Did something related to building or flying that doesn't warrant a topic all to itself? Stick it here.
Made a little progress on my Hi-Flyer Ryan ST. Trying to make the wing detachable AND square/level drives me potty. Multiply sanding down the seat only to shave it flat and glue in a new piece of wood to try again. This time I've put a piece of ~1mm carbon rod at the front (only a 'little' too low) and 2mm magnets at the back so I will have to rely on the struts for lateral level. In business speak I believe that's called 'kicking the problem down the road'. The pictues show several months of progress.
I pre-shrunk tissue for the tailfeathers of a Mr. Smoothie I'm building - from the 19" Easybuilt kit.
Had a go at fitting a new head seal to a GM120 this afternoon. This is the one that fits inside the head fittings and seals the pipe itself. On the advice of GM I used a heat gun to soften the epoxy at the tank end so I could slide the seal and fittings off without disturbing the flared end in the SS pipe which is tricky to remake. GM also very kindly made up some seals for me from silicon tubing. I've yet to test it as I now need to refit the pipes to the tank's fitting with some 24hr Epoxy but hopefully ...
Last few days.
- Corrections to a redrawn version of Nick Peppiatt's Tefft Contester plan
- Updated the build notes from John W's (lccjaw of this parish) test build notes for the cleaned up version of Richard Preston's Sonnex Highwing plan.
Today
- Finished off and sent out the latest issue of the Trinity parish newsletter.
- Got my entry in for Walsall in April. Kit Scale if yer even vaguely interested.
I may actually get some build time on the Chiribiri No.5 this week... mebbe.
Quote from: Squirrelnet on Jan 18, 2026, 07:10 PMHad a go at fitting a new head seal to a GM120 this afternoon... On the advice of GM I used a heat gun to soften the epoxy at the tank end so I could slide the seal and fittings off without disturbing the flared end in the SS pipe ... I now need to refit the pipes to the tank's fitting with some 24hr Epoxy but hopefully ...
Please let us know how you get on with whichever epoxy you use. I have used HK 15 minute epoxy in the past to re-seal leaking pipes but on first refilling, it basically spat a lump of the epoxy back at me! Bizarrely the pipes were sealed afterwards ??? I had cleaned the old epoxy off and de-greased the parts very thoroughly before re-glueing.
I surmise the rapid cooling and shrinking of the metal, perhaps before the epoxy could react likewise, meant the pipe was smaller than the gap in the epoxy, so it stayed stuck in parts but squeezed the unlucky bit of epoxy out of position? I then went on a hunt for low-temperature capable epoxy and (as always) got distracted before finding an answer. Then again it didn't happen on all the joints I had made so hopefully it won't be a problem for you.
On top of the on going, Bebe Jodel (peanut), Citabria (kit scale) & Jodel D150 (Kit scale), had to start a Basic Bostonian.
So now, I'm trying to cope with 4 projects at the same time. One is glued, the other sanded etc etc....
P.S. I'm seriusly thinking of making a Guillow's kit too, due to the international competition. I really like the idea!
Today was very hot in Sydney, so I stayed inside and ticked off a job been on my to do list for quite a while. I turned an old three speed and drill that I picked up into a rubber winder with the same three speeds: 2x, 7x and 15x. The photos are pretty self explanatory.
The three gearings are accessible through 10 mm hex stems on the winder body (two on one side and one on the other) so I took a 10 mm deep socket and melted it into a suitable handle that I printed off using the 3D printer. Then, I took off the chuck and put together the standard "Croydon" spring-loaded hook attachment and mounted it in the nose of the winder. Finally, I epoxied a magnet into the button for the nose connector and arranged and arranged for the sensor from a a cheap magnetic counter that I picked up on Timu (about AUD 20) to be placed just opposite ithat magnet so that I can keep count of the turns.
The 15x and 2x stems are on one side of the winding body and the 7x stem is on the other side. That means that, I have to rotate the front handle and counter box in order to wind using my right hand. The front handle is a friction fit tightened by a thread in a surrounding ring. To ensure that rotating this doesn't disturb the magnetic counter, a bit of slack wire is available. Also, the counter itself is mounted with magnets (it will end up on the bottom of the body once are the drill is rotated over).
I have no idea why, but my first thought was, "That's Desperate Dan's motor winder." My second was that Wallace would most definitely approve; as do I.
