Dave S.

I've met up with PDR a few times, he is a very helpful chap & generous both with his time & knowledge and has helped some people out by donating equipment to them. I agree that he could come across as a bit of a know-it-all, but in truth, he does know a heck of lot more about this flying game than most of us do. In person, he is a very decent fellow.

I didn't read it that way, probably because the forum is the only part of this site that I use. To the best of my knowledge (which may well incomplete) this is the only active UK model flying forum that covers the full spectrum of the subject. There may well be others that specialise in niche interests such as gliding only, or electric power only, but I have not sought them out.

This is the busiest UK R/C model flying there is now - RCMF has closed, Flying Sites is struggling on but often no posts from one to the next. People's habits have changed, unfortunately. I think this forum does a good job, there are usually quite a few new posts every time I look in (several times a day). I've just converted a couple of electric models to I/C and sold all of my electric stuff. I feel so much better for it. (to counter the negativity in the post above!).

I have a handlebar clamp so I can use my phone as a satnav when I'm cycling. If it rings, I pull over before answering.

I've built plenty of kits since the late 60s when I started modelling. The most impressive kitted models I have built and flown have been American - with Great Planes at the top of the tree. Excellent wood, clear accurate plans and very thorough instruction booklets. Sig kits are also good, but not as good as Great Planes, in my opinion. Harking back to the popularity of Chris Foss's designs - he doesn't need to be a good salesman as his models sell themselves - every flying site in the land has Wot 4s or Acrowots around, and once seen flying, people buy them. I've built at least a dozen of each of these two, all have flown very well. I have a couple of ARTF Wot 4s and an ARTF Acrowot which fly fine, but are nothing like as robust as the kits. It takes me longer to put the ARTFs together than it used to for me to make a kit. The last kit-built Wot 4 I had last me for years, had several engine changes, even an early attempt at electric power with a load of NiMH cells, but flew best on a 50 two stroke or 70 four stroke. It was getting tired after 8 or 9 years of flying, but I certainly got my money's worth from it!

Thanks, I'll have to get mine back in the air - bought second hand and found the wing mounting blocks are out of true. Shouldn't take long to release them.

1969 seem positiveIy recent! I date from 1957 as well, so me & the Hog are a matched vintage pair!

I assume that my Astro Hog is old enough to fly there - the design is slightly older than I am even if the actual model isn't. It's a relatively local event for me.

When I was a shift worker in West London years ago, the weekday gang flying at Hanworth Airpark included several policemen - good chaps they were, too.

I use an FrSky Taranis tx and an apple MacBook - no problems (other than my own inability to get my head around the transmitter's logic) with the combination. I don't remember any difficulties downloading or setting up Open TX Companion.

Nice strat.

My other passion in life is music - I've played bass in various bands since my teens. Fifty years later I have slowed down a bit, but still play with a couple of bands, one plays the music of the Grateful Dead and the other is a three piece blues/rock band that is great fun to play with. The last year or so hasn't been very productive musically - mainly outdoor rehearsals with the Franklin's Tower (the GD band) on the banks of the Thames in Oxford. Managed one Sunday afternoon gig with the three piece, which mainly showed us how much we missed playing live shows. I have often had to play with sore fingers from prop bites or exhaust burns, or scalpel/razor saw cuts.

Quite a few model shops seem to have got their act together - I ordered some servos, fuel tank & pilot figure from Steve Webb yesterday late morning and got them in the post before lunch today. I ordered an engine last night from Kings Lynne Models and have received notification that it will be delivered tomorrow. The postal service & courier companies are also playing a big part in getting our essential modelling goodies to us all before we go mad with the wait!

