Innehållsförteckning för July 2025 från RCM&E

Welcome to the July 2025 issue of RCM&E. Modellers can be a cra ty lot and I’ve heard of myriad ways in which new kits, engines, radios and other expensive items have been snuck past seemingly unaware wives and partners, especially those who do not share our fascination with this fabulous hobby. My own poor wife has long given up on holding the fort against the intrusion of all sorts of modelling paraphernalia into our home and I can’t say I really blame her, especially as my simple retort when she finally snaps is, “It’s all part of the job!” However, it appears that I do need to be a little more careful not to reveal too much within the pages of the magazine about what’s going on in my…

I can’t believe its two months since my last column but I’ve had a busy time visiting my goddaughter in Aberdeen for a week (and getting some cheeky flying in under the thinly veiled excuse of entertaining her two young boys) and then scooting off to Sweden to catch up with Tobe, whose model designs, 3D printed sticks, Galloping Ghost actuators, servos, cases, transmitters etc. I’ve previously featured in my column. Anyway, less waffle as I need to get this article finished for Kev. Hopefully I have another mixed bag of interesting chit-chat for you again. FRED MILITKY ‘Fred who?’, I bet many of you will be saying. Well, Fred Militky could be considered the father of electric flight. Back in the late 1950s he designed a free flight model…

Top letter For his letter this month Peter Willson wins a compact e455 multi chemistry AC input charger courtesy of Overlander Batteries: www.overlander.co.uk IC TO ELECTRIC COMPARISONS As an ‘oldie’ who has a recollection and some experience of glow and diesel engine sizes I struggle to equate these to the new generation of electric motors. For example, I know what .40 two stroke or .52 four stroke means but I have no clue what the equivalent motor size would be. Some motors quote dimensions, e.g. 3547, some quote watts, then there are 3S and 4S ratings, recommended propeller sizes, geared and non-geared, in-runner and out-runner and kV ratings to contend with. Added to this one has to factor in choices of LiPo voltage and C ratings, and choice of…

The Skylark 1 made its appearance in the 1950s and was to precede three future Skylark types, culminating in the Type 50 Skylark 4. At one-sixth scale it’s a very handily sized glider and fits nicely with my previous types at this scale. DEVIATIONS FROM SCALE The full size did not have a wheel but used a dolly instead so it shouldn’t be too difficult to modify for those of a purist disposition. As this is a fairly small model and the wing loading needs to be kept low the airbrakes have been left out of the equation and the glide path control shifted to the ailerons, which are programmed to lift simultaneously when the occasion demands. Also, the wing mounting pylon has been widened to help contain the strain…

What is a radio-controlled model aircraft? A model aircraft can be a rotorcraft or an aeroplane. A jet aeroplane is probably the most familiar mode of transport to your holiday destination. Helicopters are another familiar sight in the sky and are widely used by the police, military and general aviation. Other aircraft in our skies are light aircraft, military jets and private jets. All these can be scaled down to an appropriate size and with some alterations to wings and controls, or rotors, they can be given a radio control system, an engine of some sorts and made to fly. These are scale models. You may have heard the term ‘Warbird’. This is a scale model of a military aircraft. Then there are models specifically designed as model aircraft. These…

BMFA NATIONAL CENTRE – THE YEAR AHEAD Manny Williamson, Centre Manager at the BMFA National Centre for Model Flying at Buckminster in Leicestershire, has sent in details of what visitors to the centre can expect to see, and events to participate in, over the next few months: The BMFA National Centre for Model Flying has become an established facility and is now into its eighth year of operation. The Centre is busy all year with events and activities taking place every weekend from March until late November, plus a good number of midweek events in the mix. The majority of events are ‘open’ types and provided the activity fits in with your interests and aircraft then a significant number are turn up and pay on the day. Of course, some…

I arrived at the field to find Harry looking a little down. “Hiya, Harry. What’s up?” “Radio failure on my model the other day. I was just turning Finals and suddenly I had no control. Total wreck. Annoying thing though is that the receiver and the connected channels were still working correctly when I recovered the model.” “Ah, so perhaps not radio failure then. What was the weather like? I recall I avoided flying that day as the forecast was for windy/gusty conditions.” “Yes, it was a quite windy and gusty day, but a few other guys were up flying their aerobatic ships and my model seemed to cope well enough.” “And you say the model went out of control as you were turning onto finals?” “Yes, on downwind the…

I’ve been mulling over writing something semi-regular from my perspective as RCM&E’s editor for quite some while. My main incentive is to give myself a gentle kick up the backside with regard to my own personal modelling projects, some of which I hope will be of interest to our readers, plus reveal a few ‘Bucket List’ projects that I am starting to gather old kits, parts and plans for when retirement beckons in a few years. I also intend to give updates on some of the kit reviews that are ongoing behind the scenes, as well as catching up with some of the products and aircraft covered in past issues, especially those that warrant a bit more coverage than the space allocated for most reviews usually allows. However, it’s probably…

