Wasaforumite

I think I've the foam materials sorted for this now. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm thinking of using the Elite 10-15 retracts. Every picture I've seen of these shows them folding sideways i.e like a Spitfire. Does anyone have experience of them when they are used with the main wheels folding back as in the Twin Beech? When used sideways the landing loads are taken by the mounts. When used fore and aft the loads are taken by the mechanism - is it up to the job? Perhaps I am mistaken how they work? Comments welcome, thanks.

John, Thanks for the suggestion. Anything with fibres impregnated won't cut using a hot wire cutter. The foil surfaced boards aren't really suitable. A lot of these companies have minimum orders. Foam wings used to be popular. I wonder if people still do them and what do they use? Trouble is at the moment I can't go nosing around Builders Merchants.

I started a thread on this plan recently but it got lost in the changeover (and messages I received about it). Initially I was looking for solutions to building the retractable undercarriage that is briefly mentioned in the article but not shown on the plan. It seems nobody has tried to build this little plane , which is a shame. I'll have to muddle through. The plan is all foam construction using what was originally called 'blue foam'. I am trying to source a modern equivalent but from what I can see it is very pricy stuff and it would be cheaper to use balsa. Also the problem with foam is the high cost of postage which sort of doubles the outlay. It could be that builders merchants sell something equivalent - the question is what? Suggestions please?

Perhaps a little more down thrust on the Arising Star would help here?

I've not been able to read all 18 odd pages of this thread so I might Have missed earlier comments about under 18's not being able to register. How is that going to work?

Nik Many thanks for your comments. I've now updated the software as you suggested and will have another session experimenting. I'll report later. Ian

I got one of these combos from Airtek last year and have only just got round to installing the receiver in a plane (a HK Tundra). I've fathomed out most of the features but I'm struggling with two issues: 1. It doesn't seem possible to mix down elevator with 45 deg flaps - it only mixes on full flaps. (using 3 position switch). 2. I just can't fathom how to get into the stabilisation menu to set up the Falcon 12 in this mode. I can't really recommend this combo. There is no servo slow and there are only the two sticks plus one rotary control. All the rest of the channels have to be controlled by switches or mixes. The instructions (pdf download) are not well translated and seem to miss out stages. There doesn't seem to be much UK support either. I confess to being easily confused by the two level programming - some processes can be programmed in the tx and others in the rx using the tx. On the plus side the transmitter appears to be well made, is quite light to carry around and has a good range. These plus points mean that I will probably just use it as an expensive 2 channel job for RC IOM yacht racing, where I've lost signal using a Spectrum DX8 and carrying a TX round ones neck for 3 hours certainly makes the weight an important factor. I would certainly appreciate comments and tips from other users.

Jamie I see no one has helped here. I changed to an iMac a month or so ago having had windows Pc's more or less since their inception. I'm afraid I've regretted it. I'm prepared to accept the learning curve involved but I don't find many performance advantages over my 5 year old pc (with ssd). Granted there's less cables and boxes and the display is good but the latest Dell all in ones come with good screens and are cheaper. The lack of a back button on the mouse when browsing is a real pain. The disadvantage as you are finding out is that there is much less software available. There isn't as far as I have found any modern rc flight sim software. This also applies to quite a lot of other categories as well. For instance my solar panel inverter has a little piece of software for me to check its performance installed on my pc. Nothing available for the Mac. Similarly no Power Director video editing software etc... With Android phones now rivalling the iPhone I really don't see the need to switch to the Mac and I wished I hadn't. Hopefully, this will resurrect the thread and maybe someone will come up with a suggestion for software we've missed.

What I find interesting about this is that I believe that Vauxhall's current vans (built at Luton) are similar/same as Renaults but their new van will have to be a Peugeot Citroen. Bit like Italy changing sides in WW2! I had a Peugeot 406 Estate in 2003 and it was a brilliant car let down by dodgy electrics. My current 2016 Mondeo Diesel Estate is also brilliant and so far reliable - much better in fact than the 2015 Mercedes C250 Estate I had before it that I had to get rid off before the Warranty ran out because it had so many problems.

Had a chance to test one of the motors today. On a rather tired 3s lipo that I had hanging around, the motor used 155 watts. This is about 15 amps. The propellor used was a 9x6 APC E series. From postings on a US forum this should be enough to give a lively performance with a short take off run. Flight times should be around 15 to 20 minutes. This assumes the total weight of the plane is around 4 to 4.25lbs. Fingers crossed! I've sorted out the wing servos. Next jobs are the rudder and aileron servos. After that it's covering, a job I never look forward to.

I've heard some good reports about Hobbyking film. I may try it on my next build. For this one its going to be Solarfilm white and blue on the wings and Oracover white for the fuselage. I wanted some extra strength in the fuz. I wasn't aware that the HK stuff was as strong. The ESM Ottter must be a rarity now. It looks a lovely kit and I have to say the fuselage particularly is a lot more realistic than this plan because the moulding allows for all the curved surfaces of the original. Hoperfully, the all balsa build has some virtues. It will probably turn out a bit lighter and at least I can build another one if the worst happens!

Would be nice. I'd need to source a couple of 1/12th scale head and shoulders pilots - any ideas? Readers may have noticed that I changed my original plan of having one battery powering both motors. I realised I'd need some 4000 3s lipos and none of my other planes would use them. Two 2200 will give the same result for less outlay. Hopefully these common lipos will be reliable as they are so popular these days.

Building has been slow recently, held up by the holidays and the time consuming work of constructing the engine nacelles and ensuring that the ailerons matched the wings properly. I have now nearly finished the construction work and have made a start installing the motors and wiring. The nacelles are built by planking over formers so with a top and bottom it is like building 4 little rowing boats! The motors, are Emax GT2218/10 (about 1000 rpm/v) obtained from Totem Hobbies, Plymouth. I found it quite difficult to source motors of the right size. Most places only had 1 in stock!. Using 9 by 6 props they should draw about 15 amps each on 3 cells. If this isn't enough thrust I can go up to 10 by 5. Motor tests will take place when I can be bothered to go out in the horrible weather! I am using two 30 amp opto ESCs. Power for the Rx will come from a LiFe battery and voltage regulator. Roughly balancing the model on my fingers, the c of g seems about right and the correct balance should be possible by moving the batteries around. I intend using 2 3 cell 2200s as these are a popular size. Each motor will have its own battery so I will get new batteries and keep them in pairs. Here are a couple of pictures of the airframe so far. The control surfaces remain to be attached.