Patch News History

June saw some lovely weather at the start of the month and we did lots of flying but later on in the month it turned very windy. A fairly long dry spell meant the patch grass didn’t grow very much so we didn’t need to mow too often, and farmer George kept the bullocks in the lower field for most of the month where there’s some shade for them. But when we went along to fly on Friday 24^th we were greeted by George’s sons and asked to help move the bullocks into our field. Fortunately this herd is used to us now and they were too interested in the long grass to bother us at all.

In Patch News last month I included a photo Dougal Entendre rehearsing his Riverdance routine. Well this month he overdid the rehearsing and badly sprained his ankle.

   

 

              Of course Dougal came out with a load of rubbish saying he sprained it when leaping up and running to help a struggling pilot save his model but we know the truth… Fortunately he was able to fly FPV whilst sat in the pits and one of his ‘people’ helped out.

We had a couple of prospective new members visit us in June, the first being Peter Fothergill who is returning to the hobby after a long break. On his first few visits Peter flew a small foamie RTF electric glider fitted with a gyro that flies very well and Peter had no problems at all flying it. Then later in the month, having got used to the little one, Peter brought along a Multiplex Heron, a 2.4m span high performance electric glider. Again, Peter had no problems flying the model which seems to be an excellent performer. On its first outing the folding prop didn’t fold so the brake needed to be set on the ESC, and every so often the telemetry feedback said “Receiver signal low” and then on one occasion “Receiver signal critical”. It didn’t seem to bother the Heron in the slightest but it did make Peter understandably nervous and he very sensibly decided to land early! So a couple of things for Peter to sort our but otherwise all was good. Having served his three visits Peter was invited to join PAM and is now a paid up member, so welcome Peter.

The second prospective member was James, a very pleasant thirteen year old lad who was brought along by his mum and dad. James had already been flying a small electric gyro equipped glider for a little while and he quickly demonstrated that he was able to fly it with little help. At the time of writing James has only visited once but he’s very keen and I’m sure he’ll soon return and will be showing all us oldies how to do it before too long.

On the subject of thirteen year old lads, in June Dougal Entendre took and passed Leo for his BMFA ‘A’ certificate so congratulations to Leo. He is very quick and capable at mending broken models so Woody gave him his rather badly smashed Wot 4. Leo had the Wot 4 fixed and flying again in just a couple of days. He is now also flying the Skylark mini pattern ship that he bought from Dougal; he seems to fly it with no problems.

Charlie (also thirteen) didn’t fly during the cold winter months but returned in June flying his electric glider. Unfortunately his transmitter battery alarm sounded at the end of his first flight and he was unable to have a second flight. So I let him have a flight with my tiny Eachine Mustang which he flew perfectly. I remembered that when Charlie first joined the club his mum Nadine had said she’d quite like to try flying a model so I let her fly the Mustang after Charlie. She coped very well, just needing a bit of guidance on when to turn so the plane didn’t get too far away. I wonder if I can talk her into becoming a member…

As well as Peter’s new Multiplex Heron several other new models were flown in June and the first I’ll feature is Mike Creamer’s foamboard Sukhoi SU-27. It appears to be almost the same as the ones we used to buy from HobbyKing before they closed their UK warehouse but Mike bought this one from Banggood. The foamboard models are all pretty similar and Mike has fitted his with a Turnigy motor and Spektrum radio gear. I’ve always said I think the SU-27 is the best of the foamboard jet range and Mike’s has reinforced that belief as it flies brilliantly. It was a bit noisy at first as he hadn’t enlarged the propeller slot but a quick hack with a scalpel soon had it quieter.

1066 is well known for flying very low fast circuits and some of the more childish members (like me) can often be heard shouting “Lower” as he skims the patch. This month he got as low as is possible without crashing and caught some of the grass at the edge of the patch. The grass cut into the wing leading edge but fortunately the Cirus just kept on flying. I tried following the Cirus when I was flying FPV one day this month and I’m sure he was trying to get me to fly into the deck… he very nearly succeeded.

The next new model to be flown in June was Bob the Builder’s rather nice E-flite Conscendo Evolution, a 1.5M span electric glider that Bob received for his 80th birthday. This is what E-flite say about it: With a 3S LiPo battery, the factory-installed brushless power system – featuring a 30-amp telemetry-capable ESC, specially-tuned outrunner motor and folding prop – delivers plenty of thrust for fast climbs to soaring altitude, sport flying and aerobatics. Using a 4S battery, it delivers even more speed and thrust for unlimited vertical performance without the need for modifications or upgrades. The new higher density EPO airframe has the additional strength and stiffness to handle anything an intermediate to experienced pilot will want to do with all that power. Yet the Conscendo Evolution is still easy to launch, fly and land. Flight ready in less time than it takes to charge a battery, the Conscendo Evolution offers a wide range of pilots a unique flying experience that no other model can provide. The first flight was made using a three cell lipo and the model flew very well, performing just as described with plenty of power for the usual glider aerobatics. You can watch some of the first flight in this month’s video. On a later flight Bob switched to a four cell pack and the Conscendo certainly had more than enough power for vertical climbs etc.

