Rowdy_b64

Geoff .. The bloke gave me the ****s over the phone as well .. wonderful business man

tam popo

V8 - Ok, lets get this nitro thing sorted pal....
First off, I love nitro planes, I appeciated the techno stuff and the skills needed. I love 'clubs', and usually the guys that can talk all day about flying, 'cos I'm one of them!!!
I need to improve my flying skills, just as you have probably realised, but there are limited ways to do it. Sims are Ok, books give knowledge, but there is no substitute for 'hands-on' lessons from an old timer at the local club. I would join a club tomoroow and fly leccy, with maybe an Arising Star nitro if needed for the lessons. Money and time has never been a been a problem for me - I've got both in abundance!!!
But what I object to is travelling an hour to a club, waiting to learn, get a 15-minute lesson, wait again etc......for £60 a year. And then have to take a test (bronze) to prove I can fly/crash.
I will join a club, even after all the obstacles, and take lessons. And I love nitro planes but not the noise, smell or cost. Thats my take on the subject and I really, genuinely find that you (personally) are a welcome member of this thread. Yer planes are still smelly though.......: D

tam popo

Shock horror - I actually went flying today!!! I took the new SS (now with ailerons!!) and the BigBalsaBird for a quickie.....bloody footballers were at my usual slope site so had to go down the road to a big field. First up the SS, bloody great but needed the wings moving way back to achieve a decent flight. Very sensitive, even with trim dialled into the TX and then bang....hit a telephone wire coming in....no real damage but things need tightening up.
BBB was next.....I just couldn't get it to take off without snaking all over the field. Tightened one of the u/c wheels and tried again but the same thig happened - I suspect the thrust line is toooo far to the right. So I just hand launched and off it went for 4 circuits of the big field. Coming in to land it nosed over but no real damage, just a slight rip in the covering. Considering this plane is being sold for £57 for nitro use by Ben Buckle Planes and I converted to leccy it flies really well, loads of power even on 2200 2S. Definately a keeper and tough as old boots.
I'm making some enquiries about joining a club([]) and might need a nitro (shock horror), and I can get a new Arising Star with engine, servos, etc and add my own TX/RX for about £120 - thats cheap. But then I'll need all the 'bits' to go with it. More research!!!
See ya all tonight, byeee......

The_Mongrel

That's OK mate... We can hang out together now! Question is... which one of us is bringing the Banjo and which one is going to squeal like pig! [X(][X(][X(]

Cheers
-J

VeeAte

Hahaha. Nicely said.
Its all good mate. I understand.

Our club will teach you on basically whatever you bring to the field. They "recommend" a .40 size nitro plane. But if you want to bolt a massive brushless motor to the front the instructor out there is quite prepared to teach you on that type of plane.

And one old timer learnt to fly with an EZ *.

As long as it is inspected and passes then its all good.
I would find out first if you can use an electric. I can't see how or why they would stop you using either. Unless they are all anti-electric. My club are all pretty cruisy and we dont have a huge amount of members. This year I think its only 15 people who have paid up so far. We have been up as high as 150, but that was some years ago ad it hasnt been that big for a while.
I think the older guys just like more people to yarn to. Re-telling old stories etc.

When all is said and done I just love flight in any shape or form.

Like one guy at the club scratch built a Ford Trimotor plane. The old planes that look like they are sheeted in corrugated iron. Now this plane was big, and because of its design will never fly fast. He didnt build it to bore holes in the sky. With a stiff wind it can barely pull itself through the air to land coming from downwind. The guy loves it and a lot of people would have a hard time flying it. Now when this guy wasnt at the club one weekend I overheard one of the younger members pulling the piss out of the plane because of its slow flight characteristics. He quickly got cut down by a few of the older members. And quite rightly so. The plane took the better part of 6 months to build. And it was built from three old grainy black and white pictures. Which to me is simply astounding!!
This nit-picking is the only thing I have a problem with. But the guy is young so he wants to see planes doing 400MPH doing loops and barrel rolls at 2 feet above the gound.

I like going fast too. But I can appreciate the time and effort and considerable skill that went into building that trimotor. Thats what I love as well. The ability of some guys to either build from scratch. Or solve ARF build or flight problems with ingenuity. Its all about getting in there an having a go. Regardless of the outcome.

I hereby drop the nitro v leccy debate.
It's like telling someone thats favourite colour is blue, that they really should be liking red because thats your favourite.

