Patch News – February 2023

With spring fast approaching we seem to be rushing through 2023 and are looking forward to lots of long sunny windless days…possibly. The February weather was generally quite kind to us and there were some good turnouts at the field with members bringing a few new models along. The FARTS had to mow the patch once in February and it will need mowing again in early March, a sure sign that the weather is gradually warming up. Another sign is that the farmer has brought some of the livestock back out to the fields and on Friday 24^th February three of us arrived to find lots of sheep in ‘our’ field.
Sheep aren’t too much of a problem to us (other than the ‘gifts’ they leave) but last years’ bullocks are back in the lower field and there are some younger bullocks in the third field.
The very young ones can be a right pain as they tend to be annoyingly inquisitive at first and can get a bit aggressive as they get older and bigger, but we can cope with them ok.

When the pandemic hit the monthly club meetings had to be suspended and the flying sessions stopped during the lockdowns and strictly limited in between them. We could have held committee meetings over Zoom or similar but with no meetings and little flying there wasn’t really much to discuss so if anything urgent came up we just communicated via emails, WhatsApp, or phone. But on 1^st February we had a committee meeting, the first one for about three years. We held it using Zoom and all seven committee members were present online. All went smoothly and the main business was to arrange a club meeting as at the AGM back in December it was agreed to hold quarterly social meetings.
So if you’re reading this on the publication day of 1^st March don’t forget that this evening the first club meeting of the year will be held at the Seven Stars at Stroud from 7pm onwards. It’s really just a social get together but I’m sure our new Chairman Gordon Bennett will have lots of interesting things to talk about. Of course if you’re reading this after 1^st March and weren’t there then you’ve missed it and it was a brilliant evening!

Straight on with the new models now starting with one that I forgot to include in the last Patch News, Gordon Bennett’s Arrows Hobby Viper. I included the Viper flying in the January video but forgot the photos and write-up and I don’t want Gordon sulking!
It’s a bog standard ARTF Viper and this is what the Inwood Models website says about it: Sleek, powerful and perfectly formed the Arrows Hobby Viper will be something of an eye-opener to anyone who still thinks EDF jets have some catching up to do. Experience the Viper in action and you’ll quickly realise that nothing could be further from the truth. Packing a jet-like 50mm 11-blade fan that’s spun up by a precision 2627 4500KV brushless motor, this 3S-fuelled pocket rocket will find favour in the hands of all who seek smooth, flowing aerobatics, a cloud punching performance and exceptional speed. But that’s not the half of it, the Viper is also a beautifully practical jet that exhibits exceptional low speed handling, is small enough to transport in one piece, retract free (hassle free) and enticingly budget-friendly. All this grace and performance from a 3S LiPo will almost certainly have you reassessing your EDF spend. So good is the Arrows Viper we’re convinced it’ll become a frequent flyer in your air fleet and, as we all know, that equates to superb value for money. Gordon chose the model after seeing how well 1066’s Viper flies and I think it’s safe to say that he’s very pleased with his decision. I see that Inwood says the flight time is 10+ minutes on 2200mAh LiPo. I know that Gordon gets longer flights than throttle bender 1066 but I don’t think he gets near to 10 minutes.
He’s had a couple of dodgy launches and has now decided to abandon self-launching until he’s practised on other models and perfected his technique. But 1066 self-launches his Viper with no problems, a gentle lob and away it goes every time, sickening eh Gordon?!

