Alan Dorrell

Mowerman Seriously, I would love to go with floats or flying boats. Unfortunately I am now classed as disabled and fly from my wheelchair. Just a tad restrictive. Roll on some dryness and even calm weather. Alan.

Elevons now successful !!! I had damaged the servo with setting one or the other at 100%. John A H'S posts were key. Mine must be old manual. Any way, thanks again guys. Unfortunately our field is virtually under water so will have to wait for the maiden. (who is she ?) Alan.

Hi Phil, I had to do just a little cable withdrawing, not as bad as I thought, in order to be able to check the servo. That proved to be as dead as a dodo, so has to be replaced. Unfortunately I dont have any more servos of that type but will be going to my favourite model shop towards the end of this week. Fortunately I have several minor finishing tasks to keep me occupied. Cheers. Alan.

Thankyou guys for your inputs. I believe (with your help) that I got it sorted and all worked as it should. However , suddenly there was no activity from the 'aileron' servo. So I am now in the process of servo checking at the junctions meaning that I am having to thread thread the leads back through the model. Very fiddly and I may have to cut an access hole in the covering. Ah well !! Alan.

Hi out there Can anyone help please. I am just finishing off my latest project which is a converted free flight delta to R/C and EP. My Tx is a Futaba 6EX and my Rx is an Orange FASST which has so far proved totally reliable. The problem is, having programmed in for elevon mixing strictly according to the manual, it is working beautifully, except for the fact that the elevators work on the lateral (side to side) movement of the stick and the ailerons on the up and down. I have tried changing the servos on the appropriate Rx sockets, altering the throw % and reversing the servos, to no avail. Any suggestions or help would be gratefully acceptable. I'm puzzled. Cheers. Alan

Hi, Here's a tale. Forty one years ago, as a handicraft teacher, I took over an old and somewhat under equipped secondary school workshop. I ordered a Burgess mk2 bandsaw as an interim until I could get a larger model (neither to be used by pupils). I was told there was a six month delivery period !!! A few weeks later, visiting friends, I was glancing through their copy of a mail order catalogue and saw in the tool section this same saw (a little under £30 if I remember correctly). We argued over the delivery period, was told less than three weeks, so I got them to order me one to prove them wrong. It arrived in less than a week !!! Eventully, the school one arrived. It was thick with dust and parts of the main castings were distorted. There followed much returning and replacing of parts but I did get it to work after a fashion. I kept the mail order one for myself. It worked perfectly. It still does after all these years, I got some new blades for it from Axminster's a couple of years ago. Apart from my model building activities, I also did a lot of classic cabinet making, using it extensively. However, I must say that nowadays I use my scroll saw, also from Axminster, almost exclusively for my current model building. Alan.

Hi Andy, Just found and read your blog. Extremely good. An early post gave a link to elecrtrifying a Wot 4 which I promptly downloaded as you will now see why. I am an avid builder but a real rabbit as a flyer, I have to use my wheelchair and be on buddybox. Anyway, this past June, having spent weeks, maybe months trying to decide between a Riot or a Wot 4 foam-E, I decided on the Foam-E as my birthday present to myself. Reasons for choosing ? I just wanted to drop in the Rx and lipo and be ready to go. A visit to my LMS, a very good establishment, surprised me with a total lack of the model desired, however, they were on order. Well, as far as I know, they are still waiting !! Anyway, when I went a couple of weeks ago, I bought their last remaining ARTF Orange one, as the speed of getting into the air is no longer a criteria, but I am still going electric. So, I know that I do not actually need your very informative blog for building assistance. On the other hand, one of my winter build projects is a kit for the Galaxy "Gazelle" which is of similar foam wing and balsa fuselage construction. I could do a blog on that perhaps. Now I do have an immediate problem that maybe one of the followers of this forum could solve for me. The motor I have for the Wot is a JP EnErG brushless600 O/R 1100(C35-14). It was bought for another model but not used. It is the recommended motor for the Seagull E-Pioneer leccy trainer. My problem is that the shaft sticks out at the end where the X-mount is. Now I know that this can be loosened and pushed through but I would rather not. Like most motors I have seen, there a holes drilled and tapped in this opposite end which indicate a stub prop shaft can be fitted. However this not included, unlike other motors I have bought. AND, there are only three holes rather than the usual four. Can anyone recommend a leccy specialist who could supply the appropriate item, because Perkins apparently do not. Cheers. Alan.

My wife likes quiz programmes on TV which I usually hear but rarely watch. I am frequently amazed at the lack of knowledge, historical, literary, etc., that contestants display. But then I could not answer questions about "celebraties", pop stars, soap opera topics and characters, footballers and any sports except cycling. Alan.

Jon and Gazza, I must thank you for kind words. When I do get to the field I am usually in the company of the Club's "Old F**ts", some of whom are actually older than I am. However, they are very helpful. I have my flying ambitions and would love to qualify for my A. Cheers. Alan.

