RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Good day at Wtn yesterday...despite the cold wind chill Big G managed to get sunburned! Highlight of the day was first flight of Harry Curzon's Mick Reeves Lightning. Can't upload pics here but I have put a couple on the JMAs site...

http://jmajets.co.uk/board/viewtopic...9&p=8617#p8617

Harry, feel free to chip in here with details mate.

Cheers,

Dick

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Excellent day indeed. By 4pm the weather was shockingly like Spring. Queens award for bravery goes to Harry for maidening his Lightning. It looked to be quite a ride!<div>
</div><div>A few more photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/abailey...7633185679052/</div>

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

He could have spoken to me about the mods I made to the one Ian Wilde flies regularly, took me 7 months of mods/experimenting to get the MR Lightning flying well!

Dw

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Harry - your Lightning looks great! Look forward to seeing it when fully finished!

Cheers - Pat

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

I have had a lot of contact with Ian who has been very helpful sending me photos of travels, tailplane neutral positions etc. I replicated his settings, but mine was very lively! A bit too much aileron response even with a lot of expo, and way too much elevator response, so the final approach to land was a continuous series of PIOs. The good news was that as it got slower and slower at the top of each successive oscillation, it showed no sign of tip stalling or of stalling at modest speeds. CG might be the culprit but when I retracted the wheels for the first time, on the second flight, it shifts the CG further back and makes a pronounced trim change so I was ready to flick the wheels down again if it became too unstable but it was no different. Perhaps with the redesign I did of the tailplane mount and control rods I have got a sharper response? Who knows. My first mods will be to keep turning the travels down as I am using Phil Goff's balance point so we know that works in the long term and the retract situtation showed it is not at a critically rearward position.

Orientation was far harder than handling, thank goodness I sprayed fluourescent orange on top of the wings just before flying it.

Thrust comes from a Wren 160, radio is Weatronics 12-22Rx using 15 servo outputs. Fuel tank is my own custom made job, with 4.5 litres/1 gallon capacity. I changed the MR straight pipe with single row of welds for a Wren divergent thrust pipe with double row of welds. The model is fitted with airfighter's reheat rings on two separate channels slightly staggered so they switch on and off at different points and their flicker is out of synch, and my own design brake 'chute housing with scale doors that slide up inside the fuselage in a curve, with the 'chute cable clipped around the jet pipes to the cable release under the rudder. MR's retracts which I took apart and cleaned, polished the scratches out of the pushrod, lubed internally with lots of silicon oil, dry lubed the external parts with soft graphite, and they worked fine on their one use so far! No problem getting the main wheels to come down and lock against the airflow.

I had planned to use a Tam's gear failsafe, but having been warned that the main wheels can struggle to come down against the airflow and that max pressure is needed, it seemed a failsafe that by definition is triggered by lower pressure wouldn't be much use as by then the main wheels would only come partly down. Therefore I fitted an emergency blow down system as explained by David Gladwin in a recent RCJI. It's a separate tank and valve with a one way restrictor, into the main retract system, operated by a switch on the Tx. Because the Weatronic Rx is programmable I can do it on the main retract channel, it doesn't need a separate channel from the Tx. If I get any problems bringing the wheels down, I move the switch and the emergency air tank at full pressure is dumped into the retract down lines.

I did a lot of structural redesign and modifications but haven't got time list them all.

H

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Like you I did lot of changes, the wing tube system was the first, I moulded sleeves on the tubes and glued these to the fuselage as the designed "blade" system with the fuselage sides meant the wings moved when the aeroplane was rolled and the trim changed each time as the wings moved.
I moved the balance back a mile from where it was when I got it, I did give the figures to MR as his plan figure was a tonne nose heavy.
I re did the elevator pivots as Mick's ali bar/brass tube was junk, check with a little back pressure on the tail halves it does not bind....
I think from memory I used JR 8511 servos on each elevator half.
The MR retracts were re-built with new O rings to stop leaks, I never had a gear let go after the first flight and all I did was slow down before dropping the gear.

