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Robin Colbourne

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Posts posted by Robin Colbourne

  1. Raymond, as Martin has said, the airframe itself is not likely to be particularly valuable.  Your best bet is to advertise it in the Surrey/Berkshire area and hope there is someone who learned to fly on a BobCat that wants to buy it for nostalgic reasons.
    Before advertising that you will post it, check the cost of doing so.  Once a parcel gets over 120cm the delivery price can be prohibitive.

    Here's a BobCat in the foreground that was brought along to the model flying course I ran at Tomlinscote School, Frimley in the mid-90s.

     

    Starting Mk1 HiBoy.  Bobcat & Minnow in shot.jpg

  2. 2 hours ago, Adrian Norris 1 said:

    Does anyone have any investment and will writing tips/advice?

    I'm looking at changing my car (new). I'm not really a fan of German made things, past experiences and think they are generally overrated. My thinking is something assembled here which are the New Nissan Duke ( new electric model nothing like the present one and apparently going on sale early 2025), New Evoque (due 2025, no release date), Jaguar SUV (which will be replaced 2026-27).
    My other consideration is a secondhand Porsche Boxster (I know it's German) or a Lotus (Elise etc.) and a new Dacia Duster Hybrid.
    Budget would be about 60K. So what are your thoughts?
     

    My thoughts are that this reads like a hacked account, or at best, you have misread the audience. 

    The cars you list are so diverse so few here would have an opinion.  The concern of most modellers that I know is, "Will my wing fit in this car and will glow fuel stain the upholstery?" . 

    Try Pistonheads/Car buying  and Pistonheads/finance

     

    • Like 3
  3. 2 hours ago, Engine Doctor said:

    Wasnt the ED Pep a rebadged Webra ? They didnt really catch on did they ?

    The Clan , I think was commission by Mike Clanford and was very variable, some ran   many didnt . Even if the did run they couldnt hold full power for long . I think they were made by CS as were  DB's Boddo Mills that often self destructed when in storage as the crankcase would split open due to the rubbish materials CS used. 

    That is really quite an achievement to make an engine that self destructs in the box.  Was it magnesium in some sort of corrosive packaging?

  4. On 17/10/2024 at 10:32, Martin McIntosh said:

    Flicking through the replies I see the Bantam cropping up. Got one for Christmas when I was aged 11, along with a c/l Spitfire. Never could get it to start. My mate faired better with a Mills 0.75 powered KK Champ so we taught ourselves to fly using that.

    I later cobbled together a Cardinal and an experienced modeller saw me struggling to start it and got the thing going. One and only flight saw it end up in a lake where it spent two hours drifting across. Swapped the thing for an Elfin 2.49. Good riddance!

     

    Martin, you offloaded a DC Bantam in return for an Elfin 2.49?  Do you still feel the pangs of guilt for doing that to the poor recipient?  🤣

    With regard to your aquatic adventure, my Ebenezer flying friend still recounts how, one frosty Christmas Day afternoon, his Ebenezer Fokker D7 landed in the middle of Frensham Great Pond.  My father went home, collected our small inflatable dinghy, and paddled out as it was getting dark to retrieve the thing.   Maybe Bantams have an affinity to water?

    • Like 1
  5. There are photos of the stripes being applied with a broom.  The only way  to get it right is to find pictures ofthe actual aircraft in question.  If it was actually in service on D-Day, they are likley to be pretty ragged, whereas an aircraft that had them applied at the factory may well have been masked up and done more neatly.

    144752266_DouglasBostonInvasionStripes.jpg.2feb644249d0525bce86c7b8e3fd798f.jpg


    This warhistoryonline website gives quite a few invasion stripe examples.

    • Like 2
  6. We had George from 4Max give a talk to our club the other day.  He made a good point that if an ESC burns out in flight, which they do on occasions, if the receiver is powered from it, you may also lose flight controls, whereas if you use a separate UBEC, you will still be able to control the model, so at least have the opportunity to do a controlled dead stick landing.

    • Like 1
  7. 3 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

    And, unfortunately, the times we live in that means little Johnny can't go fly toy planes with the old bloke up the road - he has to be accompanied by a parent (busy) or grandparent (infirm). Sweeping generalisations of course.

