Craig Spence

Hi Paul, thanks for the info, I put the fuel tank together myself and read the instructions I was just wondering if there is a plug or fuel line clip to stop the fuel coming out. After thinking about it I saw a few on my model shops website (idiot, didnt think about it at the time). It only became a problem when my wife told me to move the plane and I picked it up and fuel poured all over the kitchen floor lol. I have made my own plug now from a piece of control snake crushed at one end and taped up, sounds crude but works well ha! ha!.  As for the advice about filling the tank, very helpfull. Just out of interest does it mattere if fuel goes into the pipe/silencer or does it just make a mess?, and also the advice about draining it was good as well because I actually would have tried from the fill valve which would have got me nowhere really lol!. Cheers Paul.

Hi all, this may seem like a stupid problem but its a problem non the less. I have just set up my new Prangster with an SC46 engine and have also just run it in and tuned it, heres the problem when I finished the fuel poured out of the filling valve when I picked it up, are you supposed to bloke it up when your not useing it?. Also how do you know when your fuel tank is full if you cant see the fuel tank?, mine is concealed under foam and countless layers of sticky tape. Cheers all.

Hi Paul, thanks for the advice and yes its all helpfull, I will be putting it into practise around Christmas, but not xmas day as the wife wouldent be happy lol. Cheers.

Problem solved with the glow starter, I phoned the model shop and they explained that the problems I was having were actually normal, oh well. Cheers all.

Hi Bob, you say you read the voltage under the glow attachment plugs and it said 12v, my bananna plugs havent got any voltage wrote on them, at all. I assume that the red and black bananna plugs are all 12v standard, also on my power panel the holes for the glow starter are green maybee theres an indication there?. Im going to phone up my model shop and ask and then I think the mystery is over lol!. Cheers Bob.

Hi GrumpyGnome, its allot to carry but necessary I think. Prepare for every eventuality and your "ready for anything". Don't think ill be taking my son's with me for some time yet though as it would be an eventful day lol!. Cheers.

Hi <a href="http://www.modelflying.co.uk/localiser/member.asp?sp=&v=6&MemNo=9088" title="Visit Basildon Biggles member profile">Basildon Biggles</a>, I think bin bags will be nessecery lol!, cheers.

Hi flytilbroke, thanks for the advice, the weathers not so great at the mo and ive been a few times and no ones been there because of it. I think ill wait till christmas when I join get an instructor and go from there. Cheers youve been very helpfull.

Id check it Eric but I'm not keen on using it again lol!, I'm attaching right, I'm thinking what your saying about a short circuit somewhere sounds about right. The starters working fine though, I think ill leave it now till I join the club at Christmas and ask on the field, I have a couple of glow starters anyway so it shouldn't affect me getting started. Cheers Eric.

Hello again flytilbroke, thanks for the advice, I think ill tune it in the plane and restrain the tail with poles stuck in the ground. So do you have to run a full tank through it in the normal flying position and also in verical (say for when the plane is diving or climbing). As for the club, im getting a membership at christmas which is also a present. Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

Hi Flytilbroke, thanks for the advice, ill keep that in mind about the power panel getting wet. So do you think that the power panel is faulty then?. Cheers.

Hi Eric, I was just looking for any obvious things ive missed but it looks like im alright. Your reply did make me laugh though and you mentioned a few things ive missed out (not the solar panel or crane though lol). The spark comes from when I touch the nut of the plug and the noise is just like a low humming, the amp meter is turned right down as well. Cheers.

Hi all, I will be receiving a SC46 for Christmas with my plane and I am having a few worries about tuning it. Well I was thinking about putting it in a vice which my dad gave me for tuning engines but that would mean drilling into the shed table to fix it there (I rent my home so its not really a good option). The other option would be to get a board and fit it to that and then G clamp it to the shed table, however this may still feel stable but im not 100% on it. So I was wondering, can I just fit it in my plane and tune it there?, Ive read suggestions that you should run a full tank of fuel through the engine once tuned in the horizontal position and also a full tank through it in the vertical position, any suggestions or advice?. Ive tuned engines before in RC cars and also aero IC engines on the test stand when I was younger but its been a while so any suggestions or advice would be great. Such as tuning tips for the specific engine, SC46. Thanks all.

