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Mike Freeman

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  1. Hi Paul, Sorry for the very late reply, I've been away. I ended up moving the CG 15mm behind X-Fly's recommendation! As spec'd I found the model almost impossible to fly!! I know manufacturers quote "safe" CG's but this was way too far forward!! I found the take off run extremely long, even with the better CG so I upped the elevator throw by 2mm and linked it to a flight phase to help get the model off the ground. Once airborne the recommended throws were ok for me. In the end I took the u/c off, whipped the nose wheel servo out and now hand launch it. It looks so much better without the gear dangling down!! Good luck Mike
  2. Hello All, My Weston Park 2023 article is in the September issue of RCM&E, out today. I hope you enjoy it!! Al and I had a great time in amongst all the fabulous models and talented pilots and took over 4000 photos over the two days we were there. We managed to whittle them down to around 90 which we sent in with the article. Kevin and the RCM&E team used 34 of them and I thought I would share a few of the others that we are proud of here..... Luke Oliver’s Hanger 9 MB-339 performing a lovely knife edge up the strip. One of the CARF Models Havard duo on a fly by. Gary Oliver's Yak110 on a traditional Farnborough Pass. Piloted by Gary's son; Luke. The CARF Models GeeBee on a fast flypast. The CARF FlyBaby about to touch down after a lovely display. George Shone's 19ft wing span Boing B50 beats up the strip. Dave Franks’ 1:5 scale F-16 gets away for another super display. A Dawn Patroller’s Sopwith Pup makes a safe return. The colour scheme of Steve Kilbon’s FlyEagle 1:4.5 scale F-16’s looked fabulous against the dark trees that surround the strip at Weston. The AZAerosports F-86 Sabre duo pair looked fabulous in the Saturday evening sunset slot. Finally, a small correction to the "On the cover" caption on the contents page of the September issue.... I am part credited for the photo but the photo is All Al's work, I had nothing to do with it!! He's dead chuffed to have one of his photos on the front cover!! Cheers Mike
  3. Oh, and the white wing tip flashes are solid white Oracover! Cheers
  4. Hello, The covering is transparent red Oracover. I thought about using the light weight stuff but a quick calc showed it would only save a few grams and as I sometimes fly off thistle covered slopes in Derbyshire I went for the full fat version for added strength and protection. I think it's essential to use a transparent covering to show off that fabulous geodetic wing construction!! I'd love to see some pics of yours when it's finished. Where do you fly? Cheers and a happy new year!!
  5. Thanks Zflyer, That's a good idea, I'll try that on the 2nd prototype. I've got a list of things I'm going to try differently next time. It's been 28 years since I last dabbled in foam board and I'm really enjoying the "different" design development and building a model from something other than balsa and ply. What other hobby can throw up a whole new avenue of techniques and ideas for someone to try and enjoy after 28 years!!🤣 Being a flying wing my model has quite a steep wing taper so I used another implement found in the Kitchen drawer.... a pizza wheel 🤣 to score lines in the foam on the inside of the top sheet at the leading edge. I scored 6 grooves in the foam which follow the taper from root to tip. It's surprising how hard you can press without fear of cutting into the foam but you get some lovely deep grooves which helps bending the top sheet immensely. Do this on a hard surface and the grooves don't show through the top skin but the leading edge folds nicely round the ribs. This is a small model with some quite tight curves and I've been using a wall paper edge seal roller to good effect to form them. I like the idea of a rolling pin though. I'm sure we've got one but it's not been used in years.... maybe another 28!! Cheers, Mike
  6. Thanks Ron, Martin and Eric. I'll be keeping all the joints water free then! 😁😁 Gorilla glue expands quite a lot without any water and gives a very good bond, I'm impressed! I'm enjoying building with this new ( to me) material. I recon I'll have the whole model built out of 2 sheets of Hobbycraft foam board costing £8. If I'd built it in balsa it'd be 2 or 3 times that!! Cheers
  7. I've made a bit more progress, the wings are now built and I've been experimenting with fuz corners to try and achieve radiused corners rather than a square box shape like my last attempt 28 years ago!! I've been using the original brown Gorilla Glue which works a treat!! I tried to find some of the white stuff recommended by Martin but can't find any at the usual places!! A question for the seasoned foam board builders please.... The Gorilla Glue instructions say wet one surface to activate the glue. I was a bit worried about wetting the card so just glued the wings together "dry" in the hope the moisture in the air was enough to set the glue. It seems to have worked but what do others do please? I've drawn the fuz up on CAD and I'm hoping the EDF unit arrives tomorrow so I can get cracking on building the fuz. Cheers Mike
  8. Thanks Martin. It was your foam board posts that gave me the inspiration to have a go. Thanks, it's quite exciting!! I've just spent a satisfying few minutes with my film iron removing the paper surface on the inside of the top skin. It's surprising how much weight can be saved, plus it makes the skin easier to bend over the top surface. The wing section on this model is about 8% thickness and I was a bit anxious about folding the LE over along the 450mm long wing panel but it went ok and is currently on the building board weighed down while the foam compresses on the inside of the LE. Once the tension has gone out of it I'll glue the spars and ribs on the bottom skin and roll the tip skin over. I was planning on using UHU POR mainly but I like the idea if Gorilla Glue. I have the usual brown stuff. Is the white more suitable or will the brown do? Cheers
  9. Haha! I hope you enjoy it. I was flying mine at the weekend. Great fun except a blade just clipped a gloved finger on launch! 😬😲 No damage (except a snapped off blade tip) but it fired my enthusiasm for an EDF version!
