electric flight uk - British Electric Flight Association

ELECTRIC FLIGHT U.K.
ISSUE No. 67 WINTER 2001
THE MAGAZINE OF THE
BRITISH ELECTRIC
FLIGHT ASSOCIATION
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Electric Flight - U.K.
Issue 67 - Winter 2001
"To Encourage and Further all Aspects of Electric Model Flight in
the British Isles and Elsewhere" - B.E.F.A. Constitution
CONTENTS
BEFA Committee Addresses ................. 4
Chairman's Chatter ............................... 5
Current Lines ......................................... 6
New-2-U ................................................ 7
Measurement of High Currents ............. 8
Readers' Models .................................. 14
BEFA League Results 2001 ................. 18
The Bath SpaRCS Electric Fly-In ....... 20
Aerial Photography Follow-Up ........... 24
The Airco D.H.2 - Part 2 ..................... 28
More Crash Resistant IFOs ................. 31
BMFA Southern Area E-Fly-In ........... 32
Electric Hovercraft Plan ...................... 36
BEFA Tech Wksp Traders Fair ........... 46
RCS Technik Tiger Moth .................... 52
NEAT 2001 .......................................... 59
For Sale ................................................ 70
Next Issue ............................................ 72
Event Calendar .................................... 73
Beginners Start Here ........................... 74
BEFA Sales .......................................... 78
Advertisers Index ................................ 78
Cover Photo: This photograph was taken at the Northeast Electric Aircraft
Technology (NEAT) Fair 2001 by John Anderson. It features the B17 of Dave
Barron, originally built by Joe Basher. It is 10ft. 6in. span and is powered by four
direct drive Astro 05s running on 32 cells.
NEXT ISSUE. The copy date for the Spring 2002 issue is 1 March 2002, with
the magazine due for publication by 1 April 2002.
DISCLAIMER
B.E.F.A. and Electric Flight U.K. wish to point out that the content, techniques
and opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the individual authors and
do not necessarily represent the views of either the Editor of this magazine or
B.E.F.A. and its committee. All reasonable care is taken in the preparation and
compilation of the magazine, but B.E.F.A. and its committee cannot be held liable
for any error or omission in the content of this magazine or any subsequent
damage or loss arising howsoever caused.
E.F.-U.K.
3
BEFA Committee 2001/2
Chairman
Robert Mahoney
123 Lane End Road, High Wycombe, Bucks. HP12 4HF
E-Mail: robert_mahoney@hotmail.com
Secretary
Bob Smith
1 Lynwood Avenue, Tollesby, Middlesbrough, Cleveland. TS5 7PD
Tel. 01642 823197, E-Mail: bobsmith@befa007.freeserve.co.uk
Membership Secretary
Robert Mahoney, details as Chairman.
Treasurer
Roger Winsor
14 Butler Gardens, Market Harborough, Leics. LE16 9LY
Editor EF-UK
Jan Bassett
111 Plantagenet Chase, Yeovil, Somerset. BA20 2PR
Tel. 01935 472743, E-mail: jan.bassett@electric-flight.org.uk
Assistant Editor EF-UK
John Brinkler
15 Hollands Way, Warnham, Horsham, RH12 3RH
Tel. 01403 257752, E-mail: jbrinkler@netscapeonline.co.uk
Production Editor
Brian Boughton
'Red Roofs', Vicarage Road, Thetford, Norfolk. IP24 2LH
Events Co-ordinator
Terry Stuckey
31 Dysart Avenue, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. KT2 5QZ
Competition Secretary
David Beavor
34 Chestnut Close, Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambs.
Midlands Representative
Roger Winsor, details as Treasurer
Northern Representative
Bob Smith, details as Secretary.
Southern Representative
Dave Chinery
251 Station Road, Hayes, Middx. UB3 4JD
South West Representative Jan Bassett, details as Editor EF-UK
Indoor & Free-Flight Rep.
Gordon Tarling
87 Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middx. UB8 2QD
E-mail: gordon.tarling@ntlworld.com
Technical Liaison Officer
Robin Andrew
143 Coventry Road, Coleshill, Birmingham. B46 3EX
E-mail: raffles@bham81.junglelink.co.uk
Public Relations Officer
Position Vacant
Safety Officer
Jan Bassett, details as Editor EF-UK.
Webmaster
Jan Bassett, details as Editor EF-UK.
Please enclose an SAE with all correspondence to the committee.
Further Membership information is on page 74.
4
E.F.-U.K.
Chairman’s Chatter
Welcome to issue No 67.
I would like to thank all the members that helped at this year's Fly-in and events.
Without them, these events would be very difficult to run.
Now this brings me to the question that I asked at the Technical Workshop, does
any member or a member of a club want to hold an Electric Fly-in in the areas of
Norfolk, The North East, Cumbria, Wales or the South West. If so please
get in contact with a member of the committee. We may be able to help in the
running their event!
Many of you, no doubt, have visited the 'E-zone' dedicated Electric Flight website
(www.ezonemag.com) from time to time (or maybe more frequently!). The more
regular and observant visitors among you may have noticed that BEFA's own
advert on that website has recently changed for the better. This has been entirely
due to the efforts of Neil Stainton, of Tailormade Software, who kindly volunteered
his professional services to compose the new advert thanks Neil!
I would like too wish you all a Merry Christmas and
good flying in the New Year
Keep the Watts Up
Robert Mahoney
E.F.-U.K.
5
Current Lines
from the Editor
It only seems a very short time since the last issue was being completed, and
here we are again. This is partly due to having to complete the magazine early to
get it out during the Christmas publishing rush. However, it is also due to trying
to catch up a slipped programme.
I have received a lot of information this time, and included as much as practical.
Unfortunately, pressures at work have prevented a few items from inclusion as I
haven’t had the time to produce them. Notably, this includes the articles on the
DIY Brushless Motors, Indoor Flying at Weston-Super-Mare and the review of
the FlexiFlyer by Ron Fikes.
I’ve also held some new articles over for the next issue due to time constraints.
This includes a short report on Pillerton Hersey 2001, a free plan of a Depron
model called the Und-Nu, and an article on the Airtimer by Tony Long.
Whilst I’m very pleased that members are submitting more information than
before, it is still a minority and I sure we can do better. I’m sure that almost
everyone reading the magazine has a model that flies well and would be of interest
to other members. If so please take a couple of photographs, jot down some
information and send it to me.
Using a little lateral thinking, if anyone fancies creating electric flight puzzles
or crosswords, we could include those. I’m game to try, almost, anything once. If
you do have anything, please let me know so it can be included.
Hopefully Santa will bring you some useful goodies to play with during the coming
year. If he does, please let me know so we can show everyone else.
A Happy Christmas and a
Merry New Year to all.
Jan
6
E.F.-U.K.
New-2-U
A Brief Round-up of New Items of Interest
New battery packs from ANSA Products
Firstly, 7-cell and 8-cell packs of Sanyo 500AR Cells, both fitted with BEC
connectors. These packs will give long flights on a standard IFO with a standard
280 motor (12 to 15 min flights). They are especially suited for use with the
Permax 280BB motor (the "Black Beast" motor), the high performance upgrade
motor for the standard IFO. The 8-cell pack is particularly suited for IFO flying
outdoors with the 280BB motor, and can also be used in many other electric
models. Since the Permax 280BB motor can draw 9 amps at full throttle, also
use thicker wires (e.g. 2mm wire cores) to get the best from this motor-battery
combination. The 7-cell pack costs £20.49, the 8-cell pack costs £22.99.
7 cell Sanyo 500AR with BEC connector
8 cell Sanyo 500AR with BEC connector
The third new battery is a 10-cell pack of Sanyo "120 TA" cells (capacity of 110
mAh, weight 60g). This pack is suitable for the Mini IFO using the coreless
Faulhaber 1624 or 1524 motor, or for the Braun Mouse aerobatic ship using
these coreless motors. The 10-cell battery gives excellent performance and long
flights (typically 6 to 10 mins) in any aeroplane fitted with these coreless motors.
The cost of this special pack, with BEC connector fitted, is £21.49.
Contact ANSA Products Ltd at:
19-20 Pentonville, Newport,
South Wales, NP20 5HB, U.K.
Web site:
Email:
www.IFO.com
sales@ANSAproducts.com
Tel/Voicemail: +44-(0)-1633 84 3000
FAX:
+44-(0)-1633 243 222
10 cell Sanyo 120TA with BEC connector
E.F.-U.K.
7
Measurement of high values of
electric current
by Nick Fitton
Most of you will have read (and if you didn’t you missed a treat) my article in the
August 1999 issue of this magazine, in which I told of my re-entry to aeromodelling
after a thirty five year lay off. My preferred means of entry was via electric flight,
and after some frustrating episodes compounded by the difficulties one might
expect to encounter when entering a relatively new field, I am now a dedicated
E/F’er.
Before starting into the main topic readers might like to reflect on some of the
difficulties I experienced.
1.
The appalling and inexcusable confusion over motor nomenclature. For
example Mabuchi 550 = Speed 600 = “05 can motor”, and M540 = Speed
500 = ???. Could someone PLEASE, for the benefit of other modellers
coming into our specialism, publish a definitive guide.
My Early Bird came with a (quote) “powerful 540”. When the motor burned
out I had a terrible job trying to find out what to ask for to replace it. I
asked Irvine if the Lightspeed 540 they suggested was the equivalent of
the “powerful 540” - they didn’t know – would I like to try a Topaz 540?
(WTH is that?). The Lightspeed 540 has 35 turns, so was this the same as
the original? - no one knew. I could go on and on but the reader should
have the picture now.
After many attempts at re-motoring, I eventually fitted a Speed 500 RACE
7.2 V, with Graupner 2.8:1 gearbox and 11X8 CAM folding prop, this
decision being arrived at via MotoCalc. The aircraft was literally
transformed having vastly improved performance and duration, and was
easier to fly. Direct drive in an entry-level E/F glider gives dangerously
marginal performance, just enough in fact to get the beginner into trouble.
What saved me was that as a former pilot I understand well the
consequences of getting the airspeed too low, especially in turns at low
height. Although a geared system is expensive, it would have been nice to
have it at the outset.
2.
8
Connectors, someone PLEASE tell newcomers to decide on one good
connector for all their models, and stick with it. This ensures
interchangeability of components between models. I settled on the Schulze
E.F.-U.K.
