FREE
EAGLE 1
ON TEST – GLIDING AROUND WITH TECH ONE’S EP SOARER
TOWING WITH TOWRAG
TRAPLET’S V-TAIL GLIDER TUG GOES ELECTRIC
PULLOUT R/C PLAN
WORTH £11.99
WIDGEON X2
THREE FOOT OF FUN! BUILD THIS 36" ENLARGEMENT BASED ON A FAVOURITE FROG
JULY 2016
WWW.RCMODELWORLD.COM
LONG LEGGED STORCH FOCUS ON A FABULOUS FIESLER FLOWN AT TRAPLET SCALE
VW AERO ENGINE PRINTING A REPLICA POWERPLANT IN 3D
ALOUETTE, GENTILLE ALOUETTE AÉROSPATIALE CONVERSION OF A T-REX HELI TRAINER
PLAN FEATURE!
3-WAY
Issue 390 £4.75
1 MODEL, 2 WINGS, 3 LAYOUTS!
July Cover.indd 1
27/05/2016 14:39:56
Contents 84 GADGETS & GEAR
Andrew James pores over a selection of hi-tech (and a couple of lo-tech products too!) of interest to model pilots
102 THE SPORT CHANNEL
This month Gray looks at another modeller’s den, files an update on indoor gliding and revisits micro piggyback launching
108 DIARY DATES
More summer model shows, club sales and flying competitions
114 NEXT ISSUE
Looking forward to the August issue
FRONT COVER
The first of two northern Traplet Scale events, aka the ‘War of the Roses Scale Competition’, took place on Sunday the 15th of May, hosted by the Pontefract club. Among the high quality scale models on display was this superb Fiesler Storch belonging to John Kidd, which sadly crashed just after completing a flap demonstration. John is planning to rebuild her over the winter. However, Phillip Kent was able to take pictures and get some in depth information about the aeroplane before her unfortunate accident. Read more, starting on page 30
REGULARS 6 8
PRE FLIGHT
Introducing this issue
TAKE OFF
REVIEWS 16 P-47D-1 THUNDERBOLT
Brian Collins builds Hangar 9’s .60 class warbird and gives it a nose full of electric power
68 EAGLE 1
Neville Hill takes Tech One’s simple to assemble electric soarer into his workshop and reappears a few hours later with a fully functional glider
98 HUBSAN X4
The Editor tries taking ‘selfie’ videos using this multirotor’s follow-me function
R/C model flying news and views
JULY 2016 • ISSUE #390
FEATURES 22 TOWRAG GOES ELECTRIC
Frank Skilbeck helps build a new electric powered aerotow tug for the Newent & District MAC
26 ALOUETTE III SA 316
Michel Maisons describes a low cost conversion of a T-Rex sport heli into a scale model of the Aérospatiale SAR helicopter
30 FIESLER STORCH
Phillip Kent describes a new Fi 156 from John Kidd, as seen at the recent Traplet Scale event
32 MAKING A REPLICA VW ENGINE
Chris Bowler describes how he went about sourcing a 3D printed aero-engine for his new Turbulent project – with a little help from a friend!
38 3-WAY
Anthony Bennett describes his 1.3 m span Depron model that uses two wings and one fuselage to create three different models - a high winger, a low winger and a biplane
42 MAKING A SIMPLE SPRING HATCH LATCH Bill Bowne offers another top building tip from the workshop
12 SHOP WINDOW
A look at the latest R/C products
63 BRIT IN BRITTANY
Dave Goodenough satisfies his building bug with a small ‘Bird Of Time’ style soarer and a petite Piper Cherokee
16 98
63
68 4
Contents.indd 4
www.rcmodelworld.com
31/05/2016 08:27:04
46 A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLERS Knowing how to select, install and set up an ESC can be confusing, especially for novice pilots. Brian Collins offers advice on choosing, fitting and operating the right speed controller
38
50 QUICK QUADS
John Stennard looks at the different options when choosing a racing quadcopter for FPV sport flying. If you’re brave enough you could also try racing it too!
56 WIDGEON X2
George Stringwell takes the V-tailed FROG design and doubles it to 914 mm span for three or four function R/C and electric power. The result is a versatile model for sport flying
74 S.55 X MODEL GOES FULL-SIZE!
Following his article on the Savoia Marchetti seaplane that appeared in the March 2016 issue, Franco Bugada has news of a project to build a full-size replica
76 STRASBOURG F3P
26
22
30
Donatas Pauzuolis reports from the FAI’s F3P test event prior to next year’s World Championship, to be held in the French city
82 THINKING OUTSIDE THE (TOOL) BOX Bill Bowne finds a wide variety of uses for magnets and the humble roll of masking tape
92 THE ART OF AEROTOWING
56
Mark Wilcockson describes how to enjoy a day out aerotowing model gliders
74
www.rcmodelworld.com
Contents.indd 5
5
31/05/2016 08:27:23
Fiesler Storch Phillip Kent describes the new Fi 156 from John Kidd
John’s Storch features a silver soldered tubular steel front fuselage forward of the cockpit 30
The wings and tail use conventional built up balsa, spruce and plywood construction
www.rcmodelworld.com
Fiesler Storch.indd 30
26/05/2016 17:48:35
SCALE AIRCRAFT
T
he first BMFA Scale Competition took place at Pontefract Park, the home of the PANDAS club. On my arrival I was immediately impressed with the new quarter scale Fiesler Fi 156 that was being assembled by John Kidd. The model cleverly breaks down into component parts that can be easily fitted into John’s car. John has based his model on the full size example owned by Peter Holloway that can be seen in the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden. It has a wingspan of 140.25 inches and uses a 50 cc CRRC Pro petrol engine for power. The construction uses some typical model aeroplane structures but does have a silver soldered tubular steel front end for the fuselage forward of the cockpit. The engine detaches for transportation
The Fiesler’s undercarriage is fully sprung
using just four bolts to hold it in place. The engine mount is another excellent piece of the modeller’s art; another silver soldered steel tube structure. The cowl is from glass reinforced plastic with litho side panels, with the moulds being made by John. The undercarriage is a fully sprung working unit that took up the bumps superbly when landing on the less than perfect grass runway at its competition debut on Sunday. The wings and tail unit are of typical built up model construction using balsa, spruce and plywood for the ribs and spars. This new Storch is the fourth model aircraft that John has produced in his R/C flying career and we hope to see more of this super model at more scale events this season. RCMW
Built to quarter scale the Fi 156 has a wingspan of just over 140 inches and is powered by a 50 cc petrol engine www.rcmodelworld.com
Fiesler Storch.indd 31
31
26/05/2016 17:48:55