Barrie Galley

Thanks Geoff. I suspected as much. I'm obviously going to have to extend the ESC leads to the fan.

I'm just building the mini JP and am approaching the final stages of the fuselage build. Could anyone who has built this model give me any guidance on what is the best position for the ESC, so that I can have a starting point for the final setting up of the C of C. Thanks.

The parts have just arrived from JE (21 hours from ordering to delivery!). They're now fitted and the engine is running fine. A result for from all those who gave me advice. Thanks again to you all.

Thanks for all your help. Today has seen the problem solved. Firstly, I had a problem with my Tacho. I discovered late last night that it worked on energy saver bulbs which let me to find that its default setting was for 2 blades and mine had changed to 3 blade as suggested by Simon. After that I re-ran my engine and found that it idle'd at 2,200 but was still low at the high end at 6,500. So, after 2 hours of shopping I found a set of feeler gauges that measured below 0.1mm.. I then had a look at the valves and immediately found the problem: one of the lifting bolts had shattered and the threaded portion and the locking nut were resting between the two rocker arms. That's undoubtedly what has been causing the loss of power. I therefore need to replace at least the lifting bolt but I suspect that I should also have a look at the pushrod to make sure that is still OK. I've never had a look inside a model engine before but I've found a utube which shows this engine being dismantled, so I feel confident that I can manage it. Surprisingly, apart from being only one cylinder, it looks remarkably similar to the head of the Vauxhall Viva I had about 45 years ago and I managed to carry out all the repairs on that myself! Thanks again all of you who offered advice, you were all correct and it has given me a result! Must get in touch with Just Engines.

Thanks for all your replies. I'll test the tacho tomorrow against other models/tachos at the field tomorrow (we don't have fluorescent lights in our house) but, nevertheless, the engine is definitely sick and has no power. It performs nowhere near the identical engine I've replaced it with. The model only just lumbers across our grass strip into the air whereas previously it was a greyhound!

I have a SC52FS which I've been running for a couple of years (probably about 20 flights) with no problem. I've now come out of my shell, as the weather's got warmer, and I now find I have a sick engine. It starts perfectly and idles smoothly at around 1,200. However, when I open the throttle the speed only increases to around 3,900 no matter the main throttle setting. I've cleaned out the tank and filter, renewed the piping, cleaned the main jet and the silencer nipple. I've been assuming that as the low speed is OK that I haven't got a leak around the carb, but I haven't investigated further. I've never taken an engine apart before so I don't want to go that far until I've investigated all other options, so, any suggestions please? Edited By Barrie Galley on 18/06/2018 16:59:10

Hi Peter, I'm in the process of building your RV3 model (I've taken almost 18 months on and off to date and now have the fuselage and wings built. I'm resurrecting this thread to raise what is probably a very basic question about the flap throw. The plan states that the flap "up" is 20% & 40%. Does this mean that flaps turn up by these percentages ie like airbrakes or am I missing the point? Sorry if this is an idiot question, but this is my first model with flaps and I've never come across 'up' flaps before. Also, are these percentages intended to be a single flap setting or just a maximum with a normal progression of intermediate settings. I will be extremely happy if my model looks anywhere good as all the others shown. Barrie

Thanks Tim, That re-assures me and the Charlatan plan is now on the top of my build pile for this winter. Barrie

I'm wondering if this model would be suitable for me to progress into more aerobatics. I'm a competent club flier (A Cert only) and I've flown a few high wing models and just progressed onto a low wing semi-scale model with no problems. Any thoughts, please?