FilmBuff

My subscription appears to have stopped! I have had nothing in April or May.

The design and the content of the magazine has been somewhat lacking for a while now. I get my subscription as a Xmas present each year - so it's pretty automatic. I doubt I would pay to pick one up each month. Most of us get info online these days - so a printed mag has to have something extra. It used to be the superb photography and the features on certain models and modelers. Gliding coverage is poor now that Simon Cocker and Andy Ellison have hung up their pens.

How did you get on?

My Pulsar had a serious arrival that broke the D box and the spar. I found this Vladimir Model repair kit from Hyperflight invaluable. https://www.hyperflight.co.uk/products.asp?code=VM-COMP-REPAIR-KIT&name=vm-composite-model-repair-kit Best £37 I have ever spent. Enabled a £900 glider to get flying again.

Not great eh? For some members, it's a case of be careful what you wish for.

Loving all these stories - but did any of you manage to view the video from Nigeria? If not - you're missing something.

In these dark times and with the increasing complexity of our models - re-discover the Pure joy of model flying. You'll need a Facebook account to see this video. Edited By FilmBuff on 19/01/2021 13:11:55

Posted by Christopher Long 1 on 02/11/2020 09:55:50: From my experience of running surveys and email/social marketing campaigns anything over a 15% response for surveys and over 5% for email/social media campaigns would be considered a very successful result. So nearly 35% or over 10,000 replies to a survey is a great success. So no not a disengaged membership, in fact the reverse! It will be more than enough to give the BMFA a good idea of what members think and it will also give them some solid evidence on which to base future negotiations with the CAA etc. Absolutely agree. If I got 35% success I'd be throwing a (virtual) party! If you assume 35,000 members, and want an error of + or - 5% - you'd only need a sample size of 380.

I never understand the anti Windows sentiment - but hey - each to their own.

MS Office Pricing Hardly breaks the bank.

Hi Erf, MS365 is great. It will be evergreen in that updates are continually made so you won't find yourself being 13 years behind on your apps... There is no such things as a stand alone MS Office these days. You can ditch MS and use the Google Suite of Docs, Sheets, Slides etc. They will probably meet 90% of most users' needs and are free!  You just need to create a Google account. You will be able to download Google Chrome browser from their site and use that instead of MS Edge. Hope this helps. Edited By FilmBuff on 12/10/2020 14:48:02

Back in 2012 I brought this subject up and received a very hard time from forum members. I was reflecting that some posts were almost unreadable. It became quite personal and the thread had to be closed! It is a tricky subject, as some people may be dyslexic or have motor issues when typing.

Looking with interest!

To be expected, but that shipping cost on the Alpina is a bit of a killer... Ouch baby, very ouch!

The D-Power, Robbe and others share a very similar DNA with Staufenbeil - looking at the wing and fuselage junctions - and the fuselage / canopy construction . Wonder who the OEM actually is? I think these are an affordable alternative to fully moulded airframes. Very tempted by the Alpina. Like many, I wanted to own one since I saw Sean Bannister demo one at the Stoneleigh Show around 1984. He came off the winch at around 150 metres. Dived and reversed down the flight line inverted at great speed. Pulled up and flew a vertical 8 up to around 100 metres. Soared about a bit and then did another pass punctuated by 4 point roles and then landed. Common place now with gliders - but not then. Awesome!

Posted by mal brewer on 13/08/2020 11:17:29: Posted by David Ashby - Moderator on 13/08/2020 11:04:48: Dad snapped this at Woodvale in 1978 (very rainy if I recall). Is this the Davis Lanc? I assume not judging by the markings and the flat top fus'? Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 13/08/2020 11:05:47 Edited By David Ashby - Moderator on 13/08/2020 11:07:02 Hi David, that's not the JDM Lancaster, that is the Roy Lever version. You can see why it was known as the 'Plankaster' due to it's boxy type appearance..................Mal Was that taken at the 1978 Control Line and RC Scale World Championships? If so - there was also a large scale 747 flown - looked like it would fall out of the air at any moment.

