Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från RCM&E

Welcome to the May 2024 issue of RCM&E. Although spring has well and truly arrived the wet weather continues to put a dampener on pretty much all my attempts to go flying. Even more frustrating is that although conditions ‘up top’ have sometimes been very favourable, the soaking wet farm strips I usually fly from are still more puddles than grass, preventing any attempts at take-offs, even with my Super Cub fitted with huge bush plane wheels. This year I also learned to my cost that such wet and muddy conditions can be dangerous to wander around in, having slipped over when out flying, which caused soft tissue damage to my left arm and lower leg. Thankfully there were no broken bones, but I could do without the nagging pains…

You will recall last time we caught up that I had produced a cowl plug and made a female mould from which we made a part. The part came out a bit rough and very lumpy, but it is usable. As you saw, we treated it to some filler and several coats of primer eventually made it presentable. I keep saying to myself it is the journey and not the destination, which is very true… SIDE TRACKED Before we get onto more cowl work, I thought I would show you a little method I came up with to make the tail fairings. These are very prominent on the Chipmunk and making them can lead to adding a great deal of weight at the rear, which of course is right where…

VP2600 ARTF+ THERMAL GLIDER £299.99 I www.4-max.co.uk With summer just around the corner, thoughts might start to drift towards those long, warm sunny days. What better way to enjoy them than with a sparkling new thermal glider? Of wood/fibreglass/carbon fibre construction, the beautiful Value Planes VP2600 from 4-Max sports a 102.4” (2600 mm) polyhedral wing and comes with a powerful, pre-installed brushless motor along with a folding spinner assembly, a pair of folding prop blades and a high-quality hardware pack. With the Sunnysky X2216 motor providing in excess of 1000 g thrust and the model weighing in at a pretty lowly 1.87 lb (850 g) she’ll get to height very quickly, all ready to sniff out (and hopefully hang on to!) those thermals. Requires a 30A brushless ESC, 2 x…

To many, finding and locating the balance point on a model aeroplane still remains something of a black art. Personally, I never understood the need to be pedantic about this and my sole intention with this article is to assist our readers by providing straightforward, easy to follow advice. Having said that, some basic calculations and simple checks could save you a lot of frustration and money! For the benefit of keeping this complex subject understandable the use of formulas and distractions have been limited to what I consider to be an absolute minimum. For those interested in the more theoretical side of things there are many good in-depth articles and publications written about the subject by far more knowledgeable people than your scribe. This article does not tell you…

Looping the loop The evergreen Precedent Stampe is practically an R/C institution. It’s a proper kit that, at 82” (2m) span, was a mighty big aeroplane when introduced. I’ve always wanted one but my goodness there’s a lot of wood in the kit and the project is definitely not for fickle builders like me. Grit and determination are required to finish one of these things and that explains the healthy second-hand market. Precedent’s Stampe is a sought-after airframe and you’ll usually find they sell quickly, especially if they’re nice. Well, this example was exactly that – second-hand and lovely – so it was snapped up by Geoff at work (J. Perkins), who did a bit of tidying and flew it for a while on its original 180 four-stroke glow. Alas,…

DELYN MFC ‘ALEX WHITTAKER MEMORIAL CUP’ As we emerge from the long, damp and dark days of winter it’s nice to have some indoor club events to attend to get us in the mood for the coming flying season. Our club has held a Winter Build competition for many years and after Alex’s death we renamed it in his honour. So, on the 14th March, Delyn MFC held its monthly club meeting that incorporated the Alex Whittaker Memorial Cup. Amongst Alex’s many talents were his design and build skills and therefore his appreciation of fine craftsmanship whenever he saw it, especially in traditionally built balsa and ply models. With that in mind, this year’s award went to Brian M. Evans for his superb Manx Queen, as featured in this January’s…

BFW M.23C Here are some images of my M.23 built from the RCM&E plan designed by Jim Newberry (RC2249, March 2023 issue). I reduced weight using lighter wood. The wing in particular has become much lighter. The first flight was successful, but it was without the dummy radial engine which was still work in progress. It is powered by a Hacker A50-12L V4 and was originally fitted with a wooden 17 x 10 airscrew but now has an APC prop. The LiPo is 6S 4000 mAh. Bernd Lewerenz GRUMMAN TIGER This is a 1/6.7 scale Grumman AA5B Tiger, scratch built with balsa and ply from my own plans. I used to fly the full-size so it was an easy subject to choose. Power is from an 850 kV motor and…

Last year’s Fun Fly Nationals took place over the weekend of 19th and 20th of August at Buckminster. It was the first Nationals to be run with the revised classes and some new trophies up for grabs. Very briefly, there are now three classes: Class 3 is the old Class 2, i.e. 3-cell max and no control mixing allowed, Class 2 is 4-cell max. with mixing permitted and Class 1 remains an unlimited class regarding power and model configuration. Class 3 has a separate, specific award for the highest placed entrant flying an unmodified Foamy ARTF model. Full details of the classes can be found at www.funfly.BMFA. org along with all the other event rules. Being British we always fret about the weather leading up to events but apart from…

Things can get a little bit tribal when it comes to which radio systems a modeller decides to operate his model aircraft on. The decision over which brand to buy into is often the result of many factors, not the least being price. But there is also a lot of sense in sticking to those radio manufacturers whose products are the most popular at the local model flying club. Over the years I have been faithful to a few well-known radio brands, starting with MacGregor Digimacs on 27 MHz before the introduction of 35 MHz saw the need for me to upgrade to a more up to date system, this time in the form of Sanwa which offered access to a decent quality Japanese made radio at an affordable price.…

Now then, I’m quite sure that the Heinkel He 162 needs very little introduction - so here it is…. In late 1944 the Luftwaffe was desperate for a cheap, throwaway ‘Volksjäger’ fighter aircraft built mainly using wood as metals were by then in short supply. This requirement begat the Heinkel He 162 Spatz (Sparrow). ‘Salamander’ was in fact the codename for the wing design and not the whole aircraft but as the name Salamander has become fixed in the minds of the public no-one knows this fact except for us pedants. The He 162 entered service in the last few weeks of the war by which time fuel was almost unobtainable and Germany was collapsing and so it saw very little combat. Personally, I find both the He 162 and…

TOP QUARK Top Quark emerged from a challenge that John Hutson set himself to design, build and fly an electric R/C model in seven days, as detailed in the December 2023 issue of RCM&E. After the prototype proved to be a practical flying model, John committed to drawing up a comprehensive plan and building a second model, which is the subject of next month’s Pro-Plan feature. Despite the unorthodox wing layout construction is deceptively simple, making for a rapid build. Top Quark spans 800 mm and is powered by a 2826 2200 kV motor running from a 3S 1300 – 2200 mAh LiPo. AGUSTA A109A After Peter Reinerth’s had completed his first 600 size scale helicopter build, using a ready painted Bell 206 fuselage, he wanted to make a more…