Robin Colbourne

There are a lot of people who like to read model magazines even if their eyesight is no longer up to flying standard. I have a friend who has been buying Aeromodeller since the mid-1940s. He has to read it with a big magnifying machine (effectively a camera and a screen). I would hate to see him depriived of this pleasure due to the whims of a graphic designer. I've found instuction booklets for products printed in about size 2 font in dark grey on light grey that I really struggled to read. To really rub salt into the wound, about 3/4 of each page was blank!

Nigel, The OS instruction sheet for the 15LA says the thread is M5 (look at the bit in the middle of the second sheet at the bottom, where it lists the optional spinner nut). OS15LA & OS25LA Instruction Sheet Regarding spinners, the old black KeilKraft spinners with moulded screw thread between the front and back halves have a smaller hole than current spinners. You maybe lucky enough to find one on Ebay, or an older club member may have one in the back of a drawer.

If you want to get top price then offering postage is the way to go with your Sea Vixen. It won't be cheap for a large model, however if you are prepared to pack it well, then it is worth the effort. Just make sure your starting price is the minimum you would be happy to see it sell it for.

Jack Headley, a prolific designer in the 70s & 80s, did this Cub with an all sheet balsa fuselage, which was originally a full-size pull out plan in Aeromodeller. At 52" span it should fly on a fairly cheap & cheerful motor and battery combination. Jack Headley's Piper Cub on Outerzone

ED, Have you tried Dave at South Coast Hobbies and 'A Plane Old Bargain'? Both buy up complete collections and certainly the former often sells incomplete engines off at the shows he attends: South Coast Hobbies: South Coast Hobbies 07926 868542 A Plane Old Bargain: APOB 07944986430

I agree with Jon. Talk about compression when the engine is cold is a red herring here. It is the interference fit of the piston in the tapered bore that is the issue. The tapered bore is intended to expand to be parallel, or at least less tapered when the engine is warm, so the engine still has good compression when at running temperature. Using heat gun, or even a hair drier to warm the head is the way to go with this. Even if you loosen the plug, you are still forcing a big piston into a small bore when the engine is cold. This diagram is from Adriansmodelengines.com here: Breaking in an ABC Model Engine - By Adrian Duncan

Taking a bit of a lateral thinking approach to this, does anyone break their modelling down into non-dirty/messy/smelly tasks they can do in the house, thus spending more time enjoying the warmth they have already paid for?

Martin, That was my first thought too!

EGB 953, coarser pitch means more inches of pitch. As an example going from a 10"x6" pitch to 10"x7"pitch propeller.

Its not unknown for an exhaust extension to improve things. I borrowed a friend's Premier Preceptor trainer which had an OS35FP and a 12" silicone tube from the end of the standard silencer down to the main undercarriage just inboard of the right wheel. There was no shortage of power, but a distinct lack of oil on the model at the end of each flight. In addition, I've recently bought a K&B Sportster 65 engine. In doing a bit of research about them, found a review in which Clarence Lee, a well respected engine tester, recorded a 300rpm power increase and 1dB less noise, again with a 12" silicone extension. It is worth trying a larger and/or coarser pitch prop if you fit an extension. They can help with extra torque at lower revs.

Here is a Mini Robot that I saw at Old Warden in September competing in the single channel spot landing competition. Unfortunately I didn't get the owner's name.

Hi Cliff, That looks a lot like a Veron Mini Robot. Even the 'lightning' zig-zag on the fuselage colour scheme matches. Here it is on Outerzone: Veron Mini Robot on Outerzone If you scroll 3/4 of the way down the Outerzone page and click on the orangey brown 'Plan File' box you will get the full size plan. Those rectangular stiffening strips on the tailplane plan look like a good way of weakening it. I would try not the have them, or just put strips on the extreme tips which you can shape to the plan outline. Cheers, Robin

Hi Cliff, If you can post a photo of the model, then the likelihood is that someone can identify it and direct you to a copy of the plan. Otherwise it is likely there is a pretty similar design which could be used as a guide. If the design was originally a free flight model with a rearward centre of gravity and a lifting tail, then it could easily have a much larger tailplane than a similarly sized purely radio controlled model. Cheers, Robin

Tim, maybe your club mate had had a tumble with the model and rather than take all the covering off to do a rebuild, decided that some external bracing would restore the strength? Otherwise did he like to do fairly wild aerobatics, and wanted to make sure the tail was up to anything he might ask of it? If you include the tailplane to fuselage bracing with the carbon rods and make sure load path is continued between the bottom two ends, then everything will be operating in tension and you can get away with very small (0.5 or 0.8mm) carbon rods which won't be far off scale size for the bracing wires.

