It’sbeen alongwait but at long last it looks likeour runofterrible weather is starting to be replaced by drier conditions (that’sjinxed it!) andI’vefinally managed to get afew flying sessions in, albeit mostlywith hand launch models to avoid the need to takeoff from still soaking wetgrass flying strips.Ithas been areal tonic formeashaving to wait toolongbetween flying sessions leavesmelikefeelingmore thanabit grumpy.
Ihope thatyou’vebeen able to getout and makesomeuse of the better weather.But if it allturns souragain what better waytospend fewhours thanreading afavouritemagazine. Hopefullyyou have RCM&E to hand for such occasions,solet ’s see what we have in storefor youinthis issue, startingwith our regularcolumnists
Tim Hooper (Bench Blog) kicks thingoff by test flying anew versionofthe RM Antares, his all-time favouritemodel design. If model buildingcan be classified as an addiction, then Chris Williams (Scale Gliding) must have it bad(or good, depending on your point of view!) as this month he finishes offanother scale glider,a fifth scale Pirat, which Chris sees safely intothe air before immediatelyreturning to hisbuilding board forhis next project.You can’tkeep this traditional aeromodeller away from building forlong! Next is Keith Jackson (Aerobatic Scene) whose column includes details of the UK legofthe FAIworld cupleague, the latest approach to contra drivepropulsion, the long-awaited YS TZ240CDi boxerengine andasummaryofthe newBJCraftAnthem Elliptical. Finally, Dave Goodenough(One Man &His Shed) looks at some great looking scale models made from Depron. Loveitor hate it,Depronhas proventobeaversatile modelling material andDave’sarticle shows what can be done with it in expert hands. On review,yours trulylines up XFly-Model’s 1800 mm Twin Otter on thetaxiwayready for when the sunshines andthe local flyingstrip dries up,while Andrew James checks outthe GT PowerV6, asmall DC batterycharger that he stores in his carboot ’s side pocketsothat it is on hand forhim to charge his LiPos when out flying.
Ourfeaturearticles start with athird trip downmemory lane escorted by Dudley Pattisonfor part threeofhis autobiographical series,ACompany Called Flair,onhis stewardship of Flair Products This time Dudley recalls racing Club 20 Daras, having amix up with UHF radios and dancing about with aMagnattila on ice.After describing hispre-maiden checks last month inTestFlying,JeffBarringeroffersupafollow up check list to runthrough during that nerve jangling first flight.Wethenconclude another two-part article,Striking TheRight Balance,asDickvan Mourik finishes his feature on calculating amodel’s balance point.Towrapthingupnicely,heli andscale enthusiasts will be pleased to read howPeter Reinerth tackleda600-sizescale build of an Agusta A109A airambulance
But what aboutthismonth’s pull-out Pro-Plan? Neverfear, we have acracker for youthis month in the form of John Hutson’s unorthodoxsport electric modelfitted with adiamond shapedWarrenwing. John’s eyecatching model is called the TopQuark Ihope youenjoyreading it all.
HappyFlying!
Editor: Kevin Crozier
MortonsMediaGroup,MediaCentre, Morton Way, Horncastle,Lincs LN96JR kcrozier@mortons.co.uk
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Biding histimefor half decent weather,the editor stepsout betweenthe shower swith XFly-Model’s latest sc ale twin, aneatlymoulded exampleof thedeHavilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Ot ter. At thetimeitwas stilltoo wetunder foot to flybut he couldatlea st writeupthe assembly part of hisreview.
Photo: KevinCrozier
8 SWITCH ON Ourlatestround up of modelf lying news
44 PILOTS’PICTORIAL
Send us apic ture of anew or favourite modeland it couldappearinour regularreaders’modelsg allery
46 COUNTERPOINT
Aselec tion of newg adgets,kit sand bits foryou to buy
60 ALLWRITE
Have your sayinRCM&E’s monthly chat room
92 GOINGPLACES
Ourupd ated list of modelshows, events andcompetitionsfor youtovisit over thenex tfew months
94 MARKETPLACE
Sell of fyourunwantedair fr ames and enginesormaybe buya fewnew ones
80 G.T. POWERV6
Andrew Jamescheck sout asmall DC batter ycharger that he stores in hisc ar boot ’s side pocket
30 ACOMPANY CALLED FLAIR
Join Dudley Pattison forpar tthree of hisautobiogr aphic al series on his stewardshipofFlair Produc ts
34 TEST FLYING -PART2
Af terdescribinghis pre-maiden routinelastmonth,Jef fBarringer of fers up more checks to runthrough during that nervejanglingfirstf light
40 STRIKING THERIGHT BALANCEPART 2
Dick vanMourikfinishes hist wopart featureonc alculating amodel’s balancepoint
64 AGUSTA A109A
PeterReinertht ackles a600 -size sc alebuild of an Agusta A109Aair ambulance
95 NEXT ISSUE
Take alookatwhat’scominginthe July ‘2 4issue of RCM&E
72 SUBSCRIBE…
... andreceive LuftwaffeFighters& SupermarineSecretProjectsFREE!