Both Woody and Bob the Builder recently bought SU-27s from the XDRC store on Ali Express and both models have now flown. At the time of writing they are shown as £21.36 with free shipping but VAT will be added at the payment stage bringing the cost to £25.63. That seems like a bargain to me so be quick if you want one, the site shows that there are only a few left in various colour schemes. Postage is from China but says 15 day delivery so it shouldn’t be too long a wait. I note that the slightly Chinglish advert states that it’s made of “Anti-broken PP Material”! I’m not sure what that is but it seems like pretty good stuff.
Woody plumped for the Ukrainian version and the finished model looks very attractive especially as Woody has (obviously, this is Woody we’re talking about!) added some lights. He has fitted a Turnigy Aerodrive 2866/6 2200kV motor and uses a 2200mAh 3 cell lipo for the power. The Sukhoi is the same as the HobbyKing version in that it comes with both ailerons and elevators that can be linked and each side moved by a single servo effectively making them both elevons. The hinges are simply parts of the foam and initially Woody had problems with the linkages being very stiff but once he’d sorted that out they worked well enough.  Having had some trimming and centre of gravity problems with Woody’s Chengdu J-10 from the same manufacturer I was a little wary about the Sukhoi but it flew perfectly with just some minor trim adjustments needed. It has a larger wing area than the J-10 and it shows in how it flies. I’ve always said the SU-27 was the best of the HobbyKing foamboards and this appears to be the case with the Ali Express ones as well.
The lights that Woody has added actually show up well, especially the ‘afterburner’ strips under the back end and hopefully you’ll be able to see them in the video.

Bob the Builder’s Sukhoi is in the red and blue Russian colour scheme but is otherwise the same as Woody’s. According to the website there are none left in stock so you’ll have to choose either the green camouflage Russian scheme or the Ukrainian one like Woody’s.
Bob chose not to link the ailerons of his and is purely using the elevators as elevons which is the same as the HobbyKing Mig 29s. It works perfectly well and appears to fly the same as Woody’s but presumably there is slightly less control for the really violent manoeuvres. Bob is using the same motor and battery set-up as Woody so the performance is pretty much identical. Both Woody’s and Bob’s SU-27s feature in this month’s video.

Young Charlie bought a couple of models that had belonged to the late Ian Daniels, both of which were in need of some repair. So far he has completed the necessary repairs to one of them, an ST Model Blaze, a high performance electric glider. The Blaze is distributed by Ripmax, here’s what they say about it: This is a model that is all about performance. From the vertical climb as high as you can see to the super fast dives off power and the full aerobatic schedule she can perform, the Blaze is guaranteed to put a smile on your face!! The 1130kv outrunner, brushless motor is pre-installed as is the the 30A ESC (with brake if programmed) and Deans connector. A tough, engineering plastic, 10 x 6 folding propeller on the front combined with these is more than enough for that straight up climb. All you need to provide is an 1800-2500mAh 20C battery and your own receiver and you are ready to go flying. When you go flying, the Blaze will blow your mind! Even at relatively slow speeds, she is pretty efficient and pure gliding performance is very impressive. Like all hotliner type gliders, she will stall, but it is predictable. Loops can be tight or wide, rolls can be fast or slow, it’s entirely up to you.
Several PAM members have owned (some still do) a Blaze and they are very well rated models with an excellent performance. The nose was snapped off on the one Charlie bought and it was a little rough around the edges but basically sound. Charlie (no doubt with the help of Nadine and Craig) repaired the nose, ensuring everything was nice and straight, fitted a new Hitec receiver, and did a bit of general tidying up. The test flight went perfectly with little trimming needed and the Blaze flew like a Blaze should. The only niggle at the moment is that the brake isn’t set on the speed controller so the prop windmills with the throttle shut but that’s a minor irritation that no doubt Charlie will sort out when he reads the instructions! I was a little concerned the Blaze might be too hot for Charlie but he’s been flying it with no problems so it’s been an ideal purchase for him.

Bob the Builder sent me a link to a YouTube video that he’d spotted. It shows an EDF model that was shredded when it hit a fence (not something any of us can relate to obviously…!) but was rebuilt even though it appeared to be a write-off. Well worth a watch.Bob said, and I quote “I know I’m good but I’m not that good.”  You’ve had lots of practice!