I spent much of yesterday and a small amount of time today building this little all sheet fun flyer. It's the Keil Kraft Sportsman - not to be confused with the Sportster in the same series. Original kits are like hen's teeth so I used the plans and parts from Paul Bradley's excellent Parmodels website. The parts we transferred on to the balsa via iron on T shirt transfer paper which is inkjet printed. Most is 1/32" or 1/32" laminated but I went with the original 1/16" for the wings as they are completely flat. You have to be a bit careful applying the T shirt transfers - it's a bit of a learning curve for sure, but it came out pretty well for a first go. I managed to find a felt tip to colour the edges of the balsa which worked quite well. The span in about 18" and it weighs 27g with a 1.5 times hook to prop loop of 3/16". I hope to get this to fly at the indoor session at Alfreton next week...
Great new model Andrew. It looks good and no doubt will go well, look forward to any pics or videos. I love the look of those printed balsa models . I think an EzeBuilt? Puss Moth was my first successful model aged 6 or 7
Some more messing about with CO2 motors today. I found after my last time fitting some head to Pipe seals to a GM120 I had some vertical movement in the pipe which should n't be there. I consulted CO2 Guru GM, and after some proper investigation, with the magnifying headset on this time, the vertical play was actually the seal being to thin and allowing the inner fitting to disappear up inside the outer fitting. Fitting two internal pipe seals has given me the correct flush fitting of the inner and outer head fittings. There was a tiny bit of play between the flare and the inner head fitting so not being an engineer (look away now if are !) I mounted the pipe in a pin vice and gave a couple of taps of a centre punch which seems to have spread it enough to fit better in the housing without splitting the brittle stainless steel pipe. Reassembling the head there is now no vertical movement in the pipe.
With that done I have fitted new O rings, the old piston ring was quite badly nicked and worn and sorted the pipe out for fitment into a future Aerographics Avro 504K build. Looks like the engine will have to be inverted unfortunately there's not enough room with the expected 5 deg of downthrust
I need to do a proper degrease before re epoxying the tank fitted ...that's the next job
Yeah, it was one of the Ezebilt ones. I do like an all sheet model! Often they belie their predicted performance...
Hi Andrew, love the all sheets model and I've been looking for a long time at all models presented at Paul Bradley's website. So many opportunities ;)
With the T-shirt-transfer-method, how much does it add to the weight?
Cheers
Alex
Finished my Fairey Firefly:
Marine Luchtvaart Dienst Fairey Firefly Mk.IV K66Modified Aerographics Kit
Test model for (maybe) a future F4D model
Scale 1/20
Wingspan 24.8"/ 63cm
Length 23.6"/ 60cm
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/attachments/1769412489093-png.642689/)
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/attachments/1769412473704-png.642687/)
Next tests will be indoor, in a gym in Velp in february
Cheers, Ramses
Very nice Firefly! What modifications did you make as you were building the kit? I picked one up last year and have been contemplating whether to lighten it up for rubber or build it for CO2 power.
Mike
Thanks Mike!
I couldn`t find an Aerographics kit, so i contacted Hadi from the VMC. He sent me the plans, canopy, wheels and plastic cowl chin, and i made my own printwood:
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/attachments/upload_2024-9-9_10-11-8-jpeg.592389/)
Modifications: Lighter and at places also thinner balsa. Added an adjustable rudder and adjustable ailerons. Also added the Youngman flaps in lowered, but undeflected position. Instead of three 3x3mm spars in the wing i used five 1.5x1.5 spars. Instead of a lifting horizontal stabiliser i made a neutral horizontal stabiliser.
In the mean time i scored an original Aerographics kit:
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/attachments/1767116716858-png.639933/)
I think it will build heavier because of the havier wood and the thicker parts.
Have fun building yours!
Cheers, Ramses
ps. I`ve got build pictures of the Fairey Firefly at my website.
There you can see the different wing construction and other modifications:
https://www.delooff-aeroplanes.nl/free-flight-1/fairey-firefly (https://www.delooff-aeroplanes.nl/free-flight-1/fairey-firefly)
Cheers, Ramses
Thanks Ramses - excellent documentation of your build. I've bookmarked it for future reference. Was that a Richard Crossley Buffalo coming together in the background?
Mike
Quote from: 9600baud on Jan 26, 2026, 08:41 AMHi Andrew, love the all sheets model and I've been looking for a long time at all models presented at Paul Bradley's website. So many opportunities ;)
With the T-shirt-transfer-method, how much does it add to the weight?
