because CS Lewis is supposed to have said his aircraft were brown and also an obscure quote I can never find that said that the German pilots called the RFC aircraft sparrows because of the colour. They're brown in my garden but seeing the photos above of a paint job I can see everyday and is definitely brown with a slight reddishness I can see where the green/brown argument comes from. Regards, Steve"

I used to get Airfix Magazine back in the 1970s. I recall an article that said PC10 could vary significantly from green to brown depending upon who made it and which batch it was. It should also be borne in mind that any original paint may have changed colour with age, so don't get too hung up about it. There are no colour photographs from the time, so no one can be sure anyway. AS JD8 says, Britmodeller has plenty of discussion on the subject.

Although the CAA are a bit vague on this, it would seem reasonable to assume that the Operator ID is required only for models which are expected to be flown by someone. If you inherited a model or had one in non-airworthy condition, it would not be reasonable to expect you to pay for an operator ID until that model was ready to be flown. Also there is no information at what level of completeness the Operator ID is required for the model.

Hi Adam, There are several different versions of the Keil Kraft Junior 60: Original 1946 design with a narrow fuselage. Revised 1955 version with wider fuselage for the radio control of the time Ben Buckle Kit Ben Buckle Electric Kit Flair Kit (based on the 1955 version (2. above)) Belair Plans & Parts Set (also sold by SLEC) I'm sure there will be others too. The point is that if you get a plan it may differ from what you have. Cheers, Robin

That Flyin'King looks like a good beginner's model if you are gettin training on a buddy box. Its nice and large which makes it easy to see. Being conventional built up construction, even though the kit is out of production, making replacement parts won't be a problem, provided you can buy the wood. I echo all the comments about contrasting colours top and bottom, plus making it as bright as possible. This old Yamamoto that I bought recently, despite the dayglow pink bits being quite faded, still stands out well in the air. The wraparound dayglow on the leading edge really helps when the model is coming towards you on approach, particularly if it goes from being silhouetted against the sky, to against trees. Definitely go along to your local club(s) and talk to as many people as possible. A lot of clubs will have a club training model so you can get flying straight away. Our club allows a visitor three visits with instruction before asking them to join. You may be lucky and find someone has a used trainer they will sell you, so you can get some practice in whilst the build on your own model progresses. With a lot of people moving from engine powered to electric, you might also get starter, glow leads and fuelling equipment for a song. If someone has older equipment for sale allowing ou to buy a pair of identical transmitters so you can have your own buddy box set up, that will save you having to find an instructor with a matching transmitter and having to go through set up each time.

'The New Clarion'Hi Cap_George, Good to see a new face here. I'm mainly an R/C flyer, however having recently visited the Southern area free flight event at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, I was very impressed by the electric free flight models. As you may already be aware, the Peterborough Model Flying Club is one of the leading lights in small free flight electric models. There website was down last week, but seems to be up again. This is their page of technical articles. Knight and Pridham in Rowlands Castle have been making small electric equipment for many years particularly the KP range of direct drive and geared motors, and I was told at Odiham about BMK who also do a range for free flight. Although it may seem an odd place to look, the British Society of Antique Modellers chapter SAM1066, have members who fly capacitor powered models. It is worth subscribing to their free online magazine, 'The New Clarion' for more info.

A few things based on experience with my own place. Install some outside wall sockets so leads for outside use don't end up draped across models. Sockets on walls again can result in leads across things on the bench and can knock them off or damage them. If you are tall enough, some ceiling mounted sockets can be handy, otherwise on the front of the underside of the bench. Under worktop cupboards are a pain. You have to get down to make sure stuff is in them properly to stop it tumbling out. A small vice on a piece of wood can be mounted in a larger vice for more detailed work. Benches mounted on castors (100mm wheels with brakes) allow you to make a big space quickly should you need it. Have a rack of your most used tools in easy reach. You don't want to have to open drawers, cupboards or tool boxes to find them. The same applies to your most used adhesives, cleaners and lubricants. Try and have these somewhere that is always shaded though, so they don't evaporate or go off. If the ceiling is tall enough, hang stuff like hot air guns up so you don't have to have them on the bench or in a cupboard. Magnetic tool strips are a godsend. Lidl sell them quite often. Same applies to magnetic parts trays. Paint the floors white. It makes finding dropped parts a lot easier than on a darker colour.

