Patch News History

Well for once we can’t moan about the British summer, most of July was very hot and sunny. Some of us were fortunate enough to fly almost every day, we flew so much I’ve got too much material for this edition of Patch News!   I’ll start with a few unfortunate goodbyes: Sadly Gentleman Jim’s beautiful Zlin 50 lost an aileron after very few flights and comprehensively re-kitted itself.  Jim had done a pull test on the surfaces earlier that day and was happy they were secure but a post-crash examination showed the cyano hadn’t penetrated as well as expected on the wicking hinge material. A lesson for us all there, either pin your hinges or be very very sure they are secure… and then check again. Hapless Harper’s Hunter died a spectacular death a few weeks back. Mick handed me the transmitter to trim the model but within seconds a plume of smoke appeared from the jet-pipe! This was followed a couple of seconds later by radio failure which in turn was followed by the inevitable crash. It looks as if the speed controller overheated (despite having been ok for many flights) and the resulting fire burnt through the elevator servo wire. Mick also managed to destroy his Wot Trainer.  I was flying my own model and noticed Mick’s plane in an unusual location. I shouted a warning but almost immediately there was a loud crash followed by ‘I was sure I was well this side of the tree’. Yes, he’d flown into his favourite oak tree again! Henceforth to be known as Mick’s Tree… Two or three years ago Viv gave me his large Corsair that he’d been flying with an I/C engine. He’d finished with it and the plan was that I would convert it to electric. But since then I’d done nothing with it and Viv had gone electric so I gave it back to him! Within a few days he’d converted it to electric and flown it (just trying to show me up I reckon). Sadly after only a couple of flights it was totalled in an unexplained crash.                                                                                 Norwegian Nick had a couple of attempts with his Buzzard built from the Chris Golds plan but successful flight has so far eluded him. We concluded that the C of G was too far back but the resulting damage was pretty minor so hopefully Nick will make repairs and try again, it looks great and should be intriguing in the air.   Moving on to happier things:

At the start of July we had a round of combat with 3 Mustangs and 3 ME109s. For about 5 minutes the models were  careering around all over the place, accompanied by shouts, shrieks, and exclamations from the pilots, but we all survived without serious incident. The onlookers said it looked like a  manic swarm of bees! Smiffy had converted his Mustang to a Red Tail (Google it for more info) so he could tell which was his and it must have worked as when he landed his model had gained an assortment of streamers he’d chopped from various others! The Mustangs are now back in stock in the UK and several have been ordered by the ME109 pilots who discovered the Mustang is the better model. So we should have a re-match soon, I’m out for revenge Smiffy, out for revenge!

Viv has recently replaced the motor in his large scale PT19. Previously it had enough power to fly but was a bit of a handful to get off the ground, it had a tendency to tip stall if it hadn’t built up enough speed on the take-off run.  So it now has a more powerful motor that drags it up to speed in a much shorter distance and the take-offs are much easier.  At 80” span it has great presence in the air and looks lovely cruising around at scale speeds.

 