Hi all, I have recently received a flight box (model fancy box) from my wife as an early christmas presesnt. Well ive put it together, painted it and put the 12v battery and power panel in it, now I have a few questions?. I have test run the starter and it works fine and im not useing an electric pump, however I have an glow clip for it and when I try and put it on a glow plug it sparks and makes a funny noise (im thinking not good at this point) so Im not going to use it. The polarity is fine and so is the current, im confused, any suggestions?. On to my other questions, can anyone recommend what equipment to carry in it, so far I have the following: Starter, glow starter, 12v battery, Fuel, needle nose pliars, two small adjustable spanners, small screw drivers, flat head screw driver, glass tape, fuel pump, fuel tubeing, spare glow plugs, spare props, spare spinner, two spare servos, spare servo arms & linkages, fuel filter, recoile fuel tube, spare flight pack, spare batteries for tx, glue and activeator, stanley blade, pencil and allan keys. Is there anything im missing thats an essential?, alsp should I waterproof my 12v battery somehow, its covered pretty well but im thinking that water could run through the power panel. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.   

Thanks again Timbo, a little bit of common sense I suppose but if you dont know, you dont know. Cheers.

Hi Timbo, thanks for the info its very reassureing, also thanks for warning about the battery low alarm I will take that into account when learning. One thing though, why do non rechargeables show 6.9 and would it be a good idea to take non rechargeables to the field with you for when your rechargeables run out, how much use in general would you get in one day from 5.9 on your tx. Thanks Timbo.

Hi all, well my wife has bought me a prangster 3D for christmas and it will be used as a training plane, I had to check everything was there as my wife doesent know what a servo is, so i checked everything and had a look at my prezzi before xmas. Well I have a few questions I have been given the standard and 3d tailplane as recommended by the seller and desiger Rob, I will use the standard to learn on. Well I noticed that the material (correx i think) on the wing is cut on one side for a hinge will this not cause air to go in one side and affect the flight path?, also noticed the hinge was very stiff, will I have to bend this back and forth to get a bit of ease of movement?. I know about the springy undercarriage and was reasured that this would be best to learn on. Also the seller said he would give me a stronger one which he forgot but there is no problems there as he was very helpfull and gave me quite a few freebies and I will definatley be going back there for more things and 2nd plane. However is the undercarrige a real problem or can it be over come with gained experience?. I have also read that the wheels are better to be 3 inch opposed to the standard size, but they seem of a good size to me and the club that im joining seems to keep thier field well cut. There have also been a few more things I have read about useing stronger dowles?, is this sort of thing essential or suck it and see and learn from your own experiences. I have noticed people giving advice about the Prangster about things not fitting and new ways of doing things but after I read the manual myself I realised that they never read the manual lol!. Any feedback would be great, much appreciated. Cheers.

Hi all, I have had a Spectrum DX6i for a while now and have decided to invest in some rechargeable batteries and a charger. Well they have been on charge now over night and until present time (along time) and the reading on the display screen reads 5.9 however when I put disposable batteries in it like duracell the display reads 6.9, I dont know if they have reached there chargeing capacity but if they have its pretty weak. The display for the battery power is never full ie there looks like theres room for around 10v. There is also nothing in the instruction manual to clarify the max reading only the lowest. Im at a loss, if anyone can explain or give an explanation I would greatly appreciate it. The batteries are vapex 2900mah and the charger is Futaba mains charger with Spectrum adapter recommended by the shop I bought the TX. Cheers all.

Hi Andy its not a problem of strength its just quite thick at the trailing edge (ie... 7 mm). Thanks for the help Andy.