The second new model that Charlie flew in February was one that he bought at the Popham model show back in August. It’s a second-hand HobbyKing Lancaster that he’d spotted for sale on one of the stalls and he haggled the price down to £80.
It’s the V2 version of the Lancaster that HobbyKing have produced, the V1 had servo operated bomb bay doors and a few other details that have been dropped on the V2 version making it 200g lighter than the V1, definitely a good thing. They have since produced a V3 version that has no retracts and is lighter again. The battery is fitted in the bomb bay and on Charlie’s V2 the bomb doors are held closed by magnets. The battery will fit either in the nose or in the next bay back below the wing which is where the instructions say it should go and is where Charlie had fitted it when he first brought it to the field.
But when I checked the CG it was was obviously much too far back so Charlie took it home to reconfigure it and make a couple of other minor changes that I suggested.
There were plenty of willing volunteers eager to help Charlie get the Lancaster flight ready!
HobbyKing say to use an 1800-2200mAh battery and Charlie is using a 3300mAh which would obviously make the CG further back than intended but having read some comments on various forums people are saying to put the battery in the nose as the model is very unstable in pitch with it further back. Charlie’s Lanc also came with a gyro fitted which makes me think perhaps the original owner had stability problems with it. Once Charlie had moved the battery forward the Lanc seemed a little nose heavy if anything but that was definitely the safest way to be. When I tried to take off the grass was a bit long and the Lanc simply tipped on its’ nose even with full up elevator so I asked Leo to give it push.
That did the trick and the Lanc took to the air with no problems at all. I did a few circuits before handing the transmitter over to Charlie who flew it well before handing it back to me for the landing. It came in fine but maybe a little fast and when it touched one of the retracts pulled out. I’m not sure but maybe I ran out of elevator so for the next flight we’ll increase the elevator movement a little and maybe move the battery slightly further back. But overall the flight was a success and with a bit of tweaking I think it should only get better from now on. You can see some of the flight in this month’s video.

Young Leo always seems to have lots of new (to him) models and the last Sunday in February was no exception when he arrived with a Hyperion Edge 540T 25e that had previously belonged to Dougal Entendre but he’d passed it over to Leo in need of repairs.
The Edge had been a second-hand buy for Dougal and it seemed like a good purchase at the time as it came with a receiver and three batteries. Unfortunately he had trouble with the receiver and one of the batteries was duff although the other two seemed fine. This is what Dougal said at the time: I don’t expect it to be particularly 3D-capable. Its empty weight is about the same as my Slick, but the Slick has a 4s pack and a span of about 51″, where the edge uses 3s, and is about 45″ span. Also the tail is fairly thin, and probably not up to the kind of loads we put on it with 3D manoeuvres (I’ve read on the forums that the tail strength has been a problem for some flyers). And the following month, after Dougal had flown the model: My misgivings about the strength of the tail proved correct when, while going straight and level, there was an audible crack and the plane twitched in pitch. Fortunately I got it down safely, but the left hand half of the tail had cracked at the joint with the fuselage, and was only held on by the covering! The Edge is now hanging from the garage roof while I ponder how to make a replacement tail.
Well Leo has now sorted out the tail and made a few other changes so, as Dougal was absent, he asked 1066 to test fly it for him. 1066 had no problems at all and the Edge didn’t need any trim changes so he quickly handed the transmitter over to Leo who seemed to enjoy it. On about the third flight Leo made a rather sudden landing off the patch and when we asked what the matter was he showed us that the elevator had pulled away from the hinges and was hanging off! Fortunately he’d spotted one side of the elevator was loose while flying, hence the emergency landing. Other than that the Edge seemed fine and once the elevator is sorted it should keep Leo happy for lots of flights.

Kryten didn’t make it to the field to take any flying shots in February but he assures me he’ll be back soon. In the meantime here are a few screenshots, some old, some new:

Video time now, with footage by Peter Fothergill, Dougal Entendre, Gordon Bennett, and me. Please watch the video full-screen, it’s much better with small models flying around:
If the video won’t play for you please click HERE

After an overnight flight to meet her husband at his latest military posting the very weary lady arrived in Hong Kong with her nine children, all aged under eleven.
Collecting their many suitcases, the ten of them entered the cramped customs area.
A young customs official watched the entourage in utter disbelief and asked her
“Madam, does all this luggage and do all these children really belong to you?”
“Yes, sir,” the lady said with a tired sigh. “They really are all mine.”
The customs agent interrogated her “Madam, do you have any weapons or guns?”
“Sir” she calmly answered, “if I’d had any of those I would have used them by now”
The official allowed them all to pass without opening a single suitcase.

Colin Cowplain