3.5mm "Perfect Plug" as it is compact, will handle all the current I will
ever need, and has a very low resistance. I would suggest all specialist
connectors are electrically excellent, but some are very long, some might
not survive frequent connection / disconnection cycles, and some are very
expensive in relation to their intended use.
3.
There is a lot of confusion over what factors affect motor performance, i.e.
windings, magnet strength, rotor length. An I/C colleague once asked me
why an electric motor drew more current when it slowed down, as his I/C
engine drew less fuel when it slowed down. I pointed out that his question
was flawed by omitting the verb "was" from in front of "slowed". I tried to
explain that a DC motor was also a generator at the same time as being a
motor (eyes glaze over at this point), and that if the generated emf reduced
as a result of the motor (generator) being slowed, the applied emf would
increase, thus allowing the motor to pull more current - the effect was
similar to when I tried to explain cricket to a Dutchman.
Anyway, back to the topic of the heading to this article. It has become clear that
a means of measuring current is vital in this game if one is to progress: certainly,
it is useful to measure other parameters, but current measurement is absolutely
vital.
As my third level education was in mathematics and physics I felt I should be
capable of designing and making my own device, a major snag being that my
education took place over thirty years ago in sunny Belfast. In the intervening
years I had let my brain “rust unburnish’d, not to shine with use” (Shakespeare,
I think), but re-visiting yellowing, ink written notes blew the cobwebs out of my
sparsely furnished mind.
Another problem of course was the impossibility of buying an ammeter in Omagh,
where I live – Guinness and peat sandwiches yes, ammeters, no. (Divertissement
– it only rains twice a week in Omagh, once for 4 days, and once for 3!)
A feature of my device was that it had to measure current from first principles.
Some devices I have read about require the passage of a known low current to
define the characteristics of a device to measure much higher currents.
From this thinking and after rummaging about in pre 1960 Physics books I have
designed and am using my own device for measuring high current.
I want to digress here a little to address an annoying habit of some commentators
on the subject of current measurement. If you rummage in www.ezonemag.com,
the web home of E/F, you will come across the term "shunt" as applied to current
measuring devices.
E.F.-U.K.
9
Thus we have the "Kowalski shunt" - not a Pole crashing his Lada, but a current
measuring device sold at very modest price. If you are new to E/F, "Kowalski
shunt" sounds more impressive than it really is, for as far as I can make out it is
simply a short piece of copper wire whose resistance is known with high accuracy,
which is inserted in series in the circuit. It is not therefore a shunt in that it
doesn't divert current anywhere. It is merely an in line resistor of known
resistance, which I suspect is 0.001 ohm. The voltage drop can be measured
(voltmeter set to mV) and the current calculated from equation (2) - see below.
The term "shunt" is used by other writers in the field. To my mind a shunt is
something which diverts something else. e.g. a steam engine (for there is none
other) shunts rolling stock into a siding, or water in a channel is "shunted" into
lateral irrigation channels - i.e. the flow is drawn off.
I have seen the term "Current Sensing Resistor" used for such devices, and this is
an accurate descriptor. My device could be called Fitton's Amperage measuring
Resistor Thingummy, but I will resist the temptation! A few comments on how
current is measured might be appropriate.
Firstly, a cheap Digital Voltmeter (DVM) will not do the job. Mine claims to
measure up to 20 amps but when placed in the motor circuit there is a large
reduction of motor revs and hence current. I can believe my DVM readings at
low currents i.e. about 5 amps, but certainly no greater.
Electric current flowing in a piece of wire is loosely analogous to water flowing
in a pipe. If you wish to measure the water flow you might place in the flow
stream a small impeller linked to a generator, the output of which suitably
calibrated would give a measure of flow rate. But note that by placing this device
in the flow you have actually changed the flow conditions - you have introduced
resistance into the flow stream. Your measurement system will give a reading of
flow rate, but when you remove it the flow rate will increase.
An interesting sideline here is the work done by early researchers into Quantum
Mechanics. The German physicist W. Heisenberg came up with his Uncertainty
Principle in connection with making measurements at the sub atomic particle
level. A consequence of his theory is that by observing an experiment, you are
actually taking part in it and thereby influencing the result - you can never have
an absolute answer. Similarly, we can never know exactly what the current is
simply because we are trying to measure it – we can however, get very close).
So being smart, you modify your system to be the smallest impeller/generator in
the world, thus having little impact on the flow rate. This is good thinking for
whereas your new small device will still influence the flow, the effect will be very
small and well within the experimental accuracy of the experiment.
10
E.F.-U.K.
There are ways of measuring electric current which are (apparently) non-invasive
i.e. they don't involve direct intervention in the circuit. One such is to measure
the magnetic field produced outside the circuit by the current flowing inside.
The value of current can be deduced from the strength of the magnetic field.
Such methods are outside the scope of this article.
It is unlikely that BEFA readers will be electrically illiterate, but for those who
want to start from basics I present the following. The heart of all E/F has to be a
equation called Ohms Law, which I would suggest you commit to memory. It is
written as: V = IR
(1)
or rearranging the terms,
I = V/R
(2)
where V is voltage, I is electrical current, and R is resistance. One Mr Ohm
discovered this relationship, hence we call the unit of resistance the Ohm. It's a
good job he wasn't called Svyatopolsk - Mirsky.
So if we now make our current flow along a wire of low resistance and measure
the voltage difference between the ends, the “voltage drop”, we can apply Ohm’s
Law to calculate the current.
A major difficulty arises in the measurement of very low values of resistance:
(remember we have to have a low resistance as we do not want to be too invasive
in the system). A DVM will not suffice as it will “see” our low resistance as almost
no resistance, i.e. too low to measure, and tell us so by bleeping annoyingly. Just
to put numbers on the problem, we are in the realms of 0.001 Ohm (one
thousandth of an Ohm)
So our problem is to produce a resistor which for ease of production we will
fabricate in copper wire, and for which we must have both definite length and
diameter, thereby defining it’s resistance.
In the next section I’m going to use simple mathematics and physics. For those
allergic to these, move to the end of this article to see details of the CSR designed
and used by me.
Determining the required resistance
The resistor parameters of length and diameter are designed to give a resistance
of 0.001 Ohms. The attraction of this figure is that if we measure the voltage
drop over this resistor in thousandths of a volt (mV), and divide by the resistor
value of 0.001 ohm, i.e. applying Ohm's Law, the meter display can be interpreted
as a direct readout of amps.
E.F.-U.K.
11
The design of the Current Sensing Resistor
It is evident that some metals conduct electricity better than others; we also
know that per unit length, the electrical resistance of thin wire is higher than
that of thicker wire (Think about the veracity of that statement, referring to the
water in a pipe analogy).
This gives us a difficulty, as we have discovered that the resistance of a piece of
conducting material is not only a function of the material itself, but also of shape.
We know that resistance is directly proportional to length, and inversely
proportional to cross sectional area, hence R is some function of L/A. We also
need a constant of proportionality ("f") to take into account the different materials
encountered that is :R= f (L/A)
(3)
All conducting metals have an intrinsic property called Resistivity. Note it is not
shape dependent, it is a property unique to the material itself. The Greek letter
"rho" (pronounced as in "row of trees") is often assigned in physics to this property,
and so we use rho as our constant of proportionality. Hence we can say that: R = rho *L/A
(4)
Rho has been measured & published and for copper it is 0.0000017 Ohm-cm. It
varies a bit with temperature and with manufacturing processes e.g. annealing
will have an effect. The figure given above is a value quoted by several elderly
physics books, and also more modern sources via the Internet.
So now, if we want a piece of wire to have a resistance of 0.001 Ohm, we merely
have to play around with the figures in equation (4) above. Because there are so
many noughts to play with (and therefore get wrong) I used a simple spreadsheet
to iterate a solution.
12
E.F.-U.K.
The CSR in the photo is a piece of 18G (diameter 0.1219 mm) copper wire, 6.86
cms long. The resistance is almost exactly 0.001 Ohms. As explained above, this
allows us to interpret the DVM readout as amps.
When using this masterpiece of Irish high tech, I plug it in the circuit in series
and measure the voltage drop across it by putting crocodile clips on each end.
Please note that these clips should be clamped on the body of the Schulze
connector at the point where the copper wire enters the solder cup of the
connector. In this way one avoids the effect of connector resistance.
Accuracy
I have predicted and confirmed experimentally the accuracy of the device at low
currents only. I personally will probably not want to exceed 25 amps or so, and
at this level I have good agreement with MotoCalc 6.01. I am cautious however,
about extrapolating from measurements at the lower range linearly to the higher
range Experimentation at higher currents requires the dissipation of a lot of
power by the resistor - e.g. about 190W if using a 0.47 Ohm resistor and a 7 cell
pack (fully charged, about 9.5 Volts)
Comments
1.
The resistance is an inverse function of cross sectional area, and hence an
inverse function of radius squared. Any error in measurement of wire
diameter will have a disproportionate effect on the result
2.
The quoted value of resitivity is correct at 20 degrees Celsius. Although
the value depends to some extent on temperature, and whether or not the
copper is annealed, the author believes these effects to be minor.
3.
As a matter of good practice, make current measurements fairly quickly,
depending on anticipated current. If I2*R heating is significant, there could
be some effect on the result. If you are using about 25 Amps, you have no
problem. If you are into flying welders, go to a higher wire gauge or a
psychiatrist.
4.
PLEASE NOTE – American Wire Gauges (AWG) are not the same as
Standard (British) Wire Gauges (SWG).
5.
I would ask that you please regularly visit the Omagh Model Flying Club
website at www.omagh-mfc.co.uk
This article is presented in good faith, and the reader is free to use the information
provided. The author takes no responsibility for any consequences arising thereby.
E.F.-U.K.
13
Readers' Models
Your chance to show the members.
This picture shows the model during a pre-flight check.
This Mosquito T III, built some years ago by Franz Schmid, is 1/5th scale and spans
3.25m. It is currently owned by Franz Stockinger from Burghausen, Germany. Power is
from 2 Ultra 2000/7 motors with 2.3:1 gearboxes and 20” x 12” propellers. Each motor
is controlled by a Schulze slim 75 controller with 32 cells. The packs are mounted in
the wing, where the radiators used to be. Current draw is around 32A, giving 2000W for
a model that weighs approximately 13kg. Flight time is about five minutes.The aircraft
was damaged during 2000 when the rudder detached, but should fly again
This shows the two chargers (running on a 120Ah battery) needed for 64 cells.
14
E.F.-U.K.
The pictures above and below are of Eric Leadley’s new Black Magic. It is powered by a
geared Kontronik 400 with wooden 11” x 6” propeller, running on a 7 cell 2400 pack.
