David Davis

I'm just pleased that we've achieved a model which Frans will be able to fly easily. This will raise his confidence and enable him to go on to fly more demanding aircraft.

This afternoon Frans and I installed a Roxxy C28-34 motor which apparently produces 320 Watts with a 10x7 propeller. This equates to 66 watts per lb. With a 5000 mAh 3S lipo installed we went to the club's flying field at about 16.00 local time. Having checked everything, with the model on the runway I advanced the throttle progressively and the model rolled backwards! Frans swapped two of the cables and this time we had forward motion. The model took off, climbed adequately and I continued to fly it about for several minutes before I brought it into land on the club's tarmac runway. As I thought, we had been using motors which were much too powerful resulting in unpleasant flying characteristics. The cg was more rearward too today. Not a problemwith a design like the Radio Queen.

Fine looking aircraft.

I usually stay within my comfort zone, I have enough repairs to do without pushing it. I am able to take off, loop, roll, fly an Immelmann, and a Cuban Eight then land, with an appropriate model of course. I do not push myself outside of my comfort zone but occasionally I ease myself out of it by flying inverted at a good height for example. With a vintage model like a Junior 60 I am quite happy to fly circuits and horizontal eights while admiring the model I have built with my own hands.

Nah! I bought the Irvine new but bought the OS second hand for very little and the Thunder Tiger PRO was given to me minus its carburetter. I put an OS carburetter on it and it ran perfectly. One of those is going in the trainer and the Enya in the Calmato. I don't have any plans for the other engines yet but I've got a couple of unstarted pattern-ship kits on the racking.

Hi! My name is David and I'm an aeromodeller. (All together) "Hi David, welcome to the group!" Seriously I do not belittle fliers who assemble ARTFs, they usually do not have the time, skill or interest to build a model. I came up through the free flight, control-line r/c route and until about twenty years ago if I wanted to have a model, I had to build it stick by stick. I'm not saying that this makes me superior but I did learn something about aerodynamics when trimming those free flight models which has helped with my r/c models. I also learned how to repair models! Furthermore, there's something quite attractive about choosing your own colour schemes for sports models, or at least, that appeals to me, others are not bothered. So I build a fair bit I'm currently working on a Pegasus Models Mystic, a DB Sport& Scale Auster and a French trainer called a Baron but I've also bought ARTFs from time to time. The WOT 4 Foam-E was a delight to fly and the fact that I kept wrecking undercarriages was caused more by my inadequate flying than anything wrong with the design and I'm hoping to acquire a Kyosho Calmato for my birthday next month. 😏

I have a Q Silencer on my Enya and it sounds gorgeous. I hate noisy two-strokes anyway! Currently it's mounted in the club's Boomerang trainer. I wince whenever a novice pilot takes off with that jewel in the nose.

Confusingly Kyosho market two different models under the name Calmato. One is a conventional high wing trainer, the other is a low wing sports model. I am interested in the low wing version and I won't be using the Calmato as a trainer but as a way of improving my flying. Picture of the high-wing trainer here: https://www.weymuller.fr/article/kit_calmato_alpha_40_trainer_ep_gp_rouge_160m.html

I don't know whether this is of any help or relevance but I'd always run my Japanese and Chinese four-strokes on fuel containing 10-15% nitro and 15% oil. I had another mix, 5% nitro and 15% oil, for my old Lasers and what two strokes I continue to run. One day I arrived at the flying field having left the high nitro fuel behind. So I filled the tank with the 5% stuff. The engine started and ran perfectly. I did the same trick yesterday with my Thunder Tiger 54.

I flew the Reserve Baron yesterday for the first time since repair. We had a windless and sunny afternoon though it was a bit cold. The model flew well enough but it still needs a few minor trim alterations. The threads in the Thunder Tiger 54's exhaust port have stripped but I glued the exhaust pipe in place with half hour epoxy. It works but you cannot change the position of the exhaust pipe of course. The orange and flourescent yellow patches, which I'd cut from remnants, showed up well in flight. Work continues on the British Baron with its depron wing ribs. I posted the same picture of the wing under construction on a French website Le Confrerie Des Barons or the Brotherhood of Barons in English. Imagine my surprise when the designer of the Baron, Christian Chauzit himself expressed interest in my experiment!

My club has acquired a brand new unstarted Calmato D ARTF still in its box. This is the smaller version of the Calmato it has a 1.6 metre wingspan and is intended for a 46 two stroke. I've flown a couple of the larger ones which were very pleasant to fly and I've been told that the smaller one is even better. The club wants to sell the model and I've expressed an interest in buying it; it's my birthday in March! I have the following engines which I could fit to the model: Thunder Tiger 46 PRO; OS 46 AX; Enya 50; Irvine 46 and Irvine 53. I also have a Laser 70 not doing anything and an electric motor which would do the job but I'm not into electric power? 😏 For those unfamiliar with the Calmato D, this link will inform you: https://www.weymuller.fr/article/calmato_alpha_40_sport_rouge_160m.html

I flew the Baron as pictured below for the first time since repairing the wing. See before and after below. We had a windless and sunny afternoon though it was a bit cold. The model flew well enough but it still needs a few minor trim alterations. The threads in the Thunder Tiger 54's exhaust port have stripped but I glued the exhaust pipe in place with half hour epoxy. It works but you cannot change the position of the exhaust pipe of course. The orange and flourescent yellow patches, which I'd cut from remnants, showed up well. __________________

Both the Radfio Queen and the Telemaster have lifting section tailplanes.