  Mark Agate’s lovely T45 that I pictured in the June Patch News has now flown several times and I’m pleased to report that it’s an excellent model. Despite being only a 3 cell model it takes off in just a few feet and has enough power to fly in a very scale-like manner. It’s remarkably quiet but sounds much more jet-like than most EDFs. I can assure you the photo was taken at touchdown even if it does look like it’s just sitting there! More recently Mark has removed the undercarriage for a more scale appearance in the air and it goes away from a hand launch without problem. Mark has also been flying a little French Spad. Its 700mm span, made from EPO foam, and uses 3 cell packs of around 800mAh capacity. Needless to say it’s yet another from HobbyKing. It flies well but when Mark landed at the end of its first flight the battery pack dropped out of the bottom. So Mark rounded up a posse of helpers to search for the hatch that should have been holding the pack in place. After about 10 minutes of a dozen or so people searching the entire field Mark discovered the hatch had simply hinged open and was still attached to the model!   Previous to the meeting between Mick’s Tree and his Wot Trainer Hapless Harper had bought another Yak 54. It turned out to be a bit on the heavy side and just to make things worse it needed a lot of nose weight.  It flew ok but landing proved to be a bit of a handful on landing so Mick decided it wasn’t for him and it would be best to sell it before he broke anything.   He’s replaced it with a Kyosho Calmato ST, a much more sensible choice for Mick as it’s a lightweight 3 cell sports model. It flies beautifully and should serve Mick for a long time to come. Don’t turn it into a Kyosho Calamitous Mick…   I managed to get a couple of reasonable photos of Smiffy’s F4 Phantom, one as it was just leaving the launch ramp and another as it landed.    It’s amazing how the duration of the EDFs has improved; these shots were taken a week apart!   With the really high July temperatures we’ve had Burly Turley found his lipo packs were overheating so he made up a new hatch for his Uno Wot with a series of louvres in it. Looks like you’ve made a nice job of it Peter. He assures me they’ll let all of his hot air out, it’s encouraging to hear but I find it difficult to believe, personally I think many many more louvres would be needed for that….   Multiple Models Montague has been at it again this month.  First he appeared with a Durafly Slick 360. We know he likes Slicks but this one is a little different, with the emphasis on little. It spans just 490mm and uses a 2 cell 180mAh lipo! It flies amazingly well, even in quite strong breezes, and does many of the 3D manoeuvres that we are used to seeing Steve perform with his larger models.   It was Steve’s birthday at the end of July and his wife treated him to a Velox, a 70” span 3D machine. As you can imagine it takes a lot of power to prop hang a 70” model so the overall cost of a model like this is pretty high. It arrived from the States at the beginning of the month and Steve had it ready to go about a week before his birthday so it seemed petty not to try it out. The first outing was good, no problems at all, but on the second outing he got a bit too cocky… low level Harriers are not for the faint-hearted, especially with a large expensive model that is a present for a birthday you haven’t yet had.    Oops! Fortunately the damage wasn’t as bad as it first looked. The most serious part was a fuselage break just behind the wing but Steve managed to get it all back together without any twists or incidence changes and within a few days (should that be Phew days?) it was flying again as well as before.   On the same day as Steve’s misdemeanour Smiffy test flew a Yak that he’d bought on eBay. Yes this is the same Smiffy that is selling off some models because he has too many… Anyway it flew very well but apparently Andy isn’t up to landing a model that has got wheels, he tried a Phantom style high alpha landing, caught the tail in the long grass which ripped off the elevator, and the nose came down so hard it smashed the cowl. Never mind Smiffy, you’re well used to repairing planes…   Keith has been taking full advantage of the hot spell and had another outing with his camera equipped elecric glider. He sent me this photo looking south towards the Isle of Wight, a cracking shot I’m sure you’ll agree. If you want to see a larger version of any of the photos just click on it. There is a limit on the file size of photos on the site so I’m afraid they can’t be top quality. My thanks go to John Wheeley and Steve Montague who provided some of the photos in this Patch News.   A couple of F-15’s are escorting a C-130 Hercules, and their pilots are chatting with the pilot of the transport to pass the time. Talk comes ‘round to the relative merits of their respective aircraft. Of course the fighter pilots contend that their airplanes were better because of their superior speed, manoeuvrability, weaponry, and so forth, while the putting down the Herc’s deficiencies in these areas. After taking this for a while, the C-130 pilot says, “Oh yeah? Well, I can do a few things in this old girl that you’d only dream about.” Naturally, the fighter jocks challenge him to demonstrate. “Just watch,” comes the quick retort. And so they watch. But all they see is that C-130 continuing to fly straight and level.. After several minutes the Herc pilot comes back on the air, saying “There! How was that?” Not having seen anything, the fighter pilots reply, “What are you talking about? What did you do?” And the Herc pilot replies, “Well, I got up, stretched my legs, got a cup of coffee, then went back and took a leak.”   Colin Cowplain

There’s a lot to talk about this month even though I had a week off camping in Cornwall.
I’ll start with some good news, we thought we’d lost Burly Turley at the start of the month but we’ve found him again!  Apparently he’d wandered over to the track to collect the windsock and we couldn’t see him. Thankfully the field has now been cut and all is well again!
When George and his men cut, turned, and cleared the hay they worked round us so they didn’t interrupt our flying.  PAM is extremely lucky that the farmer and his workers are so considerate towards us.
 