The majority of the airframe is covered in blue Solarfilm, with yellow Litespan giving
contrast on the rear of the upper surfaces. All flights so far have been between 12 and
20 minutes long and without thermal assistance. The flying weight is exactly 3 lb.
This group photographs is most of the
Ebor Silent Flyers - There are only 7
members in the club. It shows 6 out of
the 7 Black Magics they can muster
between them - could this be a record?
E.F.-U.K.
15
A D. B. Sopwith Pup was in by Adrian Burge. It had been in the loft for about 25 years,
but has been resurrected and converted to electric power. It is powered by a Graupner
Speed 600 motor with FG3 gearbox and 12” x 8” propeller running on 8 x 3000 NiMH
cells. Flying weight is just under 4 lbs giving a wing loading of 16.5oz./sq.ft. & 62W/lb.
This is another model submitted by Adrian Burge. It is called “Bear in the Air” and is
an own design. It is powered by a direct drive 650 motor, Graupner 8” x 4” Slim and 8
x Sanyo 2400 cells (propeller mounted as a pusher). The flying weight is 3lb. 3oz.
giving a wing loading of 18.75oz./sq.ft. and 69W/lb.
16
E.F.-U.K.
The 2rd and final model from Adrian Burge, a D. B. Tinker . This is another electric
conversion from a 1970’s model that was stored in the loft for 25 years, after recovering
with Solarfilm. Graupner Speed 600 with with FG3 gearbox, 11” x 7” propeller and 8 x
2400 NiCds provide the power. Flying weight is 3lb. 13oz., giving a wing loading of
14.8oz./sq.ft. and 62W/lb.
This could be your model. Please send prints, or email high quality digital files to the
Editor for inclusion. Please include as much information about the model as possible.
E.F.-U.K.
17
The 2001 BEFA Electroslot &
E400 Leagues - Final Results
By Bob Smith
This year's league has suffered in much the same way as all flying events have
suffered. We had a poor start, an excellent middle, and a poor ending, but overall
the league was completed successfully.
We did have some reports in earlier EFUKs this year so I will not cover the same
ground twice, but the lead time for the magazine means that such reports are
invariably out of date by the time they reach each member.
Just to re-iterate then, we started the year with a programme of eight events and
a reserve date. Pillerton in April was scrubbed by the weather, Leamington in
May was good but we also lost Ossett in June from a low turn out. We only really
got into our stride with Middle Wallop where we had glorious flying weather
(the events to this point were reported in earlier EFUKs) and this was followed
by a run of good events. We had the Midland Area Festival of Flight at Barkston
where there was a fair amount of interference, but mainly on the F5B flightline,
and some interesting weather conditions.
Then we had the Nationals, ahhh those Nationals, I could spend the whole winter
remembering the sun and thermals. The biggest turn-out I can ever remember
flying in (we actually closed the entry book due to lack of time and frequencies),
and the results were undecided until the final flights. On then to the York event
and the second Pillerton event, both in September.
Six completed events and the reserve to come, except that it didn't. A booking
mix-up (not my fault I swear) meant that we could not fly and we were left with
the best 4 events to score from six.
The full results have been available throughout the year on our website but I
have included a synopsis in this report and included the final overall result (which
modesty prevents me from drawing to your attention too forcibly).
The statistics gave us 24 flyers entering at least one evnt in E400, and 25 in
Electroslot. This is comparable with last year in spite of our difficulties.
One final point, the rules for both events are unchanged for 2002, but I'm afraid
I will not be organising (or even flying in) the league. I am taking a sabbatical
for a year so the load will have to be carried by others.
18
E.F.-U.K.
Results
E400
Pos’n
Name
Points
Electroslot
Name
Points
Leamington
1
2
3
D Perret
D Chinery
R Holmes
3000
2879
2618
B Smith
D Andrews
D Perret
5000
3932
3839
Middle Wallop
1
2
3
N Childs
D Perret
B Smith
2932
2848
2735
B Smith
D Perret
S Rose
4948
4706
4166
Barkston
1
2
3
B Smith
D Perret
T Grey
3000
2848
2822
B Smith
D Perret
S Rose
4965
4831
4151
Nationals
1
2
3
R Holmes
T Brindle
B Smith
3000
2984
2955
B Smith
M Proctor
G Shering
4976
4832
4740
York
1
2
3
S Mettam
B Smith
D Perret
3000
2972
2449
M Proctor
B Smith
D Perret
4975
4916
4614
Pillerton
1
2
3
S Mettam
G Brown
B Smith
2967
2769
2662
B Smith
D Perret
P Hubbard
4935
4673
4250
Overall League results based on best four scores.
E400
Electroslot
1
B Smith
11662
2
D Perret
11628
3
S Mettam
8413
1
B Smith
19889
2
D Perret
18824
3
S Rose
14235
E.F.-U.K.
19
The Bath SpaRCS Electric FlyIn 2001 at Colerne Airfield
by Jan Bassett
The 2rd Bath SpaRCS All Electric Fly-In took place on 29th July 2001, at the
RAF Colerne Airfield, Wiltshire. This event is intend to be purely a fun day,
flying from excellent tarmac runways (or the grass alongside). There are no
competitions organised, everyone just flies when they want to within the local
rules. The weather was good, for the 3rd year running, with a light breeze and
fair skies.
Occassional themed slots are arranged so that EDF models don’t have to fly with
vintage designs, etc. Solo slots can also be arranged to suit unusual or particularly
interesting models, such as Chris Gold’s He-111Z (Zwilling) shown later. The
interest for most people are the models present, so here are some highlights:
This is Bob Partington with an FA-18 built from the Kevin Cox design and kitted by the
Electric Jet Factory (www.ElectricJetFactory.com). It is 28” span and is powered by a
Plettenberg 200/25/6 motor, in a WeMoTec Minifan 480 and powered by 10 Panasonic
2000 NiMH (4/5 Sub-C) cells. It flies extremely well and with good speed (so well I’ve
bought one) and although not as quick as the JePe F-16s, it is vastly cheaper.
20
E.F.-U.K.
Top are Kevin Saunders (left) and Brian Jones with their JéPé F-16Cs, which are shown
in close-up above. These were, with no doubt, the best performing EDF models around.
They are 43” span and the kit comes complete with specially designed fan and Aveox
motor (sorry no option).
They are powered by 12 or
14 sub-C cells, which are
quite a tight fit as can be
seen by the photograph to
the right. These are an
excellent model and
thoroughly recommended, if
the £500 price tag doesn’t
put you off.
E.F.-U.K.
21
Another model from Brian Jones, the JéPé A-10 (www.jepe.org). It has 2 Velcom 2412
motors with Aeronaut Turbo 1000 fans running on 11 x 3000 cells. It has a wing span of
1.34m and is 1:13.5 scale and typically weighs 2.8kg. Two versions of the kit are
available using the above Velcom motors or 2 Aveox 1406/4Y motors for improved
performance and cost.
The model below is a OV-10 Bronco, built by Ron Ladon. It is powered by 2 Speed 400s
with MFA drives, driving 8” x 4” Graupner Slim propellers. Whilst, a fairly simple
design it does look good.
22
E.F.-U.K.
The is Chris Gold’s He-111Z, Zwilling, used to tow a scale model of a Me-321, Gigant,
glider. It has been much reported on in other magazines so I’ll not put an details here.
Unfortunately due to technical problems it didn’t manage to tow the Gigant on the day.
Hopefully Bath SpaRCS will arrange another event for 2002 as it is one of the
few events that has a tarmac surface. I would recommend this event to all readers
as it is a fun day with good company, of like minds, at an extremely good site.
Please keep an eye on the diary events in this magazine and on the BEFA website
for details of future events.
A 3rd EDF model from Brian Jones is his de Havilland Vampire. It is powered by an
Aveox 1409/2Y on 14 cells driving a WeMoTec Midi Fan. This model really does look,
and sound, the part whistling around the sky.
E.F.-U.K.
23
Aerial Photography Follow Up
by Franz Stockinger
Following last months article, I fitted a camera over the top wing of my biplane.
The camera control was operated by our yougest club member, Manuel, using a
second transmitter with separate receiver, servo and battery pack taped to the
camera for convenience.
The camera caused a lot of drag and the performance dropped considerably, with
most of the battery power used to gain height. From one charge of the battery
pack, 6 photographs could be taken.
To get pictures like No 4, you must climb as high as possible.
(Note from the Editor - Most of the places named in the photographs can be
found on the maps at the end of the article. The dark circle is the approximate
position of Franz’s flying field. The field is in southern Germany around 12 miles
(20km) from the Austrian border.)
Taken facing South West into the sun. The village is Litzwalchen and the Alps can be
seen in the background. Just visible on the right, in the distance, is Chiemisee.
24
E.F.-U.K.
Taken facing more Westerly, Chiemisee in the far distance.
North of our field is the village of Traunwalchen. Slightly up and left of centre in the
photograph is the typical church with tower top in the shape of an inverted onion.
E.F.-U.K.
25
The village next to our field (front left) is Matzing, which is about 500m away. The town
in the centre distance is Traunreut.
This is our recently refurbished club house with Manuel and myself in front. We have 2
x 150W solar panels for charging our batteries. This weekend it was quite busy.
26
E.F.-U.K.
East of the field across the road (No 304) and the railway running alongside it is a
small village, Biebing, is where Manuel lives.
E.F.-U.K.
27
The Airco D.H.2 - part 2
by Jan Bassett
I haven’t managed to achieve a lot on the D.H.2 since the last magazine, but I
will update you on what I’ve completed.
The picture below shows the completed tail fin (the tiny piece) and rudder. The
rudder has a huge area, but is pivoted behind the front edge, shown by the rod
protruding from the bottom edge. Construction is entirely from balsa, but two
pieces of control rod outer are fitted as bearings for the rudder to pivot on.
Airco DH2 Tail Fin and Rudder
The leading edge of the fin and outside edge of the rudder are laminated from
three pieces of balsa strip in the same way the mainplane tips were. The finished
part is extremely light and will be quite strong when covered.
I have also built the tailplane assembly in a similar fashion. The picture overleaf
below shows the tailplane and elevators in near finished form. The structure is
balsa with the exception of the 2 diagonal pieces from the leading, which are
spruce. These will probably form part of the load path to the large rudder surface.
Again the outer edge is made from three laminations for ease.
28
E.F.-U.K.
