David John Davis

Sorry I meant litho plate. Electric flight getting into the act!

Starc

It sounds like you had quite the adventurous journey with model airplanes! From rubber-powered planes to control-line models like the Albatross and Stuka, and then transitioning to RC with the Sig Riser II glider, it's clear you had a varied experience. Despite some mishaps with the Cox .049 engine and the challenges with the Sig Kadet, it's great that you still have fond memories of your modeling adventures.

Telemaster Sales UK

ARTFs are not really my thing but when a World Models Super Frontier Senior turned up for only £40, (about 47€ or $51US) when I was last in England, I just had to have it! The model is a clone of the SIG Kadet Senior but with a fretted plywood fuselage which probably makes it heavier than the original. It has an 80" (2metre) wingspan.

I installed a Laser 90 engine in it. These old engines have forward facing glow plugs so consequently a remote glow system is required. Initially had trouble getting current to the glow plug, so I swapped the motor for a Laser 80 which has a vertical glow plug so a glow igniter may be fitted easily.

During last September and October my Belgian friend Frans filmed several flights of this model over-dubbed with some pleasant music. In the first few minutes you may see me struggling to start the 90. I am wearing a black tee shirt in these shots but note the interest which the model provoked from other club members. Once the 80 was fitted, (pale blue tee shirt!) things progressed admirably.

I have a Senior Telemaster in need of a little attention; it is powered by a Thunder Tiger 91 FS. It will be interesting to see how the two compare though it won't be a fair comparison because the Frontier/Kadet Senior is an ARTF with a plywood fuselage and the STM was built off a plan.

There has been continuous rain here over the last few days and though today has dawned bright and sunny, the flying field is sure to be waterlogged so I won't be able to go flying because the van will get stuck in the mud. I'll have the time to get on with finishing off my Mystic sports model and maybe I'll run-up a couple of engines in the back yard!

Please make allowances for Frans' first language not being English.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Nothing wrong Frans' language! A to the rain I think you angered the R/C gods buying an ARF! (David can explain American humor)

mgnostic

Two thumbs up on Frans' choice of music. I'm a child of the 70's and I still enjoy metal and pro-rock and so on but the generic "high energy" guitar rock that so many people dub in is just irritating and a distraction from the video. I'd almost rather listen to wind noise. Frans' music fits the flying style of the airplane.

Clean

Nobody ever puts Maynard Ferguson music in their videos, oh well. Neighbors kid just stopped flying his quad racer. He's practicing wanting to get into racing locally. I was out earlier flying a foamy after a day of gardening, cleaning up the shop. Feeding my grandkids pets while they're in Florida for the weekend. Guinea pig isn't much of a problem. Had to go get meal worms for the Gecko's. Opened the container and there was only one in there. Didn't know that till I gave it to the big one. Little one acted like he was gonna come through the glass. They're all fed now. They posted at the field around 10 that it was gonna be a nice day. I've been there once in the month of March, to mow the pathways and CL circle Thursday before last. Oh well.
Next week will be a mess of prepping for Sunday/Monday Eclipse trip. Gonna end up around Russelville, Arkansas with the three grandkids. Last one went through my front yard so it was super easy. This'uns gonna take some wheel time in a rental van. Middle child hasn't stopped talking about the last one. Youngest wasn't here yet and the oldest? She's just happy to get out of High School for a day. My wifes excited. I bought a poop tent setup. NOW if we're in a state park or in town we won't need to use it BUT if we're back off the main road a bit or in a campsite where there is a big line. Will be covered. It's the little things. Funny for her, I was watching "They shall not grow old" the movie done by Peter Jackson where he normalized and colorized a bunch of WWI movies and subbed in 80s interviews with veterans. She walked in during the scenes where they showed the 'Toilet". A wood pole suspended on both ends with about 6 chaps hangin over. Wasn't impressed with my "Hey, lets cancel the tent I have other ideas." comment.
By the way, there is a video on Youtube about Peter Jacksons heritage museum. He has a rather nice collection of flying WWI airplanes. Link below.