SUBSCRIBE… andreceive LuftwaffeFighters &Supermarine Secret Projects FREE!See page 72 fordetails
98 PARTINGSHOT
DerekRober tson rattlesoff anice bomb runsequencetoshowoff Mike Perie’sGrand Slam modifiedAvro Lanc aster
22 DHC- 6TWINOTTER
KevinCrozier linesupXFly-Model’s 1800 mm Twin Ot teronthe ta xiway readyfor when thesun shines
10 BENCHBLOG
TimHoopertestf lies anew ver sion of Antares, hisall-timef avourite model design
18 SCALEGLIDING
ChrisWilliamsfinishes of fanother sc aleglider. This time hisfifthscale Piratseesair underits wing sfor the fir st time
74 AEROBATICSCENE
Topics in KeithJackson’s aerobatic column includethe latest approach to contra drivepropulsionand thelongawaitedYSBoxer engine
86 ONEMAN &HIS SHED
Love it or hate it,Depronhas proven to be aver satile modellingmaterial. Dave Goodenough showswhatc an be done with it in expert hand s
48 TOPQUARK
John Hutson introduces his unor thodox spor telectricmodel fit ted with aWarrenwing
We recentlyreceivedalinkfromChris Williams showing a video of his SZD Foka 4inaction.For the full storyabout this sleek Polish glider please readChris’ Pro-Planarticlesinboth the February andMarch issues of RCM&E
To save time typing in the full link youcan alsoaccess this video by typing ‘Flyingthe Foka 4’ intothe YouTube searchbox. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPsjF4trJu0
TheSOS (SaveOur Spray) Emergency Cleaning Kit from Airbrushes.com includes tenkey items as used by the airbrush specialist ’s owntechnician to cleanand restoreairbrushestoaperfect working condition. Priced at £10.00 rrp each kit is supplied in aclearflip topbox andcontains the following items:
Premi Air Liquid Reamer -ahighly recommended end-of-sessionairbrush cleaner forextrathorough cleaning of solvent-basedand oil-basedpaints.Use the straw to direct theaerosol sprayatthe airbrush nozzle andthe frontparts of your
airbrush, up intowherethe bottleattaches on abottom-feed airbrush or down into the cup of agravity feed airbrush. The cleaner softens anddissolves hardened paint deposits. Then flushthrough with your usual thinners or cleaner
Youcan also remove the front-end parts of your airbrush andsoak them in Reamer in the plastic cup provided.Paint can build upinthe nozzlecap andobstruct the hole which the nozzle protrudes through.