Dougal went along to the Horsham club’s Airborne Fun Fly on 12^th June where he had a good time flying his Maxford Spad, Spitfire, Mini Blitz, and HobbyKing MX2. During the event the club ran some fun-fly competitions and Dougal took part, managing third place in the Max Loops in 60 Seconds competition and winning the Two Minute Timed Flight (you have to count, no timers allowed) with a score of 2.03, well done Dougal. He took lots of photos, some of which I’ll include later, and he also filmed some of the models in the pits so I’ll include that in this month’s video.

Woody bought two new models this month, a balsa Max-Thrust Riot and an F-22 Raptor. The Riot came from ModellbauUK at Medstead and the balsa ones are built by Pro-Build. Woody had really wanted one of the original foam ones but ModellbauUK only had balsa ones in stock. The Riot came covered in just plain white so Woody added the blue and yellow Ukrainian trim. I’m impressed, he’s made an excellent job of it, it looks very good. The Riot is fitted with a Purple Power 3542 1000kv motor which spins a 12×6 propeller. It uses a 60A speed controller and a 4 cell lipo. I was surprised how heavy the plane was when I picked it up and Woody explained that he’d needed to add 180g of lead in the nose to achieve the correct C of G but it must be a lot heavier than the foam version even before the nose weight is added. My own foamie Riot is much lighter and flies well on 3 cells, I don’t think the wood version would get off the ground with only 3 cells. Anyway, it was fine on 4 cells and the first flight went well with the Riot behaving exactly as it should.

Woody’s second new model of the month, an F-22 Raptor, came from Banggood and to give it the full title it is an HEE WING Hunter F22 MPP Foam PP Magic Board RC Airplane Kit. That’s a bit of a mouthful for a 400mm span foamboard jet! This is the slightly Chinglish description from the Banggood website: This products are producing by MPP magic board, UV print and laser cutting. With gorgeous workmanship and exquisite appearance, this incredible creative RC plane machine is made of lightweight and super durable material, tough and high strength. We set PNP version, which is very suitable for the DIY of airplane model enthusiasts. Electronic combo comes with brushless motor and esc, providing powerful performance. Version comes with flight controller which can self-stabilize flight control, achieve one-button takeoff and stable output to excellent performance. Note: PNP just for easy name, the PP frame PNP listed here is not pre-assemble. It requires assemble after you received. That’s all very clear then! Woody’s is the kit version so basically just the foam airframe parts and he has fitted it out with a Purple Power 2321-2050kv motor spinning a 4 x 4.5 prop and coupled to a 12A speed controller and powered by a 2s lipo pack. It was very windy on the day that Woody brought the Raptor to the field so he decided not to risk flying it but he has put it together well and I can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t fly ok. I’m slightly concerned that the RTF version which comes complete with the motor, esc, and servos also has a gyro and I’m wondering if it really needs one, time will tell.

We haven’t seen much of Kryten lately but I did find a video he’s made of an electric plane:

As Kryten has been so busy making that video he hasn’t been able take any photos of flying models so here are some ground shots that Dougal took at the Horsham Airborne event:

Video time now with content taken by Captain Slow, Dougal Entendre, and me. Please watch the video full screen, it’s so much better with small models flying around.If the video won’t play for you please click HERE

A chap at the airport is waiting for his flight but he’s lost his watch, so he looks around for someone to ask the time. He spots another traveller with a couple of suitcases wearing a very flash looking watch, so he asks him for the time. The man replies, “Sure. Which country?” Our chap asks, “Which countries do you have?” to which the reply is “All countries!” “Wow! That’s a pretty cool watch you’ve got there.” “That’s nothing. This watch also has a GPS, WhatsApp, e-mail and can even receive TV channels and display them on its miniature active colour pixel LCD screen!” “That’s incredible. I’ve lost my watch and could do with one like that… would you consider selling it?” “Well, actually the novelty has worn off by now, so for £100 it’s yours!” The watch-less traveller can hardly whip out the cash fast enough, and hands over £100. The seller takes off the watch and gives it to him. “Congratulations, here is your hi-tech watch.” and then handing over the two suitcases over says, “And here are the batteries!”

Colin Cowplain

This edition of Patch news is likely to be rather shorter than usual as I was only around for about half of the month and I’m writing this on 19^th May in an attempt to get it ready for publication on 1^st June. Any new models or exciting happenings towards the end on May will have to wait for the next issue I’m afraid. The patch is in good condition and while Captain Slow mowed one day Dougal Entendre entertained us with his Riverdance moves.
The South Downs Green Fair took place on 8^th May and our field was taken over for car parking so there was no flying allowed. Some of the members, led by Captain Slow, adorned the fence with lots of high vis tape to prevent anyone driving across our patch.
It was probably the one time in the year that all those 4 wheel drive diesel guzzling off-roaders actually got off-road! Once the vehicles had all left Captain Slow and Woody returned to remove the tape and turn the fence back on.  The field had been animal free for quite a while but after the Green Fair a herd of young and inquisitive bullocks arrived.
I expect they’ll soon get used to us but at the time of writing they are being a bit of a pain!
The May weather was pretty good in general so the members enjoyed lots of flying.
I was hoping to write about the Petersfield Aero Modellers participation in the BMFA Centenary Record Attempt but sadly it was washed out by heavy rain. More of that later.

