Patch News History

At the club meeting last week it was decided that this evening (Wed 8th Aug) we would have a go at clearing the nettles etc from around the parking areas at the field. Unfortunately Roland’s van is being repaired and he is not sure he’ll have it back for tomorrow, we need Roland to bring most of the equipment! Mick H has decided we should reschedule it for next Wednesday 15th Aug, 7pm if you can make it.

We had a surprise visitor to the patch in May. A few of us were flying one Saturday when we spotted a Tiger Moth heading our way and the pilot had obviously spotted us as well. He flew a circuit around the field, presumably to check we were aware of his presence and, once he could see we had landed all the models, he treated us to a low pass…and I mean LOW!  We thought he was going to do a touch and go but he stayed a few feet up. I just managed to snatch a quick photo with my mobile as he passed, poor quality I’m afraid but you get the idea.  He returned our waving as he passed and then pulled up and round and as he crossed the patch again he did a lovely loop right over the top of us!  It certainly made our day, and the pilot seemed to be enjoying himself as much as we were.

During the rest of May the weather went downhill to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee at the beginning of June, but there was another highlight when we were visited by a familiar looking couple. Apparently they dropped by to present our Chairman with a special certificate for Services to the Glue Industry… about time he was certified!

As I write we have just emerged from the wettest June on record so not surprisingly the flying has been a bit limited. Some of us braver idiots did get out to fly on a few of the better days, although we sometimes got caught by the showers. We had some unusual problems against us this month, caused by the weather, starting with a large tree that got blown down across the track to the barn. Roland leapt into action and attacked it with his chainsaw, aided by some of the flyers, but the tree was just too big for both the chainsaw and the helpers. We tidied it up as best we could and after a couple of efforts Roland managed to clear a path wide enough for walkers and bikers but not cars. We had to reach the car parking area via the bottom road for a few days but then the farm workers arrived with some seriously large machinery and cleared the lot in under an hour!

 
The other weather related problem is the length of the grass. George (our farmer) has been letting the field grow for hay but because it has been so wet he hasn’t been able to cut it and at the moment it’s well above knee height. Walking to the patch means a good soaking and it’s hard work for those of us with trolleys. Can’t be helped and no doubt it’s more of a worry for George than it is for us. He told us he’ll cut it as soon as he can so fingers crossed the weather improves soon. Meanwhile the patch is in excellent condition although harder to land on than usual because of the long grass all around it.
 
Ron Vears brought his swing-wing Tornado to show us at club one meeting and the model has now flown successfully several times. It flies pretty much like other EDF’s with the wings in the forward position, and there’s not too much change with them in the mid position. In these positions the ailerons are very positive, even with low rates and plenty of exponential dialed in, it rolls like a drill!  But when the wings are fully swept back the ailerons become pretty ineffective despite programming in maximum movement and zero expo. Overall the model flies really well and is very impressive in the air, particularly when pulling into a vertical climb with the wings fully swept. Care is needed on the landing approach as the small wings mean the speed has to be kept high, I wouldn’t want to try landing it if the wings jammed in the fully swept position!  Ron is using his new Multiplex radio on the Tornado and the wing positions are set using Flight Phases which means simply flicking one switch slowly moves the wings and automatically sets the rates, expo, and trims to whatever has been chosen for the Phase it’s in. 

 
Ron is also using the Multiplex telemetry and has fitted a current sensor that displays various info on the transmitter screen.  One of the functions acts like a fuel gauge and sounds an alarm when the battery reaches a pre-set level, warning him it’s time to land.  I am using the same system on my Multiplex, and Steve Montague uses similar telemetry on his Spectrum DX8, and Andy Smith on his Hitec Eclipse… it’ll never catch on, it’s just toys.
 
