Welcome to JONAS ANDERSSON, KENT RANDALL, EDWIN SILVA and 'SNOWIAM' who have all joined the mailing list since the last ModelFlight!

I found your site today whilst surfing at work - I mean, looking for work-related product - and love it!

A great idea. I really hope it takes off for you (pun intended).

The love of my r/c life is my Top Flite Gold Edition Mustang. Yes, I know everyone has a Mustang but I, like many others, have loved this type since childhood and I couldn't resist her.

Please consider adding her to your Gallery page, and I apologise in advance for the quality of the pics, but my digital camera is a little limited.

She is still unflown as yet, but will be so soon. I would very much like to see and talk to others who have built this kit, and share their experiences of how she flies . . .

My homepage has a R/c section and is located at

http://www.gooseworld.freehomepage.com/aircraft.html  

simon_nadler@wilsonandhorton.co.nz 

Very nice to meet you, Simon. Thanks for the pictures and it's my pleasure to display them on the photo gallery page. 

Having reached my 68th, I intend to move to Bridlington from Cornwall. Not being in good health, I want to be near my family. 

Can anyone tell me if there is a local club and/or flying field in the area? I am into vintage models and engines and just starting electric flight.

Denis Wolff.

denis.wolff@virgin.net

I hope your plans all fall nicely into place, Denis.

Anybody able to help Denis? Please e-mail him if you can. In the meantime, I'm also checking with the BMFA.

Arrrgh!

So Sunday dawned. Bright, sunny and frosty and not a leaf did rustle. No sounds were heard except for the hum of a Teddy until the battery gave way to the BEC.

The afternoon was similar except for the increase in wind speed to 12 m.p.h. and the local site being opened to I.C. planes.

Oh, how I tried to get the SuperNova off the ground using a TT91 FS and a 12 x 10 prop, but the motor just wouldn't have it in the airframe.

After 1½ hours, the prop was changed for a Master Airscrew 13 x 8 and the motor came on song. Off went the pattern plane into the clear blue skies, joining the swarm of Wot 4s and Precedent FunFlys and a lone Qwatz tail-less funfly. Oh, the 200-foot diameter loop - perfect in every aspect; the kife-edge flypast with just a hint of elevator and opposite aileron input required after 4 seconds. BUT wait! . . . Was that a glitch I noticed as I exited the knife edge? Yes, and as I turn the 72" SuperNova (brand-new, first flight) around to return back to the field for a quick landing, it stops responding and flies on for a few seconds before a quick roll, then a nice dive towards terra firma. Now, a pattern plane with a four-stroke ·91 motor on full song at an angle of 80º to the floor from a height of about 200 feet can get some speed up . . . !

I shall send pictures of the crash site as soon as they are developed and scanned*. The depth of the hole from the front of the threaded part of the crank was 13 - 14 inches below ground level! The plane was trashed from half way between the tail and wing forward.

Completely gutted,

Kent Randall.

evil@currybreath.fsnet.co.uk 

Completely gutted, certainly, but at least you don't seem to have lost your sense of humour, Kent! And there are a lot of us who know how you feel, I might add!

*Kent's pictures are on the photo gallery page, together with his views on what caused his crash and you can meet him on the personal profiles page..

Sunday January 14th

. . . The Cub is just about ready to fly now. I've enclosed pictures of the build for you to look at and post on the site if you wish. [You will find them on the 'models in the making' page.]

I took your advice and applied to join a local aero-modelling club (Wrexham Model Airplane Club), and I'll let you know how I progress in the next few weeks.

. . . The build itself was not too complicated once I got started, although it was very daunting when I first removed all the bits from the box and laid them out.

Well, I'll sign off now. It's Sunday and I'm taking the Cub to the local airfield to see what the local lads think.

P.S. Do you know anywhere I can buy a steam iron cheap, as my wife is complaining that hers has apparently gained some strange yellow sticky plastic film to the underside? Don't have a clue how that got there!!!

Monday, January 15th

I've now had my first taste of model aircraft flying. Why did I wait so long! The lads at the club were very helpful and within 15 minutes of arriving they had checked, trimmed, and watched carefully as I filled the plane and started her up. Next thing, Ivor, one of the club instructors, had the plane airborne. It was great to see something I had cobbled together actually flying!

After a few minutes of watching, I was given the controls and actually flew her - brilliant! After landing, Ivor checked her over, and one of the ailerons had become loose; my fault for not "drilling and cocktail sticking" the hinges, so I was sent home with this task in mind. Now she's ready to fly again, and so am I!

