Kevin Wilson

What a pretty airplane. And what a jolly nice model. It has been a pleasure watching this come together, well done.

Strange how I read all the posts and visualised a split pin wherever 'cotter' was referenced. Totally subconsciously. However if you had asked me to draw a cotter pin it would have been the circular wedge pin used to secure bicycle cranks. (and this site spell check facility wanted to put a Z in visualised, thats a zee in case you were confused)

"Candidates are not expected to be “word perfect” with their answers but they should be able to demonstrate that they are fully aware of the legal controls for model aircraft flying" Nice to see the BMFA being proactive and gathering all this information into an easily accessible resource. Much like they have done with droneaware.org  **LINK** Edited By Kevin Wilson on 12/04/2016 11:31:02

I worked with a prison guard who said the normal delivery method at the places he worked was by being stuffed into a tennis ball and launched over the fence with one of those ball throwing sticks that you see dog walkers with. Certainly easier to justif and less conspicuous than setting up some kind of RC device. Kind of hiddenin plain sight.

Posted by Erfolg on 08/04/2016 16:32:31: Imagine that you have a small ball in a bowel. Now get hold of your bowel, Now I am sure the first used to be illegal... And the second certainly sounds unwise

Its only a 3D maneuver if you can give it an obscure and unrelated name. At least that's the way it works across the pond

I popped one in an order from HobbyKing as it was already a 'large parcel' so essentially free shipping. **LINK** Very impressed for the £4 I paid. Almost as cheap as Banana boxes

Posted by Donald Fry on 05/04/2016 19:21:55: a few months ago I ordered an expensive box of bits from hobbyking, (Far East warehouse), and the shipper, whoever they were sent an e mail, saying they are here, send tax (PayPal), reasonable sum, no markup, and the box appeared at the door a day or so later. Donald, thats what I am looking for........ Shame you cannot recall the delivery mechanism. That is exactly how it should work. Edited By Kevin Wilson on 06/04/2016 09:34:31

Since my earlier post I have been brewing on this subject which really gets my goat. When I go to the shop (model shop, Waitrose, Car dealer,,,, take your pick) they ALL have to charge duty and pass that to HMRC. Therefore when you buy that £5 servo at your local model shop they are collecting the duty for HMRC without charging you for the privilege. I am not saying the couriers shouldn't have an admin charge, but they are all really taking the mickey out of us. It is not as if they need to set a special mechanism for us; they already collect duty (VAT) from us if we were to send a parcel, and are therefore already passing payments to HMRC. Apologies for the twee terminology, but this is a subject that could easily get me moderated

Posted by Gordon Nicol on 06/04/2016 08:47:24: I've just bought 2 lightweight (4.3 gram)servos from hong kong... 99pence each and free postage.... got to be worth the two quid just to see what they are like, I may just have stumbled across a bargain, ...... then again A bargain to you and me Gordon, but the distributors have been buying them at this price for years. Used withing their capoabilities, I am sure they will be fine. After all whatever badge is on the side, I doubt there is a servo out there that doesnt have some chinese DNA.

Oh yes! I got charged £8 by RoyayMail to collect £5 duty. I have no problem paying the import duty, but the charges made by the couriers are to my mind disproportionate. Especially as RM do not even do what they have been paid for ie deliver the parcel. You have to collect it yourself. Surely in this day and age it should be possible to make an electronic payment, show the courier your HMRC receipt and take the parcel.

The dive test made no sense to me either until I twigged it was the additional airspeed amplifying the effect of the level cruise trim. Especially confusing to me was the inverted dive test, where a nose heavy plane (one with a forward CoG) will tuck under (increase dive angle) on an inverted 45 degree dive. I have always understood the dive test to be more applicable to symmetrical airfoils. However is the speed/lift component the reason for the inverted dive test? A question for BEB perhaps? It always surprises me how few people consider the additional lift from increasing airspeed. Is this because most people fly symmetrical or semi-symmetrical sections; or perhaps because I learnt to fly on 2ch where throttle = Up.

I have a few of the usual 6 cell testers that plug into the balance lead. I have found one of them works on single cells. That stays in my flight box for testing indoor 1s cells. I found the pin spacing ideal to hold onto the side of my indoor quad packs where ther connections are exposed. And a simple adapter lead to fit the UmX batteries. I dont use JST on 1s packs but that would just be another plug on my UmX lead. I cannot recall where I bought the tester, but it is worth trying any that you have. They are so cheap that most people have a few kicking around. And if yours doesnt do it, it may be worth asking your fellow flyers to see if you can do a swap with theirs.

Enamel thinners is only really any good for enamel paints. I have however had good results (spraying) enamel paints using cellulose thinners. I get it by the gallon from the local automotive refinishing suppliers. Being a cheapskate I buy 'gun wash' for general use, only pushing the boat out when it needs a proper gloss job such as m'bike or car panels.