Keep ya wings level and ya prop above ground. [8D]

bleary

Well said mate.
Bleary

machette

Back in 1980 I went to the Bendigo club and the fees were $160 ....$140 was insurance (and they said they never had a claim)

this year it is $260 (220 is insurance) ........and they still have never had a claim.

A friend John Ellis just lost his house just recently because he foolishly took an insurance company to court. They admitted he was correct about their guilt but not about their liability.

I'd suggest any claim made that it would be found that the 'insured' didn't comply ........
.......probably because he soldered his own Deans on without a 'solderers licence'

dream on you guys if ever you think you are protected by insurance.

Just heading to Echuca to pick up my 94th affidavit against this one person ...........94 peoples word against one of these 'protected species' won't be enough proof though.......big brothers alive and well

I shouldn't be in this conversation as I'm bent and twisted about this.....but everything swings around on the dollar .....no matter what we'd better comply to the norm as stepping outside it could see you fall off the merry go round.

Just about to leave for my run to Echuca and what do you know a storm just struck town ......sorry Hughie

clovus

But I like green

clovus

VeeAte

Hahaha. You'll like red or else mister!!

Well regardless of wether I am covered by this or that for whatever reason. I simply wont take the risk. If someone is injured or killed I am told regardless of how who or why, the clubs insurance covers it. Thats what public liability insurance is for.

All models are inspected by designated people at the club and if they give the go ahead to fly then as far as I am aware we are covered. Property and damage/death to humans is all I care about. Besides I cant/wont fly at the footy oval over the road, because as soon as you do there is 20 odd kids running around. + there is a daycare centre across the road. The thought of losing control of the plane and hitting a kid just sends shivers down my spine.
At the field there is usually 10 people tops and they are standing under a tin roof.
Not that its impossible to hit someone. But a LOT less likely to damage someone out there than anywhere near town.

Without insurance if I hit or even worse killed someone the damages costs would keep me broke for the rest of my life.

Let alone mental anguish for the rest of my life.

I understand a lot of people find it impractical to continue the hobby if they have to drive for an hour to find somewhere to fly away from people.

But minimisation of risk must come into it somewhere.

I have seen the end result of a plane prop "walking" up someones arm while they were tuning it. That was on the ground and it wasnt running flat out.
Nasty stuff.

geoffviper

I fly at the local oval 20 mtrs from my back door and l understand what your saying V8

The good thing about our oval is it has a licenced bar and serves meals and l am their entertainment

with a total agreement that l will entertain them as long as they

1/ don't yell " crash it mate" ( l get a little upset if l hear that )

2/ Don't come onto the field

3/ don't ask me questions like " how far can it go " ( wouldnt you love a dollar for that question)

4/ l will teach but they need to listen to the plane l tell them they need to learn on
not get on ebay find a Mustang that says "perfect learning model"

l don't fly the P40 there, l keep that for the racecourse or PP

Insurance

l once came home to find my garage open and most of my planes/ gear gone
and a neighbour telling me " ohhh l thought l heard someone in your garage"

they replaced the lot

but as for hitting a person or house/car so forth ummmmm l just hope it wont happen

cause l dont know if cover would eventuate

ohh and TAM
dont let Mong play any banjo music
he's humming the theme song from Deliverence
and that even scares me

geoffviper

Ohhh

and l drive 2 hours to fly a PP

and love the whole time it takes

another thing about elecs

USUALLY

Elecs dont open you up , though, 9 stitches due to hand launching in the wrong spot
may occur

also

l have a mate who flies both Elec and nitro
he loves the sound of the nitro and the convenience of elec

look at your planes pick one and try an elec conversion, you have too many anyway
you'll be stocked at the result

whissel_blowa

Pretty sure this year's insurance fee was $104.00 from the MAAA, dunno where the $220.00 figure comes from...

The_Mongrel

Well - it might not be that simple. If it can be proved that you were doing something that goes against the M.A.A.A rules and regulations... ie. you were doing something that said you can't, then your insurance is worth less than the shoes on your feet!!

I urge people to please don't fall into this sense of well being because you think the insurance company has your back. Fly every flight like you don't have insurance - even if you do!! Prevention is better than cure!!

Cheers
-J

VeeAte

Very good point.


I don't know which of my planes would make a good electric conversion. The Chipmunk has already been fitted with a .50 2 stroke. The Sea Fury has a .91 4 stroke on the way. The trainer has a .46 2 stroke. The Ultimate Biplane has a .70 4 stroke on the way. The Harmon Rocket has a .50 2 stroke.