David John Davis

I see that Peter Jackson's grandfather joined the 1st Battalion of the South Wales Borderers in 1910. My maternal grandfather had been in the SWBs from 1898 to 1908 and had re-engaged in the summer of 1913 when he was unemployed. By then he was a married man with two children to support. He walked from Shrewsbury to Brecon, a distance of 74 miles, in order to do this. He was sent to France as part of a reinforcement in November 1914. He served throughout the war and was wounded four times.

I wonder whether the two men ever knew each other.

Telemaster Sales UK

I don't suppose that the following applies to everyone but it does apply to some of us including me. Why is it that if we have a model to finish, or several models to finish, that we start to build another?

Take my case. I just need to fit the radio, engine and undercarriage to a Galaxy Models "Mystic," which is a large low-wing sports model destined for a Laser 155. I also have a seven foot (2.21 metre) DB Sport & Scale Auster in a similar condition and I need to repair the wing of my Guidato after the dog had jumped on it, and yet I am tempted to start building another Junior 60! If I build it, it will be the fourth which I have built and that's not counting the Junior 60 which I helped my protégé Frans to build. I have both an OS 26 FS Surpass and an ASP30 FS which are currently unemployed but I'm tempted to build it very light, cover it in doculam and tissue, which will be a first for me, and power it with a 15 two-stroke. I have a roll of Micafilm which I could use but that looks awful! So I have the materials and the plan and the temptation but I'm kicking myself now for having given away a brand new Enya 15 last year! Mind you those old Enyas require an awful lot of running in so the neighbours have been spared!

The Junior 60 is a classic British vintage model designed as a free flight model in 1946. It has a 60" (1.52metre) wingspan and it was my first successful RC model so that may have influenced my thinking. There are better trainers, not that I need a trainer these days, but I just love the way the Junior 60 just seems to hover in calm air.

I'll let you know if I start cutting balsa. Two of my previous J60s below, one with my much younger self! My first one was covered in olive drab parachute nylon. The dullest-looking Junior 60 you ever saw!

PS. As for the dog jumping on the Guidato's wing, it was my fault. I had incarcerated her in the van for too long when I was in England for a few weeks last year, and she made a bid for freedom damaging the Super Sixty's wing and that of the Big Guff too. I've repaired the Super Sixty and the damage to the Big Guff's wing is only superficial.



PPS. In all of the Junior 60s I have built I have used standard servos, mostly Hitec HS 311s. For this new projected Junior 60 I plan to fit lighter servos. Any recommendations?

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

David, it's an addiction! Some people drink, some smoke, some take elicit drugs, we build airplanes! By in large I don't think our addiction will kill us, unless our insistent building drives our love ones too far around the bend. Then the local constables could find us buried in the backyard fertilizing the lawn. Fortunately you are free of this risk.

Speaking of addiction and feeding the monster, my latest acquisition arrived after being delayed. This purchase was somewhat comical. I saw it offered for sale in a F@ceb*%%k group and made a comment always wanting one but the owner had it way out of my price range. Next day I get a message from asking what I could pay and I responded with 1/2 of his asking price. I blew the conversation off figuring he would come back with "in your dreams". He said pay shipping and I got a deal. So I pester him for 2 weeks asking what shipping is and where to send payment. I finally get a reply asking for my address, I still do have an address or total. So I ask a couple more times and he replies with a picture of a UPS receipt showing his girlfriend has shipped it to me. Turns out he is some kind of industrial electrician on some big project and working on a big project and they are working the poor guy near to death. So I send another message to get an address out of him and I send payment 2 day air except I forgot to tell him. He sends me another message saying "Please don't ghost me now!" I reply with an apology and a tracking number and when he should get the payment. He gets his money on Saturday and totally freaks out the engine hasn't shown up here. I tell him it's cool. I let him know how its progressing and it finally arrived yesterday. Monday the truck was recalled due to severe weather and a tornado warning. The seller was relieved I finally got the engine and that I love it. Tells you a lot about the people in this hobby! Now I got to dig up some OS Type F glow plugs it didn't come with one. Recommended prop is a 18 X12 on this bad boy!

flyboy2610

My Feedback: (1)

It's not the having, it's the getting!