Dental Brushes (1 xwhite0.35mmand 1xorange 0.45mm) -these fine and flexible brushes aresolvent resistant andideal forthe narrowest of areas,including thenozzle They have an extendable handle andan ergonomicdesign. Please notethat these brushes should not be forced through the narrow end of an airbrush nozzle
Micro-Brushes (2 xpink and2xblack) -made of high quality microfibre,these brushes are soft,flexible andlint free.They arealsoideal fornarrow, hard to reachareas andcan pick up particlesofpaint that have been dislodgedby the dental brushes.Although not solvent resistant they aresafetouse with all
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30ml Measuring Cup(x2)-solvent resistant,these cups areidealfor soaking smallparts in LiquidReamer or other cleaners
Microfibre cloth (colourmay vary)-an ultra-soft andhighlyabsorbentmicrofibre cleaning cloth which is lint free andmachine washable.Ideal forabsorbing fluids whilst cleaning airbrush parts
Youcan learnmoreaboutthis invaluable airbrush cleaning kit at: https://airbrushes. com/product_info.php?products_id=26653
AlanWilliams of the Lleyn Model Aero Club writes:
TheLleyn Model Aero Club wouldliketo inviteRCM&E readers to joinusfor ourBring andFly on the weekend of the 27th, 28th and 29th September.This eventwas aregularand popularoccurrence before the pandemic upset the applecart, but we arenow pleased to announce that it is back in the diary. The main theme of the weekendwill be the opportunity fornewcomers to the hobby, experienced andnot so experienced flyers,to join us at ourexcellent powersiteatPenrhos
To those new friends we haven’tmet yet, youcan discoverthe hobbywelove andgain some knowledge andhelp on howtoget started from more experienced flyers Hopefullywewill be able to offersome buddyflying set ups forpeopletohaveago. Themoreexperienced canbringtheir favouritepower models andfly with the beautiful backdrop of the Eryri Mountains or the view across Cardigan BaytowardHarlech,
excellent forthat sought afterphoto opportunity to adornyourliving room,hall, dining room or,asismostlikely, your workshop. Spectatorscan also join us fora different dayout watching some aerobatic antics
Of course,wehavenot forgottenour friends who enjoythe slopes,sowewill also be hosting visitorstoour excellent sites on the Lleyn Peninsular.Those of youwho are regularreaders of this magazine will be familiarwith the reports of the excellent days out held on the Lleyn Peninsularsoweather permitting we would liketocontinue that tradition.
AlanRandall, Treasurerofthe Rolls-Royce (Hucknall) MAChas written in with details of this long-livedmodel club,now in its fifth decade:
TheRolls-Royce(Hucknall) Model Aircraft Club has been in existence forover50years and formuchofthat time members flew from the runway of the Rolls-RoyceFlightTest Establishment at Hucknall whereseveral world aviationfirsts took place.Unfortunately,as oftenhappens,the airfield is nowahousing estateand the club has movedtothe village of Underwood, ashort distance north-west of Hucknall andapproximatelyone mile from Junction27ofthe M1.
Likemanyclubs we nowfly from awell mown grass patch in arented farmer ’s field.The club is friendlyand embraces all radio-controlled model flying disciplines andhas instructors and examiners forthem all. However, the field is not suitable forfee flightmodels andverylarge models andjets.
Formoreinformationaboutthe eventand detailsonhow to find us please visit our websiteatlleynmac.org.uk/bring-and fly-2024, whereweplantopost more informationabout the weekendaswemove closer to the date.Our sitewill alsocontain links to local accommodationwebsites should youwish to makea weekendof it,which we thoroughlyrecommend. We look forwardtomeeting ourold friendsand making newones
Forprospective members wishing to dip their toeintomodelflying the club has its own trainer models forthem to learnon, buddiedup to an instructor
Theclub regularlyholdsfly-ins whereBMFA members from otherclubs can join us forthe day/weekend andwecan arrange forcamping on sitefor the durationofthese events.The club also holds Swap Meets locallyinthe Underwood Miners Welfare, wherethe club also meets on the first Thursdayofthe month to discuss club business andsometimes listen to talks on modelling etc.
TheclubisBMFAaffiliated andall members must enrolwith the BMFA, either through the club,asCounty Members or through anyother club they maybeamemberof. Instructorsand Examiners train andtest to the BMFA competencyschemes: A, B&Cetc.Our Membership feefor the current year is £35 with no joining fee.
Forfull details of the club please visit http:// www.hucknall-mac.org or https://www.facebook.com/groups/ hucknallMAC
Forapplications to join please contactour Secretary,AlanFalconbridge,at: secretary@ hucknall-mac.org
TimHooper test flies anew versionofhis all-time favouritemodeldesign
Words&Last time out we’d started on my Antaresaerobat.This is adirect replacement formyold attic find, Antaresthat I’dbeen campaigni several years–right up until the disaster moment when the ancient balsa cement holding the wing skins in place finallyl go during afast inverted lowpass Enough of theself-indulgent wallowing, so let’s move on,eh?
