6" Sq top

spar

1/32" she
F2 et top dec
F3 k
F4
F1
F5
Profile pilo
t
Wing rib
temperate
ply plat
e
FB
Telco 3/32 x 1/16
shown, Co2 motor 1/16" Sq "
1/16" ply mounted on
plate onto
F3 FB 1/16" Sq
1/32" ply
skid
22 Swg
wing bra
ce wire
s

FREE PLAN: CO2 OR ELECTRIC BLACKBURN

22 Swg
Underca
rrage
Hard 1/16
" Sq lead
ing edg
e
F1
3 off
off 1/8"
sheet F2 F4 F5
1/16" she F3
et
Acetate
FB 1/16 sheet whe
" sheet els
2 OFF
F3 1/16
" sheet

T dec
Top
king
22 Swg
wire axle
Hard 1/16
1/32" she " Sq trail
et coverin ing edg
e
g
Cockpit
cut-out
FREE FLIGHT ● CONTROL LINE ● RADIO-ASSISTED

Typical
win
1/16" thic g rib sectio
tion
k wing ribs

22 Swg Front & Rea

wing sup r
Wires port wire
2-off
dihedraset to give 1°
l at wing
tips

www.aeromodeller.com
March 2017.
No. 958. £5.00

MERCURY
RISING SEMI-SCALE INDOOR FREE PLAN

FORA JUNIOR BOWDEN COMP VINTAGE COMBAT

REVIEW
03

9 770001 923004

GLOW OR DIESEL TRICKS & TIPS BEGINNER’S ADVICE

● ENGINE REPAIRS ● OLD TIMERS ● FREE FLIGHT CLASSES…

AERO 040.indd 1 30/01/2017 16:21

Adventure
xxl! The fascinating world
of aeroplane model
construction
05 – 09 april 2017
Messe Dortmund
Germany

The world’s largest

exhibition for model
making and model sports
www.intermodellbau.com
 CONTENTS
AEROMODELLER 958 March 2017 – Next issue published on 16th March 2017

Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe,

Bedfordshire LU6 1QX, England

Issue 958. March 2017

(Issue 040 since relaunch)
How to contact us:
Tel: 01525 222573
Fax: 01525 222574
Email: enquiries@doolittlemedia.com

Editorial:
Editor: Andrew Boddington
Email: editor@aeromodeller.com
Publisher: Alan Harman
Administration Manager: Hannah McLaurie
Office Manager: Paula Gray
Advertisement Manager: Sean Leslie
Editorial Design: Peter Hutchinson
& Alex Hall

Advertisement and circulation:

Aeromodeller, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe,
Bedfordshire LU6 1QX, England

04 HEARD AT THE HANGAR

DOORS 30 FREE PLAN – BLACKBURN
MERCURY
Tel: 01525 222573 Fax: 01525 222574
E-mail: enquiries@doolittlemedia.com
EDITORIAL, NEWS AND VIEWS. A 1911 BLACKBURN MONOPLANE FOR INDOOR
ELECTRIC OR CO2 BY MIKE WATTERS IS YOUR
Newstrade:
Select Publisher Services, 3 East Avenue,

07 UP AND COMING
CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE NEXT
FREE PLAN. Bournemouth, BH3 7BW
Tel: 01202 586848 E-mail: tim@selectps.com

MONTHS.
40 STARTING VINTAGE COMBAT
LOOKING TO TRY SOME CLASSIC CL
Subscriptions:
Aeromodeller, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe,
Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX.

08 PRODUCT REVIEW
THE SPARMAX ARISM COMPRESSOR
COMBAT? TIM HOBBINS EXPLAINS WHERE TO
START.
Tel: 01525 222573 Fax: 01525 222574
Subscribe: 12 issues - UK £55, Europe £73,
Worldwide £82
IS TESTED AS A MODELLER’S SPRAY AIR SUPPLY.
Website: www.aeromodeller.com

12 THREAD REPAIR 46 BOWDEN COMPETITION

SOME HINTS AND TIPS ON THE
ALLAN VOYCE SHOWS HOW TO BOWDEN TROPHY FF CONTEST FROM DAVE
REPAIR THREADS AND RESCUE THAT DAMAGED LEEDING THE CD.
ENGINE.

18 SCALE MATTERS 50 FREE FLIGHT CLASSES

PART 4. MIKE EVATT CONTRASTS
BILL DENNIS ON FF SCALE INCLUDING THE ‘OTHER’ FF DURATION CLASSES.
AeroModeller is published monthly by Doolittle
THE VMC SOPWITH CAMEL. Media, Doolittle Mill, Doolittle Lane, Totternhoe,

22 POWER TRIP – FORA JUNIOR 56 FOR OLD TIMES’ SAKE

AVAILABLE IN GLOW AND DIESEL
VERSIONS, THE 2.5CC FORA JUNIOR IS
DON HOWIES’ VINTAGE PERSPECTIVE
Bedfordshire, LU6 1QX. Entire Contents © 2017
Doolittle Media Reproduction in part or whole of
any text, photograph or illustration without written
FROM OZ. permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
While due care is taken to ensure the content of

60
REVIEWED BY MARIS DISLERS. FROM THE ARMCHAIR AeroModeller is accurate, the publishers and printers
cannot accept liability for errors and omissions.
STUART ‘SUPERCOOL’ SHERLOCK
Advertisements are accepted for publication in

26 BETTER… HABITS –
PREPARATION
RAMPS UP THE SUPERCAPS. AeroModeller only upon Doolittle Media’s standard
terms of acceptance of advertising, copies of which

64
DAVE HIPPERSON TAKES THE REINS TO are available from the advertising sales department
AERO POST
of AeroModeller.
HIGHLIGHT ATTRIBUTES THAT WILL GET YOU READERS’ LETTERS BY POST AND
WINNING. EMAIL.
Free Plan is Mike

66
Watters’ Blackburn
TAIL END CHARLIE
Monoplane.
THE THOUGHTS OF CHRIS OTTEWELL.
3

CONTENTS 040.indd 1 30/01/2017 16:25

 News, Views and Editorial

My mother Jill Boddington at the last

Old Warden with a large scale David
Boddington designed SE5a flown by the DB

D
Sport and Scale display team.

HEA R D AT THE
O O RS
H AN G A R

W
End of an Era - Conclusion
hen I wrote the End of an Era editorial a couple
of months ago, it was in the expectation that
my mother Jill Boddington would be living a
comfortable retirement in the same village as
my sister. Sadly this was not to be as mum
died unexpectedly on 20 January 2017, just 2 days short of her
83rd birthday.
Due to the demographics of aeromodellers, with many being
over 60 years old, it is an unfortunate part of my job that I
receive regular notifications of deaths of much loved characters.
I always struggle to know whose obituary to run as I want to
keep AeroModeller looking forward, and I usually focus on class
leading individuals and those associated with the magazine.
However for once I will ‘pull rank’ and acknowledge my mother,
who was the wife of the late David ‘Boddo’ Boddington, as she
was well known by many modellers.
My mum and dad were contrasting characters who worked
as a team – dad said that nobody else would put up with him!
As well as being the centre of family life she could be found in
the aeromodelling backroom in the 1960s counting out nuts
and bolts for accessory packs in DB Models kits, or sewing
lightweight nylon ‘bags’ to cover wings on models for the
Flambards TV series in the 1970s.
Old Warden model events were a family affair for 50 years,
with Mum helping run the transmitter pound when dad was still
editing, and after dad died 7 years ago, she attended with me
to catch-up with old friends.
So as I and our family mourn the passing of Jill Boddington,
I ask you to think of those people who may not get directly
involved in your aeromodelling life, but who support you in your
endeavours.
Regards, Andrew Boddington
editor@aeromodeller.com

Amongst the aviation

and modelling items
I have inherited from
DO YOU KNOW my father are some
wonderfully evocative
BURT ELLIS? action paintings of
aircraft. Most of these
are by an artist who I
originally thought was
possibly of Italian
heritage as they were
signed Burtelli S, but
I eventually realised
it was the stylised
signature of Burt Ellis!
I would like to
know more about
Burt. I’ve tried online
searches and the
Guild of Aviation
Artists without any
luck, so if you know
of Burt, please get
in touch. editor@
aeromodeller.com
4 AeroModeller - March 2017
INTERMODELLBAU at Messe Westfalenhallen Dortmund in
Germany is the world’s largest exhibition for model-making
and model sport. From 5 to 9 April 2017, over 20,000
models can be viewed in eight halls: airplanes, helicopters,
model railways, RC vehicles, working models, model ships,
cardboard models, figures, dioramas and much more. A wide
spectrum is covered from traditional HO railways to modern
3D printers – the whole world of model-making and model
sport.
For 2017, a modern high-tech event awaits visitors with,
for the first time, FPV racing (FPV = First Person View) racing
of Multicopters for the INTERCOPTER Cup. This will take
place in the legendary, oval event arena Westfalenhalle.
But there are also many more attractions at the Dortmund
exhibition, such as flight demonstrations, presentations in a
huge water basin, RC car races, and a track for RC trucks
and Alpine vehicles.
More than 500 exhibitors take part in INTERMODELLBAU,
they come from around 20 countries and 82,000 people are
expected to attend.
www.intermodellbau.de/en

HANGAR DOORS 040.indd 2 30/01/2017 16:26

 CAMBRIDGE INDOOR WINGS & WHEELS
Sunday March 19th 2017 is another of the popular Impington Indoor Meetings at Impington Village College, Cambridge CB24 9LX.
From 9.00am to 5.00pm you can fly FF indoor models all day in a large hall for £6.00, with RTP and small RC flying in a separate hall.
Competitions for peanuts (with light scale judging – minimal documentation) and Bostonians. Seminar “A conversation with Richard
Crossley.” Also this could be the last rubber powered car race unless there are at least four entrants – so get building that rubber powered
drag racing fantasy! Contact Chris Strachan telephone 01223 860498 for details or see www.impmac.co.uk

HOBBY CORNER APRIL FOOL FLY-IN 1-2 APRIL 2017

At what will probably be the first Fly-in of the year, Wrexham Model Aircraft Club aim to give the novice RC flyer the confidence
to go to other Fly-ins during the 2017 season. Slots will be arranged throughout the day for different ability levels. No A-cert, no
problem - Instructors on hand. Possible A tests on the day (strictly by appointment). Well kept grass flying strips and good quality
hot food both days.
Novice RC flyers who are competent but have never before attended a Fly-in are the focus. A first Fly-in can be a very intimidating
experience - too often perfectly competent flyers turn up and simply will not take their models out of the car because they are
overawed. Novices who want some degree of mentoring, either as pilots or help with their models, should say so at sign-on and
the Club will assist. Throughout both days frequent slots will be provided for Novice flyers.
Expert and experienced flyers are also welcome, come and show us your stuff! Competitions include ‘Eddi und Otto Foamy
Combat’ (search online for plans).
Please contact ‘Sideshow Bob’ Davis for further details and register for the Go/No Go weather updates 5 days and 24 hours
before the event - bob.davis.design@gmail.com or 01490 413276.

FULL CALENDAR OF SAM FF EVENTS

John Ashmole the FF Secretary of SAM 35 has been busy setting up a series of both postal and venue based competitions for
Free Flight sports flyers who want to compete with classic, traditionally designed models. To encapsulate the ethos of many of
these events it is to ‘Have fun with a purpose’.
We will have the dates for these FF events in the AeroModeller ‘Up and Coming’ calendar and you will find full details on the
SAM 35 website. There will be a large SAM 35 presence at the FF Nationals scheduled for Barkston Heath on 27-29 May, but
before that there is the Mayfly event at Old Warden.
At Mayfly there are two FF contests on Sunday 14 May to highlight amongst the many activities: FROG Senior Duration in
two classes, one for low wingers and one class for high, and a new event Biplane Precision for both rubber and IC power.
Rules are on the SAM 35 website, but remember there are limitations to the size and weight for power jobs at Old Warden
which must be respected.
At the Old Warden Scale weekend on the Sunday 23 July, The Masefield Trophy will take place, alongside the revived Earl
Stahl event, for which the original trophies will be offered for high wing, low wing and concours.
For more information, look at the SAM 35 web site www.sam35.org or contact John Ashmole, editor@peterboroughmfc.org
telephone 01406 370188

This pretty Aries is the

kind of model expected
for the SAM 35 Biplane
Precision contest.

HANGAR DOORS 040.indd 3 30/01/2017 16:26


News, Views and Editorial
RIP MARTYN PRESSNELL
CENG, FRAeS
Aeronautical engineer and aeromodeller Martyn Pressnell died
on 8th January 2017. Born in Southend, Martyn was an aviation
enthusiast and keen modeller from an early age. He flew his
models with the Belfairs Club, becoming a designer for Contest
Kits of Leigh-on-Sea at the age of eighteen. The Cresta & Squib
were amongst his early designs.
In his professional life, Martyn gained a degree in aeronautical
engineering from London University and joined Handley Page
Ltd in 1957 as an airframe stress engineer, working initially on
the HP 115 delta project and latterly at the Handley Page facility,
Radlett where he worked on the HP Victor and other projects.
After the sudden demise of Handley Page in 1970 Martyn found
employment as Head of Aerospace Engineering at the Hatfield
Polytechnic (latterly the Hertfordshire University), lecturing on
aircraft structures. He also became
a consultant with the Engineering
Data Sciences Unit, which involved
him qualifying as a CAA chief stress
engineer on airships.
On retirement, Martyn moved to
Lymington, Hampshire and joined
Bournemouth MAS. He also designed
a range of power model propellers
for RAM Ltd in 1997, utilising his
extensive knowledge of aerodynamics.
Martyn’s primary modelling interest
eventually evolved into free flight
rubber duration models, particularly
‘Golden Era’. He wrote the excellent
reference book “Model Planes -
Aerofoils & Wings” published in 2015
and contributed to AeroModeller.
6 AeroModeller - March 2017
HANGAR DOORS 040.indd 4
OLD WARDEN
ENTRANCE CHARGE
2017
Unfortunately, the Shuttleworth
Collection management have
decided to increase the gate entry
charge from £10 to £12 per day for
the ModelAir organised Old Warden
events in 2017. I know this will not be
welcome news and will impact those
on low income and pensions, but
this is something the Shuttleworth
Collection management has decided,
not ModelAir.
I hope that this increase does not
dissuade people from the popular
Old Warden model events. Children
under 16 attending with an adult
are still free, entry to the museum is
included, and the gate money does
go towards the best of causes -
keeping the Shuttleworth Collection
of old aircraft flying.
Dates for 2017 are 13-14 May
Mayfly, 22-23 July Scale Weekend,
23-24 September Festival of Flight.
www.modelair.info
RIP
FRANK DOWLING
Control line fans will best remember
Frank Dowling, who passed away
in late 2016, as the designer of the
Liquidator combat model. Tribute
enough is that the ‘Liquidator’ is still
competitive in the current Oliver class,
especially after Richard Evans made
some tweaks to the sound basic layout.
The Liquidator article in AeroModeller
May 1969 carries a photo of Frank receiving a winner’s
kiss at a contest with the strap line “No holding these
fast combat lads!”. In fact Frank was fast not only on the
handle and later on the transmitter box but also of thought.
He had the ability to think on his feet and read peoples’
needs.
In the early 1960s Frank was involved in a severe motor
cycle accident in the Isle of Man which restricted his leg
movement afterwards. When combat moved from diesel
to glow with much higher speeds, the challenge eventually
became too much for Frank’s agility. With admirable
adaptability he made the change to RC aerobatics and
quickly became one of the men to worry about during the
era of Ken Binks et al.
To earn a ‘meagre crust’ Frank sold cars and was a prime
player in setting up one of the most successful Mercedes
agents in the North West. A range of people from many
backgrounds will miss Frank’s presence in their lives. He is
survived by his wife Jean and children Paul and Jane.
Thanks, Frank for years of fun and friendship. “Did I ever
tell you about the day I sold 17 VW Beetles in one day?”
Yes, Frank. Many times!
Jim Woodside.
30/01/2017 16:26
 Events
UP & COMING
February
19 February
Northwich Swapmeet, Memorial
Court. Chesterway, Northwich,
Cheshire CW9 5QJ. 10:00 to
12:30. Tables must be pre-
booked. 01565 631190
www.northwichswapmeet.co.uk
19 February
BMFA SW Area Indoor Flying,
Saints Centre, St Austell PL26
7AG. 12:00 to 16:00. FF & micro
RC. David Powis 01579 362951
dave_powis@hotmail.com,
Roger Bellamy 01752 257826
19 February
Peterborough MFC Indoor,
Bushfield Leisure Centre, PE2
5RQ. 10:00 to 13:00. FF & micro
RC (no rotors/shockie). Informal
contests Gyminie/Hangar Rat/
Bostonian.
www.peterboroughmfc.org
19 February
Evesham Indoor Flying, Leisure
Centre, Abbey Rd, WR11 4SU.
17:00 to 20:00. RC and FF. Every
2 weeks.
Mark Ashworth 07710 005705
markashworth@iee.org
25 February
Tonbridge Gassers & Rubber
Fanciers Indoor, Sports Centre,
601 Maidstone Road, Rochester
ME1 3QJ. 18:30 to 22:00. FF &
LW RC. Eric 01622 737814
eric.przyjemski@btinternet.com or
Steve 0208 942 5000
26 February
OFMAC Indoor Flying, Abbey
Centre, Furlong Green Berinsfield
OX10 7NR. 08:30 to 16:00. FF,
RC Fixed Wing, Scale.
Dave Dobson 01491 837789
ofmac1@talktalk.net
March
4 March
Indoor Fun-Fly, Furzefield Sports
Centre, Mutton Lane, Potters
Bar EN6 3BW. 17:00 to 21:00.
Rubber, small electric <20” FF &
RC. Mike Quille 0208 5003549
mp.quille@live.co.uk
5 March
March Wynde SAM35 Area
Postal for LW Rubber (Senator &
ìAnything butî) at Area Venues.
Pre-entry essential £3.
John Ashmole
editor@peterboroughmfc.org
www.sam35.org
Full details of BMFA events can be found at:
CALENDAR 040.indd 1
Please note that the events listed are compiled weeks in advance of publication,
and you should check before travelling in case of change. For future inclusion of
your events, please send an email with date and details of the event in a format
similar to those shown below to editor@aeromodeller.com
7 March
Waltham Chase Indoor FF,
Community Centre, Mill Lane,
Wickham, PO17 5AL. 19:00 to
22:00. FF only of all sorts.
www.wcaero.co.uk
Alan Wallington 01489 895157
alan@wcaero.co.uk
11 March
Indoor Fun Flying, High School,
Brumstead Rd, Stalham, Norfolk
NR12 9DG. 19:00 to 22:00.
Informal FF only, beginners
welcome. Flyers £5.00, Watchers
£2.00, U16 £1.00. Richard
Crossley on 01692 407936,
richardcrossley@btconnect.com
11 March
Delyn MFC Swapmeet 1, St.
Winefride’s Primary School,
Holywell CH8 7NJ. 09.00 to
13.00. Mike Parry 01352 710167
crashparry@gmail.com
11-12 March
Club Speed Weekend, Barton,
Manchester. All Open CL Speed
Classes, F2A, Have-A-Go. Dick
Hart 01387 820335
www.controlline.org.uk
12 March
Flitehook Indoor FF Meeting,
West Totton Centre, Hazel Farm
Rd, Totton SO40 8WU. 10:00 to
16:00. Flyers £6, Spectators £2.
flitehook@talktalk.net
02380 861541
12 March
BMFA NW Area Indoor Fly-In,
Springhill Centre, Turf Hill Road,
Rochdale OL16 4QX. Slots for
fast/slow RC & FF.
www.bmfa-nw.org
19 March
Impington Indoor Meeting,
Impington Village College,
Cambridge CB24 9LX. 9.00 to
17.00. £6 Fly FF in main hall all
day. RTP and small RC flying in
separate hall. Competitions for
Peanuts and Bostonians. Seminar
ìA conversation with Richard
Crossleyî. Also last ever rubber
powered car race (unless we get
4 or more).
Chris Strachan 01223 860498
www.impmac.co.uk
19 March
BMFA SW Area Indoor Flying,
Saints Centre, St Austell PL26
7AG. 12:00 to 16:00. FF & micro
RC. David Powis 01579 362951
dave_powis@hotmail.com,
Roger Bellamy 01752 257826
19 March
Beverley & District MAC Autumn
Swapmeet, Tickton Village Hall,
near Beverley HU17 9RZ. 09.00
to 12:00. Tables £5.00
Brian Jenkins
2bee.jays@live.com
07970 959875
www.badmac.btck.co.uk
19 March
Goodyear Day, Barton,
Manchester. British, Open & Mini
Goodyear CL TR. Ed Needham
01614 855193
www.controlline.org.uk
25 March
Peterborough MFC Indoor,
Bushfield Leisure Centre, PE2
5RQ. 10:00 to 13:00. FF & micro
RC (no rotors/shockie). Informal
contests Gyminie/Hangar Rat/
Bostonian.
www.peterboroughmfc.org
25 March
Tonbridge Gassers & Rubber
Fanciers Indoor, Sports Centre,
601 Maidstone Road, Rochester
ME1 3QJ. 18:30 to 22:00. FF &
LW RC. Eric 01622 737814
eric.przyjemski@btinternet.com or
Steve 0208 942 5000
26 March
Indoor RC Scale Nationals, RAF
Shawbury. RC indoor scale.
John Minchell
j.minchell@btinternet.com
www.scalebmfa.co.uk
26 March
OFMAC Indoor Flying, Abbey
Centre, Furlong Green Berinsfield
OX10 7NR. 08:30 to 16:00. FF,
RC Fixed Wing, Scale.
Dave Dobson 01491 837789
ofmac1@talktalk.net
26 March
March Wynde SAM35 Area
Postal for LW Rubber (Senator &
ìAnything butî) at Area Venues.
Pre-entry essential £3 (juniors
free). John Ashmole
editor@peterboroughmfc.org
www.sam35.org
April
1-2 April
Hobby Corner ‘April Fool’ Fly-in,
Wrexham MAC, LL11 3BB.
To give novice RC flyer the
confidence to go to other Fly-ins
during the 2017.
bob.davis.design@gmail.com or
01490 413276.
www.bmfa.org
2 April
Rat Racing Day, Barton,
Manchester. Texas Quickie, Oliver,
A & 1/2A Rat CL. John Bradley
01829 270253
www.controlline.org.uk
4 April
Waltham Chase Indoor FF,
Community Centre, Mill Lane,
Wickham, PO17 5AL. 19:00 to
22:00. FF only of all sorts.
www.wcaero.co.uk
Alan Wallington 01489 895157
alan@wcaero.co.uk
8 April
Indoor Fun Flying, High School,
Brumstead Rd, Stalham, Norfolk
NR12 9DG. 19:00 to 22:00.
Informal FF only, beginners
welcome. Flyers £5.00, Watchers
£2.00, U16 £1.00. Richard
Crossley on 01692 407936,
richardcrossley@btconnect.com
8-9 April
Club Speed Weekend, Barton,
Manchester. All Open CL Speed
Classes, F2A, Have-A-Go.
Dick Hart 01387 820335
www.controlline.org.uk
9 April
Flitehook Indoor FF Meeting,
West Totton Centre, Hazel Farm
Rd, Totton SO40 8WU. 10:00 to
16:00. Flyers £6, Spectators £2.
flitehook@talktalk.net
02380 861541
17 April
Croydon Wakefield Day plus
SAM 1066, Area 8, Salisbury
Plain. 10:00 to 18:00. Vintage,
Classic, & Modern Duration,
and Sports FF Meeting. Use
of DT recommended but not
mandatory. 02392 550809
www.sam1066.org
23 April
Indoor FF Scale Nationals,
University of Wolverhampton,
Walsall Sports Centre, Magdalene
Rd. WS1 3TA. 08:00 to 18:00
As well as BMFA scale events
includes SAM35 kit scale, glider,
Air Race. Pre-entry by 15th April.
John Minchell
j.minchell@btinternet.com
07989 744251
www.scalebmfa.co.uk
23 April
CL Floatplanes at Leceister MAC.
Andy Green
andy.w.green@gmail.com
www.leicestermodelaeroclub.org.uk
7
30/01/2017 16:26
 Product Review

