Don Fry
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Posts posted by Don Fry
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Keep going Marty, worth the effort.
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Be very careful buying any 2nd hand transmitter. Some people are dishonest. Offload a faulty (intermittent) to the next sucker. Unless you trust totally the seller, don’t go there. Listen to Shaun Walsh, post above, getting into, or returning to this hobby ain’t easy, a mentor, teacher, coach whatever can’t be expected to learn the programming of a strange brand. No coach= loads of broken airframes.
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Just now, Nigel R said:
I'm assuming this means you get issues with the carb seals / diaphragms or similar, due to the water absorbtion?
Would continued use prevent this?
Yes, but the first time you leave petrol/ethanol mix in the engine after a few days, it starts to harden rubbers, and next you quickly get what looks like semi liquid chewing gum in the carb what quickly blocks the needle(s). No some folk claim they won’t forget, or are always in a position to perform the task. I do and am not always in that position. So I buy synthetic petrol, it’s cheaper and easier than repairs.
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3 minutes ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:
I only use 98 octane it is ethanol free, and mix my own, 3% synthetic 2 stroke oil. My Yamaha strictly states No ethanol, if you can't get it buy the 2 stroke ready mixed chain saw stuff, ok it is gold-plated but cheaper than a crashing a plane.
Are you sure Paul, I used to use 98 octane when ethanol came to the 95 octane, but a few years ago, the 98 took on 5% ethanol and the 95 took on 10% ethanol. That was when I stopped using petrol for my stuff. Check the pump when you next buy some.
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1 hour ago, Frank Skilbeck said:
I've run petrol engines on standard 10% ethanol, seem to run ok on it, but the problem maybe degradation of elastomers, e.g carb diaphram, perishing, not done enough running to determine if this is a problem. You can buy synthetic petrol, no ethanol, but it's about 3x the cost.
I don’t use aircraft petrol engines. But I use small auxiliary outboards for my boat. I use synthetic petrol only. The water absorbed by the ethanol/petrol mix, causes all sorts of problems. So much so, I’m busy repairing peoples engines (spring, moter won’t start as it was not winterised). To keep the numbers down I do no favours, and charge main dealer prices, and tell them why it would not start. Surprisingly, I get repeat customers, always bleating “I forgot” (J'ai oublié.)
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Toto, listen to your mentor.
Also trainers trimmed to straight and level flight, will climb if too much if more power is applied, remember throttle is the climb control. Ease back on the throttle-
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Welcome.
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2 hours ago, Nigel R said:
Can't recall the name of it now, but they're a way you can set up a small auxiliary tank in the correct place.
Chicken hopper?
Chicken hopper it is, works well, but the pipe flows, gradients have to be downhill towards the feed tank to the engine.
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I’ve just done some measuring. A laser 100 of that sort of era has 12 fins, and is 122mm from the bottom of the crank case to the top of the rocker box cover, ie distance off workbench to top of rocker cover.
laser 150, same era, 12 fins, 123mm, measured as above.
Note I seem to remember they shared a crankshaft, which makes some sense as the 150 is a lot bigger than the 120 in cylinder diameter. -
Never seen such a conversion widgit. To make them, small job on a lathe. Or pillar drill, as they aren’t precision things. Or for the more creative 2 bits of brass tube, slid and soldered together, and the oversize half suck in a drill and sanded to size.
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First off, an assumption there is a spar on the underside, near the lowest part of of the chord. So far, I’ve not found a wing that hasn't.
Paint this spar with Balsaloc or Impex fast tack interlining glue (haberdashery shops). IF the fabric has not got a heat sealed glue, you need to paint all of underside structure. Leave to dry, then tack the fabric to the low spar. Then run over it again with the heel of the iron. Good tack, all the spar surface. Now, note well, when you do the rest of the surface, it will try to pull the fabric off the spar, get heat on the spar and the joint will fail. So I pin a spar sizes bit of wood, foam, whatever on the spar, can’t mess it up then. And then do the rest, front or back half first. Remove when finished.
If using Solatex self glued type fabric, tack the fabric is the same. You can skip the Impex, but I don’t. I still use the protective temporary false spar.