Last time out we gotthat new,consta chord plank of awing sorted andfully sheet Atouch of dihedral wasadded purely fo aesthetic reasons andthe wing wasput forthe time being
TheAntares’ tailplane is of generous proportions andlooks to be aslab of solid balsa at first glance.But it’s slightly mo sophisticated thanthat.There’sa centr of 1/8”strip wood, then it’s skinned both andbottom with 1/16” sheet.IfI’d been more awake, Iwould have changed the parallel fore-to-aft bracing to diagonalbracingfor rigidity.Atleast Idid think about adding alittle reinforcement to the centralcore, though.
Photos: Tim Hooper
Left: Despitebeing penned over 50 years agothe newAntares looksprettyslick as it awaits itsmaidenf light.
Right: Inside the tailplanethere’s a built-up structurethat’s probably stif ferthana simple slab of solid balsa. In retrospect I should have angled the crossstripstocreatea Warren trussstructure.
Middle: Theelevator wasbuilt as asingle piecewiththe joiner inset. Rudder clearance wasadded later.
Below: Plyformers are added to onefuselage side andchecked for perpendicularity.That’s agoodword, isn’tit?
Thesimple two-piece elevatorisfrom 1/4” sheet with a1/4” doweljoiner.Myway of ensuring astraight componentistoknifeit out as asingle piece,then cut the notch forthe joiner.Once the joiner has been installed, then it’s time to carvethe cut out forthe rudder.Idid enlarge the cut out slightlytoallowthe rudder more movement thanwas originallyintended
As usual with me,Itackled the fuselage last. The wing is usuallythe biggest chore in many builds so it’s nice to get it out of the wayfirst,Ifeel
Thefuselage has 3/32” sheet sides,which I marked up by takingmeasurements fromthe planand then transferring these to the sheet balsa. Once knifed out andtrued up to each other,I added the internalply doublers.The planspecifies internal 1/16” plydoublers but as my model won’thaveapulsatingtwo-strokeup frontI settled on thinner 1/32” plyinstead
Thetriangularlongeronswereadded next Ichose to addsomeadditional 1/4” square uprights to give the internal plyformers a decent foundation. In time honouredtradition F2 andF3werecut from 1/8” plyand were added to onefuselage side,using asquare to ensure that they were,well, square. Once drythe other fuselage side wasadded, again using squaresto ensure the alignment of thesides to each other
Thefollowing dayIbroke out my SLEC fuselage jig andwith theassemblycentred and weighted down accurately over the centre line,I sanded achamfer on the insidesofthe sides (if yousee what Imean) andjoined them together at the rear
Similarly, the fronts of thesides were drawn in andglued to F1. Iused ahigher quality of plywood forF1asitisdestined to takethe loads imposed on the nose legbymyincreasingly dodgy landings
Here’s whereitgetssortoftechy.I sketched up amotor /noseleg mountand founda suitablechunk of alitomutilate.
Thefinished mounttookacoupleofdaystocompleteand it taxedthis fledglingmachinist’s skills to theirlimits.
Testfittingthe mounttothe fuselage. Istill needed to bore aholein F1 to allowpassage for the steering push rod.
With aply nose ring in place, Ifilled in thevoidwithscrapsofbalsa to create thefront of thecowl.
Before Iadded anymorewood to the fuselage,I figuredthat it wastime to sort out the engine/ motor bay. Thenose wasdesigned to accept a.40 glowengine andthere’squitea distance betweenF1and the nose ring to fill, so some kind of motor stand offlooked to be required. Thesnag wasthat the motor ’s shaft is aligned with the deadcentreofF1, whichdidn’t leave alot of room forthe nose legtomount belowit. Theoriginal planshows the nose legmounted to the rear of F1 andaccessible through the tank hatch beneath the nose.This wouldn’t work formeasIwantedtohavea sizeable batter yhatch on topofthe fuselage, so Ineeded the bottom of the nose to be permanentlyclosed in to regain some rigidity there. This meant that Ineeded to have the nose legaffixed to thefront of F1, whereit would cheerfullyclash with whateverIused to mount the motor theretoo
Ialready hada motor mount andanose legin thesparesbox,but Icouldn’t see away of getting them both on the frontofF1. Looks likeI’d need to fabricatemyown single unit then, which was all just afeeble excuse to do abit of machining. Well, there’snopoint in having amilling machine if you’re not going to use it,is there?
