Majikthyse

The reason for a second hand model is that I am lazy and a cheapskate! Much as I enjoy building, I'd rather spend the time on my preferred type of model. The trainer is just to get and develop the skills. Yes I am I suppose an experienced modeller. I still have the propeller from the first model I built, a KK Pixie in about 1955! Well my dad helped.

The reason for the foamy was mainly that it bounces better! I am going to the Popham show so may pick up something there.

Well this has developed into an interesting thread. I am now looking for a cheap second hand foamy for training. Any suggestions of where to look? The BMFA club directory is hopelessly out of date. Links to some club websites are dead. No URLs given for a lot of them. I really don't want to drive 20 miles every time I fancy a bit of flying. I realise there might be waiting lists, but I wonder if these are more a policy than a necessity. Going back to the comparison with my choir, for decades it ran a huge waiting list, which meant it was a great accolade to be admitted. Rather like waiting for your Morgan Plus 4 to be delivered. Then the committee decided to clear the waiting list, and now we are actively recruiting. Demand can be affected by availability. The equipment supply situation is worse than not being able to buy from one supplier. Some items go out of stock for months. I am not going to back order and have my money tied up for that long. It is very refreshing to get such helpful guidance here. I was beginning to feel excluded by the bewildering complexity of the technology, and what I saw as the condescending attitudes of some already in the hobby. There is a model shop in Salisbury, but they don't do RC and the one that did closed a long time ago. While buying online is the norm now, there is no substitute for having a chat.

Brian, that's what I was expecting from the local club (Salisbury). There was a piece in the BMFA magazine a while ago about local clubs offering trial lessons, but I have not found one that does so. I just got a rather snooty brush-off. How hard is it for an experienced member to say "Welcome, come along sometime and see if you like it"? I am looking for a cheap second hand foamie. There must be loads of them around, but nothing leaps out of eBay. I see magazine ads from people wanting to buy kit, but not to sell. Ray - how annoying, I passed Swansea on the way to St David's last month. I will have to engineer another reason for a trip that way.

Simon, I have probably answered your question by posting the picture. Your idea of the foamie is a good one. My Tx is a Turnigy i4X, which is AFHDS 2A FlySky compatible. Very basic but upgradeable. I'm not totally new to RC, I raced 8th scale cars 40 years ago, back in the 27mHz days, but it has all become vastly more complex now.

Thanks folks for your welcoming comments. I have indeed dealt with Robotbirds and Micron RC, but the other recommendations are helpful. I agree that a park flyer is not the best for training, but it's what I have that's ready built. I am trying to use my existing fleet rather than build anew. Maybe I should look for a second hand trainer model? Here is one of my park flyers. I am rather proud of the ailerons, operated with a single servo without external linkages. 20" span, originally CO2 powered but now with Microaces brushed motor. The ESC has packed up and I forgot to keep the lipo charged so it has dropped below the minimum. We live and learn! But both are out of stock everywhere. The ESC is GWS ICS100 and the lipo is Overlander 280mAh 2s 25C.

Having been retired for several years, last year I decided to resurrect my misspent youth. In those days I could not afford RC, but it is now very much cheaper and I have a little more money. So I have started converting some old free flight models to RC. OK, I am on a steep learning curve, but I didn't expect it to be so steep. Various things don't help. I prefer park flyers, mainly because that's the type of model I have in stock. It seems impossible to buy all the parts for one aircraft from one supplier. I ask them what they would recommend, and they come back with a list of Rx, servos, ESC, motor, lipo, prop, but no they don't have them all and I have to search around. For my first effort, once I had all the parts they suggested installed, the thing was far too heavy and glided like a brick. So I am looking for lighter components. Then I find that things fail very easily. Wires fall off motors (they are usually very thin), batteries won't charge etc. OK these things are cheap, but then they go out of stock and can't be bought from anywhere in the world. So I have a set of components carefully selected as compatible and then the whole lot is disabled because something fails and I can't buy a replacement. The search facilities on most suppliers' websites are awful. Say I want a 2s 5A brushed ESC. I can't search for those specific parameters, I'm presented with 100s of items that I have to go through manually. When searching on Google I usually get ads from AliExpress or Banggood, which are useless as they usually don't deliver to the UK, or take months to arrive. I rejoined the BMFA last year (I was a member in my teens), and last week decided that enough was enough, I needed peer support. So I applied to join the local BMFA-affiliated club. Their reply was "Unfortunately, we have no available instructors at this time to assist you". I was expecting something a bit more welcoming. One of my other interests is singing. When someone applies to join our choir, we don't say "Sorry you can't join until you have passed an audition", we let them in pending successful audition later. I am all for good standards but being told "It is not possible to join and fly without experience and/or an A certificate" comes across as rather condescending. All this is supposed to be fun, but so far it has been slightly stressful. End of rant.

I have a Turnigy i4X Tx which is on AFHDS-2A by default, and works fine in one of my models. I am now converting another model to RC, and wanted the Turnigy micro Rx for that, but it has been out of stock everywhere for months. So after considerable research I ordered what appears to be a clone, the Flysky IA6, also on AFHDS-2A. But it will not bind to the Tx. The LED flashes as if it's trying but never stops. I switched the Tx over to AFHDS and the Rx LED flashed rapidly, still no binding. What factor other than the protocol could stop it from binding? The supplier sent me a compatibility chart, after selling me the Rx, which seems to show that only Flysky stuff is compatible.

Thanks guys, that's all very helpful. Yes I just want the electronics pack at the mo, although that Tempest does look lovely.... The Microaces pack may be a bit on the light side for the current model, a Sterling P47 that was originally CO2 powered. The smaller one, old KK Spitfire, has 90g thrust for 113g AUW. The P47 hopefully won't be much different in AUW if I can get a lighter elec pack, but I still think it will need around the same thrust. Anyway I now know who to ask for advice. BTW I keep getting confused about Tx-Rx compatibility. My Tx is Turnigy i4X. Is that Spektrum, Futaba or Oversky compatible? Or do I only need to worry about the protocol?

Hi folks, new here so I did my usual lurk through the posts but didn't sport anything matching my question. I am returning to the hobby after a very long time, so things have moved on technically. My interest is in small RC scale fixed wings, what are now apparently called park flyers. I am though bewildered by the choice of electronics. I have found a couple of sites that are supposed to calculate motor, prop, ESC and LiPo requirements, but they are not very helpful as I then have to find a supplier for those items. Their websites are also bewildering, with poor search facilities. Let me give you an example of what I'm looking for. 20" span warbird 68 sq " wing area Bare airframe weight 2oz 4 channel - throttle, elevator, rudder, ailerons Weight is a major issue. I have built another slightly smaller warbird, on 3 channel, and that comes out at 113g all up (sorry for mixing units!). Not flown it yet as waiting for better weather. Nervous, as it seems heavy to me. I don't expect you folks to calculate it all for me, just point me in the right direction please. I have a loft half full of free flight models, which can now be converted to RC. ? Les