Don Fry

Don’t see much opposition.

When I was a little sprog, 10, 11?, I looked at the ads, back of aeromodler. And drooled over a KK Falcon. I will have to sort it one day. I have a plan to build, and am sure it can be built to a stupid weight with 3 mm depron, 29 micron doculam, a bit of balsa, and a battery up front to give an hour of flight time. And I will need a beer, and a deck chair.

Or Simon, recreate the original, small number of watts to power it, stick a pound of lead on the CG, to recreate the radio weight, and it ceases the desire to react like a feisty disco dancer, and it reverts to the far more natural corpulent old age slow waltz.

I had a lovely afternoon, just had second cataract done, had the usual ageist discussion with the dispensing optician, and after a comment you have better eyesite that me, got my very satisfactory new transition lens glasses. 15.5 °, I think there was a bit of wind here and there. Wall to wall sunshine. Good turnout. Rusty, flew an electric Tundra. 6 flights, 30 landings. Most satisfactory.

I used to use small lead batteries. Accepted, poor decipline in keeping it charged didn’t help, but they take all day to charge, and don’t do many starts before they start to struggle. Any way I also used 8inches cut of a broom ( blessed with a shortish wife, who wouldn’t notice). It got me physiotherepy, 5 one hour sessions a week for over 4 weeks. Painful. golf bag on wheels is a golf trolly

If it’s as memory, it has an under camber on the wing. It is what it is, a model design for single channel radio guidance. It has a power setting where it will climb nicely, loose hight in a rudder turn, ad infinitude. A bit of down trim will make it use more power to climb, and it’s very slightly faster. Trainer it is not, unless he is being trained as a single channel pilot. As you say yourself David, you, with your experience live with it and compensate. For a biginner, I suspect something like an Foss Acrowot, modest power would be easier. BTW, I’m not saying Acrowots are trainers, just easier than a Radio Queen.

I use 3s or 4s batteries. Don’t really care. But I do make sure it has a maximum prop swing to get up some speed before it gets loaded against compression. With either I’ve not yet welded anything up, except on one occasion, I had a 24v Dynatron unit, and a 4s battery, almost flat, and I welded the switch when it stalled. I think, willing to be disproved, ( not my game) that the amps max out at stall, and that’s the heat peak that causes an arc weld.

A trade secret, keep it safe. Criminals are liars. “I swear on my babies life, officer” They will say granny is a bully if it suits.

Nick, you are so right. I remember being in a queue, my Building Society being taken over, to collect new passbooks, or whatever they were called. Nice young lady handed mine over, I noted interest, balance, rate of interest and before I turned away told her the balance was wrong. Not believed, patiently explained, I couldn’t estimate compound interest, but estimating not less than £x interest is simple, sort it out please, and handed it back. They paid out. No apology, naturally.

Back in 1972, I was undertaking, what is now back in fashion, a 5 year degree apprenticeship with ICI. In their Soulth Wales fibres research department, in the lab next door, to where I was trying to improve the tensile strength of polyoxadiazole fibres, I found they had an electronic calculator. I used a lot of maths|number crunching to solve statistic equations wot would suggest likely mixes. Godsend. It sat on a bench, was the size of a couple of shoe boxes, did the work of a basic calculator, and cost, a couple of quid more, than a brand spanking new MGB GT Convertible. Still can’t spell.

Ditto

Just read this, life gets in the way of building, and this build is still stalled. I’ve just had the second cataract done, so eyes sorted. Bit of heart surgery next, and that’s me sorted. Workshop still a mess, but I am determined to sort it out before I get chopped, so I can start to get backlogs done during convalescence. I also have a cunning plan. Missus is thrilled, she’s getting a VW Transporter, converted to my design as a motor caravan. Full hippy wanderer. Ooo, mon Cherie, she coos. It just so happens, can’t think why, but it , by happy coincidence, will have racks that happen to carry large aircraft fully rigged.

I think it’s a TLAR. A Foss own design generic airfoil, nice general function section, but not fast. A lot of kit buyers take root and tip sections onto paper, I know I do, but I’ve never built a Wots Wot.

An RM Aerobat sorted me out after a very long layoff. And a Tyro with a Fok 15 was a first venture into RC flying.

If the problem is the scarf joint, and they don’t look good, why not reinforce, 1/16th,light side of medium, both sides of the scarf. Cut the infills with scarfed ends, lower edge above the main stringer edge, so it’s invisible under the covering. Glue as desired.

You are a sucker for punishment. As a fellow self flagilator, I’m curious, but only if it doesn’t hurt too much. I have a 1/4 scale Svenson Stampe, picked up casually that has been eating time for years as I get enthusiasm to get it a little further. I also have a 1/4 scale Precident Stampe, ditto. That one is not quite as bad, it might fly come late spring.

Arthur, you say “Hardly anyone wants the end of ICE cars, yet it will all end in 2030 or 2035.” Might I ask the source of that statement. I’ve just had a wade through the internet and can’t find much support for it. It seems younger drivers don’t, and a German study refutes it. I have no hat in that argument, but I like statistics to be bearers of truth rather than prevarication's to deceive

Not the sub zero degree version.

I used to keep a log of what equipment is in each model, so after an arrival, if fit to use again( judgement) the arrival was recorded, and also maintainence schedules. I stopped doing it, with some regrets.

I used to pee on mine to defrost the windscreen. And before you lot start thinking fire engines, as in stand on the bonnet and pee. I also liked the automatic ashtray. No door sill so the fag ends fell out as they accumulated. Not a dainty girlfriend magnet.

Try a bolting horse, spooked, Toto. Or said toy hitting a bike rider, or causing a fall trying to get out of the way. Public spaces are public, and the definition of where is safe has a lot to do with the space, a lot to do with skill levels, and in particular where to crash the model if needed. Read John Stones post,

Toto, nose wheels have hard lives. Lock it straight. One less failure point next weekend. If you have that much time make chutney. It’s a trainer, one job. No complexity.

Re nose wheel steering on a primary Trainer, Toto, and a foam jobbie to boot, I would say, an unrequired complexity. Point it into wind, open it up, and the rudder will hold it into wind as soon as it’s moving. Fly, land, charge, point fly….. Just anchor it straight ahead. Game of blood, KISS applies. As a stress reliever, learn to make chutney. You will never touch that turnip chutney you all seem to be addicted for cheese sarnies again.

Future, I use Matt doculam. To get water based paint to stick my experiments suggest it needs a scrub with solvent after covering to get rid of (I assume) a manufacturering coating. Not my game, but there is a whole science based on altering the surface of things to allow coating to stick, or not stick. I find acetone, or 100% isopropanol works. There may be better solvents out there. Thank you Sam, I’ll try a bit of that, I’m just doing a new big hack, and I’m going for a semi naked wacky look.

E bay only do fakes nowadays. The other day, I was on page 5, every one a fake, then I got bored.