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Mike T

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Everything posted by Mike T

  1. Mike T
    They need a bit of management, to be sure (a.k.a. basic engineering). I use them (as supplied) on most electric ARTFs for all control surfaces, but usually only on throttles for i.c. That said, I once had them (again as supplied) on all the controls of a .60-sized Great Planes 'Shoestring'. Never had a problem. Once the set-up has been established, I'll file away the grub screw's 'witness mark' to leave a small flat on the pushrod, then screw it down tight with Loctite. Not cyano, not 5 min. epoxy. Loctite. I'm pretty sure the guys who have been formulating and manufacturing these engineering compounds for years know what they are about...
  2. Mike T
    The problem with nylocs is that the thread on the fixing may not be long enough to tap into the nylon collar before it tightens on the horn. I've had these fixings in the past with nyloc nuts supplied, but they were threaded to suit. I'm not a fan of superglue on threads either, so I'd bite the bullet and get the Loctite threadlocker. (Martin and Don - I had a quiet little bet with myself when I posted - and you won it for me )
  3. Mike T
    Loctite (the blue stuff). Do them up tight then back off until you get the free movement required, then wait for it to go off. You also need to loctite the screws gripping the pushrod. PS - you can get lucky if the threaded pin has a longer than usual plain area near the base.  The nut can then often be tightened up firmly and still give free movement on the horn... Edited By Mike T on 15/02/2020 14:26:46
  4. Mike T
    Posted by Andrew Ray on 07/02/2020 15:43:42: Actually Mike, your assumptions are not correct. They did respond initially. I have no idea why the lines of communication failed after that, I am told that they have no record of my subsequent emails and not being too cynical I am prepared to take that as the truth. So far as forum etiquette goes, I sent emails over a few weeks, ample time to elicit a response and I’m not quite sure what your point is... OK - I'll try again My point is that where you/we are dealing with a supplier who has 'form' (HH in this case, as evidenced by your tale and that of other posters - Jason-I is the laterst) a pre-emptive strike may be in order. That is, in your/our initial communications with them, inform them that you are posting the issue on (insert media of choice) to inform others and keep them abreast of developments. It needn't be threatening or nasty - just informative and lets them know they are under scrutiny. They may not give a flying fish, but what harm can it do but to try? You/I/we wouldn't take this action with known 'good guys', unless it was to post after the event how well they'd handled it. HTH
  5. Mike T
    Posted by Andrew Ray on 07/02/2020 13:16:01: My post on RCG elicited a PM from Timo at Horizon Hobby in Germany and a couple of emails later a satisfactory outcome. So, my faith in Horizon has been restored Mine wouldn't be, if they'd only responded after a 'name and shame' post on a forum with international exposure! The usual forum etiquette is to give suppliers a chance to resolve problems before making waves online, but many prove to be serial offenders. Perhaps the best 'standard operating procedure' with these is to follow their reporting process, but with the inclusion of a statement that the matter is also being posted on RCG etc. so that the wider modelling community can monitor the outcome. Obviously, a good result should be trumpeted as loudly as a bad one. Stick and carrot...
  6. Mike T
    If that's silver Solartex, then a hot iron with sock (to prevent bruising) will seal the worst of those open edges on the wing tapes and probably most of the wrinkles. A hot air gun will pull out the rest, with a soft cloth (or the iron sock) in your other hand to smooth down and ensure adhesion. (I don't like the silver 'tex tbh. If I'm doing 'silver' fabric now, I'll use natural or white 'tex and paint it.)
  7. Mike T
    I usually use the "wing on board, sharpened tube in steadies" method - but usually for going through foam wings. If the original builder has omitted provision for servos/wiring/linkages before covering, then I think I'd want to take some of that covering off to see if there were any other horrors lurking within!
  8. Mike T
    That's excellent, thanks for sharing. It does seem to be printer dependent, as I can't see any option to select a custom paper size with mine (HP Deskjet 410). Just a thought re paper. If you can get hold of some A0 or A1 sheets fairly cheaply, you could cut these down to A4 width strips and avoid the seam altogether.
