RCME July 2015

[Piers Bowlan]

Actually G-YRUS, A lot of people buy RCM&E because of the reviews which can be helpful when deciding where to spend ones hard earned dosh. Also, if a manufacture has produced a model for a specific role, does it live up to its claims, is it good value for money? Admittedly some reviewers are more skilled than others. As for 'Wheels fell off but it was a great model anyway' (to paraphrase). Landing gear failure is a recurring theme with some far-eastern ARFs sadly. However the model might otherwise represents good value to a potential purchaser who is prepared to carry out some local reinforcement work before flight. I have bought such a model after reading a review, carried out the necessary modifications and had a lot of fun with what turned out to be an excellent model.

As for constant plugging of suppliers. If a columnist gets good personal service from a particular supplier it is human nature to give them a mention and only fair in my opinion. Also If AW wants to tell us what he has had for breakfast so be it, I like his Trad Brit ramblings!

So back to Andy Sephton's series. Tedious and dull and 'fails to thrill', sums it up. Yes, I know what an ammeter is, as does everyone else who reads this mag. If you are building a scale model any self respecting 'rivet-counter' can find images of any required instrument panel on the net.

[Tony Jones]

No truer saying than 'Different strokes for different folks'. Personally I find Alex Whittaker's ramblings - particularly the many gratuitous photos of his 'auld mates' intensely irritating. But to some he sits at the right hand of The Father. Also, having been a magazine contributor and editor in the recreational marine sector for many years, I can say it is generally accepted that while a beginner laps everything up to start with, as he/she becomes more experienced the magazine - which targets the original audience as best it can - becomes less relevant and 'stale'.

My major criticism is the kit reviews. I have bought a few kits following a good RCME review that have turned out to be complete rubbish. Going back to the review and reading it more carefully, it becomes clear that the reviewer wasn't too impressed either, but was either frightened to make significant criticisms - or the editor cut them out to avoid offending an advertiser. Has anyone ever seen a RCME review in which the conclusion was, 'This is a totally substandard product; don't buy it'? Many reviewers also seem to think we should be fascinted by them and their modelling foibles - not the product under review. The best advice I was ever given was, 'Always remember 'It's not about YOU'. Contributors often get big heads; it is the editor's job to keep them in check and focused on the product. Unfortunately it rarely happens.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[wayne drinkwater]

here in new Zealand we pay twice as much for a magazine 2 months old !! but I willingly buy both RCM&E and RCMW at the cost of $14 each about 7 quid, I love RCM&E for the quality of free plans and of course the late Pete Lowe,s Totally Traditional column , and RCMW for Gray,s excellent "The Sport Channel" but really the two mags are very similar, as they would be covering the same events , product launches etc , most importantly the mags keep me in touch with my homeland so the expense is tolerated.

I have been here in NZ 10 years now and am living the dream but need my UK model fixes

[Bill_B]

Posted by Percy Verance on 19/06/2015 13:20:02:

I recently made the decision to cancel my subscription to RCMW, as I felt RCM&E was the better of the two. I'd agree with the comment regarding helicopters and drones, neither of which are of the slightest interest to me.

Interestingly, RCM&E sometimes had boats featuring many moons ago. One wonders what today's readers would make of that?

And it also featured RC cars, with plans to build your own! I think the clue is in the title; Radio Control Models & Electronics, which to my mind covers a the whole spectrum of RC modelling. I personally loath anything with horizontal rotary blades, but they do have their place within the hobby and therfore in the magazine too.

I'd like to see an occasional column dedicated to programming various transmitters and how to make the most of the latest downloads from the various manufacturers. Heck, I don't even know the difference between firmware and software, never mind how to exploit it!

[Tony Jones]

Firmware is when it's hard; software is when it's err, soft. Most people manage to learn this in their early teens.

[IanN]

Depends when their early teens were

[ROY DAVIES 1]

Firmware - software, That was me in my youth and now in later years.

I must admit that the model reviews leave me a bit cold. And the prices of some of the packages are really quite high and must discourage a lot of 'New entrants' an returnees to participate in our hobby. I know there are lots of people with a great deal of disposable income out there but there are a large number of us trying to keep a coat on our wives and families backs while trying to fund our modelling lifestyle too. I may be wrong but after reading the last issue I felt that it with a little adjustment here and there had been written / edited buy the same person. The great Woo is a straight forward read and is always informative and I've had 50 yrs. in engineering. Mr 'Whitakers words' leave me cold at times, they rambles on and tells us nothing. Good pic's yes more excitement in a 'Famous Five' book.

As to my criticism on cockpits, Google Pitts cockpit at 'Images' and see lots of great views in colour, there is also a cockpit talk around on utube and probably every cockpit you'd want to see on Google.