I use Ceconite (LAS). I don’t like the glue system. Smelly, messy, and I find just not needed on small aircraft like ours. I seal it with non shrinking dope.
Reads more difficult as it is in practice.
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Caviate, I live in France. Am I missing something..
Down my local recycling centre is a steel bin for batteries. Any battery. I asked the bloke, if it was Ok to dump a 5s 4000 in there. It was discharged, wires shorted together. He is God.
“of course” he says, “ but why the trouble to discharge it, we assume they carry charge, that’s why the bin is fireproof.
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1 hour ago, leccyflyer said:
They are also available in abundance at every swapmeet, along with lots of other smallish glow engines. I think if there is to be a shortage any time soon, it will be at the larger capacity, more complex end of the market, which never sold in anything like the same numbers and will become increasingly rare as runners, as the spares run out and there isn't the same pool of scrappable engines for parts.
Not when we start falling off perches.
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15 x 4 will work, just make sure the throttle cut works. Occasionally the efficiency of the big prop produces enough power to keep the thing aloft. You can also try differential on the throttle, so it’s less sensitive in the positions you are flying in, so reducing workload.
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27 minutes ago, John Lee said:
Whilst I moved over from IC to electric flight a few years ago I'm sure that IC will remain a viable option for those that prefer that motive power.
While cars replaced horses, we still have horse riding. Railways usurped the canals but we still have an active inland waterways life. Internal combustion replaced steam but we still have traction engine rallies The world is ever changing but there is always room for those that hanker after an older technology.
Pedantry I know, but electric motors are the older technology, 1820 and 1860 (ish)
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Why not just set the throttle arm to give 80 % power.
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I’m in both camps, depending on the cycle of my mind, get on with it, or I really want one of they, and I want it now. But one thing strikes me, over the years, sometimes a build stalls, because what you like just alters.
I’ve got a Top Flite P 47, wood finished, glassing nearly finished, all servos etc have been fitted, fettled with control rods, ditto motor, ditto undercarriage and it needs painting and fuel proofing. No issues, nicely made.
No longer interested in flying or maintaining that sort of model. I’ve been staring at the fus, standing on its nose in a corner by the central heating boiler for 15 years.
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Or a Laser 100 if you want more torque to up a heavier airframe.
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2 hours ago, Rocker said:
Typical .Never had any problems with my Laser Engines. Now Laser are no more .Flew my Wots Wot today with a Laser 80 and the prop came off in mid flight .Loosing the prop and washer .Anyone now what size nut and what thread do I need for the Laser 80 ???.I am sure it is a standard nut but need to know what size and thread it is ,so I know what to look for
M8 metric course
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I use LiFe. Both chemistries are bulletproof, but LiFe can be charged really quick if you want a surprise model, or a surprise session, as in 20 minutes and out the door. If you want more load capacity, use a bigger LiFe pack.
Note NiMh to me equals Enloop cells. The rest I have concluded over the last couple of decades are rubbish.
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I’m a bit reluctant to pick over a carcass. But Laser have always been about £100 quid or so too cheap at retail. So me being tight, can acquire a second hand motor good for a thousand hours, hardly run, tough, for peanuts. Name me a reason, why should I pay a lot more for a Japanese motor, and buy flimsy.
Why not sell the company, the tooling is the company, and they have nice tooling. -
Can’t the design, bubble or razorback be the same kit. When Topflite did them, the razor back to bubble conversion was only a minor modification kit
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Like this thread, I’m in the same boat, 11 year old Dx9, flawless service.
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Not sure about the science of some of that, but hey ho.
Standing outside on a breezy day, upwind of the jar, heat it with a blowtorch. Don’t melt the glass. Take care not to burn fingers.
Some projects that have hit the back burner of late.
in Beginners
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I wouldn’t worry. We all get stuck with stuff that is so important when bought, and are now sliding away. Decent post solo hacks. Experience says, that is a destructive area when airframes get lot of destruction.
sooner or later, you want to improve, you need it close, to see. One mistake, one airframe.
eventually the loss rate lessens, and you happily fly low. Don’t worry.