Wasaforumite

   As a sort of a birthday present to myself I have just bought one of these small bench circular saws.  As usual with Proxxon it appears very well made. I don't doubt that it cuts balsa wood and ply very well in the thicknesses we use in most average size planes.  However, the design of the saw bed seems only to allow the fence to go 6cm from the blade meaning this is the maximum length of any repetitive cuts you can do and also the maximum size of any accurately cut square component. This seems totally inadequate for building anything but the smallest of models that would in any case be made of very light wood that can easily be cut with a scalpel. Has anyone got one of these saws and can give tips on how to use it? Incidentally, what is the channel on the left hand side for? I would be very grateful for any suggestions as it looks like an expensive doorstop at present, replacing my Sinclair ZX! Ian          

Coming back to this thread now after a long break, I am pleased to say that I have been able to get a spinner/folding prop  for 4mm motor shaft. Multiplex are doing 54mm spinners that fit beautifully - I got mine from Model Maniacs online. The appearance of the EG Pro is greatly improved by having the correct sized spinner and this now enables a much wider range of motors to be used.  Who knows the aerodynamics might be better too? On a different matter, I am going be staying in S Wales (Pembrey Park) for a few days, 2nd week in September and I am told that flying from the beaches is great.  Anybody got any tips as to best locations, please? I have this vision of flying over a calm sea at sunset etc..... more likely It will probably blow a gale!  Ian   

This is turning out to be an interesting thread about the history of this design. The article in RCME of April 2004, repeated on this website under the 'Features' tab on page 4 says that the design was originally by C A de Felice. So presumably the Carlo you refer to is one and the same person. Many people in Wales have Maricardos as the author of the 2004 article builds them for clubmates. The model has a similarity to the Galaxy Models Magician, also with foam wings, mid wing and racer cockpit. If Carlo is the designer maybe he is the one who would own the copyright unless he passed it to someone else. It certainly sounds to me like someone is being ripped off here if the design is being sold as a kit however it is scaled. The 40 size version looks very suitable for electric conversion as long as the battery can be positioned to balance the model. The fuz looks rather narrow as there is only room for a small fuel tank. The design looks quite cheap and easy to build and to save bending wire which to me would be the worst bit, I would opt for a carbon undercarriage and possibly just a little dihedral to make it a smooth flier for my numb thumbs. Built up tail feathers with carbon reinforcement would save some weight. Just my 2p's worth. Ian

In the RC Model World Magazine of June 1985 (Sorry if this is like swearing - please don't chuck me off the site!) there is an advert for a Maricado kit marketed by Marionville models of Edinburgh (£39.95). So this design has made the rounds. Looks a lovely plane, must do an electric one next winter. Ian

Several months later.......... I have more or less finished the airframe now. The first problem I had was where to get foam. I ended up buying styrodur on ebay. Its a sort of white closed cell foam, very light and strong. I couldn't justify making up a hot wire cutter just for one plane so I cut using saws and coarse sanding blocks, making one heck of a mess in the process. I actually think that having gone down the foam route, if I made the plane again I would lash up a cutter and make foam wings as well.  The engine nacelles have been redesigned for Emax 2215/20 motors with the 30amp esc's angled to give a reasonably short run of cable. I was going to have a trike u/c but reverted to the original design when I found I couldn't mount the front leg easily with the battery being in the nose. I am going to use a single  3s lipo ei ther 3300 or 3700. This should give 15 mins of flying at a guess.  I found the plan was straightforward except that some of the dimensions seemed a bit at odds. The wing is wider on the wing plan than fuz plan and the frame of the fuz is clearly built out of 3/16ths sq stock yet the plan says 1/8th sq. I have capped all the ribs and sheeted the l/e of the wing to give a more scale appearance. I hope this doesn't add too much weight. Hopefully, I might get it finished in time to fly it this season. I will post another picture when its ready to fly and add some test flying notes in due course.