We now have lots of the little EPP combat models flying.  There seems to be quite a difference between the P51 and ME109 with the P51 seeming to fly best.  Mine has now had 51 flights and I love it, despite its light weight it will fly in really strong winds, it’s as docile or as mad as you could want, and has no nasty vices.  The 109’s seem to vary quite a lot, Steve 1066 has had lots of trouble getting his to fly properly but Chairman Ron’s seems pretty good. Apparently Herr 1066 has been sneaking off in the evenings for test flights and it’s flying better now. I’ve flown several of them now and both Woody’s and Multiple Models Montague’s are better with the rudder and ailerons coupled. Unlike the P51 the 109 comes with the wings already joined and the carbon stiffeners fitted to it’s not easy to alter the dihedral, personally I think they need more to make them turn properly.

Some of us have tried combat using 2M of twine and a 5M paper streamer. It’s very difficult to get cuts but at the moment I’m leading Wonky Wiltshire 3 cuts to 1. I must have caught Wonky’s twine on one cut as his streamer ended up right through my leading edge!

Smiffy and I also had a fight with streamers on but he viciously flew his wing into my prop!  Fortunately his wing just needed a bit of sticky tape and mine needed a new prop, then we were off again.  I think the pressure got to him and he dumped it (made excuses about flat battery etc but we know the truth Smiffy) but he got away with very little damage.
So far none of the ME109’s have got as far as flying with streamers… 1066 almost did but when he, Wonky, and myself did a mass launch his streamer wrapped round his neck and yanked the 109 out of the sky!
MMM actually started off with a P51 but ‘modified’ it a few times and it wouldn’t fly right so he replaced it with a 109 as the P51’s are out of stock. So he now has a 109 powered by a P51 motor, bet that would have been interesting in the war.
 
The Texan that Woody bought at Blackbushe last month is now flying very nicely.  It does have the full-size trait of tip stalling if the speed gets too low so Woody will have to be a bit careful on the landing approaches but it doesn’t do it until it’s going pretty slowly so hopefully he’ll be ok.

Nick has put lots of new photos in the Gallery section which include some flying shots of the Texan, it looks great. Don’t forget, check out the Gallery.
 
Wonky has sorted out his ST Models DG-1000 motor glider now. When he first flew it all went well until the battery ran flat and the radio quit at the same time as the motor! Fortunately the plane just landed itself with no damage. He’s now changed the electronics and sorted that problem, but the motor retraction servo failed so he wasn’t able to tuck the motor away on the glide. Third time lucky then Wonky…

I finally remembered to take a photo of Mark Agate’s HobbyKing Skyfun. It’s very fast but also slows up nicely for landing so a good all-rounder. Mark has fitted a much hotter motor than the standard one but he seems to get long flights so it must be a pretty efficient motor/airframe combination. Its worth watching Mark’s discus launch, works well if a bit unconventional!
 
Mark has also brought along his shiny new EDF T-45 Goshawk, another one from HobbyKing. He sensibly declined to test flight it in the 20mph winds last week so we are looking forward to seeing it take to the air when conditions are better.  It’s a nice looking model and I’m sure it will fly well.
 
Chairman Ron has been flying his Spitfire again, now fitted out with E-Flite servo less retracts.  The model is a Parkzone Mk IX Spit that already flew very nicely but now looks so much better in the air with the retracts fitted.

 
Andy “everything I own is bigger/better/more expensive” Smith seems to be determined to arrive at the patch with more equipment than everybody else.  As you can see in this photo he evens brings his comfort blanket along!  The other day he was talking about adding a tent as well in case it rains, presumably to put all that gear in while he goes off to get the low loader! Well bad news Smiffy, you’ve been outdone for once, look at what Bob McBride is turning up with these days! The only thing I don’t understand is with all that electric power available why on earth is he flying I/C? I suppose someone has got to, although I hear a rumour his next model is electric.
 