David John Davis

Well you certainly have an interesting engine there Mike though they have a bit of a mixed reputation. I have never seen a RCV SP running but at least some of them sound like a box of bolts when they fire up! Apparently the first production batch lacked the very fine tolerances necessary for this type of engine.

However, a friend once had one of the more conventional RCV CD engines in a Puppeteer, a 1/6 semi scale Sopwith Pup. It flew it as well as anything else.

I found the following thread on the British site "Model Flying." Perhaps it may be of interest to you.

https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/ind...comment-505542


There is a video on YouTube of a Brian Taylor De Havilland Mosquito in flight powered by two RCV SP engines and they don't sound like a box of bolts to me.
There are a number of threads about these engines here: https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/ind...ngines&quick=1

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks David! I knew at the start the RCV engines had some issues, I'm hoping my engine won't be one of those. I did find a 05-21 on the backplate I hope I can determine the age from that. I'll invest some time reading through you links.
Mike

Telemaster Sales UK

You are not the only one to have recently acquired a new engine Mike! I have just bought a Laser 50 on a well known auction site, picture below.

Most of Laser's engines were at least 0.60 cubic inch or 10cc but in 1986 they introduced a 45. Two years later they introduced the 50 but these small engines were never very popular and production of the 50 stopped at the end of 1990. As you all probably know Laser closed completely on 22nd March this year so imagine my surprise when I saw three of these small Lasers on the aforementioned website. A 45 went for over £230 (268€ or $290 US). It was un-run and came with all of the papers and even the wooden box in which Lasers used to despatch their engines in those days. There were also two 50s with the "Buy It Now" price of £210 and £140. ( £1= 1.16€ or $1.26 US.) I chose the cheaper one which had been overhauled but it had a little cosmetic damage to the crankcase, however, thanks to the Brexit it would have cost me another £83 in postage and import taxes, at least that's according to the auction site. I got my best mate to buy it and we are working on a way of getting it to France without having to pay through the nose for it.

The thing is that a Laser 50 is eligible for Coupe Des Barons and I thought that it would be ubercool to run a British engine in a Baron with British markings! Both of the engines in my Barons, a Thunder Tiger 54 and a Magnum 52 are running well and I'm reluctant to change horses on mid stream as the competition is on 15th June but maybe next year... if there is a next year.

I am looking forward to Sunday when the strong winds are forecast to drop so that I can get a bit of practice in with my Barons. We've had strong winds and lots of rain until yesterday when the rain stopped but the wind remained. The combined effect of both meant that one of my old fruit trees blew over in the middle of the night. I'll have to get the chainsaw out but it looks as if I won't get cold next winter!

PS. I got the buttons this morning by using Google Chrome.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I can see why you bought it! Lasers and RCVs were always out of my price range, like twins but it didn't stop me from lusting after them!

Telemaster Sales UK

Just a little rider to all of the above about a lightweight Junior 60 powered by a 15, I have just dropped £6 on an Enya 15 on a well-known auction site. It looks new but it must be very old because it has a butterfly valve over the exhaust port. If I win it, I hope it's not too noisy!


I did think of using a PAW diesel but changed my mind because they're so oily!

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Shouldn't be too hard to find a strap on muffler if it is.

gbrady

My Feedback: (5)

Nothing like a ringmaster with a McCoy 35 redhead with 60' lines. Circa 1958

boredwithusernames

I recently bought some old/new Guillows rubber powered kits, most in the 12" wingspan size range. I'm looking for any advice on building these as electric RC. I'm retired now so I'm hoping to get a little deeper into and a little better at the RC hobby. I've dabbled in it off and on for years but didn't have the time or the will to get serious about it. I have some micro radios and servos from MinimumRC I plan to use on the smallest planes. I had a bad experience with their planes but their electronics are lightweight marvels. I have a couple of 18" and 24" inch planes that should fly with more standard electronics. I'm also interested(perhaps) in building at least one or two with the original tissue and dope covering. I have zero experience with that, when I got involved in RC film covering was already standard. A suggestion for quality light weight covering would be appreciated as well. It's spring so I probably won't start building again until fall but I need to absorb as much info as I can in the meantime. My radio is a long outdated Futaba 6EX FASST that works fine for me. Aftermarket receivers are available on Amazon for decent prices and I've had no trouble with them so I see no reason to shell out for a new radio. Especially when my pilot skills are not that great anyway.
At any rate, if anyone can point me to some links or has some advice I'd be appreciative. Thanks.

