FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I love the vintage pictures and those sideburns!

donnyman

Telemaster

Way to go! you will be just as pleased with iron on covering with much less hassle.

I have been thinking about the shrinkage you mentioned using dope. my thoughts are it is only a real concern when tissue is used because the tissue shrinks as well as the dope and causes warpage in frail structures but can be negated by applying the dope to both sides this is true but mainly on open structures I don't think the surface of the guff would have suffered any warps because the skin is supported by the super structure of the fuselage. The wings would need both sides doped.

We have cold rain so I am indoors sanding on my King Kobra, It is my hope to get it out of the way so I can concentrate on my mustang and then the F-14 (yeah right!)

acdii

:facepalm: Why do these always crop up when funds are too low to be of any worth. :crying:

Anything you interested in for trade?

donnyman

Robart only made one type/model that I am aware of but I was planning to use them on a Don smith plans built p-61 99" bird they will fit the Ziroli as well, I got them in a box stuffed away with some other stuff for it. but I can get you a number and pictures if you need it.

I did a little researching and Robart does not show these gear any longer, so I guess they no longer make them. Century jet models is going out of business but show a set for sale, from what I have seen the cost is in the 400-500 dollar range and are hard to find, I lucked into these after looking for seven years. I am glad I got all the landing gear I need (I think) The costs have sky rocketed.

In response to post 7403 .........................I will trade but have no Idea for what, whatcha got?

acdii

Have a couple 20cc gas 2 strokes I'm not using, one is still NIB. Also have a Spectrum DX8 I'm not using. Not sure what might interest you though, those are two items I can think of since not at home at the moment to look.

Telemaster Sales UK

I went flying this afternoon. The temperature was 9C and there was little wind and the early autumn colours of central France, nothing like as vivid as the colours of Fall in the north-eastern states, had nontheless produced a pleasing sfumato effect. For the next week the forecast suggests wind and rain which will put the mockers on any attempt to fly. So it was on with the fleece and orange miners' overalls and load some models into the van. Among the models was "La Rosse d'Hiver." This is the nearest I can get to a "Winter Hack" in French. Literally it means, "The Nag of the Winter." My Winter Hack is actually a WOT 4 Mark 3 powered by a Thunder Tiger 54 and covered in film off-cuts. Because the WOT 4 was intended for a 40 two-stroke the model has always been a little nose-heavy so I've added a wheel balancing weight to the tailplane to see what effect it would have. It actually had very little effect so I'll have to rig the model up accurately on my c of g jig and add more weight until the desired balance point is reached. Having had one brief test flight I landed the model, got my foamie trainer out practised landing approaches with it.While I was doing this I was aware of the call of those harbingers of winter in these parts, the Common Crane, on their annual migration south. Apparently they fly from Scandanavia and Russia and spend the winter in North Africa or Southern Spain. Lucky birds! I landed and watched them fly by. The first flock must have had a thousand birds in it. Behind it smaller numbers were striving to catch up with the leading group. When they caught up with the flock they merged with it increasing the length of the line, each bird benefitting from the bird in front and helping the bird behind penetrate the air. If only humans were so co-operative. One group broke away from the main group by appearing to slow down. In fact they had detected a current of rising air, they ascended with it and after a few minutes they were not only higher than the leading group they were in front of it. Right at the front the leading bird had the hardest task for there was no bird ahead of him or her to penetrate the air but after several minutes another bird would take over. I stood in admiration as sixteen flocks flew by. Some had only about fifty birds in them but the larger flocks... well, some of them must have contained thousands. It's a shame that I did not have my camera with me but here's a picture that I took in 2016 of the cranes in their annual migation.

None of my clubmates turned up so I went home, lit the woodburner and settled down to coffee and cake.

Incidentally this is a picture of the WOT 4, he's also called "Joseph" because of his coat of many colours! Oh well suit yourselves...

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I like the colors on the WOT 4! A beautiful day my friend, I'm a little jealous!

Telemaster Sales UK

Alan Ayres and Kit Davidson with their SLEC Fun Flies.


Your humble servant with his Fun Fly. I didn't finish it in yellow to avoid confusion!
Gentlemen, the saga of the red Solartex and that of the SNJ-4, known as the "Harvard" in RAF circles, has provoked some thoughts which I'd like to share with you. This will involve pulling together several lines of thought so please bear with me. As I mentioned in Post 7387, I bought the Harvard sometime ago and it's taken me five years to fit an engine and a receiver. I've still some adjustments to make so I haven't maidened it yet. Naturally I've had other things to do in the interim, houses, gardens, motor vehicles etc.

I must have bought the opaque Red Solartex at about the same time as I bought the Harvard. There was a model shop which was closing down probably as a result of internet competition. I'd always had good service from that shop so bought two rolls of Red Solartex with the intention of building a Flair Puppeteer, a not-so-semi-scale version of the Sopwith Pup. I intended to finish the model in a post war colour scheme, red overall with civilian registrations in black on white fields but then Flair went out of business. I notice that I had paid £9.99 for each roll (11.58€ or $12.76 US.) As I type this two metres of Solartex will set you back £23.50 from Solarfilm Sales, the business set up to liquidate Solarflim stocks. That's 27.25€ or $30.02 US per roll at current exchange rates and Red Solartex is no longer available. A 1/6 scale Sopwith Pup from Balsa USA or DB Sport and Scale will cost me £210-£230 these days, (243€ or $268 US upwards) but that's not the point.