  10. Hello All, Back in 1994 I designed the fuz for a model built from foam board. The model was called "Omnibox" because the fuz was a basic box shape! It appeared as a free plan in the June 1994 issue of Radio Modeller. 28 years later and having found some very helpful info on this wonderful forum (thank you very much!) I'm having another go, hopefully with a bit more design development and more shape this time!! It's a flying wing based on my Hi8us design featured in the July 2022 issue which I'm enjoying flying but this new flying wing will have an EDF unit rather than a prop. I've been talking to George at 4-Max and one of his 50mm EDF units has been ordered! Two A1 sheets of 5mm foam board have been liberated from Hobbystore costing £8 and I recon I'll use 1 1/2 sheets to build the whole model. There'll probably be a some balsa/liteply too but only a small amount from my scrap box. Covering will probably be coloured tape. A complete airframe for under a tenner.... can't be bad!! I've done some experimenting with the wing section, doing a mock up of the root and tip sections and this went well so I'll get cracking with the wings and start the fuz design when the EDF unit arrives. I'm quite excited at this new building experience and I'll post more details as things develop. BTW I've discovered I haven't got a copy of the June 1994 Radio Modeler with the plan in it. If anyone has a copy in good nick looking for a good home I'd love to here from you please!! Cheers Mike
  11. I've enjoyed a summer full of happy "Boo" flights after my review in the March 2022 issue of RCM&E and I was wondering if anyone else in the UK took the plunge and got themselves one? It would be great to see some photos of other examples! Cheers Mike
  12. The nosecone is quite vulnerable on this model and I must have repaired the original 3 or 4 times before I remembered an article I wrote in the May 2002 issue of Q&EFI (can I mention that here? 😬) where I made an EPP spinner covered in a balloon. I did the same thing on my Su-27 and the result works fine so far and is a few grams lighter too. I need to find a slightly darker balloon but this will do for now. The following photos should give you the idea, reply to this post if you need any further info.
  13. And now, the confession... The following paragraph was originally in the article but subsequently removed to save space. I told Kevin I'd 'fess up once the article had been published so, here goes... "Sadly the maiden flight ended in disaster! Club mate Pete was on the sticks whilst I was on the camera and after a rather long 40 metre roll out the Su-27 hit a small bump and was safely away. All was well until Pete moved the ailerons… “The ailerons are reversed”, he shouted and the Su-27 ploughed in, snapping the nose off at the back of the cockpit. The nose wheel and one of the mains was also ripped out. Pete had no chance! From the nose wheel back there were just a few scuff marks and wrinkles. This is one strong model!! I was sure I’d checked the throws and directions several times whilst setting up and I can’t believe I had been so stupid! Thankfully the model was quickly repaired (with just 12g added weight) and soon back on the patch… with the aileron directions correct this time!!" To this day I don't know how I missed this fundamental error but seconds after this photo....... it all became too clear!! The next photo shows the resulting damage which, considering the speed she ploughed in, isn't really that bad!! I glued the nose back on with UHU POR glue and pulled it up tight with a former and strings working like tent guy ropes to hold the nose in line. I fitted the canopy to make sure everything was aligned properly. I also glued in some 1/64" ply doublers to strengthen the joint. Finally I got some match pot paints mixed at B&Q which match pretty well!! The flying shots in the review are the repaired model!!
  14. I've been flying the Su-27 reviewed in the Sept '22 issue quite a bit since I sent the review in and thought I'd update everyone on a few mods and a confession! First up, here are a few more flying shots that were taken too late to be considered by Kevin for inclusion in the article. The photos included in the review were taken with the recommended CG which turned out to be waaaaay too far forward. Clubmate Pete Searle was on the sticks whilst I was photographing and he had a terrible time with the nose digging in whilst banking and was reluctant to fly too low for the camera. Once the CG was moved back the Su-27 became a joy to fly and on a subsequent meet up with my brother, Al (who lives in Derbyshire) we got some more flying shots which are included here. We were flying "Mach Loop" style fly pasts up from the valley below our flying field. Great fun it was too!! Al also took a short video clip of a hand launch which shows how easy the Su-27 is to hand launch. VID-20220707-WA0001-edit.mp4
  15. Thanks for the replies and the reality check. I've decided to leave it as it is. As Peter says it's hardly noticeable when nipping back and forth along the slope and if anyone asks; there is a story to tell, as Don suggests. Cheers.
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