Alan Dunstan

John - Nearest sloping club I think is LMSA (Long Mynd Soaring Association) which flies from the Long Mynd just west of Church Stretton. About 12-15 miles from Knighton. Web address is : www.lmsa.org.uk There may be some power clubs around there as well.   Long Mynd has sites that fly in virtually any wind direction, most of which are really good with excellent landing areas. I expect there are other good hills down Knighton way as well. There are a couple of other guys that frequent this forum that I think are Ludlow area based so they will know some others no doubt.   Long Mynd is NT land so no power whatsoever and you need insurance. Joining LMSA is the princely sum of £3 a year so has to be worth it.  

Wow what got you so stirred this early in the morning Richard? I didn't think you stirred until much later?  

Wow Lee the sooner you are up and about again the better. Peace will again reign on the fair forums of this land.   Alan  

And all the music. It's all ancient stuff, like me.   See you Thursday. Alan

We all manage a lucky one every now and then don't we Lee....   Alan

I have a manual which I could copy for you but if you look up www.rchelibase.com/hirobo you will find all the manuals for Hirobo helis online and downloadable. Alternatively Ripmax list it as a spare you can buy for £18.99 Personally I would rather download.   If you have troubles get back to me and I can copy it for you.   Alan

I'm on 85 as always for non power. I also have a peg board I could bring. Probably will.   Alan

I have 2 Sceadu's and a Kyosho Caliber 5. I run 2 x OS50's & 1 x OS37. They all run on Southern Modelcrafts 5% synthetic as do all my fixed wing fleet. Pitch settings are as Hirobo and Kyosho advise which from memory is a max of 12 degrees positive. All will climb away for ever on full pitch/throttle. However I don't do 3D work so head speeds are all around the 1500-1600 rpm mark rather than closer to the 2000 rpm the 3D boys seem to run. With this I can loop, roll, flip etc & fly inverted no problem so no you don't need high nitro fuels for helicopters, at least you don't if you aren't into 3D. If you do 3D you may well. And lower nitro fuel is considerably cheaper.   Alan

Ken - Flaps should be hinged at the bottom. That allows them loads more deflection. Why do you think thats wrong?   Regards. Alan

Not advisable with all those real ones using the same airspace, let alone the thousands of families on a nice day flying kites and the golf course right behind you. Why not go to Ivinghoe on the next ridge over (about 4 miles away) and join them. They are a nice bunch and the LGC pilots know they are to stay away from Ivinghoe.   ISA (Ivinghoe Soaring Association) is a very nice club to belong to.   Alan

Oh Tim thats a real shame. That was a good looking aeroplane and I was looking forward to seeing it in the air sometime. Mid airs do happen though but a real shame with something so new.   Commiserations. Lee will be mortified.   Alan

Tim - With spoilerons be prepared for loads of down elevator needed. Also don't expect them to slow things down. Certainly on the two aeroplanes I have them on they don't. What they do do is dump lift and force the plane down which is quite useful at most slopes but you need to kill the speed in the turns. Play with them at height and if possible set the Tx so you can modify the elevator compensation while in flight until you get it right. Basically with full spoilerons on you need it just nose down, coming forward gently losing height like its going out of fashion.   Alan

Have you touched up the paintwork Tim or just going with it as it is? Be interested to see how one of these lighter weight Jart's fly.   Alan

Glad to see/hear you are using good music these days Lee.   Alan

Yes thank you Matthew I do have the GWS A4. However as Lee will tell you I finish what I am currently doing before embarking on another one, especially when it's electrickery and I don't have too much expertise in that area. However I have some flying friends well into electrics and specifically small EDF planes so should get good info from them when the time comes. Must admit I looked at all the bits GWS recommends and at well over the ton for them thought ok, time for a little thought before delving in here. Especially when the kit with the power bits (motor & esc) only retails for about £25 more than the bare one I received, but if you buy the bits separately the motor by itself was £40 odd from Perkins and as I recollect the esc was similar. So time for some reflection before spending my pennies.   And Tim you are ok as a very pointy thing is coming your way this weekend I hear.   See you all soon. Alan

Well there you go Matthew. Insider knowledge. At one point we had 4 of them chasing us around. They actually don't like rolling over and diving at the ground manouvres but for almost anything else they stay in pretty close formation. Actually this time one of them did make deliberate dives at Lee's S15 and we were sort of forced into taking evasive action. They really do not like their airspace being invaded thats for sure.   By the way Lee hasn't responded as he is working until Saturday and then he has to sit down and work out how to add a deal of elevator compensation for when he is on full crow brakes. It was hard landing that Javelin having to hold loads of forward stick in all the time. Nice aeroplane for general flying though. We haven't tried it with full ballast yet. A pleasure still to come.   Alan

I can see you guys have never had a plank glider. I have a NCFM M60 and I can tell you that moving the C of G by 1mm totally alters the characteristics of that aeroplane. 1mm behind the sweet spot and its darn near unflyable. On the sweet spot it is a magic aeroplane. 1mm in front and it is soggy, horrible and very slow. To get to that level of accuracy I use the Multiplex C of G machine which does give that accuracy. I also record where the sweet spot is so on any subsequent repair, maintenance or refurbishment I can reproduce the exact same sweet spot.   I gave up using fingers years ago when I 1st became involved with gliders. They are so much more sensitive than pudgy fingers can ever provide. For their modest price they are they undoubtedly one of the best VFM tools you can have.   Alan

