Patch News – January 2026

January was a very wet month for most of the UK, and the south wasn’t spared at all. Several flying days were lost due to wind and/or rain, but we also had a few good days when the biggest problem at the field was often mist blowing up from the valley.
We shouldn’t really complain, it is mid-winter after all and we are certainly luckier with the weather than the clubs further north. I know some clubs stop all flying in the winter.
There was a small amount of snow at home on January 5^th and I imagine there would have been much more at the flying field but I’m afraid I wasn’t going to venture out to check!

The Petersfield Aero Modellers AGM was held in January at the Hampshire Hog in Clanfield. I won’t bore you with all the details, suffice to say that the main points were the committee elections (no changes at all), agreeing to the new, slightly increased subscriptions, and review and acceptance of the accounts. I was pleased to note that, despite the rumours that had been circulating, treasurer Nick was present and not laying on a sun-drenched beach in the Bahamas! There was an excellent turnout of members and all went smoothly with no major issues. Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening, it was good to catch up with some of the members who are unable to make it to the field very regularly. The evening ended with the drawing of an absolutely amazingly brilliant raffle (guess who ran it!) and the major prize of a Hacker MX2 ARTF was won by the club secretary and ever popular Woody who also won the members vote for Clubman of the Year trophy.

Club members should all have received an email about the memorial service on 26th January for ex-member Ken Knox who sadly passed away just before Christmas. Unfortunately I was away but Chas and his wife Dawn attended so PAM was represented. This is what Chas said about the service: Dawn and I attended Ken Knox’s memorial service on Monday. We sat with Tony Butterworth and Peter Turley in what was a pretty full church. There was a eulogy from Declan Cousins and a dual one by Ken’s two sisters. It’s sometimes surprising what you learn from these presentations. Ken went to the same school as John Lennon and although Ken was a bit younger than John he was often teased by him. Ken also took his younger sisters to a local venue where the Quarrymen were playing in their early days. Thanks Chas, I’m glad that you went along.

With the wintry weather limiting flying somewhat there weren’t many new models flown in January. Never mind, I’ll start with 1066’s newly completed and rather nice Flair Attila. Remember those? Flair RC models were primarily produced from the early 1980s through the mid-2000s, with the company undergoing a major restructuring in 2005. Known for their high-quality “Classic Scale” and “Scout” series, the kits were a staple of the British modelling scene, with many designs dating back to roughly forty plus years ago.
The Attila is a 46” (1168mm) sports scale model originally designed for small IC engines, either two or four stroke, but obviously 1066 has made his electric. Here’s what 1066 has to say about his journey to the Attila: Back in the mid-eighties I built a Flair Magnattila, it was fitted with a worn out Irvine 40 that barely had enough power to get it off the ground, but I loved it,  flying very slow low level aerobatics, it was so stable with no vices. A few years ago I had the privilege of flying Nick Squire’s late father’s Magnattila, probably the most emotional flight I’ve ever undertaken, but it was everything I remembered from my own model. Having recently fallen back in love with building I started looking for a Magnattila kit, but they are very rare, and when they do appear they are ridiculously expensive. Move to a Friday morning in late 2025 when John, Andy and I made the mistake of believing a weather forecast and tried to go flying. After about half an hour we realised the mist wasn’t going to lift so John invited us to his man cave for a coffee. While snooping around his cave I saw, what I originally thought was the sought after Magnattila, but turned out to be its’ smaller, almost identical brother, Attila. An offer was quickly made, and accepted, so I was now the owner of an Attila kit, for a great price. They say the nicest things come in small parcels; the Attila proves the point. Easy to transport with very forgiving flying characteristics, the Attila provides economical fun flying. The kit provides all materials for the 3-channel version but aileron conversion is detailed on the plan, so I decided to build mine with ailerons, using two small servos instead of the central servo with bellcranks as shown on the plan.
This is one of the earlier types of kit and as such it should be remembered that the instructions require the builder to interpret the full-size plan more so than more modern kits. This is where building from a kit comes into its own because you can incorporate any modifications as you build the model. With a bit of thought it was fairly easy to come up with a mod that made getting the battery in and out very practical, and with the generous proportions of the fuz a 3700mAh three cell fits with ease.
Because the original was designed for IC, using a relatively large battery helps with CG, especially as I wanted to fit the Rudder and Elevator servos at the rear of the fuz. This type of model just has to be covered in fabric, and not film. Checking the internet for Antique Oracover I was shocked by the cost, to cover the Attila I calculated I would need about 2.75 metres, so would need two rolls at a total cost of £75, ouch, almost twice what I paid for the kit. However after further investigation I found a product being sold by Sarik Hobbies called Diacov 1000. The material is 10 cm wider than the normal hobby products, so I calculated that if I was careful I would only need 2 metres, which came too £ 29.00 delivered. The only drawback is that it only comes in translucent white. I watched a couple of YouTube videos demonstrating the product and it looked to be really good, so decided to try it, and I can confirm it is a great product for this type of model.
To complete the set up an old HobbyKing 35/42 1250 KV motor, 50 Amp Esc, and 11 x 5 prop was fitted. The Maiden flight was done on a very misty morning, so things had to be kept low and slow, but I did learn that the motor was very noisy and worn out, the motor thrust line was way out, and the control movements were probably a bit too large. Before the next flights a new motor of the same spec was obtained from AliExpress for just £11.00, downthrust was added, and a smaller 10 x 5 wooden prop was fitted. These changes improved things a lot, but the prop still didn’t feel right, and the CG felt a little rearward. Next a bit of lead was added, the prop was changed for an APC type 10 x 5, everything felt about right now so I started to fly her a bit more adventurously, but I soon learned the smaller model was not as vice free as the larger Magnattila, probably due to the higher wing loading, however, by simply reducing the control throws, the bad manners were tamed. I’m very happy with my little Attila, something that looks a bit different from my normal fare, is reasonably aerobatic, and fits in my car in one piece.
Thanks for that 1066, I really like the look of the Attila, both on the ground and in the air. It’s more agile than I expected, a good all-rounder, and that covering is exactly right for it. You can of course see the Attila flying in this month’s video.