Airco DH2 Tailplane and Elevators
Whilst looking on the Internet, I came across an excellent source of scale model
aircraft parts in Arizona Model Aircrafters (www.arizonamodels.com), and they
have a UK dealer, Model Aircraft Kits (www.modelaircraftkits.com). If you a
member of the Large Model Association they even give 5% discount. I ordered a
dummy Le Rhone Rotary engine kit and Lewis machine gun kit in 1/6th scale,
which is near enough for what I want.
The 1/6th scale dummy engine is made Williams Bros. Inc., California and is a
moulded plastic kit. The larger engine are quite different in construction. It was
designed for decorative purposes only and includes a detailed intake assembly
and carburettor. It was definitely not intended to be rotated at the 4000 rpm I’m
envisaging. Having said that, I will be strengthening it, where I consider it
necessary, to allow it to rotate.
I have started to build the engine and the photograph on the facing page shows
three (of the nine) cylinder heads, 2 exhaust pipes, a push-rod and a rocker arms
with springs. I have assembled the nine sets of cylinder heads and exhaust pipes.
These will be painted prior to assembling the engine. The front casing and drive
plate is also shown, but are only loosely assembled for the photograph.
Whilst it is difficult to see the detailing and quality of the mouldings, but it is
very good. The parts are extremely thick walled, with the cylinder heads having
a minimum wall thickness of 1mm. All the parts seem really robust and probably
very little strengthening will be required. Hopefully all I’ll end up down is
replacing the main shaft of the kit with an alternative, probably carbon fibre,
shaft running to the motor buried in the model. The engine assembly itself will
be running directly on the motor shaft.
E.F.-U.K.
29
Parts of the Williams Bros. Inc. Dummy Le Rhone Engine kit
I haven’t started building the Lewis machine gun yet, but the kit looks very
interesting. It is designed to take flight loads, and is made predominantly from
plywood and brass parts.
I have had some feedback over the choice of power plant, and it does seem really
overkill. I am thinking about reducing my power requirements and opting for a
much lighter motor and battery pack. It would be nice to use the 12 cell pack of
Panasonic 2000 NiMH cells I have. This would mean keeping the current below
25A, but I’d want to do that to get a good flight time anyway.
The main difficulty is I want to swing the scale looking 4-bladed 15” x 12” wooden
propeller I have. So you know how much power is required, this propeller is
broadly equivalent, in load, to a 19” x 12” APC propeller. I’ve run some options
through ElectriCalc and nothing really jumps out as a good solution. Most motors
would require a gearbox with a reduction ratio of 5:1 or higher to stand any
chance of swinging this propeller at a sensible current. I really don’t want to
spend a fortune on a new motor, as I’ve got loads already.
If anyone can suggest a good solution to this conundrum, please email me at
jan.bassett@electric-flight.org.uk or telephone on 01935-472743 with details.
Again, that’s all for the moment, but there should be more in the next issue.
30
E.F.-U.K.
Make your IFO or Mini-IFO
Even More Crash Resistant
by Dr Allan Levi
The IFO and Mini-IFO aeroplanes (IFO = Indoor Flying Object) are very popular
for indoor flying. They are highly aerobatic and fly in a small space indoors, and
with little wind outdoors. See the ANSA Products website at www.IFO.com for
more information.
The IFO airframe is unbreakable. Now, people who suffer from "IFO-mania"
have developed a crash-resistant way of mounting the electric motor on both
models (see photographs of the Mini-IFO modification below).
Balsa plates are CA'd to the carbon rods and a 5 cm length of carbon rod (2.5 mm
diameter) is CA'd across the upper surface of the top balsa plate. The motor is
held tightly in place with rubber bands stretched between the ends of the
transverse carbon rod.
Small balsa strips are placed either side of the motor to prevent it twisting. When
in contact with walls, floor, ground, other IFOs, the motor simply comes loose
and can easily be fastened back in position.
This modification makes the IFO and Mini-IFO even more indestructible.
Mini-IFO mount from above
Mini-IFO mount from below
If you have any difficulty please contact Dr Allan Levi, ANSA Products Ltd direct
at:
19-20 Pentonville, Newport, South Wales, NP20 5HB, U.K.,
Email: sales@ANSAproducts.com,
Tel/Voicemail: +44-(0)-1633 84 3000 or FAX: +44-(0)-1633 243 222
E.F.-U.K.
31
BMFA Southern Area Electric
Fly-In on 17th June 2001
by Eddie Clowes
The organisers were concerned about the weather for this annual event, because
leading up to the date the elements had been far from kind, but on the day, the
rain stayed mainly on the plain, but kept away from our 38 ‘planes, which were
entered for the event.
The “Twinjet” seemed to feature quite prominently in the line up, (everybody
seems to own one!) and they were quite often seen whizzing about the sky during
the day. One of them had been “doctored” by removing the standard 400’s,
replacing them with hot 480’s with an increase in cells to improve its performance,
which caused a certain amount of dialogue amongst the gathering, whatever the
outcome, it certainly sounded rather nice.
A word about some of the other models is not out of place, and who could not be
impressed by the sight of Cyril Carr’s Vulcan, either on the ground or flying
magnificently and majestically around the wonderful Longwood site, the home
of Winchester Model Aeroplane Club.
Andy Palmer & his Kyosho Cap232, Ultra 1300-7, Kruse 3:1 gearbox, 16 cells. Behind
are Gordon Whitehead's similar Cap and his SE5A, both with Maxim brushless set-ups.
32
E.F.-U.K.
Andy Palmer, who organised the event entered his well crafted CAP232 as did
Gordon Whitehead, and Frank Buckland brought along our old favourite the 4engined Stirling, which also flew later in the day.
Frank Buckland’s Stirling
Gordon Whitehead also flew his nicely turned out SE5A, and Gordon Tarling’s
P38 looked good in the sky. We were all looking forward to seeing Mike Upton’s
Vampire fan jet fly but were disappointed when the bungee failed to produce
enough forward speed to avoid the stall, however not a lot of damage for Mike to
repair, only ego suffered.
Trevor Hewson finally got his gorgeous Stearman out for us to drool over, and it
flew like the thoroughbred that it is, Trevor was awarded the CD trophy for the
plane that the judge would best like to take home, if he could get his hands on it!
At 1 pm it was time for the highlight of the day, the “All Up and Last Down”
competition, the numbers were down on last year, but it was just as exciting,
with the contestants trying to outdo each other to find lift. Although it was a
cloudy day, the ceiling was high, allowing the models to climb without fear of
disappearing, (as happened last year). Not too much lift was apparent, but the
competitors were enjoying the challenge of the competition.
Frank Buckland came down in fourth place, followed in third place by Andy
Palmer with a creditable 27.27 minutes, Mike Spencer was next in second place
E.F.-U.K.
33
keeping it up for 30.28 minutes, but the applause was for Norman Childs who
was still way up and really enjoying himself. He took the top spot, as everyone
else was down, and asked if he could carry on flying. Because the competition
was over, it was decided that Norman could carry on, and the field was declared
open for all. Norman finally came down after an hour or so, to be declared the
winner.
A front view of Gordon Whitehead’s SE-5a.
During the day competitors were asked to pass a consensus vote on Scale Models
entered for that part of the competition, the results were:Ist
Cyril Carr with his Vulcan
2nd
Gordon Whitehead with a SESA
3rd
Andy Palmer with a CAP232
As mentioned earlier, Trevor Hewson received a Competition Directors Trophy
for his Stearman, and a second Competition Directors Trophy went to Tony
Butterworth for an outstanding flying display with a Simprop Diamond.
So ended a great Electric day event, with everyone enjoying being with fellow
enthusiasts not only flying, but swopping yarns and tips, and we hope looking
forward to the next event when Electric is the order of the day.
Happy quiet flying.
34
Eddie Clowes
E.F.-U.K.
Mike Upton’s Vampire with an Ultra 930 on 14 cells
The BMFA Southern Area would like to thank the Winchester Club
for making their Flying Field available for the Electric Fly-In
Another view of Gordon Whitehead’s CAP232 and SE-5a.
E.F.-U.K.
35
ELECTRIC HOVERCRAFT
by Nick Hughes
With Foot and Mouth Disease effectively preventing me from flying and two new
aeroplanes already finished and waiting to go, I decided to have a go at something
a bit different.
RC hovercraft are not a new idea, and appear occasionally in model boat
magazines. Two excellent UK websites are http://www.model-hovercraft.com and
http://members.aol.com/modelhov1/ which have plenty of ideas and information.
There is even a company called RC Kinetics in the US who make some kits though
I have not tried them out. My aim was to use my electric flight equipment and
simple building techniques to produce a high performance, semi scale machine.
In the end, I built both a 600 and 400 size hovercraft which are much more
successful than I ever expected.
The large hovercraft uses 2 MFA Rocket 500 motors (a plain bearing 3 pole
RS540), one for lift & the other for thrust. Each motor drives a Graupner 20.5cm
x 10cm (8” x 4”) ‘Slimprop’ and is powered by 6 or 7 cells from 800mAh to
2000mAh capacity. The hovercraft itself measures 700mm by 360mm with an
area of 0.24m2. The photographs below show the general arrangement and
equipment locations.
The large hovercraft with & without the superstructure.
36
E.F.-U.K.
The hull consists of two bays, divided by the lift motor duct with a skirt attached
around the outside of the craft. Air is forced down the lift motor duct, moving
outwards to inflate the skirt and downwards to lift the hovercraft. All this is
much easier to see in the photographs !
Air duct for Skirt
The underside of the large hovercraft, showing one of the two air ducts
The duct is made from rolled ply and is a close fit to the propeller for maximum
efficiency. The lift propeller must be sited over half its diameter above the ground
to avoid getting trapped in a ground effect vortex, as I found out during early
experiments. The hull is made from strips of 5mm square balsa and plywood in
typical aircraft fashion, it must be waterproofed before the skirt is glued on if
you plan to operate over water.
The skirt is the most unusual part of hovercraft modelling but is not difficult to
make. Polyester dress lining material (waterproofed with Fabsil) and ripstop
kite nylon have both been used successfully. The skirt is made in an upper and
lower section stitched together around the outer edge. When inflated, it forms a
“sausage” around the edge of the hovercraft which prevents lift air from escaping.
After an embarrassing sinking episode at a local lake I punched small holes with
a hot piece of 8swg wire at 100mm intervals around the base of the skirt to allow
water that enters the skirt during violent manouvering to escape.
E.F.-U.K.