Cheers
Alex
Hi Alex, I didn't measure the weight. It leaves a very thin "skin" so I suspect very little. The skin also seems to help stop splitting....
Andrew
Beautifully made Firefly model - I thnk you should call yourself Ramses the Great!
Stephen.
Quote from: MKelly on Jan 26, 2026, 06:51 PMThanks Ramses - excellent documentation of your build. I've bookmarked it for future reference. Was that a Richard Crossley Buffalo coming together in the background?
Mike
Indeed it is!
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/attachments/1767376093788-png.640231/)
Quote from: Prosper on Jan 27, 2026, 01:43 PMBeautifully made Firefly model - I thnk you should call yourself Ramses the Great!
Stephen.
;D ;D
Cheers, Ramses
Quote from: MKellyVery nice Firefly!
Agreed. One of my favourite aeroplanes.
Well I finally caught up with everyone. I will reach out to Don McLellan shortly. It's gonna take a little getting the hang of this new set up! Hi guys!
Quote from: Crabby on Jan 28, 2026, 02:10 PMWell I finally caught up with everyone. I will reach out to Don McLellan shortly. It's gonna take a little getting the hang of this new set up! Hi guys!
Hey Crabby, great to see you here!
Andrew
That Firefly is amazing Ramses :o
At the other end of the scale I spent 1/2 hr this morning making an indoor glider from scrap..well I've got do something with all this 3mm polystyrene Wallfoam I now have
It's for our Oxford MFC Scrapbox Glider Challenge which in the next couple of weeks so thought I'd better do something. 12" span and 2.5g, It glides nicely across the workshop at least
OMFC Scarpbox Glider Challenge 2026 (https://oxfordmfc.bmfa.club/omfc-indoor-scrap-box-glider-challenge-2026/)
You're a busy boy Chris. Good luck with your hill climbs this year!
John
Well done, exceptional finish, looks like it's not too far out with the trim. Good luck with future flights.
What did you do airplane wise today?
Sunday Feb 15 2026
I finished off the Dumas kit thirty inch balsa Beaver airplane small park rubber flier. I started this model on June 13 2025 - that is eight months ago, my longest build ....
All up weight is 83.3 grams. Includes prop and shaft, thrust button, and 7" four strand rubber motor. All up weight AUW does not include the spinner, and there is no ballast weight added yet.
Pic #1 1547
Pic #2 1552
Lastwoodsman
Richard
What did you do airplane wise today?
Sunday Feb 16 2026
I got the finished Beaver outside for some sunlit pics. I also got a bunch of shots, in my favorite restaurant with the clear gloss wood grained tables.
Two pics by the park entrance
Pic #1 1569
Pic #2 1571
Two outside pics
Pic #3 1595 along Tecumseh Road
Pic #4 1596 grass and tree shadow background
Lastwoodsman
Richard
What did you do airplane wise today?
Tuesday Feb 16 2026
Here are some pics of the 30" Beaver in my favorite restaurant, "the Uptown", with the clear gloss, wood grained tables.
Pic #1 1580 Beaver logo left side.
Pic #2 1583 View from the rear.
Pic #3 1587 Spinner is off. view front left front from above.
Pic #4 1590 Left side.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
The Beaver is looking great Richard, great job
Made up a catapult glider today a Captain Thermal from the SLEC kit.
Considering it's presumably aimed at absolute beginners it comes with very confusing instructions .. but it's a nice quick build
What Did You Do Airplane Wise Today?
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Thur Feb 26 2026
Flight Report #1
I got in a lot of good pics and a good tour of Jackson Park and the Cricket Field. The temp was 27 deg F sunny , and winds 7 mph WSW gusting to 12 mph 41% humidity.
I got in five test glides. All went well, ... sort of. No real damage, and I did nothing major. I lost a right hub cap, and the right bushwheel came off also, on landing on the fifth glide ( with about 25 or 30 weak winds ). No damage, and I have a lot of hubcaps already made up.
But tomorrow the temp will be 50 deg F. and sunny.
Pic #1 1751 Blue skies and bare limbs on this finger freezing day at 11:16 AM.
Pic #2 1755 Wind on the flag at the Spitfire and Hurricane replicas in Jackson Park.
Pic #3 1765 Best pic.
Pic #4 1768 Yellow Willow in the background.
Full Flight Report to follow in my Beaver build.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
What did you do aeroplane wise today?
