Steve Colman

Cheers MattyB. What I have read about the Q12, and Horejsi models in general, seems to be generally positive. I presently fly two Topmodel CZ models and find them to have a good value/quality ratio. I am considering their Astra as a cheaper alternative to the Q12. For my needs it would probably be fine, although I do believe the Q12 would be a step further up in overall quality and performance.

Also in Spain, The same problem as everyone else via both PC and Mobile. Now seems to be working again.

Anyone have any personal experience flying this model? If you do, I would like your thoughts on the build process and flight performance. I'm looking for something for close in, slow and relatively low level flying purely for pleasure. Cheers Steve

AN ICECREAM MAN was found dead in the back of his van down our street, covered in fruit syrups and sprinkles. Police think he topped himself.

For reasons I shall not go into, a very good friend has very generously gifted me his Multiplex Acromaster Pro. Here it is alongside my 10 year old V1 which now has close to 500 flights on it.

My choice was the 50x6 option as it was the most favourable as a practical runway. The disenters argued that 6m wasn't wide enough, my view was that if they couldn't land on a 6m wide strip they need to get more practice or look for another hobby. I agree that the 12x25 option offers virtually nothing apart from serving small foamie shockie/3D type models and helis. The original premise was to provide a runway for F5J type gliders and motor gliders in general which, has simply been ignored and for the life of me I don't know why. I was offering to help with preparing the ground and laying the grass but now I don't think I'll bother. However, when it's completed I might surround it with flowers, put a table and chairs in the middle and have a picnic with a friend who feels the same way as me.

No 1 was my prefered option and would have been best at avoiding damage to models and be of sufficient length foe even our more inexperienced flyers to land on. The short runway is 160m x 11mm so you're very close.

They decided to go for option 3, 12m x 25m. The one guy who flies helis at the club was not unhappy!

Thanks, one of the arguments put forward against the 37.5 x 8 proposal was that it would be difficult to cut two of the rolls.

Many of the pilots at the club are relative newcomers and can't manage to land within 50m of a designated spot at times. For them, landing on a 25m stretch will be virtually impossible. Thus, they will be more likely to land on the rough grass as is the case now along with the associated higher risk of damage to the model which the artificial stuff was meant to lessen.

I'm very fortunate in that my club has excellent facilities that most others would dream about. However, a decision taken earlier today has left me lost for words. We have been gifted 6 rolls of artificial grass of 25m x 2m. The idea was to use this to cover an area of stoney ground at the end of the "semi-grass" strips at the club to produce a strip suitable for landing gliders and other belly landers that would minimise damage to the models. So I produced a couple of mock up suggestions as shown in the pics 1 and 2. No2 would have meant cutting 2 of the rolls. First off, out of 40 club members, only 7, including me, bothered to turn up to discuss the ideas. Option one was discarded by the other 6 as being too narrow at 6m. Then, they discarded option 2 because, according to them, it would be "very difficult" to cut 2 rolls in half. Thus, the wonderful solution they came up with is shown in Foto3. A rectangle of 12m x 25m that will serve as practically useless for the job it was intended to do. I can only consider it a travesty and a complete waste of a free resource that would have added to the club and benefited most of it's members. However, the one heli guy in the club is quite happy. What do you think? Am I wrong in my opinion? What would your club have done if given the same amount of free material?

I've been plagued by it too. Very annoying!

Exprimental Rogallo. A receiver, motor and ESC from the spares box, some parts of an old HK autogyro and a broken delta kite meet to produce a belt and braces flying machine. The two parts of the model being held together by zip ties is in essence being lazy but also allows for easy adjustments to be made; which have proved to be necessary. The model showed some promise at the field this morning with smooth take off's but these were immediately followed by a hard bank to the right along with a high nose up altitude and subsequent stall and crash, the last of which resulted in a bent motor shaft. I think the kite angle is too steep as I took the easy route and just used the angle obtained by just strapping the tube to the top of the mast. I will reduce it and hope to have another go tomorrow.

I've had the ads infiltrating between posts in threads. somewhat annoying.

I found an old indoor clothes hanger leaning againt a bin for collection. I took it away and cleaned it up a little. I drilled a couple of extra holes and used self tapping screws to make it height adjustable. I added some rubber stoppers to the ends of the legs/arms. I added foam water pipe lagging to the arms. One hour later, hey presto, one simple but functional model stand. Total cost, less than 5 euros for the rubber stoppers and pipe lagging.

I was thinking more along the lines of the electric ARTF version from FlashRC, formerly Topmodel.

I've always quite fancied one of these, or something similar. How does it fair as a slow flyer just for pottering about on a balmy summer evening?

I can beat that Frank. I have a MPX Solius that I still fly regularly and is still going strong 10 years after it's maiden flight in 2013. Similarly My MPX Acromaster is also 10 years old. Both have well over 500 flights each and still have the original motors, esc's and servos that I installed when I first put the models together. I think that equates to some pretty good value for money.

Yes it does Phil. I use it extensively for repairing foam hinges. On a smallish foamy shock flyer type I had an aileron tear of leaving a jagged hinge line. For a quick fix at the field I repaired the hinge with Uhu por without cleaning the jagged edges. The hinge has worked perfectly ever since with no problem. I also did the same for a friends MPX Solius glider. I find Uhu por is a very versatile adhesive and always have some in my toolbox.

I've used "UHU POR" with excellent results.

Thanks for the reply Peter. Dan, the pilot, also flies full size.

An hour after the Maiden flight; Dan takes up his Ventus for a more relaxed trimming flight.

Perhaps I'm late to the party but I see that HK is closing down it's European warehouse. I've used them for a number of years for batteries, general modelling supplies and a few models with very few problems and delivery to Spain generally within a week. Now, I am left with a choice between using the global warehouse with all the associated shipping delays, increased costs and problems which can arise, or finding and using another supplier for my modelling needs. I understand it's hard times for our hobby and many retail outlets have gone to the wall and I guess HK is no different to the rest. Still, it's somewhat sad to see one of the major players of recent times, who offered us some great gear at reasonable prices, reduce their operation so drastically that they now have no representation in either the UK or mainland Europe.