Avid builder Dwayne Pipe has built and successfully flown a new model called Size Zero. Slightly odd name I thought but a quick Google search explains that it’s an American dress size about which there was lots of controversy concerning skinny models back in the early 2000’s. Size Zero is a ‘vanity size’ which in 1970 it would have been called Size 6. In other words Size Zero is a small model. Amazing what you learn by reading Patch News isn’t it! This is what Dwayne says about it: The Size Zero is based on a Peter Miller design in RCME back in about 2007.  The original design was for IC and I have converted it for electric. I originally built it as my first homemade plane when I decided to restart aero modelling back in 2006. This first build was a disaster. The wings incidence was negative and with full up elevator, it refused to fly above head height. I never got the hang of the 25 engine and the plane lasted about 6 flights. Having built a few models since then I thought I would have another try. The Size Zero has a wingspan of 40 inches and an all up weight of just over 2 1/2 pounds. Pulls a 11×6 prop with a 3s battery and a 30A esc. To date it’s flown twice and I am very pleased to have got it right in the end.
Thanks Dwayne. If you fancy building a Size Zero for yourself the plan is available from Sarik Hobbies for just £13.50, this screenshot is taken from there website:
We all stopped to watch the maiden flight with great interest after Dwayne had explained about the first one being a failure but it was a real anti-climax, this one just took off and flew beautifully! You can see some of the first flight in this month’s video.

I featured Dougal Entendre’s large Spad S.XIII in Patch News some time ago but it’s a model he doesn’t fly much and some haven’t seen it so it’s worth another look. Dougal flew it at the field at the start of the month to prepare it for flying at the BMFA South East Area Electric Fly-In at the Epsom Radio Flying Club site near Charlwood in Surrey on 8^th May.
The Spad is an ARTF model produced by Maxford USA. At 1/5^th scale it’s 1727mm (68”) span and weighs around 6kgs (13lbs) so to power it Dougal chose a Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 – 6364-245kv brushless outrunner which swings an 18 x 8 propeller at about 6000rpm. He uses two 5800mAh 4 cell Zippy Compact lipos in series (8 cells) linked to a Robotbirds Pro-80 amp Brushless ESC V4 Opto HV speed controller. He also fitted a separate high voltage BEC to ensure the radio gets the voltage it requires.
To really finish the model off Dougal purchased the optional extra Vickers machine guns.
I filmed one flight from the ground and then followed the Spad with my FPV Ranger and got some quite nice aerial footage as well. Highlights from both are in this months’ video.

Back now to the BMFA Centenary Record Attempt. For those that don’t know, as part of the celebrations for the BMFA’s 100^th year the idea was to get all BMFA members to fly their models at 12pm on 15^th May to break the world record for the number of model aircraft in the air at any one time. Captain Slow registered PAM as one of the clubs wishing to participate and despite a rather dodgy looking weather forecast a number of members turned up to take part. As the bullocks were in the field the electric fence pits area extension was erected but just as they were preparing to fly the heavens opened. Everybody rushed to shelter in the barn hoping the downpour would stop before 12pm but sadly the very heavy rain just continued. Captain Slow had brought along his little Powerup RC Paper Plane and decided to try flying it under the shelter of the very leaky barn roof just so the club could record at least one flight to be part of the record. The flight was very short as despite the barn roof providing some shelter the Paper Plane got rather damp and soggy and Captain Slow has since has to make a new wing for it! But never mind, he managed to fulfil the flight requirement and has now submitted it to BMFA so Petersfield Aero Modellers should be recorded as taking part in the event.

The Record Attempt was rather different for me as, knowing I would be on holiday in Norfolk at the time, I had arranged to fly with the Kelling Model Flying Club. I had made contact with the club secretary Andrew Jenkins who was extremely helpful and supportive and Doreen and I arrived at their field at around 10.30 as agreed. The club flies on the airfield alongside the Muckleburgh Collection which is a military museum sited on a former military camp at Weybourne, on the North Norfolk coast. It was opened to the public in 1988 and is the largest privately owned military museum in the United Kingdom. The airfield is on top of the cliffs overlooking the sea so, like our field, tends to be breezy and that day the wind was at ninety degrees to the grass runway which is still occasionally used by full-size planes. They have a large club caravan with a kitchen area and a fully plumbed in toilet, as well as room to socialise and store models and equipment, luxury! Doreen and I were introduced to everyone and then plied with tea and biscuits before the pilots’ briefing. Andrew explained where the various disciplines would fly as the guys were using a variety of models for the record attempt, power models, electric gliders, and chuck gliders. I had taken my Eachine Mustang and Raptor and flew the Mustang for the event. A few minutes before 12pm the power models and electric gliders took to the air and at 12.00 Steve the chairman sounded an air-horn, the signal to launch the chuck gliders.
All went perfectly and I think there were thirteen models in the air at the correct time.
I had a total of three flights with the Mustang and two with the Raptor during our visit.
Doreen and I were made very welcome by Kelling MFC, all in all a really enjoyable visit.