SPARMAX ARISM
VIZ COMPRESSOR
A new airbrush sized compressor from the Airbrush Company is tested by Andrew Boddington.

A
s a builder of flying models,
if one wants to apply a
paint finish but keep the
model light an airbrush
is the tool of choice. And
where there is an airbrush one needs a
dependable air supply. I’ve been using
airbrushes on and off for 40 years when
a model requires a fine finish, and in
that time I’ve tried various air supplies
ranging from a car tyre (unwieldy,
frustrating and ‘damp’ air), propellant
canisters (expensive and don’t last long),
and compressor units.
My last compressor was huge, suitable

The Sparmax ARISM

Viz Compressor
components as they
come out of the box
from the Airbrush
Company.

8 AeroModeller - March 2017

COMPRESSOR REVIEW.indd 8 30/01/2017 16:27

 The front of the compressor houses the pressure meter which is marked in The supplied braided hose screws on to the outlet on the front of the
both PSI and Kg/cm². Although the numbers are small the needle is easily compressor and is terminated with the ‘Silver Bullet’ bleed valve and
tracked. moisture trap.

The ‘Silver Bullet’ is unobtrusive below the airbrush and does not interfere When the airbrush is placed in the moulded holder on top of the compressor
with the operation. The air bleed control is the knurled knob at the top, while it switches off the pump.
the water drain is a push valve at the bottom.

for spraying a full-size car, drew a full
13 amps from the socket with the risk
of fusing the circuit and was so loud I
needed to wear ear-defenders! It was not
what I would call handy for a modeller.
So what I needed was a compressor that
was suitable for my existing airbrush for
efficient spraying of small to medium
sized flying models, would be quiet
enough to allow pleasant inside use, yet
would be compact enough to be stored
in my workshop until next needed.
When the Airbrush Company sent
details of the new Sparmax ARISM Viz
Compressor it seemed to fit my needs.
A look at the Airbrush Company website
for the details of the compressor (search
on www.airbrushes.com for part C-AR-
VIZ) confirmed that my NEO Iwata TRN2
was a supported airbrush for pressure
and flow.
What’s in the Box?
The Sparmax compressor arrived well
packed in first a thick-walled shipping
carton, and inside that the retail box
with partitions and packing to keep
everything secure – thus avoiding that
sinking feeling when your item arrives in
a squashed box!
As well as the ARISM Viz compressor
unit, there is a mains power adapter,
a 2m braided pressure hose, a ‘Silver
Bullet Plus’ moisture trap and pressure
adjuster, and an airbrush rest come
‘Smart-Stop’ (more later). The mains
adapter provides the 12V supply required
by the compressor, but there is the
alternative of an optional battery pack so
that the compressor can be used away
from mains electricity.
The compressor unit is of sturdy
construction with sheet metal sides.
There is the air outlet and a pressure
gauge on the front, and on-off switch at
the back. The pressure gauge dial and
numbers are relatively small making it
difficult to read exactly, but being an
analogue needle gauge this does not
matter too much as one can easily see
the position of needle – I find that I
don’t often read the pressure gauge as
the pressure I need is determined by
watching the practice spray pattern and
adjusting it accordingly.
The pressure is adjusted on the bleed
valve which is built in to the ‘Silver
Bullet’ - this fits on the end of the air
hose underneath the airbrush. The ‘Silver
Bullet’ also acts as a moisture filter; it
is clear allowing any captured water
to be visible and then released via the
drain valve. So what is important about
a moisture filter? If water droplets are
mixed with non-water based paints
such as cellulose or enamel you end up
with tiny ‘pin-pricks’ on your paint finish
where the water evaporates.
There she Blows!
Having connected everything up and
switched on, I’m immediately struck by
how quiet the compressor is. No need
to wear ear defenders and I can still
listen to King Crimson on the Hi-Fi! As
I didn’t have a model ready to spray for
this review I tested the Sparmax ARISM
Viz compressor using my own airbrush

COMPRESSOR REVIEW.indd 9 30/01/2017 16:27

 Product Review
loaded with water thinned acrylic to
spray paint on large sheets of card – I
want to be sure the compressor has
the oomph (i.e. pressure and flow) to
cope with the spray finish on the wings
and fuselage for a typical medium sized
powered model. This it did without
problem, the bleed valve on the ‘Silver
Bullet’ allowing adjustment of the air
pressure to suit whether I wanted thin or
wide lines. The dual-action pistol trigger
on my airbrush meant that the airflow
could first be engaged to stabilise its
flow and then on full depression the paint
was released – a good even coverage
was obtained with spray width of about
1.5” (4cm) maximum. The compressor
had no problem keeping this airflow
going so that I could cover the test
pieces.
This compressor as with many
‘hobbyist’ products has no air tank,
so there is a slight drop in pressure as
the air is released through the airbrush.
This is not a problem for my painting
needs but if you need a smoother,
more controllable airflow, a higher spec
compressor with storage tank (to hold
the pumped air) is the way to go.
An innovative feature of the
compressor is that the clear moulded
airbrush holder comes with a ‘Smart-
Stop’ switch. This is to be found on top
of the compressor, and by resting the
airbrush in the holder, the compressor
10 AeroModeller - March 2017
COMPRESSOR REVIEW.indd 10
is switched off saving energy and
preventing over heating - the duty
cycle of the compressor is 40 minutes
continuous use, after which it needs to
be switched off and allowed to cool for
at least 10 minutes, but I doubt many
modellers would get close to this limit
with normal use. My airbrush fitted
comfortably in the holder as well as it
supporting Sparmax’s own airbrushes.
The Sparmax ARISM Viz compressor is
a well thought out air supply which would
make a great addition to the ‘armoury’
for builders of flying models.
Choosing an Airbrush and
Compressor
If you are new to airbrush finishing of
models, the bit of advice I’d give is to
first choose your airbrush to suit your
coverage or lining requirements, and
then choose the right compressor to
provide the indicated pressure and
flow. Remember our needs are slightly
different to the small-scale plastic
modeller who requires fine detail
(perhaps closer to the area coverage
requirements of a spray tan salon!) A
good starting point when wondering
what to buy is the Airbrush Company
website, choose the ‘Info’ tab - they also
have knowledgeable experts on the end
of the phone.
When choosing an airbrush, keep in
mind that for our coverage we’ll probably
In tests the
Sparmax ARISM Viz
Compressor was
quiet and provided a
dependable airflow for
spraying paint.
want a paint holding cup/bottle of at
least 14cc (1/2oz), and a wider spray
pattern than for plastic models meaning
a needle of at least 0.5mm diameter. You
can use smaller airbrushes but it will take
you longer to apply the paint! If you’re a
large 1/6 scale modeller or equivalent,
you may want to go larger still with your
airbrush, and if a humongous 1/4 scaler
a paint-gun rather than airbrush may be
more suitable. ●
Sparmax ARISM Viz
Compressor Specifications:
• Low maintenance, oil-less single piston air
compressor
• Working pressure from 0 psi to 50 psi (3.4
bar)
• Silver Bullet Plus moisture trap
• 2M Braided hose
• Airbrush holder
• Pressure gauge
• Air flow: 16 - 18 lpm (0.57 - 0.64 cfm) at
open flow
• 1/8 BSP outlet on compressor
• Size: L20 x W12 x H18 cm (7.9” x 4.7” x
7.1”)
• Weight: 2.5 kgs (5.5 lbs)
• Noise level: 45±dB
Sparmax ARISM Viz Compressor C-AR-VIZ
£175.00 inc VAT.
Sparmax ARISM Viz Compressor with
Battery and Charger Z-AR-VIZ-BATT-
CHARGE £210.00 inc VAT.
The Airbrush Company Ltd
79 Marlborough Road (East)
Lancing Business Park
West Sussex BN15 8UF
Tel: +44 (0)1903 767 800
email: sales@airbrushes.com
www.airbrushes.com
30/01/2017 16:27
AM040 11.indd 1 30/01/2017 14:39
 How To

Repairing Damaged
Allan Voyce takes you through the steps to re-tap
threads and revive discarded engines.

12 AeroModeller - March 2017

REPAIR THREADS.indd 12 30/01/2017 16:28

ed Threads Photo 1. BA tap and split die set. These threads are used on many

Q
British engines.

uite often we find ourselves with at least one

engine or piece of equipment we can’t use
because it has one or more damaged threads,
usually on a vital part that needs to be held
securely. As long as there is enough thickness
of material still present, most threads can be re-tapped, and
a larger screw or bolt fitted. More often than not, this can be
accomplished using basic workshop tools and equipment, and
at other times, a pillar drill will make the process much easier to
accomplish. Screws and bolts can sometimes be re-threaded to
suit various applications, as long as there is sufficient diameter Photo 2. 1mm to 2.5mm metric tap and die set for those really
miniature engines.
to ensure a full depth thread.

Tools & Equipment

Good quality taps and dies are a must to be able to carry out an
effective repair, as a sloppy thread fit can let go when put under
stress, e.g. the bolts holding the cylinder and head on a model
diesel engine. Many different threads are used in our hobby,
often depending on which country the item was manufactured
in. Photo 1 is a B.A. (British Association) tap and split die set,
and photo 2 is metric set with sizes 1mm to 2.5 mm. Apart
from the very small thread sizes, thread taps come in sets
of 3, a taper or starter tap, a second cut, and a plug tap
(Photo3). The taper tap is used to start the thread, as the
tip will fit into the drilled hole. The second and plug taps are
used when tapping a blind hole where the thread doesn’t go
all the way through the material.

Photo 3. Taper, second and plug tap set.

Photo 4. The fanbelt is locked up to use the pillar drill as a tapping

jig. Note the machine’s electric plug fastened in to prevent
accidental start up.

13

REPAIR THREADS.indd 13 30/01/2017 16:28

 How To

Photo 5. 4mm thread tap in the drill press chuck
ready to be brought down to the cylinder jacket.
Photo 6. The cylinder jacket is turned by hand to
tap the thread.
A motorised drilling machine makes life
easier when a hole needs to be drilled
bigger to suit a larger thread, and I have
found a small pillar drill is useful for most
applications, except when the part is too
awkward a shape to be held safely and
square to the hole to be drilled on the
machine.
Before a thread is tapped, the hole
has to be the correct size to ensure a full
thread depth. Drill and tap size charts
are available on the internet or from
engineering supplies, however metric
thread sizes are easily worked out. The
thread I’ll be using on the compression
screw repair is 4mm x 0.5mm. The
diameter of the thread is 4mm, and
0.5mm is the thread pitch, which is
the distance between the peaks of the
thread. The drill size will be 4mm minus
0.5mm= 3.5mm.
To ensure a good clean cut thread,
the tap or die should be well lubricated,
or the finished thread will tear as it is
cut. Although special tapping fluids
are available, for our use a light vehicle
engine oil or similar will suffice. I
have found that a regular spray with
penetrating oil gives an excellent finish
on threads cut in aluminium. When
cutting a thread, the tap or die should
be rotated ½ a turn, then turned back
¼ turn to cut off the swarf produced as
the material is cut. This should be done
until the whole thread is cut, otherwise
the new thread could be torn out as the
swarf builds up on the cutting edges of
the tap or die if they are not backed off
regularly.
Stripped Diesel
Compression Screw
I’ve had quite a few model diesel
engines through my hands where the
compression screw has been stripped
trying to free off a gummed up contra-
piston. The engine I’ll be using is a DC
Merlin .75cc. The first thing to check
is the next largest size bolt that will
comfortably be able to be used to

Photo 8. Fitting a Photo 9. Three nuts

nut to the cap screw are locked onto the
before is cut to length screw to prevent
and a taper ground on thread damage when
the end enables the holding it in the drill
thread to be cleaned chuck.
up when the nut is
removed.

Photo 7. Testing the screw in the thread to

check for the length of thread needed to
make a tidy job.

