kevin b

Having recently been in touch with a friend in India, he tells me that Graupner are back in production again and has sent me this link. Graupner Good news if you like to build kits (and speak German !). Apparently it is being run by the original owners son. Not much there at the moment, but it is early days.

It's a male thing and is not specific to our particular hobby. Lots of us have "projects" of one sort of another which can lie around, sometimes never completed unless compelled to do otherwise by some external force (usually female).

And inside you could grow other exotic plants with a "high street value" 🤣

Whilst sheeting the wing I decided to build the nacelles.

It's a book thing. Not sure how it works. Maybe printed paper still carries a discount. Delivery from the USA can be variable, but if you hit all the connections at the right time it can be very quick ! As opposed to Canada which has the worst parts of the UK and French systems combined (plus costs).

Talking a while ago to a man who knows, I was told that they were only producing kits as requested (if you could get hold of anybody !). One of the reasons was that the manufacturing machinery was worn out and it wasn't worth reinvesting the thousands of pounds to sell a few kits. Shortly after they had a huge sale on ebay (I bought a lot of stuff). I'm assuming that the property lease had run out. There have been quite a few people trying to buy the rights to the kits, but for whatever reason the owner will still not part with them. It is a shame as it won't be too long before they are worthless.

Robin. Not as long as the time I have spent on repairing the original model. 🤣 It is an extremely good basic (and reasonably strong) design. They probably sold thousands of them. Certainly hundreds. Sort of the VW Beetle of the aeromodelling world.

I really appreciate all the effort you go to on this thread Brian. But I honestly think you should get a life. 🤣

I think I have found out where it goes.

Looking at the age of the board and the fact that it is one input and two outputs with no controls and its size, I would say that it is a servo reverser for two ailerons. Possibly supplied with an old ARTF kit. There are two sets of similar components on the board and one set has one wired the opposite way round. Possibly current direction ? When it comes to electronics I studied under that great instructor Philip E. Stine.

Plan reduced to 30 size.

Found it, 51ins. Our club trainer is a Trainer 40. Ripmax never produced plans for these kits. Just assembly manuals. The last time I rebuilt it (from lots of small bits !) I copied the parts and redrew the whole model. We now have 2 trainers.

I might be able to help you Gary. What is the exact wingspan of the 30 ?

Thanks for putting me straight Nigel. I had tried to check my facts and according to the records his sole owned company took a 75% controlling interest in Ripmax in June this year. As these are all limited companies the information is freely available.

Maybe, but now it appears that he owns it (or at least 75% of it). There is a difference between running a company and owning one.

Well at last some good news. I for one would like to wish Nick Moss all the best for taking over complete control of the Ripmax brand and hope that he succeeds in moving the company forward. As with all mature companies, there eventually has to be a "changing of the guard" for it to continue trading and when this happens it can create many issues (usually financial). It is obvious that there will be many changes, some of which may not be appreciated by shall we say "more mature" modellers but I am sure that the new (old) company will try its best to perpetuate our hobby. After all that is what we, as modellers want. There was a time when the backup service at Ripmax was second to none. I am hopeful that it will return to that level even though brand loyalty does seem to be a thing of the dim and distant past.

They don't appear to have an online shop, but they do afternoon tea. 😟

Once the planking is done then the nose leg is not easily accessible so now is the time to fit it. Followed by some more planking ( my second least favourite job after sanding). Then a bit more wing skinning.

Not a lot to report today. A bit more work on the fuselage and some wing covering.

More progress. The fuselage is now off the jig with the servo tray and undercarriage mounting bearers fitted. Also stuck the wings together.

Peter. Are you sure that is aliens and not inlaws ?

A bit more work with the fuselage still on the jig and decided to make a start on the wing while waiting for glue to dry. Considering it is a twin it's a nice easy wing ! The nacelles are like power pods that can be interlocked after the wing is covered. So far everything fits nicely so I am very pleased with my laser cutting files.

I think it's a French thing, but to have 2 mothers in law. Sacre bleu !!! 🤣

What's the joke ? (I work in the motor repair industry)

What's the joke ? (I work in the motor repair industry)