Young Leo has been busy and built a Cloud Dancer, a 1300mm span balsa wood kit model.
He bought it from Banggood and this is what the website says about it: The Cloud Dancer is an all built up, 4 channel electric powered trainer. It features sharp accurate cut parts that simply slot together with little fuss, the wing looks fantastic when covered with transparent covering to show off the construction. The power system consists of a 30 size outrunner and 2200 3s battery, using mini servos to keep her nice and light. The resulting model is a nice electric trainer model with tricycle undercarriage that performs well.  Leo built the model very quickly, made a nice job of it, and it has flown successfully.
But not happy with building one plane he has also built a Mini Blitz and repaired Dougal’s rather knocked about Multiplex Blizzard. He obviously has too much time on his hands! Leo’s flying is pretty good and what he needs to do now is swot up on the rules and regulations so he’s ready to take his BMFA ‘A’ certificate. Leo flew his E-flite Valiant and Parkzone Corsair one day when we had left the fence up because of the bullocks and he had no problems at all landing within it. Watch the video to see how well he did.

Bob the Builder has also been busy again and has rebuilt the twin he damaged a while ago. Not realising he was away on holiday I emailed Bob asking for info on the model and this was his reply: Well here I am enjoying the peace and quiet of the Isles of Scilly and now I need to wrack my brain for comments about my Twin. Not much to tell really. 1500mm wing span, 5.5lbs, 4000 4s battery, designed to be high lift with large flaps for STOL capabilities. Motors, props, ESCs, servos, and battery all taken from my old twin that I crashed a couple of years ago. I have stuck to my principles of having longer motor leads rather than long battery leads and the ESCs are in the fuselage rather than the wings, taking care to ensure there is a good cooling airflow through the fuselage.
Should be good to carry my RunCam2 camera. A slow docile flyer, just right for my type of flying. I styled the fuselage on a Twin Otter but having just flown in the real thing I don’t think I have got the proportions quite right. It really is a small plane with a maximum of 12 passengers and 2 crew, but a very capable workhorse. Let’s hope I can avoid the fate of my last twin. Thanks for that Bob, sorry to interrupt your holiday. I can confirm that the twin flies extremely well, you can see it in the video.

Two new EDF jets appeared at the patch in May, both produced by Arrows Hobby.
First to show was Mini-Mike’s BAE Hawk, a model that I had also spotted and was seriously contemplating purchasing for myself. Arrows say this: EDF jets rarely fly as well as the 3S-powered Hawk. Get a load of grab-n-go simplicity in this perfectly-formed semi-scale package. Sleek, powerful and perfectly formed the Arrows Hobby Hawk will be something of an eye-opener to anyone who still thinks EDF jets have some catching up to do. Experience the Hawk in action and you’ll quickly realise that nothing could be further from the truth. Packing a sweet-sounding 50mm 11-blade fan that’s spun up by a precision 2627 4500KV brushless motor, this 3S-fuelled semi-scale Red Arrows jet can’t fail to delight with its flowing aerobatics, cloud punching performance and exceptional speed. But that’s not the half of it, the Hawk is also a beautifully practical model that exhibits exceptional low speed handling, is small enough to transport in one piece, is retract (hassle) free and, moreover, gets away easily from an underarm launch. Given that it’s enticingly budget-friendly and such a good performer, we just know that the Hawk will become a frequent flyer in your air fleet and, of course, that equates to superb value for money. I was away when Mike brought it along but Dougal filmed the first two flight attempts. I say attempts because although the Hawk went away well from the hand launch on both tries the motor cut out very soon after launch.  Mini-Mike has since done a bench test of the batteries and found that on both packs two of the three cells showed a voltage drop of 0.4v more than the third cell under load which probably explained the problem. So having sorted out some better lipos Mini-Mike returned to the field later in the month and this time the Hawk superbly. Two flights no problems. See it in the video.

The second Arrows Hobby EDF jet was a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star belonging to Chas. As with the Hawk I was away at the time but Dougal took a couple of photos and Chas has also sent some. Chas decided against flying the T-33 when he took it to the field as it was a very blustery day. This is from the Arrows website: Combining superb 3S performance, cost effectiveness and sheer practicality, the Arrows Hobby EDF Viper has been so well received that it seemed churlish not to answer the call for more of the same. Enter, then, the striking, universally-adored T-33. Sporting the Viper’s proven powerset, size and outstanding flyability, if this one doesn’t do it for you, nothing will. Perfectly capturing the post-war appeal of the iconic Shooting Star, Arrows Hobby’s T-33 will be something of an eye-opener to anyone who still thinks EDF jets have some catching up to do. Experience the T-33 in action and you’ll quickly realise that nothing could be further from the truth. Packing a sweet-sounding 50mm 11-blade fan that’s spun by a precision 2627 4500KV brushless motor, this 3S-fuelled semi-scale version of Lockheed’s jet trainer can’t fail to delight with its flowing aerobatics, cloud punching performance and exceptional speed. But that’s not the half of it, the T-33 is also a beautifully practical model that exhibits exceptional slow speed handling, is small enough to transport in one piece, is retract (hassle) free and, moreover, gets away beautifully from an underarm launch. Given that it’s enticingly budget-friendly and such a good performer, the T-33 offers outstanding value for money and, for that alone, we just know you’ll love it.
The T-33 can use 1300mAh to 2200mAh 3s lipos and Chas’s photo above shows a 1350mAh 3s and a 2200mAh 3s in their respective positions that provide the same C of G.

