Leaderboard

Been a little while but the first batches of flat twins are now more or less ready. The 5 160's are done with 2 of the 5 200's also finished. As soon as i get more piston rings the other 3 will join their friends. I also have another 200 inline done with 4 more to follow in the coming weeks. My bench is getting rather crowded! The production FT160 features a revised cam timing for improved performance and it now has even better response than it did before. The FT200's i ran today were complete animals and hit 9600rpm peak on an APC 17x6. The dumpy mufflers everyone voted for are also done (we are on version 3 already!) so you at least get something with the engine. I may be able to offer inline additional exhausts later but the one i flew with the older dumpy exhausts was very quiet in the air anyway. The mounts are WIP and i hope to ship the first engines mid-late next week. This is a video of the first production engine (in custom bare metal finish at the customers request) with the new cam timing. The first customers on the list have already been contacted so all of the current engines are spoken for. I will be doing a follow up batch asap but even this will not clear my list. If you want in, let me know and i will see what i can do. I do need to take a bit of a break from the new stuff though as stocks of normal engines are being neglected while my focus is on these so it might be a month or so before i get back to them after the first batch is done. I will see how things go.

Through the door into the study Dresser with vinyl cutter on bottom shelf. Kitchenette and drinks fridge! with microwave and kettle, but no water yet, toilet in corner through door. Final view of bench showing shelving above - does anyone want to buy some surplus cork tiles for £20? I box of 600 x 150

My New Workshop. I have finally got round to taking some pictures of my new workshop, which is housed in a very well insulated new double garage, I have had built next to my bungalow. It has 3 large Velux Skylights and dummy garage doors in case anyone wants to convert it back into a garage in the future. It comprises 2/3 workshop and 1/3 study with a kitchenette, and toilet. Main bench with shelving for glues etc, and shelves for most tools. At the far end are some wood supports for clamps, and a divided box for balsa, ply, fiberglass cloth and covering material. The entry door is behind me. A view slightly to the left showing the middle mobile bench which I bought as a kit from Arbor Garden Solutions who advertise on Etsy. It is on casters and can be moved round the workshop to suit. To the left is my covering and finishing bench with shevles and a cupboard from the original workshop with fiberglass and covering material in the drawers. A closer view of the left bench showing the tools bench containing Pilar Drill, Sanding disc and belt from Axminster Tools model range, Dremmel Fret Saw, and model circular saw. In the background one can see the pegboard I bought with accessory tools. I bought a sheet of 8' x 4' 6mm thick. At the far end is my covering and finishing bench with relevant tools like hot gun, and covering iron. There are double sockets every metre all of which I will use. Close up of covering bench with extra lamp, rattle cans, airbrushes, mixing pots can for melting lead jug for washing out airbrush when done, overflow pot, and under the bench my compressor

Funscale Raf Fe-8 ,maiden flight yesterday. Mainly scratchbuilt,started with polish Combat kit in epp foam. Foam , floorlaquer,tissue,carbon and balsa . The control surfaces are done like the original with pulleys and kevlar thread. Anders

Still trapped in the Auster cockpit, today was the turn of the elevator trim winder and the support tubing above the cockpit. This cannot be secured until the pilot is in, you guessed it, still not dry ? Cheers Danny

Close up of machines bench and electrics bench just in view with chargers, soldering iron shelves above with transformer for hot wire etc NB Spitfire Calendar Electric bench in close up with Spitfire in foreground in middle of fiberglass canopy construction. Rafters for long items - galleried ceiling so rafters had to be specially supported. Cradle for C of G hung in middle on strong support beam. TV in background and hot wire cutters hanging from wall up the stairs to mezzanine floor for plane storage. Also note shelf above bench, below to hold bench LED fluorescent lights all the way round Bottom of stairs, storage for sweeping brush and velux opening pole and hanging for flying rucksack Under stair storage and shelving. At the moment this is for scrap wood. In the corner is a box of wood and plans for a Chris Williams Slingsby Petrel which is my next build and arrived today by DHL To the left is the door into the study and kitchenette Top of the stairs showing plane storage and a carpet to save on knees Top of stairs looking down on workshop and showing rafter storage Mobile workbench showing casters and scrap box underneath. The top has a 8mm layer of cork tile. Question is how long will those shelves remain empty?

