PatMc

A lot of people have the starter running before they apply it to the engine. You have to be sure that the engine's not over-primed if you do this or it could cause it damage.

I've done it before on ic models, electric & gliders without any problems of any sort. The canopy or hatch has always been easy to remove for access but I can't see that there would have been any issues other than convenience otherwise.Edited By PatMc on 11/08/2011 14:12:27

Yes.

You could emulate what the characters did in the film. Get drawings of the C82 , use one boom & the outer wings ...

Loong Max are as good as the best "high performance" brands which in most cases are re-badged versions of budget brand names. I use LM from GC & several of the budget brands from HK.

Myron, if too small clearance is combined with a lean run or two there might not be enough valve face left to re-seat, meaning a new valve required. Or worse the the seat could get too badly scorched & pitted - that's a complete new head needed.

 Too little clearance can lead to damage to the valves & the cylinder head.  Usually the min & max clearances are specified. It's best to set the clearance near the max as the wear with normal running will reduce it. If the tolerance is too low, when the engine heats up the valves won't seat properly when they should be closed. There's a danger that hot gas escaping during the compression & firing stroke will burn the valve seats & faces. The exhaust valve is the most likely to suffer first as the intake valve is being cooled by the mixture each induction cycle.

Tony, are all of the lipos you ordered in stock ? If any part of your order is out of stock they will hold it up & send it as a single shipment when that item is available.

Pete, you have one more maths 'O' level than me.

 53.287567 degrees multiplied by 60 would give the lat in minutes & that multiplied by 60 would give it in seconds. However if you remove the integer each time before multiplying you will get the answer in deg, min, sec  Lat 53.287567 = 53 deg + (.287567 x 60)' = 53 deg 17' +(.25402 x 60)" = 53 deg 17' 15"  Lon 3.7333134 = 3 deg + (.7333134 x 60)' = 3 deg 43' +(.998804 x 60)"= 3 deg 44' (rounded up)  

Treat the figures the same way as time converting minutes & seconds to hours or vice versa.  Your Lat is N53 17' 15" Lon -3 44' 0" - yes ?  

Posted by kc on 05/08/2011 12:19:48: I am saying retailers who sell illegal frequency stuff in this country should have to do the paperwork not legal frequency vendors. I take it you mean legal in EEC but not useable within UK ? Where's there any evidence of these vendors - apart from any shop that sells MPX ? The OP doesn't say where the helicopter was purchased, it could have been a personal import. Why should any retailer wish to sell illegal radio equipment when it would be the same price, profit margin etc as perfectly legal stuff ?IMO the system that's in place is working & doesn't need changing. In any case it's referring to a shrinking part of the market since 2.4GHz is becoming more universally accepted with similar national regulations. Posted by kc on 05/08/2011 12:19:48: Yes we are relatively low risk because we do things correctly. We cannot tolerate people who deliberatly fly illegal frequencies. The point about model flying being low risk arose from your concern about low rf power/range toys & my comparing them with free flight models. It has nothing to do with illegal frequencies. Posted by kc on 05/08/2011 12:19:48: We may well ask why these frequencies are not legal here but OK in other EC countries. We seem to have all the problems belonging to the EC but not all the benefits such as these extra frequencies! But maybe these extra frequencies are used for other purposes here such as tower cranes, robots for bomb disposal, military or railway communications or who knows what. But illegal is illegal whether we like it or not. I think you'll find that in Europe (both EEC & non EEC) we have the highest number of legal channels for model aircraft & also the highest number when combined with surface models.  

The original was designed & built by the late Brian Park who was a very well known figure in the NE model flying scene. I was a clubmate of Brian's & flew with him regularly.We both used to go to the Primrose Valley holiday week when it was organised by the publishers of RCM&E. Bill Burkinshaw, then editor of RCM&E, saw take the model from his car & asked him to fly it. After the flight he asked Brian to prepare the plan etc for publication as a freeby in the mag. The model is small, fast & frantic, not one to relax with but a great fun if you can keep up with it.

Posted by kc on 04/08/2011 11:09:47: Yes it would increase the bureaucracy but only on the unscrupulous retailers!    It would affect all retailers whether legally selling these Txs or not. Try running the idea past your LMS proprietor see what his reaction is.  Posted by kc on 04/08/2011 11:09:47: The BMFA handbook page 78 says ( referring to illegal use of 72 Mhz ) " may face a fine and confiscation of the equipment " Presumably that would be the same for other illegal frequencies. See section 5 of the OFCOM link I provided previously.  Posted by kc on 04/08/2011 11:09:47:We have no way of knowing if toys had caused any serious injury claims. In any case free flight models flown by ' experts' seem dangerous enough to me! I was at Old Warden last month and beat a hasty retreat from the freeflight field when a diesel model crashed 8 feet away from my wife!  If a toy plane caused serious injury it would be splashed all over the newspapers. Re free flight models - the fact is that people have been actively flying them for over 100 years & certainly as long as the BMFA/SMAE has provided insurance facilities for members but we are acknowledged as low risk by the insurers when compared with other sports/hobbies.