14 AeroModeller - March 2017

REPAIR THREADS.indd 14 30/01/2017 16:28

 Photo 10. A file is used to shape the compression screw
with the drill press on low speed.
accommodate a full depth thread in
the cylinder jacket. I tend to use metric
bolts as they are readily available. Try
passing a drill by hand through the screw
hole, and once you have the drill size,
you can work out which tap size can be
used by using the formula outlined in the
previous section. The same can be done
for other threads using a tapping chart
to cross-reference the drill size against
the tap that can be used. Try not to use
fine threads in aluminium, as a coarser
thread is stronger due to the depth of the
thread.
The drill that fitted the DC head was
3.5mm, so it can be tapped to 4mm x
0.5mm pitch. Sometimes you may have
to drill the hole a little larger to fit the
next size tap. To make sure the thread
is tapped at right angles to the head, a
pillar drill can be used as a tapping jig
by locking up the chuck using cable ties
around the fanbelt as shown in Photo
4. NOTE THE POWER PLUG TIED IN
THE FANBELT IN PHOTO 4 TO AVOID
ACCIDENTAL MACHINE START UP!
The thread is tapped by fitting the
thread tap in the drill chuck, placing the
cylinder jacket on the drill press table
and bringing the tap down into the hole
in the cylinder jacket (Photo 5). The
cylinder jacket can then be turned by
hand to cut the thread (Photo 6).
Making a new ‘Comfortable’
Compression Screw
I use Allen Head cap screws to make
compression screws as they are made
from harder material than normal screws
REPAIR THREADS.indd 15
Photo 11. This shape makes
for comfortable use for tight heat at the point where it is to be bent. A small spanner or tube
fitting contra pistons. keeps fingers away from the heat & provides some leverage.
and bolts. This prevents the end of the
screw becoming mushroomed from
constant use against the contra-piston,
and removing the thread in the cylinder
if the screw is removed after being used
for some time. The longer cap screws
are only threaded part of the
way on the shank, and this
makes for a tidier finished
compression screw.
Screw the cap screw
into the cylinder
jacket (Photo 7),
and see how much
thread is showing
above the cylinder.
Remove the screw,
and cut off any excess
thread, making sure to
leave enough thread for
compression adjustment. File
or grind a slight taper on the end of
the thread, this is to take care of any
mushrooming that may occur through
constant use. Note: if you screw a nut
onto the screw before cutting and filing,
when you remove it, it will clean up any
“rags” left from these operations (Photo
8). Cut the head off the screw, leaving
enough shank for the length of screw
lever you want, including a small amount
needed for the bend, which is described
further on.
Lock 3 nuts onto the screw (Photo
9), tightening them against each other
so the flats line up. This is done so the
thread is not damaged when the screw
is placed in the pillar drill chuck (Photo
10). Using a file, and the drill press
Photo 12. A small blow torch is used to heat the screw to red
on low speed, the compression screw
lever section can be filed to shape. The
profile I have shaped is comfortable to
use, especially for tight contra-pistons
(Photo 11). A lathe could be used for
this process if you have access to one.
WEAR EYE PROTECTION!
DO NOT WEAR LOOSE
CLOTHING OR
ANY JEWELLERY
WHILE WORKING
WITH MOVING
MACHINERY!
Photo 13. The
completed
compression screw
ready for use.
Due to the hardness
of the allen cap screw,
it needs to be heated until the
section to be bent is red hot, or it will
crack or break at the bend. It can be
heated using a small butane torch
available from hardware shops (Photo
12), or your local motor vehicle repair
shop or engineering shop could help
here. Note the 3 nuts are left on the
screw to avoid damage when it is
gripped in the vice, and a small spanner
or piece of tube is used to provide
leverage while bending, and also to keep
fingers and hands clear of the heat.
Photo 13 shows the completed screw,
and fitted to the engine in Photo 14.
Tommy Bar Compression Screw
The cap screw is cut to length as per the
15
30/01/2017 16:29
 How To
Photo 14. New compression screw fitted to a
DC Super Merlin ready to go.
Photo 15. Two simple pieces are used to make
up a tommy bar compression screw.
Photo 16. Thread repair inserts, tap and fitting
tool.
Photo 17. A damaged thread can often be
repaired using a thread file.
Photo 18. Split dies can be adjusted by the
three screws to give the best thread fit on a
screw or bolt.
REPAIR THREADS.indd 16
previous compression screw, then drilled
to accept the tommy bar. Note: the top
of the screw is cut to length after drilling,
so there is sufficient material to hold it
securely in the drill press vice. The hole
is drilled 1.5mm, which will give a good
interference fit for a piece of 1/16” spring
wire. A taper is ground on the end of
the spring wire before cutting it to the
required length. Place the compression
screw on a piece of pine or similar
wood, and fit the tapered end of the
spring wire in the drilled hole. The wire
is then driven right through the hole with
a hammer, and the tapered end is then
cut or ground off. Photo 15 shows a
completed compression screw, and the
screw and wire before final cutting and
finishing.
Thread Repair Inserts
Photo 16 shows one type of thread
repair insert that is available from
engineering or bolt suppliers. This
particular type is made of diamond-
shaped wire that has been wound into
a coil, providing an internal and external
thread. These can be supplied in a kit
containing the correct drill size for the
insert, a special tap, a fitting tool, and
some inserts. The inserts are available
in most thread types and sizes, but
we sometimes have to compromise if
the original thread type for a particular
engine is not available.
Thread inserts are used to provide
extra strength in soft metals for a given
bolt size, or for repairing a stripped
thread where the same size bolt must
be used. Always check that there will be
enough material left to hold the insert,
and still provide enough strength for
the intended purpose, e.g. cylinder hold
down bolts fastened into small lugs on
the crankcase on a model diesel engine.
There are many videos on the Internet
showing thread insert fitting. Always
try to view one that has been posted
by the insert manufacturer, as this will
outline the correct fitting sequence, and
possibly prevent disappointment if things
go wrong!
Repairing an External Thread
From time to time we come across an
external thread that has been damaged,
either by an incorrect nut being fitted, or
the correct nut being cross-threaded. A
thread file is the tool used here, as long
as the whole length of the thread has not
been cross-threaded. Thread files are
readily available from tool, automotive
spares and engineering shops, in both
metric and imperial sizes. Each file
normally has 8 thread sizes, and on each
end they have a corresponding thread
gauge to try against the damaged thread
to locate the correct file to use. To find
the correct file, hold the thread gauge
against the thread, and check the gauge
fits correctly along the thread, and the
full depth of the thread.
Photo 17 shows a thread file with
a bolt next to it bearing the type of
damage we would use it to repair. Place
the bolt on the gap of a slightly open
vice to work on it. This will allow the
thread to be rotated as it is filed, and will
be secure enough for the file to be kept
in alignment with the thread. A specific
file may not be available for some
modelling threads, but judicious use of a
set of needle files can sometimes be of
help here.
Re-threading Screws
Occasionally the size screw we require
may not be available, and we may have
to modify one to suit our purpose. Photo
18 shows a split thread die and a screw
that has had the end re-threaded to 6BA.
The screw in the die holder that lines
up with the split in the die has a tapered
end, enabling a small adjustment of
the die size. The other 2 screws are
tightened to hold the die, and close it
onto the tapered screw. By adjusting the
die size in this way, we can get the best
fit for a screw thread, which will ensure
maximum strength once it is tightened.
Some final notes…
If you only have one or two threads to
repair, buying a set of taps and dies
would seem to be false economy. Quite
often a local engineering company,
or indeed someone from a model
engineering club will often be willing to
help by tapping the odd thread for you.
Any threads that are regularly turned
for adjustment purposes should always
be well lubricated to prevent excessive
wear, and extend the life of the thread.
Many repairs often have an easy
solution once given a little thought, and
hopefully some of those old engines will
once again take to the air! ●
30/01/2017 16:29
AM040 P17.indd 1 30/01/2017 15:41
 Free Flight Scale
Scale Matters
Bill Dennis builds another winning release from the Vintage Model Company and surveys the
coming year for FF Scale.
VMC Sopwith Camel
The output of small scale models from
the Vintage Model Company is gathering
pace, such that it is becoming difficult
to keep up. The latest is the Sopwith
Camel, forming an ideal partner for
the previous SE5a. This series of kits
is designed by Andrew Darby and is
intended to be a modern take on the Keil
Kraft and Veron designs. I was lucky
enough to get one of the first Camels
and have just completed it.
Again, the level of detail on the
plan and the accuracy of the fits are
extraordinary, and the wood selection
superb. Once assembled, the model
18 AeroModeller - March 2017
SCALE MATTERS 040.indd 18
captures the essence of the Camel
perfectly, with correct wingtips (often
portrayed with straight edges), the
right wing gap and the characteristic
Camel ‘sit’. The tail is enlarged but
that is a concession to make the thing
fly. With everything basically accurate,
the opportunity is there, for those so
inclined, to embellish it to their
hearts’ content.
I made a very few
alterations, just
to suit my
own
whims. The most important is to add
working rigging, which I did recently for
the first time on the Avetek Tiger Moth. It
adds greatly to the strength and I would
say it is essential. While these kits are
a huge improvement over the KK ones
of yore, the one area where I prefer the
original is the centre section struts
which used to run right
down to the bottom
of the
the new VMC Sopwith Camel. It is
the same size as the much-loved
Keil Kraft design but somewhat
more sophisticated!
30/01/2017 16:30
 Your columnist’s Earl Stahl Curtiss SOC3-1 after four days’ work. Yes, the The Curtiss almost ready to go, just awaiting the arrival of a Dave Banks pilot
notches mostly line up. before the front canopy is added.

fuselage where they were firmly some Williams cylinders of the correct being admired.
anchored. Without some bracing, these size. These are easily split in half with a Next up from VMC is a Corsair.
struts could easily break away and the Stanley knife down the moulding seam.
model would be very difficult to repair. I made a mess of the paper ‘plywood’ Stahl Curtiss Seagull
I know this after my toolbox wandered panelling around the front fuselage. I have never built an Earl Stahl design,
about in the car on the way back from My first attempt with brown paint was only because hitherto I have built few
Oxford and did a bit of squashing on horrible; next time round I printed some rubber models. Nevertheless I have
the SE5! Rigging is easily done: use wood grain off the internet. This was always been aware of the esteem in
‘bait bayonets’ from the fishing shop much too bright but a couple of coats of which his designs are held and they
(£1.99 for 20) poked in and cyanoed as pine woodstain improved things. certainly have a deserved reputation as
anchor points, and 2lb brown fishing Flight tests await but the fact that fine-flying machines. The many plans
line, pulled tight and held with short the model flies well can be seen on are well-drawn and practical, looking
pieces of crimped aluminium tube. Just Youtube (search ‘VMC Sopwith Camel’). surprisingly modern structurally.
be careful not to accidentally cross the To maximise performance, My interest was stimulated
landing and flying wires when doing this one could lighten the by photos online of a
– I understand there are people foolish tail surfaces quite a very nice Stahl Waco
enough to do this, and more than once… biplane, but while
Having covered the model, I used a Paul Briggs has
looking for
different brand of non-shrinking dope built this very the plans on
to my usual, which led to a tiny amount nice Waterman
Racer from
Outerzone I
of curved dihedral on the top wing. All Aeromodeller came across
NSD shrinks a little, but I find HMG does December
this Curtiss
1984. Only
so the least. However, a Camel with a one of this SO3C-1
perfectly flat top wing can look droopy machine which was
was built,
and sad; my Camel looks perkier without and there kitted by
being noticeable, so don’t worry if a little are only Flyline, and
two photos,
curvature creeps in. but it makes I changed
You are probably aware that I prefer a up into a course.
very cute and
painted finish, and I sprayed a thin coat fine-flying little Between having
of my usual Flair/Spectrum PC10. I have model. the plan printed
got used to the paper markings and I and what you see
used them here, except for the rudder bit, and also shave here uncovered is
and upper wing, which I knew I would be away some of the rear four days. It is a long time
unable to do neatly; these were painted. fuselage. The model will also since I have built a model using
The markings in the kit do not include need a lot of down and sidethrust; at the keel and stringer fuselage, and it
fuselage roundels, but these are easily least 6 degrees. This will be somewhat has opened up a whole new world of
found on the internet and re-sized. disfiguring so you may wish to make up mistakes to be made. Nevertheless, the
Rather than mess about with dowel a dummy noseplug and scale prop for model went together quickly and easily.
and thread for the engine, I found I had when the model is just sitting on the TV Most of the fuselage notches lined up

19

SCALE MATTERS 040.indd 19 30/01/2017 16:30

 Free Flight Scale

Here are the basic parts for the

Lewis gun on the Strutter. It
should be possible to produce
something special from this basic
representation.

This is how far the Strutter had progressed by the Christmas break. Note
the representation of the delicate ‘latticework’ around the nose, and scale
undercarriage. The potentially troublesome rigging of the CS struts is rendered
simple by the use of jigs. The rear rubber anchorage will be beefed up.

pretty well but I made a big mistake with Lodge, along with a large contingent of pay. A combined event with like-minded
the upper keel by using separate pieces SAM35 members, the purpose being to modellers is more practical and SAM35
(as on the plan) and leaving a gap where assess its suitability for our activities. have booked October 1st for a meeting
the rear cabin is. Inevitably this led to the The field is about the same area as Old and invited us along.
structure twisting and I had to rescue Warden but it is a much more convenient
the situation by glueing a bridging strip shape and will work with different wind Strutter kit
across the keels to straighten things directions. Better still, the surrounding You may remember the recent Tiger
up. When it was all done, I took a piece land is all part of the same estate and Moth kit from Avetek in New Zealand,
of half-inch dowel, wrapped coarse retrieving errant models should not be a which was reviewed here last year.
sandpaper round it and scalloped the problem. They now have a new release in the
formers between the stringers. I think this It will not be feasible to run a scale- form of a 28” Sopwith 1½ Strutter and
is worth doing; a stringered fuselage on only meeting because we do not have I was delighted to receive one of the
a metal aircraft is already a compromise, sufficient active modellers to make it first kits through the post. To say it is a
made worse by formers sticking through
the covering like ribs on a ‘supermodel’.
The only change I made was to add
a cross-brace inside the fuselage at the
point of the TE; this is where the fuselage
will collapse on a one piece model when
the wing gets knocked back. There
is nothing to be said about the wings
and tail, other than they were easy and
well-designed. Finish is Humbrol enamel
over Esaki tissue, with paper markings.
Unusually for a rubber model, it naturally
balances where it should.

BMFA flying site

I recently visited the new BMFA National
Two views of the prototype of Avetek’s Strutter kit. The dummy engine and guns provide a sound basis
Centre and flying site at Buckminster for as much extra detailing as you wish.

20 AeroModeller - March 2017

SCALE MATTERS 040.indd 20 30/01/2017 16:30

 quantum leap forward in kit design
is an understatement. I have, in fact,
watched the model’s gestation over the
months and so had a good idea of what
to expect. Like the Tiger, many aspects
of the construction are innovative, with
extensive use of jigs.
The first thing to say is that it makes
up into a very accurate replica, which
will suit the most exacting competition
modeller as well as those who just want
their models to look ‘right’. Just about
everything you will need is in the kit; you
will not be scrounging straws for guns
or winding engine cylinders with thread
around balsa dowel.
The photo shows the kit contents.
Again, there is no box; the kit arrived
stoutly-wrapped in its plastic bag, all
the laser-cut sheets sandwiched safely
between four thick sheets of initially
incomprehensible jigs which make
construction easy and accurate. If you
look carefully, you will see the jigs, no
fewer than 16 sheets of high-quality laser
cut balsa and ply, carbon tube spars,
vacform cowling and wheels, tissue and
even a 3D printed basis for a dummy
engine on which you can go to town.
Conveniently, the plans are printed on
a number of A3 sheets which are much
more manageable than one big one.
Unusually there are no instructions in the
bag; I can vouch that these are very long
and comprehensive and as such will be
supplied via email, although they will be
provided separately if needed.
The prototype models were free-flight
rubber but electric conversion would
be an alternative. Unlike the Tiger, all
Derek Knight’s Auster will be eligible for the AM/MA contest at the FF Nats in
late May. Have you got your model ready yet?
SCALE MATTERS 040.indd 21
the control surfaces are separate and I
am sure many builders will be installing
lightweight radio.
I shall not be building this quickly but
shall report on progress as I go on. Let
me give one example of the attention to
detail. The wing section is scale which
means that at the aileron hinge line,
the ribs are off the board. This normally
means some accurate and fiddly packing
is needed; here the wing and aileron ribs
are provided with little tabs to rest on the
board and to be removed later. Clever.
Postscript; I strongly advise that
you tackle the build in the order things
appear in the instructions. Thus far
I have assembled the fuselage, tail
and undercarriage; the latter is a very
accurate representation of the original,
which went together in 20 minutes!
Finally, today I received separately the
parts for the guns and Scarff rings,
which I hope Avetek will make available
separately, maybe even at a larger scale.
One-twelfth would suit me nicely!
International Indoor Fly-in, 2017
We have already had advance notification
of this event, more commonly-known in
the UK as ‘Nijmegen’. If you look at the
website www.iifi.nl you well get an idea
of the events on offer.
Dates for the next Interscale are 10
– 12th November 2017, with the Friday
being added for those who want some
trimming or non-contest flying. We had
such an enjoyable time at Interscale in
2015 that we intend to go again this year
if at all possible. Getting there is easy
from the ferry port of Rotterdam – just
This is a photo from April 1944 AM of the original uncovered
Auster model.
an hour and a half – so give it some
consideration.
Auster
The very nice looking silver Auster is
by Derek Knight, from an April 1944
AeroModeller plan. If you have one
of the old Plans Handbooks, it will be
there in the rubber section, alongside a
number of designs from the same era,
many represented by photos evidently
of the full-size! I wasn’t around at the
time, of course, but this period of rubber
scale modelling in the UK was brief,
beginning in the war and ending with the
appearance of the ED Bee and Mills 75
round about 1947
The model is reduced a little from the
original 36”, and thus it is eligible for the
AeroModeller/Model Aircraft designs
event at the May Nationals (10% re-
sizing either way is permitted). The blurb
says that ‘construction closely follows
the original’ and Derek confirms that it is
rather more complex than is necessary!
Finally...
Confirmation that the official "August
Nationals" FF Scale Trophy events
will again be held at the FF Nationals
at Barkston Heath, over the late May
Bank Holiday. This is alongside the
usual Flying Only (including the event
for AeroModeller and Model Aircraft
designs old and new) and Outdoor Kit
Scale Classes. If you are not already on
the FF scale emailing list and want to get
information about this and other events,
contact me at billdennis747@aol.com ●
21
30/01/2017 16:30
 Power Trip
Fora Junior 2016
Maris Dislers tests the revised Fora Junior 2.5cc which is available in glow and diesel versions.
R
egular readers will recall our
report on the Fora Junior
2.5cc (0.15 ci) engine from
issue 933, February 2015.
Since then, a dedicated RC
glow Junior has become available and
we believe that this new version will
also become the regular fixed-choke
diesel/glow Junior. We’ll call it the 2016
Junior. While looking little different at first
glance, it contains significant revisions.
Enough for us to take a closer look.
Recapping, the Junior is intended as
a sport engine and as an introduction
to competition work, but is priced
significantly lower than true competition
engines. They have proven popular in
Club competitions and for Classic FAI
New cylinder (right) is machined from solid, has revised port angles, larger bore and is shorter than the earlier Junior type (left).
22 AeroModeller - March 2017
POWER TRIP 040.indd 22
Team Racing. However, as we pointed
out in our earlier report, when pushed
to maximum performance potential, a
couple of structural weaknesses
became evident.
Development
The new version has been significantly
modified, such that only a few minor
parts are carried over. The earlier 14mm
and 16mm bore-stroke arrangement is
replaced by 14.5mm bore and 14.9mm
stroke. The new, slightly shorter cylinder
has one less cooling fin and is machined
from bar stock, not the earlier casting.
The new piston is also from bar stock
and has a 5.9mm diameter window on
the boost port side. And when viewed
through a magnifying glass, does not
have the obvious crystals that are
inevitable with high silicon casting alloys.
That ought to mean the new piston
and cylinder are less prone to thermal
distortion and cracking. Wrist pin is a
light interference fit in the piston bosses
and at 11.5mm long, sits somewhat short
of the retaining circlips. A new conrod
design has a rectangular cross section,
not circular.
The original crankcase is retained,
but has a larger groove on the exhaust
side to clear the wider conrod. The new
one-piece hardened steel crankshaft
will of course overcome any potential
wandering crankpin problems. Less
obvious is the move away from slit
30/01/2017 16:31
 ABOVE: New piston (right) is machined from
solid, not a casting. Has large window aligning
with boost passage/port. Revised conrod design
adds strength, has additional lubrication hole to
top of big end bearing enters obliquely from the
side.
RIGHT: Earlier crankshaft had pressed-in
crankpin. New crankshaft (right) is in one piece,
hardened. Generous valve port aids high speed
running in glow mode. Feeds 7mm diameter gas
passage.
spraybar end to a synthetic rubber gland
clamped by the dome nut against the
spraybar tip, to seal against air leaks and
hold the desired needle position.
As before, our engine came with the
head button for a long reach normal
glow plug, if the owner wishes to run
it that way, along with an alternative
F2D style venturi insert. Its 4mm choke
point is very near the top, then diverges
to almost 6mm diameter, before the
steep conical taper of the lower section.
Four jet holes are set somewhat below
the 6mm position, clearly with the
expectation that some form of pressure
fuel feed method is used – probably a
latex bladder. The regular venturi insert
for suction feed has a steep conical taper
to the 3.9mm diameter choke point, with
four peripheral jet holes immediately
below, in the steeply divergent
lower section.
One final observation was an
unusually generous radial clearance
of approximately 0.08mm (0.003
in.) between the lower cylinder and
crankcase. This area containing the ports
and crankcase passages is usually fitted
quite snugly to avoid loss of crankcase
pressure to atmosphere. A simple
pressure test confirmed this potential
leak path on our particular engine.
Incidentally, this engine could be
assembled with the earlier crankshaft,
which would increase swept volume
to 2.64cc. Oversize for competition
POWER TRIP 040.indd 23
classes, but maybe an option if the older
piston/cylinder sets are discontinued as
spares. Port timing then becomes milder
– around 142 degrees exhaust and 118
degrees transfers and the head would
need to be shimmed higher for the extra
stroke. Or a suitable spacer between
cylinder and crankcase could also
be used.
Diesel mode
With that easy cylinder to crankcase
fit, it was no surprise that normal finger
choking did not draw fuel from the fuel
tank. We found that measuring around
six drops of fuel into the carburettor
adequately primed the engine for
starting and the engine seemed to run
perfectly happily. As an experiment,
we temporarily added a packing shim
around the cylinder’s exhaust port area
(made from aluminium drink can, held in
place with balsa cement) to better seal
against crankcase pressure/vacuum loss.
While not a perfect solution, that allowed
us to finger choke the engine in the usual
way, but seemed to have no measurable
effect on performance.
General handling in diesel mode was
very good. We noted that the carburettor
design was perhaps chosen for its good
pressure drop at the fuel delivery point.
In practice, optimum mixture setting
for best power output was unreliable. A
momentary change in flow could then
have it misfiring, with less fuel delivered,
lowering RPM. Recovery from this
condition, when opening the needle
setting, was not rapid. Therefore, this
engine is best operated with a slightly
rich mixture setting, where it runs quite
steadily. And at this size, the carburettor
would not be well suited for aerobatics or
combat work, where a more consistent
fuel supply is required.
Compression adjustment is quite
insensitive, especially if you are
accustomed to a contra piston with
full cylinder bore diameter. That means
one eighth or a quarter turn to make
any noticeable difference. This engine
tolerates an over-compressed setting,
not by overheating and reduced RPM,
but by a rough exhaust note and only
slight loss in RPM. That tolerance is
good in a way, but puts much more
strain on the internals and should be
avoided. As always, go with the minimum
compression setting before performance
drops off.
Generally, the Junior 2016’s
performance curves are very similar
to the earlier version, although torque
at lower speeds is significantly less.
Maximum torque occurs between 13,000
RPM and 15,000 RPM, so it was no
surprise that the engine was not very
comfortable when loaded to lower
speeds. Power peaks around 17,500
RPM where it delivers 0.47 BHP, but
you’ll get most of that across 16,000
- 19,000 RPM. At even higher speeds,
23
30/01/2017 16:31
 Power Trip