    Grumpy Gnome, exactly this.  When I was at school, the number of children with single or divorced parents was very, very low.  Now it is possibly more common than a mother and father living together with their own children.  The number of boys (because, like it or lump it, our hobby appeals primarily to males) living with a full-time father figure (who might take an interest in the hobby himself) is diminishing all the time.  
    Parents are having to juggle their time between their other children, stepchildren and a myriad of other calls on their time, so the idea of spending a large chunk of their daylight weekend hours standing around at a flying field waiting for little Johnny to get a few minutes of an instructor's time, is unlikely to happen.   If the child is really obsessed about model flying, then a flight simulator and a gyro-stabilised electric model they can fly by themselves in a local park will seem like a wise purchase.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  8. Could it be that the 30 to 40 year olds are either spending time with their families, working overtime to pay for their families, because of their family don't have the surplus funds to spend on hobbies, or if they don't have families are off doing more physical, energetic activities whilst their bodies will allow them to do so?
    From what I've seen, there are plenty of younger people using R/C equipment, the larger proportion of them just don't choose to do so in the traditional club environment.
    Whilst I agree that clubs should encourage new members of all ages, the retirees are the ones with the time, money and space to build and fly the sort of models that get flown at club sites.

    With regard to the stock that wholesalers and shops have, the story was no different in the early 2000s when I worked part time in a model shop.  Unless it was a new offering, the distributors only imported what they had already sold to shops, and even then you could find that the manufacturer had not made another batch of that item in time for the container leaving China or wherever, so you still didn't get it.

    Flying Daddy, I wish you all the best with your knee op, and hope you have a speedy recovery.  As Chris Walby says, get that simulator earning its keep and amaze the guys at the field when you eventually get back there!

     

    • Thanks 1
  9. On 27/09/2024 at 16:41, Robin Colbourne said:

    I recently emailed the editor of our local free newspaper asking if they would like an article and sent a few sample photos.  The editor was very interested and put me in contact with the sports correspondent.  The net result being that I submitted a 300 word article about our recent bungee and electric glider competition, together with some action shots of members giving the bungee gliders 'a good heave ho'.  The article finished with info on the other types of models that we fly and the training arrangements that the club offers.
    From looking at other sport & hobby articles, it is pretty normal to finish with the club or Membership Secretary's email address.
    The paper is published four times a year with the next one in October, so I'll report back here on what, if any, interest the article generates.
    I would strongly advise contacting the editor first before writing an article, as you can then gauge what style of article would get the best reception.

    The October issue of our local free newspaper, 'The Ems', arrived through the letterbox today, and much to my surprise, they printed all three of the photos that I submitted with the article.
    It appears that they didn't edit the text down at all, so it still made as much (or as little...) sense as when i sent it in.  Perhaps that was because I did make a point of sticking to the 300 word limit that they requested.
    392952066_CADMAC-TheEmsarticle-inPrint121024compressed.jpg.888d17591c5e49ff8f159c1916b56221.jpg

    • Like 5
  10. 5 hours ago, Jon H said:

     

    some have new hair and makeup (blue rocker covers) so that suggests a new run?

     

     

    that has to be a typo. Its only ('only') £1400 on the perkins site...unless.....nope, no collector ring included to make up the difference. Its a typo in my book as all of the other je prices are in line with the rrp perkins list

    The SC400 is £1312.49 on the Model Shop Leeds webpage.  It says 'special order' though, so one can only hope the price holds until you actually have your hands on one.

  11. On 10/10/2024 at 12:39, J D 8 - Moderator said:

                 I recon the main issue with the MDS RC range was the carb, to large a venturi perhaps. A friend had a fixed venturi MDS in a control line model that started easy enough and ran like the clappers until tank empty.

    MDS weren't helped by being supplied with the needle out of the spraybar and the carb off the engine.  Generally the needle would be wound in dry on the model shop counter, often shaving lumps off the outer diameter on the less than perfect surface in the mating surface of the spraybar.
    Add to that the o-ring which was meant to be seated at the bottom of the carburettor spigot that went in the mating hole in the fronnt housing.  Frequently the o-ring was stretched over the spigot so it sat visible between the housing and carb barrel housing.  This allowed air to leak in around the pinch bolt, thus messing up all carb settings.
    If MDS or Ripmax had only assembled the engine completely before thrusting it into the hands of, usually, beginners, many of these engines might have actually run ok.
    You only need to run an OS 35FP or 40FP to see what a beginner's engine should be like.  My 35FP generally starts first flick and holds its settings from one day to the next.   Not an o-ring in sight!

