Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 15/01/22 in all areas

  1. Thought I would post this corrected flight video link for my Junkers J1 that we flew this fall and is included in the Feb 2022 Parting shot. I must have made a typo for the link. Apologies. The Junkers J.1 (actually manufacturers # J4) was a ground support and reconnaissance biplane. Nicknamed the Mobelwagen “furniture van", or “Moving Van” or the “flying tank”. The J.I was very rugged and well liked by its crews despite its clumsy handling, entering front line service in August 1917 with the official name of “Junk 1”. The J.I was the first almost all metal mass produced “in service” aircraft with a cantilevered sesquiplane wing configuration sheeted in 2mm thick corrugated duraluminum. The front of the fuselage was wrapped in a 1/4” steel armour plate tub (weighting 470kg, 1,040 lbs) protecting the engine, fuel tanks, radio gear, and crew - making it almost invulnerable to ground fire. The rear fuselage was formed with a duraluminum tubular frame covered in fabric. Flying surfaces were controlled by pushrods rather than flying wire to resist ground fire. Most losses occurred during landings and takeoffs. A weight comparison: the Junkers J1 weighed 4700lbs, a Sopwith Camel weighed around 1450 lbs, and a DR1 weighed about 1290lbs. Our local aviation museum (CASM) kindly allowed my friend Chuck and me to bring my J1 model for comparison photos with the actual J1 serial 586/18 which I have also included. 2nd flight link here: https://youtu.be/Sp3NyVGBPc4 Long flight with wheels off landing https://youtu.be/pu8spy1-crE Part flight and landing https://youtu.be/QW_e2NtTQqs The Build thread here: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php...
    3 points
  2. It has been a good week for flying, cold of course, but so calm and often sunny. I took the photo quad up yesterday, just to cycle the batteries more than anything but was fascinated by how the frost remained around the tree shadows near the club caravan.
    3 points
  3. Hello again some more work done on this one today. Here you can see the tail plane has been added along with the control linkage. Tested and working. The model is now fully constructed. I now need to permanently fix the servos in place, now I know where they need to be. Next I need to set-up the angle of the head and blade pitch That should be fun. Steve.
    3 points
  4. First flights of 2022 at a very cold club field, but marvellous smooth air with almost no wind, blue skies and bright sunshine. Flew my Aerowatt, Parkzone FW190A and E-Flite P-51D. Rusty thumbs, but made up with the best three pointer I've had with the Mustang and also with an improvement in top speed with my venerable PZ Spitfire IX, using the slightly larger E300 prop. Lots of nice models flying and a really good turn out -socially distanced of course. It was good to catch up with the lads. I did have my camera, but was enjoying the flying too much to use it, apart from capturing some snaps of my pal Derek's Ripmax Bf109E, which flew superbly -mine is still waiting for a maiden flight.
    2 points
  5. The German company EMC-Vega supply a range of five different strength (diameter) rubber tubes for bungee/high start, I have three. Their strongest rubber is 'scale' which they say is for models in the 8 to 20 kilogramme range. They also provide information on using their rubber doubled. I believe the 20 kg models are being catapulted off a slope with a very short bungee, same as full-size practise. Most of the Multiplex range of large gliders kitted in the 1980s and 90s were provided with belly mounted hooks intended for winch launching, my ASW 22 is 4 metre span and weighs 4 kg. The worry for me would be a wing tip catching the ground and cartwheeling (supposed to be launched from the ground). The headwind makes a big difference, I have launched an F3J glider (3.5 metre span, 2 kg) on 150 metres of monofilament line staked at one end, no rubber. My personal limit is if the glider is too big or heavy to test glide from a flat field then I won't winch/bungee launch it (slope only). The largest gliders I will bungee launch are 'Open' class RES models which are around 12 ft span, the most common size of model I bungee launch is 100" (100S class). Without the test glide there is no way of knowing if the trim (pitch and roll mainly) is good, if it's wildly out then a bungee launch can be exciting. If a model's trim is out on its first slope launch it's not such a problem as the airspeed/energy is usually much lower and the distance between the model and ground (height) is much more than with a hand launch on a flat field (the hill falls away). The Multiplex ASW 22. Chris Foss Multi-Phase about to be bungee launched, 142" span, rudder, elevator, spoiler. Chris Foss Centi-Phase 100" span RES. This size is my comfort zone for bungee launching.
    2 points
  6. Thanks for the offer, but following the end of my motorcycle racing days I seem to have found myself with a spate 5 gallons of Castrol R40 as the engines ran a total loss system. I was thinking of mixing a bit in for the smell, but if I dumped a model just for that it would not be worth it. They run really clean and its only when I roll that I get a little puff of exhaust smoke which is a nice reminder that they are both running! Not sure about the feasibility of injecting the castor post exhaust valve to produce the smell/smoke, but then I would end up caking up exhausts so is it worth it when they sound as good as this (Laser 100's) ?
