Innehållsförteckning för January 2026 från RCM&E

Welcome to the January 2026 issue of RCM&E. With this issue going on sale just a ter mid-December it feels a much more appropriate time to be passing on my best wishes for the forthcoming Christmas and New Year festivities to all our readers, advertisers, sta f and all your families too. I hope you have a lovely time and that if you are lucky enough to receive any modelling orientated gi ts then they are just what you having been wishing for. No doubt many of you will be looking forward to sharing a mince pie with your clubmates at the lying field sometime over the holidays. I know that many modellers enjoy the tradition of a Boxing Day meet up with friends at the local patch but that’s…

In my last column I did a ‘50 Year Flash Back’ at our hobby. It was a bit of a gamble to see if readers would find it interesting, but the response I’ve had has been brilliant and my mailbox is full of interesting 1970s hobby related snippets. Clearly the old rose-tinted specs were brought out of storage because so many things in the hobby are better today, such as radio gear, e-power, LiPo batteries etc. But a good number of things back then weren’t, such as die-crushed balsa and ply in kits, chopped fibreglass fuselages (not modern composites), poor quality hardware, huge and relatively low powered servos, to name but a few. However, these earlier limitations didn’t stop modellers of the day producing stunning models. So, I decided to…

Grumman’s F7F Tigercat was a twin fighter aircraft that served with the United States Navy (USN) and the United States Marine Corps (USMC) from late in WW2 until 1954. While the Tigercat was too late to see combat in WW2 it did perform reconnaissance roles. The type primarily saw action as a night fighter and attack aircraft during the Korean War. Early Tigercats were land-based as the aircraft was too large to operate from older, smaller carriers. Only a late variant, the F7F-4N, was certified for carrier service. The Tigercat was one of the fastest piston-engine fighters and was heavily armed. But this speed and firepower resulted in high weight and a fast landing speed. The aircraft was fitted with two 2100 hp Pratt & Whitney R 2800 Double Wasp…

Aerobatic, easy and inexpensive to build, fits in the car fully assembled; what’s not to like about this fun fly, compact, 37” wingspan, mini-multi model blast from the past. Originally featured in Radio Modeller, August 1971, and designed by David Lyall, I’ve reproduced his design brief musings from the original article below. “Before designing the Mite, I had been flying a well-known aerobatic design of 38” wingspan using an OS 19 motor. (I guess it was the Phil Kraft Flea Fli – Shaun) This machine had a few drawbacks, mainly caused by the type of field I flew at, plus the weight and size of my home-built radio gear. In order to obtain the correct C of G position in the model I had found it necessary to fit the…

This is not a medical condition but a way of enjoying a shrunk down version of an old favourite. The original Nutball is 490 mm in diameter and constructed from 6 mm EPP. My elevon version has done valiant service but is now very tatty. A new one could be made using the German Pichler EPP sheet from Model Shop Leeds which has the best qualities of EPP plus more. Our club put in a bulk order for 3 mm and 6 mm and the indoor fraternity snapped it up. It’s extremely versatile, very easy to use and has already appeared in new planes and hovercraft. John, whose models I have featured before, has made a Micro Nutball with a 300 mm diameter. That’s around 60% of the original and…

The XFly F-35 is available in two versions, with or without retracts, and it has recesses underneath for hand launching. This is the version with retracts and it comes well packed in its box. The model is built so that parts can be removed and a 70 mm fan (not included) fitted instead of the supplied 64 mm fan. I was surprised at needing a 6S LiPo for the 64 mm fan and the small model is designed to take a 3300 to 5200 mAh pack. This can be a very simple four channel model, the six control surfaces and nosewheel steering all using built in Y-leads. Adding a fifth channel gives you control of the retracts and a sixth channel gives you thrust reversing of the fan. A 50-amp…