37
Various experiments established that the large hovercraft could lift over 3.5 kg
and still operate satisfactorily, however it tends to run at 2.1 kg with two 7 cell
packs of 2000mAh NiCads. To compare performance, I calculated “Cushion
Pressure”, similar to wing loading in concept :
Cushion Pressure
=
All up weight (kg)
lift area (m2)
In my case, I operated at cushion pressures of between 7 and 14.6 kg/m2. The
best performance was around the 8 to 9 kg/m2 region as the skirt tended to flap if
it was too lightly loaded. At this cushion pressure, a hover height or ground
clearance of 45mm was achieved, which was ample to get you over most tree
roots, stones etc.
The large hovercraft showing the effect of the lift motor
The second MFA Rocket 500 and Graupner ‘Slimprop’ motor gives good static
thrust to get the machine moving and a good top speed. It is advisable to use fine
pitch propellers for both lift and thrust as air speeds will never be high and
powerful static thrusts are needed.
Twin rudders are mounted on fins behind the propeller for direction control,
this tends to control the air flow more effectively than a single rudder giving
much better manouverability.
The large hovercraft is controlled by 3 channels operating lift, thrust and rudders.
An on/off switch is used for lift as there is no need for proportional control. A
forward and reverse speed controller was originally fitted to the thrust motor,
but the reverse option has proved to be almost useless in stopping the hovercraft
so was abandoned. A standard servo operates the rudders.
A fair amount of spray and dust is generated, so it is important to seal the wooden
parts and radio gear. There is ample room for radio gear and batteries in the two
bays either side of the lift motor and the weight is not too critical. The weight
should be evenly distributed fore & aft and laterally about the centre of the
hovercraft, but it’s not too critical.
38
E.F.-U.K.
E.F.-U.K.
39
40
E.F.-U.K.
E.F.-U.K.
41
42
E.F.-U.K.
The large hovercraft in use
The Speed 400 sized hovercraft uses two Graupner 7.2v Speed 400 motors driving
Gunther 12.5cm x 11cm (5” x 4.3”) propellers. The size of this hovercraft was
calculated by estimating the All Up Weight and choosing a cushion pressure of
8.5 kg/m2. This gave an area of 0.12 m2 and hence dimensions of 490mm by
245mm. A 7 cell 500mAh pack is used for the thrust motor and a 7 cell 800mAh
pack is used for lift.
The 400 sized hovercraft with the covers off
E.F.-U.K.
43
Top view and rear compartment of the 400 size hovercraft.
The 400 sized hovercraft used only 2 channels, with a servo operating microswitches for the lift and thrust motors and the other servo for steering. Mini
servos and a 400 mAh receiver pack are used for an all up weight of around 800g.
Hover height was 15 mm which is adequate, but could be increased by making a
more "baggy" skirt. This hovercraft has been excellent and goes far too fast for
its own good, especially when used indoors!
Construction
The plan shows the 400 size hovercraft drawn half size. The wooden structure is
extremely straightforward, so I’ll not describe the construction.
The skirt outline is shown as a dotted line without stitching allowances. Two
pieces of material are cut about 10mm larger all round than the dotted outline,
and their centres are removed to the lines marked by X and Y on the plan. These
pieces form the upper and lower skirt sections and should then be stitched
together around the edges, along the dotted outline. The skirt should then be
turned inside out so that the stitching is hidden from view.
The hovercraft is then turned upside down and the longer segment of skirt is
glued, using Bostik Instant or UHU, to the inner part of the hull. Once dry, the
hovercraft is turned the right way up and the upper skirt segment is glued to the
outer part of the hull.
44
E.F.-U.K.
The underside of the 400 size hovercraft
For the 600 size machine the plan should be scaled up further by a factor of 1.4 to
get it to 700mm length.
In Use
Although hovercraft do fly, 35MHz must not be used as they are ground vehicles.
Therefore 40mhz or 27mhz radio was used.
In practice both hovercraft will run for 8 to 10 minutes and are great on tarmac,
short grass, water, beaches, bare earth and mud. They move quickly and will
climb small gradients especially when given a run up. Spectators are always
amazed by the manouverability and transition from land to water.
Hovercraft are not difficult to make and work very well with modern E-Flight
technology. They can be used in all sorts of places and are excellent fun to drive.
If your flying site is out of bounds don't be put off by the sewing, persuade someone
else to do it for you and try a hovercraft. Now, what about a Speed 700 and 10
cells ?
E.F.-U.K.
45
The Trade Show at the 2001
BEFA Technical Workshop
By Bob Smith
At our last committee meeting the suggestion was made that this edition of EFUK should include a report on the Technical Workshop. We decided that the task
should be split into two parts and, since I already do most of the organisation of
the trade show element of the event, I agreed to cover this whist John Brinkler
agreed to cover the lectures.
If you attended the 2001 event then you will already have your own impressions
of the trading side, but if you did not (especially if you’ve never attended one of
these events) then you may find the following report of interest. I took a series of
photographs to illustrate the report and I am sure they will be somewhere nearby.
08.30 am – The first traders are starting to set up stands in an empty hall.
The doors of the Royal Spa Centre open to our membership and other modellers
at 10am but the traders arrive well before then. There is a side entrance which
opened at 08.30 am and several traders were already waiting to gain entrance.
We always invite the specialist electric flight traders to take part and we are, I
think, fairly successful at getting the right people in the right place at the right
time. We had a problem earlier this year when there was an inadvertent clash
between the trade show for our AGM and the Dortmund Intermodellbau. This
lead to a significant reduction in the number of traders who supported the AGM
but it was pleasing to see that numbers at the TWS were more or less back to
normal. It takes a lot of effort to get goods and displays loaded into the transport,
driven up the motorway, and unloaded onto the tables provided by the Spa Centre.
46
E.F.-U.K.
At the end of the day the process has to be repeated in reverse, and although it is
a commercial opportunity for the traders who do come, I always feel grateful
that they provide us modellers with this twice a year extravaganza of flexible
plastic wielding.
The first hour is spent organising minor changes to the table layouts, power
supply to those who need it, microphone facilities for the announcements, and
checking that the snack bar is open. The BEFA bring & buy stand is also being
set up during this time and we allow members with items for sale to bring them
into the foyer before the main event opens.
Once the doors open for general entry at 10am the pace rapidly builds up and
the more popular stands some have a 2 deep crowd of potential purchasers in
front of them. Most modellers wish to see, handle, ask about, compare prices,
and return several times before finally deciding to part with their money; traders
have to work very hard for their sales.
11.30 am - All set-up and much busier even though there is a lecture going on as well.
Many traders have special show offers to attract custom, and there is always a
certain amount of inter-stand competition over lowest prices. The modeller
benefits from all this and is also avoiding P&P charges so he does get a good
deal.
The traders also provide the prizes which allow BEFA to run it's raffle so there is
another opportunity to go home with that warm feeling that you have got that
little bit extra value (and nobody is going to tell the better half just how much it
cost you).
E.F.-U.K.
47
Trading was very busy for the first hour and then thinned out during the lectures.
These went on until about 3.30 pm with activity in the trade hall fluctuating up
and down over this period but continuous throughout.
I did a small survey of the traders towards the end of the day and the general
consensus was that it had been an above average day for them, if they went away
happy, and the membership went away happy, it was worth the effort.
The BEFA Bring & Buy
– some bargains if you search.
Gordon Tarling, Ron Moulton, et al, and a
computer – “now, if I press this button”?
So who was there, what was new, and who spent how much!!!. No, not the last
one, just joking. The photographs will give a montage of the days activities, and
the titles should give enough information to save me adding much extra in the
way of text.
Suffice to say that these events now run to a well-established and successful
pattern, and the general feeling is that everyone, traders, committee, and the
association as a whole benefit from them.
If you got home only to remember that vital bit of equipment that you forgot to
look for, well, it's not long to the AGM . . .
48
E.F.-U.K.
West London Models – you want it, we’ve got it – probably!
A bargain, you want a bargain?. The Primera much reduced on the WLM stand
E.F.-U.K.
49
Walter Wilkinson and Hillcott. All the unusual
things that are hard to find.
The specialist. Mike woodhouse and
enough carbon to build an Airbus.
Brian Anderson and FVK’s latest, the Aquilla, very nice.
50
E.F.-U.K.
Batteries? What size, what shape, how
many? - Alan Fry and Importeknik
John Klizat and his Overlander stand, “I’m
sure I’ve got just the battery to fit in there”.
Electric Aeroplane Company /
Modelhaus – Stephen Mettam and
Peter Barrow.
E.F.-U.K.
51
RCS Technik Tiger Moth
by Robin Tuff and Dick Comber
Dick writing:
Gordon Tarling asked me if I would like to review the RCS Technik Tiger Moth
kit. A few weeks earlier I had started building a similar size model (to be fitted
with R/C gear) and had abandoned the project because it was too fiddly. So I
declined but said that I had a friend who builds very successful Free Flight and
R/C models, including electric ones, and Robin Tuff kindly agreed to build the
Tiger.
Robin writing:
I was invited to build this kit, as there seems to be a shortage of electric fliers
who like "fiddling with balsa". I am fairly average as craftsmen go and having
read a review of the Airco D.H.2. I was prepared to expect a highly detailed kit.
And it is, but also quite sophisticated in its design.
The contents consist of a very detailed illustrated instruction booklet, four A3
pages of plans, an A3 page of all the CNC components shown full size, grouped
by use, with description and quantity shown for each. A package of beautifully
cut CNC components, again cut in groups according to which part of the model
they relate to.
Ribs and riblets galore
52
E.F.-U.K.
A pack of carefully measured indoor quality balsa, the first truly square cut strip
that I have seen in a kit for a long time, carbon fibre rod, wire and two sets of
transfers giving one the choice of finishing it in RAF colours or civilian based on
a full size Tiger that Chris Stewart flew when he was working at Cambridge.
To familiarise myself I sat down and went through the instructions in conjunction
with the plans and mentally built the entire model. This took a full two hours
but it became clear that any regular balsa basher with a reasonably steady hand
could build it.
The plans are unusual in that they on four pages of A3 good quality office
stationery rather than being laid out on a large single sheet. This has a
tremendous advantage as you can use a small board and the keep the work close
to you. The sheets are rolled for packing purposes and have to be carefully
uncurled. Once this is done the paper sits very firmly flat on the building board.
Each sheet is crammed with information and none of it is superfluous. The
comprehensive 8-page instruction booklet includes colour photographs of
components under construction. The whole design and build has been so carefully
thought out that you ignore it at your peril.