This month's magazine appears to be one of the best with a good variety of articles.There was a fearless article on a Multiplex product. Bravo!  Pleasantly absent is the respectful homage to 'trade' flyers, who in my opinion get too much coverage overall. They don't build the models they fly in many cases and as professionals they should be good. Am I the only one who cringes when we get '*' s in the word electric when electric flying is mentioned. This might have been amusing 10 years ago but we've moved on and electric is here to stay.  It certainly looks like becoming the majority interest very soon if it isn't already.  At least the word 'utterly' hasn't  cropped up - I always associate this with margarine adverts. Please Mr Editor get your felt tipped pen out.  Overall this is a good magazine, eagerly awaited each month - I'd just like to see a few minor editorial amendments that all. By the way mine had no pages 15 to 22 and 119 to 126 as well to there must have been a party at the printers.  Ian   

I have had superb service from Horizon Hobby in checking a AR7000. Spektrum R/C gear may be costly thanks to our Great Leader's abolition of boom and bust and consequent effect of devaluing the pound sterling but at least the service offered by Horizon is a consolation. Thank you Horizon! IH

Hi DavidNice to hear from you again. The wings are quite deep in section so there is scope to build a box like the battery box to hold the esc between the motor and the fuz inside the wing. Access to be through a hatch in the under-wing surface. I shall aim for about 300 watts in total for power - I want to be able to fly as fast as a 40 size trainer and also to get more height in the timed climb/glide competition we have in our club next year! Ian

Well, quite a number of you have read my posting here but evidently nobody has built one! As I enjoy flying a brushless Twinstar, I have decided to build one over the winter to see how it compares. The plan arrived today, thank you Hobbystore. From what I can gather from the plan, compared to the Twinstar, the fuselage has about 25% less frontal area but the wings are fractonally bigger and don't have the the slight taper of the Twinstar so it seems likely that drag will be similar. No doubt other differences will become evident as I go along. Although construction does involve the use of foam, fundamentally it is all traditional built up. This gives the opportunity to modify it at the outset for brushless motors. The Esc's won't have to be crammed behind the motors, but can be carried inside the wing and there will be a saving in heavy motor wiring. The weight quoted in the article is over the weight of my TS with 3 cell 3300 lipo (2lb 6 oz or 1.1kg) but maybe the cells were heavier on the prototype. The 900kv motors on my TS draw 220 watts total on 8 by 4 props giving good acceleration but average speed. Maybe I'll try for higher kv this time with smaller props and slightly higher wattage. When I get started I'll comment further, assuming someone else out there is interested!

Has anyone built this interesting plane? Like a lot of older plans it will be greatly improved by going the brushless/lipo route. How does it compare with the Twinstar 2? Any comments gratefully received.

Guys   Thanks for your replies and observations. I went into Maple Models today and found they had some short lengths of aluminium tube 8mm in diameter with internal dia of 7mm. I used about 6mm of this as a sleeve. I've got enough left over for about 40 props!   Ian

I recently purchased a Graupner G Sonic prop size 12 X 6 as this is the recommended size for a Saito 56. It is curious and annoying to find that the minimum shaft size is 8mm whereas the Saito has a 7mm shaft, as do most other engines that would use this size of prop. I mentioned this at Als where I bought the prop but I was met with a shrug.   So fellow forum members, firstly, any tips please on how to 'ream down' instead of up?   Secondly, is there anyone from Graupner out there who can tell me what engine they had in mind when making these props?   I hope I can save someone the trouble of having an expensive letter opener!   Ian

I am about 75% through building an Easy Glider Pro. The differences between this latest model and the two earlier versions have been well documented so I won't go into them here.  The Pro version seems to have been designed very much with Multiplex's own (very expensive) power systems in mind. In my opinion much greater versatility could have been acheived if the nose had been made 1cm or so longer and the motor firewall moved forward. As it is a very large spinner is needed.  M's own spinner prop set is for a 5mm shaft - again requiring a specialist motor. I have gone down the route of using a small Hyperion B/less glider motor (4mm shaft) and the largest  Aeronaut prop (£20) which is still 5mm too small for the nose. Builders planning on going B/less might be better off buying the basic glider version and engineering their own nose/firewall to suit a cheap motor/prop combo.  Has anyone else encountered this problem? Ian 

David I have a well flown 'Speedair'. The trike u/c is fine and the plane is an excellent flyer - in the right hands it does all the b test patterns. I fly on a newish metal carb irvine 46 which is a beautiful engine. Its easy to start by hand and has really good performance. It also balances the plane without adjustment. If your field isn't smooth you might br better off with the Speedair as tail draggers can nose over on wet or draggy surfaces. These planes are good value for money. Ian