  9. Mike T
    Posted by Peter Christy on 17/01/2020 16:07:09: ...So PLEASE can we be careful when referring to analogue and digital servos, as neither term is really correct!. OK - so how should we refer to them?
  10. Mike T
    You shouldn't zap NiMH like you would a NiCd, but 2C is generally reckoned to be OK. I recently bought one of these: Turnigy Quad 4x6S , primarily for LiPos, but it will do everything else as well. Seems to be working very well so far (about 6 months use). There's no mains input - I just get 12v from a cheap converted server rack supply.
  11. Mike T
    My Pup is about 15/16lb and built from a very old (pre-Stocker) kit. I made sure I got all the weight up front. The elevator and rudder servos are as far forward in the fus. as possible and the throttle servo lives in the (near-scale length) cowl, along with the servo battery (5-cell Sub-C NiMH), ignition pack and Rx pack (both 4-cell AA NiMH). Even the switches/charging jacks are behind the cowling side panels. I also built the tail surfaces to scale outlines by trimming the kit components. It's all covered with Sig Koverall, to reduce the acres of redundant adhesive that are carried around with Solartex. (Moot point, as it still had to be doped/painted!) Despite all that, it needed a substantial lump of brass bar to be strapped under the battery mount, to get the CG to an acceptable point. It's still a little pitch-sensitive, but the sort of thing a gyro (or gyro-receiver) could easily sort out. BTW - although the rigging adds tension and stiffens everything up a bit, the wings (on the original kits at least) were all intended to be self-supporting. My rigging is all single strand and fixed with standard clevises. Edited By Mike T on 20/01/2020 12:42:16
  12. Mike T

    Mike T posted a gallery image in Member Albums

  13. Mike T
    Posted by Lima Hotel Foxtrot on 12/01/2020 10:30:36: Have you tried contacting Deluxe themselves and getting a definitive response from the horses mouth? You mean, get FACTS from EXPERTS? I don't think you've grasped how internet forums work. There are several more pages of fruitless speculation to be gone through first...
  14. Mike T
    Many years ago, both timber and foam ARTFs seemed ridiculously cheap. Since then, an increase in native production costs and the going south of the pound have put paid to that. It'll be a long, long time before the pound goes back to $1.40/1.50 (if ever...)
  15. Mike T
    IMO the Aeromaster looks by far the best of the designs linked in the OP. I'm not sure the Super Aeromaster looks better - the radial cowl looks disproportionately small to me. If it were me, I'd keep the outlines of the Aeromaster (with possibly a decent sized radial cow) and design-in the simplified structures of the others.
  16. Mike T
    Posted by tigerman on 13/11/2019 20:23:49: You try ordering 6s 6200 batteries from Hobby King . Just did a test order. 2 x 6s 6200mAH Zippy compacts. £127 the pair, from either UK or EU. Because of Parcelforce restrictions (as detailed in the delivery Ts & Cs) ordering from the UK w/h will cost you £19.71 delivery. The same order placed with the EU w/h is post-free. Nothing on the site led me to believe there'd be a problem with this order if I'd gone ahead. I think you've just come up against a one-off communication problem. My last contact with their customer service people was hassle free.
  17. Mike T
    @ Cymaz: On the basis of those numbers, your order (inc. postage) must be worth around 25 quid - so £10 over the £15 personal importation threshold for VAT. Bang to rights. What's so bad about the 8 quid? It's usually more, depending on the mail service used. It includes the cost of clearing the item through customs and the cost of remitting the money to HMC. These processing costs likely don't vary much with the value of orders. WIW I always do a fag packet on the numbers before placing an order, to assess whether the risk is worth it.  If you get away with it - happy days.  If not - suck it up...  RM Customs Charges Edited By Mike T on 13/11/2019 17:56:02 Edited By Mike T on 13/11/2019 17:58:00
  18. Mike T
    Your order was well below the tax (about £18) and excise (about £135) thresholds. If I were you I'd be making a fuss... Nice to see a bit of candour from HK's main man - not least singling out the UK warehouse for praise. I'm convinced part of their trading problems are due to their disastrous IT 'upgrade' a few years back - the effects can still (irritatingly) be seen today... As I recall, ALL orders were postage extra 'back in the day' They introduced post-free for $50+ a few years back, then a month or so ago it went up to $80, now $100. Most UK based businesses only do post-free for £100+, so HK are still pretty competitive. On typical HK orders, postage from the UK and Euro warehouses is still only about a fiver. Customer service was always poor, but has improved recently. Last month I had to reject a fairly expensive charger which was defective out of the box. I expected to have to return it, but they just approved a replacement immediately, no quibble. (I repaired the defective item...)
