Don Coe

Bravedan. The balsa stick & tissue kits are OK and, as you say, fly quite well, but I find them far more tricky to build because they demand a high degree of accuracy if they are to look anything like the full size aeroplane. The covering and paint finishing is also an absolute pain to do,what with adding weight or introducing warps. One advantage these models have is that they are laser cut kits! Having said all that I confess to having three Aerographic models waiting to be covered and finishing - a Puss Moth, an Avro 504K and a Blackburn Monoplane "D" ! All of these have their par

They are fiddly - very fiddly, Ben, but are worth the trouble and if you go slowly and with patience, the results are most satisfying. Tweezers, a needle threader and knowledge of which adhesive to use where is an absolute must. That's why I suggested you study the instructions and imagine the build before you jump in at the deep end!

Ben, Most of the plaudits for this model must go to the designer, Jon Porter, the Guv'nor at Micro Aces. All I had to do was to cut the parts out accurately and stick them together very carefully. It takes patience, I grant you, but it wouldn't have been successful had the kit not been accurately produced! Working on a model such as this - and there are a lot in the range - promotes valuable skills for our hobby. The instructions are available for free download from Jon's web site. Have a look at one for the SE5A at ... https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1162/1498/files/SE5a_Assembly_Guid

A belated "Thank you" to Ben. I mentioned that the next in line would be the Airco DH2. Well, here it is completed and ready for flight! Plus a close up of the revolving Gnome Mono engine, a little jewel of a model!

Thanks, Ben. Don't know about the 29th. It may not fly!. As for the time to build - a couple of hours each day for a week, I reckon. Most of the time taken up on sanding, covering and assembling the parts. The kit is nicely produced with excellent materials and slots together accurately. For the first session ... the tail plane, elevator, fin, rudder & ailerons were 'blocked out' - that is glued up & pinned down onto a flat, waxed surface - then left to dry over night. The parts for the fuselage were cut out and prepared for assembly the next session. Time? Say 2+ hours

Have decided to join the ranks of the Fun Fly Brigade to brush up on the long-lost aeros capabilities! It's finished in Funereal Purple & Black Profilm so as to be ready for a fast track burial in the event of a finger seize-up during a rolling circle Thanks, Gavin!

Since building the Bristol Fighter and the Fokker DVIII, I've completed the Micro Aces SE5A. This little gem of a kit really is a delight to put together. The next in line is the DH2 pusher and the 'DIXIE@ the Sopwith triplane.

FOR SALE. Surplus to requirements, my ¼ scale Hanger 9 DCH-2 Beaver. This model has been ‘scalyfied’ with Satin finish, panel lines and nearly all of the originals’ 400,000 dome-head rivets! It comes complete with servos, batteries, Graupner MZ12 radio gear & charger. 9-channel lighting set installed. Ken, the pilot. 110” span / weight 18lbs. / 33cc Evolution petrol engine / sequential flaps. First sensible offer over £500 secures. Delivered to Croydon club field or you collect. see full model specification HERE

This is the sort of Modelling Magic you can expect to see at this coming Sunday's event at the K2 Centre. It's Divs Master's 10" span open scale SE5A. A close up and a shot of it taking off - to give some idea of scale in this vast hall!

Just under 20", Trevor. The Fokker DVIII is smaller at 14" and has ailerons!... I hope to maiden both at the meeting this coming Sunday at the K2 centre. Oh! I forgot to mention that the dummy rotary engine spins with the propeller!

Here's the completed Micro Aces F2B Bristol Fighter. I hope to fly it at the meeting in between judging the Open Scale category with Peter & James.

Thanks, Ben, for the kind words. It was this video which prompted me to build the Beaver when I saw that the model was available from Horizon Hobbies. I thought that I deserved a quick-build after years of building from scratch. Little did I know that it would be the most frustrating build of all - with little satisfaction to boot!

Finished at last! Don't believe ARTF - by the time the dreadful high gloss covering has had a coat of looking at and some of the scale details added, you'll not get much change from three months work - and I'm a quick builder! Powered by the Evolution 33cc petrol engine with a 17 x 6 wooden propeller for running in. The radio is the Graupner HOTT MZ12 with telemetry and lighting. Here it is finished, balanced, good to go with Ken, friend of Barbie in the left hand seat!