which lacks the diesel button’s 0.25mm

Technical data
Cylinder bore 14.5 mm (.571 in.) step, giving that much more clearance at
Stroke 14.9 mm (.586 in.) top dead centre. Venturi inserts were also
Swept volume 2.46 cc (.150 cu. in.) swapped over. Although effective choke
Weight (diesel mode) 143.2g (5.05 oz.) area is almost the same, the glow venturi
Exhaust duration 146 degrees
is specifically designed for maximum
Transfer duration 119 degrees
Boost duration 117 degrees air mass flow rate for that size, as in
Intake opens 36 deg. ABDC F2D competition engines. We tested
Intake closes 57 deg. ATDC with F2D combat fuel containing 10%
Intake duration 201 degrees nitro methane, 20% castor oil and 70%
Suction venturi choke diameter/area 3.9mm (.154 in.) / 11.9 sq. mm (.0185 sq. in.)
methanol.
Pressure venturi choke diameter/area 4.0 mm (.157 in.) / 12.6 sq. mm (.0195 sq. in.)
Mounting hole spacing 13 x 35 mm (.512 x 1.5 in.) While needle adjustment in diesel
mode was a little vague, not so with high
pressure fuel feed from a latex bladder,
vibration increases significantly. satisfactory using JXF 7x6, Techno where the fineness of adjustment was
Our test fuel contained 20% castor Hobby Diesel Combat prop or trimmed more suitable. We had almost a quarter
oil, 30% ether, 50% Jet A-1 kerosene APC 7x7. We were impressed by turn leeway near the peak setting, before
and 1.5% EHN ignition improver. how this engine maintained operating going too rich or lean. Running was very
We tried the same mix with 2% EHN, temperature during pit stops. Restarts consistent and hand starting was almost
hoping for a clearer indication of with correct priming were rapid. instantaneous with the correct priming
optimum compression setting, but procedure. No need to bounce the
with no significant effect. Flight tests Glow mode propeller backwards, so that it swings
in a Goodyear racing model were quite We installed the supplied head button, over on the misfire. Just flick as normal.

Despite almost the same effective choke area, the short “suction” venturi View of pressure venturi from below. Shows shallow divergent taper from
(right) is designed for maximum pressure drop at the fuel feed area. Taller choke point at top, to maintain smooth laminar air flow, before fuel is
design (left) for pressure feed aims for maximum air mass flow rate. injected through four jet holes below.

24 AeroModeller - March 2017

POWER TRIP 040.indd 24 30/01/2017 16:31

 New F2D style pressure-feed carburettor, makes
the multi-purpose Junior a willing option for F2D
Combat training. Optional exhaust manifold and
muffler is available separately.
Looking almost like its predecessor, the
2016 Fora Junior is significantly revamped,
but in diesel mode has very similar
performance. Detail changes should make
this one more durable.
Even when inadvertently flooded, the
Junior was not a finger biter.
In glow mode, this engine doesn’t even
get out of bed unless allowed to turn at
least 16,000 RPM, which corresponds to
maximum torque delivery of 29 oz-in (the
same level as in diesel mode). Thereafter,
power climbs to a respectable peak of
0.6 BHP around 22,500 RPM. Power
drops significantly beyond this speed,
meaning the glow Junior will not reach
the much higher operating RPM of a
true F2D Combat engine. And fitting
the optional muffler would probably dull
down power at the top of its practical
RPM scale. There’s no point in fitting a
slender F2D Combat propeller, when this
one is better suited to a good modern
7x4 propeller from APC, JXF or Master
Airscrew. Or perhaps the APC 6.3x4 prop
if you like your engine to over-rev in
level flight.
We found the McCoy MC-9 (medium
hot) or Glo Bee flat-coil plug suited our
engine better than a Fireball Yellow
(Medium). Head and plug remained
POWER TRIP 040.indd 25
unscathed in our tests, suggesting
further potential by removing one or
more shims.
All Rounder
Time will tell whether the latest changes
to the Junior engine translate into the
Spartan toughness that goes with
an engine expected to do intensive
training work, before giving its best in
competitions. After fairly lengthy testing,
ours feels as good as new. If you want to
compare our reported performance from
the older model, remember that different Moulded plastic back plate can accommodate
venturi sizes and types were used. That a crankcase pressure nipple in the centre, if
desired. This comes standard on the RC Glow
makes it unclear whether this latest version. Also note the stiffening web at the
version is more potent. No matter. That’s crankcase rear. Engine looks chunky, but does
not rely on bulk for rigidity.
not the point. If you want more power,
there’s a little potential from the usual
tweaks, or buy a better, more expensive Mark Greenwood
engine. The Junior does very well for technohobbywest@gmail.com
the money. Ukrainian or Russian customers
Customers in Western countries can purchase via the website at
can more easily buy the Fora Junior technohobby.com.ua which also
engine from TechnoHobby West, run lists their full range of Fora and other
from the UK by Mike Crossman and products in English. ●
25
30/01/2017 16:31
 Model Science

Part 30
BETTER… HABITS - PREPARATION

S
Dave Hipperson looks at the personal actions that lead to success on the flying field.

omeone once said that when
we fail we do it a little bit
at a time. In other words
we let the tiny details slip
and eventually it all comes
crashing down. If you have read what
has gone before in John O’Donnell’s
columns over the past months we can
presume you are interested in flying
well and winning, or at least competing
competently and hence enjoying
yourself. Furthermore if you have taken
notice of what he has been saying you
should have well-built, strong, straight
models of the correct design. So now
we can attend to the small details. This
article should take you up to the moment
you launch the first comp flight of the
day. In future months I will endeavour to
explain some tricks which help getting
it back. The ideas below are born out
of fifty years of my own competition
experience but mostly originated by
the man I hope I am only temporarily
deputising while he considers whether to
continue writing.
The following steps are preparing for
the fray or going into battle. Success
planning should be a little like a military
exercise, and as with all plans there
should always be a ‘B’ and if not at least
the willingness to adjust tactics in the
face of the unexpected. Tactics you
notice, not strategy. Strategy comes first
and that’s deciding what you want to
achieve – tactics are the tricks you use

RIGHT: Gliders are some of the most complex

of free flight competition models now. This one
has flaps!

BELOW: There is plenty to maintain on a power

duration model. This is Pete Watson’s Dixy which
boasts an RCDT and Texas Timer modified to
shut off the engine. Condition of that squeezable
tube is vital both to running and stopping.

26 AeroModeller - March 2017

BETTER PART 30.indd 26 30/01/2017 16:31

 T34 Slow Open Power model fuselage. Lots of dependence on rubber bands here. You could be mistaken for thinking this is an RC model. It’s an F1Q (electric
They can peruish so must be changed regularly. The engine timer is a Tatone, duration) belonging to Chris Redrup. Plenty of batteries to double check.
with rearward facing levers allowing two different delay settings on the DT.

Ian Davitt’s model box. Keep everything in the box all the time and it is less The modern F1A towhook has come a long way since someone stuck a pin
likely that you will arrive without your tail planes. (Photo by Sue Hipperson) in the bottom of a model and hooked up a piece of string. All this equipment
has to be regularly maintained.

on the field to achieve it.
There is a competition coming. There
are classes in it for which you have
models. Is there one event that you
wish to win particularly or think you can,
or are you perhaps hoping to do fairly
well in a couple with thoughts towards
Championship, or Plugge Points, or
whatever? Decide this clearly before you
go. Decide your priorities, your strategy.
Repairs
Your preparation should have begun
immediately you came home from the
last contest, in as much as there is likely
or not some repair work to do, no matter
how minor. I always liked to do this as
soon as possible whilst it was fresh in
my memory, particularly in the case
of rubber where open models always
sustain some damage and motors need
to be checked and talked to nicely so
they work the next time. Repairing and
making up new rubber motors was
always most therapeutic for me – like
cutting out wing ribs. I loved it. I know
most of you don’t – I understand but it
has to be done.
Power models take a pounding from
vibrations that you might not notice.
Always check the timers and engine
bolts etc. and wash out any motors that
have been in the dirt. Whilst lovingly
cleaning them you can check for damage
to the airframe. Gliders are subjected to
enormous loads. Check nothing nasty
has happened to structures in the wing
root that may not be immediately visible.
Lines, knots, nicks, frays and even, have
you brought all the components home?
Back at home all airframes can of course
be patched neatly, replacing those
slightly less than pretty temporary repairs
you might have made during the contest.
Now electricity has inveigled its
way into free flight it is necessary that
you check batteries constantly. Have
a routine. Radio DTs are a wonderful
convenience but not so effective if
the batteries are flat or disconnected!
Your transmitters and your lap tops all
have these too. Checking and testing
is essential if you have RCDT and/or
electronic timers.
The Models
I have had people mention that they
never saw me make a trim flight at a
contest. This is pretty much correct.
I wouldn’t say I never got out an
untrimmed model at a contest but it
was rare. Time is invariably tight and if
it isn’t then the more time you have in

27

BETTER PART 30.indd 27 30/01/2017 16:33


Model Science
With planning it’s possible to get a great deal into a small space. Saves weight
and room in the car. This example is Phil Ball’s box of F1Bs.
hand, and the better you can use the
conditions, eventually the higher you will
place. My trimming was done ‘at home’.
(If only!) Actually for the last fifteen years
my local site was just over 30 miles
away. I would expect to go there 15-20
times in a typical season or well over
1000 miles driving per year just to trim.
Additionally the trimming of some small
classes` (Cd’H, CO2 and Mini Vintage
Rubber) could be accommodated on a
very local field if the weather was perfect.
Try to take trimmed models with you –
there should not be time for test flights
and if you think there is you are only
risking the models as the environment
at a contest is usually rather unfriendly
particularly if it’s an aerodrome. Too
many hard things to hit.
The night before the competition at
the latest, check the models even if only
to be sure you have the models you
thought you did in the box(es) you are
planning to take. Don’t laugh – it’s been
done, turning up with the wrong models.
If you are lucky enough to have sufficient
storage space to keep your different
28 AeroModeller - December 2016
BETTER PART 30.indd 28
A neat compact model box is useful. This one belonged to the master of the art
the late Anselmo Zeri. Half a dozen Wakefields in here. Not even heavy. I built
one similar, but it weighed twice as much.
classes in different boxes then double
check that all the necessary components
are in there. I have a good friend in the
Midlands that thinks I am now going
to tell you the tale of the time he went
abroad and forgot all his Wakefield tail
planes. It’s OK Russell, I am not going to
mention it.
Are they trimmed, when did you last
fly them, what happened? It’s useful
if you keep notes on each one. I keep
little cards in the appropriate boxes
telling me when I flew each model last
and how it was. (Not it’s contest record
– that’s unnecessary – just whether it
was behaving itself or not.) If you fly just
one class this may not be absolutely
necessary but if you fly many it most
certainly is. Are all the flying surfaces
flat, or if not, warped in the right places?
Flat is easy, but so as to be able to
quickly check for changes by eye, I
write the warps on the trailing edges,
tips and dihedral breaks. This is also
useful if a model receives damage or
gets very wet during the day. You have
a visual way of checking the warps
The end of the
Hipperson home's
integral garage. These
nine boxes are all full,
plus another twoat
the other end of the
garage - 63 airframes
in all. It speeded
packing but I always
checked I had what it
said on the lid!
before you fly again. Check fuselages
are straight and undamaged, any auto
rudders work, and timers operate
as they should - tensioning devices,
especially if elastic bands, are prone
to perish (even if slowly). I appreciate
that the most modern airframes require
somewhat more than a visual inspection
and condition of contacts and batteries
are important as well. Complicated glider
hooks can gum up just as easily as
motors, check they are free. In the case
of power models carefully check the
plumbing, especially the loose neoprene
or silicone bits. Things that give the most
trouble on rubber models are usually the
prop blades not folding. Mine had a habit
of stiffening up occasionally, check they
are free and oiled along with the prop
shafts. Prop blades not folding correctly
still wreck more flights than sophisticated
electronic timers malfunctioning!
Back Up Equipment
Without all your ancillary equipment, or
even without one tiny crucial bit of it,
your day can be made uncomfortable
30/01/2017 16:34
 before you start. A list covering all the
disciplines would be enormous but if
you simply go through what you do to
fly then that should involve all the stuff
you require. The frightfully well organised
Stafford Screen had a very strict check
list. I worry about those a bit as they
don’t encourage you to think and it’s
still possible to misread something and
hence forget it. Try to store things at
home in the same place all the time and
develop a routine for unpacking and
re-packing the vehicle. I had a friend that
used to religiously arrange it all on their
billiard table in the games room the night
before, so nothing could be forgotten.
Good system. (I’m sure any table would
do! Editor)
Gliders require towlines – more
different lengths than ever now. Rubber
model motors should be plentiful, tinned,
bagged and labelled clearly for speedy
selection and use. Remember winders,
torque meters, winding jigs, winding
tubes and wind breaks. Rubber always
was fiddly. Power is just a bit smelly but
some of us like that. Fuel, including some
brand new un-opened cans (particularly
for diesel where the ether can evaporate)
in case the supply you are currently
using gives trouble. Also remember
the obligatory dirty brown tool box that
sits by you all day and amongst other
things reminds you where you are flying
from - it usually includes a starter motor
which most people use now. Make sure
the battery that powers it is charged as
well as the one to activate glow plugs.
The Hipperson Kontiki Swift Motor Home circa 1999 here after spending the night on the
side of the field awaiting next days Paris Cd’H event. Can cause its own weather problems
but useful if you want to bring absolutely everything. Usually has a ladder on the roof too.
BETTER PART 30.indd 29
Props, glow heads, nuts and bolts even
complete spare engines and especially
timers - have them with you. No time to
repair such things on the field.
Nowadays there is thermal detection
equipment, sometimes simple, more
often complex. Even leaving your
favourite wind direction indicator at home
can disturb a day’s concentration. Check
everything. Possibly just as important
is retrieval gear but I will deal with that
in more detail in a later issue, but if you
use them, check your bike is working
and doesn’t need tyres blowing up when
you arrive on the field as that wastes
precious time.
Your mode of transport is important.
It will probably be a car or van, club
coaches are sadly no longer seen. To
my knowledge no one has ever flown
in yet although JOD & I did investigate
the possibilities of travelling to the Paris
Coupe d’Hiver that way but customs/
immigration issues in France made it
prohibitively expensive. It would have
been very cool indeed – I wish we had
been able to do it. Using the same
vehicle helps you to get into a packing
routine which helps with remembering
stuff and also knowing where things are.
No use having everything with you if you
cant find it quickly when it’s needed.
Many of you will appreciate that for the
last twenty years or so I came in vans
of various sizes. Finally it was a motor
home. When doing that I was able to
say with all honesty that I had actually
brought the kitchen sink with me. Huge
Tidy example of the ‘hatch back parked into wind’ form of
preparation protection. Here Pete Watson prepares power
model on Salisbury Plain. Note most things safely in tidy boxes.
vehicles are useful and becoming more
popular. They are not essential but they
can help. However what tends to happen
is the more space you have the more
stuff you bring which can get a bit silly
and lengthen the unpacking procedure
when you’ve returned home tired in the
evening.
We could actually wind a Cd’H indoors
in our van, but the down side was that
it could create its own local turbulence
so launching from behind could never
be done safely, unlike the classic ‘hatch
back parked into wind’ arrangement.
Early on at one of the Rissington
Southern Galas, flying from too close to
my huge Kontiki ruined a Senator flight
when maxes were like shooting ducks
in a barrel. Local turbulence stalled the
initial climb – it never recovered and
dropped the simple 2 minute max. This
memory wouldn’t have imbedded itself
so firmly had it not been the fourth event
I had flown that day (O/R, CO2, Cd’H
being the others in which I had maxed
out.) I never again got that close to
making four fly-offs on one day.
I digress. Have a packing routine – not
a check list. Try to imagine what you
are going to do when you arrive and
that should trigger the memory of what
you will require. You really must ensure
you bring everything with you. That
everything includes the right clothes
which I will cover in the next issue, along
with what to do at the contest. ●
29
30/01/2017 16:34
 Free Plan

30 AeroModeller - March 2017

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 30 30/01/2017 16:35

 BLACKBURN
MERCURY
MONOPLANE
The early Passenger Type Blackburn with tapered wing is modelled
by Mike Watters for Free Flight electric or CO2.
F
or many years I have attended
indoor model flying meetings.
One particular model I often
saw being flown was an early
design from the Blackburn
Aircraft Company that predated the
Blackburn Monoplane (Foggin’s Flyer)
that can be seen at Old Warden. This
model belonged to Derek Hardman of
Solarfilm fame. The Blackburn was a
test model for the new material he was
developing at the time – Litespan.
The Blackburn could be seen at
each meeting, slowly flying around and
with no apparent trim changes, being
powered by a reliable Brown B-100
CO2 motor.
Events happen and Derek gave up
indoor flying after becoming unwell.
Sometime later, I heard that Derek’s
models and some items were being
offered for sale. I was particularly
interested in the CO2 motors. I was
surprised to find that his original
Blackburn model was still there,
although in a somewhat distressed
state. A deal was struck for items,
along with the Blackburn. People who
knew this model could not tell me
which or what particular Blackburn it
was. An internet search brought up
an article that described it as more
than likely being a Blackburn Mercury
III (or possibly IV depending on how
you number them) circa 1911. The
BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 31
article stated that at some point in
the aircraft’s short existence, it did
have tapered wings, whereas, all other
Blackburn designs had constant chord
wings. This is not a true scale model,
but as a slow flying indoor design, and
it works well.
Once acquired the model languished
for some time untouched in a box.
Then with inspiration resumed, the
model was resurrected for a new indoor
season. It did need a bit more repair
than I originally thought. Looking at the
model again, I realised that the only
salvageable part was the fuselage. So
I did a re-build, and as I knew it was
a design that flew very well indoors,
I measured up the model and did a
drawing with a few constructional
changes.
What follows is my re-interpretation
of the late Derek Hardman’s original
design. With a bit of extra work you
could change areas of the nose or
substitute a constant chord wing to
model other variants of the Blackburn
Mercury with their respective engines
(Renault, Isaacson, Gnome or Anzani).
I continued to use a Brown CO2 motor
in my re-build, but the little Blackburn
would be suitable for an electric power
train and would even take conversion
from FF to Micro RC. Primarily the
Blackburn Mercury has been designed
as an indoor model but it would also
31
30/01/2017 16:35
 3/32 x 1/16" 22 Swg
aluminium tubes

3/32 x 1/16"

22 Swg
aluminium tubes

Hard 1/16" Sq skid

F2

F2 F3 Tail from 3/
F1

22 Swg
aluminium tubes

KP01 motor installation

22 Swg wire undercarrage

FREE PLAN – BLACKBURN MERCURY MONOPLANE 2 off each
PLAN 629 IN AEROMODELLER 958 MARCH 2017

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 36 30/01/2017 16:36

 Free Plan

If you’re looking for a model of the later

Blackburn Monoplane, there was an
Aerographics kit version – this will be available
again as a laser cut kit from the Vintage Model
Co. Your editor converted the FF rubber design to
RC with small diesel!

be suitable for outdoor flying on one of

those few windless evenings that grace
the summer.