Thanks for your advice about joining a club. I couldn't have hoped for a nicer bunch of chaps or a better introduction into model flying.

That's absolutely great, Mike! I just knew you'd find a warm welcome at your local club. Please tell your Club Secretary that I would love to feature Wrexham MAC on the site here, if he would like to tell me a bit about the club or give me the URL if they have a web site. Pictures of members' planes are also welcome, of course! Funny about your poor wife's iron; I know someone else with one like that, only hers is orange!

Go to 'models in the making'  to see Mike's Flair Cub build.

TERRY POLLOCK from Melbourne, Australia here with some useful check lists and procedures:

A happy new year from down under. Weather is "hot, damn hot", but good for flying. Thanks for the latest edition of ModelFlight.

Sorry to hear about the demise of your model. Hope that you are able to get a new one together pretty quickly - great in this day of ARF's.

I was interested in your comment about "after doing all the usual checks" before you flew. Having observed some rather ordinary pre-flight checking at the local club from time to time, I would be interested to see what others would regard as essential activities in the "usual checks".

Mine would go something like this:

I know I have probably forgotten a couple of items. I know some of these might sound pretty basic; however, I find that if I work to a list with a specific number of items I tend to not forget them readily.

Perhaps others might like to see what they can add.

terry.pollock@au.pwcglobal.com 

Phew! that's a pretty exhaustive list. Truly, though, most of those checks become standard procedure after a while, but it is certainly worth while checking through such a list to see that we're not getting a bit sloppy. And thanks for the commiserations, Terry!

Kent's correspondence above and his pictures and comments on the photo gallery page are also a timely reminder of the value of careful checking (not to mention my own disaster reported last issue!).

Hello Reg - thank you for the sign-up [to the mailing list] and keep everything coming. You have a wonderful site and I do appreciate receiving it.

I belong to the 495th R/C SQUADRON, named after Route 495 which does a circle all around the outskirts of Boston, Mass. It was during the construction of this highway that the club originators would use the road after the workers had left for the day.

We have about 140 members, meet once a month and have a club picnic in September. This past October, the club hired a bus and we (40 of us) took a trip to Rhinebeck for their WW I air show. We now have a trip planned for the RAM show this February.

Here is the club URL - http://the495th.home.att.net/

edjoy@mediaone.net 

Thanks for your kind comments, Edwin, and I'm glad you enjoy ModelFlight. The 495th might be up on the next update.

Hi Reg,
Just had to send you this picture. Our only grandson, Icel, visited us for Christmas and there were three days straddling Christmas when we could fly. I am fortunate in having the use of a 17-acre meadow across the road from our bungalow, and that is where we went to start indoctrinating our 20-month old lad. Richard, his father, took this picture and let me have a copy.

geoffers@ntlworld.com 

Nothing like starting 'em young!

(a) on cleaning a mud-encrusted engine

Unscrew the backplate and flush it "backwards" with hot water direct from the hot water tap, after having put the throttle wide open. Then flush it from the throttle mouth and repeat this cycle back and forth. Turn the shaft very cautiously and listen after cracks from remaining grits. flush again, move a little again. Repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat again. Then, after having unscrewed the glowplug and the head, the shaft should rotate freely. (If not, the shaft could have been bent and you will have to buy a new one or have a mechanic friend to adjust it.) Then turn on the oven to 150ºC and let it dry for an hour or so. After this, oil it in with sewing machine oil and it will be as new.

(b) on model storage

Referring to Geoff's (Geoff Graham) storage query, that was me trying to help him (Geoff mentioned he had heard from someone in Sweden!). Perhaps others have the same problem. Either hang them with wings on in the roof of your bedroom, helping you to dream sweet model dreams, else store the fuses on wall-mounted shelves bought from the Swedish furniture shop IKEA, also established in the UK. As for the wings: nail a 2-inch thick plank horizontal about 1½ meters from the floor. Screw 30-centimeter long 1½" x 1" slats on the upper edge of the plan about 90º but moveable sideways to the plank, two for each wing to be stored. The distance between the slats depends of course on the profile thickness of your wings. Place the wings with one tip on the floor and store them vertical between the slats. The slats can be moved sideways to reduce the space to the wall.

tloodin@hotmail.com 

• Had a good bit of flying recently or has the weather let you down?
• Enjoyed visiting a show?
• Learned something new and feeling chuffed about it?
• Had a spectacular crash?
• Bought a new model?
• One of the kids started in the hobby?
• How's that new kit progressing?
• Got a question that someone might be able to answer?  

There must be lots you can write to ModelFlight about, so click on the post-box at the top of the page and get in touch! 

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