Graham Davies 3

I love Keith Humber's designs. I have a Wight Wizard in the loft that is getting on for 30 years old. More recently I returned to the hobby with another one, but electric. It has been flown to death in the last year, and I love it!

So my RC story began when I was made redundant in my early 20s, so around '85. Having done a bit of C/L and F/F as a young'un, the sudden influx of cash prompted a trip to a shop and a splurge. Initially, a Veron Cardinal and a PAW80 that was moderately successful as a free flighter, I then bought a Telemaster 66, OS40FP and Futaba Challenger. I built it and got it into the air on my own. And I got it back down again on my own. I also collected all the bits on my own! So I embarked on joining a club; the most excellent Warboys Club near Huntingdon. Whilst waiting for instructor time, I built the Cardinal wing onto a slightly redesigned (made up as I went along) fuselage and installed rudder/ elevator control. This, along with a nice free plan HLG on 2 channels taught me loads. I could fly this successfully on my own. Around the same time I built a 4 channel 36" span model similar to a Wot 4 (Wot3?) of my own design on an OS15Max and flew this from my local fields. I flew this to death over many years and only killed it when a mate managed to switch the radio off during a hand launch. By the time I got some instructor time, I had pretty much taught myself, and so the (now rebuilt) Telemaster seemed a bit redundant! I think I had a couple of lessons and sold it on. The cardinal met it's end after I swapped the PAW80 for an MVVS 1.5 diesel. I only did this because vibration caused the PAW spraybar to break, and spares took longer than my patience to arrive. I bought the MVVS and fitted the prop backwards to tame it. First few flights were great. I then turned the prop the right way round and my attempts to prevent it leaving orbit resulted in the wings clapping hands at by now, considerable altitude! So my first model was really EITHER a Veron cardinal-alike, A Telemaster 66, A plan built HLG, or my beloved Wot3! Graham

Thanks for sharing Paul; that's a great article

Looks great Peter. Roll on end of lockdown!

You're welcome Tim! It's a service I offer... I might investigate, but as long as SWMBO lets me use her laptop, Phoenix will probably get me through to the end of lockdown. Thanks for your input everyone.

With you ED. There are bigger concerns than availability of our toys! Let's focus on what we can do, not what we can't. I have never had such a huge opportunity to have time to do stuff as this last year. Time is our most precious resource, so use it wisely. So I can't fly? I can, and have done lots of jobs on the house that 'I don't have time for', read more books than I own including the ones I 'must read one day', and really sharpened my musical chops. More to the point, my family have our health and a roof over our heads...

And when they do, what will you then do? I don't imagine any retailer is any happier about the situation than you are.

KC, I've seen some models that look like Salvador Dali paintings. If the builder had used rulers or Engineer's squares during the build, he made them out of rubber or indulged in some non-prescription medication when using them. But the models still flew! In the pantheon of modelling no-no's, 2degrees of additional incidence on a model such as this is not at the top of my list. On a pattern ship or a warbird, I think I'd be patient and aim for 'cock-on'. Generally, dumb thumbs have downed more gangsters than Al Capone. A perfect model is indeed a fine thing, but limitations of the build process are all part of the fun! Graham

Have you fitted the tailplane yet? I think I'd be tempted to make up some spacers to lift the leading edge of the tailplane to achieve 2degrees positive. That way you'll be aerodynamically not far from the plan and won't need to worry. Looks easy enough from the plan. Graham

I doubt it will be disastrous Bas, but it will put you closer to the stall, so take care at low speed/ high angle of attack. But then that's always good advice. What you are likely to find is that you will trim this out with some down trim at the speed you are comfortable at. When you land, you'll probably find that you have a couple of degrees of down elevator. Not the end of the world! Graham

Hi Bas, I think you have thought far harder about this than many! Many models fly very well with varying degrees of 'adherence to original design'. I have seen some models that look like MC Escher sketches fly surprisingly. Sorry, I meant surprisingly well... I think the mainplane incidence relative to the tailplane is key. If the tailplane is also +4degree, you effectively have 0degree incidence, albeit with the model carrying some drag due to the slight nose down attitude. Do you know the tailplane incidence? It may be easier to pack the leading edge of the tailplane a little. Graham

Hi Tim, I went a slightly different route with a cheap USB adaptor from Ebay, and downloaded the now defunct Phoenix 5.5. I ran this on my wife's laptop and aside from the usual issues of peripheral vision, it's surprisingly satisfying. Issues I have is simply aligning the sky to the ground! Vertical maneaveurs are really hard as it can be really difficult to tell if you are still pointing up, or have flopped towards yourself as the viewpoint changes. worse though; I really struggle to work out where I am in relation to ground obstacles. Until you are low enough to see them, you can't tell where you are. This often means low level go-arounds, or inadvertant cross wind landings. Or, hitting things! I'd be interested what you get working on a Mac. I have a nice big screen on my mac, which will really help. Graham

I suspect that at some point in time, the piper will have to be paid!

Not me David because I always pin them. It doesn't take long so I can't see the point of skipping the step. However, I saw 2 incidents of control surfaces ripping off at my old club: a rudder that was survivable, and an elevator that was not! I have to say though, in both cases it was a combination of poor practices. I think there may have been a bit of control slop in the elevator incident, and there were warning signs of flutter before it went critical. However, the hinge attachment was the first point to fail. Graham

Great piece of engineering Richard.

Small price to pay Jonathan... I wouldn't mind but I bought her the laptop!

Great to hear this David. It was a very sad loss that fortunately didn't result in more damage or injury. Good luck with the rebuild. Graham

Quick update: Due to the scarcity of Mac options, I plucked up the courage to ask to borrow my wife's laptop. I know, you're all in awe of my bravery. In awe... So that opened up a lot of options. And some flesh wounds... I have downloaded Phoenix 5.5, and invested a princely £11 for a usb dongle to connect my transmitter. I have to say, it's really quite useable. The usual issues of lack of perspective exist (it's a real pig to find the strip; you can only tell where you are in relation to it when you're quite low, and by then trees become a problem). But there are loads of models and they're good enough to learn a few things. Certainly will help to ease some of the rust from me thumbs ready for lockdown end sometime in 2023... Graham

Wicked, not wicket. That spelling error might have stumped a few folk...

Fantastic model. Back in the day in our club everyone had one. Built from the plan with a built up wing, great on a 20. Cut down Gangster 52 foam wing down to about 46", it was wicket on a hot 25 or a 40FP! Knife edge forever, whichever version.

Good lord... That might cause me to utter a gentlemanly 'deary me'...

Good call Ron. Got me Tempest and maybe a Yak3 by then..

Great work Danny. I don't have any experience of that retention mechanism, but it looks like a good solution. It should work, but it will be interesting to see how it functions in real life. It does look a bit tight in there though!

Nice work Richard. I knew I'd seen you before somewhere. You were on Blue Peter. I'm sure you knocked up a full size working Millennium falcon out of cereal boxes and sticky backed plastic!

They'd look great in the air together!