 
Chris Hard is continuing his theme of flying wings and this week has been flying his latest, a Radjet 420.  It’s yet another one from HK and the 420 figure is the wingspan! It comes conveniently complete in its own carry box and it’s not until you see Chris holding it that you realise just how small it is. We all watched the first flight carefully, expecting it to be a hairy little beast, but in fact it flew very smoothly and with no problems other than seeing it. Chris has fitted a tiny receiver that is range limited to about 300M but with such a tiny model 300M is plenty far away enough!
  
 
Gentleman Jim brought his latest model along on Wednesday, a Zlin 50L.  I won’t say who is selling them, it’s getting boring now!  The Zlin 50L is a follow on to Jim’s E-Flite Pulse XT that has served him so well for quite a while now and should make a good next step.  I test flew it and it showed its aerobatic pedigree, I think it’s going to be a great model. The full-size Zlin first flew in the mid-seventies and won many world class aerobatic competitions until around the late eighties when it was edged out of top level competitions by the Sukhoi SU-26. They continued to build them right up until 1995 and many are still being used by top aerobatic teams. So we are expecting great things Jim…
 
 
Norwegian Nick and his son Shaun came to the patch today and flew both the A-4 Skyhawk and a smaller version of the Fantrainer that Nick has been flying recently. Good to see some models beautifully built from old fashioned balsa and covered in doped tissue.
 
 
Rather off topic but while we were down in Cornwall we visited a new museum at Newquay Airport/RAF St Mawgan. It’s called Classic Air Force and it only opened at Easter this year. It seems to have been reborn from Coventry based Classic Flight which was part of Air Atlantique, and as it’s so new they are still bringing many aircraft in. It’s classed as a living museum i.e. almost all aircraft can and do fly. It’s based in one of the hangers that used to house Nimrods and currently has: Anson, Twin Pioneer, Percival Prentice, 2 Rapides, 2 Jet Provosts, Chipmunk, Vampire, Venom, 2 Meteors, Dove, Hunter, Harrier, BAC-111 and several more. They give flights in the Rapides, Chipmunk, and even the Prentice. The website www.classicairforce.com is very good and shows planned aircraft movements so you can plan your visit to fit in with interesting flying. While we were there one of the Meteors flew in from Coventry.
 
We were able to get right up to it and even have a chat with the pilot. Because it’s relatively new and small the museum is very friendly and the staff are very happy to chat and show you everything.  As seniors our entry was only £6.60 each including a Gift Aid supplement and paying the supplement gave us 50% discount in the excellent shop and café. Both the shop and café prices were very reasonable so the 50% discount meant there were some real bargains! So if you are visiting Cornwall I recommend you drop in, you won’t regret it.
 
The crew of a US airliner made a wrong turn during taxi and came nose to nose with another aircraft, the furious ground controller (a female) screamed: “[Callsign] where are you going? I told you to turn right on ‘Charlie’ taxiway; you turned right on ‘Delta’. Stop right there” Continuing her verbal lashing of the embarrassed crew, she shouted: “You’ve screwed everything up. It’ll take forever to sort this out. You stay right there and don’t move until I tell you to. You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about a half hour and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you. You got that?”
Naturally, the frequency went very quiet until an unknown male pilot broke the silence and asked: “Wasn’t I married to you once?”
 
Colin Cowplain

It doesn’t seem like a month since I wrote the last Patch News but it’s been a pretty busy month and time has flown even more than we have. I had a week on holiday in Marrakech, many of the active fliers had a trip to Blackbushe, and we’ve still managed to get a fair bit of flying in despite the weather.
I won’t say too much about the Blackbushe model airshow as no doubt Nick will be writing a report for the website. Suffice to say some members shook the moths out of their wallets and splashed the cash. Woody was spotted with a large box of Texan, it’s the Art Tech one which has had some good reviews so we expect great things very soon. As he rearranged his Ripmax Mustang the other day the Texan may have moved nearer the front of the queue! Or been put further back I suppose…

When we decided ice-creams were required Smiffy didn’t want to be left out and as usual he had to go bigger, better, and more expensive than everybody else…

Of all the models there Ali’s English Electric Lightning stole the show for me, very impressive both on the ground and in the air.