Hi Andy, I think what you suggested with the ailerons may be the better idea and im a bit miffed as to why ive not thought of it myself because I was considering that with the minimag. The only problem is the width at the trailing edge (around 7 mils thick) so I might extend the ailerons at the trailing edge to make them flush. As for the wing im not really keen on moving it again because when I cut it before I filled the gaps with CA so I dont really wanna damage it beyond what it needs to be, Ill test fly it with no motor and wieght in the nose to see what it flys like (glide it). Im still in two minds at the moment about whether to carry on now or after Xmas, likelyhood is that I will but im considering more money for things for my first IC model. Cheers Andy youv been very helpfull.

Will do Simon.

I think the motor is a good size, the main reason is prop size really the model weighs next to nothing. Ill give it a go when I have the chance, I am even thinking of leaving the motor upgrade till next year now as were not getting the best flying conditions and im terible for trying my luck with the wind and with a foamy its gonna be bad news. Im getting a Prangster 3D as a christmas present, along with all the starter kit and a club membership, so ill probably wait till Christmas now even though I need as much practise as possible. I think what ill do with the ailerons is buy some stiff thin ply and glue it to the bottom of the aileron making it stiffer. Cheers Simon.

Hi Simon, thanks for the advice with the lipo, the battery was working fine when I tested it after crashing. It just seems a waste but i will charge it in the shed and keep a close eye on it. Also the advice on the ailerons is helpfull, I think it may have something to do with the wing thickness but if you say its ok ill go with that. If it flys bad on the test flight ill just move the servos. I have been researching about the ailerons with other peoples projects, and they all say that if you do not reduce it ailerons will have little affect so ive opted to flaten the wing. Thanks for the advice Simon. Sorry do you think the brushless outrunner would be ok, 300w.

Hi all, well after converting my Minimag to brushless I took it on its maiden flight with a brushless motor, well the difference between brushed and brushless was amazeing and I can definatley see what all the fuss was about. I was flying quite comfortably at quarter trottle and it was still faster than the previous brushed set, however the Minimag has had such a rough life it doesent fly as straight as it used to even with love and care and fine tunning of controll surfaces. I was flying for a while and the light started to drop and at the furthest away turn on my circuit I did an aileron turn but couldent quite see the model as well, the result was I over did it, I managed to regain controll in a panic but couldent pull the nose up in time. The result was a broken brushless outrunner and the lipo battery flew into the speed controller and wiped that out too. The main wing broke in half as well as the tail wing, I realise this is easily fixed but I decided to say good bye to my first trainer due to all the crashes and repaires altering her flight. There is a dent in my lipo battery will it still work as well?. So I decided that I would convert my hobbyzone Super Cub to an aileron and brushless plane, so I gutted the standard equipment in cluding servos and sensors, ripped out plastic battery/receiver bay cutting it just to fit the landing gear and leaving hatch attached. Took off old motor and plastic frame. Then I took the wing and cut it in two places along the diehedral, layed it flat and glued in a brace on the underside of the wing. I filled the gaps with glue and activated them once satisefied they were straght  I used some glass fibre tape to reinforce the joint. The wing is flat now. I had already cut the ailerons with a 45 degree angle and attached them with glass fibre tape, however I have placed the servos quite close to the body of the plane on the underside of the wing, the ailerons move enough up but not so much down and the movement is more to the servo side than the end. I was thinking of moving the servos to the centre of the aileron, any thoughts feedback on that woul be greatly appreciated. For the motor I am thinking of buying a brushless 300w motor and esc combo from BRC Hobbies, this can turn a large prop and is recommended for 480 models, any thought on this would also be appreciated. Once fitted on the ply plate I will reattach the plastic motor cowl. The battery will be a 3 cell lipo of around 2200mah to 3000mah I think this would be enough, also the battery will be located in the old battery reciever bay. However the battery, receievr, speed controller will be carefully secrued in the bay with bays made from old foam.  The other thing I am considering is to replace the tail section with balsa because the standard section is warped and when I flew it the first time the trim setting to keep it straight were unreal. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, especially with the aileron issues. Thanks all.

Would love to win that so im in, would be a good follow on trainer. Cheers.