The following is written after a much needed breakfast of scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast! Again some years ago I bought another T6 built off the Brian Taylor plan, the smaller version, from an elderly gentlemen in Somerset. It's beautifully built, finished in post war RAF colours, retracts the lot but I've never flown it. I'm waiting for my landings to improve! He said that all aeromodellers were hoarders, that it "went with the territory." He was the same generation as my father. Though he came from Somerset his wife was a Londoner. They'd met when they were both stationed somewhere together in the army during the war. I suppose that at the time when I bought the model he would have been in his eighties.

A few weeks ago a dear friend of mine and fellow aeromodeller, Kit Davidson and his partner came to visit me. They were on their way down to the south of France on holiday and we had a pleasant evening at the local restaurant which opened especially for us. Kit is an exceptionally big and strong man, a real heavyweight and well over six feet six (198cms) tall; I believe that he's seventy-three years old. He spent all of his working life, thirty-six years, in the Royal Navy starting off as an Ordinary Seaman and ending up as the officer in charge of the anti-aircraft weapons on an aircraft carrier. I used to tease him that he had to serve on an aircraft carrier because all of the other ships in the navy were too small for him! He also used to play rugby for the navy, second row of course where all the giant powerhouses play. He remains an afficianado of the game to this day. He is pictured above on the right with Alan Ayres and their yellow SLEC Fun Flys. Naturally being a fellow aeromodeller, I was keen to show him my workshop which is in the cellar. Kit has recently had back surgery from which he has nearly recovered but he looked at the stairs and said that he couldn't go down them because there was no hand rail. He had to walk round the side of the house and through the garage door to get into the workshop. Over brandies on the terrace, once Shirley had gone to bed, he mentioned that recent events had caused him to think of his own mortality.

Let's go back to the Red Solartex. I was debating whether to cover the Big Guff's fuselage in the Old Vintage Red or the opaque Red Solartex. If I used the Old Vintage Red would I have enough to cover the rest of the aeroplane? I decided to cover the fuselage in the opaque red Solartex which I had bought for the prospective Sopwith Pup. Then the following thought struck me. If it had taken me five years to put an engine and a receiver into a model, was I ever going to get round to building the Sopwith Pup? Especially when I have:

1. The Big Guff to finish.
2. My BE2e to finish.
3. A little Sharkface to finish.
4. The WOT 4 XL to re-cover.
5. My Senior Telemaster to re-cover. The fuselage needs a little work too it's too flexible.
6. My late best friend's Flying Flea to finish off.
7. My Uncle Ivor's Keil Kraft Outlaw to renovate.
8. A WOT 4 Classic to renovate.
9. A Dave Smith Models Aerostar patternship to renovate.
10. The elderly gentleman's T6/Harvard needs the radio and engine installing.
11. A Majestic Major needs a new fuselage, repairs to the wing and a complete re-cover.
12. A DB Sport and Scale Auster to finish off.
13. A friend's Bristol Blenheim to complete

Then there are the unstarted kits.

1. DB Sport and Scale SE5 1/4 scale.
2. Fokker DVII 1/6 scale.
3. Supra Star patternship.
4. Another WOT 4 Classic.
5. Hawker Hurricane.
6. Stampe Monitor
7. Another 1/6 scale BE2e.

Add to all of these the 1/3rd scale Mick Reeves Sopwith Camel I inherited from a deceased member of the club who once played for the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra!

That old man was right. we're all hoarders, or at least Donny and I are judging by the photographs!

I'm not poor but I think I ought to sell some of this stuff ! I could give it all to the club but there are two or three builders among the younger members. That said three more have just taken up the art.

Happy Landings Gentlemen

David

Joe Fisher

My Feedback: (4)

https://brodak.com/finishing-product...k-2-yards.html a while back there was talk of covering. I needed Silk bad this is the only source I could find.

Telemaster Sales UK

This guy covered his model in polyester dress lining. It was much cheaper than silk.

GallopingGhostler

Some here in US have been buying their silk from an on-line supply house of clothing fabric, like Dahrma (sp?) Trading. Lightweight silk is several dollars per yard whereas model airplane silk is way too expensive. Back in the early 1980's I used lightweight K&S silk on my half-A 36" span Sterling Minnie Mambo. It was much lighter than Monokote and as a result that plane was a fantastic performer on rudder only Ace R/C Pulse proportional with KRD quick blip sequential throttle servo. (Hi-Med-Lo back to Hi, but for me it was the opposite because I concocted a way to make it work for the non proportional exhaust throttle sleeve of the then new but short lived production Cox .049 R/C Bee. Forward - exhaust port was 1/3rd open for half throttle, middle - was full throttle, back was barely cracked open for idle. This gave me Lo-Med-Hi back to lo.)

Haven't done much with it since rebuilding may be 7 years ago. Just been too busy with volunteer work with the Salvation Army past 6 years.



