Patch News History

As most of you will know I’ve recently spent two weeks on holiday in Cornwall. This means that not only is this issue very late but also I missed out on quite a lot of what actually happened in June.  So now I’m faced with a bit of a dilemma, should I stretch out the info I have got or should I simply invent stuff? You know the sort of thing: Multiple Models Montague failed to buy any new models in June, Steve 1066 Hastings finally cracked hovering, Burly Turley didn’t speak for three consecutive minutes… no I’m just being ridiculous now, better stick to the truth!

I’ll start with some info that Dougal Entendre (Mark Agate) kindly sent me. You may remember that in the May Patch News I posted a photo of 1066’s broken Extra, with Steve showing his pleasure at having his picture taken. Well the damaged model was passed on to Mark who made a beautiful job of the repairs.

However, apparently 1066 didn’t pass on his ‘slow and low high alpha’ skills and after only a few minutes the Extra decided to stop flying! Mark now knows that slow and low high alpha flight requires large and rapid applications of throttle at the correct moment, or the model just stops and falls.Unfortunately the resulting damage proved terminal for the airframe although the hardware was fine so it wasn’t a total loss.

Dougal had also suffered another loss earlier in the month but at least I was present to enjoy it! His little Spad had a mid-air with a larger model (I forget who so I’ll say it was Bob Hill, he seems a likely candidate).

As the Spad was so small and light it was bound to come off badly in any collision but it was a shame to see it meet its end like that.

Onto happier things now, a couple of new models had their maiden flights. First off was Viv Burgess’s with his new PT-19 (Boeing Stearman) from HobbyKing. It’s a PNF (plug n’ fly) so comes complete with motor & prop, speed controller, and 4 servos. All you need to add is a receiver and a 4 cell lipo pack and for under £90 you have a 1200mm span scale trainer from World War Two.

I can confirm it’s a lovely flier, Viv was kind enough to let me have a go. It has loads of power, more than is scale in fact, and will do all the aerobatics you could expect from a biplane trainer.

The second new model was a Splot built by Gentleman Jim Hobday. Yes built, from a plan, from real balsa wood!The Splot was designed back in the 1980’s by ex PAM member Graham Head and his original was powered by an OS20 four stroke, the latest thing in those days. Graham designed it as a quick and easy model to build, hence the unswept 36” span wing with no dihedral. It turned out to be a very good all round sport model and modellers started fitting bigger and bigger engines, the OS25FSR being a favourite. With an excellent power to weight ratio it was great for ‘fly for fun’ competitions and PAM members had great success with them. Sussex Model Centre even kitted them for a while.I had an electric version several years ago, back in the days when it needed a heavy 10 cell Nicad to make it perform decently. Since then of course things have moved on a lot and now they fly very well on a 3 cell lipo, which is what Jim’s uses. He’s made an excellent job of it and sensibly included a hatch on the fuselage underside to make battery changes easy. It flies just the same as the I/C powered ones always did but without the noise and oily mess. Desperate Dan has offered to run off some copies of the plan if you’re interested in having a go at one.

We had a couple of old timers turn up the field the other day… and they were both flying Junior 60s!John Reynolds model is powered by an elderly OS20 I/C motor and the airframe is covered in Solartex, very smart it looks too. The other Junior 60 belongs to Dave Campling and the airframe is pretty elderly but John has replaced the original I/C engine with an electric motor. The power train actually came straight from a Wot 4 Foam-E and it powered the model very well. The covering is original and shows the stains of its I/C powered past.Both models were controlled by 35meg radio which somehow seems more appropriate than 2.4ghz although 27meg single channel would be even better. Of course the original was free-flight but the addition of radio saves an awful lot of running around! It was good to see the models flying together…took me back to…well before I was born I think! By the time I started modelling in around 1962 the Junior 60 had been replaced by the Super Sixty and then, a few years later, the Mini Super came along.

Cyano Steve had a slight mishap with his large Velox early in June. As you can see the model suffered a broken fuselage but no doubt Steve will soon have it repaired. When a pilot pushes the envelope as much as Steve does mishaps like this are bound to happen now and again.

