Innehållsförteckning för October 2024 från RCM&E

FLAIR STEARMAN Well, let’s be honest. If you have been lying models since the early 1980s then you have probably owned a Flair model or two. My own collection over the years included most of the Scout range but also the Stearman, which I built in 2000 and first lew on the show line at the Nats the same year. It also lew several times at Weston Park and lots of other times, fitted with a Zenoah 45, and is still going strong some 24 years later. Also shown is my Fokker Dr.1 triplane that I had always wanted and acquired a few years back courtesy of the BMFA website. It is lown with adequate power by a Zenoah 20 and is also still lying well. Lindsay Todd AWACS HERCULES…

April saw my first visit to the BMFA Scale Indoor Nationals at the Walsall Sports Centre. In the July issue of RCM&E Danny Fenton gave the event excellent coverage so I will keep my brief comments to a personal view. The flying area is spacious, although a certain VC 10 needed every centimetre of it! The spectator balcony gave us a good view of the action and the pits. Danny explained in detail the different classes but as a spectator new to the event I had not taken on board the implications of the three different classes. There was a large entry of models in RCX-2 flying only and this class was flown first; given there are three rounds in each class it took a very long time to complete.…

WESTON PARK 2024 Steve Bishop and his team have been running the Weston Park Model Show for 27 years and once again they had bagged some impressive models and pilots for this year’s displays. The only thing they couldn’t control was the weather and this year’s show was treated to some downpours of biblical proportions, especially on the Saturday. The sun did show up between the showers though and the Weston Park show pilots are a hardy breed. As long as they were able to keep their transmitters dry, they were quite happy to plough on. And what a show it turned out to be, keeping Mike and Al Freeman busy taking pictures for their in-depth show report. BOULTON PAUL P-75 OVERSTRAND Jon Harper continues his Pro-Plan feature on building…

VMC WESTLAND LYSANDER Newly released from the Vintage Model Company hangar, and the latest addition to their Magnificent Flying Machines range, the 22” wingspan Westland Lysander promises a challenging build with proven free- light credentials. Designed by Andrew Darby, VMC think this may be the first balsa Lysander since the old Keil Kra t Small Flying Scale kit from the 1950s. The Lysander was most famous as a stealthy carrier of SOE operatives behind enemy lines during WWII and this new version includes black tissue covering and a marking scheme that re lects those operations. The kit is supplied with a precise plotted plan, detailed instruction booklet, laser cut parts, vacuum-formed canopy, spinner and engine cowl, 6” prop, Super Tan rubber, prop hook and bushings. There’s even a bottle of…

Carefully cut out the templates for the fuselage skin, formers F1 though F8, the cockpit floor, fuselage front upper, front reinforcement piece and the tail fin. Mark and cut out the fuselage skin from 3 mm Correx, ensuring you also mark the former positioning lines. Measure the overall chord length of your wing at the root centreline and fine tune the positioning lines for formers F3 and F5 to ensure your wing will fit nicely between them. De-flute the skin as per the plan’s instruction. In order to retain as much strength as possible only de-flute every other channel and only in the regions where the skin will be curved around the formers. Normal practice is that each former comprises two thicknesses of 3 mm Correx with their flutes aligned…

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dudley Pattison’s series on the history of Flair in the April to July issues. My aeromodelling career started at about the same time as Dudley and his wife, Jane started the company, and it was great to match their timeline with mine. I have built and flown a few Flair models over the years too… Happy days! The Flair Fly-In at Banbury Model Flying Club (BMFC) in July was the brainchild of Alex Webb, with the help of BMFC committee members Stuart Bishop and Alan Hunt. I was well chuffed when Kevin asked me to cover the event. I imagined a real nostalgia event on a nice summer’s day with lots of the trademark Flair semi scale WW1 biplanes and monoplanes wafting around in the summer…

XFLY F-18 £169.99 I www.cmldistribution.co.uk The latest addition to their twin 40mm EDF lineup, XFly Model’s 705mm span F-18 Hornet has been thoughtfully designed to be as streamlined and true-to-scale as possible with scale details including air inlet, cockpit, nozzle and full- lying horizontal stabilisers. When paired with a 4S 1300-2600mAh LiPo the factory-installed 12-blade fans, KV5500 brushless motors and twin 20A brushless ESCs combine to deliver an abundance of thrust for fast climbs, rolls, loops and high alpha lying, with light times of around 3-8 minutes achievable using proper throttle management. A lightweight yet sturdy fixed U/C makes for straightforward ROG operation and is easily removeable for hand launching, which brings the benefit of increased speed and improved manoeuverability. Complementing the model’s performance, the twin EDF power system and…

The XFly-Models F-22 Raptor arrived extremely well packed in a custom designed polystyrene crate, with all the parts well protected. This is a twin 40 mm EDF jet constructed from EPO, with ABS plastic parts for strength and rigidity. It comes with the following items pre-installed: ■ 5 x 9-gram digital servos ■ 2 x 40 mm ducted fans (12 blades) with powerful 5000 kV motors ■ 2 x 20-amp ESCs linked and fitted with an XT60 connector Also included are a bag of screws with two Allen keys, a pair of servo ball link connectors for the elevators, a set of landing gear, a carbon fibre wing joiner tube and a comprehensive instruction manual showing detailed assembly stages, control surface movements and the recommended C of G. Removing the packaging and the…

“I’ve always fancied a big four-engined WW2 bomber.” That fateful comment from John Rogers to Bill Pilsbury of the Northampton Model Aircraft Club (NMAC) was to lead to 22 months worth of research, design and building to yield a 104-inch scale model of a Handley Page Halifax bomber. Long-time clubmates, the two originally met through their involvement with the Avon Cosmetics Model Display Team, a very active environment in the 1970s and 80s. Bill hailed from a model design background, with many aero model designs to his name, and professionally with Bassett-Lowke and other modelling organisations. John is an avid aeromodeller since childhood, his father being a well-known free flight aficionado. Both are enthusiastic, experienced and capable modellers. Bill also provides a really useful service as Club Photographer for NMAC.…

Buying used models has become quite the thing these days, what with radio gear being virtually foolproof and models seemingly lasting much longer in good flyable condition. It’s great to get a bargain, better still when your purchase proves to be that gem that outperforms all expectations. I rarely buy second-hand but have been tempted from time to time and have mostly been pleased with my ‘bargains’, but as a salutary lesson I offer the following tale – which may, or may not, be true. Only my friends back in ‘La Belle’ can chortle over the memory and salute the event with a pre-prandial Kir Royale. EAGLE’S NEST? Like many, I’ve been known to scan the ‘well known online auction site’ for aerial bargains and mostly resisted their siren calls…