Sorry about that being all one line. It appears the carriage return doesn't work on this phone. Thinking about it I cannot recall seeing throws in the 'instruction sheet'. Edited By Kevin Wilson on 28/03/2016 09:02:22

From m​emory I think mine is 20deg up and down on ailerons. About the same on elevator. As much as you can get on rudder and flaps. If you want gentle controls or are just feeling your way then ailerons and elevator can come down to half that, but you will find aileron rolls very slow. I got a good setup using google. I am sure it was the crow brake video from Soren (Speedsterden on here) who is a very competent pilot and does good things with the P2k. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

I have used the pushrod connectors shown in the first post. They were good quality items from Multiplex. Decent metal, smooth shaft, decent hex grub screw. Bearing on hard piano wire. I was very suspicious of their holding ability having been brought up with Z bends and metal clevises. Securely tightened and a drop of CA adhesive. They remained serviceable for years, surviving many novice 'landings' and are still rock solid. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again (although probably not by preference) as long as it was an appropriately sized model. Like much of aeromodeling you have to have an appropriate solution with appropriate equipment.

Perhaps we should form a self help group. Every bench I have is completely obscured. The only build surface available is the dining room table which I claim for a build but am under pressure to relinquish completely ASAP. Perhaps that is why it is the only build surface available. The only thing I can suggest is an idea seen in Model Engineer a few years back. Make your workbench with a small slot (+-1" either between the work surface and the wall or between the work surface and a rear upstand. The idea being anything that small and pushed that far to the back of the bench is irrelevant. The corespondent even went so far as to make a shute into the bin. anything going through the slot went in the bin.

Posted by AJ on 11/03/2016 06:31:40: A 0.5A supply will charge your lipos it will just do it very slowly, so perhaps not the best way. Instead connect it to a spare BEC and use it to power a servo tester. AJ No need for the BEC AJ. Erflog said it had a 5v output. I have a converted PC PSU and use the 5v output for bench testing radio setups, servo testers and the like. Might be worth keeping for that purpose. Stick a servo style connector on it I keep my eyes open at work for discarded wall wart PSU. many of those are 5v at a few amps. Sometimes even hit the jackpot and find a 12v one for charging small foamy batteries.

Posted by Nigel Grant 1 on 11/03/2016 06:37:32: My heavy duty soldering iron that I inherited from my Dad has just burnt out and I need to get another one for soldering 8swg wire for undercarriage legs. Is the best idea just to get a 100w+ one with a heavy tip or are the ones with a wire loop like the Weller or Fuller ones OK? There is a Fuller brand on sale here (in NZ) available for a good price with a neat storage case. I have one of the Weller soldering guns. Never been very satisfied with it. I have seen them used with different loops for cutting foam, such as servo pockets, but I've yet to try that. I have lots of irons from 15w to 100w and the 40w temperature controlled iron does most jobs. My old fashioned thermal balance (uncontrolled element) 60w with 1/2" bit is handy for big connectors like Deans & XT90. Somebody mentioned resistance soldering, which is brilliant for putting brass sections together but not sure if it would be any good on cables. Probably OK on connectors where you can get the earth connection and the carbon on something solid. For undercarriage work I would probably replace your 100w Iron. Or a blowlamp (not one of those weedy pencil things, too hot with not enough heat).

My workshop PSU is pulled from a PC with an easy mod. Probably 15+ years in the PC and workshop. I went a bit OTT with rewiring and pulling all the voltages out to 4mm sockets. -5v, 3.3v, 5v & 12 are available. Runs my mini drill, hot wire, multiple chargers.as needed (not all at once) If I was buying, I would go for one of the many server PSU (40A+) for little money. But if you have a PC then go for it, well worth the small effort.

Posted by kc on 10/03/2016 10:56:11: To get back to the real issue....... where can ordinary members of the public ( i.e non BMFA members) find what laws apply to drones? Where is it written down in plain English? That's surely the problem - even solicitor's husbands don't know what is not allowed! They could go to www.droneaware.org a colaboration between the authorised controlling body and the modelers representative. Dont forget that CAA & BMFA are promoting next month as "Drone Awareness Month" So officially Drone month by the BMFA..... I fear we are sunk!

Perhaps that is our starting point. Refuse to recognise the term drone and automatically correct everyone to using the correct term SUAV as defined by the CAA. We would be banging on a particuarly thick door with the sensationalistic press, but it may prompt better research. I heard the first run of the R4 program at around 16:00 and was desperately hanging on for the ballance and informed comment from a person that knew what they were talking about.

Some interesting suggestions being made. But didnt Daz say he had TWO motors

Lots of guys flying identical liveried jets.... Oh tell me when and I will bring my camera; should be interesting. Nice plane and nice scheme. Best of luck gentlemen.