As well as the T-33 Chas has also bought another Eachine models to go with his Trojan.
This one is a P-47 Razorback and with a wingspan of 500mm it’s a bit bigger than the others in the range. It uses 500mAh single cell batteries instead of 400mAh that the smaller ones use and the included transmitter is slightly different to the others.
Chas has bound his Eachine Trojan to his multi-protocol RadioMaster transmitter so he doesn’t use the one it comes with and no doubt he’ll do the same with the P-47 although I understand the Razorback uses a different protocol. I’m looking forward to seeing it fly.

I don’t have any airborne photos this month so here are some that I took at the Kelling MFC when I visited them for the BMFA Centenary Record Attempt:

Video time now which this month has footage shot by myself and Dougal Entendre. Please watch the video full-screen, it’s so much better with small models flying around.
If the video won’t play for you please click HERE

On an evening Air Lingus flight from Dublin to Boston, the flight attendant nervously announced the following in her lovely Irish brogue:
“Ladies and Gentlemen, unfortunately, it appears that our catering service has made a terrible mistake. Despite the fact that we have 103 passengers on board, we only received 40 dinner meals. Anyone who offers to give up their meal, so that someone else can eat, will receive free and unlimited drinks during the 10 hour flight….”
Her next announcement came about 2 hours later:
“We still have 40 dinners available for anyone who is hungry…” 

Colin Cowplain

The April weather wasn’t as good as in March but overall it was reasonable and we had very few of the proverbial April Showers, in fact it was one of the driest Aprils on record. But one sunny day several of us got caught in a sudden downpour that interrupted our flying for a few minutes before we were able to carry on flying and dry out in the sunshine.
The rain doesn’t show up in the photo but it was actually very heavy at the time. 1066 had forgotten that his jacket has a hood so we reminded him once he had got nicely drenched! At the start of the month the light winds that we had enjoyed in March continued and Chas and I were able to fly our tiny Eachine models several times, they are great little models.

One day Dougal Entendre decided to try a new look and wore some WW1 flying goggles at the flying session. He said they were to stop his eyes watering in the breeze but he’s really just a frustrated Biggles fan. The W E Johns fictional Biggles even appeared on a stamp!
First class of course! I posted this photo on the club Facebook page and it got a lot of likes!

The first new model I’ll feature this month is John Warren’s Sunday Flyer and although it’s a new model the design is not new to John, this is actually the third one he’s built!
The original design by Mike Conrad was for just rudder and elevator controls and was powered by a 0.20cu in IC engine. The model is classed as a vintage style sports biplane and has a wingspan of 1180mm. When I first met John in the IBM model club many years ago he was flying an IC powered Sunday Flyer which he later converted to electric power. Eventually that one died and in February 2017 John replaced it with another Sunday Flyer which was built with the addition of ailerons in the bottom wing. Now John has built this third one which also has ailerons added and is powered by a 3542 motor and a 3 cell lipo.  I was nominated to do the test flight and gave the model a quick check over. It all looked good to me but in the air I found the model needed full right trim on both aileron and rudder to hold it straight so I landed for John to make the necessary adjustments.
The ailerons are rather ineffective, presumably because the model was designed for rudder/elevator control and has lots of dihedral. So John switched in rudder/aileron coupling on the transmitter and mechanically added some right trim and I flew it again. This was much better and the Sunday Flyer took off straight as a die but unfortunately as it lifted off the battery fell out so it was a very short flight! John took the model back to his workshop to redesign the battery fixing and I’m sure the next flight will be fine.

Last month I included the photo below and said it was “…a photo that Dougal snapped when he was able to get his FPV model up amongst the clouds one day. In this excellent shot you can just make out the Solent and the Isle of Wight in the distance. I was spotting and the model was at the limit of my vision when I saw a full-size plane approaching so I told him which direction to head and to descend Rapidly Also Of course.”
It seems nobody twigged that Patch News was published on April 1^st and Rapidly Also Of is an anagram of April Fools Day. In fact I took the photo at around 33000ft over Portugal on a recent trip to Morocco. I wouldn’t want to embarrass the first of several club members who said what a great FPV photo it was so I won’t mention Woody…oops!

