Trevor

I use clear polythene sheet (builders membrane I think they call it) from B&Q, about £5 for 4mx3m sheet. Balsa Cabin sell "Protect-A-Plan" which does the same thing.

Very nice. Are you going to weather it or leave it in its pristine showroom condition?

Sunday was a great flying day. Wind was light and nice and sunny. An excellent opporunity to try the Spitfire flaps properly and they were a great success. Landing with full flaps was slow and easy and the plane made a perfect landing on three wheels; I even managed to taxi it back off the runway. I tried a different prop, a Masters "K" 13x6 but it didnt give as much thrust as the previous one, a HobbyCity APC clone, so I will swap it back again.

Here are some of my pictures on Photobox

Had the first flight with flaps yesterday. Conditions weren't too good, very blustery with a cross wind but I just had to try it. I tried them first at height just in case, but surprisingly they worked very well. Half flaps (about 30 degrees) allowed the plane to fly a lot slower and stall was very gentle. Full flaps (about 60 degrees) made it seem like it was floating. Hardly any elevator was needed to correct for the flaps. Then came the landing attempt with flaps. When flaps were deployed on approach, the Spitfire slowed right down and on full flaps (with a strong cross wind whic

I added split flaps to try and slow the landings down. They might work or they might not. The plane might just tumble out of the sky when the flaps are dropped or it might float in to a nice soft landing. Either way it will probably be a good laugh . The wing now has five servos and the fuse has another three. Most servos I ever put in one plane.

The Spitfire had its maiden flight yesterday, the first opportunity since it was finished that the wind was not blowing a gale. Take-off was a bit of a hit and miss affair, tracking was not too good not helped by the castoring tail wheel. I will try to give it a steerable one. Once airborne it flew very smoothly. Rolls and loops were graceful and slow and straight flight was uneventful. There was a rattling noise from the undercarriage which is easily fixed. Landing approach was fast ending with the inevitable noseover; I need to practise slower approaches once I am more familiar with the

After doing what Jim says, try spraying on some of that sticky spray they use for carpets, wait for it to go off then stick the glass tape over that

I have done some work painting, weathering and finishing, see pictures. Should be done by this months club night static competition. Markings are 302 (Polish) Squadron Croydon/Heston/Kenley that I got from a book with the advantage that the lettering is all straight lines making it easier to cut out templates .

Well, since I bought this part finished kit from Darren I suppose I had better continue the build thread Most of the hard work has already been done by Darren (and very well I might add) so mostly what remains is the installation and finishing. I have mounted a Saito 62a which should pull it around nicely. The fuselage is fibreglassed and the cowl is cut out and primed as you can see in the pictures. Next I will install the servos and linkages and start the painting. Not absolutely sure what scheme to do but it will probably be Ocean Grey/Dark Green camouflage with medium grey underside

It's an animal. Shame you couldnt put the pipe underneath but I s'pose it wouldnt fair too well in a landing

I bought the Saito a couple of years ago for my Ultimate that crashed, only paid £180 for it now they are getting on for £300. I used it because it was a shame to see it not being used but if it doesnt work well in the Hype I will change it for a .50 2 stroke, not a problem. I also bought a Saito 62 for a warbirds Spitfire and those have doubled in price now. Wish I had bought a hundred of them when I had a chance I would have made a killing

Maiden flight today was pretty uneventful. The wind was a bit too gusty for a proper test but it is a very smooth flyer and very lightweight. The engine is probably too powerful, vertical climbs are rocket-like. Will be good for climb and glide events. On a calmer day I will be able to test and trim it better.

Finished

Depends on the weather Sunday doesnt look too good at the moment

A few pictures of my Hype 3D build

The 25th anniversary was about 3-4 years ago 'cos I remember everyone buying AstroHogs and tarting them up in the same colours with CAMFC written on them, so if anyone can remember when that was just add 25.

Excitation is a Pete Tindal kit. No longer made since PT got taken over, I believe. Roger has one so he might be able to help

I got 4 gallons of fuel, 2 metres of fuel line and some 30min epoxy. Oh, and some closed loop crimp thingies and some wing bands. And a blue spinner. Really splashed out.

Better make sure the weather is okay then.

Have you noticed there is no delete post button on here anymore?

...but have you ever seen a Mustang prop hang?

What engine size, wingspan and weight is the R3D? How much are you asking?

Lasers run happily on straight fuel without nitro, assuming it is the nitro which is causing the price rise.

How do they justify these price rises? If it is just the price of the nitro and only 10% of the fuel is nitro then the price of nitro must have doubled or trebled. How much has straight castor fuel gone up? Time to switch to petrol or Lasers?