Peter

Jim, I can help. I have a lathe and milling machine so drilling a hole through some bar will not be a prob. I think in my scrap box I may have some ali bar. Let me know what you want and a dwg etc . Sounds as though you are making an extension shaft or something if so you will be better ofwith mild steel. Pete

Just to comment on this thread. Jim mentions Methylated Spirit whilst this may work it should be borne in mind that Methylated Spirits does have a small quantity of oil within its make up, a better product for cleaning is IPA ( Iso propyl Alchol) this is used in the car plants to degrease paint surfaces before applying decals or bodyside mouldings etc. It does not leave a residue as does Methylated spirits. I use all the time before sticking anything to cowlings or for generally cleaning models. It is obtainable from most chemists and does not attack foam etc

Don, It was a real pleasure to see your creation. Looks great hope the first flight went well. Pete

Gerard, You could considerably reduce the cost of balsa and ply by buying from Balsa Cabin in Maldon in Essex. They do a good mail order service and delivery is usually next day or at least in 48hrs. Also they will grade the balsa for you if you tell them what you want. Try logging on to their web site and compare the prices you will probably be pleasantly surprised Pete

Steve, Your question on dirtying up a model. As it happens there is an article in RC Model Flyer on that very subject ie making a ARTF ME 109 look realistic. cheers Peter

My preference is for 19mm blockboard so it is stable and flat. If space allows go for something like 8ft x3ft and finish the ends off with spruce strip mitred at the corners this adds more stability to the board. My board is on two metal fold away trestles and it has served me well over many years of building. I usually use dressmakers pins about 2" long and home made balsa right angles for jigging the model. I use an offcut piece approx 2ft x1ft and this is for tailplanes and small sub assemblies which is handy because you can move it around from room to room if you are that way inclined .

Jim, re the rib tapes why not make them out of Solartex. Then you can iron them on over the dobs of glue simulating the knots or of course you could buy the pinked rib tapes from mick reeves who sells these and they are cheap. Why not use hinges for the ailerons and close the gap with Solartex. Just a thought

Trevor, How is the Miles Magister coming along. I noticed you are making a very nice Hurricane and following the thread with interest but would love to see what is happening on the Magister being a Miles fan Peter

Trevor, I tend to build light and probably the weight is kept down by using cyno pretty well exclusively. It was also a very lightly designed airplane which our own Mike Sun originally conceived. The airframe is mostly constructed of 1/4 sq balsa and then covered with nylon. Wings are detachable and rely on the rigging for strength basically they are pin jointed trusses so great strength with lightness. I hope this helps. If interested I can bring to club night sometime. Peter

I thought it may be interesting to see the DH84 which I have converted to electric using outrunners and Lipos . If it ever stops raining I will let you have details of flight characteristics. The photo is without the outer planes but they are attached now . Quite pleased with the result.

Find a building site local and try to beg steal or "borrow some. Failing that look in yellow pages for insulation suppliers I think builders merchants are stockists also Peter

There is probably the best RC scale mag available every month about the 10th I think it is called FLYING SCALE MODELS and it is a good source of reference. Usually acouple of free plans in it as well. Peter and its British also suggest you log into RCSCALEMODELBUILDER a USA web site and very good covers a lot of the major designers and kit suppliers.

Trevor, If you ask amongst club members you may find they have a used Laser 75/80 doing nothing. Its sometime ago now but I purchased at a club night 3 Lasers a 62 and 2 x75 for £ 100.00 the lot and then someone offered a new in box for £100.00 so got 4 for the price of one. Admittedly the 3 Lasers were part of the estate of a deceased modeler and the NIB was a member packing up. You have just got to ask around . You may be lucky. The bring your new model night is scheduled for the May Club night and will be in this months diary dates in the Feb Newsletter. Magister is looking good and

Certainly agree with your sentiments nothing better than creating your masterpiece and seeing it fly. Peter

Trevor, Start saving different sizes of metal bottle caps the screwable ones and particularly the ones from the miniature spirits bottles the type you get on flights etc. Also the rings that you get free from battery powered toothbrushes seems strange but all these make great bezelsfor instruments at no cost. Peter

Trevor, I have a wealth of info on Miles Aircraft and some very good articles on the Magister with close ups of the cockpit etc. I have a particular technique for making instruments and have over the years accumulated lots of different styles of instrument faces. If you can wait I will bring some info to the AGM. If not give me acall. Really depends on if you want to go the whole picture and do a real scale or just want to give an impression. Funnily enough when you do a model the one thing that creates some interest is the cockpit every body wants to poke their head into the model. It doesn

Hi Don, Glad to see you are still alive. Nice work as always Happy new year Peter

Andre, Glad the plane flew but sorry to hear that the covering parted company and you had problems. Trouble with these ready builts is you cant assume that they are perfect,not that I do with my own builds but if anything happens at least I can blame the person when I look in the mirror. I am looking forward to flying my 1/4 scale but have a feeilng with a super tigre 60 may be underpowered. I hope to do some taxi attempts on the lawn if the weather is good this week and bring to the field on Sunday. CAN I REMIND EVERYONE THAT IT IS A BBQ AND COMP WITH CATERHAM AND ANY OTHERS THAT TURN UP. L

Andre, Sorry to read that the flight was not totally successful on Sunday. The problem i see with this design is that reading all the bumf on the full size is that they need a fair lick of speed . This is OK on a tarmac runway. If you see these at Biggin Hill they really do accelerate. Course the problems we have is on grass strips the nose wheel always drags the speed down. I have a removable canard on mine. I can bring to club night if you are interesed including a pilots notes on flying full size. Regards peter

Andre, Having just finished a 1/4 scale Rutan Longeze I can offer some comment. The Long eze didn't use flaps just straight forward ailerons at the back and elevator at the front. The rudders only worked singularly ie turning left you would input left rudder the right rudder bwould stay neutral etc. For landing the rudders would act as airbrakes by activating outwards. So no fancy mixing etc. Model and full size are very stable but fly fast and are virtually stall proof because of the canard configuration. Hope this helps. Pete

I have seen Dave's engine and can vouch on its running capabilities. Construction is good and as Dave says it has the same carb as the Just Engines I have put these on several OS two strokes and the running improved dramatically. But I am really a 4 stroke man. Peter

Trevor, Thanks for the offer of doing an article for the newsletter. Photos will be very welcome. If you want to you can spread over a couple of months I am sure it will make good reading. Ref the Gordon Whitehead book I will photocopy the relavant pages and make sure you get them within the next few days Regards, Peter

Hi Trevor, Model looks great and glad to see it flew well. Re your query on the incidence and wasout etc a good starting point is Gordon Whiteheads book on Every day scale models I am sure it is still in print but he really answers most questions anybody would ask when embarking on designing scale models. I believe they are serializing the book in the monthly mag Flying Scale Models. I will look up your question and try to get an answer. As the Website only hits 35 or so of our members why not write an article for the newsletter I will be happy tro includeit. This really is the type of inte

Steve , Whilst I got the 2nd award for Pillock of the year I was referring to everyones friend Kelvin. Regards, Peter

Nice one Steve, !!! It only happpened once when the mouth of the south was doing his best to win pillock of the year award which by tyhe way he succeeded in doing. xxx Peter