Jonathan M

My thoughts... Undercarriage: Definitely keep it trike, fit slightly bigger diameter wheels like I did if you need more prop clearance, especially for slightly rougher patches like mine. I retained a steerable nose-wheel (others consider it unnecessary) but it took quite some modification to ensure it was robust enough for the job. 4-Max specs: I think George tends to slightly underspec his powertrain recommendations and always assumes the lightest possible build. This opinion is based on an electric balsa Wot4 ARTF I once had, which went through several conversions, all weighing around the 5.25lb mark: 4-Max 3547, 4s Lipo, 12x6 prop, 650W = 124W/lb (a bit feeble) Overlander 4250, 4s, 14x7, 907W = 173W/lb (more than enough) SC 40 two-stroke, forgotten what prop but published output 920W = 175W/lb (again more than enough) From this data, it was clear that my Gangster 63 Lite would, if I went electric (4s), be completely underpowered on the 4-Max 3547 on a 12x6 (130W/lb), but good with the Overlander 4250 on a 13x10 (180W/lb). In the event I went IC, with two variants, the model weighing 5.5lbs all up. My first engine was the Irvine 46 (160W/lb, output based on published figures) which produced a lovely model with enough power for all the usuals, and which I could easily have lived with. But when I retrofitted an Irvine 53 that came up on eBay, with a slightly larger prop (glad I'd fitted larger diameter wheels) it became absolutely perfect, with almost unlimited verticals. I don't have the actual data on the larger Irvine, but assuming a say 20% increase in max output to suggest 175W/lb, you can see that the model really needs a properly powerful motor or electric powertrain for its weight! If you can build your's super-light (circa 4lb from memory, which is the weight that I think 4-Max bases its recommendation on) then go for the puny setup, but I think this very unlikely. Also bear in mind that, even if beefed up to be heavier (mine was 5.5lbs, Andy Stephenson's 5.3lbs), the Gangster's wing area still gives it a very low wing loading compared say to the Wot4: Gangster has 25% more wing area for the same flying weight.

Apologies Sam, didn't mean to scare you. The Gangster Lite is a great trad pattern aerobatic model (its precision was a revelation for me after the Wot4 and Acrowot) just that if you do get one from Mick Reeves then be prepared for the kit's shortcomings and to do what mods you feel are sensible - which I hope my lengthy build-thread covers. PS - I'm even thinking of buying my own one back from my old club-mate! 😁

Sorry... I forgot the 😉

How does the model fly with the balancing stand hanging on...?

I wouldn't do that if I were you... building Mick Reeves' Gangster Lite kit is like volunteering for a chronic series of acute migraine headaches! But once built they are excellent classic aerobats. I sold mine with an Irvine 53 (perfect, originally fitted an Irvine 46 which was fine but the 53 really hits the sweet-spot) to a club-mate last year. He doesn't fly it much (he's mainly into electric 3D these days) so if you're after a ready-to-go then PM me and I'll ask him if he's happy to let it go (he's Reading-based). My extensive build-log here, including modifications and trimming: https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/index.php?/topic/38487-mick-reeves-gangster-63-lite/#comments

Steve, how are you getting on with the Resco? EDIT: I should have looked more carefully beforehand!... I've just now seen your other thread on the subject: https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/index.php?/topic/50382-new-project-has-arrived/

Thanks for affirming that Defender is enough.

Although I'm a lifelong Apple Mac user, I've recently bought an inexpensive PC laptop so I can run specific RC applications (i.e. Open TX Companion, Picasim, Aerobtec software for F5J motor-limiter, etc) which the Mac can't do. The initial trial of McAfee antivirus software has expired and I now keep getting tedious notifications that my PC is at dramatic risk. Is it really?! Won't Windows Defender do the essential job? (I'm not a seasoned Windows user, and the Mac ecosystem one never needs to purchase an outside application to keep it safe.)

Good to hear that Graham, and glad the thread has been useful!

Found it on another video. How to adjust spring tension starts at 14:09 https://youtu.be/LJ8aTNehWyM?t=849

Thanks EB, but that video, whilst showing how to remove the centring spring on the throttle stick and how to increase the friction on the leaf-spring, doesn't give any indication of how to increase centring spring tension on the sticks generally... if this is at all possible?

Recently swapped over the stock gimbals on my 2018 Taranis X9D+ for Hall Sensor gimbals, but finding them too light, especially as I've always liked to fly with strong spring feedback on the sticks. Can the Hall Sensor springs be tightened, and how?

Thanks Don and John for the tips on technique. Its a carbon tube spar, so I'll need to adapt the principle to what's available... which will be to tack to the low points of the ribs themselves!

Thanks chaps 👍🏻

Any tips on covering the bottom of an under-cambered wing? Just iron on the film as usual, or pre-coat the ribs with something sticky? It's a 2mRES.

Hi Andy Thanks for the chip in. I've now found out how to solve the problem. Once the gearbox was removed (I had to resort to molegrips on the front of the gearbox casing it was so tight!) the pinion proved to be an interference-fit but a very sloppy one! So I've ordered Loctite 648 low viscosity, high strength retaining compound which is specific to this application. Assuming this works, my next step will be to ensure an ESC soft-start or programme in a slow ramp-up to the throttle - with such a non-mechanical fixing and swinging such a relatively huge prop it's imperative that the torque is contained until the thing is spinning.

