Robin Colbourne Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 A flight with a well-trimmed rubber model in perfect conditions, with the sun shining through the tissue and just the whirr of the propeller, is the sort of memory that stay with you for life. Once you have built a few kits, then have a look at the vast array of rubber designs on Outerzone. This is an advanced search of rubber models between 14" and 40" span, which bought up 2079 results. Outerzone rubber models Other plans sites include Hip Pocket Aeronautics and Aerofred. Once you have a plan, Mike Woodhouse's Free Flight Supplies is an amazing place to get all the hard to find accessories to build rubber models. Mike Woodhouse - Free Flight Supplies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 21 minutes ago, Robin Colbourne said: A flight with a well-trimmed rubber model in perfect conditions, with the sun shining through the tissue and just the whirr of the propeller, is the sort of memory that stay with you for life. Once you have built a few kits, then have a look at the vast array of rubber designs on Outerzone. This is an advanced search of rubber models between 14" and 40" span, which bought up 2079 results. Outerzone rubber models Other plans sites include Hip Pocket Aeronautics and Aerofred. Once you have a plan, Mike Woodhouse's Free Flight Supplies is an amazing place to get all the hard to find accessories to build rubber models. Mike Woodhouse - Free Flight Supplies Hello Robin, Thank you for the great information. I didn't know that there was so much to do with free flight flying. I thought that it would be mainly RC flying that most people would be interested in. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Hooper Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 I caught the rubber bug a couple of years ago, and having been amazed by Domoremath's New York videos, had a bash myself. I used the reissued Gipsy kit from Ripmax, fitted micro RC on rudder only. There's over 10 metres of rubber strip, turning a home made 20" balsa prop. It turned out to be quite an adventure, as I had to make a hefty stooge to withstand the torque of all that rubber as I was winding 900 turns with a converted hand drill. The model will climb very steeply for several seconds before settling into a stable cruise as the motor unwinds. The little rudder keeps it in the confines of our field. It'll see air time again this summer. Tim 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 5 hours ago, Greg said: As a beginner to model flying I am not familiar with all the terminology of flying and available gizmos yet so please could you let me know what a dethermalizer is? A dethermalizer is a way of bringing a model down in a safe but positive way, and can usually prevent a "fly away" if it catches a thermal. It can also be used to avoid a long walk is there is much wind about. The most common way is to tip the trailing edge of the tail up at a large angle to deep stall the wing, and the model should parachute down, but not so fast as to cause any damage. The pop up mechanism is normally just a rubber band and the tail is held down with a line attached to a lightweight timer. Years ago we used to use a slow burning fuse that would burn through a rubber band holding down the tail, but that's perhaps not such a good idea with the recent dry summers. Some people use a radio dethermalizer, so they can choose when (or if) to trigger it. There are other types of dethermalizer. Some allow the whole tail section of the fuselage to tilt up. Others have the wing leading edge tip up. There's also swinging weights attached to a wingtip and occasionally parachutes, although I'm not sure anyone uses them nowadays. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeQ Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, Greg said: Hello Robin, Thank you for the great information. I didn't know that there was so much to do with free flight flying. I thought that it would be mainly RC flying that most people would be interested in. Greg Hello there are still some who practice the dark arts 🤣. Hippocket aeronautics is a great forum for more traditional modelling. https://www.hippocketaeronautics.com Theres a lot more to free flight and control line than you would think. The ‘free flight bash’ on the RC nats evening in no way represents free flight at its best. Its fun but not representative per se. As for rubber models, great fun. Bigger the better 😀 https://www.hippocketaeronautics.com/hpa_forum/index.php?topic=16809.0 Edited March 4, 2023 by MikeQ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul devereux Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 Greg, another master of rubber flight worth a visit is Michael Kelly. Here he is with a Fw190 from start to flying: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul devereux Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 9 hours ago, Greg said: Hello Robin, Thank you for the great information. I didn't know that there was so much to do with free flight flying. I thought that it would be mainly RC flying that most people would be interested in. Greg I'm also interested in static models. Rojos Bazan is a master modeller. Here is one of his models (he is a professional, sells to corporations and such): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted March 5, 2023 Author Share Posted March 5, 2023 Thank you to all that contributed to this post. I am really grateful for the information given. I am truly amazed at the interest in rubber powered flying. I though that it may have some interest by flyers and was tucked away is some obscure corner of the hobby very rarely seeing the light of day. I was wrong. If I do decide to add this branch of flying to my repertoire what other items would I need? I see in the videos flyers using tripods and winders are they important or just look good out in the field? 