Member postings for alex nicol

Valiant, I prefer tail dragges ......... checkout the you tube videos on the Valiant

I bought an Alphawise C30 laser cutter/engraver 2.5w about 6 months ago which I've only just got round to assembling. Unfortunately the supplied software is corrupt (faulty USB stick). I've downloaded the driver and laser grbl. I'm in the process of ironing out the wrinkles. I've done a couple of test prints using a couple of imported jpg files. I can only find engrave options with the grbl software

Ideally what I'm looking for is some free software that I can use to create and cut various shapes such as formers etc and would appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks in Advance

Alex

The battery life sounds ok. I'd recommend you check the battery pack for -ve lead corrosion especially if it's an older set

Welcome Back

Alex

I know nothing about taranis and I'm assuming it connects via usb, if so have you tried plugging into a different usb socket.

Hi Keith,

Have you considered going for a 9x6 3 bladed prop.

Cheers

Alex

My Post with no picture as well!

Thanks Peter

It's the valve that came with the kit, I get the need for pressure to open the valve. The system is pressured from a 12v double piston mini pump the pressure gauge readings compare favourably with others.

Ideally I'd like to understand the max safe pressure I can take the system up to without damage and ensure the gear down is strong enough to push the nose leg down against the drag

I'm hoping I can get a little guidance.

I have a nearly finished 1/5 scale Phoenix Models PC21 DLE30 powered which is fitted with Phoenix air up/down retracts (supplied with kit). System is installed and working with no leaks. Can anyone advise on what the maximum air pressure in the system should be.

Before I connected the system up I passed air through the one way valve and it was reading 35psi with no load on the exit side, does this mean if I go to 100psi the actual pressure in the tank is only 65psi.

Thanks

Alex

Hi Richard,

For what it's worth hi wing aircraft will have an element of self righting due to the pendulum effect caused by the weight of the fuselage hung below the wing. A low wing aircraft will have less or no self righting as the weight is on top of the wing and as soon as you bank there is no self righting effect as the fuselage assists the bank. With regard to the wing looking droopy the model in the image has a span of 82" has no dihedral and no sign of any droop

Most of this is probably covered above,

If your printer has a poster print option it will automatically print the whole full size plan on A4 sheet. (make sure fit to page is Not selected) if you use this method make sure the paper is well fanned out, aerated, the printer guides are as tight as possible and you have a lot of sellotape otherwise you'll need to fudge your jigsaw a little.

the other option and this depends very much on how complex the model design is is resize to make the plan fit on 4 a4 pages and scale it up as you build to size that suits you.

Call your local Kwik print type shop then email them the PDF and get a quote for a full size print

Good Luck with whatever you decide

Alex

Mike D's Rival/Big Easy upscale to 82" Span, ASP 1.80 fs powered.

All complete awaiting break in the weather for maiden flight

Please excuse the workbench, clear up currently underway

Main glues used are cyano, pva, contact and epoxy

Cyano - as a pin or tack in place then run over the joint with very slightly thinned pva dispensed from an old printer cartridge refill syringe and needle.

Pva - large surfaces

Contact Evostick - fuselage doublers

Contact Copydex - Balsa skinning foam wing cores

Epoxy 30min - firewalls, u/c plates, joining wings and with glass cloth for reinforcement

Cheers

Alex

In my defence I was only about 13 or 14 at the time and allowed to be an eejit on the grounds of age and given that I didn't remove myself from the gene pool Darwin Award doesn't apply .......... although it could have been a close thing.

Hi Martin,

i think you might struggle a little with curving the sides with or without the 1/16 sheeting, I'd be inclined to fit a triangular gusset to support the strip at the wing l/e. You could put the fuselage into the jig upside down so it's flat on the board and use some 1/4 sq strip to space the sides and form the curve required.

Cheers

Alex

Thinking back, some of the things you did or could do quite easily then would raise howls of horror now.

In the early 70's when I was in my early teens I flew mainly control line combat pre Rossi & Super Tigre times. Pink Panther & Ironmonger days. (anybody remember them) Everything was covered in nylon and powered by PAW. I remember being in the garden shed (Dope, balsa cement and fuel proofed all banned from the house) trying to cover dope and fuel proof a combat wing in a single evening for flying the next day and having the bright idea of warming it up over a parrifin heater to speed up the drying process.

Fortunately no disasters occurred but when I think what could have happened ........... Olympic gold medal in stupidity

Thank goodness for heat shrink film

With regards to the u/c mounting plate, I'd recommend giving some consideration to using nylon bolts to attach undercarriage. depending on the size used you can deliberately create a weak point by putting a partial cut through the bolts. If you're unfortunate enough to have a heavy landing or dead stick into long grass the bolts will snap and the u/c will come off without pulling the mounting plate out.

Enjoying the build pics

Alex

I think it's just a sign of the times and choice of recreational pursuits now available compared to what was available in earlier times.

If you look at what was available as a hobby/pastimes in the 60's and 70's there is so much more now. TV only had 3 channels and was only on from about lunchtime until early evening. No such things as cable or sky, videos, dvds, PCs, games consuls, tablets, mobile phones etc I could go on. Even within modeling, there were no artf, foamies, cheap radio sets, laser cut kits etc.

I think it's going to go a bit like bowling (absolutely no disrespect to bowls or bowlers intended here) I think there's a drift towards craft type hobbies amongst the more mature members of our society.

I must admit I'm inclined to agree with the sentiments expressed above.

I'm a member of a small club membership is about 18 and of the 18 about 6 or 7 are regularly active. That said the majority of the others do turn up regularly come agm time and renew their memberships. Since the beginning of the year we have picked up 2 new members, one returning to the hobby and the other a complete newbie with an interest in drones.

With regard to modelling purchases I took the decision a few months back to stop making any significant new purchases and start using the engines that are gathering dust in their boxes. My last 2 builds were a plan built Chilli Wind and just coming to completion a scaled up version of a Rival/Big Easy by the same designer. They put a fair dent in my balsa and covering stocks but it could be argued I had far to much stuff squirreled away in the first place. The only regular purchases are fuel, few servo's, epoxy and other sundries. The other decision I took I only order from UK suppliers. I'll use HK but only if its coming from the UK warehouse.

Cheers

Alex

PS meant to say, there's a couple of YouTube videos of the same combo if that's of use to you