That only leaves the Miss America P51 Mustang. Which has a 57.5" wingspan.
By the time I buy an ESC, motor and charger etc that will end up a very expensive plane.

I was going to put the .50 2 stroke in it out of the Rocket when I ground/lawn dart her.

Any idea roughly what a brushless setup would cost for the .40 sized P51 Mustang?

ESC motor and whatever else I need?

Andrew86

V8,

Just google '.40 size electric conversion', you should get a stack of build threads show up and you can compare notes. Rest assured it won't be cheap, but it'd be a good learning experience.

For a lot of us flying 1-1.3m park electrics a little common sense is worth far more than the insurance fee any day. It frustrates me that you can't go for a sh*t anymore without seeking a formal risk assessment and getting approval from jesus christ himself.

The_Mongrel

Don't you have your approval to fly at your local park from Jesus Christ? It took me ages, but I finally managed to get him to sign it for me!

inflex

If you guys are after a different insurance mob, try the MSAA (Minature Sports Aircraft Association Inc). You'll be pleasingly surprised at the cost difference.

Paul.

Andrew86

Clovus,

Sorry mate forgot to reply. I didn't manage to get a fly in this weekend, the weather here was shocking. Friday night/Saturday felt like we were feeling the effects of hirricane Ike, crazy.

Have you got any update pics of your TM build? It must be getting close to the stage where you put all the parts together?

cheers

The_Mongrel

Paul,

have you got any further info on this mob - google failed to locate them. I found a similar thing in nsw, but no mention of insurance.

Cheers
-J

inflex

The Mongrel,

I'll have to get the contact details from the club secretary.

Paul.

The_Mongrel

Thanks Paul!

clovus

This insurance thing is why I almost always fly early in the morning with no-one around. If anyone turns up I land ASAP and pack up. Although having said that it was fun at Kambah with Oz and a few of his mates and I'd love to attend a Aussie BBQ fly -in.

Andrew,

I didn't make much progress on the weekend with the TM build. I put the top wings on and found they didn't match up with the bottom wings [:@] They were shorter by about 1.5cm each side. I checked with the plans and the wings matched perfectly to the plan so the plans must've been out. As I enlarged them by 200% I guess I also enlarged any potential errors by 200%. At the original size there would've been no noticable difference. After fixing that I didn't feel like building anymore so read some of the car mags my missus bought me. That Top Gear mag is cr@p! Just goes to show a excellent TV show doesn't always translate to a great mag.

clovus

machette

So do any of these insurance contracts actually cover crashing?? ......I'll have one of them please

Don't take me too seriously Mark ....I fly my stuff on private land other than on the cricket field next door which is also private land as it is the corner of the neighbours farm and not public land at all. (which I would guess would make a claim messy anyway ....as they pass the buck about)

With the way I spend my time outside flying, that any comment from me on this subject of liability is like asking a divorce investigator what his thoughts were on the sanctity of marriage.
Mong, if you asked JC he'd probably give you the old 'money changers in the temple' routine as he charged the chinese lipos he bought on ebay

Bloody windy here [] ........am gluin' depron together again......this one has so much glue on it now it sort of crunches and crackles when I crash it ..........need to cut out another I think.

machette

I've just written Tams name and address on my planes (and wear steries and leave no DNA )

Solves the whole problem

Budmulla

I just wanted to ad my 2.3 cents abiout the Nitro/ electric debate.

To me electrics are a step up to Nitro planes.
I remember years ago to get into rc model planes it would cost you a small fortune. $500 upwards for radio gear and a plane and engine.
Now with electrics becoming a lot better and cheaper the hobby has become obtainable for a lesser start off price.
I brought my first plane about 7 years ago, it was a crappy twin engines no elevator/rudder type plane. Cost me less than $100 to get started.
Id say electrics are now where a lot of people start out, but some club types still go the nitro trainers for their first plane.
The Goulburn club i visited (which had a membership fee of around $100) recommends a Boomerang 60 sized trainer over the 40 size (60 is more stable).
The Boomerang 60 costs around $160 and a motor around $200.
For that size of plane in electric you will need to spend some serious dollars on electric gear.

We have all heard th3e old adage, that the bigger they are the easier they are to fly.
When it comes to upsizing to larger birds ill will be going the nitro route... but im sure that wont be for a while.
To me it seems like a logical progression to start with foam and electrics and then move to balsa and nitro, then the next step if your experienced and rich is the gas turbine planes.

Some say the smell of Nitros is a bad thing , to me there is nothing sweeter than the smell of nitro burning ... maybe thats my nitro car racing days coming out of me!