Those as well, A Norton Dominator in my case.

When I was fourteen years old I built my own radio. It had a range of about four feet. Then I discovered girls...

Too cold to go flying so I started work on my other Baron's new wing. I am using depron for the wing ribs. I have never used it before, neither have I used De Luxe Materials' Super Phatic or UHU POR before. They are both excellent.

Thank you for the replies. I used to have a Radio Queen initially powered by an OS 52 Surpass. Pictured below with my much younger self. It flew ok well throttled back but it flew better when fitted with an OS 40 Surpass. I used it to give elderly beginners their first experience of wafting around the sky. I have just consulted the plan and have discovered that the engine bearers are spaced for an ED Mark III 2.49cc diesel engine. I believe that the Channel Crossing model was powered by a 3.5cc diesel. I am beginning to think that perhaps a far less powerful electric motor is the way to go. Something which produces about 250 Watts. Less power, less thrust less chance of violent climbing.

I am familiar with downthrust having flown free flight models in my youth. I will be seventy-six next month! 😄 The model in question is a Ben Buckle Radio Queen, powered by an electric motor and built by my protogé Frans Cooremans, a seventy year-old Belgian. I'm very much an i/c engine man myself but having fitted three electric motors to this model I'm beginning to become more knowledgeable! Initially we fitted a motor with a similar power to that recommended by 4-Max. https://www.4-max.co.uk/po-5055-595.html Even with a 3S LiPo this set up proved to be greatly over-powered. if you advanced the throttle the model would climb rapidly and if you didn't correct things quickly enough it would stall. We installed two less powerful electric motors ending up with an Axi 2820/10 which I had been given a long time ago and while flight characteristics had improved they were not really suitable for a beginner. If I flew it I could anticipate the stall, reduce power and put in down elevator but Franz doesn't have my experience so sometimes he was flying about in a series of barely controlled stalls. We were trying a smaller propeller yesterday when the Axi blew apart on take off. We were unable to find the rotating piece (the can?) so unless we find it we will have to buy another motor. When weighed on my kitchen scales in November the model weighed 5lbs or 2.2 kgs and the centre of gravity is as per plan about 4.5" (11.5 cms) from the leading edge. So some questions for the cognoscenti: Would this be a suitable motor for the Radio Queen given that the motors we've used so far have been too powerful? https://www.weymuller.fr/article/moteur_brushless_protronik_dm2615_1050.html I'm thinking that 50 watts per lb will be adequate for a vintage model like the Radio Queen. If it's not suitable what would you recommend? Should we incorporate some down-thrust, if so how much? We are going to have to rebuild the motor mount anyway. Is down-thrust required only when power is excessive? The original Channel-crossing Radio Queen was powered by an ED Racer and having just inspected the plan, it states that the engine bearer spacing is suitable for a 2.5 cc diesel engine. Incidentally, I had a look at one of the club's four channel ARTF trainers yesterday. It's powered by an OS 46 AX. It had a substantial amount of down-thrust, I would estimate 5 degrees or more.

I have been working on my reserve Baron. Once I'd repaired the wing, the fuselage and tailplane looked scruffy so I removed the old covering, repaired any damage and re-covered them. The grey didn't match anyway because the film was from two different manufacturers. I've used off-cutts from rolls of flourescent yellow and orange. I should be able to see it in the sky! I hope to maiden it this weekend.

Hi Ronron, Thank you for the information but it will be difficult to change the incidence of the tailplane on my models as both are firmly glued into place. I'll consider the modification if I have to build another. My Barons are both powered by four-stroke engines so there is no need for weight in the front. I give a prize to the leading pilot who uses a four-stroke engine in the competition. I won my own prize in 2021 so I gave it to the second man! Please come over and introduce yourself in June. I speak French fairly well. I will be flying the number 247 Baron finished in either British or Ukrainian markings something like in the picture below. There may be another expatriate Englishman in the competition. He lives up in the Somme region. Several of my French club mates participated in the competition in 2019 but they now think it's too far to drive! 😄

Hello. What information are you looking for on which aeroplane? Quelles informations recherches toi et quel avion?

I am finishing off a DB Sport & Scale Auster. I haven't yet decided which motor to fit but a Thunder Tiger 91 FS is certainly in the running. I usually run this engine, and all of my Japanese four-strokes, on fuel containing 10% nitro and I have been given a gallon of 15% nitro. The model is covered in white Solartex which is fuel-proof but which soon starts to look scruffy unless it's coated with something. I was thinking of using a water based polyurethane floor varnish brushed on over the Solartex but I would like to know whether this type of varnish will withstand fuels containing this much nitro.

Boris's newly repaired wing makes the rest of the model look scruffy, besides the new grey film does match the older covering. I have decided to recover the fuselage and tail surfaces too, that way I'll be better able to check for structural damage. I've been impressed by UHU Por impact adhesive. Boris is mounted on a block of depron. You can pick up him up by the head and wave the wing about no bother! I'm looking forward to using this glue on the British Baron with its depron wing ribs. Has anyone used this glue as a canopy glue?

Martial bliss? You'll never get them to bind if they're fighting one anther.

You may find Mark Robinson's video on covering with doculam interesting Mike.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pe2M8UhD8g