Taking measurements from the plan, I needed to have the rear of my chosen motor standing some 32 mm forwards of F1, whilst allowing clearance forthe topofthe nose leg, andits steering arm, behind it
What Ihavealready discoveredinmy machining journey is that it’saslowand methodical process to produce anyusable item. Whereas apiece of wood canbehackedto shape andglued in place in amatter of minutes, an equivalentmetal item becomes amini project in its ownright andtakes alarge degree of planning andforethought.So, it’squite a mental sidestep to allocateseveral hours to fabricating acustom-made aluminiumdoodah.
Ready
forfinalshaping,after whichwecan thinkabout covering.
On ascrap of graph paper,Isketchedin the dimensions of the motor mount,taking measurements from the motor’s ownrearX mount,and the intrusionofthe topofthe nose leg. What transpired wasaflatbackplate,some 10 mm thick, with twoprotruding 32 mm legs to marryupwith the rear of the motor.There alsohad to be ahorizontal slot in the lowerpart of the backplatetoallowclearancefor the nose leg’ssteering arm.
An engineering clubmatehad already, very generously, donated asuitable chunk of aluminiumtothe cause so Ihad no excuse but to carryon. Oneofthe joys of working with a soft metal likealuminiumorbrass is that the bulk of the task of metal removalcan be carried outwith asaw.Inmycase I’mlucky enough to
It’s notevery dayIget to maiden twomodelsbut thetale aboutthe vintageLadybirdcan wait foranother day.
have access to awoodworkingbandsaw, fitted with adecent Starret blade,which made short work of not only reducing my oversizebilletof alitoa suitable,slightlyoversizeblock (which wasthen milled to final dimension) but alsoto hew out the main featuresofthe final shape. Therough sawn block wassecuredinthe mill with therearfaceupwards.Six bolt holes were drilled, oneineachcorner andtwo centralones between the legs,together with theslot for steering arm. Turned upside down, Ibored a4 mm hole, 30 mm deep to acceptthe topofthe nose leg. This hole passed through thecentreof the slot to allowthe steering armtoslideonto the topofthe nose leg. This meant that thetop sectionofthe nose legwas then supported both aboveand belowthe steering arm.
Turned once again so the ‘legs’weretopmost, Iused the ‘bolt circle’facilityofthe mill’s digital read out to plotthe positionsofthe holes needed to receive the motor’s mounting screws These were drilled with a2.5 mm drilland then hand threaded with a3mmtap to adepth of around 15 mm
Despitehaving been sawn to roughshape it took acouple of hoursofcareful milling using a10mmend mill to bringthe rest of the lump to something approaching itsfinal form. At the endofthisthe motor fitted nicelyonthe front of the legs andthe nose legswivelled snuglyin its lowerhole.Whoopee,hey?
Triumphantlyclutching my newcreation,I rushed offtoshowNetty the result of afull day’s work andshe diplomaticallysuggested that Iweigh it andthen see if Icould reduce its mass by asignificantamount.Rather surprisingly it heftedinata chunky 93 g, far more thanI’d guessed.
Thenext daysaw the ali mount back inthe gentle caress of the mill’s vice,whereIthinned the10mmbackplatedownto5mm, except where the nose legneeded to passthrough. This wasfollowedbya16mmend mill, which cheerfullyhackedsomelightening holes inboth thebackplateand also through the front legs
Theweightwas nowreducedto57g,which is well over an ouncelighter.Itlooks whizzier,too
Back to thebalsa work.The topofthe fuselage calls forafairamount of balsa blocktogive it shape.Overthe yearsI’vecollected some ‘unusable’chunksofbalsa from the budget bins at various model shows andthese get ripped down to sizeonthe bandsawfor situations like this.However,rather than rely on the block alone,I liketoadd alayer of 1/8”cross grain sheet across the topofthe fuselage sides prior to anyblockwork.
With the new ali mount fitted to F1 via 3mm blindnuts andwith themotor andspinner attached, Icould nowhavea look at the overall shape of theAntares’ frontend. Icut anose ring from 3mmply andusing sacrificial 1/8” balsa spacers ICA’dthis to the rear of the spinner’s backplate. All Ihad to do then wastouse bits of scrapbalsa blocktofill thevoid between the firewalland the nose ring
Ileft thebottom of thecowlopen, not only to provide cooling forthe motor butalso to allowfor its removalifnecessary.Ihad to file four indentations within thenose ring to allow screwdriveraccess to the motor’s mounting
screws from the front. Withthe motor eased free of the cowl the ali motor mount could also be removedthrough the bottom of thecowl.