Fuselage
Start by laying down the two top side
longerons, over the plan top view. Add
the two triangular formers FB and then,
what is the 1/16”sq. bottom longeron.
Position the 1/16”sq. spacers, building
Derek Hardman was the founder of Solarfilm and a keen indoor flyer, always willing to experiment with up the fuselage into its triangular shape.
new ideas. Then insert the diagonal strips between
the spacers. The structure can now be
handled and the top formers F4 & F5
added. Former F3 will be dependent
upon which power source you are using.
Continue by building up the nose block

Recommended Reading

Blackburn Aircraft Since 1909

(Putnam Aeronautical Books) by A. J.
Jackson, ISBN 13: 9780870210242
Jackson’s book on Blackburn Aircraft
Since 1909 includes a photo of the ill-
fated taper wing Mercury. The Blackburn Aircraft Company,
The Archive Photographs Series,
compiled by Malcolm Hall. ISBN
0752406973

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 32 31/01/2017 10:50

 1/16" Sq top spar
1/32" sheet top deck
Profile pilot
F2 F3 F4 F5

F1

ply plate FB FB

Telco Co2 motor

shown, mounted on 22 Swg wing brace wires
1/16" ply plate onto F3

1/32" ply skid

22 Swg Undercarrage

F3
Acetate sheet wheels
F1 F2 F4 F5
3 off 1/8" sheet 1/16" sheet
FB 1/16" sheet F3 1/16" sheet
2 OFF

H
22 Swg wire axle
Top decking 1/32" sheet covering

FREE PLAN – BLACKBURN MERCURY MONOPLANE

PLAN 629 IN AEROMODELLER 958 MARCH 2017
Typical wing
1/16" thick

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 34 30/01/2017 16:36

 3/32 x 1/16"
Wing rib temperate
Profile pilot

1/16" Sq
1/16" Sq

Hard 1/16" Sq leading edge

ires

Hard 1/16" Sq trailing edge

t covering Cockpit cut-out

Front & Rear

Typical wing rib section 22 Swg wing support wire 2-off
1/16" thick wing ribs Wires set to give 1°
dihedral at wing tips

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 35 30/01/2017 16:36

 and cover over the top decking with soft
1/32” sheet. Form the two undercarriage
wires and glue them to the cross pieces
on the top longerons. The skids are cut
from 1/32” ply, or laminate them from
hard balsa. The original wheels were
cut from thin acetate sheet, but balsa or
vac. formed ones can be used. Bend to
shape and glue the 22swg wing wires in
position on the body. And that just about
completes the fuselage. I used clear
sheet acetate disks with painted tyres for
the wheels – simple but effective. Construction of the fuselage commences upside down with triangular formers added to the top
longerons.

Wings
These are very lightweight structures.
Start by cutting 28 balsa ribs, from 1/16”
sheet, using the template shape shown.
The template may be made from very
hard balsa or plastic card. The ribs are
formed by simply cutting along the rib
template outline, then offsetting the
template 1/16” at the leading and trailing
edges and repeating the process. The
leading and trailing edges are strips
of hard 1/16”sq balsa. Add each rib in
place as shown on the drawing, cutting
down each one to size. With each wing
complete, turn them over and cyano the
1mm diameter carbon rods spars to the
ribs. Check and adjust the alignment of
the wing support wire tubes against the
wires protruding from the fuselage and
then also cyano the tubes in to place on
the wing.
The top nose decking has been simplified on this semi-scale model but you could go to town
Tail and Fin with an dummy exposed engine.

These, as can be seen from the drawing,

are simple balsa strip structures, and
should offer no complications.

Covering
As this is a lightweight model, it only
requires a lightweight covering material.
On my model I decided to keep with
the model’s original intention and
used Antique Litespan from Solarfilm,
shrinking with minimal heat.

Assembly and Flying

Simply glue the tailplane onto the rear
of the fuselage, along with the top and
bottom fin/rudder assembly. Do check
that these are square to each other and
the fuselage. Fitting the wings onto
the wires in the fuselage, just about
completes the model. As ever you have
to check the balance position which

A simple wire undercarriage together with thin ply skids and clear plastic wheels hint at the
scale structure.

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 33 31/01/2017 10:51

 All wing ribs from 1/16" sheet

Soft wire hinges

1mm carbon rod spar

Tail from 3/16" x 1/16" strip

Undercarriage skid

All woods are balsa unless otherwise stated

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 37 30/01/2017 16:37

 Free Plan

Cut successive ribs by moving the template down by 1/16” each time. The carbon rod spars are cyanoed to the bottom of the ribs. When finished
the wing only requires covering on the top surface.

The wing supporting tubes are best checked against the wires from the The fin and tailplane should cause no concern for the average builder.
fuselage before cyanoing!

When assembling the tailplane,

fin and rudders, make sure that
everything is nicely square. You
could save weight at the back end
by only covering the upper surface
of the tailplane.

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 38 30/01/2017 16:37

 Build the model light and you will
be rewarded with a slow flying
scale model from the earliest
days of British flying.

should be about 25 to 30% of the wing

chord at the root. This can be adjusted
by moving the position of the CO2 tank
or batteries. Weight may still have to
be added to the nose (or unlikely to the
tail.) As always, check over the model
for any warps that may be present and
correct them before flying. Before any
power flying, test the model’s glide
characteristics, ideally outside on a very
calm day over something more forgiving
than a sports hall floor. The glide will
be quite slow, but correct any diving or
zooming with small elevator changes.
As I have no experience in using
electric power in this model, I can only
say how it works with CO2 power. Initially
give a small gas charge only (charging
canister nozzle up). The model should fly
in large left hand circuits. Adjust the turn
with small rudder adjustments. When
happy, increase the power and duration
with longer charges and let it fly. Further
adjustments may be needed as power is
increased. Make them a little at a time.
The total weight of this model came out
at 40grams (1.4 oz). Good flying. ●

39

BLACKBURN FREE PLAN.indd 39 30/01/2017 16:37

 Competitive Control Line

STARTING VINTAGE
COMBAT – PART 1
F
TIM HOBBINS SHARES HIS EXPERIENCE TO ENCOURAGE NEW ENTRANTS TO CL COMBAT FLYING. ADDITIONAL PHOTOS BY MICK LEWIS.
or me, it was one through it. A few minutes later was 22 years ago, at which limited to 26 seconds for 10
Saturday afternoon I closed it and went to put point Vintage Combat had laps but I cannot remember
in York when I it back when I saw a word I been alive and thriving for anyone actually achieving this
strolled into WH hadn’t seen for years - Ruter- some 5 years; today it’s the speed. The governing body
Smith to sneak a ess! It was the August 1994 healthiest it’s ever been. is called the Combat Flyers
crafty browse through the copy of AeroModeller, Frank As a quick overview, Association, who usually
car magazines while the wife Smart’s article on the famous Vintage Combat uses the CL organise and run about 8 or
was in River Island… you model was highlighted on the combat designs from the 60’s 9 competitions, including the
know how it is. I found the front of the magazine. I picked and 70’s with diesel engines. Nats, throughout the season
latest mag and started leafing it up and started reading. That Vintage Combat is speed which lasts from April to

A Piranha and Supermonger fight it out. It could be

you competing in 2017?

40 AeroModeller - March 2017

START VINTAGE COMBAT PART 1.indd 40 30/01/2017 16:38

 Enjoyment of Vintage Combat is as much about the people as the flying. Participants at the Loctite sponsored
Darley Moor event in 2015.
October. The competitions
are held at such venues as
Old Warden in Oxfordshire,
Darley Moor Racetrack near
Ashbourne, RAF Scampton
in Lincolnshire, Berkeley near
Gloucester and hopefully the
new BMFA National Centre
and once again Barkston
Heath. There are prizes at
every competition and there’s
an annual league so you can
check your progress.
These days we usually get
somewhere between 25 to 40
entries at most competitions;
along with the stalwarts and
famous names from the past,
this will include newcomers
joining the ranks throughout
the season - mostly returnees
who ‘had a go’ years ago
when they had long hair
(or even hair) but also the
occasional cross over from
another discipline, having
wondered what all the fuss is
about. Don’t get me wrong,
we do have a few youngsters,
mainly sons and daughters
of existing flyers but in the
main the average age is 60
plus. Vintage combat is a
lovely class, we are blessed
with a supportive organisation
and competitions have the
added attraction of being very
friendly gatherings as well as
being exciting, hard fought
START VINTAGE COMBAT PART 1.indd 41
and huge fun.
Mick Lewis wrote an
introductory article in the
934 March 2015 issue of
AeroModeller. The main
purpose of this article is to
further encourage those
thinking of taking up Vintage
Combat, give more detail and
check out some of the many
resources available to the
newcomer.
Do Your Research
There are a lot of active
combat flyers spread
throughout the UK and
combat is much better as a
social activity. So one of the
first steps I would take is to
try to find other flyers local to
where I live. No matter what
you read there is no substitute
for having a root round
someone’s workshop, picking
things up, looking in detail
and asking questions. The
best place to start looking
for these people is online. If
you are not a PC user then
at least give me a call and I’ll
find local contacts. Here are
3 places to look online:
Combat Flyers Association
website www.combatflyers.
co.uk Start here as the
mission statement “We are
dedicated to promoting
and providing support to all
control line combat flyers in
the United Kingdom. If you
are new or wish to become
involved in this exhilarating
sport then you will find plenty
of advice and information
here” says it all really. Once
you’ve had a read through,
email Mick Lewis and ask
to join the CFA - its free and
you will be added to his
email list for regular Updates
and Newsletters with offers,
which is invaluable. A browse
through the archive of the
Newsletters will give you a
taste of what happens. Also
join the national body the
BMFA because you need to
have insurance cover, and the
BMFA hold the rule book for
Vintage Combat along with
other national classes.
Facebook www.facebook.
com ‘Fraid so! Search for
the group ‘UK Control Line
Combat' and send a joining
request. This is a very active
group with almost 400
members, to which the vast
majority of UK (and some
overseas) flyers contribute.
There is usually something
going on every day to keep
us all interested, many people
share their views, skills and
opinions freely so it’s useful in
many ways. Firstly, when you
join you can see the locations
The CFA (Combat Flyers
Association) is easy and free to join.
of people near to you, so
you can arrange to meet
up, practice etc. Secondly
there are often supplies of
materials and equipment
posted which never see the
light of day anywhere else,
and thirdly you can ask
questions and get pretty
much immediate answers.
Varied and contradictory
answers admittedly, but
answers nonetheless. It’s
great for current news,
combat gossip and chat, and
keeping in touch with other
flyers. Perhaps not so great
as a reference tool because
the time line keeps rolling,
pushing earlier subjects
further down.
The Barton Forum
www.controlline.org.uk a
longstanding mecca for
Control Line enthusiasts, it
has a Combat section which
goes back years and is easy
to search, so if you have a
basic question you can bet it’s
been covered on this forum at
some time. It also has a very
interesting article on how to
win at combat, which I really
must read again.
Combat Community
The one thing I will say - every
person flying combat today
will be very keen to help you
41
30/01/2017 16:38
 Competitive Control Line
1 2
1: From the left the Parra T4,
Tom Ridley Oliver JO.19 and
Rothwell 320 are all popular
with the top pilots.
2 & 3: The PAW.19 Plain
Bearing and Single Ballrace
versions are still good for
beginner’s and practice
models.
4: A JO.19 by the late Tom
Ridley. It is good to know
that the production will
continue.
get started. So I strongly
suggest using Facebook to
find those local to yourself
because they will most
probably have a combat
friendly flying field that will be
available to you. When I say
local, it may be 30-40 or more
miles, but pretty reasonable
with today’s roads. From my
own viewpoint, I live in North
Lincolnshire and fly with pals
from Rotherham, Lincoln,
Sheffield and Nottingham, we
have about 4 different sites
available to us. There are
similar groups throughout the
UK.
Okay, so if you are now
interested/keen/confused,
what’s the next step? If you
haven’t flown control line
for a long time or ever for
that matter, then my first
suggestion is to dip a toe and
see how it feels. I have seen a
few people jump in with both
42 AeroModeller - March 2017
START VINTAGE COMBAT PART 1.indd 42
feet, spend a lot of money
on engines and equipment
only to find that they couldn’t
actually fly their models like
they used to. My suggestion
is to start at the beginning,
which is to track down your
local combat converts online
and have a fly. I’m pretty
sure that you would be able
to do this without spending
a penny as someone will let
you have a go with their gear,
if this isn’t the case, read on
because you don’t have to
spend a great deal in the first
instance.
If you do want to get
involved then you’ll need
to start getting your gear
together but whilst you are
doing that, I would strongly
advise turning up to a
competition and having a
look. Check the dates and
locations on the CFA website
to find out where we are. Turn
up, bring your gear have a
fly, ask questions, stand by
the scorers to see how things
work, but don’t talk to them
when I’m flying!
Bits and Pieces
So, getting started means
accumulating all the models,
gear and equipment; here we
go, in no particular order.
There are 2 classes that are
grouped as vintage combat:
Vintage Combat (original)
uses 3.2cc (0.19ci) TBR (Twin
Ball Race) motors, and Oliver
Tiger Combat essentially the
same but uses Oliver Tiger
(2.5cc) engines or clones -
there are subtle differences
which you can find out about
in the rule book. Vintage
Combat is the main event,
Oliver is a lovely class
because it’s a bit steadier and
a bit more accurate but there
are usually only 3 comps
through the year, and one of
those is at the Nats. So most
folk get set up for the original
Vintage Combat class first.
Diesel Engine Choice
It’s like anything really, if
you want to win you need to
equip yourself with the very
best gear available, but if
you want to ‘have a go’ or
‘see what the fuss is about’
then you have other less
expensive options. Now I’m
not suggesting that you tip
up at a competition with a
tired AM25 and a fifty-year-
old Dominator, but equipment
that will get you into the fray
for not very much money at
all is available if you go about
it the right way. It’s a fact
that good used competition
equipment changes hands
within the flying community
at very sensible prices, rather
than the eye watering prices
often associated with eBay.
The main (only) motor used
for many years in Vintage
Combat was the Plain Bearing
.19 PAW. It outclassed all
the listed twin ballrace 2.5cc
engines at the time and
totally dominated the class
until Rothwell 320’s and JO
Oliver .19’s were introduced.
The reason that most people
now use the Rothwell/JO.19/
Parra twin ball race motors
is because they are generally
easier to handle and faster.
But not that much faster, a
reasonable Plain Bearing PAW
will be 3 or 4 seconds for 10
laps behind the very best
motors on the day - this is no
bad thing. It’s much better to
fly something a little slower
that you are in control of in
your first few bouts, rather
than something that is right
on the edge of your ability.
You can buy PAWs new
(plain or ball race, straight or
tuned www.eifflaender.com),
or there are lots of these used
motors within the UK combat
fraternity, the best way to
go about getting them is to
30/01/2017 16:38
 3 4
ask either in the Facebook
group or at competitions.
Additionally, in the second
part of this article, we’ll talk
about combat practice and
the motor you buy for your
early competitions will make
an ideal practice motor.
As you become more
involved, if you turn up at any
combat event and look at the
hardware in use, you will see
that there are a lot of Rothwell
320’s in use, followed closely
by JO.19’s and Parra T4’s
and a small number of very
special, hilariously fast
PAW.19’s. With regard to
availability, this is the current
state of play:
Following Tom Ridley’s sad
passing production of Oliver
ceased, however having been
in touch with Tom’s wife Julia,
I am delighted with the fact
that production will continue.
Here are Julia’s words “Matt,
our son, intends to continue
the Oliver Engines in line with
Tom's wishes. Tom had been
coaching him for the past
few months and wanted the
original Olivers to be available
in memory of J Oliver senior,
and JSO. I shall continue to
help Matt as I have always
done with Tom.”
What better tribute to Tom
START VINTAGE COMBAT PART 1.indd 43
than Matthew carrying out
these wishes and keeping
the Oliver Engines alive. The
JO.19 based on the Oliver
Mark 4 crankcase has been
a popular choice since its
introduction and is a used by
many flyers.
Also made in the UK is
the PAW 19 TBR. The best
thing to do here is give Tony
Eifflaender a call and tell him
that you want it for Vintage
Combat. Available from PAW
in Macclesfield +44 (0)1625
423891.
The Australian Rothwell
320, used by many top flyers,
is still in limited production,
but there is a long waiting list.
If you want one then get your
name down early as it will
be a while before your motor
arrives.
And the Parra T4, available
from Club Tamaran in Gran
Canaria (www.control-line.
eu) and made in the Ukraine.
There was a waiting list at the
time of writing but the motors
should be in stock by the time
this article goes to print.
These engines are all
about the same price, just
shy of £250 and all similar
performance. How many do
you need? Well, obviously
at least one, two is ideal. Be
aware the Parra, Rothwell
and JO.19 have hard chrome
bores, they last for ages, and
the more you run them the
better. So initially, I’d get one
and after running it in, use it
as often as you can - you’ll
benefit by getting used to
its handling characteristics
and it won’t deteriorate. The
early Rothwell 320’s are now
coming up to 6 years old and
still going strong. So bear this
in mind when paying for them;
£250 for 6 years hard work
isn’t a lot is it? It is handy
to have a couple because if
you get a refly after a midair
collision that damages your
model, then you can bring
model/engine number 2 into
Liquidator XL's and Shoguns under construction by Tim Hobbins.
play and not have to change
the engine under pressure.
You don’t really need 6
though!
Models: Design and
Number
If you’re intending to enter
many competitions, then
I would advise turning up
to your first with at least 4
properly trimmed models that
have been previously test
flown. As these break or just
die of old age, keep adding
to this number. Models do
get broken - fact of life – but
there aren’t so many that
end up totally destroyed first
or second time out; most
models broken in a bout
43
30/01/2017 16:38
 Competitive Control Line
are repairable but there are
exceptions.
You can accumulate a small
fleet of competition models in
different ways. Buy a plan and
build from scratch, you can
buy a kit from a number of
specialist suppliers or if you
wish you can buy ready to fly
models, bolt in your engine
and go and fly. Generally,
the kits available are ‘short
kits’ so you will also need to
provide spars, leading edges,
tanks and hardware, although
some kits are complete. It’s
best to email the seller and
get a list of what’s available.
Similarly, there is a selection
of RTF (Ready To Fly) models
available from myself - send
me an email for a detailed list.
There are hundreds of
models on the plans list,
some are great, some not
so great and some useless.
Don’t rely on your rose-tinted
The Ironmonger 69 is one to consider when starting Vintage Combat.
44 AeroModeller - March 2017
START VINTAGE COMBAT PART 1.indd 44
specs; admittedly the Keil
Kraft Talon was a nice looking
model in its day but you’d be
hopelessly outclassed against
the larger models currently in
use. The CFA website has a
gallery of pictures that really
illustrate what most people
use today but I will repeat
some advice from Mick Lewis
who suggested that while
some models are undoubtedly
more manoeuvrable than
others (Piranha XL, Finale,
Supermonger etc.) this isn’t
necessarily a great thing in
your early bouts. You need
to be comfortable with the
model because flying solo
is one thing, flying a bout is
something else entirely. It’s
far better in your early bouts
to get maximum airtime
than crash after 30 seconds
because you didn’t know
where your model was or
what it was doing.
This one is built by its designer, Richard Evans.
The Finale can be very competitive in the right hands.
If you want a pointer for a and quick to build. Very little
first model that’s easy to fly, has changed over the 50
I’d suggest an Ironmonger years (yes 50!) since the first
69, a Liquidator XL or a Dominators and Warlords flew,
Squig. The Ironmonger 69 apart from the fact that some
was the Free pull-out plan of us now use ¼” spruce
in 940 September 2015 trailing edges and glass fibre
AeroModeller. All of these fuel tanks. So, if you decide
are very competitive without to build your models from
being neurotic drama queens. scratch then you will need
Most of the flyers build from to sort out such things as
scratch. This is obviously bellcranks, tanks, covering,
the cheapest method and etc. I’ll go through them in
to be fair, combat models a bit of detail in the second
are designed to be simple thrilling instalment… ●
Resource sites
Combat Flyers Association
www.combatflyers.co.uk
Barton Forum
www.controlline.org.uk
Facebook,
search for ‘UK Control Line Combat’
Plans
Simon Miller simon.m@cubethree.co.uk
Kits
Mike Waller m.j.waller81@gmail.com
Nick Stowe nick.stowe2@gmail.com
Mick Lewis mick@combatflyers.co.uk
RTF Competition or Practice Models
Tim Hobbins
tim.hobbins@btinternet.com
Engines
Oliver Engines JO.19
jutomol@gmail.com
Club Tamaran, Parra T4
albparra2@gmail.com
PAW .19 TBR CT4
www.eifflaender.com 01625 423891
Rothwell R320
steve@smrpl.com.au
30/01/2017 16:38
 VintageLimited Edition Prints