 

Control: “AF1733, You are on an eight mile final for 27R. You have a UH-1 three miles ahead of you on final; reduce speed to 130 knots.”

Pilot: “Rogo’, Frankfurt. We’re bringing this big bird back to one-hundred and thirty knots fer ya.”

Control: (a few moments later): “AF33, helicopter traffic at 90 knots now1 1/2 miles ahead of you; reduce speed further to 110 knots.”

Pilot: “AF thirty-three reining this here bird back further to 110 knots”

Control: “AF33, you are three miles to touchdown, helicopter traffic now 1 mile ahead of you; reduce speed to 90 knots”

Pilot (a little miffed): “Sir, do you know what the stall speed of this here C-130 is?”

Control: “No, but if you ask your co-pilot, he can probably tell you.”

Colin Cowplain

 

May was quite a busy month although I didn’t manage to get to the patch much midweek so I’m a bit short of pics etc.  The weather was variable but there were plenty of flyable days and members made the most of them.

17^th May saw lots of us heading to the Blackbushe Model Air Show in perfect conditions. Personally I didn’t feel it was as good as previous years, due in part to the absence of Ali & the Bishops with their Red Arrows Hawks, and also because there were an awful lot of crashes/incidents.  The most notable crash was the show opener Steve Carr with his new 60% scale Extra which suffered severe flutter about 45 seconds into the flight followed by structural failure, the whole flight lasting under a minute.  I know little about the LMA inspection system or pre display flight tests but I do know that crashes like that should never happen. Apart from that I think we all enjoyed the day and there were some lovely models present.

One of my favourites was Steve Holland’s large OV-10 Bronco, I didn’t get any details but it’s big and flew beautifully.

Another was this Viperjet, yes it’s scale, you can buy a real one from the manufacturers Dan & Scott Hanchette,  although you’ll need about half a million dollars and 3500 thousand hours as it’s a kit build!

Nick Squire took loads of photos during the day so no doubt he’ll be doing a full write-up shortly.

Not too many new models appeared this month but Dougal Entendre (Mark Agate) brought along a Radjet 800. It’s not actually new, it was previously owned by one of Mark’s work colleagues. Chris Hard also has a Radjet 800 and Mark’s seems to fly just as well. It’s very smooth, fast, quiet, and a good all round performer.

Desperate Dan has got another DLG (Discus Launch Glider). No details I’m afraid but I’m happy to report that it’s an impressive performer, several flights I watched were around the one minute mark and that was on a day when there didn’t seem to be any thermal activity. Not too sure what he’s doing here!

I managed to inadvertently provide lots of amusement a couple of Sundays ago:  Dougal, 1066, and I decided to fly our identical Sportjets together.  We managed to get nice and close on a downwind run and began a fairly tight turn back to do a low level run over the patch. As we turned I waggled my wings to make sure I was flying the correct model and carried on in the turn. Within a few seconds I saw one of the models dive straight into the deck and I shrieked with laughter shouting “Who was that?!”  Within a couple of seconds the remaining two Sportjets shot past us and I thought “Mine looks much cleaner than when I launched it…”.  Then I heard Mark & Steve laughing and the realisation dawned… somehow I’d managed to switch models.  The resulting wreckage was not pretty but at first glance all the hardware seems to have survived without damage. I’ve had several hundred flights with it and it was certainly getting pretty tatty and grubby (white foam and a grass patch with sheep or cow poo don’t really mix too well) so I wasn’t really too upset at its loss, and at least it gave everybody present a good laugh! As always on such occasions plenty of ‘kind friends’ were eager to help out with photos of the wreckage, these were donated by Dougal Entendre…

Viv burgess turned up last Sunday with a huge new model, a lovely Seagull Models Ercoupe. It has a wingspan of 2.5M (98.4”) and is designed for a 33-40cc I/C engine but Viv has converted it to electric and is using a 10 cell pack feeding a monstrous motor via 120A speed controller.  I forget what motor he is using but it’s producing over 2kW of power which should be more than enough for a model weighing in at around 15lbs. Sadly our small patch didn’t seem to be big enough to enable the Ercoupe to take off and Viv is having to think again about CG, elevator movement etc.  To me there seemed to be an awful lot of weight on the nose wheel although the CG appeared to be correct. I thought it seemed to build up enough speed to take-off so I don’t think the problem was lack of power. I’m sure Viv will sort it and all will be fine eventually, it’s certainly a beautiful and impressive model, one of those that just looks like it should be a lovely flier.