Finished my Aerographics Curtiss Jenny powered by a Gasparin GM-120 CO2 motor:
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/attachments/1771611129228-png.644851/)
(https://www.modelbouwforum.nl/attachments/1771611210473-png.644855/)
I`ve got build pictures of the Jenny at my website: https://www.delooff-aeroplanes.nl/
Cheers, Ramses
Fantastic Jenny, Do I spot some sutble airbrush shading? My rubber powered version was spirally unstable. I look forward to your flight reports.
It looks great Ramses. The build log on your site was comprehensive and the site was very interesting.
John
As John says. That is a fantastic site Ramses
Enjoyed seeing your DHC Beaver completed too Richard, nice build
Might not seem much to you guys who are busy pumping out great aeroplanes... but today I finally got my model desk set up after about 3 months of selling my old house and moving into a new one... with most of my stuff in storage during that time... I think the first project might be something therapeutically simple...
Tim
Simple, Yeah heard that before ;D
Quote from: dputt7 on Mar 01, 2026, 01:17 PMSimple, Yeah heard that before ;D
Aye, we'll believe it when we see it. My money's on THB's next one being a quarter scale Bristol Brabazon. :)
As well as getting the nose-plug for my Chiribiri (more or less) finished I spent some time pondering construction of my, so far hypothetical, Peanut Ryan NYP. I daresay quite a few of the details, especially around the nose section, will change when I do get around to it, but I feel more confident of being able to build one now.
Dave, I think Tim should consider a modern challenge - a pusher Pnut scale Concorde perhaps. I hope your new location has a suitable trimming area nearby?
I admire your sketches Lurk - sign of an organised brain. Had you considrred trying to show the machine turning on the nose and spinner? No need to worry about the signatures(and dog paw marks) on the inside of the nose metal ;D
Good luck with it.
John
Quote from: OZPAF on Mar 02, 2026, 01:58 AM...Had you considered trying to show the machine turning on the nose...
Aye, I have. The canonical method seems to be to use a thin tinfoil covering and a pencil rubber rotated against that. Some experimentation on some scrap fragments is called for. If it doesn't work then flat aluminium Tamiya acrylic will have to do. Used flat Al on my "large" M-1 and it doesn't look dreadfully wrong.
John, I nave seen some of Tim's suggestions for future projects and they are as far away from the Concord as you can get!
Bit of scrabbling around the edges for the Chiribiri and some prototyping (grand word for mucking about) for the proposed Ryan NYP.
1 - Mass production of louvre sections for the cowling sides
2 - Seeing if I can get away with VMC's cream tissue as an alternative to (no longer available) SAMS antique. Short answer is no; too translucent when doped. Will have to investigate tea-stained white tissue. Harumph!
3,4 Machine turning for the Ryan's nose. Kitchen tinfoil (you can't get foil fag packet liners for love nor money these days) and a disc of sandpaper on the end of a dowel. Not too bad. The tricky steps will be to get the tinfoil to fit nicely around a curved nose section, to find a thinner foil and to find a glue that will hold the foil permanently
For reference. Aluminium tissue cannot be persuaded to look anything like machine turned Al despite all sorts of monkeying about with pencil rubbers or sandpaper of various degrees of coarseness.
Hi Lurks, the engine turned cowling looks a treat.
Not long ago I needed an engine turned instrument panel so I Googled engine turned panels and found a suitable one so I printed it onto Decal paper and it worked a treat.
Lurk, I've used canopy glue to stick foil to balsa before. Also cover grip works as well as once dry it remains tacky so you can position the ali foil then with a cotton sock over the film covering iron heat seal the foil to the balsa. The iron helps going round curves too, but not sure if you'll get foil to work on double curvatures.
John M
Quote from: dputt7 on Mar 04, 2026, 01:58 AM...so I Googled engine turned panels and found a suitable one so I printed it onto Decal paper...
I'll bear that in mind, but my current printer is a Canon and the inks are water soluble. Come to that they're not that especially fast with dope either.
Quote from: SP250 on Mar 04, 2026, 11:32 AMLurk, I've used canopy glue to stick foil to balsa before. Also cover grip works
Thanks John. Any particular brand of canopy glue? I'll have to give the cover grip a miss; I don't think Mrs L's steam iron is quite right for the heat setting step. :)
My printer is also a Cannon but I use "Aftermarket" cartridges and they work OK, though I try not to soak them with water. I give the printed tissue a fine mist of water just in case. Though this was a decal and a spray of Acrylic fixed any runs.