visit: www.aeromodeller.com for the full range

Vintage AeroModeller A3 Cover Artwork - Limited Edition Prints

AM039 19.indd 1 30/01/2017 15:43

 Inside Track
FLYING IN THE BOWDEN
TROPHY COMPETITION
IT MAY BE OUT OF STEP WITH THE OTHER BMFA FREE FLIGHT COMPETITIONS, BUT THE BOWDEN HOLDS A POPULIST APPEAL.
DAVID LEEDING EXPLAINS HOW TO PLAN FOR SUCCESS. WITH ADDITIONAL PHOTOS BY ANDREW BODDINGTON.
T
he Bowden is one of the
few competitions in the Free
Flight Nationals, other than
the scale, that has spectator
appeal - and it also attracts
one of the largest entries. It is also a
good first competition class to introduce
beginners to competitive power flying.
Having acted as CD (Contest Director)
of the Bowden Trophy Competition
for three years running, I have been
disappointed with the number of entries
BOWDEN ARTICLE.indd 46
which have failed to score in one or both
rounds.
I do not consider myself an expert in
this competition by any means, having
failed to score at my first attempt and
only achieving 4th place in my second.
There is no magic formula for winning
this competition, as in any other
competition an element of luck on the
day is a big help. However, there is no
substitute for good preparation.
Most of the entrants in the competition
David Leeding with his timer equipped KK Outlaw with which he managed a fourth
are like myself of the older generation
and all are experienced modellers - I
hope this article doesn't come over too
much like 'teaching your grandmother to
suck eggs' as it is certainly not intended
that way. If it helps somebody then I will
be pleased, and it would also be great
if we could introduce the competition to
younger people.
Where to Start?
It must be stressed that the first
place in the year prior to taking on the CD mantel.
30/01/2017 16:39
 Bowden officials at the 2015 Nationals - Ken Norton (Whipper up), Diane
Hibbert (timing), Ian Hibbert (timing), David Leeding (CD), Dave Causer
(‘Style’ Points).
requirement before entering any
competition is to READ THE RULES!
The BMFA Contest Rules, Section 3
Free Flight (Outdoor & Indoor) book is
available from the BMFA office and can
also be viewed on the BMFA website at
www.bmfa.org The appropriate section
is found from para 3.47 thro' paras
3.53.5. - The Bowden Class.
It is worth quoting the objective of
the competition 'This trophy is intended
to encourage the design and flying of
Sports Models with cabins or cockpits
able to hold an imaginary pilot. The flying
of these models in a controlled manner
is an exacting competition of Precision,
Flight Stability and Appearance'.
In brief the competition is flown in two
rounds with each having a target flight
time of 45seconds (from the release
of the model to the completion of the
landing). Each competitor starts with 100
points in each round and the objective is
to finish with the maximum total number
of points for the two rounds. Points are
deducted for failings as detailed in the
BMFA rules referenced above.
The Model
Having familiarised oneself with the rules,
the would-be competitor must decide
what model to enter. This is one of the
most important decisions as design and
appearance can result in the loss of a
large number of points. It is not good
enough to dust off an ancient Tomboy,
patch a few holes and squirt a drop of
diesel into the ports to free the engine
the day before the competition, not if you
would like the best chance of winning
BOWDEN ARTICLE.indd 47
Terry Aydon’s impressive Veron Aeronca Sedan did well on style
the event. The Tomboy is a good flier, but
it was designed by Vic Smeed to be an
easy to build and fly model for relative
beginners to powered free flight - in
this it has excelled. However, with its
slab sided fuselage, straight wings and
tail it is not the most attractive model
and it is marked down accordingly
when compared with, for instance, the
curvaceous and beautifully finished
Aeronca Sedan entered last year. It is
also worth mentioning that the winner
of the 2016 competition and the runner
up were both flying own designs, not
necessarily the best looking and finished
models, but the good flight scores and
characteristics together with reasonable
deductions meant they scored enough
points to win.
Be aware that we have tightened up
the scrutiny of models against the rules,
and in particular it should be noted that
rule 3.47.2 states ‘The model shall have
a cabin with clear glazing or a cockpit
with a suitably sized aperture and a clear
windscreen.’
Whatever model is chosen, it is
important that it is built accurately
to the plan with the incidence angles
correct. When rigged with the wings
and tailplane, look to ensure they are
level and in line. On completion the
most important first step is to check
the balance, the CG (Centre of Gravity)
is usually shown on the plan. If not
then a ‘rule of thumb’ is to balance the
completed model ready to fly without fuel
with a finger tip under each wing near the
fuselage at about 25 to 33 percent of the
chord measured from the leading edge
points in 2016.
- it should balance level or in a slightly
nose down attitude.
Test flying should first be carried out
without power to achieve a satisfactory
glide, if the glide is too steep then
packing should be placed under the
rear edge of the tailplane starting with
1/64" (preferably plywood to prevent
crushing) increasing in thickness after
each test glide until a nice flat glide is
achieved. If the model is stalling then it
may be necessary to pack up the leading
edge of the tailplane to achieve the flat
glide required. With the glide sorted
then commence short low powered
flights, these may well require the glide
trim to be changed but the first change
to consider is the thrust line of the
engine (plate mounted engines make
adjusting both side and downthrust a
lot easier). It is a trial and error iterative
process until the optimum compromise
between power and glide performance
is achieved. Ideally the model should be
flown in different wind conditions (when
the Bowden is held at Barkston in May, it
is rarely not blowing a gale!)
Finally one should practice ROGs
(Rise Off Ground), not easily done as
there are so few opportunities to fly free
flight from a hard standing. Remember
the undercarriage position on vintage
designs may owe more to protecting
the wooden prop, rather than directional
ground control. So, select your model
design with thought for the take off. But
be aware that the class rules also state
‘…in adverse conditions at the discretion
of the CD the flying requirements and
associated scoring may be appropriately
47
30/01/2017 16:39
 Inside Track
Terry Aydon is a regular Bowden competitor, here
is his 2014 entry the stylish Wasp Major.
John Kay was the 2016 Bowden winner with the
Sunbeam 48 (his own design scaled up from the
36” original in an old AeroModeller.)
David Mandley used a streamer on the end of
an old aerial to indicate wind direction when
releasing his Junior 60.
Maurice Doyle won the Bowden in 2015 with his
KK Bandit modified for a tricycle undercarriage
and powered by Mills 1.3 – a good clean release.
48 AeroModeller - March 2017
BOWDEN ARTICLE.indd 48
modified prior to the commencement of
lying. Any such modification(s) must then
apply throughout the contest.” This has
occasionally meant that hand launches
were acceptable in bad weather.
Timers may be used to cut the
fuel supply to the engine after a
predetermined time. If a timer is not
available then the model should have
a test tube type tank (available from
Flitehook) fitted to the side of the
fuselage/cowling, which can be viewed
from the side before release. Most of
the successful contestants fit (and use)
engine timers - do not try to time the
flight using a tank fitted to the engine as
this will not be sufficiently accurate! DTs
(DeThermalisers) of any type cannot be
used to terminate the glide within the
required 60 second maximum flight time,
as this would result in disqualification.
Once the model has been satisfactorily
trimmed, I find that small location blocks
fitted to the wing and tail plane ensure
that they are held in the same place
every time the model is assembled, they
only need to be 1/16"to1/8" thick balsa
depending on the size of the model, and
in the event of a hard landing most break
away without causing much damage.
Engine Start
Start and take off is a minefield for many
competitors; two minutes are allowed
for this from the CD’s command to
commence, up to the point of model
release.
The correct choice of engine for the
model is very important, enough power
but not too much and the engine must
be a reliable starter and runner. Diesels
(particularly PAW and Mills) are the
engines of choice, although glows and
spark ignition are allowed. An inverted
engine may give the model smarter
lines, but it is more prone to flooding at
times of competitive stress. The starting
routine should be well practised - many
competitors clearly have not achieved
this before appearing at the launch point
as they are unable to start in the time
allowed - this means a disqualification
from the round.
Some adjustment of the compression
lever is invariably required when starting
a diesel engine, but unless absolutely
essential the needle valve should be left
where it was when last run in the pits or
at home, not quite as essential if using
a timer but very important when the
fuel level is used to control the engine
run. Some competitors do not achieve
smooth running and release the model
with the engine missing due to being
under compressed and hence the model
can be underpowered - not a good idea
if there is a strong breeze. If the model
cannot handle the power then the engine
choice is suspect. All engines (and
owners) can have a bad day, failure to
start at the launch point followed by back
to the pits when a few flicks and off it
goes… I've been there!
Release and Take Off
The requirement is for a nice straight
take off run of no longer than 10 seconds
from release to lift off with wings
level; zooming up into the ether or a
sharp banking turn after lift-off will be
penalised. Quite a number of competitors
are prone to pushing the model! This will
invoke immediate disqualification from
the round, the model MUST be released
which means the model is restrained at
the tail end of the fuselage or somewhere
suitable, one hand is best if possible, and
when ready the competitor merely lets
go. The hand or hands being withdrawn
back or sidewards clearly showing the
judge or CD that there was no hint of
pushing.
Although it goes without saying, the
model should be pointing into wind,
however in the tension or excitement of
the moment some entrants forget this
important aspect of the release which
may cause the model to have an erratic
liftoff and climb out - this will lose points.
Some models are launched slightly to the
left or right of the wind to counteract a
natural swing, and if this is the case then
this is acceptable if the ensuing climb
out is good. If the take off is aborted, the
model may be retrieved and a further
attempt made within the two minutes
allowed for engine start, another good
reason for easy starting!
As a straight take off run is required
there are a number of points to look at
here. Some models go into a ground
loop careering all over the take off area,
others require too long a run so the
correct engine/model combination must
be questioned as well as the power
from the engine. The geometry of the
30/01/2017 16:39

undercarriage is a major factor, and the
wire used in the construction must be
stiff enough to prevent unnecessary
flexing - if this is occurring then a thicker
gauge should be used. If a tail wheel is
fitted then it must be tested to ensure
that the model runs true when given a
push on a level surface. After a landing
the undercarriage should be checked for
alignment as even a moderate landing
on grass can distort it. In some models
the undercarriage position relative to the
CG may be incorrect which may mean
major surgery to fix. The wheels must be
a sensible size for the model (if they look
right then they probably are), and some
toe in can also help with the tracking of
the model.
Power Flight
Having got the engine started and
running well, followed by a good take off
we can relax - what else could possibly
go wrong?! Plenty unfortunately. Tight
spiral turns are too frequently seen, often
resulting in cartwheels into terra firma
with considerable damage to the model,
even if the model manages to stay in the
air, style points will be lost. Power stalling
is another fault that will result in points
being deducted.
If the model was previously well
trimmed, several things should be looked
at in the case of tight spirals - starting
with checking for warps in the flying
surfaces and remembering if the prop
pitch/diameter/make has changed? I
Steve Glass had an interesting own design low winger in 2016 powered by a PAW 1.49. Let’s see something other than Tomboys in 2017!
BOWDEN ARTICLE.indd 49
David Leeding
recommends
this screw
adjustment to
set the rudder
trim tab.
have found an infinitely adjustable rudder however
is useful for fine tuning the turn once the some
torque is under control. If power stalling models
is a problem, and assuming that the glide like the
engine is not too powerful for the model, proverbial brick!
then downthrust should be applied using A fast glide can be
the appropriate packing until the required beneficial in achieving the
downthrust is achieved. target time, however if it resembles a
crash then points will be lost.
Glide and Landing All the above is well known to most
Smooth transition to the glide is modellers but if just one point jogs the
important, a sudden loss of height memory then it is worth my writing of this
will result in points deduction. Again article. The Bowden is good fun which
a smooth running engine without the for me is what our wonderful hobby is
model being overpowered is helpful here, about, so let's look forward to 2017 FF
as is nice wide gentle turns. If the turn Nationals and another bumper Bowden
under power is controlled as previously entry with more competitors doing well.
suggested then a nice glide should Safe Flying! ●
follow if the model is trimmed correctly,
49
30/01/2017 16:39
 FF Competition

A Guide
to the
Free
Flight
Duration
Classes
A contest winning F1Q ‘Quiet’ model by Ian Kaynes.

Part Four -
In previous instalments Mike Evatt covered the main Glider, Rubber
and IC Power classes in outdoor Free Flight. For this last article he
introduces those classes which don’t directly fit into these groupings.

Rules, rules and still more rules…
Models Powered by Hand,
Catapult, Electricity, and Carbon
Dioxide!
In the glider category, we have Hand
Launched Gliders (HLGs) which includes
the traditional chuck glider, the more
recent ‘discus’ launched glider and the
less physically demanding ‘Catapult’
Launched Glider (CLG).
However perhaps the top of the range
of HLG is the magnet steered F1E. This
latter class is hand launched from high
ground and maintains its course upwind
by a magnet steered forward fin. F1E has
been quite popular in Eastern Europe
since the 1950’s although recently it has
become more widespread and more
sophisticated. Although most still use
magnets for steering there is increased
experimentation with electronic
compasses and electronic timers with
features such as rudder timing, radio
dethermalization and bunt assist launch.
Although Electric Powered models
have also been around for a long time
it has been comparatively recently that
the classes have become widespread
and popular for competition. It could be
said that the introduction of brushless
motors and LiPo batteries was a
big game changer. It has been quite
difficult for the rule makers to keep
pace with developments in motor and
battery technologies. The most recent
class is E36 which originated in the
USA and was lately rebadged as F1S
almost unchanged by the FAI. It is fast
becoming a popular class with beginners
and experts alike.
Finally, there are a couple of classes
for models driven by CO2. These motors
were powered by the metered release of
CO2 from a tank previously filled from a
‘Sparklets’ bulb. Twenty years ago, there
were a number of manufacturers like
Telco (UK), Brown (USA) and Gasparin
(Czech). Sadly, these all had stopped
production by the early 2000’s although
there is still a thriving second-hand
market on eBay. Both of the CO2 classes
are similar and give sedate long-run
climbs.

A plan of Ivan Treger’s 2008 Euro Champs winning F1E magnet steered model.

50 AeroModeller March 2017

FF CLASSES PART 4.indd 50 30/01/2017 16:40

 The FAI (CIAM) Classes
■ F1E GLIDERS WITH AUTOMATIC STEERING
Model aircraft not provided with a propulsion device and
in which lift is generated by aerodynamic forces acting on
surfaces that remain fixed in flight, except for changes of
incidence. Variable geometry or area is not allowed.
The glider can be equipped with a steering device, which
may use a direction sensor and measurement of flight time. The
steering device must not use any measurement of geographical
location and must not be controlled remotely during the flight.
Characteristics of F1E Model
Maximum surface area (St) .........................................150 dm2
Maximum loading ........................................................100 g/dm2
Maximum flying weight ............................................... 5 kg
F1E models may use radio control only for irreversible actions
to control dethermalisation of the model. Any malfunction or
unintended operation of these functions is entirely at the risk of
the competitor.
This is an interesting class which appears to be gaining
popularity. This is possibly because it does not need large
relatively flat areas required by most other disciplines. The
rather generous area and weight rules rarely cause problems
as most models are much smaller and lighter although a
significant amount of ballast is sometimes used to aid up-wind
penetration.
Although a hand-launched class, the advent of bunt launches
and GPS aided recovery seemed to have breathed new life into
the discipline.
■ F1K MODEL AIRCRAFT WITH CO2 MOTORS
Definition
A model aircraft which is powered by CO2 gas motor and
in which lift is generated by the aerodynamic forces acting
on surfaces remaining fixed in flight, except for changes of
incidence. Variable geometry or area is not allowed.
Characteristics
Minimum weight (without CO2) ...................................... 75 g
Maximum surface area (St) .........................................12 dm2
Maximum volume of the CO2 tank(s) ............2 cm (connecting
tubes count only if their outer diameter is over 2 mm).
F1K models may use radio control only for irreversible actions
to control dethermalisation of the model. This may include
FF CLASSES PART 4.indd 51
stopping the motor if it is still running. Any malfunction or
unintended operation of these functions is entirely at the risk of
the competitor.
This class is something of a dinosaur but it has its adherents.
It is very sedate class to fly and suffers in that no one appears
to be manufacturing motors these days. However, many pre-
owned motors are available on-line.
■ F1Q ELECTRIC POWER MODEL AIRCRAFT
Model aircraft which is powered by (an) electric motor(s)
and in which lift is generated by aerodynamic forces acting
on surfaces remaining fixed in flight, except for changes of
incidence. Models with variable area (e.g. folding wings) are not
permitted.
Characteristics of F1Q Model
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium (Li) batteries can
be used.
External Battery packs are required to have a safety tether to
the fuselage.
Safety locks must be used to prevent unintentional restarting
of motor(s) after motor(s) have been stopped.
The motor run time will be determined by a maximum
energy amount. In addition, motor runs of over 40 seconds
are regarded as overruns. The energy budget of each model is
3 joules per gram of the total weight (2017 rules). For energy
calculations, weight exceeding 500 grams is to be ignored.
Models must have provision for connecting a Static Energy
Test (SET) device between the battery and the model’s system.
Energy limitation will be by an energy limiter or by a motor run
limit related to measured power.
For models with energy limiters. The allowed energy amount
starts to be calculated with the release of the start button and
finishes when the ESC has stopped supplying energy to the
motor.
For models without energy limiters the motor run will be
controlled by a timer. The motor run is calculated as the
allowed energy divided by the measured power and rounded
down to the nearest whole second below.
F1Q models may use radio control only for irreversible
actions to control dethermalisation of the model. This may
include stopping the motor if it is still running. Any malfunction
or unintended operation of these functions is entirely at the risk
of the competitor.
I have précised this section as it is very detailed. For
the complete picture please consult the original FAI class
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Peter Buchwald
with his very
fast F1S ‘Small’
Electric model.
Pascal Ceres
flies a fine F1S.
Ray Elliot with
a mini Satellite
F1S/E36.
51
30/01/2017 16:40
 FF Competition
documentation.
There are no surface area, weight or motor/battery
restrictions in this class which allows differing approaches to
be used. Models can be large or small and have a short/fast
climb or a slow ascent taking a maximum of 40 seconds.
A number of fliers use F1S/E36 models in F1Q competition
although they are unlikely to be as competitive at the purpose
designed model.
■ F1S SMALL ELECTRIC POWER MODEL
Model aircraft which is powered by an electric motor(s) and
in which lift is generated by aerodynamic forces acting on
surfaces that remain fixed in flight except to dethermalise.
Characteristics of F1S
Nickel Cadmium (NiCad), Nickel Metal Hydrate (NiMH) and
Lithium (Li) batteries can be used. Only 2 cell Lithium batteries
or up to 6 cell Nickel cells can be used.
Maximum duration of motor run...10 seconds during the regular flights.
Minimum weight .................................................................120 g
Maximum wing span ..................................91.44 cm (36 inches)
The motor run must be timed either in flight or statically before
the launch. The battery can be replaced after a pre-fight
verification.
F1S models may use radio control only for irreversible
actions to control dethermalisation of the model. This may
include stopping the motor if it is still running. Any malfunction
or unintended operation of these functions is entirely at the risk
of the competitor.
This discipline is increasing in popularity. With a ready supply
of motors, batteries, electronic timers, and some good plans
around it is quite easy to get started. With the requirements
specifying ‘gadget free’, many models from the golden age of
IC Power modelling can be scaled down and flown effectively.
Models like the Ramrod, Satellite and the Nog family have been
seen. A ‘fun to fly’ class!

