Member postings for Bob Cotsford

I must be ahead of the curve for once, I bought this Ministick lazer cut kit from Kits123123 (Wayne) off Ebay a couple of weeks ago.

which should result in this 30" Stick

I also have a Galahad kit sitting on the sideboard waiting to be built.

Then there's the Blink

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 24/09/2020 16:46:19

How does that bulb work, some form of arc? Remember the crude spark gap transmitters (I only know of them from museums, honest )

Never doubted it would Steve

1947 design iirc Jim, it's got a 6 year head start on me . There were some really elegant designs floating around post-WW2 that put the ubiquitous Junior 60s to shame.

What type of model are you flying Tosh? In my experience it's not hard to get 10 minute flights on electric - unless you fly non-stop aerobatics, 3D or an EDF. Admittedly small foam models like Riots or Wot4s can chew through packs in 6 or 7 minutes without trying but like Jonathon I could get an easy 10 minutes from a Wot4 ARTF on 4S throwing it around a fair bit, though on one occasion fling a mix of aerobatics and circuits and bumps I was airborne for well over 20 minutes!

Electric flight does need a bit more throttle management to get the best out of the power train compared to IC, but then I've flown a few IC models where 7 minutes flying meant landing NOW or landing quiet!

wrong tense Jim, I sold mine to Paul at Kingfisher a couple of years ago. Don's looks to have a one piece wing rather than the original plug in panels and the tailplane is fixed with proper elevators and no separate upper fin, a straight 3 channel build from the start. Mine was a bit of a porker owing to me getting carried away with the paint but it was still overpowered with an OS 48 fourstroke.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 21/09/2020 10:37:42

After spending most of the year catching up on repairs, mods and half finished models while in self-imprisonment I'm running short of restorations and similar projects for this winter. I do have a couple though, one being a Blackhorse P-40 that needs a new undercarriage, de-glowing (filling in the unnecessary holes) and a general makeover. The second that comes to mind is a Jungmeister (snap Mike) that I foolishly covered in Glosstex that needs de-glowing, then the Glosstex stripped off and righteously burnt before a bit of minor bracing of unsupported longerons, correcting wrongly drawn sweepback and finally recovering in something considerably lighter than the Glosstex.

Both of these will be kitted out for electric power.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 18/09/2020 17:48:55

I remember the Merco as being pretty reliable and easy enough to start but noisy by today's standards and power would be way down on the later schneurle ported ball raced engines. They were fairly big capacity engines for club flying in the early 70s, how times have changed!

Back in the mists of times gone by I had one powered by a Merco 35 which was perfectly adequate by the standards of the day. Regarding costs vs ARTFs, in my experience kit builds often work out more expensive once you tot up the cost of all the accessories and covering but you have the satisfaction that it's all your own work.

It's what it says on the tin, soaking the balsa strip in warm water for 15 minutes or so. How long is a matter of practise as it depends on how dense the wood is, and how thick. It softens the bond between the wood fibres allowing the wood to be bent further than it could be if left dry. If held in the desired curve or shape while it dries out it takes on a set reducing the stresses in the final structure. For harder/more dense woods or larger sections (as in full size boat building) steaming is substituted for soaking.

Don't know about Youtube tutorials, do a Google search for 'basic aeromodelling books' and get started building up a library.  Don't worry about the age of some of the books that come up, techniques haven't altered that much where selecting, cutting and joining balsa wood is concerned except where the types and brand names of glues is concerned.  For that type 'glues' into the search box above.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 14/09/2020 15:45:01

which should be in the ballpark of the .60 2 stroke quoted

I don't remember it being so wayward David, but then again my thumbs were much younger back when it was IC powered. Certainly IC engines don't typically accelerate as quickly as electric motors and as long as I don't flick the throttle to full it doesn't do the 90 degree turn and it's wayward tendencies are manageable more often than not.

Mid to late '60s was when I discovered that covering a combat wing with the new Solarfilm and powering it with a diesel lead to a very wrinkly finish! Before and after that one I covered my C/L models with lightweight nylon rather than tissue on open structure wings as they bounced better that way

Specs say .60-90 2 stroke, are you saying that they are understating the power needed? That would be a first

What sort of weight did yours end up at Tim? It's a similar size to the La7 so thought it would need similar power.

What type of models do you like? Kit/plan or ARTF? The WotsWot goes well on an 80 as has been said. How about a Seagull P47 Thunderbolt, that should be ok, or any .60-.90 size aerobat. Might be a bit much for a Bolero, though it would be fun if you could refrain from opening the throttle in S&L flight as mine was running a 1300W electric setup and held together with a little care where it was pointing when given full throttle.

How about a Hangar 9 Ultra Stick 10cc?  A well made kit that flies really nicely.

Edited By Bob Cotsford on 11/09/2020 15:35:26

After I converted my old Veron Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter to 3S electric power I found that the biggest problem with take-offs was that opening the throttle too quickly caused an instant 90 degree turn to the left, opening too slowly allowed for ground loops to develop. If kept straight it would float off the ground in a few feet, maybe 5 yards on a flat calm day, but the challenge was in keeping it straight long enough for the rudder to become effective. Tailskids are a real pain! At least it flies well enough once it's up, it must do as it reached 40 years old this year

kc,the external shorting plug has two female esc type connectors and one male for the battery, one female is used for the external socket to accept a shorting plug and the other for the esc connection. The serial connection Y leads have two male to connect to batteries and one female for the esc connection. The external shorting plugs are further down the page!

Better not let it near the Red Bull then

I'm starting to do the same, in my case using FrSky gyro receivers. Is it cheating? Depends on how you use it. I see it as an assistant for taking off or landing recalcitrant models, especially on a site like ours where we get a lot of turbulence. Why put up with stressful situations, it's supposed to be a relaxing hobby. If I want stress then I'll go back to working for a living!

I'd repair the foam by cutting in a new section of foam as previously described, then I'd peel off a strip of veneer down to the wing root wide enough to take in the damage and replace that with new wood. If I was just going to repair only the damaged area I'd cut in the new veneer at an angle of around 30 degrees to the span. It would however be a compromise of practicality over restoring maximizing strength, but unless you intend stressing it with high G maneuvers it should be ok. Whichever method you use the most important thing would be to jig up the wing while bonding the veneer to avoid inducing a warp.