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returning after 39 yrs


Peter Etherington 1
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18 hours ago, Peter Etherington 1 said:

Just had a nice phone call with Colin Buckle and he has had a foot amputation so there will be no kits from him at the moment. He has to recover more before he restocks.  Peter

Come on, let's give Colin Buckle our best wishes. Having a foot amputated is a really tough thing!

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I no longer do any flying instruction, but when I was very busy with it I felt so sorry for those chaps who built lovely light vintage style models as trainers and then spent weekend after weekend grounded because of bad weather conditions that were completely unsuitable for their aircraft. A few even gave up because of it and no amount of advice to get a more suitable airframe, at least during the learning phase, would be taken notice of.  I even buddy boxed a conventional trainer to give them some experience on bad days, but because the model didn't look like something from the 30s/40s/50s they rarely turned up when the forecast was predicting a bit of a blow.

The weather is changing and our summers are becoming windier so whilst we dream of the long, warm and still summer days of our youth, the reality is that the learner may well need a couple of models to cope with the changing conditions if he wants to fly regularly and make good progress. Keep your classic designs for the good days but get a decent sized electric foamy trainer that will fly in most other conditions, will bounce and will stick back together with the minimum of fuss and will give valuable stick time whilst your vintage job is grounded and weighted down against the gales or awaiting a  repair.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A bigger tank would certainly increase "loiter" time, you would probably only use full power for take off, and that's a 15 degree climb out, not vertical.   

 

Once up to hight you would throttle back and just "poodle" around and stuff.

 

My shadow, a wot4 ish type of plane, 4 channel with a gp40 magnum had, and will have again ( new tank ) the slec yellow tank that from memory gave a good 15 mins flight time at about 2/3 rds throttle and sufficient for a couple of "go around" for aborted landings.

 

This gave me time to practise the whole routine for the B test with time to spare.

 

A 5 mins electric wonder is not enough time for me.

 

Yours is a different type of model, a slow flier...

 

If the tank will fit without chopping the fuz, then go for a bigger yellow tank but design it in so you can change to a smaller tank if needed/wanted.

 

Remember it should balance on the c of g ( slightly nose heavy for me ) on an empty tank.

 

Enjoy...

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51 minutes ago, Peter Etherington 1 said:

Received my Buccaneer kit and very happy with it and on inspection of the plans they specify a 4 oz fuel tank, i`m putting in a .40 engine, do you think a bigger tank would be better?

 

Peter, in June I competed in La Coupe Des Barons near Lyon in France. Full details here: https://www.modelflying.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/48206-la-coupe-des-barons-2021/#commentsThe Baron is a 1.55 metre w/s trainer which looks a bit like a Great War monoplane fighter. Mine was fitted with a Thunder Tiger 54 fourstroke and I used a SLEC  red 6ozs fuel tank. This was enough to allow for a five minute pylon race and a five minute "chasse aux renards" when the engine was running flat out all of the time.

 

I'm assuming that you are fitting 40 fourstroke to your Buccaneer. If you feel that a 4ozs tank is too small then a 6ozs should be ample, after all you won't be flying the Buccaneer at wide open throttle will you! If you're using a 40 two strokeI feel that the engine will be too powerful for the model even if you were to over-prop the engine.

 

Just my twopennorth.

Edited by David Davis
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My Ben Buckle ( 1995 so only 27 years out of date ! ) Handbook and catalogue says the 66 inch buccaner STD ( Bill Effinger 1937 ) kit is for a 30 powered 2 stroke to 40 four stroke...

 

A modern 40 2 stroke will be overpowered but modern radio can easily ( ? ) be set to limit the throttle opening, at full stick movement on the throttle stick...

Edited by Rich Griff
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2 hours ago, Rich Griff said:

A 5 mins electric wonder is not enough time for me.

As we are now talking about electric ? the principle is the same but a higher capacity battery rather than tank.

 

For my Ballerina I fitted a 4S 4000.

 

With this I easily get 20 min, ample for the B test and not at all a '5 mins wonder'. I could have gone over the top I am now thinking. ?

 

But there again I do get two 10 mins flights on one charge. ?

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1 hour ago, Piers Bowlan said:

At risk of being controversial it might be even nicer with a leccy setup. ?

I did hear once that on these old timers being able to switch the motor off had it's advantages, I think they meant that made it true free flight with the big advantage of being able to turn the motor on again if a go round is necessary. Don't take my word for it as the only old timer in my house is me. ? and one day maybe I will try IC.

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