Ron found he had a problem with carrying several models and transmitters from the car to the patch but came up with a novel approach that seems to work well:

 
If you have read Nick’s Blackbushe Report you’ll know that Viv Burgess splashed the cash at the 4-Max store and emerged with a bag full of chargers, motors, batteries etc. (His wife Vicky tells me he spent almost £10! ).  Viv tends to fly larger models but has now converted both his almost new PT-19 and his Chipmunk to electric power with seemingly few problems, I hear there a some large 4-strokes up for sale…
 
Must dash now, the sun’s out and I’m off flying  🙂
Colin Cowplain

Well I’m sitting here watching the rain bucketing down yet again so I thought I might as well tell you what’s been happening at the patch recently. Things have been a bit quiet since my report in March, the long spell of almost perfect weather turned into wet & wind for much of the time but we have still managed to fly a fair bit and several new models have appeared.
When my Hobby King Sportjet first flew it was disappointingly slow. I had fitted the supplied undercarriage and was using 4 LiFe cells (A123’s). The model was designed for a 4s lipo and I thought the slightly lower voltage of the LiFe cells wouldn’t make a huge difference…wrong!  Steve Montague lent me a 4 cell lipo to try and the power difference was amazing, so I added a fifth cell to my A123 packs and hacked the existing battery box around to make it fit. It took off from the patch ok but didn’t look like a jet should with wheels hanging down, plus I kept having to straighten out the flimsy u/c legs, so they had to go.  The C of G was where it was supposed to be but it needed up trim and inverted flight needed a lot of down elevator so I started adding lead to the tail. Eventually I arrived at a point where inverted only needs a sensible amount of down. I have been tweaking rates and expo to get it to my liking and now it flies really well.  Flat out speed is now almost identical to Wonky’s Alpha Jet so there have been quite a lot of fast ‘formation’ low passes. Sooner or later there will be a bang followed by an awful lot of polystyrene beads blowing away downwind, watched by two dejected ex jet pilots!
Staying on EDF’s for a moment, Ron Vears, spurred on by the success of his Alpha Jet, splashed out on an FMS Dassault Rafale from Kings Lynn models. It started off rather like my Sportjet, with wheels and underpowered. It has a 64mm fan (both the Sportjet and the Alpha are 70mm) and is supplied with a 3 cell lipo. It wouldn’t get off the patch so Ron removed the u/c and hand launched instead. It flew but was still underpowered so 4 cells were shoe-horned in and it now flies very well. It looks great in the air and Ron is building up confidence to fly lower and faster!
Meanwhile Jim Hobday has got his Black Horse T-28 Trojan finished. Although the model is sold as I/C or Electric there is no battery access hatch. Not wanting to remove the wings after every flight Jim has made the cockpit detachable and now puts the battery in from the top, surely a mod that Black Horse should do if they are selling it as electric compatible? Anyway it works well and Jim has made a very nice job of it. The test flight proved rather dramatic as the C of G was very rearward, despite being where the instructions stated. After the addition of some nose weight it flew very nicely and Jim just needs some decent weather to get used to flying it.
Multiple Models Montague decided that he needed even more and bought an Eflight Texan on eBay at a bargain price. He confessed that by the time he had bought some expensive retracts along with a UBEC, ESC, more servos etc it was rather an expensive bargain!  The finished model looks great and flies even better, it’s one of those models that just feels right, lovely and smooth but totally aerobatic and scale like. It does however have the Harvard/Texan tendency to drop a wing if the airspeed drops too much. I tested the stall on the first flight and it dropped into a full spin, luckily I had enough height to recover safely.  Once the flaps are lowered it comes in to land beautifully, but it definitely needs to be treated with respect.  Steve was also tempted by a Seagull Edge but due to several holidays in Florida he has only been able to fly it once. It flew fine and when he eventually returns I think he will really enjoy it.
Finally a new I/C model! Viv Burgess has put together one of the new Seagull Giant Scale PT-19’s. It is 80″ span, powered by a 120 four stroke, and weighs in at over 11lbs. Viv test flew it and it took off beautifully and flew in a very scale like manner. After enjoying it for a few minutes he let me have a go (big mistake!) and I did a few circuits and gentle aerobatics. Unfortunately the motor cut on the landing approach over over the valley and I couldn’t make it back to the field. Luckily the damage was pretty minor, the wing pulled off but only the centre section mounting was damaged and Viv says it has gone back together easily…phew!  I’m afraid I forgot to take any photos of it but will do so next time.
All we need now is for some decent weather to fly all these new models again, roll on summer. 
So, a blonde fighter pilot was flying in a two ship one day. She was flying her heading just fine, when all of a sudden her wingman called, “We have Migs coming in at 6 o’clock!” She quickly took a look at her watch and said, “It’s okay! It’s only 5:30”!

 

Hi All,
This is an early notice to let all members know there will be NO flying on Sunday 13th May 2012, as the field will be used for car parking by the Sustainability Centre.