The other new model to arrive was Woody’s Yak-9, a VQ model designed for either electric or I/C power. It looks absolutely stunning in its two tone blue camouflage scheme and Woody has fitted the optional retracts to make it totally authentic.   It’s powered by the recommended 5 cells but the model came out nose heavy so Woody had to alter the battery mount to allow it to slide back further under the canopy to correct it.  He obviously got it right as it flew beautifully and certainly had more than enough power. There was a vibration when I went to full throttle which I initially thought was probably an out of balance spinner, but it gradually got worse as the flight continued so I decided an early landing was required. That meant I didn’t get a chance to check out the slow speed handling or the stall so it came it a little bit rapidly and both the oleo legs snapped. When we examined them it was apparent that they were very weak at the pivot point and I think if Woody can fit solid legs into the retract units all will be fine. The vibration turned out to be a loose motor mount, in fact by the time I got the plane down it was very loose, almost hanging off, but nothing that isn’t easily sorted. I was very impressed by the way it flew and I look forward to the next flight. Nice one Woody.

Thanks go to John Wheeley for this months’ tale:

His request approved, the CNN News photographer quickly used a cell phone to call the local airport to charter a flight. He was told a twin-engine plane would be waiting for him at the airport.

Arriving at the airfield, he spotted a plane warming up outside a hanger. He jumped in with his bag, slammed the door shut, and shouted, ‘Let’s go’. 

The pilot taxied out, swung the plane into the wind and took off.

 Once in the air, the photographer instructed the pilot, ‘Fly over the valley and make low passes so I can take pictures of the fires on the hillsides.’

‘Why?’ asked the pilot. ‘Because I’m a photographer for CNN’, he responded, ‘and I need to get some close up shots.’

The pilot was strangely silent for a moment, finally he stammered, ‘So, what you’re telling me, is …. You’re NOT my flight instructor?’

Colin Cowplain

It’s May already so time for a new Patch News. I’m really pushed for time at the moment to this edition might be a bit rushed, and I won’t have time to sort out the video footage I’ve taken so I’ll hold it over for next month. The April edition was well received, especially the April Fool photo that Gentleman Jim composed of five Sportjets in close formation.  There were plenty of clues:  It was published on 1st April; there are only four Sportjets in the club; all five pictured had an identical nose repair; and the comments section mentioned Lirpa Loof & Frail Loops… but STILL someone managed to blurt out a daft question about the photo at club! I would name them but Burly Turley gets upset when I pick on him so I won’t…oops!

We started the month with some young bullocks in the field. Those of us who have seen bullocks in the field many times over the years know that although they are really inquisitive and can sometimes be a little aggressive they usually get bored and leave us alone after a while. When I arrived at the barn one morning I was amused to see one member running for the gate chased by a herd of bullocks!  If they get too close and ‘stroppy’ it’s best to just head towards them, not move away, no doubt they could do you a lot of harm given the chance so stand your ground. It’s certainly best not to enter the field alone, you won’t be able to fly anyway as you’ll get surrounded.

Chairman Ron took the role of head herder one misty morning and showed us how to do it.

Speaking of Ron, you may have heard that he has taken on the task of mowing the patch for us. He’s bought a new club mower, a much lighter version than the old one and he’s able to lift it in and out of his car without too much difficulty. On behalf of all the members I’d like to record a huge Thank You Ron, it is greatly appreciated. As I write Ron is sunning himself on foreign shores so thank you Chas for taking over for a couple of weeks!