     

    • Like 1
  12. 13 hours ago, Engine Doctor said:

    The Bantam is a bit of a waste of time. Its veeerrrry noisy , worse than any similar size cox and with a fraction of the power. The Wasp is a bit better

    Engine Doctor, that's exactly the conclusion I reached.  If only I could convince my 90 year old friend to convert his fleet to DC Wasps or Cox 049s my life would be so much easier.  Personally I would probably stick DC Merlins in them all, given the price of glow plugs these days.   He is mostly blind and not that quick on his feet, so I do the starting and chasing.

    Someone at the recent Free Flight Meeting at RAF Odiham pointed out that the age differential between the model owner and the fetchermite is still the same as in the old days, its just that they're both fifty years older!

    • Like 4
  13. The ' least-liked engines' thread got me thinking about why we have o-rings on needle valves. 

    The leaky o-ring seems to be the Achilles heel on so many engines, that I wonder why they are there and so widely adopted, given that engines seemed to work perfectly well before o-ring needles were introduced somewhere in the late 80s/early 90s.
    Was the cost of producing a needle and spray bar that doesn't leak without an o-ring prohibitively expensive or was it something else?

    • Like 2
  14. 17 hours ago, J D 8 - Moderator said:

       

       My SP 60 is well happy driving a 15x10 and would likely be ok with more diameter but with just an inch of prop clearance with tail up on take off is limit for SNJ. Should think a 120 will be swinging something pretty large.

    SAM_1523.JPG

    JD8, your SNJ must be virtually unique for an engine powered R/C model.  The prop actually looks larger diameter in proporting to the airframe than on the real thing.  The AT-6, SNJ, Harvard family was notorious for the noise from its relatively small propeller though.

    With regard to the original question, the DC Bantam glow engine is probably my least favourite, having wasted several hours trying to get some in my friend's Ebenezers going at a recent free flight event, then when I finally coaxed some live out of one it didn't have the power to keep the attached model airborne.

    I've never had a lot of luck with Irvine 40s, they either have gummed rings or are just worn out by the time I see them.
    Strangely enough given the comments from others, I've had a fair amount of success with a Flash 35 I bought recently, purely out of curiosity.  Ok, the crankshaft bushing leaked a bit, but I had no problem getting the thing started.  I might even put in an MFA Yamamoto just for the hell of it.

    A G-Mark 06 is another engine I just could not get going, again it seemed deficient in the compression department.

  15. The capacity of glow starters and r/c batteries is such that you can charge them relatively quickly, so you make a decision to go out flying on a marginal day in the small window the weather allows.  If you are charging big propulsion batteries for a large electric model it requires more planning and you then need to discharge the ones you don't use.

    There is also the matter of the buzz one gets from starting and tuning an engine, or am I alone in that? 😊

    • Like 3
  16. 1 hour ago, GrumpyGnome said:

    EVERYTHING is about 30% too expensive.........😏

    Having looked at J Perkins pricing, then Just Engines and Model Shop Leeds, there seems to be an element of 'wet finger in the air' when it comes to pricing.  In some cases it is pence difference, in others £20 or so.   There is always the possibility the price shown is a hangover from when they were last in, and when the stock actually arrives there will be a big jump in the displayed prices.
    Hopefully other manufacturers such as Thunder Tiger will rejoin the fray and market forces will bring prices closer to what inflation only would have done to prices since they were last on sale.

    What I would really like to know, is what factors have made Sanye, the SC, ASP & Magnum manufacturer, decide that there is sufficient demand to justify restarting production on this scale?

  17. Unbuilt kits have quite a following.  

    An Ebay listing with a detailed inventory of what is actually in the box, plus pictures of the instruction manual so buyers can reassure themselves that it is all there will get the most cautious of buyers bidding.  Use every picture that Ebay will allow you, so everything that is in the box is clearly pictured.