😁 Paul. I also like static models. At the moment I mostly build period wooden ship kits. But aircraft kits are also fascinating. The static kit I would like to get is a British Fire Engine from any era. That's not important. I have seen the likes of Airfix's Dennis fire appliance which was made some years ago and now is classed as vintage but it seems that manufacturers only want to produce models from the US and Germany. It would be nice to see some plastic kits made of British engines on the market. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted March 5, 2023 Share Posted March 5, 2023 3 hours ago, Greg said: If I do decide to add this branch of flying to my repertoire what other items would I need? I see in the videos flyers using tripods and winders are they important or just look good out in the field? 😁 You don't need to have any extras, but they do make life an awful lot easier. Rubber motors benefit from being stretch wound, the rubber knots more evenly and you can put more turns on it. If you haven't got a helper to hold the model then you really need a winding stooge such as the tripod shown in Tim's posting. There are other alternatives and I've shown a picture of my wooden stooge that I anchor to the ground with a few tent pegs. Winders; while they're not essential you could get fed up pretty quickly winding a few hundred turns on by hand. There are some very good commercial winders available although they're not particularly cheap. Alternatively you can convert a hand drill, but if you do this don't rely on the chuck to hold the winding hook as it will come free at some point, destroying your model in the process. The other bit of kit I would strongly recommend is a winding tube, or blast tube as our American friends so eloquently call it. This is simply a tube that you slip over the rubber motor while it's being wound, so that if the rubber does break the resulting mass of knotted rubber doesn't demolish the model as it thrashes about. To use it you also need a rod to allow the winding tube to be removed after winding the rubber and attaching the prop assembly. Below are a couple of pictures of my home made toys, although I now have a better commercial winder. The lower photo shows the winding tube retracted over the rod. While winding the tube would be slipped over the rubber and the notches engage with the rear peg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted March 6, 2023 Author Share Posted March 6, 2023 17 hours ago, John T said: You don't need to have any extras, but they do make life an awful lot easier. Rubber motors benefit from being stretch wound, the rubber knots more evenly and you can put more turns on it. If you haven't got a helper to hold the model then you really need a winding stooge such as the tripod shown in Tim's posting. There are other alternatives and I've shown a picture of my wooden stooge that I anchor to the ground with a few tent pegs. Winders; while they're not essential you could get fed up pretty quickly winding a few hundred turns on by hand. There are some very good commercial winders available although they're not particularly cheap. Alternatively you can convert a hand drill, but if you do this don't rely on the chuck to hold the winding hook as it will come free at some point, destroying your model in the process. The other bit of kit I would strongly recommend is a winding tube, or blast tube as our American friends so eloquently call it. This is simply a tube that you slip over the rubber motor while it's being wound, so that if the rubber does break the resulting mass of knotted rubber doesn't demolish the model as it thrashes about. To use it you also need a rod to allow the winding tube to be removed after winding the rubber and attaching the prop assembly. Below are a couple of pictures of my home made toys, although I now have a better commercial winder. The lower photo shows the winding tube retracted over the rod. While winding the tube would be slipped over the rubber and the notches engage with the rear peg. Hello John, Thank you. very helpful. I think that if I do decide to add rubber power to my growing collection I will get the kit first. The other bits can come later. I have had a look online for the likes of winders etc but I must not be using the correct search words as I have only found a hand winder available for sale. If you know of a retailer who sells the extras please let me know. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatMc Posted March 6, 2023 Share Posted March 6, 2023 31 minutes ago, Greg said: If you know of a retailer who sells the extras please let me know. Greg Mike Woodhouse has a regular column on FF competitions in BMFA News, he also has a comprehensive stock of near impossible to find FF items here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted March 6, 2023 Author Share Posted March 6, 2023 34 minutes ago, PatMc said: Mike Woodhouse has a regular column on FF competitions in BMFA News, he also has a comprehensive stock of near impossible to find FF items here. Thank you that is very helpful. I have saved the link to the site. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John T Posted March 6, 2023 Share Posted March 6, 2023 As PatMC says, I think Mike Woodhouse has the greatest range of bits & bobs for the free flight modeller that I know of in the UK. The Vintage Model Company also stocks a more limited range of stuff. https://www.vintagemodelcompany.com/flight-rubber.html?page=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Posted March 6, 2023 Author Share Posted March 6, 2023 9 minutes ago, John T said: As PatMC says, I think Mike Woodhouse has the greatest range of bits & bobs for the free flight modeller that I know of in the UK. The Vintage Model Company also stocks a more limited range of stuff. https://www.vintagemodelcompany.com/flight-rubber.html?page=1 Hello John, Thank you. Slight change in the subject, do you or anyone know what BMJR Model free flight kits are like? Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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