I should point out that the kit came from a stash of kits and other modelling goods that Captain Slow has been selling for an old friend who is no longer able to fly. All the money he receives will go to a charity. So far, as well as the Attila, he has sold two Electro Streaks, one to Woody and the other to 1066. He still has a couple of kits to sell, a Cambrian Southern Dragon and two Great Planes ElectriCubs, along with a selection of canopies.
If either of the kits appeals, or if you need a canopy, have a word with Captain Slow.

When I’m scouring the internet for information about models etc for Patch News I often stumble across other aviation items that might be of interest, and I tend to save them for quiet months when there hasn’t been a lot of flying to write about. One such snippet is about a chap called David Williams who lived close to a new by-pass that was being built around Hinstock, Shropshire in 1983. He saw a bridge had been built to carry Pixley Lane over the new by-pass and, after some careful measuring, decided to fly under it the day before the road was opened to traffic. His plane was a Saab 91D Safir, a four seat, single engined light aircraft that was built in Holland. The Swedish Air Force had used Saab 91s in the fifties and sixties and David’s had previously been used for radio equipment testing. David asked his dad stand on top of the bridge to take a photo (this was pre-digital days) but his dad was too quick on the shutter and missed the shot. Fortunately a friend was positioned further along the by-pass and he managed to successfully capture the moment.
Nothing unusual to see here officer, it’s just a Saab going along a by-pass!

Confession time now, I managed to fly my little A380 ‘toy’ plane into Dougal’s Dogwood!
I could come out with a long tale of what happened and explain that it wasn’t my fault at all (that should be perfectly obvious!) but I’ll just say that it’s not the most controllable little model and things went slightly awry. Fortunately 1066 came to the rescue when he decided he needed to show off his tree climbing abilities and he quickly retrieved it for me.
Presumably the extremely light weight (of the plane, not 1066!) helped the A380 and it survived with barely a scratch and was soon back flying again.

Early on in the month Snoopy, spurred on by passing his ‘A’ certificate, flew his new Max Thrust Aggressor. The Aggressor has proved to be a popular model with PAM members and there are several in the club. They are excellent aerobatic gliders which can be flown gently if the control rates are low and the throttle usage restrained, but can also be reasonably ‘hot’ with bigger control throws and full throttle. They certainly aren’t the best gliders for thermal hunting but are still capable of good long flights when required.
Here’s what Snoopy has to say about his: It’s a nicely put together model, it took me about 20 minutes to construct, I had to install some Velcro to make sure the battery didn’t move, that was the most difficult part of the build. The first flight was uneventful with the rates turned down, full throttle, a nice straight hand launch, and off it went at a slight up angle. The plane was quite quick and responded to inputs quickly even at low rates. The first flight was over quite quickly, and the landing was interesting as it was quite slick and didn’t want to slow down, unlike my Tundra which is a great plane but a bit of a brick. I over flew the runway a few times before I got the measure of the landing glide. The second flight was much the same as the first, but I flew it for a little longer, I changed the rates to medium and did a few hard turns which it seemed to do without any problems, a loop and a few rolls later I brought it back to earth safely. The only thing I did find was that if the conditions are not great it can disappear in the sky.
Other than that it is a nice model, quite fast with my 3 cell lipos, I might try some 4 cells. Thanks for that Snoopy. You can see Snoopy flying his Aggressor in this month’s video.

This month the action photos are all taken from this month’s video:

Video time now, this month with footage shot by me, Dougal Entendre, and MacFly. 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 Final Funny.
This month it’s a little something that Dougal Entendre sent me.
 Colin Cowplain