The construction philosophy is the use of CNC machine cut parts and cyano glue
and covering in Mylar film. I have never seen such beautiful sheets of components.
The detail is incredible; a very fine router has been used. To aid construction,
the wing ribs even have a 1mm diameter recess cut in the trailing edge for the
carbon fibre rod. The construction follows that of the full size prototype as far as
possible and the sight of 90 odd wing riblets made me quiver a bit.
First thing is the lower wings. Chris advises waxing the drawings to prevent the
parts sticking to the plan. My previous experience using wax was unsuccessful,
but I decided to give it a go and generally it has worked. You just have to be
thoroughly careful that the plan is properly sealed. I shall use this old method
for all my small builds from now on. It so much easier than trying to flatten thin
polythene.
For fixing the components to the plan I used rocket clamp pins. They are ideal
for this sort of small build. The other important tool is a pair of not too springy
long nosed tweezers. The first wing assembled very quickly. After pinning the
trailing edge to the board the wing ribs are fed onto the main spar. The fit of the
spar in the ribs was tight without crushing the balsa. Being computer generated
all the components are an exact fit with the plan.
I tried the Greven cyano glue, which does have a better-metered flow than the
usual ptfe tubing but I did seem to be unclogging the end of the stainless steel
capillary rather frequently. I did have some problems with the wing tips.
E.F.-U.K.
53
The plan shows an illustration of the tip components seen end on, but I learnt
from a phone call that this illustration is for guidance only. The illustration is an
exaggeration of the final cross-section. It would be useful to modify this to show
an accurate profile which includes the spars as well.
Wing construction
When finished, the wing is a very strong and stable structure. Using a small
board I could turn it round so that whichever wing I was working on was always
close to me.
Building the fuselage sides was very quickly accomplished. Using wax on the
plan meant that the side was firmly held in place while sanding was done. After
carefully lifting off, a repeat produced two truly identical sides. Joining them
was not so good as the rear former seemed to suffer with the CNC mill fighting
the grain. The front former glued in dead true. In the end I made my own rear
former copied from the identification sheet.
A full-size type rudder bar operates the rudder. I had some trouble installing this
assembly. In the end it clicked into place, but the balsa side frames were a bit
bruised in the process.
A warning at this point. The instructions are very emphatic about which way
round this assembly is installed. If you are using a transmitter, such as Futaba
and do not like using servo reverse on the elevator, you may need to reverse the
rudder bar across the fuselage.
54
E.F.-U.K.
The cockpit decking seemed to show up errors in the programming of the CNC.
Checking with the plan showed that the rear cockpit decking did not meet the
former in front. Also it was necessary to sand the formers a smidgen to enable to
the decking to reach all the way over the fuselage. The latter might be deliberate
but no way could I make the decking cover the formers without gluing on an
extension piece. The front decking also required slight sanding of the formers.
The overall length of the formers was fine.
The engine cowl is made from four vacuum moulded pieces. The instructions
advised assembling it on the model, but I found this impossible and thanks to
the accuracy of the moulds I was able to assemble it in "mid-air". If you are not
sure what a Tiger Moth cowling looks like underneath you may have some trouble
identifying which moulding line is the one to cut. The photographs are not really
clear enough to show the manner of assembly and the plans do not help. In the
end I think I got it wrong, but it looks OK. This proved to be one of the longest
and most frustrating jobs.
Undercarriage assembly is straightforward, again ingenious use of micro CNC
components. The wheels are formed from two vac-formed components with ply
disc hubs. In the event they proved to be not strong enough to take a heavy
A servo, the RX, a 50mAh 6 cell pack, the PU02 motor / gearbox unit and propeller.
E.F.-U.K.
55
landing. It is important to ensure that the hubs are very firmly glued to the
wheel halves. In the end I used balsa cement.
Before covering, I advise a dry assembly of all the components to check that all
slots etc have not been obstructed with any glue. It is easier to rectify at this
stage than when the model is covered. It also gives you an opportunity to admire
all your hard work before it is hidden under the covering.
This is the first time I have covered a frame with 2g Mylar. Balsaloc or Ecofix is
used as adhesive, but make sure not to leave any residue in the strut locations. I
had great difficulty in shrinking the film to a smooth finish. By the time I finished
I had covered all the wings at least twice before I had an acceptable finish. Another
builder has covered his in 5gm Mylar which he found more manageable and
certainly produced a better finish. The fuselage I covered in Japanese tissue which
I found easier to work with better results.
When painting, again ensure that wing location struts and pegs are kept clean.
The tolerances are so tight that any build up has to be removed before they can
be fitted. Otherwise the assembly is quite straight forward, not requiring the jigs
associated with assembling biplanes.
The underside showing the WES Technik 2.4g servos.
56
E.F.-U.K.
The model came in overweight at 98g. This was partly due to the installation of
a switch and charging plug. This has been removed, but has meant leaving the
underside of the fuselage open more than I like. I passed the model to Dick for
the test flying at Fareham Leisure centre. By co-incidence a member of the
Salisbury club was also there to test fly the same kit.
The completed Tiger Moth.
With six cells installed and fully charged, the model moved forward at good speed
but seemed reluctant to climb. In attempting to turn to avoid the approaching
wall the model tip stalled and broke a wheel. The model could still travel forward
so further attempts were tried but a harder landing resulted in a wing being
broken off. Unfortunately the other model did not fare any better.
Dick writing:
Robin fitted the Moth with a Multiplex Pico Rx without its case, a WES Technik
ESC (left over from a previous model so not the latest high frequency version),
two WES Technik 2.4g servos, a PU02 motor / gearbox unit and a 50 mAh battery.
First flights of models you have built yourself are exciting enough, but when
someone else has spent hours building a superb model, flying it is positively
nerve - wracking. I was scared stiff of crashing it.
E.F.-U.K.
57
Robin has described the first attempt at flying. We decided to change to a 7 cell
pack but we expect it would be quite happy with 6 cells as used by Chris Stewart;
it moved across the floor fast enough with 6 cells. The second attempt was at an
indoor meeting at Calshot. The model flew much further. It lifted its tail in most
realistic fashion and took off but was not completely under control and a heavy
landing resulted in wing spars becoming loose. It was veering to the left but I did
not have time to trim it. Like two other models of mine, it does not have much of
a glide and likes to have some power on for landing. Chris warns about this in
the instructions.
The wheels were damaged and were replaced. The second set was also damaged
and was replaced with Knight and Pridham wheels of similar diameter. These
have stronger bushing.
At another meeting at Calshot we finally had the model flying very well three
times. We started off with some short hops, as Chris suggests in his instructions,
with the aim of directional trimming. I got too close to a wall once but just
managed to miss it. At the end of one flight I misjudged the landing when it was
coming towards us. Because of the requirement for some power on for landing it
is easy to get things wrong. I put it down hard and broke a wing off but fortunately
Robin is an excellent on-the-spot repairer (I think free flyers have to be?) and
within a few minutes it was up again.
My only criticism of the Tiger Moth is that it has a rigid undercarriage, which
means that for anyone other than modellers with experience of flying this sort of
model (I’m thinking of Chris!) some damage is likely. For us more average
modellers some springing could prevent damage, including damage to the wheels.
Many thanks to Robin for his expert efforts and to Jerry Hoare for the in-flight
picture and to the organisers of the indoor meetings.
Into the Calshot air
58
E.F.-U.K.
North East Air Technology Fair
- 14th to 16th September 2001
by John Anderson
(with additional photographs from David Theunissen)
Despite the atrocious happenings of Tuesday 11th September in New York City
the organisers decided to continue with the event as President Bush had decreed
that life should carry on. During the course of the event many of the pilots and
families expressed their warm appreciation of the Buckingham Palace and St
Paul's Cathedral ceremonies. I was specifically requested to make this widely
known and this magazine will start the ball rolling.
As I had other reasons to be in the USA I had travelled at the end of August so I
was not caught up in the chaos that airline passengers faced in the aftermath of
the attack. Gordon Tarling was not so lucky but David Theunissen had been in
Boston the week before and he attended flying his little Depron models.
The event lived up to its promise following the inaugural NEAT Fair last year. I
do not have the official figure for pilot registrations but I would judge that there
would be at least 200. This year the weather played its part. Whilst Friday was
cool, by mid morning on Saturday after low cloud had burnt off the sun shone
and the lightest of breezes occasionally lifted the windsock tapes. On Sunday
there was more of the same but as many pilots had several hours driving ahead
of them by one o'clock the site was quickly emptying.
Around twenty traders were in attendance and they seemed to be doing good
business. One had sold his entire stock of brushless 35 amp speed controls by the
first afternoon! Prices were roughly as seen in US magazines but as sales tax
was being absorbed this gave the buyers an 8% bonus. Foreign imports were
generally in line with our UK prices.
The format was the same as last year. General flying from 10am to 4pm with
control from the transmitter impound apart from a lunch time demonstration
slot. This is when modellers with established reputations and/or special models
are given solo air time. Out side these hours flying off the peg continued well
into the evening. The Saturday bar-b-q was very well attended. Walking back to
the car park across the dark field afterwards we were greeted by a model at
around 50' with illuminated letters UFO shining down on us. Very amusing!
One of the models that caught everyone's attention this year was the Bravo
Bastard of Chris True. So called as the wings came from a demised Morrissy
Bravo attached to a box fuselage capable of carrying 32 cells. Why it created so
E.F.-U.K.
59
much interest was its superb performance from a WeMoTec 5" fan coupled to an
Ultra 3300-6. The sound generated was as jet like as the noises made by the
smelly boys pure jets. Fantastic! Chris told me that it was a test bed for an F86
now in course of construction.
The “Bravo Bastard” of Chris True.
Several well known models were again on show. Keith Shaw gave his usual
faultless display using the Bearcat, his flying wing based on Hortan's design and
the Fokker D8. Dave Barron had the enormous Joe Basher built B17 of 10ft 6in
span. Dave said that he had now made many hundreds of flights with this model.
Keith Shaw’s Bearcat
60
E.F.-U.K.
Keith Shaw with his rather large flying wing (left), and his Fokker D-8 (right)
Another shot of the cover model, Dave Barron’s B17. See Contents page for more
information on this model.
E.F.-U.K.
61
Don Belfort brought two new scale models. A Waterman (above), which is a flying
wing with a gondola, powered by a S400G and 7x500 cells. This is from a 1957
full size design. His other model is a B36 (below) based on plans by Gus Morfin
for a slope soarer. The motor set up is the Graupner Gigant package. It is quite
large at 72in but flies realistically slowly on 8x800 cells.