Cyano Steve has also gone off to sunnier climes, he’s gone on his annual Tarpon fishing trip to Florida Keys but before he went he turned up with this little beauty.It’s an E-Flite UMX Sbach 342 3D from Kings Lynn Models. It may be tiny but it really is a 3D machine, it prop hangs etc just like larger versions, no doubt largely due to its AS3X stabilisation system. The wingspan is just 432mm (17”), it weighs 75gms (2.65oz), and the battery is a 2S 180mAh. I’m looking forward to having a go with it Steve.

Desperate Dan has now had the plaster cast removed from his leg and can reach the patch again. One Sunday he brought along his Skywalker 1900 model fully equipped with FPV gear, and asked me to launch it and be his spotter. Dan flew around for a few minutes and checked the return to home function that should return the model to the launch point if there is a communication failure, and all seemed fine. A couple of times I asked him to bring the model back closer as it was getting difficult for me to see, and surprisingly each time it was only about 500 metres away. This is a 1900mm span model so we obviously don’t fly the majority of our models as far away as we think. Then Dan asked if I’d like a go flying FPV and he handed me the headset while he flew normally. Then I took control and flew around for a few minutes. The model seemed easy enough to fly although I really didn’t have a clue where I was most of the time. There is an awful lot of information on the screens but without having had a chance to study it all on the ground most of it didn’t really mean too much, I was just too busy flying the model to take much time working out what all the numbers meant.  A couple of times Dan said ‘turn left’ or similar to stop me going behind the flight line and occasionally I spotted the patch, the road etc. After a few minutes Dan said I should come closer, the screen said I was something like 650 metres away so it must have been right at the edge of visibility. I said I had no idea which way to turn to get closer and he explained about a line on the screen which should be pointing vertically upwards when I was heading directly back to us. Just as I started to turn back Dan said he’d lost sight of the model and on screen I appeared to be diving. Up elevator made no difference and then the screen suddenly went off.

It was a horrible feeling when I had nothing on the screen and Dan couldn’t see the model! Then Mark shouted from the pits that the model had crashed a long way off. We trudged off along the bearing that Mark had taken but after a long search we returned empty handed. Overnight we checked Google Earth and using the bearing we had and around 700 metres distance we decided the model had to be in a reasonably narrow strip of trees that we had walked through previously. Next day we went back and luckily, on his way down a track, Dan met a farmer who said he’d seen the model. With his directions it only took a few minutes to find, phew! The model was indeed in the strip of trees and was on the ground having suffered very little damage as it came through the trees.

 So what went wrong? The only thing I could think of was maybe I had stalled it and it had gone into a spin, although on the screen I certainly didn’t see a death spiral and the ground suddenly getting really close! Dan reckoned that was very unlikely as the model is almost impossible to stall with any power on at all. The recorded on-board video should have shown us what happened but sadly the video card was cracked in the crash so Dan was unable to view it. Having reviewed all the evidence Dan has come to the conclusion that battery became disconnected, hence loss of everything. He had used an XT60 connector but it was a cheap copy rather than a genuine one and apparently there have been issues reported online with loss of connectivity.  

The minor repairs were quickly completed and a genuine XT60 connector fitted, and Dan has flown it again without further problems.

There were a couple of other incidents on the same day; firstly Dougal Entendre (sometimes known as Mark Agate) had a minor mid-air with Bob Hill. Bob was flying his aged Seagull trainer and I think Mark was flying his MX2 when they touched, but neither thought there was any serious damage. Bob noticed a small trim change so landed and discovered that his tailplane had been well chewed by Mark’s prop! Lucky he had done the correct thing and landed, there may not have been such a happy outcome if he had continued with the flight. Mark got away with a couple of minor dings in one wing.

The other incident involved Steve 1066 and a crosswind ’landing’.  The wind had shifted during the flying and most of the morning was spent with the pits in the wrong place. Needless to say as soon as the decision was made to move the pits the wind shifted back to where it had been earlier. According to 1066 it was all my fault (what’s new?!) so I am pleased to include a photo of his misfortune:It seems he wasn’t overjoyed at having his photo taken but was anxious to point out that he’d only had one crash… at least I think that’s what he’s indicating. Thanks go to Smiffy for the photo; he was heard gleefully muttering something about getting his own back.