    The buyer could well be in Japan or the Middle East.  I sold an early boxed Thunder Tiger buggy to Qatar. 
    It is also worth describing how you will pack it carefully to protect the outer box, as that is a significant part of its value.

    The Vintage Radio Control Helicopter Club is probably a good place to look for more info

    Your particular Baron is described here:  FC Baron  As it is intended for a four stroke engine, it is probably pretty rare, particulalry in a boxed, unstarted condition.  If I were you, I wouldn't take the first offer you receive.

     

  18. 4 hours ago, SIMON CRAGG said:

    Brilliant, looked like a lot of fun.

     

    I tried this with our local AEC a few years ago, but only got 3 people register which did not meet the minimum required.

     

    Shame, as they had a fantastic, sports field!.

     

     

    Hi Simon, Great to read that I'm not alone in trying this approach.  Having the right venue, you are most of the way there.

    All I can suggest is to try, try and try again and massively ramp up the publicity side of things.  My approach was definitely one of try every method of publicity that I could think of; apologise afterwards if necessary, but don't let the naysayers get in your way.  You could even contact local TV and radio stations.

    • Like 1
  19. Another approach to getting new members is to run an Adult Education Course via the local authority.  I did this back in the 1990s for a couple of years, and had something like 45 people though the courses in two years.   In the second year, I was running three courses a week.  A beginners course, a continuation course and an advanced course (people who had already done two terms).  One chap was driving from Marlborough to Camberley and back, a 110 mile round trip, for the course.  I encouraged everyone to swap phone numbers, so they could share building experiences between lessons.  I'm sure this helped alot with the cameraderie of the groups.

    It started off as a purely classroom lesson, teaching building techniques and guiding the pupils in what equipment to buy.  It soon became apparent that the actual flying was the main thing they wanted to learn, so in the second term we did flying with a buddy box on the school field on Saturday mornings.

    Initially all the flying was on my model (well, actually one borrowed from a friend), then as the pupils' models reached completion, we would test fly them and get them flying their own models on the buddy box.  This was before the days of multi-memory transmitters, for me anyway, so in one three hour period I set up several different models and flew with nine different students.  I went home and slept for the rest of the day after that!

    To run a full 13 week course, you had to have, as I recall, twelve students.  If you had less they would either not run it or run it for less weeks.  The onus was on the tutor to do their own publicity so I wrote bits for the editorial in the various model magazines, got a bit in the local paper and even did a bit of fly-posting at the Sandown Park show... 😊
    Pupils ranged from in their teens up to 89 years old.  A lot had models they had started years before but stopped through lack of knowledge or life getting in the way.  We had a lot of these older models in the air by the end of the term and many of the students went on to join their local clubs.

    First class of the first term
    1514074363_Firsttermclass(cropped).thumb.jpg.d0b95b61af7ed975f3b08f11a5497fa0.jpg

    Winter term class - flying out on the school field
    2121011152_WinterClass-Cropped.thumb.jpg.8e46be1005371b717e8d55aa493cfa89.jpg


    Yes, I did demonstrate engine starting by running a Mills 1.3 in the classroom!

    1408588029_RobinstartingMills1.3inclassroom(2).thumb.jpeg.90cd9011eb31724d049bd6e8fee1c7e4.jpeg

    • Like 1
  20. 28 minutes ago, MattyB said:

    I wouldn’t rely on yyour local free newspaper generating much interest, as t hey are a lot less ubiquitous these days in terms of where they are delivered, and I personally haven’t picked one up to read the content inside once in the last 5 years because the quality of articles is generally so low. As a result I would expect social media to be way more impactful and effective for this IMO. 

    MattyB,  what you write is certainly true in some areas, however our local free paper has a lot of reader initiated content, and I often hear neighbours commenting on articles in it.   It is also worth bearing in mind that many of the people who join model clubs are in the older generations, so have more time to give the paper a quick thumb through before tossing it in the bin.  Its not going to cost anything except time to write an article and send it in with some photos, so why not?

    With regard to social media, it is worth considering having two Facebook accounts.  A public one for pictures and articles for external viewing; the other for banter and photos for within the club.  It doesn't give a good impression if all the public sees is an endless array of crash photos and meaningless chatter. 

    • Like 1
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