By modern standards - this site does creak a bit! Facebook gives a complete edit history so you can see what was changed. Essential for fake news and 5G nonsense - but maybe not for a model aeroplane forum! As well as the edit period - the way of posting photos here is pretty archaic. Edited By FilmBuff on 16/04/2020 12:52:47

Blue Passports and exit from EASA. It's all been worth it!

Posted by Andrew Ray on 07/02/2020 13:16:01: My post on RCG elicited a PM from Timo at Horizon Hobby in Germany and a couple of emails later a satisfactory outcome. So, my faith in Horizon has been restored Glad to hear that - as the Vegas is an awesome model!

Agree with @Martin Harris. Gliders have to be launched by something - so why not a small electric motor? I do slope soar with "pure" gliders - but even there I resort to EP ones in very light conditions. Saves landing out! I do try and use power just for safely getting back to ridge height and landings. Honest. It is strange that my most memorable flights are all lengthy flat field or slope flights - not the ones when wringing out an aerobatic power model. Thermal flight? 4th Sept 1981. Windless day and the model sagged off the bungee at around 100 feet. Slid to a landing at my feet 90 mins later for my first ever flat field hour plus flight. Used multiple thermals with several scary descents to start again before it was at limit of LOS. So ingrained that I can even remember the exact day! Slope flight? Too many really! One was a few years ago in autumn, when the slope was shrouded in mist apart from a gap that started about 50 feet above slope face and continued to about 100 feet before more mist. Imagine a large, clear slot above the slope. Launching into the light wind was tricky - as the glider dipped into the murk. A slow climbing turn got it into the clear slot. The trick was to then continuously fly within that area. It required lots of concentration to do this for around an hour. So much so that I was unaware that the sun was starting to burn of the mist during that time. Then suddenly - it was as if the mist disappeared in a moment - and the whole view of the valley appeared in front of the glider. It was magical!

Staufenbiel Vegas 2M pulls around 650 Watts on 3S and is a superb all round machine. Equally at home on the flat field or on the slope.

I have tried to make EV of PHEV for me as a company car driver - but it just wouldn't work based on my 20K mileage a year. I have compromised and just ordered a self charging petrol hybrid - a Toyota C-HR. Benefit in Kind is a reasonable 22% and I will save around £1100 per year compared to my diesel car in tax alone. On an extended test drive - Toyota pulled off a neat trick in their internet connected car. After the test drive of around 16 mixed urban and dual carriageway miles - I was shown a print out of the results. I had averaged 68.7 mpg and the electric motor had been "involved" for 70% of the time. Full results and a google map video of my actual route showing when the electric motor was used was simultaneously emailed to me. Very neat and TBH was the deal clincher - along with the actual car, of course. Now the small print. It looks like the data also includes when the motor is being used to charge the battery as well as powering the car. But I was impressed with the seamless interaction between motor and engine during the drive and how much the motor is used during setting off from rest and the typical crawling around a carpark type driving.

Posted by J D 8 on 08/08/2019 00:16:41: Just put together a Parkzone F4F Wildcat with similar rotund body and will be taking extra care after your experience Col. Those grip points on the Buffalo may not be such a good idea. The Wildcat has none so you have to hold it behind the wing where the fuselage is narrower and your hand can fit around. All the best with your recovery. John. Ouch baby! Very ouch! @John I have a PZ Wildcat. I find I can hold the fuselage under the wing / cg in the usual manner without any issues, It gets away with a medium push and around 50% throttle no problems at all.

Posted by Martin Harris on 01/08/2019 10:51:08: Technically yes, if you have a charger which will allow it but it's not good practice to leave a battery connected (unless your "arming configuration" takes care of this?) both on safety and battery life grounds. Charging a LiPo in situ has always been discouraged as it increases the risk of fire during charging - although few of us will have been unlucky enough to have a charging fire, there have been reports of such over the years. The battery will be fully disconnected from the ESC - but it will be in situ. So I'm thinking 0.5A to 1.0A through the balance lead will not be harmful? Edited By FilmBuff on 01/08/2019 11:31:49

Thanks guys. I'm aware of the issues with in situ charging but I'm thinking a 0.5A - 1.0A charge through the balance lead would not be harmful?