Hi Lurk, current brand of canopy glue is Pacer (Zap) but can't remember what I used in the past. Old age and decrepitude I guess setting in!
John M
I played around with Gasparin CO2 motors. Happily I managed to change a few leaky sieves into proper running motors, after changing O-rings etc. I was surprised to find three types of filling nozzles, with different chambers. The one on my G-63 even had a single synthetic ball in an aluminum housing in stead of the usual steel ball in a plastic sleeve.
Now including the picture.
Managed to get a test fly the Captain Thermal today. Trimmed a nice flat glide then first cataplut launch and .... I thought the fuselage wood looked a bit light
I have remade it with an 1/8" top to it so it can survive my trimming at least
This is what I did aeroplane-wise today!
(I turned 60 in December and this trip is my birthday present!)
WOW what a treat. Your Bleriot looks very familiar though somewhat larger than I remember , maybe because it's closer to the camera . I'm surprised they let you fly it in the museum ;D Looks there could be other future projects there as well?
What did you do airplane wise today?
Fri March 6 2026
The 30 inc Beaver is in the Hangar ... with a broken wing .... :(
I checked to see if I indeed had enough striped strips for the new wing to be built from the new kit to be mailed to me, sometime soon, hopefully.
And here is a pic of the water dissolving, blue marker ink, damaged pin striping strips, now with the good test results. New strips were just glued over the damaged areas of the old strips.
Pic #1 1821 Good supply of Striped Strips and Lite Silkspan covering.
Pic #2 1818 Pic of the latest broken pieces and intact fuse etc. while waiting for the new kit.
Pic #3 1823 Another view.
Any roundels or maple leaf decals are just a photocopy away. So we are good to go ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Quote from: Squirrelnet on Mar 06, 2026, 07:47 PMLooks there could be other future projects there as well?
Indeed! This is of course the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris. As well as the cross-Channel Bleriot there are various other aviation related gems. Some interesting cars too. More or less under the Bleriot for instance is Alain Prost's 1983 Renault.
Fantastic birthday present Peter - that would have kept you busy.
John
And no taxi ride from Gare du Nord required! Perfect.
Wow! what an experience, Happy Birthday Pete.
Today I took inspiration (i.e. stole) from an article in the October 1943 issue of AeroModeller (pdf attached) to design and 3D print some dihedral jigs.
As the pictures show, I made a couple of stands that can take the different stepped gauge pieces the determine the correct height in the centre slot. There are holes in the foot of the stands so they can be pinned to a building board to keep everything steady. The three gauge pieces are 25mm high (with 10 x 2.5mm steps from 0 to 25mm), 50mm high (with 5 x 5mm steps from 25mm to 50mm) and 75mm high.
I suspect that above 75mm I may need a bigger stand. So that's a job for another day.
QuoteAs well as the cross-Channel Bleriot there are various other aviation related gems. Some interesting cars too. More or less under the Bleriot for instance is Alain Prost's 1983 Renault.
The Brequet Gyroplane ? (pic 2) looks spectacularly challenging with it's strutless biplane configuration, thin fuselage and minimal attachment points but I know you can do it ;D
Alain Prost's Renault looks pretty cool too, enjoy the rest of you birthday trip
Finally got round to finishing my GM120 repair with the tank fitting being reglued with 24hr epoxy. I had taken this off as the internal pipe had gone inside the cylinder head fitting. As the pipe is flared it was easier to remove the tank fitting which isn't flared to fit the seal.
Some small bits of bamboo will stop the glue blocking the pipes and the threads have been taped
Hopefully that will work
Prep for Saturday's Trinity and finally got around to making up a couple of 75 thou. motors for my Moorhouse Comper Swift.
The epoxy has now well and truly set on the tank fitting for the GM120 so I reassembled the tank and tried some gas in it. Very pleased to say there are no leaks and the motor runs very well. It had a head leak between inlet pipe and head fitting which a new seal had to made so huge thanks to GM for the help and advice and the seals . I gave it a new piston O ring and cylinder O ring as well while it was apart
The motor is destined for a future project I've been wanting to do for sometime but could never find a kit or plan to build from...until now. The Aerographics Avro 504K by Dave Causer
Hoping to do G-ABAA the aircraft that Eddie Riding flew in and until recently was at the Manchester air Museum. I hear it's now at Stow Maries an original WW1 airfield near Chelmsford so a run out there to take some photos is now on the cards
What did you do airplane wise today?