Sterling Minnie Mambo with Norvel .061 Big Mig R/C for throttle & rudder control.


Me 4 years ago, but though truly senior now still hanging in there.

donnyman

Over the years especially when my money was low I covered my birds with what ever didn't seem overly heavy and truly never noticed any thing bad. with that in mind today if I needed "silk" it would be time to visit a fabric store and get whatever seemed appropriate. Once painted no one will know or care. I have always been of the opinion that we put too much attention on weight savings on any thing with a .15 or larger engine. several ounces one way or the other would never be noticed by most modelers, unless you are in competition or endurance flying. time and money is wasted worrying about weight gain (within reason) Take a good look at post 7410!

A similar situation, why spend extra money paying for high nitro fuel when zero nitro fuel will do the job? I have not purchased fuel above five percent unless it was for 1/2A engine. nitro only heats the engine up and causes it to seize. but helps in cold weather starting. If you are just a sport flyer save your money. want more power use a bigger engine. .................................................. ......... somebody, help me to get off this soapbox.

G. Ghostler
That mambo sure is pretty!

GallopingGhostler

Thanks, Donny. Here at 4,300 ft elevation, we generally use 15% nitro. Helps make up for elevation power loss and easy starts. Works even in the half-A's as long as you're not into squeezing extra performance. Yes, seems some get wrapped around the axle (an NM term, LOL!) over weights. Back in the old days we got used to that with the then inexpensive die cut kits. Balsa wood was the cheaper and heavier stuff but I didn't mind. It was part of the reason besides huge mass production runs that kits were very, very reasonably priced. The later laser cut kits with more optimal wood has spoiled us but it comes with a price. We spend more. With the older heavier kits, aircraft still flew and I wasn't into competition. If the airplane landed in one piece that was a good flight.

red head

I remember --- years ago being stationed in Hawaii and not many places to get stuff ( covering ) and shipping was almost a no- no . I was flying U control and needed to cover a wing but didn't have any place to get covering ( at least that I knew of ) . So out came a pair of my wife's old silk stocking and some clear dope I had . IT worked !!! Red

Telemaster Sales UK

The grave of my grandfather's cousin, killed in his sleep by a shell. A dozen of his comrades were killed by the same shell but only three of them were identifiable. They are buried alongside him.

Lest We Forget.

donnyman

OK! what I said is full of exceptions, That is the best part of shooting off at the mouth, somebody has and exception and the conversation and LEARNING begins!

donnyman

Living in the housing projects proved we didn't have any money, so we used anything that wasn't heavier than newspaper, especially the tissue put in boxes to keep things from rattling around, it wasn't very strong but fortunately things worked out so we could afford Silkspan. 10 cents was a lot of money back then. Silk was beyond our means but occasionally got into our hands. A lady in my building gave me a roll of silk, I had no idea what it was used for until I was informed the free flight guys used it. her son left it when he joined the military. my first flyable controline was the hollowed log scientifc kit it cost almost two dollars, Thought I was gonna die!

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

$2:00 was a lot of money back in those days! Dimes weren't easy to find either.

donnyman

It took some growing up for me to realize money was laying on the ground all around me in the form of soda bottles, each had a deposit from 2-5 cent each and for a while was a source of cash for me. it is (now that I think of it) remarkable the number of bottles one could collect with a little effort. at times the store would refuse to give me the deposit money saying I did not buy it from them, so I would go to some other store. once I started delivering newspapers and got a job at the hobby shop, my modeling life improved dramatically.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

More importantly you learned the lesson of the value of hard work. A lesson too many of our young people have failed to or have no desire to learn.

Papasal

Happy Veterans Day brothers......... I miss my Dad!

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

I miss my Dad too. He was 7th Air force 89th Bomber group (Heavy). Happy Veterans Day to all who gave some and in remembrance to some who gave all.

Telemaster Sales UK

Just before we leave Armistice Day / Veterans' Day behind for another year I thought I'd share a few pictures of yesterday's ceremony in my village, Méasnes, pronounced "men," in the north of La Creuse.

11th November is a national holiday in France and at 11.00 a brief ceremony is held at war memorials throughout the country. In the countryside, the firefighters, "Les Pompiers," are a major voluntary institution as they are in the Austrailian countryside. As well as putting out fires and dealing with road accidents, they are trained paramedics too. In France, if you need an ambulance you will probably be taken away in a red fire service vehicle. There is no national ambulance service as there is in the UK. They even have a youth wing much like the Boy Scouts so they're a big deal in the social life of rural France, hence their presence at the Armistice Day commemorations.

In 1911 the population of Méasnes was 1603, so 800 would have been men. About a third might have been of military age, say 265. There are 79 names on that war memorial which means that the village lost nearly a third of its young men in the Great War. We belong to a fortunate generation. The population of Méasnes is 550 today.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Saw this at the WWII memorial, pretty much sums it up

.

donnyman

The work ethic wasn't practiced by many of my friends (associates) back then either, they could never understand why I wasn't available all the time but was able to pay my way when needed. I kept my mouth shut and never mentioned money, so was not asked for a loan.