I was about to ask what crocodile brakes are. I assumed they were so fierce they would put you in swamp in the blink of an eye.

Toto, I'm looking forward to reading about your mancave build and fit out. If the lawnmower is engine-powered you might want to have some sort of alternative store for it, otherwise you may be building with the smell of petrol. I would leave it as an option to put some sort of insulation layer down on the floor as a concrete floor can sap the warmth from your feet in the winter.

Frank, if you show us a photo of the ESC, someone might be able to recognise it.

You've also got the advantage that if the connector from the Y-lead to the receiver fails or pulls out, you've lost both ailerons, whereas if you use two separate channels you still have partial aileron control. With two separate leads you have less resistance in each aileron lead, although the effect is probably minimal. Finally, you can centre each aileron individually on a computer set.

Edgeflyer, without wishing to be overly pedantic, what you have, given the fibreglass fuselage, is likely to be either a 'New Yamamoto' (56" span) or a 'Yamamoto 1600' (63" span). The Yamamoto Mk2 was a revised version of the original 1972 wooden fuselage Yamamoto. It was reviewed in RCM&E in 1989, so presumably released around that time. It retained the wooden fuselage, but the steerable nosewheel was changed to a fixed one.

Thanks Bowman Seagull 100 photo GeeW. Apart from the angling down towards the bottom of the rudder post, the outline is very similar to the Graupner Cirrus. Maybe the similarity had something to do with it not being around for long?

John, that's a very nicely built Sophisticated Lady. With regard to a slope site, I learned at Hankley Common, near Elstead, which is a Border Club site and an Army training area. It is where in the scene in Skyfall was filmed, with the house being shot up by a helicopter. I think it is being used rather intensively for Army training at the moment though as it was covered in cartridge cases when I was last there. I learned on a Bowman's Simpleton. I did some hang gliding from Coombe Gibbet, near Inkpen, which is on the Hampshire/Berkshire Border, and good in a Northerly. Your best bet however, is the Meon Valley Soaring Association (MVSA) who fly from Butser Hill, Harting Down, Wether Down (often called HMS Mercury after the nearby former Royal Navy shore station) and have use of my own club's site, The Trundle, near Chichester. I look forward to reading and seeing the Pilot Divine Wind build in due course. 🙂 Echoing Cuban 8's comments, you definitely want some fluorescent patches to improve visibility. Ideally contrasting top and bottom, and a wraparound strip along the leading edge helps when the model is coming towards you.

Sophia, Have a google, or do a search on this site for information about .aileron differential. and 'coupled aileron and rudder'. Both help an aircraft fly tidier turns than an 'ailerons-only' turn in which the aileron movement going up moves the same amount as the one going down. On a single-engined aircraft, with the fin in the propeller slipstream, the fin will be be far more effective than on a twin with the propwash well outboard of the fin. Another thing with the Dash-8 and its widely spaced engine nacelles, is that you have a fair bit of momentum a long way out from the centre. Any rolling and yawing takes more damping to stop the nacelles moving once they have started. There was a lot of discussion on pilot forums about this recently regarding the similarly shaped ATR-72 which spun in to the ground from altitude in Brazil. There is so much momentum from the engines that once the spin has started, the rudder does not have sufficient control authority to stop it.

Lindsay, the two front axles are probably trying to turn on different turning circles. Geometry on a pair of axles is quite complex. At one model club I went to, there was a chap who designed the steering geometry of the Panther Six Supercar, which like Lady Penelope's FAB1 in Thunderbirds, had two front axles. He did describe how he made it work, but lost me at about the second sentence! What you could do is to take a leaf from the Scalextric book. They want the illusion of four wheels on the track, but not for those wheels to try and steer the car off course. To achieve this, the front axle runs in vertical slots, so the wheels are on the track, but all the weight is on the braided electrical pickups. If you made your middle axle with vertical slots instead of round holes for the axle, there would be no weight on it and the front axle should have better steering authority.