Looking for someone who can repair the Maxon gearbox on my wee Hacker A10-7 motor. It's new and never been previously used in a model, but I managed, when bench-testing the powertrain in the half-built airframe, to snag the 13x8 prop on the fuselage side before it unfolded! According to the Hacker service people it is simply the pinion inside the gearbox that came loose (which is exactly what I suspected). Hacker can easily mend it but they want me to send it via a dealer first. The dealer however is reluctant because of the nightmare of the 10,000 customs forms he'd have to fill in etc! Whichever way I do it, it's going to cost the best part of a new motor! So I'm looking for someone UK-based who can do it for me - a skilled forum member even? Alternatively I'd welcome any suggestions as to how to do this myself!

Got it working on the tablet!... 👍🏻

You're right GG, its the Mac and its OS that's the real issue. I don't really fancy going down the route of a Windows emulator on the Mac (more complexity!) but I've got very old little Lenovo PC tablet with a keyboard (my lad's first computer, that I later stripped out of all its bloatware to just run Picasim via an HDMI cable to the telly), so I'll use this for Companion. The simple solutions are usually the best!

Thanks Matty In fact that is exactly what I was thinking of doing - also because I need to start using an Altis height/motor-cut unit in my electric-launch thermal soarers and they're definitely only PC-friendly... so two birds with one stone!

I've just hit the same or a very similar issue: my MacBook Air recently upgraded to Ventura 13.1 operating system, and now my original Companion 2.2.4 won't recognise my X9D+ at all! Nor will it allow me to download any later versions of Companion from Open-TX.org - I get this message: While I've been extremely happy with the X9D+ (pre-2019) and have learnt to programme it from its own screen to do everything I want it to do, I've no interest in wasting half my life troubleshooting or finding workarounds for the whole Companion side of things, let alone the new nightmare of the Mac OS stonewalling the TX! All I want to be able to do is save the contents of the SD card to my laptop, so if the TX gets abducted by aliens I can simply load the backup onto the SD card in my spare X9D+. I'm going to try the method advised above of removing the SD card from the TX and and saving it to the laptop... but unlike my old MacBook Pro the Air doesn't have a SD slot... so I have to buy an adaptor for the USB-C port! But that doesn't solve the problem of downloading templates (which I do use), e.g. from RC-Soar... which I've always loaded onto the TX using Companion! Ugh!?

Meanwhile... at the pure FF diesel end of things, I recently finished my 23.5" Gordon Whitehead Nieuport Baby, built from an original 1972 Aeromodeller plan. It was supposed to be powered by a 1959 E.D. Baby 0.46cc which I acquired completely gummed up, but stripping and cleaning it then putting it back together revealed an engine that had actually had very little prior use: I've now run it in properly (the exhaust residue has gone from dark-grey to light-straw probably for the first time in over 60 years!) and it is very sweet upright. However, for reasons I've not been able to fathom, it has proved almost impossible to start inverted. So I've now retrofitted an equally old but invertible Allbon Dart 0.5cc into the Nieuport. First flights were impressively high and sometimes manic, as the old Dart is still a bit too powerful. So this video of the last trim flight of the day, with the 7x3 prop mounted on backwards to help kill the excess thrust (even at lower, burbling revs) shows the model closer to an acceptable state of trim: https://photos.app.goo.gl/VaV26H5e5pqUfFiC9 The glide is steep because (1) it is obviously a very draggy WW1 biplane, (2) it is a bit heavy for its small size, and (3) I had to bend in down-elevator trim to overcome the previous ballooning climb. I've now fitted an 8x3 prop, as the 'flywheel effect' of this larger prop better helps keep the engine running at lower compression settings, and I'll also increase the down-thrust from 7° to 8° and the right-thrust from 4.5° to 5.5° to tame the excessive bank and climb at anything above minimal revs (sounds mad but in my experience this type of very short-nosed FF model really needs that much of both!). Then I'll be able to restore the tad of down-elevator trim to neutral to improve the glide-phase angle, bend in more left rudder and re-tweak the already bent-in differential washout... the aim being to achieve a consistent left-hand circuit on both power and glide phases (it currently turns right once the power cuts) without the model rolling in one way or the other, etc. Complicated stuff this FF malarkey...

Hi Mike - just seen this. The CB is on hold for building this coming autumn/winter. (Since finishing the Gangster, I've been focussed on building a couple of trad FF diesel models - a Veron Cardinal and Gordon Whitehead's all-sheet Nieuport Baby - as well as flying RC thermal and indoor FF scale.) Your observations about wood densities and model stiffness are spot on. Jon

Steve C - The two 2m size is very handy and capable and still visible at several hundred meters (just!), only limitations of a light airframe with a fixed camber wing are ambient wind-speeds, which limit one to 10-12mph max. I don't know what RES models are available in 2.5-3m sizes, but if you want to go balsa and film (rather than foam or moulded) and are happy with full-house then have a look at the 2.5m FXj from Austria (two versions, pure glider and electric-launch) FXj 2.5m kit and video here FXj 2.5m electric Steve EB - how's the X-RES getting on? Jon

Steve, if you go for something in the 2m F5-RES class, then you'll find it a complete revelation compared to larger heavier models - typically a third of the weight of your Solius and much more efficient - and you'll also be eligible to enter the growing FxRES competitions if you're inclined. Here's a friend of mine expertly flying his bungee-launched version https://youtu.be/Nm_fASOpz74 That's an X-RES in the F3L class (previously known as F3-RES) and weighs about 430g or so, an electric version for F5-RES (typically using something like a 3s 450mAh) should still come in below 500g. See https://www.hyperflight.co.uk/products.asp?cat=RC+Models&subcat=F3-RES+Thermal+Gliders for the usual range from Hyperflight. I fly a PuRES off the bungee (photo below in last Sunday's first comp of the year), and have an X-RES electric conversion in the pipeline. See also https://www.fxres.co.uk/ Jon