No doubt Nick’s report will have lots more on it. Meantime have a look at this 5 minute video, it might be short but it’s excellent and gives a very good impression of how the day went: Blackbushe video
While we were watching the jets I remarked that I really liked the Viper Jet and Smiffy dragged me (kicking and screaming obviously) to look at one on the Al’s Hobbies stand. I decided that £120 was too much for just a foam airframe, it still required the fan, motor, esc, and all the radio gear so the total cost would be pretty high.  But no sooner had I got home than Smiffy emailed to say he’d ordered one! Of course his is a bigger better one and comes complete with 90mm fan, motor, retracts, lights etc and cost about £350. Knowing Smiffy it shouldn’t be too many years before we see it at the patch!
We haven’t seen too much of newish member Chris Hard for a few months  but recently he has reappeared and has been flying a couple of impressive flying wings. I failed to get any details about either of them but am happy to report that they fly very well and Chris is a skilful pilot. (Note to self: break his thumbs!)

 
Slightly off topic, as you may know you can see the International Space Station when it passes overhead, weather permitting of course. It’s quite a thought provoking sight as it streaks across the night sky, well worth standing outside in the cold for a few minutes. So how do you know when and where to look? Go to http://spotthestation.nasa.gov/  and enter your mobile number and location. If the space station is due to pass  you’ll receive a text in the morning giving the time it will appear, a compass bearing, and how long it will be visible for. It’s easy to spot as it’s brighter than the stars and moving quite quickly.
 
Burly Turley has also been visiting the patch more recently and getting back into flying. He’s got a Chris Foss Uno Wot which, like all Foss models, flies very well despite Peter’s help! Until I took this photo I never realised how long the Uno Wot fuselage is…

New member John Wheeley has a helicopter B certificate but nothing for fixed wing so having purchased a Wot4 Foam-e from George Worley of 4-Max he decided to take the plunge and go for his fixed wing A certificate. Despite it only being his seventh flight with the Wot4 he flew it fine and once I’d explained the way the BMFA want the figure eight done he sailed through the flying part.  Not so the questions, he answered the first one “What’s in the brown envelope?” with “Nothing”!  I was forced to resort to proper questions and unfortunately he knew the answers so I had to pass him! Well done John.
The combat flying that Steve Hastings dreamt up is being to come to fruition. Nine of us agreed to build the models, either a P51 or an ME109, both very similar profile models made from EPP. Steve sent off a large order to HobbyKing and we have now all received the stuff we ordered.  Steve says “Never again” as it was a pain in the backside to get all the orders together etc, so a big “Well done and thank you” is due to Steve. My order was for a P51 with motor, esc, 3 servos, and 4 x 3 cell lipos, all of which came to £67. I’ve put it together and have had eight flights so far. It isn’t a pretty model (I’ve never liked profile fuselages) but I’m pleasantly surprised by its flying qualities, it doesn’t have any vices and will do any aerobatics you can dream up. I took mine to the field to fly on Friday but it was gusting 20mph and I decided not to risk test flying a very light model in those conditions. My granddaughter was happy to pose with it for the photo, her clothing is an indication of the windy conditions! However I went back in the much calmer evening for 4 flights and had another 4 the next evening. I’m enjoying flying it too much to risk smashing it in combat!