  19. Mike T
    Try Robotbirds. I've bought several from their 'budget' range over the years and they all turned out to be XYHs. I particularly like them because, size-for-size, they have thicker shafts than other equivalents (e.g., 5mm on a 35-series motor, where other brands are usually 4mm)
  20. Mike T
    My gut reaction is that the prop is just a tight fit on the extension. I'd try grasping the blades and levering back and forth gently. You could try a bit of heat as well (from a gun, obviously - not a naked flame!). I'd be reluctant to put oil on it, but as a last resort a bit of penetrating fluid to break the 'stick' may be necessary. Nice bit of kit, BTW... Edited By Mike T on 06/10/2019 14:52:41
  21. Mike T
    Posted by FlyinFlynn on 02/10/2019 13:21:42: I have got into the habit of using Paypal for all overseas transactions, and then paying Paypal from a CREDIT card...that gives me two layers of protection. I am currently in a Paypal dispute over a Banggood non-delivery which they won't refund me for as I did not purchase their 'shipping insurance'....we will see how Paypal view this in due course....and if they don't agree with me and issue a refund then my credit card company should. (being governed by the consumer credit act) Sadly, you are mistaken.  You LOSE your CCA S.75 rights when you pay via Paypal, even though you may settle your Paypal acct. via your Cr Card: **LINK**   Edited By Mike T on 02/10/2019 13:55:06
  22. Mike T
    Posted by Geoff Sleath on 27/09/2019 20:14:24: ...Obviously there's the possibility of being charged duty and VAT ... No duty on £106 worth of imported 'machinery'. Just the VAT and the delivery company's handling/collection fee, which is usually £10 to 15. So roughly £140 by my reckoning. Off the top of my head, 'duty' (for our kind of gear) starts at about £135 landed cost and even then its usually only 2 or 3 percent. VAT starts at £18 landed and would be levied on top of the duty (if payable). The handling/collection fee is usually fixed and varies from firm to firm. RM, e.g., is cheaper than UPS. Like Geoff, I have yet to be charged, even on big boxes loudly proclaiming their contents! NB:  E&OE!! Edited By Mike T on 28/09/2019 16:51:39
  23. Mike T
    Nice pics - thanks for sharing I suspect the SE5's are made-over Currie Wots (or similar). I took a Rapide trip when I did Flying Leg Ends last year. Well worth the 50 quid and safe as houses!
  24. Mike T
    Posted by Phil 9 on 23/09/2019 18:26:41: misquoting is not paraphrasing "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools" not law You're bogging yourself down in detail and missing the bigger picture... Bader - yeah. TBH I've always thought it was too intelligent for him, but I assumed the attribution would play better to the demographic of this forum...
  25. Mike T
    Re "law", I'm paraphrasing here, but I think it was no less a luminary than Douglas Bader who proclaimed that while laws were for the obeisance of fools, they were merely for the guidance of wise men... Furthermore, a very well respected daily newspaper has recently been running editiorials praising the avowed intention of an individual (who is amongst the very highest in the land) to break the law in order to achieve a specific outcome. Examples to us all... Re the OP's question, I believe the BMFA has already stated that while it would share information if it were beneficial to its members to do so, it would - with their permission. If it were not, they would not - in compliance with Data Protection law (damn - that word again!).
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