Posted by Allan Bennett on 04/08/2011 08:03:49: The problem is we're being sucked into the United States of Europe, and the regulation that's been quoted seems to refer to everything sold in Europe that might be subject to different regulations in different parts of Europe. On the contrary, the method of applying the CE standard with the alert symbol means that agreed common criteria can apply allowing for national regulations within individual countries. This means that there is the minimum bureaucracy without hindering free trade between EEC members. OTOH "requiring someone who buys a "foreign" radio set to sign a disclaimer that he's not going to fly it in the UK might deter some of the unscrupulous dealers who sell these things." as you suggested previously would increase bureaucracy & impose an unwanted burden on retailers. Nut & sledgehammer spring to mind.

No.It sounds like one of the ESCs detects low voltage before the other. This may be down to component tolerance or if the ESCs have a an option of setting the LVC (low volt cut) level they may have been set differently. Check the programme instructions.However it's not a good idea to regularly run to LVC as this can shorten the life of the lipo. Best decide on a reasonable flight time & if you have a timer set it to give you some leeway to land normally.

 Part of Section 7 says, "To prevent the possibility of radio equipment causing interference the R&TTE Directive requires the manufacturer or the person responsible for placing the radio equipment on the market to inform the user by information on the packaging and in the instructions for use in which countries the equipment can legally be used and what, if any authorisations are required. Also, where restrictions exist, the alert symbol (an exclamation mark in a circle) should be placed next to the CE mark. ... Ofcom will take enforcement action where non compliance becomes apparent." The person responsible for placing the radio equipment on the market must be the vendor. So, how many of us have ever seen the alert symbol on an RTF model? How many of us have seen a retailer offering for sale a RTF model which falls into the category requiring the alert symbol ?  The 35 MHz MPX Cockpit SX has a warning in the instructions that the frequency must be set to one which is approved for use in the location it's operated in. It refers to included documentation detailing the approved frequencies in various European countries.A version of the Spektrum DX6 carrying the alert symbol with list of countries where it could be used was sold in the UK by at least one leading model retailer.

KC, I think it's already been established in this thread that it's illegal to operate 35.87MHz in the UK but not to sell equipment on that frequency.However it could have been bought via the internet from outside the UK. Here's the OFCOM explanation of the regulations as they apply to radio controlled models. There are conditions to be met for retailers selling European but not UK legal equipment, section 7 of the link details these. IMO you're overstating the dangers of models controlled by low output rf. Most free flight power models would be more hazardous than any of the toys sold using short range equipment that's allowed under the regulations but there's no history of serious injuries caused by these or claims for personal damages being pursued.   

On full size, for instance the DH Hornet , it was downgoing tip towards the fuselage. It means that on single engine power the rotating airflow tends to push the "live" side down.

Having a switch on a brushless ESC is hazardous than not having one.Even when off the ESC is still "live". Also if the battery is left connected to the ESC it is slowly discharging which has killed a few lipos for people either not realising this or being forgetful.

KC, depending on the rf output it might not be illegal. Even if it is normal rf output (100mW ?) it won't have been illegal for the vendor to sell it so long as it has a genuine CE sticker.

Don't raise your hopes too high. You can get a copy of Model Diesels, probably in similar condition to the one in the photo, for £14 free postage. Gordon Whiteheads Scale Models is a bit dearer at £30 + £3.50 postage. Have a look at abebooks.co.uk.

Allan, here are the legal UK frequencies but others are allowed at very low RF outputs for use with "toys".It's not illegal for traders to sell other Txs on other European frequency bands so long as they are CE marked but it is illegal to operate them on those frequencies in the UK. The 35MHz version of MPX Cockpit SX (& probably other MPX Txs) as sold here is capable of being programmed to all of the German & UK frequency bands.

 As Tim suggests the motors might not be the same Kv. Sometimes it's tolerance, sometimes it's wrong labelling. Another thought, I answered a similar problem on another thread the other day but don't know what the final outcome was. I think the Hi Model ESCs are the same as Hobby Wing - have you calibrated the throttle range ? If the ESCs are Hobby Wing or one of the re-badged versions there should be instructions under the heading "Throttle Range Setting". Switch Tx on move throttle to high > connect battery to ESC wait about 2 secs > "beep - beep" tone from ESC means high point confirmed > move throttle to low - 3 beeps for 3 cell lipo > finally one long beep confirms low point of throttle.  I think to avoid confusion it's best to do this for each ESC individually.  The settings are stored when the battery is disconnected (otherwise you would need to repeat the process every flight) but if you use a different Tx the procedure may need repeating.

Hi Gary, the angles involved in both cases are usually so small that in practice you can treat the as if they were square. Occasionally you may need to bevel the top or (more likely) bottom surface of a fuselage former but it would probably only be near the nose where there's a sharp curve.