Cuban8

Learning the basics of flying an R/C model aeroplane is hard enough in ideal conditions, but having to cope with variable windy conditions at the start of your training is really putting pressure on you and I'm not surprised that you are feeling a bit demoralised. If you are still at the stage of getting on top of good, safe model control in nice weather, then flying in very gusty conditions at this time will actually teach you next to nothing at this stage and might even put you off altogether - the model will be flying you rather than vice versa and a damaged model can be the result even on a buddy lead. Every beginner is different and instructors should IMHO, tailor the lessons to suit the individual - that includes only giving instruction in next to ideal conditions if the pupil is clearly very nervous and not enjoying the experience of the model getting blown about gusty conditions. Have a word with your instructor and try to sort something out.

Good point.

In my experience of teaching newcomers and keeping an eye on their progress when they become competent enough to fly 'unplugged' is a common pitfall of still allowing the model to drift away and out of a controlled circuit or close flying area. Some flyers are more prone to it than others and I'm not sure why that is.

This illustrates how things have changed with regard to electrical/electronic equipment and repairs. Firstly, the vast majority of modern products are incredibly reliable and manufactured to standards that could only be dreamed of a few decades ago (I'd hazard a guess that your modern TV hasn't missed a beat since you bought it). Volume manufacture means machine assembly, cutting out the human error factor and that coupled with surface mount tech means tiny devices that can be manufactured at speed with repeatable high quality. A double edged sword..........cheap and reliable consumer products but with little scope for economical repair. Far fewer costly technicians needed with the knowledge to make repairs to component level - so we get the board changers who might return stuff to a central hub for the more complex repairs, but only on very high end stuff where the cost might be worthwhile. Cheap mass produced TVs, radios and similar items are usually simply not worth the cost of professional repair except where a fix can be made quickly and without the need for very specialist knowledge. I used to work for a firm that provided monitoring equipment to the power industry and I repaired very expensive and specialist kit to component level. I might take a day or two to track down a fault after a lengthy time dismantling the kit and putting it back together, quite apart from repairing the fault in the first place. That's fine on a bit of equipment worth tens of thousands of pounds and I believe repairs were usually billed at around £500 to as much as several grand depending on what was done - mid 1990's prices. Goodness knows what the cost would be now.

I think that most clubs get their pupils off a buddy box when the risk of calamity is very much reduced and then the pupil will fly 'unplugged' although with an instructor closely at his side to coach and give guidance. In case of emergency, the tranny can be grabbed and the model recovered before going too far (providing the pupil relinquishes his grip on said tranny!........don't ask🤪) "I'll take it" "No I'm OK" "I'LL TAKE IT" "I've still got it" "NO YOU HAVEN'T"............ Ten feet from the ground........... "You're right, take it" Crunch.😁

Hopefully, you'll be able to get in regular sessions now the weather is due to start being more co-operative. Little worse than having a good days flying with plenty of progress only then to have two or three weeks away. I guess that you'll be aiming to get to a point where flying becomes second nature, doesn't sap your concentration anywhere as near as much as for your first flights and incidents that cause you a bit of a fright become few and far between. Don't get me wrong.......we all have 'moments' now and again, it's just that they become the exception rather than the rule. Doing well....build up slowly and don't push things too far. Well done.

A weird one that I had quite a few years ago concerned some mini servos that I bought from the Nationals. Can't recall the make now but they were of a make distributed by one of the big suppliers. When connected up to my Futaba gear and about every fifth time the system was switched on they'd all burst into oscillation about their centres until quickly switched off and on again where they'd perform quite normally. Just about subsitituted and swapped everything to pin down the problem but they just didn't like my Futaba gear. In the end I put them to one side and substituted them for another brand and just put them in my parts drawer for another day. FF a few years and I got my first 2.4 Ghz Spektrum and tried the old servos on that.......no problem at all no matter how I tried. Fitted them in a little foamy type thing and flew it for ages before selling it on to a mate.

I've come across problems caused by poor connections in servo extension leads quite a few times in the past where I've plugged a couple of shorter leads together to make a longer one - not ideal, I grant you and I avoid doing that now. However, my theory is that where an extension connector is plugged together and then not regularly taken apart, the contact can degrade over time, for whatever reason and give odd servo problems. Exacerbated by by poor plating on the crimps when buying cheapo leads? I've found issues manifest themselves as slow movement, oscillating around centre before settling and much reduced torque felt when a finger is used to resist output arm movement. Waggling the stick and exercising things for a while tends to clear the problem for a while, but it'll be back. Cleaning the dodgy connector solves the problem although I've usually changed out the connector to be on the safe side. Encountered the issue in models stored indoors as well as those kept in my unheated garage. Not unusual to get this type of problem in other kit where unseating and reseating PCBs can solve a lot of 'funnies'.

I discovered this chap's glassing technique years ago and found that it suited me and gave me far better results than anything else. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDNZ-j8r1Tc

I had a work colleague like that.........if we had to visit a customer together for a job, he'd always be there first, always find the place without difficulty, never get caught in a traffic jam, always get parked right close to the door etc. Some people are just that way.

Cold and wet here in N.Essex - not much better for tomorrow or next week TBH.

This sounds like the most likely reason. If it's just one servo acting up in this way then I'd advise you to cut your losses and chuck it in the bin. BTW, as they sound to be unbranded 'bargains' can you really trust the others? Not worth getting your blood pressure up about TBH and certainly not worth risking a model. Annoying, but there have been cases of rubbish servos finding their way on to the market - thankfully, not quite so much of a problem as of late.

Ditto!

I'm in two minds about how Airfix and others' box art has been sanitised - from what I've been reading, some of RC's work has been airbrushed to remove bombing, flames and machine gun fire. I don't know how true that is, but it's a fact that modern Airfix artwork lacks most of all that - which in my opinion is a pity and I'm not sure what it's supposed to achieve. As a side subject....does anyone remember the American Civil War battle picture card sets that we could buy as kids during the 60's? Used to come with repro Confederate dollar notes. Very detailed artwork and very, very bloodthirsty. Great!😉

My only concern with leaving Lipos fully charged is all that energy has to go somewhere in the case of a fault during storage (rare, but not unheard of by all accounts). It's a pain to have a charging marathon prior to a days flying and of course batteries can catch fire whilst charging, but I feel more comfortable knowing that my batteries are depleted whilst being stored. I'll either keep them at storage level, or simply leave them as they are after a full flight. As far as I've found over the years, storing at a safe voltage below the 'storage point' has no detrimental affect on them. Comments would be welcome on that. Risk during transport to the field? well yes, so fire resistant container(s) for the batteries and the means to get them ejected easily and PDQ from the vehicle if the worst should happen. I always load my battery tin last and at the rear right behind the tailgate. One of our club members had his workshop severly damaged by a lipo fire a while back - he's not one to take safety with a pinch of salt, yet he was still caught out.