RCM&E May 2015.

[Kevin Fairgrieve]

The May edition hit my doormat this morning. I was drawn straight away to the editorial, something I often (sorry Graham) do not read.

This month however. A glowing tribute to Pete Lowe and well deserved one at that. I used to read Pete`s column every month, one I do not think can be replicated.

Elsewhere in the issue, there is the usual mix of reviews. I for one am liking the "Classic Cockpit" feature as per last month.

So read and enjoy. Shame I have to work later today.

Kev

[Mark Lubbock]

Hi, in response to Alex Whittaker's question, the mystery engine is a Rogers. 29.. They were known as a 'slag' engine as they were built with no liner, the ali piston running (?) directly in the ali cylinder. As a result they wore very quickly if they could be made to run at all.

[Nick Rigg]

Third month running the Hitec Flash 7 review has been postponed....

[Andy48]

Oh dear the letters page...

First some heath robinson rubber band fix for electric. For heaven's sake, what's wrong with fitting a shorting plug, and not arming the model until the plane is actually on the flying field? Much safer.

Then the Taranis letter. I appreciate its not in the mag's interest to publicise Taranis, as FRsky don't advertise there. The reality is that it is far, far easier to use the computer program to set up your first model or two on the Taranis, especially if one uses the wizard provided which takes all the hard work out of it. Once you understand the computer version the multiple screens on the tranny become much easier. A series on getting started on the Taranis would have made a super set of articles for the mag.

I would agree the Taranis takes a bit of working at to understand, but in reality that is the way our hobby is trending. In an average 4 digital servo electric model you are looking at 7 programmable computers in it. One in the tranny (maybe more), one in the receiver, one in the ESC, and one in each digital servo.

[Old Geezer]

Plus 1 for the arming plug solution, a couple on the market at least and just as easy to adapt an XT or a Deans do do the same job. David's revue of the Heron - - - I want one - now! If only there was a way of sealing the foam so that contact with every damp worm cast or sheep pellet irrevocably left its mark on the airframe 😰

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Posted by Andy48 on 17/04/2015 10:03:52:

Then the Taranis letter. I appreciate its not in the mag's interest to publicise Taranis, as FRsky don't advertise there.

Far from it, we've run 2 Taranis fetaures/reviews in the last 18 months. Would you like me to pop your remarks in the next All Write?

 

 

Edited By David Ashby - RCME on 17/04/2015 12:56:46

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Posted by Gurth Scriven 2 on 17/04/2015 11:35:54:

Plus 1 for the arming plug solution, a couple on the market at least and just as easy to adapt an XT or a Deans do do the same job. David's revue of the Heron - - - I want one - now! If only there was a way of sealing the foam so that contact with every damp worm cast or sheep pellet irrevocably left its mark on the airframe 😰

Great aeroplane....but I do keep a packed of wet wipes handy to clean it down after every landing.

[Stuart Morris]

I was surprised and thrilled to see my letter in the May 'All Write' column was the top letter but my elation was very short lived when I read about the passing of Pete Lowe, he was entertaining, informative and inspirational. He will be missed., the mag will not be quite the same again for me as I enjoyed his lively column. To me and I am sure many more readers I thought I knew him through his many years of passing on his wisdom and ideas. R.I.P.

Edited By Stuart Morris on 18/04/2015 19:07:51

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[The real Ron Truth]

I do find engine articles boring where there is little real life information and the article is simply someone taking the motor apart. Stick it in a model and fly it!

Agree about the daftness of the rubber band throttle thing. A good article might be on how to arm your model at the field. Use solid state switch, deans /xt fuse plug, set up your tx with an arming switch etc.

I found i could do this by depressing the throttle cut button when calibrating the sec's lowest stick position. The esc reads an end point that is lower than the physical stick position , normally 2-3 clicks lower. The esc therefore won't arm until you hit the throttle kill button and send a sufficiently low pulse to the receiver. Simple.

Finally, a better send off for Mr Lowe is in order. it was rather poor. A double page would have been my choice.

[Kelly]

Now't wrong with a rubber band .

[Stuart Morris]

We were using rubber bands years before radio control was invented

[thunderstreak.keith]

and me stuart, rubber bands. brilliant invention kept my escapement running and hence a bit of control on my single channel oh and all my kk/veron etc flew on them weird but wonderful lengths of band. don't see many in the model shops now (the rubber, especially pirrelli) but if you take a walk down the street after mr posty has been they seem to be in abundance and free

[The Whistler]

Posted by Gurth Scriven 2 on 17/04/2015 11:35:54:

If only there was a way of sealing the foam so that contact with every damp worm cast or sheep pellet irrevocably left its mark on the airframe 😰

Is Deluxe Materials "Foam Armour" any good for that?

No affiliation to said company, just bought some o use on my motor glider although not used it as yet.

[Colin Leighfield]

I've brought mine on holiday to read. It will take me a while to get through it, but again I'm impressed with the wide range of interesting content. Nice to see some more full size stuff in the article about the SE5 cockpit and I'm very impressed with the Dart Pup, which is big enough to pretty well replicate the full-size's aerodynamics I'm sure, with the added advantage of a very much better power to weight ratio. The Westland Wagtail is a great choice for a free plan, I bet there will be a few of those built.

The editorial was the best place for the heartfelt obituary written for Pete Lowe by Graham Ashby and it was poignant reading Pete's last feature. The "Parting Shot" on page 130 is wonderful. Good value for money, this mag, I think.

[Malcolm Fisher]

Gurth

I gave my foam Phoenix a couple of coats of water based varnish. So far this has stopped muck from staining and has also prevented water absorption when landing on wet ground. This was quite noticeable when flying with a friend who has a similar model. His untreated model became noticeably heavier after a few landings in the wet grass.

Malcolm