62
E.F.-U.K.
A new to me and very talented modeller is a gentleman called Steve Stratt. I call
him 'gentleman' as he is certainly a senior citizen, his jeans have a razor sharp
crease and he kept his sport coat on despite the strong sun. He brought two
models which Dave Barron flew on his behalf. Each was an absolute gem. The
RWD 8 (top) had span of 72in and powered by Aveox 1409 3Y geared 3.7 - 1 with
14x2000 cells. The other a Ju2 of 1916 design (below) was about the same size as
the RWD but powered by an Astro 40G on 18 cells. The detailing and finish on
both models were worthy of museum exhibition.
E.F.-U.K.
63
Another Don, this one Don Bosquet showed a four winged model at the final
KRC meeting called Four of a Kind. This year he brought a tri-plane and a biplane
again made mostly from carbon rod. They are named Foto Tripe and 1912 Bosquet
Aeroflivver respectably. The calm weather conditions suited these models.
PZL1/2 by Martin Irvine. Span 81”, weight 12 lb. Powered by an Astro Sport 60 with
Zinger 14 x 6-10 on 28 x 1700 cells.
64
E.F.-U.K.
A view along the field. You can see 2 pilots to the left in their boxes, the traders to the
right and the superb scenery in the background.
Rather than waffle on I will leave space for photos. With each model I have
included as much information as I could read from my scribbled field notes.
Profile Micro-Bats of James Bhasin (left: plain balsa and yellow tips) and Joe
Malinchak (right: yellow and black), weight 1.5oz with 3 channel Ruijsink control.
E.F.-U.K.
65
The extremely large Acro 260 of Dave Dantonio. The wing span is 96", giving a wing
area of 2000 sq.in. The flying weight is 29 lbs. Power is 2 x Astro 60's (see below) on
72 cells with a 24” x 14” propeller.
66
E.F.-U.K.
B25 Mitchel 'Pacific Princess' of David Coryell, from Nick Ziroli plans. 4 x Maxcim
13Y in pairs on 16x2400's per motor driving 18” x10” 3-blade Moki props. Span 101",
wing area 1750 sq.in., 42 lbs, 4.28:1 MAT belt drives.
E.F.-U.K.
67
The immaculate detailing of Bill Hadden's Wright Flyer Model B. Speed 400 with 2:1
ratio on the motor, another 2:1 through chain drives to the props (4:1 overall). 7x500
NiCds, AUW 21oz , 55" span and 1000 sq.in., Scale wing warping, Hand-carved props.
Bill is involved in the building of a full size replica.
68
E.F.-U.K.
Keith May's and his 1/4 scale Piper J-3 Cub from the Balsa USA kit.
Wing span is 9ft., wing area 1500sq.in.,weight of 13lb. 2x DeWalt 14.4v with 3:1,
32x2400's, 18” x 6” propeller.
E.F.-U.K.
69
FOR SALE
Member's Sales & Wants
For Sale by Neil Stainton, telephone him on 01926 314011 or e-mail at
neil@tailormadesoftware.com
• New unrun Mega AC brushless n22/30/4 6-30 cells, max 50A, Kv = 940
rpm/V, Rm=0.056R, Io=1.65A - £120
• Aveox F16 competition/hot hot sports brushless motor inc integral 3.7:1
gearbox. 10-20 cells, max 80A, Kv=2000rpm/V, Rm=0.018R, Io=2.5A.
Good working condition but some abrasion to the blue cable's insulation
- £160 - photograph below
• Ceto 35Mhz receiver hard wired to two WES Technik 2.4g servos & JMP
6A ESC. Complete weight of rx/servo brick is 10g. Rx xtal not inc. - £75
- photograph below
• ToyTronix blimp with 3 channel IR TX & RX - £35
Aveox F16FMR brushless motor
CETO RX, 2 WES servos & JMP ESC
For Sale, the following items by Stan Rose. Contact him on e-mail
rose@elston4.freeserve.co.uk or telephone 01636 525029.
• GRAUPNER ULTRA 1800/5 motor,16 - 24 cells, boxed as new, bench
run only, truly immaculate condition, cost £210 accept £130.
• GRAUPNER ULTRA 1800/3 motor, 10 cells, boxed as new, bench run
only, truly immaculate condition, cost £190 accept £110.
• KRUSE Intro-Gear Pico 3:1 gearbox for Speed 400 type motors, little
used, all in excellent condition, cost £50 accept £35.
70
E.F.-U.K.
For Sale by Steve Machin Brand new Aveox EZ30 "Sensored" Brushless
Controller £45.00. Contact Steve on email stephen.machin@cwcom.net or mobile
telephone 07976-926-915.
For Sale by Alan Illman, Two Futaba transmitters both boxed and like new
and with the instruction manuals. One is an F. F. Super 7, with Don Edberg book
the asking price is £100. The other is an F.F.6 6XA/6XH that is for sale at £60.
Contact Alan on e-mail AIanill@aol.com or telephone on 01565 653583.
For Sale by Gordon Tarling, an X-Models 'Little Star' glider. Complete with
AP29BB motor with Kruse 'Introgear' gearbox, Aeronaut 10 x 6 Folding Propeller,
Micro-Star 20BEC Motor controller, Futaba 3 channel receiver, 2 x JR341 servos
and 7 x 1000SCR battery pack. Little flown and all in excellent condition. Readyto-fly at £220 o.n.o. Contact Gordon Tarling - gordon.tarling@ntlworld.com
For Sale by Eric Cable, telephone 01935-478974 (Yeovil)
• GRAUPNER 'SILENTIUS' 86" Span glider with Futaba servos and
Graupner spoilers, operated by centre servo in 3-piece wing. Model is
finished, covered but unflown - £70.
• Suitable Motor, 3:1 M.A. gearbox & speed controller, all as new - £22 ea.
• MG Gearboxes in ratios 3.23:1 and 5.11:1 as new, unflown - £22 ea.
• Graupner Speed 600 motor & Aeronaut 2.33:1 gearbox, little used - £25
• Johnson 600 motor, unused - £8.
For Sale - Electric beginners outfit with brand new electro tutor kit, only rear
wing & fin built, complete with electric power train (motor, gearbox, batteries &
speed controller). Brand new unused JR XP652 computer radio set, which is
fully NiCd and comlpete with 4 servos. CSM v9.1 RC aeroplane & helicopter
simulator for PC with interface cable to suit the JR radio set. A truly complete
beginners outfit, all superb condition, genuine reason for sale. Worth around
£425, all brand new, price :- £250. Contact Tony Bryan at email address
anthony.bryan@ntlworld.com or telephone on 01455 446701 and leave a message
if unavailable.
For Sale by Pete Barrow, a Kruse Synchro 2500 Duo gearbox. Any reasonable
price considered. Contact Pete at petebarrow@hotmail.com or on telephone him
on 07946-657385.
Wanted - a 4 channel radio gear with servos, batteries, charger etc. Any
information ring 01825 872752 East Sussex and ask for Chris.
E.F.-U.K.
71
Wanted by the Editor, any of the following:
• Articles.
• Photographs of models (with dimensions and equipment installed).
• New items of interest for inclusion in this magazine.
• We are interested in anything related to Electric Flight.
• All photographs submitted will be returned after publication
unless you specify otherwise.
• Please send any information to the Editor, address on page 4.
Requests for inclusion on these pages can be made in writing, or by phone, to the
Editor (details on page 4). Alternatively, on-line requests can be submitted via
the For Sale & Wanted page on the BEFA website (www.befa.org.uk). If you wish
to have pictures included with your entry, post them to the editor, or email them
to jan.bassett@electric-flight.org.uk
Requests submitted will be included in both lists unless instructed otherwise.
Next Issue
Hopefully in the next issue we should have the following items:
• A report on the Leamington Spa Fly-In.
• A report on Indoor Flying at Weston-Super-Mare.
• DIY Brushless Motors - The LRK Way.
• A review of the FlexiFlyer by Ron Fikes.
• Meet the Airtimers by Tony Long.
• Free Plan - Und Nu.
• A report on the Technical Workshop.
• A short report on the Pillerton Hersey Fly-In 2001.
• Lots more.
72
E.F.-U.K.
ELECTRIC FLIGHT CALENDAR
If you would like details of your event to appear in these pages, please send full
details to the Editor at the address on page 4.
Dates, times and, even, locations of events can all change at the last minute. You
are strongly advised to check details with the given contacts before setting out
on a long journey to any event.
All BEFA flying events require proof of BMFA or equivalent insurance
to fly. Additionally, all models must have been satisfactorily test flown
prior to BEFA event to fly - no test flights on the day.
You are asked to please check with the organisers of non-BEFA events for their
requirements.
January 2002
26th
BMFA Northern Area Indoor R/C Fly-In. From 2pm to 6pm at
the Dewsbury Sports Centre. Low key flying slots for Aerobatic,
Scale, Slowfly & Helicopter. No Free Flight or i.c., sub-400 motors
only. Soft shoes must be worn in the sports hall. No mobile phones
or smoking in the hall. Cost is £5 per pilot (any No of models),
spectators free on the balcony and behind the barrier. Proof of BMFA
insurance is essential. Even frequencies only and TX pennant is
mandatory. For details call 01924 515595 or email
j.thompson3@ntlworld.com
February 2002
23rd
BMFA Northern Area Indoor R/C Fly-In. See 26th Jan 2002
for details.
March 2002
10th
BEFA AGM 2002 at the Royal Spa Centre, Royal Leamington Spa,
Warks. The day will follow it’s normal format of Trade Show in the
morning with the doors opening at 10am, and the AGM in the
afternoon commencing at 1pm. The usual Bring & Buy stall will be
in attendance and items can be deposited from 9am.
30th
BMFA Northern Area Indoor R/C Fly-In. See 26th Jan 2002
for details.
E.F.-U.K.
73
June 2002
16th
BMFA Southern Area Electric Fly-In at the Winchester MAC
site. See the poster on page 76 for more details.
29th / 30th Wings & Wheels Model Spectacular 2002 at North Weald
Airfield, Nr. Epping, Essex. Please see the facing page for further
details.
NEW TO ELECTRIC FLIGHT?
START HERE . . . . .
You may be taking up Electric Flight for the first time, you may be converting from
another discipline. Whatever your situation, help and advice is available. BEFA has
prepared an information sheet which details further sources of information which you
may find useful when just joining the hobby. To receive a copy, please send a Stamped
Addressed Envelope (SAE) to Robert Mahoney, address on page 4.