With thetop of the fuselage roughlysanded to shape it wastime to takeadeep breathand to cut that big access hatch free.I held thescalpel at abit of an angle to yield atapering recess so the hatch cansit secure andlevel.Alength of tonguedepresser,inset at thefront of thehatch, locates intoa slot in F2, whilsta spring catchat therearkeeps the rear end snug andclosed.
Giventhat the fuselage canlosea bit of torsional rigidity because of thegaping void in the topdeck,Ithought I’dredress thebalance by adding an internal floorfromliteply.This would also actasa mount forthe rudder servo andreceiver, andthe 4S 4000 batteryitself
Theentireairframewas sanded down, filled, sanded, sealed andthen sandedagain prior to covering. Ihad been brieflytemptedto trytoreplicatethe awfulbrown tissueofmy original Antares, but arareburst of common sense prevailed andI opted to raid my precious Solarfilm stockinstead.
Somemight contendthatthe modelmight benefit from theadditionofabubblecanopy, butI don’tagree.Sothat’sthat.
White, grey andpink were the chosen colours, accented by teal graphics courtesy of the Cricut machine.The overall result looks better than my expectations,I’ll admit.The completed Antareshefted in at aslightlyporky 5lbs so I reckoned it would need areasonable amount of airspeed to function properly.Withthe battery shovedasfar forwards as it could go the model balanced on the frontsparwithout needing any redundant ballast
As is always the case fittingthe hardware took far longer thanitshould dotojust to screw ahandful of servosinplace,but that’s howit goes.Closed loops wiggle the rudder,together with aspurtoinfluence the steerable nose wheel. Awirepushrodconnectsthe external rear mounted elevator servo
Theoriginal 1970s designsuggesteda
centralaileron servo,connectedvia pushrods andbellcranks, as ourforefathers used. These days servosare small andcheap, so Itook the easy wayout andused twin units.Perhaps, surprisingly, Idecided not to allocateaseparate channel foreachaileron buttogoold school anduse aY-leadtocontrol both servosfroma single channel
My thinking hereisthat with asymmetrically sectioned wing, whichshould performthe same when inverted as when it’s rightside up, there’snoreal need forany differential and so thereshould be no need foroffset horns or electronic mixing. We’ll have to see
With the new Antaresready forits maiden outing, we then experienced the soggiest,
muddiest winter that Ican recall anditwas some weeks beforethe suncould finallycoax me outofthe house anddowntothe field.
Thedampgrass wasalittle long andthe first takeoff runwas abortedasthe endofthe strip got tooclose forcomfort.After finding a firmer stretch of turf theAntareswas givena longer runtogain speed beforehauling back on the stick. Likeits predecessorthis new model will not liftoff by itself andmustbeactively commanded skywards.I’veput this down to a very slightlynose down attitude when it’s saton the ground andthe symmetrical wing needsa positive angle of attack to get it to unstick.
As the Antaresclimbed away,I dialled in alittle bit of aileron andelevator trimto straighten it up andthe rest waspuretextbook It’s very directional in that it goes wherever it’s pointed until further radio input makes it do something else
Aerobatics areapiece of cake.Loops,bunts, axial andbarrelrolls were included within the maiden flight andjust came naturally with no nasty tendencies.Slowing it up,ata safe height,makes it become progressively mushyuntil the nose finally drops as it stalls, as you’dhope
With very little headwind available to soften the landing, andnot wanting to risk astall tooclose to the deck, Ibrought the Antaresin forquiteafast landing. Again, the negative incidencetothe ground helps here, in that as soonasthe nosewheel makes contact with the ground then that’s whereitstays,withno tendencytobounce intothe air again. That’s whyIpreferatrikeset up to ataildragger
So,I’m happy. My shinynew Antares2024 has taken up its new home,hanging in the hangar, andI’m hoping foralongpartnership with it ■
Chris Williams finishes offanother scale glider.This timehis fifth scale Pirat sees air under its wings forthe firsttimefromhis local slope
Words& Photos: Chris WilliamsInthe fullness of time the covering of the fifth scale Pirat wascompleted,leading to the inevitable long wait forthe rain and gales to cease.The winningweather lotteryticket proved to be aday on oneofour local Wessex Soaring slopes andyou could cut the resulting anticipationintoslices andsell them on eBay.The wind waslightand,attimes, forgetful, so we hadtobeonour mettle,which meant,first of all, flying the super-efficient Skylark 3’s in order to remember how to actuallyfly
Initially, thePirat seemed alittle sluggish, resulting in arecalculationofthe Centreof Gravity.But it soonbecameevidentthat the model wasvice-free,with the added bonus of beingdelightfulinthe landing phase.Tomy mind agood landing of anysortofaircraftcan be described as the inability to determine the point at whichthe miracle of flight becomes mere perambulation. Thus,itisthatthe Pirat responds to ever greater inputs of up elevator by continuing to evadethe ground at increasing angles of attack, therefore allowing the pilot to easily
choose the best moment forTFR (Terra Firma Reintegration).