The BMFA Classes

■ BMFA Electric
A BMFA Electric
Power model
Maximum weight of batteries in the capable
hands of Trevor
Ni Based..................................................................... 120 grams Grey.
Li based........................................................................ 90 grams

Motor run, maximum time from launch:

For Brushed motors (no functions) ...........................15 seconds
For Brushed motors (with functions) ........................ 12 seconds
For Brushless motors (no functions) ........................ 12 seconds
For Brushless motors (with Functions) .................... 10 seconds

No camber changes to wings or tails, surface area changes or

bunt functions are permitted.
Safety locks must be used to prevent unintentional restarting of
motor(s) after the motor(s) have been stopped.
The Rules are rather complex in terms of motor run to enable
many different configurations to compete together.

■ E36 Electric

Model specification
Maximum projected wing span................................. 36 inches
Minimum total weight (ready to fly) ................. 120 g (4.24 oz)
Maximum cells permitted...... Lithium - 2 cells; Nickel - 6 cells

Any type of motor, gearbox and propeller is permitted.

No timed moving surfaces, apart from dethermalisers, are
permitted.
See my comments regarding F1S as E36 is the same/similar in
many respects.

52 AeroModeller March 2017 Trevor Grey’s BMFA E30

Electric Model.

FF CLASSES PART 4.indd 52 30/01/2017 16:40

 LEFT TO RIGHT:

A pristine BMFA
CO2 powered
model by John
Ellison.

Mark Benns with

a typical ‘discus’
launch HLG.

Bill College ready

to launch in
Catapult Glider.

■ E.30 Electric
Model Specification
Maximum projected span ..........................................30 inches
Maximum overall length ............................................30 inches
Maximum propeller diameter ........................ .............6 inches
Minimum weight........................................................100 Grams
Maximum battery size................3 x 50 mAh Nickel based cells
or................................................. 1 x 70 mAh Lithium based cell
Models shall have no moving surfaces other than for DT.
The Maximum motor run from launch of the model shall be
60 seconds.
This the ‘electric’ version of P.30 still has some followers but
has been rather overtaken by F1S/E36.
Combined Electric Class Contests
Combined Classes are a way of making the most of a flying
site and the competition organisation. A Combined Electric
event might include a combination of three classes: F1Q, BMFA
Electric and E36 Electric.
When E36 models are flown in Combined Electric contests
the motor run will be 15 seconds for all flights including any
fly-off.
■ BMFA CO2 Duration
The combined capacity of the Carbon Dioxide tank and piping
system shall not be greater than 3.25 cm 3.
Very similar to the FAI F1K class but with a larger tank and no
other restrictions.
■ BMFA Hand Launched Glider
The glider must be launched by hand without mechanical aids.
The launch must be from within a ‘box’ 25 m. square
designated by the CD. All flights made within this box must be
recorded as counting i.e. official flights.
A delightfully simple specification embracing the simple
’Chuck Glider’ to the usually larger ‘Discus launched’ model.
■ BMFA Catapult Glider
The glider must be launched by means of a catapult, powered
only by rubber.
The maximum weight of rubber allowed is 2 grams and
can be made up into any number of strands of any width and
may be attached to a handle no longer than 6 inches. The
competitor must launch the glider themselves with the catapult
held in one hand and the glider in the other.
A good class for those lacking the shoulder power for HLG
although a little more difficult to trim.
A Young Persons Guide…
These class specifications are somewhat of a mixed bag but
provide a number of possibilities for fun and competition flying.
Hand Launched Gliders and Catapult Launched Gliders
are still a good introduction to aeromodelling and model
aeronautics. They can teach a great deal about model
trimming. Balsawood models tend to be superior to their foam
counterparts.
F1E slope soaring is fascinating class that has many
international competitions and is becoming more popular and
technically sophisticated. Probably the largest models in the
free flight portfolio.
The Electric Classes offer a good deal of the fun of flying an
IC Power model, but with much less noise and cleaner hands.
E36/F1S is a very good starting point for anyone wanting to
make a start in Electric Power positioned as it is between the
smaller E30 and the more technically advanced BMFA Electric
and F1Q classes.
The CO2 classes are interesting, quite difficult to fly in windy
weather and rather reliant on pre-owned motors.
I hope that this series of articles has served to unravel some
of the mysteries of the outdoor free flight classes and has
inspired some at least to try new aeromodelling challenges.
Remember this is a highly-abridged version of the rules which
focusses on the model specifications and hardly touches on
the operational rules of competition flying. However, full details
may be found on the FAI and BMFA websites listed below. ●
References
FAI International Regulations
www.fai.org
BMFA UK Domestic Regulations
www.bmfa.org
Belair Traditional Kits, Laser Cut
www.belairkits.com
Mike Woodhouse Plans and materials etc.
www.freeflightsupplies.co.uk
Super Pearl E36 Plans and information
www.pearlfreeflight.com
53

FF CLASSES PART 4.indd 53 30/01/2017 16:40

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AERO SUBS DEC 16 NEW.indd 33 20/12/2016 15:52

 Vintage Perspective from OZ

For Old
Times’ Sake
A look at pioneering models and modellers by Don Howie.

Interesting Models and Engines
This is a combination of models taken
in 2015 at Middle Wallop S.A.M. 1066
Champs and recent photos taken
in Australia. The heading photo is
a 42 inch span FF ‘Apex’, climbing
away at the August 2016 Oily Hand
Weekend, at Cowra M.F.C. in New
South Wales, Australia. The model was
flown by Chris Birch (N.S.W.) and won
the inaugural David Owen free flight
trophy, presented by his wife Celia and
son Sam.
Mike Phillips always has a variety
of interesting models and he is shown
with his 64 inch span ‘Alpha Corsair’.
This 1938 Joe Beshar design from
the U.S.A. has a P.A.W. 19 diesel with
throttle, finished with cream vintage
Solartex and red trim. The model was
flown from the RC area and used 3
channels (rudder, elevator, motor).
Another model of note by Mike was
the 48 inch span ‘Diamond Demon’,
a 1940 kit by Consolidated Model
Engineering , New York. The most
interesting bit was the 1947 Clan .8cc

42 inch span ‘Apex’ with MP Jet Classic diesel

by Chris Birch, climbs away. The Cowra FF field
was on the top of a hill.

56 AeroModeller - March 2017

FOR OLD TIMES SAKE 040.indd 56 30/01/2017 16:40

 Mike Phillips holds his Alpha Corsair at Middle Wallop, August 2015.
Rare and recent Polednik 1.25cc 4-stroke diesel in small ‘Scram’
by Mike Phillips.
replica diesel made by Derek Collin, who
must be the outstanding maker of replica
engines in the U.K. at the present time.
The original Clan 0.8cc was made by
Clan Models Ltd., 24 First Ave., Glasgow
and used a movable eccentric crankshaft
bearing (note the arm) for compression
adjustment. Only a small number were
produced in 1947 and they soon revised
the design for the far better known Clan
0.9cc engine with a conventional
contra piston.
The most intriguing small diesel in
recent times is the Polednik 1.25cc
four-stroke made in the Czech Republic.
Flitehook imported a small number of
these expensive engines several years
ago. I had previously seen one running
at the U.S. S.A.M. Champs about 10
years ago, but Mike Phillips’ is the first
one I have seen flown in a model. The
small Scram has a single channel rudder
control, as one would not like to lose
this engine.
FOR OLD TIMES SAKE 040.indd 57
1947 Clan 0.8cc diesel replica (made by Derek Collin) in Mike Phillips
Diamond Demon.
Brian Martin with his 64 inch span T.D. Coupe (a 1936 design) at
Middle Wallop.
Brian Martin from Cornwall is another
great vintage modeller, who builds a lot
of great designs. His 64 inch span ‘T.D.
Coupe’ is a Dykzeul Design, published
in Model Airplane News, October 1936.
The original would have used a 6cc Baby
Cyclone spark engine, but Brian has
fitted an E.D. Comp. Special 2cc diesel
for power in this interesting FF design.
It uses Diatex full size aircraft covering
on the wings and fuselage with Spectre
orange paint trim.
Carl Goldberg liked inserted spars,
starting with the Comet Zipper pylon
model from 1939 which used up to
four spars to make an uninterrupted
surface for the Goldberg G-5 airfoil; this
was mentioned in a recent article by
John O’Donnell. The Goldberg designs
were quite difficult to build and the kits
included print wood, which involved
tedious cutting of balsa. When he started
Carl Goldberg Models Inc. in 1956, Carl
made his designs simpler with die-cut
balsa parts. The Falcon series from 1962
used two inserted spars in the wings and
one in the tailplane.
The 37 inch span ‘Jr. Falcon’ is shown
and was released in 1963 for the Cox
.049 reed valve engines and single
channel radio, that by then had a low
voltage transistor receiver and used
an escapement fitted in the fuselage,
near the trailing edge of the wing. The
leading and trailing edges of the wing
were shaped and notched for the ribs,
the spars slid in easily and the wing
took minutes to build. My first 4-channel
multi proportional model in 1968 was
a 69 inch span ‘Sr. Falcon’ for the new
Taipan 61 RC Glo engine, using the same
construction.
The ‘Jr. Falcon’ shown was built
about 1965 and the wing was recently
re-covered with Chinese silk. A servo
is mounted vertically and connected to
the original balsa control rod to rotate
like the original escapement with Futaba
57
30/01/2017 16:41
 Vintage Perspective from OZ
Jr. Falcon with Cox .049 reed valve glo, top single channel model by Carl
Goldberg Models Inc.
single channel radio. I fly the model each
year at the Constellation Club’s retro day.
Apex
This was the model featured at the Oily
Hand Weekend in August 2016, with 23
examples of different sizes (free flight
and radio assist) taking part. They used
diesel engines from .25cc to 1cc and the
models did fly very well. One gets the
impression that O.F.W. (Peter) Fisher may
have flown in a Lockheed Constellation
airliner about 1957, perhaps across
the Atlantic, as he was then inspired to
design a free flight model with three fins.
Peter Fisher deigned the ‘Apex’ for
Performance Kits at 42 inch span for
58 AeroModeller - March 2017
FOR OLD TIMES SAKE 040.indd 58
Rear of 37 inch span Jr. Falcon shows round plug in fuselage (in front of L.E.) for
winding rubber motor for the escapement, and original rudder control linkage.
sports flying using the smaller engines
up to 1.5cc capacity, but flies fine with
engines like the Mills .75 or D-C Merlin.
The plan is available on the Outerzone
website at www.outerzone.co.uk
The simple box fuselage is easy to
construct and the three square spars in
the top and bottom of the wing make it
strong and warp proof. The tailplane has
geodetic construction to keep it free of
warps and the three fins give it stability
under power, when flying with a wide left
turn. The nose seems very solid and the
model should have a long life.
I was impressed with the 82% version
by Peter Lloyd, using one of the .44cc
PAL Pesky diesels, as tested by Maris
Dislers in April 2016, AeroModeller.
The model was covered with Aerospan
polyester tissue and the blue and red
colour and silver trim on the wings
finished it nicely.
Mite .099 Diesel
Being among the very first American
diesels, I think the Mite diesel engine
merits testing in my articles. It was
designed by Howard Manderville.
Possibly based on the French Jide
8 fixed compression diesel of 1.7cc
capacity, made in a suburban Paris
cottage. A substantial number of these
were sold to U.S. servicemen during late
1944 and 1945.
82% ‘Apex’ held by Peter
Lloyd in Oz. Normal FF
field has canola crop, so
flying was in an adjacent
paddock.
30/01/2017 16:41
 Howard Manderville combined with
Walt Schroeder (who in the 1950’s
became editor of Model Airplane News)
and production was set up in Brooklyn,
New York, in early 1947. During 1947,
when diesels became popular in the
U.S.A., nearly 5000 Mite engines
were produced. Ray Arden’s glo plug,
introduced in November 1947, diverted
the change away from spark ignition in
the American market in that direction. In
1948, the Mite also switched, becoming
the Glo-Mite.
The Mite of 1.6cc capacity has a
0.500 inch bore and stoke, and weighs
only 2.6 ounces including the Lucite
fuel tank, due partly to its magnesium
crankcase and cylinder head. It uses
rotary crankshaft induction, a fixed
compression ratio of 13.5 to 1, a ball
and socket joint in the lightweight 4130
alloy steel piston and reverse flow
porting consisting of opposed transfer
ports perpendicular to twin exhausts – with 9 x 4 APC propeller. Plan of the Peter Fisher designed ‘Apex’, featured
model at the 2016 Oily Hand Weekend.
an arrangement commonly associated Not good results, so Maris Dislers
with the later Cox engines. An unusual tested my new Mite diesel engine with
air bleed lever at the bottom of the more suitable fuel. Its piston to cylinder While there was slight pre-ignition
crankcase (shown open in the photo) fit was fine by petrol engine standards with the larger props, this fuel worked
must be vertically down when running, and seemed very happy when running, well with the smaller ones, the engine
but can be moved slightly to adjust but made starting difficult. That required running quite smoothly and giving quite
running speed or pulled back to cut the priming the piston with oil and then impressive revs. Considering this 1.6cc
engine. Alan Ortlof’s 1947 test of the Mite adding a few drops of fuel onto the diesel of 1947 vintage works effectively
in Air Trails gave 7,000 RPM on a 9x4 piston crown for starting. We used a fuel at such high speeds, producing around
prop. He could throttle the engine down mix containing 30% ether, 30% castor 0.1 BHP (with perhaps more to come
to 1,800 RPM with the lever. oil, 40% kerosene and 1.5% added with even lighter loads) I am prepared
One of the problems with diesels in ignition improver to give the following to call it the first modern ‘high speed’
1947 was the fairly basic fuel mixtures results; model diesel. A pity that this very good
then in use, such as equal parts ether engine’s true potential was ahead of
and SAE 20 mineral oil specified for the model diesel fuel developments, and
Mite. The pictured engine, owned by Bill Propeller RPM perhaps hints at why glowplug ignition
Britcher was run at his place on basic 9 x 4 APC 7,800 was better suited at that time to the
3-part fuel containing ether, kerosene 8 x 5 Graupner Super 8,700 rapidly advancing American model
and synthetic oil. It was misfiring when 8 ½ x 4 Bolly Clubman 9,400 engine design trends. ●
running and recorded 5,600 RPM with an 8 x 4 APC 10,000
8 ½ x 4 Bolly Clubman and 5,300 RPM

PAL Pesky .44cc diesel in 82% - a great sports diesel Original Mite .099 fixed head diesel, made in Mite diesel running at the home of Bill Britcher,
- in FF ‘Apex’, a 1957 Performance Kits design. Brooklyn, New York, in 1947. separate fuel tank used.

59

FOR OLD TIMES SAKE 040.indd 59 30/01/2017 16:41

 Aerodynamics, Books & More!
From the Armchair…
PART 19: Stuart ‘Supercool’ Sherlock pushes Supercaps to the limit.
Duncan Pepper used the twin
KP00 motor unit geared to 4.75:1
which is available from KP Aero
at www.kpaero.com
60 AeroModeller - March 2017
ARMCHAIR PART 19.indd 60
T
he subject of Supercaps for use in
place of batteries has been covered
by Gareth Evans (AM No.949, June
2016) and Duncan Pepper (AM
No. 955, December 2016). While
excellent and informative, these articles lack the
muddle and confusion which is ever-present in
the ‘Supercool Way’.
You see, there are societies where confused,
bewildered and downright insane individuals
are held in high esteem, to the point of their
being leaders. These societies are called
‘parliamentary democracies’. Their economic
model is called ‘capitalism’, wherein large
numbers of poor people are needed to provide
comfort for the wealthy. After all, if everyone
Duncan Pepper’s methodical approach to testing Super Capacitors can be
were to be wealthy, who would get the
work done?
In the ‘Supercool Way’, the axioms are much
more fun, such as “act first, think afterwards”,
“leap before you look”, and most importantly,
“ignore the advice of the experts”.
So the works of Evans and Pepper were
nothing short of a challenge to my cupidity.
Among my impressions were the following:
● The models must be ridiculously light, made
of old styrofoam coffee cups and flown nearly
always indoors.
● The Supercaps charge almost
instantaneously.
● They deliver a high current and can be
found in December 2016 AeroModeller 955.
30/01/2017 16:41
 Initial optimistic test board. Far left is the flying
robot rotor system, potential as co-axial contra-
rotating propellers. Three of the faulty 120 F caps
in place at rear of the board. 1K pot to the right
of the board was a ridiculous choice, 10 ohms
maximum would have done (if there exists such
a pot).
matched to cheap DC motors.
● They produce their power at 2.7 volts
but can be connected in series to get
higher voltages.
● Two motors are better than one.
● Gutless little 20 Farad caps are the way
to go.
● Suitable DC (brush) motors are to
be had.
None of this was of use to impetuous
me. I crush foam coffee cups in my bare
hands, instant charge is too slow for me,
I want smoke coming out of the motors,
but mostly, I want to control the power
flow using an ESC (Electronic speed
Controller). So it was onto the internet
where I found I could buy six 120 Farad
Supercaps ready to go, mounted on a
board, for zilch dollars.
Profound Idiocy
That was where my studied ignorance
started to pay off. I couldn't get the caps
off the board. Seems that these days
you need an oxy-acetylene torch to melt
solder, the lead content being decreased
to stop global warming. Fortunately I
have a variable-power soldering iron: they
came off with more trickery than heat.
Next I needed a circuit with a power
supply, switches, some multimeters, a
variable resistance (1K potentiometer, or
‘pot’), and a rotary switch. I picked up
a 30V, 3A power supply which was on
special at $100, and the rather expensive
rotary switch ($16) with 12 positions,
when I only needed 4. All these items,
including the 4 caps plus some test
points and switches were thrown into a
hat, shuffled around and soldered as they
came out, onto a ready-tracked PC board.
In theory, I could now throw switches
which would allow charge/dis-charge/
open circuit of any selection from four
serially-connected Supercaps. The
ARMCHAIR PART 19.indd 61
Test board Mk2. Rotors on the left are from a drone,
which permitted shortening of the rotor shafts.
Centre rear are two 100 F caps of sound provenance.
Leads to the rear of the caps loop across to the brown
coloured break-out board, then to the MaxiMite
computer sitting on top the power supply. A bypass
switch sits on the lower right of the main board,
bypasses the 1K pot minimum resistance of 2.8 ohms.
pot would regulate the rate of charge/
discharge, and some banana connectors
led to the twin DC motors I had exhumed
from a recently dead (murdered) flying toy
robot. These latter motors, complete with
their rotors, I gave their own board, where
a cunningly-wired dual-throw, dual-pole
switch could connect the motors in either
series, parallel or not at all.
Now here is the design philosophy. By
placing four of the Supercaps in series,
with the rotary switch selecting them in
series of one, two, three or even four, I
could get voltages to the motors of 2.7,
5.4, 8.1 or 10.8. Now in the flying robot,
the motors were connected to each other
in series, using a 3.7 volt LiPo, speed
control being achieved by chopping up
the DC voltage into pulses of varying
length. With the un-chopped voltages on
the caps as listed above, I should surely
be able to get some smoke signals from
the motors.
However, rather than toast the motors
too soon in the testing phase, the 1K pot
was there to limit both the charge and
discharge rates of the caps. Then some
multimeters were hung off to monitor the
volts off the power supply and on the
caps; also the current flowing into the
motors. The power supply had its own
current indicator.
With Ohms law the governing concern,
no inductors, IC's, transistors or other
confusing devices, how could I go wrong?
Testing, Testing…
With everything connected, expecting to
see the rotors whiz around, I switched
the power on. Nothing. Not even smoke.
That's where 240 volts are more fun. You
don't just get smoke, you get a loud bang
as the hook-up wire vaporises. Careful
scrutiny of the mother board revealed
that the switch mountings were shorting
across the PCB tracks. With that fixed,
Mounting board for the rotor system. Dual motors
can be run in series or parallel with the DPDT
switch connections shown. Rotors are a tight
press-fit on the shafts.
the motors sprang limply into life as
though blown by the wind. This was not
going well.
Now with things not following the
script, I realised I needed to see what was
happening. In the good-old government
funded days, I used systems voltmeters
on the IEEE 488 data bus. This data bus
allowed the voltmeter readings to be
displayed graphically on my computer
screen, as volts versus time. You would
have thought that in 2016, 40 years
later, in the age of WiFi, you could have
picked these up for $10 in the local
‘Electronicery’, but no.
So I had to resurrect my MaxiMite Geoff
Graham kit-build computer, which has 10
analog inputs. With the voltage across the
cap(s) now being read into the computer
every 400 ms, I could plot the voltage on
the screen and hopefully track down my
gremlins.
No way. Nothing on the screen made
sense. After sleeping on these problems
for a few nights, it occurred to me that I
hadn't tested the caps before I put them
on the board. After all, it was strange that
they came already soldered into their own
board, complete with SMD's. Well, three
of them simply would not charge, and the
other 3 were leaky. None the less, you
have to go with what you have got.
Results at Last
With one-only working (and leaky) cap
mounted on the board, I was able to
observe the charging characteristic for
a 2.7 volt 120 Farad Supercap, weight
14g. Now get this clear. Supercaps are
not like the regular electrolytic caps. The
Supercap can hold a charge five orders
of magnitude greater than your regular
electrolytics. That is enormous. The first
thing I found was that this Supercap did
NOT charge rapidly, did NOT discharge
rapidly and leaked charge away
61
30/01/2017 16:41
 Aerodynamics, Books & More!