Sun March 15 2026
The 30 inch Beaver wing gets glued back together after repairs and modifications.
Well, ... after all of that repair, I finally got things test fitted and lined up. I just glued in the three new spars , and I glued up both Leading Edges of the wing panels, to the center section Leading Edges. There are plenty of more things to add, but this is a good start. I'll update all of that in my Beaver thread.
Weather wise, there have been no flying days, yet, that I could have flown in, so no worries, and there is no rush yet, either, weather wise.
Pic #1 1966
Pic #2 1967
Lastwoodsman
Richard
A warm reasonably calm afternoon on Sunday had me visiting the local oval for a bit of catapult gliding and DLG flying, only to find a cricket match underway. It is their oval but the hide of them :).
After watching until they finished - I noticed that the breeze was coming from a Westerly direction - leading to launches almost straight into the sun - not good for DLG, so started with the CLG's.
A couple of trimming flights on the first of my Swallows followed by some decent flights close to a minute in the warm buoyant air with the low drift keeping it inside the oval.
The wind changed direction after around half an hour and so onto the DLG. It's a well battered Stilleto which I have been learning on for ahem a couple of years and today both the glider and the pilot were in tune and I had some reasonable flights - also around the minute mark.
Very enjoyable and rare evening for the year so far.
John
A
What did you do airplanewise today?
Sun March 15 2026
Hi John! That sounds like a lot of fun! Do you have any pics you could perchance share with us - maybe a pic of the planes, and perhaps action pictures of an inflight pic or two?
Also, how about a pic of your flying field Cricket Field. I'm really curious about the dimensions.
Anyways, I hope your camera is in working order. ::) A pic is worth a thousand words .... ;)
Happy Catapult Launch Gliding and Towline gliding.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
G'DAy Richard - no worries.
The Stiletto DLG of 1200mm span, was originally designed to train young Russian enthusiasts around 4-5 years ago. I received mine about 3 yrs ago and it has had a hard life so far - 3 tail boom and one nose area repair. it weighed around 195gms new ready to fly with battery, and the repairs have taken it to 207gms.
The Stiletto is of full carbon composite construction - typical of DLG's. Although an old design now - it still has surprising performance for such a light model.
I feel I may just be coming to grips with it.
Unfortunately I don't have any videos of it flying.
The CLG's are the Swallow I designed for kids and here is a video link to an early flight of the prototype at Lackey Park
There is a build thread for the Swallow here
https://hpa.aeromodelling.gr/index.php?topic=208.0
Lackey Park is at
34°32'26.99" S 150°22'26.43" E
and is roughly 180x200 metres so is relatively large.
The CLG's were flying roughly EAST - West in the 180m direction and traveling around 100m.
John
Whoops!! :) brain fade - the CLG's are Sparrows not Swallows!
John
What did you do airplanewise today?
Mon March 16 2026
Hi John. Thanks for the pic and info and video. Your Stiletto 1200mm is 47". The little DLG sparrows are much smaller.
That is a big Lackey Park 200M X 180M. My Cricket Field is a slight oval 110M x 130m .
I looked up your flying field John. It is very big, and looks like a perfect place to fly. Are there any special rules to fly there? How often are the Cricket leagues playing there?
Pic #1 OZPAF JOHN 1 LACKEY PARK 180M X 200M
Pic #2 OZPAF JOHN 2 LACKEY PARK 180M X 200M
Pic #3 OZPAF JOHN 3 LACKEY PARK 180M X 200M
Piv #4 STILETTO 47 INCHES AND SMALLER SPARROWS
Lastwoodsman
Richard
QuoteAre there any special rules to fly there?
Surprisingly the area is hardly used - this was the first time in 8 yrs that I have seen cricket played there, and as such the local council pays little attention to the area.
There are the occasional dog walkers and kids playing but late in the day - it is usually empty.
Yes it is large - there are actually 2 hard cricket pitches on the field, but I have lost a couple of CLG's in thermals and a supercap powered FF model there, and the missing thermal activity is the main reason I fly late in the day .
The CLG's will easily cover 100m plus in a light breeze as they were doing on this occasion.
John
Yesterday presented another short spell of calm conditions and I decided to give my 300mm WS Christen Eagle a fly in a close park.
It is becoming difficult as annoyingly :) the council have planted a line of small trees adjacent to my runway - er, footpath.