Norwegian Nick is an avid builder who always produces beautifully built models and the latest one to come off Nick’s production line is this lovely Peter Holland designed Archie.
The Archie plan was first published in Radio Modeller in May 1972 and the plan can now be downloaded free of charge from Outerzone along with some supplementary notes.
This is what Outerzone say about the model: This is Archie, the model we have had so much fun developing, building and flying. We set out to provide a model which would do the impossible and please all of the people all of the time, and we think we have succeeded! For the average to skilful pilot Archie is a perfect relaxer for a lazy afternoon in the sunshine, as the bees drone and the wispy clouds drift lazily across the sky. Although it is relatively slow flying, it is far from loath to perform simple manoeuvres, such as loops, rolls, inverted flying and similar aerobatics, but it will not spin easily because the stall is almost non-existent, which is as it should be, so that it can be ‘held off’ for those satisfying three pointers, or touch and go’s. Also, if you fancy a brief chat to your next-door pilot, Archie will fly itself around quite happily for a circuit or so, yet send a control and it will respond. In other words then, a model to have fun with. What, however, if you are not a practised pilot? Well Archie is still for you, because it is a trainer which is not outgrown as soon as one has mastered the rudiments of flying. We do not recommend Archie as a trainer to someone who is going it absolutely alone from scratch – not because it is not as docile as other trainers, but because, if one does make an error, as all beginners do, then being a biplane there is more of it to break ! However, for the tyro who has the help of someone who, as a minimum, knows how to take-off and land, Archie can be recommended as a happy choice to ease your way into solo flying…”
It is all starting to sound very much like John Warren with his aforementioned Sunday Flyer as this is the fourth Archie that Nick has built, the first three being IC powered but this one is electric. The Archie is of balsa and ply construction and Nick has covered it in Solartex. The wingspan is 50” and the model weighs 5lb 4oz complete with a 5 cell lipo. Nick is using a Hobbyking Skywalker 80 amp esc to power an OS-OMA 5020-490kv outrunner motor which swings a 15 x 8 wooden propeller. On the first day he brought the model up to the field Nick’s pre-flight checks found that only one aileron was working. After lots of checking of connections, servo extension leads, and anything else any of us could think of Nick reluctantly took the model home without flying to check it over in his workshop. Eventually he discovered that on his transmitter he had got aileron differential set to Inhibit instead of Active. Never mind, it’s all sorted now and Archie has now flown successfully. Nick flew Archie on 27^th April and other than needing a load of down trim it was perfect. Don’t take my word for it, you can see it for yourself in this month’s video.

Last month I featured Leo, the club’s latest junior member, and said he likes buying used and/or damaged models. Well he’s been at it again, this time paying just £30 for a used Parkzone F4U-1A Corsair at a swap meet down in Cornwall.
The model appears to have been well used and the paintwork could do with a bit of tidying up but for £30 it was certainly a bargain. The 44” span foamie came complete with the motor, speed controller, and the servos, plus it has the optional flaps fitted.
If it still has the original equipment fitted the motor is a 15 size Outrunner BL, the speed controller an EFL 30A and it uses a 3 cell 2200mAh lipo to power it all. It has a fixed undercarriage but retracts were available when it was first produced about 10 years ago.  The Corsair flies really well, better than most of us were expecting I think, and the fixed landing gear copes perfectly with the grass patch. Leo doesn’t seem to have any problems flying the plane and I think it will serve him well.

Woody’s XFly T-7A Red Hawk flies very nicely once it’s up in the air but getting it up has proved to be a bit of a problem. If the patch has been freshly mown and there’s a bit of a breeze it will just about get off but if the grass is a little long and there are light winds it won’t make it. So we tried hand launching the Hawk and it went away perfectly so now Woody has removed the fixed undercarriage and it’s hand launches and belly landings all the way. In the air it looks much better without the wheels hanging down anyway.
Woody added some protective tape to the underside, some covers to protect the elevator servos, and some Velcro that acts as finger grips for the launch. Without the extra drag and weight of the undercarriage it is easy to hand launch and makes for a much better flight.

Dwayne Pipe’s now built Sea Vixen Mk3 as part of his quest of continuous improvement.
Here he explains what he’s changed: The Mk 3 is a development using the experience of the other club members who have built this design. Bob has used a KF before (That’s a Kline Fogleman wing section for those who don’t know) but not I think on the Sea Vixen. The electronics are identical to the Mk 2. It has a 30 A ESC, 2200Kv motor with a 6×3 prop. Unlike most of the other planes built I have removed the paper covering, as whatever you do it eventually separates from the foam, but I doubled up the tail booms as the Mk2 was starting to warp with just a single thickness.
In addition the join of the boom with the fuselage is reinforced with 6x6mm balsa strip. The wing is a KF design with the KF extending from the leading edge back 50% of the chord. This was done to provide more lift but also to reinforce the wing as the original was staring to warp which made flying it tricky. The KF section is made out of the remains of my Sukhoi wing as this is slightly thicker and certainly stiffer than the foam board we buy. The whole thing covered with a mixture of sticky back plastic, Solarcote and pound shop fluorescent acrylic paint. The new version flies very well, looks great in the air, and should be more durable than the previous versions. Watch it in the video.

We had a fortunately rare event at the patch in April when Catapult King’s Yellow Tail crashed and the lipo started smoking. The Yellow Tail has a thin wing which gives it tendency to tip-stall and as Catapult was on the landing approach it suddenly dropped a wing and crashed. I was watching at the time and I was as surprised as Catapult was, the model looked to have enough speed to me. The Yellow Tail came down about a hundred yards short of the patch and almost immediately we saw puffs of smoke so we ran over and with my paparazzi hat on I took a short video before unplugging the battery!
By the time we reached the model the worst of the smoke was over as only one cell was damaged and although it smoked a lot it didn’t burst into flames. It’s difficult to see the smoke in the picture above which is taken from the video, it shows up better in the video itself which I’ll include in this month’s video. As you can see the pack has seen better days!

Mini-Mike has flown lots recently, in fact I think he’s flown more in the last couple of months than in the whole of last year. His flying has improved with the extra practice and he seems to have got his landings under control now with both his Pitts Python and his Arrows Hobby Marlin. I snapped him looking pensive ”Which one should I fly…?”
He settled on the Pitts Python first but also flew the Marlin later in the day.