Chris Hard has got a new model, a Radjet 800. He’s has been flying the smaller Radjet 420 for a while and decided to try the 800mm version.  Chris has fitted a HET 3W 400 watt motor which draws around 38A from a 3s 2350 lipo and the model only weighs 572g so it’s not underpowered. I was flying my Gripen the other day and all I saw of the Radjet was a blur as it kept passing me!

Another new model comes from Nick Squire, a Great Planes Super Sportster 40.  The span is 1410mm (55.5”) and it weighs about 2.3kg (5lbs). Nick seems to have regressed since last month, this model is fitted with an I/C motor and 35meg radio gear. Nostalgia’s not what it used to be…      It flies well despite those deficiencies and is proving to be a good all round sport machine.

Fanfare time, all stand please, Mark passed his BMFA Examiner’s Test on Saturday. Well done to Mark and thanks to Area Chief Examiner Steve Warren for coming along to our patch to test him.

I went along to observe and to help Mark where needed but to be honest I didn’t see much of the flight. Mark was about a quarter of the way through the test when the shepherd drove across the field, south of the patch, to check the many sheep in the field. About two hundred sheep and lambs that had been down by the gate decided to run after the shepherd and charged straight over the patch. They had just reached him when he got back in his vehicle and drove back past us on the north side of the patch, so they all charged back again! The noise of hundreds of bleating sheep and lambs was incredible and drowned out the model noise totally, I heard Mark say “I’m trying not to be distracted”! By the time he got to the landing the sheep were all grazing happily again behind us as if nothing had happened!  Steve Warren must have been slightly bemused, probably thinks we’re an odd bunch that always run around the field chasing sheep. I tried to explain that it’s usually only Smiffy who does that… 

So then it was question time and Mark was a bit surprised to be asked about dethermaliser snuffer tubes on free flight models and control-line pull tests amongst all the more expected questions on flying displays and CAP658 etc. But he did well and sailed through so now we have two club examiners again and can take ‘B’ tests for anyone to wants to have a go. Form an orderly line please…

While we were at the field for Mark’s test we watched lots of paragliders enjoying the north easterly wind both along by Old Winchester Hill and at the usual site by the masts.  Amongst them was a ‘proper’ hang-glider which looked like a very sophisticated machine, nothing at all like the old style triangular frames covered in nylon.  We watched as he caught a thermal and circled up to a great height before passing over our field and disappearing off to the west.  We finished flying and were home by lunchtime, but Desperate Dan went to the field in the afternoon. Before he started flying he was surprised by a hang-glider flying low overhead with the pilot shouting at him, wanting to know the wind direction. He duly landed in the field and promptly had a pee; it turned out it was the one we had watched in the morning returning after a five hour flight! Fortunately Dan took some photos so we can see it’s an Atos VR.A quick Google finds that it’s from a German manufacturer and has a wing span of 13.8 m (45 ft), wing area of 14.7 m² (158 sq ft) and aspect ratio of 13.3:1. It has minimal cable bracing and incorporates both flaps and spoilers for roll control and as you can see it has a small vee tailplane.

And finally…I said in the last Patch News that Smiffy always has to have more of everything than everybody else, it turns out that this even applies to model clubs. He sent me a photo of his latest model but it was as at the Guildford club’s patch not ours. Andy didn’t give me any details but I’m pretty sure it’s a Sebart Sukhoi 29S 50E V2, whatever it is it looks absolutely gorgeous. Come on Smiffy, bring it to our patch, I want to drool…

That’s all for now, I’m off to Zante, hope to see you all at Blackbushe on the 17^th, check it out at:  www.blackbushemodelairshow.co.uk/
“Why is there mistletoe hanging over the baggage counter?” asked the airline passenger caught in the holiday rush. The check-in girl replied “It’s so you can kiss your luggage goodbye”.

Colin Cowplain

 
 

NO FLYING Sunday 11th May 2014

The sustainability are holding their Green Day again this year on Sunday the 11th May.
As the field will be used as a car park there will be no flying on that day for safety reasons.