 
A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport. After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.  Welcome to Flight Number 293, nonstop from New York to Los Angeles. The weather ahead is good and therefore we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax — OH MY GOD!”
Silence followed and after a few minutes, the Captain came back on the intercom and said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I’m so sorry if I scared you earlier, but while I was talking, the flight attendant brought me a cup of coffee and spilt it in my lap. You should see the front of my pants! A passenger in Economy said, “That’s nothing, he should see the back of mine!”
Colin Cowplain

I’m writing this on 1st May so it must be time for the April Patch News. Despite the fact that Multiple Models Montague has gone fishing in Florida for 2 months I’ve still got lots to write about. That must mean the weather has picked up at last and the sunshine has brought more people out to fly.
I’ll start where I finished last month, with my Sea Vixen. OK, let’s get it over with, I’ve ‘modified’ it slightly. I had a few flights since adding the new rudder linked to a gyro and it seemed to do the job, the plane was much steadier in blustery weather. Sadly a few Sundays ago it suddenly decided to half roll into the deck. Wasn’t me guv honest!
My ex mate Nigel very kindly took a photo and as you can see both ailerons are in the full down position. When I checked it out back at the workshop I found one aileron servo had failed at full deflection and of course my correction would have put the other aileron at full deflection, and that’s how it hit the ground. At least it had the decency to do it on a busy Sunday when loads of you were there to enjoy it! Everything (apart from the aileron servo) still works fine, no problems with any of the hardware at all so I will get it flying again soon. Not certain whether to try repairing the wreckage or simply buy another airframe…watch this space.
 
Sticking with Sea Vixens, Norwegian Nick is building a ‘real’ one from the Chris Golds plan. He’s got the airframe built and it just needs some sandpapering etc to be ready for its paint finish. It’s a proper twin and uses two of the tiny Knight & Pridham fans and motors. It’s looking really good Nick, can’t wait to see it flying.  
 
Newbie Nigel (my ex mate) has recently bought a Durafly Mk24 Spitfire. It comes complete with retracts, split flaps, and nav lights and it looks great and flies beautifully. So far Nigel has asked me do all the take-offs and landings but he is enjoying the rest of the flight himself and says he’s achieved his boyhood dream of flying his own Spitfire.     
 
Meanwhile Smiffy is having a break from EDF and is flying a Wot 4. This one’s not a foamie one, it’s a proper wooden I/C version that he’s converted to electric. In typical Smiffy fashion, when sorting out battery pack access he’s gone for rear entry…

 
We’ve been joined by a couple of new members recently, John and Mark. Sorry guys I haven’t learnt your surnames yet. Both are already experienced pilots so no training is needed, a welcome change! So far John has been flying a Czech made V tail electric glider but purchased a Wot 4 Foam-e from George Worley of 4-Max at the last meeting. Mark is flying a hairy twin pusher motored foam wing, the name of which escapes me and I also forgot to take a photo. The most important thing is that he lives in Cowplain so he’s obviously a great guy with tremendous taste!
 
Keith Evans has been experimenting with aerial photography this month using a very cheap digital camera strapped to the nose of his electric glider. He’s had some good results so far with stills and is intending to try the camera in video mode soon.
 
Nick Squire has recently added lots of old PAM photos to the website and if you look at the Gallery under Past Pictures on page 3 you’ll find an aerial photo I took of some members waving from the edge of the patch about 30 years ago! I put a 35mm (film) camera inside my Merco 61 powered Veron Super Robot with it looking out of the side under the wing. Of course in those days I could only take one photo before having to land and remove the wing to wind the film on ready for the next shot. How things have changed! The quality of Keith’s digital photos if much better than anything I took and we didn’t even dream of video in those days, so I’m looking forward to seeing Keith’s efforts.
 
Viv has been flying lots recently with a variety of models. I photographed two of them, his Gee Bee and Cessna Bird Dog. The Gee Bee is a large foamie and despite what you’d expect of a racing machine it’s a real pussycat to fly. The Bird Dog is one of Viv’s old I/C models that he’s now converted to electric. It flies just the same as it always did but it clean and quiet now.
 
 
Finally its congratulation time: both Mike Smith and Tony Neil have passed their ‘A’ certs, well done to both. There aren’t many active fliers left now that haven’t passed their ‘A’s, that can only be a good thing.
A BA 747 pilot had waited for take-off clearance for 45 minutes. A German 737 was cleared immediately. The BA pilot asked the tower why the German aircraft had been given clearance at once. Before the tower could reply, the German pilot came back with “Because I got up very early in zee morning and put a towel on the runway!”
Colin Cowplain