Sadly I have no flying shots this month but here is a selection of screenshots from videos that Dougal and I shot with our onboard cameras. The first one features 1066…don’t ask!

Video time now which this month includes footage by Dougal Entendre and myself. Please watch the video full-screen, it’s so much better with small models flying around.
If the video won’t play for you please click HERE

The late Captain Mickey Munn – an all-round fine fellow, highly experienced pilot and, at the time of this event, Sergeant in the Red Devils ( Parachute Regiment display team) – was piloting a Britten Norman Islander to jumping altitude with a full load of paras crammed into the rear of the aircraft.
With no warning at all, a bang and a flash of flame, the port engine blew itself to pieces. Mickey’s hands flashed around the cockpit as he brought the aircraft under control.
As soon as the aircraft was straight and level he turned to his passengers and said: “Phew. I think you chaps should…”
But his words tailed away as he gaped at the empty passenger cabin.
At the first sign of trouble, the paras had leaped from the aircraft and were at that moment floating serenely towards the earth. Mickey landed safely to tell the tale.

Colin Cowplain

What a difference a month makes, in the February Patch News I wrote about storms and 80mph winds but in March we had a long dry spell with sunshine and light winds. The field stayed free from cattle and sheep for most of the month and the patch was mown a couple of times and remains in excellent condition. Several new models were successfully flown although Woody’s latest own design foamie F-15 caused lots of hilarity when it did a javelin impersonation from its’ first launch. It did eventually fly (just), more of that later.

Juniors are a bit of a rarity nowadays so we are pleased to welcome Leo as a member.
At just thirteen Leo has already got a fair bit of modelling experience and owns a variety of planes as he enjoys buying used/damaged models and making them fit for purpose. Gordon Bennett has passed his first Valiant over to Leo as it will make an excellent trainer. Dougal Entendre is looking after Leo and tells me that it’s going well and that Leo is confident enough to do take-offs and landings with the Valiant and is now honing his skills and learning all the regulations so he can take his BMFA ‘A’ Certificate before too long.

1066 test flew his latest 3D machine, a HobbyKing MX2 at the end of February. It’s the same type as Dougal had a while ago and is made from almost destructible EPP foam. The MX2 is 955mm wingspan and weighs around 550g without the required 3 cell lipo.
This is from the HobbyKing website: Its fuselage is torsionally very stiff yet light with loads of space beneath the long top hatch for your radio and power system. The wing is a one-piece affair featuring EPP construction, a very accurate symmetrical aerofoil with 2 additional spars to minimize flex and twist. The control surfaces are something else – the elevator, rudder, and ailerons feature a 3 layer construction (EPP-Depron-EPP) making for stiff surfaces and NO flex at extreme throws! Snap rolls “Snap” and the control response is instantaneous. The light – yet rigid – airframe adds up to one great flying 3D “foamy”. Waterfalls, harriers, flat spins, rolling circles, this model has the precision to perform these and any other moves you can think of! Assembly of the airframe is a quick 10-15 minute process with the help of a little medium CA. The radio and power system layouts are very straightforward, the long top hatch making for easy access. This is a great model for general park flying and hardcore 3D. You will be hard-pressed to break this model, it will take hard knocks and just keep bouncing back every time!
Before the test flight Dougal told 1066 it wouldn’t fly very well so 1066 promptly took-off and immediately threw the model into all kinds of weird and wonderful manoeuvres just to prove him wrong! You can see some of that first flight in this month’s video.

Back now for the full story of Woody’s F-15 which is his own design, based on the other foamboard models that lots of us fly. He constructed it mostly from Hobbycraft foam with the paper covering left on but also added wood reinforcements where he saw fit.
He also added a piece of foamboard across the back between the fuselage sides as extra bracing. Actually I think it was just an excuse for somewhere to mount more LED lights! The power set-up is a fairly standard Turnigy D2826/6 motor and a 3 cell lipo battery. Woody was unsure where the centre of gravity should be so plumped for a safe forward position. As can be seen in the earlier photo the initial 45 degree upwards launch resulted in an immediate near vertical dive into the deck. The following two launches had the same result despite moving the battery further back and the application of full up elevator.
The ‘experts’ decided the reinforcing piece across the back was effectively adding full down elevator so Woody cut it out and we tried again. This time the F-15 got away from the launch and flew although it was way out of trim and the centre of gravity was probably too far back now. Woody was rather disheartened and has removed all the gear from the model but I think with a little more effort it could be made to fly successfully.

When he took the gear out of the F-15 Woody fitted it to a Sukhoi SU-27 from Banggood. Woody has painted it in the colours of Col. Oksanchenko of the Ukrainian Air Force who he and Chas saw displaying the Sukhoi at a Royal International Air Tattoo one year. Sadly Col. Oksanchenko was shot down near Kyiv in the first few days of the Russian invasion.

Woody had struggled to get the delta configuration set up correctly on his Multiplex transmitter and without having the manual to hand none of us could remember how to do it either. After much head scratching we bound the Sukhoi to Captain Slow’s later version Mpx transmitter which happened to have my Sukhoi in its’ model memory. Don’t ask why!
It then worked correctly so I flew the model but found it was incredibly twitchy so I landed after just one circuit. I tried again after dialling back the movements a lot and it was much better. Woody brought his transmitter manual along to the next flying session and we were soon able to set everything up on his transmitter and the model is now flying beautifully.