The model is very light - around 30gms and thus it is only pleasant to fly in very calm conditions.
https://rc.kyosho.com/en/discontinued/dis-rcplane/minium.html
it has a moulded Polystyrene fuselage and the wings seem to be of a heavier grade, with a efficient thin, cambered airfoil with a surprisingly thin TE.
It is quite old - around 18yrs, but is still airworthy after many repairs - second motor, and a replacement Spektrum RCVR, servo, ESC brick.
Here is a video of a flight a year ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfD8YoYK6C4
John
Very nice park for small RC John. Rewilding seems to be thing here now so many National Trust sites that were great for small models now have thickets of thorn bushes and scrub instead
One site that is still flyable is Pinkneys Green nr Maidenhead where some OMFC meet up occasionally. I popped over this morning for my first outdoor flying of 2026
looks a bit windy?
That's a nice flat large area Chris. You fellows obviously don't let wind bother you - although that was probably only a mild Zephyr! :)
What is the first model being flown Chris - very pretty little thing.
John
I decided to upgrade my tools for grading balsa. Up to now I've used the nomograph in Nomographs for AeroModellers, but I decided I could write a formula in Excel so all I had to do is put in the dimensions and weight and up pops the density.
My problem is that I work (& think) in mixed units. The dimensions of the balsa are inches and fractions, weight is grams, and density is lbs/cubic foot (of course, engine displacement is in cc!) In my defence that was how a lot of articles in AeroModeller were written in the 70s and 80s).
So conversion factors needed to be built in to get weight in grams to come out as lbs/ cubic foot.
I think it works.
If you want to play with it, pm me with an email address and I'll share it with you ( I don't seem to be able to attach an excel file to this post - but that may just be my incompetence!
Hi there,
I went yesterday to fly my new profile model of a Hawker Fury, but it didn't go as planned.
Some facts:
* it weighs 8.8 g, wingspan is 330 mm
* around 2-3° down thrust, no right thrust
* only little dihedral
It glides slowly and nicely and also flies nicely with little power. I tried 1/16" rubber first and it made a slow gentle curve but it wasn't enough to climb. So I switched to 3/32" and the result was what you can see in the video below. Almost every time it leans to the left with the tail really low. I tried some minor trimming things, a bit down elevator, a bit more weight on the left wing but nothing showed me the right direction.
In the end the nose bearing was lose, so there was no more down thrust.
A couple of month ago I built a Curtiss SBC-3 by Ray Malmstrom, and it behaved very much the same.
If anyone has some insights, how to cure that, I would really appreciate it.
Cheers
Alex
A very nice motorcycle ride out to Old Warden today with Andy B (of this Parish) I had skin in the game with the Sopwith Dove I'm currently building so good to see that but also great to see the 1911 Deperdussin minus it's wings in the engineering workshop. I'm slowly building up the courage to do one of these, probably CO2..but that short nose :-\
Andy very observantly noticed the edges of the 1910 AVRO Triplane replica tailplane had been left square and not sanded round as we aeromodellers tend to do by habit. Aircraft from just a few years later seemed to have discovered the sanding block
QuoteAndy very observantly noticed the edges of the 1910 AVRO Triplane replica tailplane had been left square and not sanded round as we aeromodellers tend to do by habit. Aircraft from just a few years later seemed to have discovered the sanding block
I guess at the time it wasn't left square for a good reason - however it is actually more effecient to have sharp TE's and not rounded off ones. Slim the TE's down but don't round them off - leave the edges sharp.
That must have been a fun day - bike ride to see some aircraft and with a fellow modelling mate.
John
Alex the model seems to indicate that there is insufficient Fin area, and I suspect that more area is required for Biplanes.
Lack of fin area would make it difficult to use wash in on the inside wing or side thrust - producing the yaw indicated by your model.
Try adding extensions to the fin - - approx 10% more and see if that helps with side thrust and wash in.
Good luck.
John
Thanks John, I'll try that!
Alex
Quote from: 9600baud on Mar 19, 2026, 01:57 PMI went yesterday to fly my new profile model of a Hawker Fury, but it didn't go as planned.
...
Cheers
Alex
If that was a medium size RC biplane, I would suspect excessive and opposite aileron differential, i.e. too much down aileron producing opposite yaw. I had very similar flight behaviour until I corrected this on a 50" Tiger Moth. I had to turn using rudder for quite a difficult flight. But I'm sorry I don't know how well that translates to a 330mm freeflighter.