Tim, If you look at this picture of a full-size Decathalon (its copyrighted so I'm not reproducing it here), You can see wire or rod bracing from the fuselage to the tailplane underside and from the tailplane to the fin. Bellanca Decathalon Tail Surfaces You could perhaps change the aluminium struts for carbon ones which could be as stiff but smaller in diameter, or go the whole hog and reproduce each wire with closed loop or control line wire.

Eight pages of Wasp build instructions (with C of G info) here: E2K Wasp build instructions

How about the Cloud Models Wasp C2K or the Modelcraft Freedom 2000, designed for the Club 2000 class which used Irvine 25 engines (and possibly some others). This class evolved into the C2K electric class. Cloud Models Wasp C2K Modelcraft Freedom 2000

Someone is advertising a 'Scam' on Ebay... Ebay 'Scam' :D Spoiler: Its a 'Scram'

To paraphrase Forrest Gump, " A skip is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get".

Alleycat Models are showing the Jindivik in stock, but £35.00 Ouch! Alleycat Models 1/48 GAF Jindivik kit They pop up on Ebay from time to time for just over half that, so maybe worth setting up a search to send you alerts?

One of the most amazing experiences I've had, was when working at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough. In 1990 we were doing some trials work up at RAE West Freugh in Scotland and flew up each Monday in one of the RAE's Piper Navaho Chieftains. This particular day, we had to drop off some passengers at RAE Llanbedr, en route. As we neared the airfield they advised us that a Jindivik was returning and would we hold. This gave us a grandstand view of return and landing. The stuff of which memories are made! 😊

Every club has someone who is continually bringing out new models they've built, yet seems to live a normal life with a job, or if retired, other commitments, interests, family, etc. This isn't necessarily about having a fantastic workshop, masses of spare time or an amazingly understanding wife, so how about sharing what you do differently to get those models made? Do you get up early, make sure you spend an hour every day building or plan out the build before you start? Please share your secrets!

There is a picture of the Merco 50 in the Allen Mercury and Merco article on AdriansModelAeroEngines.com. It has a dark crankcase which ties in with the one in the first post. There is also a picture of a Merco 35 of similar vintage with the prop driver extending back over the front of the crankcase, so it clearly isn't the 35. The text mentions how the Premier-built Mercos had the name in a much bolder font, accentuated by machining the surface off the cast lettering. Clearly that isn't the case on Phil's engine, so maybe it was a pre-production variant using old parts. Adrians Model Aero Engines - Merco One more thought; if the 49 & 61 shared the same crankcase, would a crankcase sold as a spare part have had the capacity on it? This engine review of a Premier Merco 61 from 1991 has the same lettering and longitudinally split silencer as Phil's engine, only the '61' is there. Scptreflight 1991 Premier-built Merco 61 Review This Merco 50 Stunt on ebay has the cast capacity machined off, but has '50' stamped on the lefthand mounting lug: Merco 50 Stunt on eBay

In the UK, we can file an AirProx report when two aircraft were in imminent danger of collision. Sweden has something similar, the SHK, as here is one of their reports: Typical Swedish Airprox report Given that you were flying from an approved model flying site, why not contact the SHK by phone in the first instance and follow that up with a report. Before making the call, gather your facts (lat/long of site, exact time of occurrence, full-size aircraft identification if you can (most military aircraft carry a transponder and this information is available after the event on some websites), so you sound convincing. The idea of ground based transponders for air users such as model clubs, active gliding sites etc. is seen by many as Big Brother encroaching on us, however if it avoids the loss of models and potentially manned aircraft, it has its benefits.

John Wagg you beat me to it! Rob Millinship's talk came to mind as soon as I read JD8's description of flying his Bleriot model.