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BH Mosquito


Hangarqueen
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Hi HQ,

 

Great to see you getting on so well with the mossie and not sure if its the right model practice on as I find gear down, flaps mid always makes for a neutral track. But if you have a short runway full flaps are very effective on such a light model, so steep approach roll out, power down and very little roll out. Its definitely a different technique as I leave a reasonable about of power on to hold the tail down, but it does work.

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Thanks Chris,

I will be practicing that full flaps approach in the next landings.

I guess I was apprehensive about this because it didn't go well with the foamie version, which had a very strong tendency to nose over after landing.  And that tendency was stronger with full flaps, probably because the full flaps blocked out the airstream over the full up elevator that was required to keep the tail down.

This Mossie doesn't have that tendency at all, so I should be fine with full flaps.

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I would recommend keeping a little power on for landing because there is loss of elevator authority at low speed with full flap. If you get it right, she can be settled into a tail down landing, if not a full three pointer. I remember reading that the full size Mossie should always be landed tail up.

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My experience, again with the foamie version, is that with full flaps and engines at idle, it drops like a brick.

I had to land it once like that, due to an incident.  I took off normally, when suddenly the model veered aggressively to the right.  As there was an active runway on my right where I flew then, I had to act really quickly.  I couldn't counter the strong pull to the right with either aileron nor rudder.  I cut the power, and immediately regained control.  I called emergency and landed at idle, but it was a rough landing, very hard to do any flare at all.

What happened was that I had an older 4S battery of which the voltage sagged too much at full load.  I had two ESCs, one of them called it quits with that low voltage and went into Low Voltage Cutoff.

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With all due respect the PZ mossie (had one nice model) has not got the sting as either the BH or SG mossies and if in an emergency gear up every time.

 

With full flap it needs to be held up with the power and use the drag as your brake, I heard Hurricanes drop their flaps 90 degrees to achieve very short landing rolls as they have plenty of power on tap!

 

Well worth watching Eric "Winkle" Brown conducting mossie carrier landings

, just total respect and the book  "Wings on my sleeve" is a good read.

 

I had a weird motor issue and on the maiden after all was sorted I tried a few diving WOT low (to me!) passes when in the middle of one there was a nasty screech and the port motor totally quit. I chopped the throttle while I worked out what had just happened and planned to climb very slightly and the start a gentle bank to the right for an emergency landing. The mossie had other ideas and smartly dropped its port wing (as in 90 degrees) and pointed itself directly and vertically at the ground. Instinctively I put some up in as it approached the ground. No time or airspeed to flair, just straight on to the ground. Needless to say there were more than 2 brown marks that day!

 

image.thumb.png.fa45c23b1e2b3b86a163938154543f1e.png  

 

Investigation found that the manufacturers soldered motor bullet connectors were very poorly soldered and under their heat shrink . Under WOT the solder melted and blew out.

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Well, to be honest, I feel that the BH Mossie flies better and more stable then the Freewing one.  I never had the Parkzone, but a fellow club member had a similar incident with one.  One engine quit and he drove it into the ground like a fence post.

The Freewing Mosquito had extremely long motor/propeller shafts and 3-bladed props, which meant that in case of a belly landing, chances were that you had a bent motor shaft.  SO I avoided doing belly landings as much as possible, but due to all the trouble I had with the retracts binding, I had to do a few of them.

When I looked for a new Mosquito model, I had a look at the Seagull version too, but then I read all the horror stories about them.  Too many crashes to my liking, it can't be a coincidence anymore.  It's a shame, because it's a beautiful model.

I wish I had the patience and the skills to build a BT Mosquito.

But I'm preparing my BH Sptifire again, can't wait to have that one in the air again.  Wonderful flying model, great presence in the air, a real shame and very surprising that it isn't that easy to get by in Europe.

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I love Erik "Winkle" Brown's stories too, I have his autobiography, and it is just stunning to read about his experiences.  He was a pilot pur sang.

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Today I was able to have my mother over for a visit. An important moment, her first trip outside since she had a very nasty fall on the 3th of January, when she broke her hip.  Indestructible as she is, she has made a full recovery at her 88 years of age.

I got the Mosquito out again for her

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She doesn't remember many details, but she clearly remembers some aerial combat above the woods where we used to play as a child.  She saw Mosquitos and Spitfires fighting German fighters and even chasing V1 bombs.  She heard the rattling of their machine guns, being scared to death.  She remembers running to their shelters as they heard the droning of the bomber squadrons approaching.

She still remembers vividly the terrifying sound of the V1 bomb, and hearing the engine stop, followed by a loud explosion nearby.  What a horrible time that must have been.

My father, who passed away more then 20 years ago, used to tell his story about low level aerial combat between a Spitfire and a 109 above his head, when he threw himself to the ground in a field.  He grew up really close to the airport, hence they were close to a popular target.
War is never beautiful.

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