Good luck.
Nigel
Had a nice trip out today to the RAF Museum in Hendon... well Hannants are next door and I needed some paint
The Grahame White hanger is great but there seems so little information on the Grahame White company despite it being Claude Graham White who founded Hendon and based his company there. I can't seem to find a book on the company and it's aircraft either or have I just missed it?
Edit - just found out there's a Putnam biography of Claude Graham White by Grahame Wallace which is now on my hunt list Edit Edit - Just got one from ABE Books
Anyway great to see the hanger preserved along with the internal office block and now housing a collection of WW1 aircraft, the genuine Fokker DVII is a real treat
Hi Chris,
I was there last year, the Monday after the indoor scale nationals. Had an afternoon flight back home so had time and made it a point to go to Hendon again, the first time being back in 1991...
Took plenty of photographs of some excellent exhibits.
Same situation this year, I am thinking about Duxford this time.
George
Sun March 28 2026
What did you do airplanewise today?
The rebuilt wing of the 30 inch Beaver, is now glued onto the fuse and is drying. We only need to glue the wing struts back on ....
Weather and wind wise, it looks like Mon March 30 2026 is a flying day !!! We had a full day of much needed gentle rain - one quarter inch - on Thur March 26, and I toured the Cricket Field and Jackson park on Wed, and found where the deepest growth areas of grass are. But the grass has not really started to grow yet.
So, I have to have the model ready to fly by Monday and today is Friday when I wrote this.
Pic #1 2170 The rebuilt wing is glued back on.
Pic #2 WIND FORECAST DAILY ONE WEEK START FRI MARCH 27 2026
Pic #3 WIND FORECAST FOR MON MARCH 30 2026
Pic #4 DAILY TEMPS FOR ONE WEEK STARTING MARCH 27 2026
Lastwoodsman
Richard
What did you do airplane wise today?
Sun March 29 2026
The Beaver is ready to fly again after breaking the wing. Here are four pics.
Pic #1 2184
Pic #2 2186
Pic #3 2188
Pic #4 2190
I just have to add the 0.70g clay to the left wing tip, add the five gram clay "anti-glare cover" to the top of the cowl, and do a final balance recheck. Flying day tomorrow Mon March 30 2026 .... if the weather holds ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
What did you do airplane wise today?
Mon April 6 2026 Flight Report #4 Session
Everything went well on a beautiful, low wind, sunny morning. I got my flying in, before the wind picked up, and it started raining off and on, all the rest of the day.
I got 23 pics, 9 good powered flights, and a spring tour of Jackson Park in spring flush. The longest flight was three seconds on 90 finger winds, so I could not get an in-flight pic, which is the over-riding objective here. But great results so far. :)
Pic #1 2246 Entrance to Jackson Park. No wind on the flag. I knew it would be wet, and wet it was.
Pic #2 2249 Passing my test glide spot beside the Spitfire and Hurricane replicas. No wind on the flag.
Pic #3 2262 Spring leaf flush - the buds are swollen with a green tinge on the large hardwoods in the distance.
Pic #4 2265 Leaving the park with an intact 30 inch Beaver. Wind on the flag.
I will post a full, Flight Report #4 Mon Apr 6 2026, in my 30 inch Beaver thread.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
What did you do airplane wise today?
Sat April 11 2026
This is how my just finished, big down thrust/right thrust shim looks, in the 30 inch Beaver.
Pic #1 2378 Left side built up for right thrust.
Pic #2 2379 Under side view of the "low" edge (thin edge" of the big shim.
Pic #3 2380 Down thrust visible.
Pic #4 2381 Right thrust visible.
Ready to fly! :D It is a flying day today .... ;D
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Deja vu all over again!
No it's not 1930 but rather 2026. Last week I saw the rigid airship Pathfinder making her test flights over the San Francisco Bay area.
What did you do airplane wise today?
Sat April 11 2026 post 2 of 2 today
Pic #1 2348 This shim worked great, until it crumpled up like a house of cards while handling it, after four flights this AM, of Flight Report #6. Details coming up.
Pic #2 2290 I saw this sunrise from my building board while working on the 30 inch Beaver.
Pic #3 2291 This sunrise pic goes beside the above pic.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Interesting shot of the pathfinder Konrad. I did a quick check on it and I'll be doing more research later!
Beautiful sunrise Richard.
John