I spotted the photograph below on the internet, it’s one of the Ukrainian SU-27s that supposedly hit a road sign while flying extremely low to avoid Russian radar. I can’t help thinking it probably hit the sign when it landed on a road but I might be wrong.

As I mentioned in Patch News last month several of us have bought very cheap and small video cameras to add to planes to get some airborne footage. Gordon Bennett was one of the purchasers and he attached his camera to his Mig-29 facing rearward and I tried to fly my Mig in formation behind Gordon’s, hoping for some Mig on Mig action. The camera did record some footage of my plane but I think the term ‘flying in formation’ would be stretching the truth too far even for me! However, before he made his billions and retired at the age of 17 from his position as CEO Lord Bennett of ITV Gordon had worked his way up from floor sweeping via make-up, costume design, make-up, sound recording, make-up, filming, make-up, stunt coordinating, make-up, producing, make-up, and directing. So using the Mig footage and his TV experience Gordon has made a video for us all to enjoy.Even if you never bother watching the Patch News videos I urge you to turn the sound up loud and watch this video, it’s only 1 minute 20 secs long and it’s brilliant!

Wow, I need a lie down now after all that action, back to a little gentility with a photo that Dougal snapped when he was able to get his FPV model up amongst the clouds one day. In this excellent shot you can just make out the Solent and the Isle of Wight in the distance.
I was spotting and the model was at the limit of my vision when I saw a full-size plane approaching so I told him which direction to head and to descend Rapidly Also Of course.

Back in October last year 1066 built a foamboard version of a Mirus that he used to fly in his youth (yes the Mirus design really is that old!). He had used Hobbycraft foamboard and added a wooden spar but not much else and called it Cirus the Mirus. The plane flew really well but suffered with poor structural integrity, especially when landing on wet grass. Yes, it kept falling apart. So in March 1066 produced Cirus the Mirus Mk2. Dougal keeps calling it the Miley Cyrus but I think his mind is drifting back to his youth as well! Apparently it’s identical to the Mk1 in outline but 1066 says he’s made it much stronger. Unlike the first version it has a Kline-Fogleman wing section which obviously provides more lift as well as being stronger. All the powertrain and electronics were simply swapped straight over from the Mk1, it worked well before so there was no need to change anything. The colour scheme is interesting, I really like the multi-coloured lozenge-like panel and assumed it was a piece of stick on plastic film he’d found but apparently it was painted by his grandson. It’s quite telling that the best bit of the model is the part that was done by a three year old! It flies really well, better than the earlier version in fact so maybe that’s due in part to the Kline-Fogleman section and so far it hasn’t fallen apart.

We hadn’t seen much of Catapult King for a while but in March he appeared with a Ripmax Jive that Gorgeous Gary had given him. We haven’t seen Gary for a while either, hope he’s ok. The Jive was originally powered by an IC engine but Catapult has converted it to electric power by fitting a Propdrive V2 3536 910Kv (max 40A) motor and a 60A ESC. He’s using a 4 cell lipo which takes the weight to 2Kg (4lb 6oz) so there is plenty of power. The weight includes 300g of lead that Catapult needed to add to the nose in order to attain the correct centre of gravity. It’s a shame it needs so much but that’s a result of the Jive having such a short nose when it was designed for an IC engine. The battery is a very tight fit and Catapult reckons if it swells at all in flight he won’t be able to get it out again!
The conversion has obviously worked exactly as intended as the Jive flies well, it just needs Catapult to get up the nerve to start chucking in some 3D stuff now.

Dougal needed some new batteries in March and with the HobbyKing UK warehouse seemingly now shut for good he decided to try some he spotted on eBay. The 4 cell Zeee Power 3700mAh packs are 60C rated and Dougal is happy with their performance so far. They were on eBay with a Buy-It-Now price of £30 per pack but there was a Make Offer button so Dougal made an offer of £55.00 for two packs which was accepted and that including the delivery. I’ve just checked a couple of other well-known battery suppliers and their equivalent packs are at least twice the price so it will be interesting to see how the Zeee Power packs last. They came with a pretty comprehensive User Manual with some good advice on storage charging etc. to ensure the packs have a long and safe life.

Since he joined the club new member Geoff Hill has been flying a HobbyKing Bixler, mostly looked after by Dougal and using a Futaba radio and buddy box system.
But on one of the nicer weather days in March Geoff also brought along a Nebula 2000E electric glider. The 3 channel Nebula is two metre span with rudder, elevator, and throttle controls, no ailerons. The wings and tail are built-up and the fuselage is moulded plastic.
I think it’s an old Ripmax model that is no longer produced but it looks to be in perfect condition and it flew well enough, probably a good model to learn with on calm days.

Photos now, some were taken from the ground and some are screenshots from FPV video:

Video time now with footage shot by myself, Captain Slow, and Dougal Entendre. Please watch the video full-screen, it’s so much better with small models flying around:
If the video won’t play for you please click HERE

Co-Pilot to Captain (looking down): “Sir, can you explain to me what these buttons do”
Captain to Co-Pilot: “They keep your shirt closed”

Colin Cowplain