Believe it or not, this forum, which I have just come across, I find truly inspiring. Because it would seem that some of you, whom I would assume to be reasonably able, barely manage the same build/fly ratio that I do. I have been getting a bit despondant just recently while working on one of my latest flying machines. It is at that exciting stage just prior to covering when one can visual the finished job in flight. When done I shall have fifteen RTF models, mostly scratch built. Because I am getting older (I am 81), I have also treated myself to six more must builds, all kits, and I have at least four plans that I would love to create. I am toying with the idea of getting them "cadded" and laser cut. But back to this past season. I managed to have a couple of models maidened. I started R/C modelling six years ago and I built Peter Miller's CAP 21 as my second build. It had been a hangar queen all this time as I was warned it could be a bit hairy. Due to my heart problems and severely arthritic knees, I fly from my wheelchair and the Club insists that I am always connected to a buddy box. A couple of clubmates did the test flight. It flies great, as long as you are a formula one driver.I sold it almost immediately. The other model is also a PM design. His Big Ship (elecrified), Now !! Even on its maiden I was allowed to have the Tx. It just floated around with slight nudges on the controls. A couple of very minor adjustments were necessary, since done. However, although we have had some very decent weather, locally, for the last ten days, my legs have been so painful that I have not got through the front door. I still have four more ships to be maidened, none of which should be too hairy and I look forward to those days when A. the weather is good, B. my legs feelable and C. there will be a flying buddy available. Ideally this would happen twice a week but that's an extremely rare occurance. However, reading this forum, it seems to me that I am not bottom of the class. So, I will continue to enjoy my builds, even if it is other guys who get to fly my models. Cheers. Alan.

Hi Guys I built a Webbit but not able to get a co-driver ( I am disabled), was unable to attend Greenacres. The following year for Vintage, I built my "Windy Ain't It" also a scaled up Webbit (it's a great flier !! ). I got a co-driver but then there was the weather !!!! Last year I am afraid the Tuc held absolutely no appeal for me either as a style of model or a build project, although I followed the forum avidly. On DD's scale I am Class 3, an avid builder, though a slow one and a perpetual novice pilot. I have lots to build including the Super 60 kit I got for the Vintage effort, but will have a go if the choice suits me . At the moment, I feel a Barnstormer of any size or type fits the bill butI am only one guy.What suits me will not suit the "whizz kids" Still hope to get to Greenacres and show off some models (someone else flying them) and meet some of you guys. Cheers. Alan.

I ran a club at the Wandsworth School in the early sixties. It was a big school and we had about thirty very active members and were featured in Model Aircraft magazine.C/L was the biggest interest and although we knew of R/C, it was way beyond even me. I know of one "lad" who is still active. Where are you Bob Darnell ? I understand you are retired and would seem to be enjoying it. Myself, I will be 81 next birthday, going on eighteen from the knees up. Alan.

Hi, I went to Woodvale that year, it was my last as a modeller/flyer then for nearly thirty years. I was only interested in c/l stunt but there were some striking models there. If my memory is correct, the huge (for the time) Lanc had two pilots with a transmitter each to give sufficient control over everything (and maybe some failsafe). It was a very crude "scale " model. I believe there was a smaller much more scale Lanc as well, that may have only used two working engines, the others being dummies. A further memory, if correct, is of some Dutch fliers with a R/Cdelta powered by a pulse jet or maybe a rocket motor.It was breathtaking and either totally illegal, or they had some uniquely special licence to fly at the event. It certainly flew fast but maybe tame by today's standards. Alan.

Bob Thanks for the encouragement. Progress, while slow, is going ahead. I feel I have dropped one or two clangers. I have been fitting the tailplane units, and while they line up quite nicely, I left the structure a bit untidy. It is now time consuming as I fill in gaps and make adjustments to things like pushrod outlets. There still seems so much to do. Maybe, also, I should have planned to complete construction and then have the Toot maidened before going ahead with any attempts at a scalish finish. Now, I am committed. I thought of going to the field this past weekend but do not know how waterlogged it may still be. I drove my car to it's MOT the other day, past our local flood plane, which looked very soggy. Three days later, after a nights rain, I drove the same route. I was horrified at the way fields and fields were by then sheets of water as far as the eye could see. Fortunately that road is raised. I have some photos to post which show some progress but you will have gathered how slow I am. But while glue has been drying I have been cutting ribs and things for the Jiant Javelan. Cheers. Alan.

Hi All, I've just gone through the thread to re-inspire myself. I have done a fair amount on the Toot since my last post and a lot of other stuff as well. Unfortunately my legs get worse rather than better but, otherwise I feel okay. I do hope we get a better flying season this year. Apart from the weather last year, I felt I was "jinxed" (and blogged about it). I had been to Corfu for a third time and had a wonderful week with twenty six flights, then only managed four stirs on the sticks during the rest of the year. I have spent a fair time on the sim and feel rather confident in my abilities as a pilot now and am booked in at Corfu for the fourth year again in May. I now have twelve flyable models with two to just finish. One is a little all sheet biplane that I am sorting the R/C gear for, The other is, of course, the Toot. I will post more pics soon. All hatches are made, The fuselage is painted but not decorated. The wings and tail are covered, with Oracover, great stuff, and insignia applied from Solartrim. I have to install the servos. It is fiddly stuff to do. The SC120 is installed and I have started "fitting" the cowl. I have some 1/4 scale instruments, from Model Gliders to fit in my instrument panel and the other cockpit details to fit and finish. Models built in the interim include two Webbits, one scaled up and both flown, the bigger one partially by me. The CAP 21 has been prepared for flight ( by Bill when he comes out of hibernation) and I have my "Windy Ain't It" radio assist electric FF to look forward to as well. And then it is to be the Firefly, the "Jiant Javelan" and I found a plan for a "Tauri" for which I have just the engine, an OS 30 ts. Then I have four more kits and three more "must build" plans to get on with. I'll be in touch. Alan.