    2 points
  7. A few photos from yesterday's re-maiden (also with added black trim to wing LE for better head-on visibility). Dry weight now 5.5lbs but still comparatively very Lite, and slows down beautifully for landings exactly where I want to put it down. Extra power very noticeable with, for e.g., knife-edge (not me yet...just when my mate was flying it!)
    2 points
  8. Just gone and bought myself a 66" 'Super Scorpion' kit, made by Belair Kits. (Super Scorpion - 66" cabin model Parts Set). It's just been delivered and I'm very impressed with the quality. As it's a 'Parts Set', not a kit as such. you don't get an awful lot supplied, but what you do get is very detailed, there's a lot of wood, and it looks very high quality indeed. It includes all of the shaped parts; you have to buy the sheet and strip wood yourself. Having laid out the plan I'm rather surprised at just how big a 66" lane actually is. Don't know why I'm surprised - it's 66" ?... it just looks a lot bigger than it did on my screen. Any of you clever people out there got more experience than me with this sort of thing? (I think all of you have actually). As I can't find a build log on here I thought I'd better start one here. I've been reading lots on the Interweb, but would appreciate any help as I go along. It's only my fourth model build, but I'm sure it'll go fine.....
    1 point
  9. Nothing like a twin 4 stroke, but you can smell my video,,,?
    1 point
  10. You need to be a bit less nice IMO! Your generosity has been taken advantage of once, it will be again unless you protect yourself by some means. Think of it like the trolley pound that prevents trolleys going walkabout at some supermarkets, nobody thinks that is an imposition, they just accept it as part of keeping costs low.
    1 point
  11. Denis I use Lemon stab receivers by choice with my DX6i as it has the better gyro sensitivity than the equivalent Orange. I also use both Orange and Redcon basic 6 ch receivers. I have always found range issues are a function of the rx aerial positioning. Not likely to be a problem but the early Orange rx took an age (3+ seconds) to 're acquire' after loosing the signal. A crash was almost inevitable. It did their reputation no good although technically it was not a reliability issue but the fact their single tiny aerial meant limited 'park flyer' range unless a properly positioned satellite rx was used as well.
    1 point
  12. Just to reiterate what's been said about the old DB kits, I've built several and to my mind are value for money and have few drawbacks. Obviously the parts have been cut with bandsaws, but that doesn't mean care wasn't taken, whatever errors there may be in the general fit of parts shouldn't cause anyone, except a raw beginner perhaps, to have anxious moments. The kits are remarkably complete and the design well thought out, which you'd expect of DB. It may be advisable to substitute some of the nuts and bolts for metric, stainless ones, the imperial hardware supplied were (zinc?) plated and succumbed to damp fairly quickly. Innovative thinking like the use of split pins as anchors for the struts works well, they're light, strong, unobtrusive and will pass the test of time. I'd advise making the rigging functional rather than just decorative if you want the model to be aerobatic. Loops and stall turns are easy, rolls will need a lot of speed. With its cavernous fuselage and long nose, there shouldn't be a problem in fitting the radio gear and getting the balance point correct. The disadvantage of the one piece wing design is that it takes so long to rig, I'm fortunate in having a van so it will go in ready assembled but does preclude taking anything else to the field on a chosen day, and of course the model will take up valuable storage space unless derigged. Don't let that put you off though, you'll be rewarded with an easy to fly model, not ridiculously non-scale and less likely to tip over on landings than some of its contemporaries, keep it into wind though......what's not to like about a DB SE5?
    1 point
  13. Nice build! My own Super Scorp is nearly 20 years old, and has been electric from the beginning. I doesn't take a lot of power to make it fly, but you will need to get the cell pack as far forwards as possible - preferably actually beneath the motor - to avoid having to add useless nose weight. Mine is vastly over-powered with an Eflight 15 outrunner, and a 4S 4000 cell pack, spinning an 11x7 prop. Hope this helps! Tim
    1 point
  14. After a bit of overnight glueing I was able to fly again today - another lovely blue afternoon and some nice floating around to exercise the tree landing demons.
    1 point
  15. Lovely fresh wood. I like this bit; not knowing what to expect next.
    1 point
  16. So here is a start on the basic frame of the body. After two sides are built out of 1/16th balsa stripe. Steve.
    1 point
  17. Posted by Tim Cheal on 02/12/2018 13:59:16: All been a bit delayed, Santa (OK, its really SWMBO) is worried about diesel emissions into the garden, so all on hold and looks like I will just be cold in the garage until I can find an alternative solution! Tell SWMBO that she might find you sitting in your shed all stiff and blue with an icicle hanging from your nose if you cant get a heater . Or try turning off the heater to her feet when your in your V6 diesel . She might ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,just might see the other side of things . "I love the smell of diesel in the morning"
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...