robert chamberlain

My sailplane has a narrow fuselage, and so I was planning on using two smaller batterys wired in parallel with a "Y" cable. With this set up it would be possible for a good pack to cross feed to a bad pack. What is the number of a diode that would be wise to use?-------"1N5401"? Bob C

Cleaning up the shop is part of the job and the sanding dust is the messiest. What I have done is take one of those 20 inch square window fans and taped a 20" furnace filter to one side. The balsa piece has me on one side sanding, and the fan on the other sucking the air born balsa dust into the filter. Not too fast a fan speed or you will push the dust right through,---- and put the filter facing you. Good luck. Bob C

I've always used #64 on my Bird of Time------Bob C

Hello, I am confused as to what the numbers describing the various engine sizes mean. Are the model numbers ? Also , are they all four stroke? Thanks for clearing this up for me. ------------------Robert

I too am having a lot of trouble setting up my Hobble Eagle A3 pro flight stabilizer. The instructions made no sense to me. Maybe it is in the translation from chinese ,but it sure does not work at all. Any thoughts out there or better pics? I figure it should be Rec sends signal to gyro and then it goes to the servo. Right? Why aren't these things( and I am talking about Trans too) re- written in plain English for the newbee? --OK , I am upset and it is past my bedtime.----Thanks for listening, ------Bob

If your trans won't do it, there is a product called "GO SLOW"---If I remember, there were 2 pots so you could adjust each gear for different rates.-------------- Bob C

I take it that all single cyl Lasers are 4 stroke? Is the V twin and inline 4 four stroke also. ? Bob

Hello all, --My Hitec Optic 6 optima sport has developed a rattle from inside. I dropped it and something is rattling around inside. I thought I would open it up to see how important it would be only to discover I can not open the case. This 2.4 case only has 4 screws and it is like it is glued together,--(which I know it could not possible be). I have looked for all other screws and found none. How does it open up? If it is just some plastic part that is one thing, but I hate to think some metal chip is floating around. Any ideas out there?---thanks in advance,--Bob C

I recently bought a "Meilan" MINI GPS. it is actually a sort of pedometer for bicycles to record speed and distance traveled but if also records altitude. Not much use on a bike but great for my sailplane. I paid about $32.00. ---Bob C in KS

Hello all, I must have posted this before but can not fine my question--so here goes. My hi start is 100 feet of 7/16 OD surgical tubing and 400 feet of kite string and I have used it to good effect, but the stretch has always been just an estimate based on the fact that I have never pulled the wings off. Can anyone give me something more scientific? " How many pounds of pull should I be aiming for based on glider weight/wing span/construction ?" I have heard to take the weight of the glider and multiply by 5 for the line pull. Any thoughts? Thanks in advanced

flat field launch. My high start is 100 feet of 7/16 OD surgical tubing and 400 ft of kite string. I have not ever had any problems launching my sailplanes but I am usuallly just staying with what has worked in the past. Is there any guidlines for the proper pull in pounds I should being shooting for? Any suggestions on the max size I should go for on my next build?-------------Bob C

I recently extended my subscription for another year and added digital but have no idea how to access . Mt number is 400-248-2422. HELP

I have 100 feet of 7/16 surgical tubing plus 400 ft of string for a high start. Any ideas on how many pounds I could stretch the tubing for different weights of sail planes?-- Bob

Besides experimenting, might there be a ball park figure on wing area/weight/span/pounds per sq foot to guide one on launching a new model?

I am not clear on something about Laser engines. Is a Laser 180 one way of calling it a 1.8 cu inch?---Bob

How are Laser engine identified? Does Laser 120 mean a 1.2 cu in engine? The same for other numbers? Are all Laser engines 4 stroke?

Re: bungee launch. Are we talking about sling shot ordeal or do we mean "high start"?

when people refer to bungee launch is that the same as "high start"?

My HITEC automatically sets low NIMH & NiCad rec batteries (5 cell) at 5.6, so it is looking at pack voltage and not each cell. It is an older trans and ,I guess, is better than nothing. Who is running NiCad anyway?

I guess I was way off on my thinking. I pictured pilot bushing in crank shaft of car engine.

Hello, My experience with removing bushings from a blind hole was to simply use a wooden dowel. Maybe this would also work with a bearing.-----I would fill the hole with a little oil and then take a tight fitting wooden dowel, push it in by hand, and then hit the dowel with a hammer. Hydraulic pressure had no where to go but behind bushing and drive it out. Always worked for me, but then again I am talking about bushings and not bearings. I guess it depends on how far the bearing is in the hole. Just a thought and am trying to help out.

The term "brown" out is interesting as it applies to high servo loads. BUT,-just what it the time line ? Is it one second, or is it five seconds? Of course any interruption is not good, and it depends how high you are, but what are the numbers?? As usual ,thanks. Bob C

I have several Futaba " new in box" servos that I bought 20 years ago. Of course, they have not been exposed to the sun, but I was wondering about natural degradation of the plastic gears. New servos are so cheep it hardly makes sense to take a chance, but I hate to throw away 6 "new" units. any thoughts?--Bob C

sad to hear all the comments about the SLEC balsa stripper. I have one but never set it up. How are people securing the U channel to a board? Epoxy, Shoe Goo, CA ? Bob

I read in RCM&E a few issues ago that readers chose Futaba about 90% of the time and Hitec about 8%. Any thoughts on this matter? Is Futaba that much better or just better at advertising. Maybe Hitec is a smaller company? Before I get too much more into the hobby I need more information.