Tony Patman

Well my problem was that the model was back-heavy, and the amount of ballast required in the nose to compensate would have been silly.  I didn't make any changes to the construction of the tail except to reinforce the flimsy fin with some ply.  It's still not a problem I've solved, and I haven't had time to do any modelling at all over this year.

Yes, Russ.  Source the aluminium tube very carefully.  Get the lightest one you can.Plan exactly how you are going to fit the engine before drilling any holes.Erm...let me think some more.  It's been a while...

Doh, Timbo, this one's been doing the rounds for years.  It's still funny, though.

Thanks so much for all your help.  I can't wait to see some pics of you in your frocks

Thanks so much, Erfolg: excellent, detailed advice.  What's a "scarf joint"?

Upon closer inspection, there's more damage than I thought The trailing edge spar is cracked at the inboard aileron hinge position, which is hard to get to without more substantial destruction of the wing; and I suspect just filling the crack with epoxy would not be satisfactory.  Hmm.  I might shelve it and focus on getting my new model balanced and in the air.

What a world of coincidence we live in

I'm not, Myron. Scarborough...

It strikes me that Mike Ward must have been well-known in the UK modelling community.  I wonder if we can canvass old hands on here to find out more?

I've just tracked this web site down.  It says "Model flying commenced at 'Goosedale' in 1989 and shortly afterwards the 'Goosedale Flyers' club was established. The name was changed to 'Leen Valley Model Flying Club' following the death of Mike Ward, founder of the Model Aviation Museum (which was internationally renowned as a center of excellence for model flying).  The site is now a private residence, and we continue to fly at Goosedale by kind permission of the owner, Mr G. Hayer." So there you go.  Maybe a topic for an RCM&E retrospective feature, Mr Ashby?  Might be tough to research, though, since Mr Ward is deceased.

Incidentally there are some impressive medium-sized models of WW2 British bombers in the café of the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington.  They all appear to be IC powered, and I don't know if they are still radio-equipped or airworthy, but I recall Lancaster, Halifax and Stirling being represented.

Thanks chaps.  The break is near the root, erm, three or four ribs out from the middle from memory.  The fact that the stresses are higher near the root is why I'm here asking!  I thought of repairing using a piece of hardwood rather than a piece of balsa; and I note Bruce's suggestion to add a doubler too, which seems wise.  I had hoped to avoid removing all the covering and replacing the whole spar.  I know what I need to do: take a picture and post it on here!

Following a crash of my Tutor 40 a couple of weeks ago, I'm getting to grips with repairing the damaged wing.  A hedge impact broke through the balsa skin of the leading edge between two ribs and severed the upper spar, which appears to be 1/4" balsa, at the very edge of a rib.  There doesn't seem to be a solid leading edge, indeed.  The back of the D-section was also cracked, so the shape of the wing is currently relying only on the lower spar.  If I can rejoin the broken spar, replace the back of the D-section and reskin the leading edge, I think all will be airworthy again. So, oh gods of balsa, any tips?  I was going to try a splice for the spar, carefully cutting a very shallow V shape along it and epoxy-gluing a new section into the V, positioning the V such that part of the depth of the original spar which is still glued into its slot in the rib remains.  The spar seems to be the critical structural element here: the other bits are trivial.  So, am I on the right lines?

Re. flight simulators.  You could pay £20, or you could pay nothing and get FMS.  OK, you will need to buy the right cable to connect your transmitter to your PC, but these are available from a number of suppliers. Apart from all that, I have to say that I agree with Eric.  You can't treat these things like toys: people lose fingers just starting the engines.  If you join a club you'll be insured, have a prepared site to fly from, have access to a ready-made crowd of knowledgeable supporters and almost certainly someone who will help you not to crash the thing by doing the difficult bits (taking off and landing) for you until you've got the hang of it.  All sounds a bit daunting and maybe a little hysterical, I know, but trust us, you'll be making your life much easier!

I'd love to build a small model of this apparatus to see how much burnable fuel it produces over time: is it enough to supply a small engine continuously?  If it generates at a continuous rate then that would have to be sufficient for maximum power, but how would you throttle back?  Vent the surplus?  Store it somehow?  How does its power-to-weight ratio compare with glow or petrol or electric power?  How much power does it need to crack the water? Oo, interesting.