Andy - From the LMSA members list how can you tell who is who anyway, plus that list doesn't seem to me to reflect current LMSA members. At least there are a couple of users on it that I recognise that I know didn't rejoin last year, let alone this. Plus as I believe Lee said in his 1st post we didn't get the surnames of the other Alan & the John, so how can you check unless you recognise them.   Maybe I should have put this on the LMSA forum...... but then who updates and reads that very often. I guess Mike does so probably should.   By the way don't take this wrong. I TOTALLY agree with what you said. Just pointing out how hard it is to make anything meaningful of the LMSA member list unless you know everyone pseudonyms 1st.   Alan    

ms - Paul Heckles school is at Chiseldon just south of Swindon no more than a few miles from you. The web address is : http://www.paulhecklesrc.co.uk/ and if you look at the BMFA site there are quite a few clubs in your area that cater for helicopters. Unfortunately not the Swindon one according to the BMFA but there are others fairly close.   Alan

ms - Bruce is totally right. Before doing anything with the Raptor join a club and get lessons or use one of the schools that teach helis. I see from your profile you live in Swindon. I am sure one of the flying schools that teaches heli flying is located just South of Swindon. Not sure but it might be the Paul Heckles school. But please do use them. It may seem expensive at 1st but a few hours of lessons will save you loads on the damage and repairs you will do on your Raptor, and they will set your helicopter up and test it out for you so you know it is ok. Hate to say it but any mishap on a helicopter is probably going to cost you at least £40+ for a crash kit and new blades. Potentially much more if it is a big one. And helicopters are very maintenance intensive. So money spent up front learning at a school can potentially save you hundreds long term. Please don't let this put you off. I find helis the most satisfying flying of anything because of the intense concentration required. They really are a huge adrenaline rush every time you take off. But they are potentially quite dangerous to you and all around and that is why you MUST use a club or school to learn with.   Alan

ms - I think you need to give us a bit more to go on than that. What specifics is there that you don't know about or need to have explained.   Alan

Eric - Provided the Tx is transmitting in PPM mode then a Futaba Tx will communicate with a Sanwa Rx no problem, and vice versa of course. It is only if you transmit in PCM mode that you must use same manufacturer Tx and Rx. I have Sanwa and Multiplex Tx's communicating to Sanwa, Mpx, Futaba, Schultze, Hitec, JR and GWS Rx's with no problems. Buddy box leads are a different problem and in general with buddying you need the same manufacturers Tx's, although there may be some exceptions to this. I very much doubt that you can buddy Futaba and Sanwa together. Alan

Firstly whats wrong with the SLEC, Radio Active ones? I have used them for many years on various aeroplanes and not had any problems at all. Still totally tight and slop free everywhere. However if you MUST have something different to them try any helicopter shop and get the control link packages from Hirobo, Thunder Tiger etc sold for their ranges of helicopters. You might need to do some work with them though as they tend to be specific for the controls of the particular helicopter they are sold for but they are good as if you fly helis you will know you can't aford any slop anywhere. Also look at the Quick UK heli upgrades. I'm sure that in their range somewhere there were nice blingy replacement ball links. Alan

Works for me Jim as well, and quite importantly I have quite an investment in the technology so am not jumping to change. However when someone figures out how to shoe horn 2.4Ghz Rx's into the very tight environment of a fully moulded gliders carbon fuselage and proves that it works ok then I might start to change. Am really waiting to see what Multiplex comes out with 2.4 wise as they are the equipment of choice for the F3F community and they will no doubt take care of that scenario, and as I already use one of their Tx's which they have already stated will be able to accept their 2.4 module when it comes I should be able to start to change at a rational price. Re the £50 PCM Rx the only Sanwa Rx listed on Inwoods is the 851 which is standard single conversion PPM unfortunately. The only Sanwa PCM Rx I am aware of is the 8129 which everywhere I look retails at around the £80 mark and to that you need to add a dual conversion Crystal which is around £15. Alan

Jim - A Sanwa PCM Rx will not work with a JR Tx. As far as I am aware ALL PCM equipment from all manufacturers is proprietary. And I would love to know where you are getting Sanwa PCM Rx's from at £50 apiece. The last time I got one new the Rx was £80 and the Xtal £15. At £50 each (with Xtal) I might be persuaded to have a couple. And while I am here all modern (blue plugs) Sanwa equipment use the same wiring setup as everyone else on the airborne side. The only difference still current that I am aware of is the Tx battery polarity where the outer pin is +ve and the middle -ve. Timbo tells me JR use the same on the Tx. Other than this providing you are not using PCM then with a Sanwa Tx you can use anyones PPM Rx and anyones servos. With my RD8000 Tx I use Futaba, Multiplex, Hitec, JR, GWS, Schultze Rx's, some synthesised, some not, and Futaba, Sanwa, Hitec, Ripmax, Cirrus servos. Some digital, some not dependent upon application, and I have never had any radio problems because of it. Alan