Editor Kevin Crozier talks through what is included in the January issue of RCM&E.
So, what’s in store in this, the first issue of RCM&E for 2026?
Mike Freeman starts us off with another of his excellent fly-in reports, joining the members of Basingstoke MAC as they celebrate their 20th All Electric event. Next, Shaun Garrity returns with another Retro Ramblings column before handing over to Harry Curzon for our first kit review of the New Year as he puts XFly’s realistic looking F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter to the test. Stuart Mackay takes a close look at a powerful fighter from another era as he watches Glenn Masters put his mighty twin Zenoah ZG62 powered Grumman Tigercat through its paces before Thorsten Häs slows the pace with his report from the International Model Glider Fair held in July 2025 in Schwabmünchen, southern Germany. Then it’s back to Shaun Garrity as he harks back to the 1970s with his electric flight conversion of the RM Mite. Why not pin this month’s pull-out Pro-Plan to your building board and kick off 2026 in style by building your own version of this neat 37” wingspan sport aerobat.
The second half of this issue begins with David Ashby’s latest Just For Fun column. Among David’s topics this month is a short overview of Seagull’s modern take on the Phil Kraft Kwik Fly [sic]. Have you ever wondered who is behind all the beautifully presented plans and drawings in each issue; take a bow Grahame Chambers who is celebrating his 33rd year of illustrating for RCM&E. John Stennard (Insider) follows up with more indoor flying, including a look at small versions of Nutball flying wings and then Dave Goodenough (One Man & His Shed) visits the home of ProjectAir, well known for their R/C related engineering experiments on YouTube. Finally, your Editor wraps things up with the un-boxing of his latest project model, a Pilot-RC 84” aerobatic model in a dazzling green and blue colour scheme.