LOLOL trust me to rely on auto-corrupt........

Perhaps the pilot needs to be kept consistantly warm to dry off. ie the volatile parts of the paint need to evaporate.?

I have built a few hot wire cut foam wings but not attempted a fuselage before, so this seems a good excuse to give it a try. My chosen subject is the Blackburn Firebrand and I have downloaded and printed out a three view image to produce a model with a 51in span and 38in in length. I am using 2in thick sheet EPS and divided the fuselage into four sections. I have fashioned a new cutting bow as my wing cutting bow is too long and unmanageable. Be interesting to see how that works out. If reasonably successful the plan is to cover the airframe with brown paper and PVA. Apart from the balsa reinforcements (LE, dihedral braces etc.), some carbon fibre strips will be added to provide some extra stiffness hopefully - if I get that far!

I have to manage with my back bedroom come office, at least its warm Glenn

Excellent, Anders. I'm assembling materials for a Vickers FB5 Gunbus

Go for it Gordon, Before... (just started on the tail) After... Once you have tried it you'll be surprised how easy it is

Bill, I know what Jon says sounds drastic but it really is worth it in the end. This is what I've done to my P51 to achieve the same thing:

Cut it out. Whatever is in the way just cut it out and make the space you need. Its why they invented power tools ? That bay behind the firewall is probably big enough for a 12oz tank anyway so you might not have to cut a hole in the former, but given the awful undercarriage that comes with the kit i would bin that anyway and make a new one that attached from the bottom. You can then cut through the bulkhead without a worry. There is no point flying it as is. The engine will go lean and probably stop whenever you do a loop or roll. Header tanks do not work unless pressure isolated from the tank above. This means the tanks need modification and you still need to find room for the lower tank anyway. If you attempt this and have any problems i cannot help or offer any technical support as the problem will probably be with the implementation of the tank setup so all i will do is say...lower the tank. Its guaranteed to work and its why i recommend it.

Battery technology has greatly advanced since the days when we used to charge 2v lead acid accumulators that were used for the valve heaters of the radios our customers used during and for a time after the war - many people only had gas lighting in our town. However, I can't help feeling the current astonishing break throughs which seem to figure in the news from time to time are similar to those claiming nuclear fusion is just around the corner - the 10 year wait seems to be a constant.

Right. The laser has cooled down and it's time to start building (again). So let's get out the building board and get cracking. I just realised my father got me this board over 50 years ago. An architect he knew had worn out the corners with drawing pins, so goodness knows how old it actually is ! First of all the fuselage side parts are assembled and glued together.

Looks a bit better than what I'd call fun scale Anders. Excellent.

Thanks Graham and Richard. I will likely have a go at panel lines when I have summoned the courage to start. I must thank Glynn for the transfers and cockpit which have made the model come alive. It’s a great kit Richard. A joy to build, a true builders model. Five stars ***** for this one!!

Test flew a 3D printed version of my Whippit Racer design today, it was gusting to 30mph but handled it well.. it features a segmented fuselage, each piece slots together dry and a piece of 6mm carbon fibre rod goes through all giving it its strength. The original was made from depron, this one has been modelled off my drawings by a gent in Australia and developed by Joe from RC Hotel. Free files to print are available over on RCG Clever stuff but I still prefer balsa bashing, a few photos I took. Rich

Been slow going as the weather has been too good, so out in the garden and up the hill ? Am getting a little better at all this filling/sanding malarkey, but still seems to be going at the speed of treacle ... lol