Last Sunday, the 5th Feb, saw Peter, James & me at the K2 Sports Centre, Crawley judging the Open and Peanut Scale sections of the competition which is held annually by the Crawley MFC. In addition to scale models there are many other classes including EZB, Legal Eagle, Hand & Catapult launched gliders, Butterfly and Hangar Rats. All of these models are flown in half-hour Fun Fly slots throughout the day. The Open and Peanut classes are flown together in the enormous hall each with their own timekeepers and judges. Peter looked after the Peanut Scale and James &

Here's a video of the Bleriot XI in the hands of James at last Sunday's meeting at Old Warden Thank you, James.

Once again it's been a long, long time since my last post regarding the Deperdussin. I thought that you might like to be updated on the progress so here's a video show some thing of the control system development. It's as near scale as I can make it. I made the video especially for Frank Hawke who was seriously ill at home and couldn't get out. Shortly after he had seen it he sadly died. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you seeing it! So... Here's to Frank.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKqyB1w0Hn8 I hope you like it.

Thanks, Chaps. I'm finally back onto the forum following a senior password few months!

The Deperdussin is nearing completion and I thought that you might like to see the build to date. I measured up the original, which lives at Old Warden, some two years ago, sketched it out onto some lining paper and here's the result. I'm not sure that it'll be ready for this coming season as there's plenty of fiddly bits yet to be thought about. Here's some pix to get the juices flowing...

Thanks for the support at the weekend while attending the Scale Day with the 1912 Blackburn, the model you voted for at the recent Club's static Scale Evening. It didn't win at Old Warden but it did win the 'Champion RC Model' trophy. Don't ask me to explain the logic of that! Here's a pic of the model at Hastings the day before for her maiden flight. It flew rather nicely on the Sunday too. Thanks again, chaps! Kind regards Don [attachment=0]Maiden flight3.jpg[/attachment]

Thanks to all who sent condolences The engine appears to be OK, Pete. The prop broke in a way to indicate that the engine was turning on impact but there was such a lot of structure by way of struttery, skiddery and wirewok in front that it sort of cushioned the worst if it. There was no sign of earth or grass anywhere near the engine and it felt OK when I turned it over gently so, fingers crossed, a bench test will show if a shock loading has affected it. The sum total is that the remains were collected by the bin men this morning as part of the Great Landfill of East Sussex.

Those of us who attended the Old Warden Scale meeting last weekend had a great time. Mick Reeves and Richard Crapp were among the Good & the Great and Philip Kent said nice things about our Club. David Bishop had some time on the mic. and helped the public understand what was going on. My day was somewhat marred by totalling the AVRO 'D' and I would like to thank those who scurried across the airfield to pick up the pieces. Here's how it looked. No flowers, please - cash will suffice. [attachment=5]OW1.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=4]OW2.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=3]OW3.

Have been flying the monster some more and here's a video of it when I was at the Medway strip a few weks ago. I'll be at the N Berks scale meeting withit in a couple of weeks - will you be there?

What a wonderful thing the internet is. A friend of John Marriott, who also owns an RF4, had sent a link to the CAMFC forum to him for interest. John posted his comments re. my model and I emailed him this morning offering to post pix of his aircraft here. He has already responded and I have pleasure in showing the full size here and now John said..."I’ve attached a couple of photos of G:AVWY – I think your model actually looks better!" Isn't he kind! [attachment=1]Full Size Take Off.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=0]JohnsRF4.jpg[/attachment] As I said, "isn't the i

Best look on their site, Jim, but as Paul says, you'll need shades! Just look at the price of the rigging wires! They are the special ones from abroad. Arouind £200 + for those alone.

At the risk off appearing to teach Grandmama to suck on the proverbal, may I suggest that your monitor needs a coat of looking at? The photo I have and the one uploaded is accurate in colour for the aircraft. Red & Silver as per the full size. I wonder what's gone wrong? Let me know? EDIT: Have just checked the link and realise that you are referring to Falcons web site! It is a little garish, I agree.