Another agonising wait ensued foran aerotowmaiden, partlybecause of theweather, butmostlybecause Ikept forgetting the tailplane! As expected, therewerenosurprises, although thermalling abilitywill have to wait until later in the year as theceiling on this occasionwas amere500 feet
Youcan see foryourself by Googling PIRAT PEREGRINATIONS II or with thislink: https:// youtu.be/TNFgj4oqD08?si=2apbUpwsaDDEEB6
Author givesscale to the SZDPirat before the maiden flight
At 1/5th scaleit’snot adif ficultmodel to launch
To my mind agood landing of any sort of aircraft can be described asthe inability to determine the point at whichthe miracle of flight becomes mere perambulation
PiratinactionatWhite Sheet. Murky conditions forthe maiden aerotow.
MikeWilsonvolunteered last year to build the Type 23 Kitefrommycompleted drawings and just beforethis column’s deadlinehecameup with the finished result. Theelectrification of the model looks as though it might make it a useful additiontoMike’shangarbut at the time of writing the Kiteisyet to be flown.For those that might be interested hereare the stats:
Scale: 1: 5.7
Weight: 3.5 lbs
Span: 2.5m
Wing Section: HQ 35/12
Motor: E-max BL2220/08
ESC: Hobbyking 30AwithBEC
Folding prop: 10”x8”
I’mnot sure if the weightofMike’smodel includes the LiPobut it wouldseem to be no heavier thanthat of my original prototype, which is in the pipeline forbeing published in this very magazine
mistake. Embedded T31ballast proved entirely unnecessary.
Settingupthe frontwingstrut forthe T31 with direct referencetothe drawing.
It hasbeen many ayearand much waterunder the bridge sinceI last produceda versionof the iconic SlingsbyT31 Tandem-Tutor, aglider of which many of my generationgawped at in wonder when we were still in shorttrousers Theaverage flightdurationfromawinch launch has been described as around threeminutes -nowonder when youtakeaclose look! As well as the drag of not just onebut twoopen cockpits,fourmain struts with sub-struts and wirerigging, andanextrapair of struts on the tailplane to addinsult to draggery, the T31 is pretty much aflying airbrake. (I nearlyforgot: the open aileron andelevator gaps play their part as well.)
As Ihavenodigital versionofthe thirdscale drawing it wasgoing to have been drawnfrom scratchand,once again, Ipuzzled overthe front
wing strut emerging from thefront of therear cockpit.Obviously, it wasgoing to have apiano wirecore, but howtoset it up to thecorrect height knowing the wing/tail rigging angles depend on it? In the end thesimple solution wastotakeaprint-out from thedrawing and offerupthe wirestrut andformerdirectlytothe paper to establish the correctplaces to drill.
Giventhe foregoing,itwas obvious that a rigorous programme of drag reduction was going to have to takeplace andthe Scale Police were going to have to just suck it up.Tothis end, the aileronsweretop-hinged andthe lowergap wascovered in the usualfashionwithMylar strip.Aswith the Skylark 3, theelevator toohad the lowergap Mylarcovered. Missing from the scale line-up aresub struts forthe mainstruts, rigging wires andthe tailplane struts.The skid wasrepresented as beingcovered, although this is not the case on the full-size of this particular example.
Thewing is always achallenge with the Tandem-Tutor, havinga miniscule D-section andneeding diagonal bracingtokeep it rigid, although the struts help in that regard
Business endofthe T31.
Abig Completedairframeofthe Slingsby T31Tandem-Tutor. Mike Wilson’s versionofthe Kite 1withe-power