Geoff S Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 Whilst looking through my stock of stickers to find something to liven up the Wot 4 fuselage I've just finished covering, I came across a couple from the BEFA. I was amember for few years when electrically powered flight was very much a niche activity. In the days of cheap, heavy brushed motors and equally heavy NiCad batteries, a successful fight of reasonable length in anything other than a Rudder/elevator glider was an achievement, and often a very expensive one at that. I suppose now that electric flight is now so easy in small to moderately sized models and even some bigger ones, it's faded away. My background professionally has been electrical/electronic engineering, so electric power was always a temptation. That's my excuse, anyway. What also made me comment is the thread on the future of ic model engines (hopefully rosy). It seems as if the two have almost switched places. I'm just about 100% electric now but I quite like engines and even enjoy stripping and repairing them just as long as I don't have to power my models with them 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Got a few of those marvellous BEFA stickers on some of my models that have been around since before the Millennium Bash and, for me, it was the golden age of electric flight with all of those low key, very enjoyable fly-ins around the country. There was a relatively small band of electric flyers successfully having fun with a range of models and meeting the challenges to getting good performance from limited kit before e-flight became mainstream. Met a lot of really good modellers at that time and the free exchange of ideas plus those fly-ins made for a proper e-flight community. The wee yellow BEFA newsletter was crammed with informative and innovative articles and everyone at the fly-ins was so willing to share. Seeing what my fellow modellers were achieving with simple brushed motors and banks of home-made NiCds was an inspiration at the time. It made it a very easy decision to switch to e-flight. Happy days. 😎 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Kremen Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Happy 'Electric' Days ... Editor of the little Yellow Mag & BEFA Founder Member No.2 😉 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 (edited) Wasn't there a newsletter published called 'Electric Flight UK' (EFUK) way back in the mid/late 80s? I remember having a short article published in it at the time. Long time ago so memory's a bit hazy. Pioneering days as has been said - I was the first to be successful with a non-glider type electric model in my club at the time. A Jack Headley plan design Piper Cub, suitably lightened and modified for electric. ROG just about possible with a big shove forward - eventually only became airborne from a hand launch as the nicads dropped in performance. Amazingly marginal tech, so different today. Edited April 4 by Cuban8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 I too have happy memories of those days, both of the EF-UK mag, and the fly-ins. A period of rapid, shared, learning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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