BEGINNER'S GUIDE
A Beginner’s Guide to Electric Flight is available, which explains many of the 'Mysteries'
of Electrics’ and will, hopefully, set you off on the right foot. Please send £3.00, per copy
required, to The Editor of EF-UK at the address on page 4. Please add £1.00 extra for
overseas postage and remit in Sterling, cheques payable to BEFA.
TECHNICAL HELP SERVICE
Technical help is now available again for the use of all members. We regret that no
telephone service is available, but all questions in writing (or e-mail) will be answered by
our new Technical Liaison Officer (TLO). Please refer your queries to our TLO, to the
postal or email address on page 4. Please ensure that you include an SAE for a reply.
CONNECTIONS SERVICE
Requests are frequently received from members who wish to be put in contact with
other members living in the same area. The easiest method of doing this is to place a
free 'wanted' advert in the classified section of this magazine. Alternatively, a request
may be made IN WRITING to the Membership Secretary who is allowed to divulge such
information to members ONLY. Please supply as much information about your location
as possible and please remember to include an SAE for your reply.
B.E.F.A. MEMBERSHIP
Membership of the Association is open to all members of the BMFA. Those who are not
members of our national controlling body may only subscribe to EF-UK with no other
benefits of membership. Overseas members are very welcome and will be classed as full
members if they belong to their own national controlling body.
For full details, please send an SAE to the Membership Secretary (address on page 4)
requesting a membership application form. Those with Internet access may visit the
7B.E.F.A. website at http://www.befa.org.uk, where you will find all the membership
application form & information you should require.
74
E.F.-U.K.
JUNE 29TH & 30TH 2002
at North Weald Airfield, Essex
(Just off Junction 7 - M11 motorway)
The largest RC Model Show in the South
Flight Line directed by The Ghost Squadron
Electric Model Display Pilots welcome, pre booking required.
Trade Booking Now!
Special guest - Stefan Wurm from Germany
with the most amazing aerobatic display,
plus many more to be announced.
Other attractions include:- Large Model Boat Pool,
Model Car displays, Over 70 Model Trade Stands,
Gigantic Modellers Bring & Buy, Craft, Bar, Refreshments,
Saturday Night Entertainment plus lots more!!
Caravans/Tents welcome for the weekend, Friday to Monday
www.wingsnwheelsspectacular.com
email: wingsnwheels@dial.pipex.com
Tel/Fax ++44 (0)1480 462265
Designaction Limited, Wings & Wheels, PO Box 284, HUNTINGDON. PE28 9AE
E.F.-U.K.
75
76
E.F.-U.K.
MAIL ORDER MODEL SUPPLY
GOLD PLUGS Ideal for Speed 400/600
2mm plug 75p; cuts into two giving one plug/socket
2mm solder socket 43p. 2mm plug and a 2mm socket £1.15
Lightweight 2mm plug and socket 55p; Max 15A motor current draw
Spares. 2mm light plug 40p. 2mm light socket 20p
Pack of red/black shrink: 3.2mm or 4.8mm 50p
GOLD PLUGS 600 or larger motor
4mm plug 90p; cuts into plug/socket. Very low resistance
4mm hollow plug and a separate 4mm solder socket £1.15
Spares. 4mm hollow plug 85p. 4mm solder socket 43p
Lightweight 4mm plug and socket 75p; Max motor current 35A suggested
Spares. 4mm light plug 55p. 4mm light socket 25p
Pack of red/black shrink: 6.4mm £1.25: 4.8mm 75p
Providing that you bear in mind the suggested amp ratings all the 2mm and 4mm plugs
are interchangeable. All fit any of the same size.
EXTRA FLEXIBLE WIRE. 0.5mm2, 129 strands, Max 10A, 35p/metre
Red or Black or White. Park Flyers etc. or servo extensions.
EXTRA FLEXIBLE WIRE
Supplied in packs of 1 metre of red and 1 metre of black, i.e. 2 metres of wire
0.75mm2, 196 strands; ideal for weight saving, Max 15A, £1.00/pack
1.00mm2, 258 strands; ideal for weight saving for speed 400, Max 19A, £1.40/pack
1.50mm2, 378 strands; ideal for speed 400, £2.00/pack
4mm2, 1036 strands; £3.50/pack
SILICONE INSULATED WIRE. Pack of 1 metre of red and 1 metre of black
1.5mm2, 378 strands. £2.50
2.5mm2, 651 strands. £3.00
All wire can be cut off the roll, in longer lengths if required.
CELL HEATSHRINK metre lengths
25mm 50p; suits single AAA or AA cells or any same size
48mm 75p; suits single sub C cells/sticks or packs of dumpy 600
65mm 85p; suits 1700 or 2000 packs, also RC oblong sticks etc.
94mm 95p; suits double deck packs (1700 etc.)
All sizes layflat width, supplied in clear. 48mm available in opaque blue also.
WIRE HEATSHRINK metre lengths
1.6mm 50p; 2.4mm 60p; 9.5mm £1.00. Black only
3.2mm 75p; 4.8mm 80p; 6.4mm 95p. All in red or black.
ALL ORDERS PLUS POSTAGE: 60p UK; £1.10 Europe; £1.70 World
M. E. DONKIN, 37 WYDALE ROAD, OSBALDWICK, YORK, YO10 3PG
Tel/Fax 01904 414738. Mobile 0771 202 8329.
E-mail: michael@moms63.freeserve.co.uk or modelsupply@netscapeonline.co.uk
All messages - an attempt will be made to contact you. (I work shifts)
Computer faxes must send start signal before my fax will respond!
E.F.-U.K.
77
B.E.F.A. Sales
BEFA Round, Coloured Rub-down Decals - 50p each
'BEFA 2000' Millennium Decals - £1.00 each
Back Issues of EF-UK - No's 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55,
56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64 and 65 at £1.00 each (inc. P&P) for BEFA members
ONLY. Non-members, £2.00 per copy. Please Note these are the ONLY back
issues still available.
EF-UK Index. A comprehensive index of EF-UK from issue 28 to 59 is available
by sending a £1 coin to cover copying and postage cost.
Binders:- Binders are now available to hold eight issues of Electric Flight U.K.
Produced in dark blue with gold lettering on the spine, these cost £4.50 each
including U.K. postage. Please add £1 for European postage and £2 for Worldwide
postage.
Sweat Shirts & Tee-Shirts: Stock of these is now almost all gone - please
contact Robert Mahoney regarding remaining stock, sizes and prices.
Please send all orders to Robert Mahoney at the address on page 4.
PLEASE REMIT IN STERLING ONLY,
WITH ALL CHEQUES MADE PAYABLE TO BEFA.
Advertisers Index
BEFA Sales .................................................................. 78
E-Zone .............................................. Inside Front Cover
Fanfare ............................................... Inside Back Cover
Mail Order Model Supply............................................ 77
Traplet ............................................. Outside Back Cover
Wings & Wheels Model Spectacular ........................... 75
78
E.F.-U.K.
– MAIL ORDER –
SPORTS ELECTRIC FLIGHT
FANS AND GEARBOXES
GEARBOXES
FANS
Morley ‘Jet Elec’ Fan ............................... £15.00
Adaptors for
480 & 410 motors ..................................... £3.00
WeMoTec MiniFan 480 .......................... £28.00
MidiFan for 540’s, 600’s 930’s ................ £38.00
Master Airscrew 2.5, 3, 3.5:1 ..................
Superbox ................................................
TAB Inline 2.65 540/600’s ......................
TAB Inline 2.08 & 3.05 480’s ..............
TAB Inline 2.1 700’s ..............................
Mini Olympus ....... £8.00 Olympus .......
MOTORS
WEP Turbo 10 ....................................... £55.00
Speed 500 E Race .................................. £14.00
Speed 600 8.4v BB SP ........................... £15.00
Speed 600 8.4v Race ............................. £18.00
Speed 650 9.6v BB Race ........................ £33.00
Speed 700 .............................................. £22.00
Neodym ..................................... £38.00
RE 380 / Rocket 400 ................................ £4.50
Speed 480 PB ... £14.00 BB ................ £19.00
Pro 400 ................ £5.00 Pro 480 .......... £6.00
£16.00
£40.00
£40.00
£40.00
£50.00
£12.00
MOTORS
MFA 2.5:1 N.I.L. with 540 .......................
Speed 400 FG3 ......................................
SpeedGear 400 4:1 Inline .......................
SpeedGear 480 3.45:1 ............................
SpeedGear 500 2.8:1 ..............................
SpeedGear 600 2.8:1 ..............................
SpeedGear 700 2.7:1 9.6v ......................
SpeedGear 700 Neo ...............................
Mini-Olympus & RE380 ..........................
Olympus & 540 .......................................
Robbe 410/35/45 ....................................
£21.00
£17.00
£32.00
£46.00
£40.00
£41.00
£60.00
£78.00
£12.00
£19.00
£36.00
MAXCIM BRUSHLESS
PROPS
Max Neo 13Y 1430 rpm/v ...................... £160.00
Max Neo 13D 2470 rpm/v ..................... £160.00
21 Cell Controller .................................. £140.00
25 Cell Controller .................................. £180.00
Superbox 1.6 to 4.28:1 ........................... £35.00
Monsterbox 4 to 6.8:1 ............................ £50.00
Motor Mount ........................................... £12.00
CHARGERS
Speed 1 Pulse / Pk
Det 4-8 cells ........................................... £25.00
Speed Ex Digital
as above with discharge .......................... £55.00
Simprop 25 cell ..................................... £100.00
M.A. Folding
12x8 ................ £12.50
15x12 .............. £13.50
M.A. Wood Electric
10x6/10x8 .......... £3.75
11x7/11x9 .......... £4.00
12x8/12x10 ........ £4.25
13x8/13x10 ........ £4.50
Carbon Folders
7x4 .................... £6.00
8x4.5 ................. £6.00
11x8 .................. £9.00
Slimprops 8x4, 8x6, 9x5, 9x6 ................. £3.50
Selection of Graupner & Aeronaut
folding & fixed props.
Wheels, Wire, Servos, Fuses, Caps,
Powerpole, 4mm & 2mm gold conns.
FANFARE • 18 HILLSIDE ROAD • TANKERTON • WHITSTABLE • KENT • CT5 3EX
‘Sports Electric’ Helpline - Phone / Fax: (01227) 771331 - E-mail: john.swain1@virgin.net