profusely. circuit. This made the situation worse! never make smoke! Switching from series,
At this point I gave up on these internet Unbelievably, the resistance of the shunt as used in the robot, to parallel motor
caps, going instead to my local supplier was 6 ohms! This was a commercial item, connection, I was rewarded with another
for three 100 Farad/2.7 volt items. but not a very good one. The crocodile jump in rotor speed.
Mounting just one, I was rewarded to find clips at each end were secured to the For test flying a model, a pot of lower
the charging rate was OK, the leakage wire lead by crimping, the crimp including minimum resistance would be a good
was minimal , and the rotors at last some of the wire insulation! With the feature, limiting the power burst for initial
started to spin in a healthy way. But not connections remade using good old flights. However, a better approach with
nearly healthy enough. There were still solder, I was rewarded with a good RPM radio assist/servo-tester is to use an ESC
problems to sort out. increase in the rotors. as a throttle: for this reason I chose the
At the time of laying out my test circuit, On a roll now, I re-read Pepper's article, option of capacitors in series, as many
I had not appreciated just how tricky it is wherein he connected twin motors in ESC's won't work off 2.7 volts. The
to draw charge out of the Supercaps. If parallel and also doubled the capacitors. voltage output of capacitors in series is
you want high power, you have to draw This seemed a bit bizarre, until I realised just the sum of the voltages on each cap.
a high current. It is true that Supercaps that this trick lowered the resistance The little robot motors ran well for me
can be discharged rapidly, but not in of the motors. The resistance of each up to 7 volts. I hesitated going to higher
the circuit I had built. The 1K pot I had motor was about 1 ohm. Connected in voltages to preserve the motors for more
installed for controlling the discharge rate series, the total resistance of the motors tests. Usually my tests-to-destruction
worked alright, but I soon found that the was 2 ohms. But connected in parallel, occur earlier in the proceedings, but with
lowest resistance available from the pot the resistance was only 1 ohm. It at first all the problems so far I was feeling a little
was 2.8 ohms. This was way too much, seemed that bothering with such low cautious.
even though it was the smallest resistance values of resistance was a nonsense, but
I have ever used. the facts proved otherwise. Weird Charging
The trick with getting a good flow of I cunningly connected the motors to a Now I have been skirting around the
energy from the Supercap into the motors double-pole, double-throw (DPDT) switch. charging problem. Clearly I wanted to
is to have a very low ohmic resistance This gave me 3 settings, series, parallel use the caps in series to give the rotors
in the circuit, so I placed a shunt across and open circuit, all from the one device. a good spin. But charging the caps
the pot to remove its resistance from the Incidentally, I don't like open circuits, they in series can be fraught. So, like the
motors, I arranged two caps (giving a
nominal 200 Farads!) in like manner to
the motors: i.e., a flick of the switch
changed the connection of the caps from
series to parallel and vice-versa.
This allowed for charging the caps in
parallel, then switching to series for flight.
Why bother? Why not charge in series?
Well there are two answers to that.
Firstly, and again rather weirdly, if you
charge in parallel (at 2.7 volts) you can
store more charge in the caps. That is
desirable.
But secondly, if you charge in series (at
say 5.4 volts) you can damage the caps.
Recall that these Supercaps are rated
at only 2.7 volts. That is if you put more
than 2.7 volts on one of them, they can be
damaged. This is quite unlike electrolytic
caps which can in some cases be rated at
a 100 volts or more.
Imagine you put 5.4 volts across two
Supercaps in series. Each cap will have
Rather busy screen shot generated by the MaxiMite computer to log the readings. Starting at zero seconds,
the caps, connected in parallel, charge linearly as the power supply is in constant-current mode. 2.7 Volts across it, no harm done. But
The curve following on after 60 seconds shows charging with power supply in constant-voltage mode, in this not all caps are equal. If one charges
case 1.3 volts. Charging at 2.7 volts with parallel connection is permissible.
At 200 seconds, charging ceases and the caps are switched to series to give peak power. The energy stored faster than the other, then it will have
in the caps varies with the square of the voltage. Upper curve is the voltage across both caps. more than 2.7 volts across it and it will
At 250 seconds, the motors, connected in parallel fire up, drawing current from the caps. Voltage drops until
300 seconds when the motors are switched off. At 370 seconds the caps are discharged back to zero volts. suffer damage. So, if for no other reason,

62 AeroModeller - March 2017

ARMCHAIR PART 19.indd 62 30/01/2017 16:41

 charging in parallel and switching to
series for flight is good practice.
You can destroy Supercaps. I was
experimenting with a 55 Farad cap when
there was a knock on the door. By the
time I got back, the cap was too hot to
touch and the end plate was bulging out.
Somehow the power supply had gotten
wound up to 10 volts. I belatedly found
the cause. The power supply gave 30
volts with a 3amp output. But if the load
drew more than 3 amps, the voltage did
not remain at the set value, but fell to 0.7
volts (constant-current mode). Then, when
charging required less than 3 amps, back
up went the voltage (constant-voltage
mode)!
You can destroy multimeters as well.
While trying to measure the current flow
into the motors, I blew both fuses in
the meter. Seems one multimeter is not
enough, a second meter is needed to
check the fuses in the first one!

Power to Burn
I was now in a good position. Circuit
resistance had been minimised and it
was time to run the motors at 2.6 volts.
Recall that these rotors from off the flying
robot were on long shafts, just as for the
toy helicopters. In other words, this was
a pretty rickety arrangement for a system
of co-axial, contra rotating propellers.
Such was the power now being
delivered by the motors, the rotors
wobbled badly. I replaced the rotors
with a couple of props from a small,
recently dead, drone; this also permitted
shortening the drive shafts. Testing
was now possible to proceed: see the
accompanying photos and captions.
Using only a 1.3 Volt charging setting,
batteries in parallel, motors in series gave
1200 RPM at 0.12 amps. Motors switched
to parallel gave 1400 RPM at 0.32 amps.
With batteries switched to series, giving
2.6 Volts, motors in series gave 1000
RPM at 0.16 amps. Switching motors to
parallel, RPM was 2900 at 0.58 amps. The
length of motor run in the latter case gave
these figures. Starting at 2600 RPM, 0.6
amps went to 2100 RPM, 0.48 amps after
50 seconds.
These figures do not represent the
highest possible figures. The battery
charge was at only 1.3 Volts per cell,
Silverlit (www.silverlit.com) produce many small twin counter-rotating RC helicopters which could be
suitable for Supercap experiments.
whereas 2.7 volts (yielding 5.4 volts in
series) would have provided a factor of
four more charge to be stored. However,
the poor old robot shaft mechanism
would have disintegrated.
I am now convinced the system as
described should be more than enough
to fly a reasonable-sized outdoor FF, such
as Tomboy or Mam'selle. However, the
co-axial counter-rotating shafts really
need some engineering, in the form of
ball race supports. The friction losses
in the existing system must have been
high. Also the drone rotors were pretty
hopeless for use as tractors, the blade
angle being very low, with consequent
high profile losses.
Re’Cap’
To return now to my impressions of
Evans and Pepper's work, I find:
● There is considerable power available
from 100 Farad caps for non-indoor work.
I can speculate that Mam'selle would be
nicely powered.
● The 100 Farad Supercaps did not
charge rapidly, nor linearly with voltage,
but we are only talking a minute or so.
They should be charged in parallel then
switched to series for flight. The problem
was my inadequate power supply. A pack
of nickel metal-hydride batteries would be
the way to go for charging.
● High current is available, provided that
the ohmic resistance of the whole system
is low, of the order of two or less ohms all-
up. Connecting two motors in parallel is
very effective in this respect.
● Connecting multiple caps in series is
valid, enabling both longer motor runs
and the use of an ESC for radio assist
throttle of servo-tester power setting.
● Connecting multiple motors in parallel
increases the power output considerably.
● 20 Farads are useful for low power
indoor, but 10 times that capacity is
the future.
● The tiny brush motors in toy helicopters
and their derivatives are a good way to
go. I have hammered mine at 7 volts and
still got no smoke. Must try harder! ●

63

ARMCHAIR PART 19.indd 63 30/01/2017 16:42

 Readers Letters

AeroPost
Do let us know your thoughts on AeroModeller and
aeromodelling in general. We’re happy to receive post
to the Doolittle Media office address, or emails to editor@
aeromodeller.com – all are read although you may not
get a reply. Featured letters may be edited.
Regards, Andrew Boddington

FLYING THE AUTOGYRO SMALLER SHOES

Hi Andrew, Good day to you, Andrew,
December 2016 AeroModeller from the UK had a free plan of a A friend in England kindly sent me the October 2016 AeroModeller which
small autogyro included – gotta love a FREE plan! I’ve never built an carried a half page photo of Stuart Darmon’s
autogyro before and now I’m glad I did. I went to the field determined Classic Glider ‘Walkin’ Shoes’.
to fly my newly built Boddington designed twin rotor autogyro I was happy to see this, being my design
‘Byrace’. I had fitted my .5cc Alex Phinn Compish diesel which is from around 1956, published in Model
theoretically a bit powerful (plan recommends .3 - .4) but what the hell, Aircraft in 1958. I’m still flying
you can always back off the compression! I must say I think a throttle
would be more use than the elevator but I don’t have a small diesel
reduced scale versions (36” and
with one of those. 66”) in the US Classic Glider
There was a bit of a breeze and the ‘instructions’ say point it into the events, but sadly there’s no
wind, wait for the rotors to spin up, walk forward slowly and let it lift classification to permit the use
from your hand – don’t chuck it! I held it up and the rotors couldn’t be of the 88” original. Therefore it
bothered to spin so the usual watching crowd suggested ROG. was very pleasing to see that
Flight 1: I started it (it starts easily, it’s a nice little engine) put it on one such example is still in
the ground and let go. It shot forward, got an inch (2.54cms for the the air.
younger members!) off the ground and turned/rolled rapidly to the left
and finished upside down!
Regards, Jim Moseley
Flight 2: Suspecting excessive engine torque being the cause I was (Once of Enfield, Baildon,
ready to shove in a lot of right rudder on this one. Started engine, Leeds, Morley.)
released and it shot forward again. It went about 50 feet in a vaguely
straightish direction, got about 12 inches of the ground and rolled in
again.
Flight 3 : Refilled and off it went again straight across the field

INDOOR BYRACE
reaching an altitude of at least 3 feet! It was during this 4 second flight
that it was clear the rotors were not rotoring, it was flying using the
‘wing’ (the support for the rotors) for some lift.
Flight 4 : Hmmm, thinks, maybe it is not getting a steep enough Hi Andrew,
climb angle to the wind to get the rotors to spin, let’s try a lot of up Having read your article about twin rotor
elevator on take-off (did I mention I went wild and fitted both rudder autogyros I decided to build one for indoor flying.
and elevator!) Once again it raced across the ground at impressive
Using Depron I made one at approximately 2/3 scale of the Byrace plan for
speed. It leapt into the air and climbed steeply to about 50 feet the
rotors whirling. They were obviously providing lift like they should so electric power and three channel control. It came out at 32 grm ready to fly
I thought I’d better turn to make sure it stayed in the field. The turn and to my (and fellow flyers) surprise it flew.
started ok but rapidly tightened into a spiral dive and ended abruptly Regards, Chris Grant.
at ground level with 2 broken rotor blades.
I repaired the rotors, just superglued them back to flat and doped a Hi Chris,
piece of tissue over the join. It was clearly very sensitive to rudder I was hoping somebody would have a go at a Depron variation of the Byrace.
movement so I reduced it by about half and went back to the field. Having seen many twin rotor designs fly I’m not surprised it was a success as
Subsequent flights were better as I was ready with a bootful of right
it is stable and forgiving configuration once set up.
rudder as it went off. Fantastic! It was great, it climbed to at least 100
feet and once properly trimmed I could steer right and left. Last test Regards, Andrew
was engine cut… would it auto-rotate? YES! The rotors whirled on and
it came down fast but under some control over direction!
Most pleasant to fly now, can’t wait to get up again and try a loop or
a roll? Go build one and join the expanding group - a friend has nearly
finished his.

Mike Minty, Sydney Australia (wrcs.org.au).

Hi Mike,
Glad to hear you’re having fun with the Byrace and I’m impressed you
are getting ROGs. Do make sure the blade hubs are lubricated and
spin freely.
Regards, Andrew

Mike Minty used an elevator push rod of 22 swg wire in a plastic Chris Grant’s smaller autogyro uses Depron
sleeve on his 2 channel Byrace. with carbon rods for strengthening.

LETTERS 040 6 30/01/2017 16:42

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AM040 p65 BUYERS GUIDE.indd 1 30/01/2017 15:32

 Tail End Charlie
New Light through Old Airframes
Oh Dear
In my January piece, I’m sorry to have offended
Steve Midson with my comments about not
building and flying model hot air balloons! He
writes:
“The January 1972 “Midair” Hot Air Balloon was
the first of what has become many thousands of
flying models bearing that name, made by me,
youth groups, and the public.
You need not worry about the environmental
impact of the balloon design - the burner was
designed to flame out whilst the balloon was still
climbing and thus would be cool by the time it
reached earth again, also the bottom ring was
made of balsa, not wire as used in the later
commercial designs which caused havoc when
eaten by cattle etc. Balsa would not hurt them!
The one weakness was the tissue which was
easily torn by enthusiastic launchers, and current
balloons are made from mylar sheet and narrow
double sided tape.
For safety indoors one or two hair dryers provide
sufficient heat for a trip to the ceiling.
I regularly use these balloons as part of my
‘science’ lectures - air expands when heated
reducing the number of molecules in the balloon
and hence it gets lighter and floats.
Kids enjoy flying them, realise how they go up
and come down as the inside air cools, and great
fun is had by trying to stand under a descending
balloon and get your head inside - Only to be told
off, as it is a plastic bag and one must not put your
head inside a plastic bag. But it is good fun and a
slim young lady completely disappeared inside a
balloon the other day!”
Well that puts my mind somewhat at rest then.
I’ve also heard from a number of people about
bigger ‘scale’ model hot air balloons including
Richard Gahan and Andy Marshall of AM Balloons,
see www.amballoons.com
Andy said
“Technology wise most of what we do mimics
man carrying balloons, high tenacity rip stop
nylon, flame retardant nomex, propane fuel.
Some people make and fly woven baskets, others
build ‘cloudhopper’ air chairs often quite novel
constructions
possibly the most challenging projects are to
build small; 6m3 I think is the smallest working
model I’ve seen in the UK, though I’ve heard of
people flying balloons measured in litres. The UKs
largest is 110m3.
The balloons cool quickly requiring piloting skill
to predict the fall from equilibrium, and adjust,
though we use no vent systems as the pressure is
not sufficient to make them function in the same
66 AeroModeller - March 2017
p66 TEC 040.indd 1
way as a man carrying balloon. Duration wise just
under 1 1/4 hours is the longest flight I know of.
MBUK is the BMFA recognised specialist body
and has roughly 50 members spread across the
UK.”
If you want to know more or see these amazing
creations in flight, they appear at various shows
around the country. For example, Andy organised
an indoor flying meet at Llangollen Festival arena
in March 2016 where over 20 balloons were flown
throughout the day. They will also be flown at
the Bristol Balloon Festival (10th to 13th August Children Learning about Hot Air Balloon
2017). For details of other events contact Andy at Flight.
AMBALLOONS@hotmail.co.uk
It IS Rocket Science!
Unlike many I had great success with the original
Jetex. My first Jetex model was a “Barry Bucknell
Jetex Glider.” For youngsters, Barry Bucknell
was the first TV “Mr DIY” who was on the BBC
practically every week in the 1950s. A versatile
man, he later went on to design the “Mirror”
dinghy! Most people however didn’t realise that his
hobby was Gliders even though on BBC Children’s Llangollen, Wales - with enough space you
TV on Monday 16th June 1958 he did a piece on can fly these scale balloons indoors.
“Building a Model Aeroplane”. Sadly I’ve been
unable to find a decent picture of his Jetex design
but I can tell you it was 20 inch span and came
complete with a Jetex 50 motor for the princely
sum of seven shillings and eight pence and flew
very well.
So when Roy Lever (Powermax) brought out
a “modern Jetex” in the 1980s I bought one but
I could never make it work properly. Recently I
came up with an idea which needs that sort of
power and thought of using a Rapier or similar
power unit – only to find that they are unobtainable
today. However, as I see similar items being used
at most of the Old Warden events, someone must Rocket powered model at Peterborough
be doing something! Is there a secret Rapier Flying Aces.
supplier who, with the right “secret handshake”
will sell me what I need? Or is it just that a few
sensible people realising that Rapiers would soon
disappear stocked up? Or, the final possibility – Is
there another mini rocket motor known only to the
few? I don’t know, so it’s over to you dear readers
to tell me! (I’m sure the readers won’t disappoint
you – the Editor.)
Finally, please send your comments,
anecdotes, complaints and suggestions to me
at chrisottewell@anworld.com or via the editorial
offices by snail mail. ●
By Chris Ottewell
Jetex 50 Rocket Motor
30/01/2017 16:42
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AM040 IBC.indd 1 01/02/2017 12:29

AM040 OBC.indd 1 30/01/2017 14:36