David John Davis

Good day Bored and welcome!

I am a qualified instructor in both Great Britain and France and would recommend a much larger aircraft as a trainer, something between five and six feet in the wingspan. Models with a two foot wingspan or less are more difficult to see and tend to get blown about by the wind rather more than than larger models. An even better approach would be for you to join a model aircraft club. They will probably have a trainer aircraft which you can use on a "buddy box" which is a system of linking the trainee's transmitter to to the instructor's so that he can take back control once you start to make a mistake. I'm not trying to curb your enthusiasm but flying an r/c model is not as easy as it looks. I wrecked two or three models when learning to fly thirty-six years ago but that was before buddy boxes were commonplace.

I am pleased that you want to build your own model rather than buy an ARTF and as for covering a model in tissue, if you apply tissue over doculam you will have a much more puncture resistant covering. This video shows the technique. You will also be introduced to a cultured Black Country accent!

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

So bored I agree with David, that said check out some of the 1/4A posts here and on RC Groups you may find some help there. I find a good indoor flying place too.

bisco

I did it backwards, started with a 9” wing span and moved up in size as my skills progressed until i maxed out at 39”. i prefer around 8-900mm for the size of my flying areas.

flyboy2610

My Feedback: (1)

I would also recommend getting a flight simulator, such as RealFlight
https://www.realflight.com/

It can't replace hands-on 1 on 1 training, but it can help develop the muscle memory you'll need. Money well spent, IMHO.

Telemaster Sales UK

It was a lovely day yesterday in the middle of France. I took both of my Barons, Bertie and Boris, with me to practice low level flight for La Coup Des Barons in June. Colourful aren't they? The wind was a bit stronger than forecast and unfortunately I was too low and too slow when executing a downwind turn with Bertie. The model stalled and hit the deck damaging the fuselage. After thirty-six years of flying these things you'd think that I would have learned something! It's certainly repairable and it will give me a chance to make a better job of an old repair. I may change the elevator actuation while I'm at it. Quite a bit of rain has been forecast for the coming week so I should have the time.

Both models flew well but the thread in the exhaust port of the Thunder Tiger 54 in the Ukrainian Baron is on its last legs. I have some Liquid Metal which I could use but even if it's a successful repair it will lock the exhaust in one position. If the worst comes to the worst I have at least four OS 52 and 48 Surpasses which would do the job. The Ukrainian Baron is 100 grammes (3.5 ounces) heavier than the other one but I could detect no difference in their flying characteristics.

At full power both models climbed like hell and I was having to hold in some down elevator to achieve level flight. I thought about introducing some down elevator at full chat but don't know how to do it. I use a Spektrum DX9.

I also flew my World Models Super Frontier Senior, an ARTF copy of a SIG Kadet Senior but that was so boring that I didn't bother taking a picture of it.

Despite the fine conditions only five of us turned up and one of those didn't bring a model with him. All of the others flew electric ARTFs, all but one were foamies.

C'est la vie et un signe des temps.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Sounds like you had a great time!

Telemaster Sales UK

My best friend in England is called Marino Pacini. His father was a prisoner of war, so was mine if it comes to that, but that's another story. Marino runs a service garage. It's quite a big concern with four ramps. He had a customer who owned an XE Jaguar. When this man died, his family approached Marino for an estimate as to how much it would cost to get the car through an MoT. The Ministry of Transport Test (MoT) is a safety test for all vehicles over three years old and covers such things as brakes, lights, horn, steering, tyres, suspension, wheel bearings and corrosion. Without a valid MoT you are not allowed to drive a vehicle on the public roads in the UK. Marino gave them an estimate and after some deliberation they came back and said that because he had looked after their father so well, they wanted Marino to have the car free, gratis and for nothing!

What's the expression? Virtue brings its own rewards?