Dave

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

One thing I forgot to say is with the long nose, big "lifty" fuselage in front of the wings and small tail area I think it does want to be a little nose heavy and elevator gets a bit dead. I had a mix on a switch where the ailerons acted with the elevators (as they are in the same plain anyway!) I found +- 6mm helped

Dave

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

If Carlsberg did jets days then today it was, absolutely cream crackered, but what a fab day, second jet flying day of the year for me, so very pleased to finally get the maiden flight done on the Jim Fox Typhoon, plus ten flights on the Phoenix, Harry C had 6 more test flights on the EE Lightning, Dick had loads on his L39 as did David Gladwin with his jet (SORRY I forgot Andy with his Typhoon) , plus sausage and chips from the chippy all round at the airfield, all in fantastic weather.

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...965/2013/2.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...965/2013/1.jpg

More pics to follow

lozza

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Laurie,
Really good to see it finally flown. So how was it?

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Great day today...total of 47 jet flights done by 5 pilots with 7 models - and then there was the banger and chips (cheers Loz!)...

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Early days Geoff but flew very well, I was so convinced it would be a pile of rubble I even bought along a bin bag, 5 clicks of up and 2 clicks of right, landing was a greaser, so now time to get out again and tring again, not sure what powr is like as i kept it very simple just circuits and landing approches.

Hopefully see you over the weekend

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Good to hear Laurie.

Will be at wroughton on monday as i am away at Merryfield tomorrow and Sunday flying the 104.

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Ok hopefully see you Monday

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Dick, lozza, David and Andy, thanks for your company yesterday, it was a jet flying day that will be remembered for a long time.

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Thanks for yours too, (and I promise the BVM F4 next time !) and Lozza who made his Typhoon first flight look so easy, (for the chips and sausages too!) Andy, and Dick, what a wonderful day we had. Lets do it again soon ! Bit of a Weatronics convention, too, with 4 of us using it !

Thanks again, chaps,

David.

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Few pics...

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Dick, will you stop posting photos please as some of us have to work and couldn't make it.

Mind you, I have a new name for the lot of you....the grumpy old men or at least that is what I think when I look at the photos of you all.

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Grumpy old mens toys

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Hmm I wonder what the average age/weight was of those who attended. ;)

Mike

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Must have to do with those whip antennae they have on the nose of their aircraft. http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/js/f...wink_smile.gif

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

LOL!!! Geoffrey, how can you possibly say that now you've exceeded 45 and were the grumpiest devil going when I was good enough to text you from the chippy yesterday to say how good a time we were having?!!:D Some people are just never satisfied!

Dick

PS. Enjoy MF tomorrow...and Nikki :D See you Monday

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Rude not to Have shots of the OLD MASTER at work, lower down oops

And a few from two weeks ago oh yea

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8244/8...0cacac23_b.jpg
T.S.P Tornado Royal Saudi Air Force by lauriehughes, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8543/8...b37f4592_b.jpg
T.S.P Tornado Royal Saudi Air Force by lauriehughes, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8539/8...ca38e2b3_b.jpg
Climbing out of RAF Lossiemouth complete with Raptor pod by lauriehughes, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8115/8...c9433a3c_b.jpg
Climbing out of RAF Lossiemouth complete with Raptor pod by lauriehughes, on Flickr

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Oooh! Gotta love Tonkas (which replaced the 104 in the Luftwaffe ;) )

Looking forward to seeing your 104 on Sunday Geoff:D

Gordon

PS. Why aren't there more model Tonkas? Lozza's pics regularly showcase them in truly dynamic form.

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

G can go in with Nicki, i will go in the spare room . . . . . will actually manage to get some sleep, he can listen to her ramblings!

RE: A few pics from Wroughton
 

Well done Lozza looks great brings back memories from when me and Gary scratch built the original I have two kits in stock if any ones interested archie
<br type="_moz" />