Patch News – July 2013

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