Grab a pile of RCM&Es from the late 60s or early 70s and Phil Kraft’s name won’t be hard to find. He produced many popular designs across those decades and while some haven’t aged so well the Kwik Fli, Ugly Stick and Flea Fli in particular are recognised as out-and-out classics. The Kwik Fli series started life in 1963 but, as Kraft himself alluded to in his 1968 article for Model Airplane News, the name didn’t reflect the model’s flying speed, rather its ‘simple-to-build’ and functional nature. A smaller, lighter version appeared a year later to be followed by the seminal Mk.3 in 1965. This revision introduced a thicker, fully symmetrical wing section that helped it fly at a constant speed through manoeuvres, while a number of tweaks, including a…

TND TORNADO For February’s pull-out Pro-Plan Tony Nijhuis introduces the last of the three new models to be published in RCM&E, the Tornado GR6. The new Tornado has been in the pipeline for a couple of years and started o f as a 40” span model for a pair of 50 mm 4S fan units. Four prototypes later and having had so much success with the 70 mm 4S PowerFun unit, Tony decided to ditch the twin EDF design, make the model slightly smaller at 38” span and then squeeze in a PowerFun 70 mm fan. The results were great, with a much easier launch through better static thrust, more duration and 40% cheaper than the twin fan option. What’s not to like about that! The design of the swing…

The 21st of September 2025 saw the holding of the 20th Basingstoke Model Aero Club (BMAC) All Electric Fly-In. It has become an annual mecca for electric flight fans, although numbers were slightly down this year due to a last-minute date change due to inclement weather and a less-than-ideal forecast leading up to the rescheduled date. BMAC show organiser Roy Thompson told me he hadn’t had much sleep the week before, but he needn’t have worried as the weather was dry and we saw plenty of sunshine. There was a brisk wind, but it didn’t stop the flying as there was a constant queue of models at the flight line waiting for a fly. ESSENCE OF FLY-IN I always enjoy wandering around the pits at a Fly-In and marvelling at…

Top letter For his letter this month Mark Whitaker wins a compact e455 multi chemistry AC input charger courtesy of Overlander Batteries: www.overlander.co.uk LIPO CELL CHECK No doubt most of us are very careful to make sure our LiPos are properly charged before flight. I certainly thought I was doing everything right but would like to share how I got caught out to avoid anyone else having the same scare. When taking o f a large taildragger running on 6S, I bring the power in very gradually and get airborne at not much over half throttle, then power up for the climb out, all to help avoid excessive swing or nosing over. On this occasion, once was there was air under the wheels, I increased power but got hardly…

Traditionally, Europe’s international model gliding scene meets in Schwabmünchen in southern Germany in July for the Segelflugmesse. This was also the case from July 18th – 20th, 2025 with over 50 international manufacturers and many team pilots in attendance. In addition to the exhibition the manufacturers had the opportunity to fly their models and demonstrate their performance to the public, treating visitors to a special model glider flight show. The evening programme featured international show pilots from all model flying disciplines - aerobatics, helicopters, jets, vintage aircraft, warbirds, etc. The accompaniment of flights with pyrotechnics and music created magical moments in the evening atmosphere. During the event visitors were presented with an impressive overview of model gliders and related products. Accordingly, only an excerpt of the trade fair can be…

It recently occurred on me that I’m rapidly approaching the 33rd anniversary of starting my job with Argus Specialist Publications in Hemel Hempstead as an illustrator. 33 years? Where did that time go! Seeing that number got me thinking about my career up to this point, the people I’ve met and the opportunities I’ve been given. It seemed like a good time to make a few notes that might give you a little insight into where the drawings in RCM&E come from. AUTOMOTIVE ILLUSTRATIONS I grew up building models of all shapes, sizes and subjects, including R/C cars. I’ve always had an interest in all things mechanical. Drawing came naturally to me so a future combining those was ideal and way back, after leaving college in 1988 and before I…

Cast your mind back a few issues and you may recall my first ‘Read The Flippin’ Manual’ article. This series was prompted by spending quite a considerable number of modelling tokens on a couple of expensive kits, neither of which were supplied with any form of manual. The title of my articles was meant as a sardonic response to the seemingly increasing sad state of affairs where the more you spend on a model results in less information with which to help you build the airframe. Whilst the models in question are intended for experienced modellers we’ve all got to start somewhere, especially if dipping our toes into a new genre of model aeroplane, and just a few snippets of information would have been very welcome to get things started…