MODEL MAGIC A ter visiting the 2018 F4 Scale World Championships when 13 years old, Matthias Hausmann was inspired to build the Robin DR400/180 lown from his local airfield. The Jodel ‘Remorqueur’ is a well-known French light aircra t which is o ten used for glider towing. The French word ‘remorquage’, which is similar to ‘remorqueur’, means ‘towing’. Laichingen is a small airfield and in the following years Matthias would earn his glider pilot’s licence there and ly in this Jodel, as well as being towed by it. So, the perfect conditions were in place to build and ly a scale model of this aeroplane. With the help of CAD so tware, Matthias and his father Marcus created their own plans. The ribs and formers were cut from poplar plywood…

The Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a probably won’t need much introduction to RCM&E readers. Becoming operational relatively late in WW1 it was one of the fastest fighters of the era and was instrumental in gaining air superiority in the closing stages of the conflict. Powered by either a Hispano-Suiza 8 or Wolseley Viper engine with either two or four blade props, both engines were water cooled leading to the type’s distinctive nose radiators. Interestingly it was designed in part by one Henry Folland, who went on to form the Folland Aircraft Company which produced the Gnat jet trainer. I’ve always had a soft spot for WW1 era aircraft, but their design often means the flying qualities of model versions is less than ideal. Short noses mean the Centre of Gravity is…

In some slope soaring circles it’s a very dirty word and I know I shouldn’t use the C-word but perhaps you’ll forgive me just this once… That word is of course ‘combat’. For years I resisted the urge to slap a few chunks of foam together, preferring instead to come over all high minded and virtuous when everyone else was trying to knock each other out of the sky. Eventually I relented, splashed sixty quid on an MT Foamies Wildfire wing and can honestly say that no other model has provided more fun. Wings tend to come out more over the winter months when it’s too chilly, grey, damp and muddy for the nicer soarers. Several new flyers have joined the fun this year, with Hacker’s 1.2 metre span Tomahawk…

The first event of the UKF3A competition season took place at the Plane Crazy Model Flying Club which is a popular flying site in the Midlands managed by Steve Carefoot. Aerobatic competitions have been run at this site for many years as the flying area is second to none in terms of quality, accessibility and facilities. Also, Steve and his band of merry modellers run a mean barbeque for competitors and judges alike which serve to make for an enjoyable day out. The 1st Centralised event has been run at Hurley for several years now, ably managed by club and UKF3A member Adrian Harrison and supported by key individuals to ensure smooth running of this busy competition. In fact, entry into these events is much easier these days since model…

Being ‘of an age’ I have a certain affinity with models of my vintage, one being the 1948 Keil Kraft ‘Topper’ designed by Albert Hatfull, of very distinctive fuselage shape and huge vee tail. I’d enlarged the plan to twice-size, a manageable two metres (80 inches), with an inrunner motor grafted into the nose to preserve the ‘look’ of the original 40-inch glider and using my well proven ‘twisteron’ wing control. After setting up at my club patch one of the lads heaved the Topper away and off the big beauty went, slow, stately and like a galleon in full sail. The big 5000 mAh LiPo used to finalise balance meant long flight times under power and only boredom brought about an eventual landing, culminating in a long slither along…

Every aeromodeller should have an airbrush in their workshop. I’ve owned one for some 15 years now and although it only sees occasional use, perhaps when decorating a small foamie, it’s good to have around. The late Ian Peacock, an accomplished model designer, builder and writer was a skilled airbrush exponent too. Older readers may remember his Let us Spray articles in Aeromodeller. I recall seeing him use one at the Pontins Model Festival in the late 1970s to leave an impressive Scottish piper motif on the side of Len Mount’s large (for the time) Bucker Jungmeister. ‘Black art’ were the words that came to mind, a notion that didn’t change until I went along to a beginners’ airbrush course many years later. We took ‘em apart, cleaned them, put…

HARRIER DOWN Tony Nijhuis was displaying his very impressive VTOL Harrier at the 2024 Basingstoke All Electric Fly-In when one of the EDF units disintegrated mid hover with catastrophic results. Less than one second covers the sequence of events shown here. It took Tony a little longer to repair but the Harrier was soon back in the air for more testing. Tony’s model is 1.1M span and lies using four 62 mm EDF units fed by a single 5S 3200 mAh LiPo. Each fan is gimballed for back, forth and yaw control. The model uses quadcopter stabilisation and, at the time of writing, was the only VTOL model Harrier capable of truly transitioning from hover to conventional light. It’s an amazing achievement that took three years and 13 prototypes to…