I agree completely with the recent posts in this thread, I have been modelling since the late 1960s and when I started, owning an engine seemed a distant dream. I can clearly remember the appearance, feel & smell of my first engine, a second hand AM 10. By the 1980s, I had 'proper' glow engines, and even 4 strokes with that lovely valve gear. Every engine has had its own individual character, something made up from its constituent parts and the subtle differences in fit between them. Every engine responded slightly differently to how you adjusted the needle valves, the compression screw or the fuel and prop you chose to use. I have dipped my toes into the clear clean waters of electric flight and whilst it certainly works, is clean, efficient & predictable it is these very features that render the experiment soul-less in my view. Give me a feisty, cantankerous, smelly, oily engine any day. We all drive around in our petrol driven modern cars (or diesel driven in my case) and some adventurous types even drive electric cars, but the true romance of the road still lies in unreliable vintage vehicles - just look at the steam enthusiasts! I used to ride Harley Davidsons, and most other riders agreed that they rode them because they had character. Usually the character was unpleasant - vibration, poor handling, unreliability (compared to modern motorcycles) - but we loved them for it. I don't take part in this hobby to be efficient or on the cutting edge of technology, I build & fly model aeroplanes because I enjoy overcoming the natural obstacles that dictate that heavier than air machines really shouldn't fly - every successful flight is a triumph against gravity - and the noise, smell, and oily mess are badges of honour to be worn with pride.

This thread has given me a new found affection for my Taranis - so I've just bought a couple more receivers to show it I care!

Thanks for the link - I can't believe I didn't know that existed - I've been following the user manual which dismiss the 'create model' in a single sentence and guides through setting up each channel individually. I have wasted so many hours doing that, and now realise I could have simply used 'create model' and a few clicks later I'd have been ready to go. I've had the radio (Taranis X9D+ 2019) for six months and first used it to fly a model a couple of days ago.

I haven't found the wizard yet, I've set mine up from scratch, channel by channel - I need to dig into it again!

I'm a long-term Futaba user who recently returned to the hobby after a break of about five years. My current Tx is a FrSky Taranis and I have to admit that i is an impressive bit of kit for the money, but some months after buying it I am still struggling to some extent with the radio - coming from a non-computer background I find a lot of the explanations on line of how to do certain things totally incomprehensible. The instruction book (well worth the money) sets things out in a more accessible fashion, but I am very wary of adjusting anything at the field. I plan to stick with it for the year and review the situation next winter. Hopefully, I'll be feeling more at home with it, if not, then back to Futaba.

In my experience, Acrowots are floatier than Wot 4s, and more likely to bounce unless you get it just right. I was testing my new 55AX yesterday, 11x7 was far too noisy and over 11,000 RPM, but a 12x7got it down to 10k and sounded better. Hopefully maidening it in a Wot 4 today. I may take a leaf out of your book and try a 13x6 - I'll take a selection of props and see what works/sounds best. I doubt it'll be at full throttle very often though!

I used to have an ASP 70 in an Acrowot, pretty much the same performance as the OS 70 Surpass. To my mind a 70 FS is the best choice for the Acrowot, though my unfinished ARTF version has a Saito 82 now. I expect we'll be able to compare them in the summer as we fly at the same field! Dave

Me too - except my wait is longer. I have to wait until my eye recovers from recent surgery before I can see well enough to fly again. All these months of inactivity, and my eye had go bad just before we're allowed out again!

Thanks for posting, I have the same tx and will keep an eye on it.

Mine just arrived as well, many thanks. I can't try it out until I recover from my recent eye surgery. Is it better to unfold it and roll it for storage, or should it be OK as it is, do you think?

Thanks, chaps, just a question of wait & see then. Annoying timing as i have a couple models ready for test flights (and would have had a third ready if it wasn't for this). Ah well, could have been worse.

Does anyone have experience of surgery to re-attach a retina? I was diagnosed with a partially detached retina in my right eye a couple of days ago and yesterday had surgery to repair it. I have a bag of eye drops to take for the next few weeks, but was wondering whether anyone else has had this and how long it took to be able to see well enough to fly models again. After the surgery, my surgeon told not to fly anywhere, and it took me a few minutes to realise she meant airlines, not models! My right eye is currently so blurred that I can't even trust myself with tools to build anything, but was looking forward to getting back out soon.