Mike T

Exactly this. The rights of existing (98 years and counting) lower airspace users should be protected. The burden (including costs) of ensuring that new 'commercial' entrants to the use of this airspace should fall on said new entrants. They are the people who should be charged for 'innovation' as they are the ones who will profit from it. If the best solution turns out to require some form of remote ID on all UAVs, then the cost of equipping the 'hobby' flyers should be borne by the commercial operators. After all, the technology will be simple and cheap...

I bought one as an FPV platform, which it was good for (unlike the FPV gear which was an early 'all in one box' outfit - which proved to be functionally useless a.k.a. crepe) I'm not convinced of its merits as a trainer though. I had to extend the rudder to improve the response and every throttle movement produced a change of trim, which is OK for an experienced pilot, but useless for raw beginners (IMV). The Bixler was a rip-off and I can only assume Multiplex couldn't be backsided to tackle Hobbyking over it.

That's for the Ranger. I suspect Linds. is referring to the Phoenix, which has a 20A ESC and recommends 7.4V batteries. I'd swap out the ESC for a 30 or 40A. Run it with the 10 x 6 but keep an eye on the motor. If it runs hot, swap that too...

The ideal solution is to pick up your trainers free or second hand. We've got a couple and, conveniently, they came with an OpID already affixed...

For light over dark, I spray a coat of silver first - Plastikote or Guild is as good as anything and a couple of light coats cover well. Then apply your chosen light colour. (Got this trick from my Dad back in the swinging 60's. We had some old fashioned dark wood wardrobes that he wanted to do a 'Barry Bucknall' on, so coat of silver enamel first, then white gloss over the top. Looked really hip...)

@Geoff S - did the Gladiator come from the UK warehouse, Geoff - they don't appear to be in stock 🤥 I've spent a lot of money with HK in the past and probably will do again, but the notion that they kept the model trade 'honest' is fanciful (and that's putting it several orders of magnitude more politely than the word I was minded to use).

Cut out the middle man. If you're going to flatten and drill the brass, why not just flatten and drill the wire? Grip the wire above the bend with a heavy mole (or 'vise') grip to a) hold the work and b) act as a heatsink to avoid de-tempering the bends. Then heat the ends to near white hot and belt them with a heavy hammer and a suitable anvil. If you make the bent end overlong, you can fold the flattened end over on itself and solder it before drilling, to give a more substantial pad for the pivot hole.* Alternatively, just heat the ends as described above and then run a die down them to use commercial plastic horns. In both cases, after working, heat to dull red and quench to harden, then polish and heat to blue/purple to temper. Yes, you lose the spring in the ends that you've worked, but you don't need it there. The mole(vise) grip keeps the temper in the bend and in the length of the rod, which is where you do need it. (* If you stick to plan A and use brass, cut it over length and fold/solder it before drilling, etc.)

Thanks for clarifying/correcting, Pete. Just shows what a minefield this topic can be. For instance: you have to wonder why Klotz chose to use the prefix "Super" on the version of Techniplate that does contain castor! Like many, I'm sticking to SM, where a little castor helps the rest of the oil slip through...😀

Footnote: if BEKRA fuel still uses Klotz oil, then that oil itself contains 20% of their own-brand castor oil.

The seeding is established by results, which you don't get unless matches are played! 😉 As Warren Gatland said in response to criticism of this years seeding - 'if you want better seeding, you should have played better in the last world cup!'

Reading is no problem, but I have the usual (for me) problem of posts either just not happening or taking the age of a little pig to upload. Forums are useless without posts, so maybe this is something that should be looked into? PS - Sod's law - of course this post uploaded instantaneously. 'Those whom the Gods seek to destroy, they first make mad...'

If you select 'Pilot Link Master' on the DX7 (I believe it appears as 'P-Link' in the menu) then the system will (or should*) work exactly as the OP describes. This is covered in the extract from the manual that MattyB posted (it's the bit he didn't highlight... 😏) (* this is Spektrum, remember...)

You've got to laugh. If you go on their website and filter by 'UK warehouse' and 'in stock', you will find a grand total of: 1 plane (autogyro) 1 receiver 15 servos. Everything else is out of stock or 'backorder' (in other words - 'out of stock') If this constitutes a warehouse, then I'll bet pretty much everyone on this thread can call themselves a multi-national corporation! 😁

Excellent! Thanks very much Eric. I had guessed the motors were about that size. It is, effectively the same power train as found in the ubiquitous Wot 4 Foam-e and I don't think I'm alone in having more than one set of those! I've always thought they were the ideal basis for the multis you mention, plus B-24s, Wellingtons, Hampdens, Hudsons, etc. I actually have the Whirly plans you used as a basis, but decided they were too large and was toying with the idea of getting them copied at about 90%. After seeing yours fly, I'm inclined to start with a clean sheet of paper and start skip diving for foam 🙂 !

I've used boiling water and steam, used in conjunction with a dessert spoon to 'bone-down' the crocodile handbag effect. The alternatives mentioned sound excellent as well - but I'm happy to wait on giving them a try...