old timers look here must be 50+ years only
05-22-2024, 06:03 AM
Since 15th April I have been flying both Barons whenever the weather has been suitable; we've had a lot of rain here recently. I have decided to fly the Ukrainian Baron, Boris, in the competition because it is slightly easier to fly.
I replaced the Magnum in Bertie with an OS 52 Surpass and then the Thunder Tiger 54 stripped its exhaust port threads in Boris so I fitted the Magnum into that model. I discovered an OS carburettor amongst my souvenirs which has dealt with the exploding carburettor problem.
My van is with a motor engineer with half the engine spread all over his workbench. He received an urgent message from England saying that his mother was dying so he's had to go back "home." I hope the van will be ready in time for La Coupe on 15th June, otherwise I'll have to drive the 481 kms (299 miles) in my old Rover!
I replaced the Magnum in Bertie with an OS 52 Surpass and then the Thunder Tiger 54 stripped its exhaust port threads in Boris so I fitted the Magnum into that model. I discovered an OS carburettor amongst my souvenirs which has dealt with the exploding carburettor problem.
My van is with a motor engineer with half the engine spread all over his workbench. He received an urgent message from England saying that his mother was dying so he's had to go back "home." I hope the van will be ready in time for La Coupe on 15th June, otherwise I'll have to drive the 481 kms (299 miles) in my old Rover!
05-22-2024, 07:15 AM
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Thank you Mike.
Pictures of the Barons in their latest colours below and of my Rover. It turns fifty in August. I did not have the "buttons" earlier on as I was on Firefox.
Last year I sold a kit to another expat Englishman, Mike Phillips who is a qualified engineer. I have sent off the Thunder Tiger's cylinder head to him to see whether it can be repaired. I certainly hope so as otherwise it's a fine engine. I have built a new cowling for the Baron in order to make it look a bit smarter in the competition.
I recently bought a Laser 50 from a well-known auction site. It is a lot heavier than it's Chinese or Japanese equivalents so I'll have to build a Baron with a shorter nose for next year's competition. It arrived without a slow running needle. Those old Lasers use Super Tigre carburettors and I was able to find a needle from a shop in Athens. That's Athens as in the capital city of Greece! I think that it would be ubercool to fly a Baron in British colours powered by a British engine in La Coupe. Mike says that he wants to enter next year. He has several engines including a PAW 35 diesel and a Merco 35 both of which would be eligible. Neither would be competitive but a diesel would certainly be different and every year there is a special prize for an entrant who uses a 1970s engine.
Must close, the mole catcher has arrived!
Pictures of the Barons in their latest colours below and of my Rover. It turns fifty in August. I did not have the "buttons" earlier on as I was on Firefox.
Last year I sold a kit to another expat Englishman, Mike Phillips who is a qualified engineer. I have sent off the Thunder Tiger's cylinder head to him to see whether it can be repaired. I certainly hope so as otherwise it's a fine engine. I have built a new cowling for the Baron in order to make it look a bit smarter in the competition.
I recently bought a Laser 50 from a well-known auction site. It is a lot heavier than it's Chinese or Japanese equivalents so I'll have to build a Baron with a shorter nose for next year's competition. It arrived without a slow running needle. Those old Lasers use Super Tigre carburettors and I was able to find a needle from a shop in Athens. That's Athens as in the capital city of Greece! I think that it would be ubercool to fly a Baron in British colours powered by a British engine in La Coupe. Mike says that he wants to enter next year. He has several engines including a PAW 35 diesel and a Merco 35 both of which would be eligible. Neither would be competitive but a diesel would certainly be different and every year there is a special prize for an entrant who uses a 1970s engine.
Must close, the mole catcher has arrived!
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Flicker (06-18-2024)
05-22-2024, 07:24 AM
Love the airplanes! The Rover looks in good shape. I have been getting a big kick out of watching Banger & Cash on Amazon and seeing all the British cars.
05-26-2024, 02:17 AM
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We had a good barbeque yesterday evening at the model aeroplane club after several flights practising for La Coupe Des Barons.
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GallopingGhostler (05-27-2024)
05-26-2024, 11:54 PM
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The picture above was taken as we were having our aperitif, white wine mixed with black current juice.
This was followed by potato salad and a main course of pasta, sausage, merguez and salted pork, for those who could manage all of that! Bread and cheese followed by a choice of deserts. We have some keen cooks in the club but although there was a good turnout, I counted eighteen people, they cooked far too much! Rosé and red wine was available throughout the evening. Merguez is a spicey sausage made from lamb. It was brought to France by North African immigrants in the Fifties and Sixties and it remains very popular.
I hope to do well in La Coupe des Barons this year, I have been getting in lots of practice and the engines are well adjusted. I hope that the journey down south is not too tiring. If my van is not available I will have to go in the Rover and find an assistant when I get there.
This was followed by potato salad and a main course of pasta, sausage, merguez and salted pork, for those who could manage all of that! Bread and cheese followed by a choice of deserts. We have some keen cooks in the club but although there was a good turnout, I counted eighteen people, they cooked far too much! Rosé and red wine was available throughout the evening. Merguez is a spicey sausage made from lamb. It was brought to France by North African immigrants in the Fifties and Sixties and it remains very popular.
I hope to do well in La Coupe des Barons this year, I have been getting in lots of practice and the engines are well adjusted. I hope that the journey down south is not too tiring. If my van is not available I will have to go in the Rover and find an assistant when I get there.
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Telemaster Sales UK (05-27-2024)
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Telemaster Sales UK (05-27-2024)
06-04-2024, 08:37 AM
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Today, the rain and fog finally disappeared so I took both Barons to the flying field to practice for La Coupe. I had not yet decided which of the Barons to take to the competition, I'd made up a new cowling which could fit either but decided to fly them with their existing cowlings and put the new one on whichever model I chose, next week. The competition is on Saturday 15th June.
The British Baron has closed link actuation on both the rudder and the elevator. It is powered by an OS52. I made some adjustments to the cables to take out lost motion. I decided to fly this one first. It turned out to be much faster that the Ukrainian Baron powered by a Magnum 52 XL. I made a couple of flights practising very low level flight.
Then I started up the Magnum in the Ukrainian Baron. I flew it about but in practising low level flight I executed a Chinese landing and broke the starboard wing! So that's made the decision for me! I need to have a look at the landing gear on the British one but otherwise I will compete with my British Baron resplendent in its British insignia! If I don't plough it in in the first round, I think I might do quite well in the high speed events.
Picture of both Barons before the crash in Post 12535.
The British Baron has closed link actuation on both the rudder and the elevator. It is powered by an OS52. I made some adjustments to the cables to take out lost motion. I decided to fly this one first. It turned out to be much faster that the Ukrainian Baron powered by a Magnum 52 XL. I made a couple of flights practising very low level flight.
Then I started up the Magnum in the Ukrainian Baron. I flew it about but in practising low level flight I executed a Chinese landing and broke the starboard wing! So that's made the decision for me! I need to have a look at the landing gear on the British one but otherwise I will compete with my British Baron resplendent in its British insignia! If I don't plough it in in the first round, I think I might do quite well in the high speed events.
Picture of both Barons before the crash in Post 12535.
06-06-2024, 09:11 AM
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On the 80th Anniversary of D Day, three little stories for you.
1. I used to know a man called Don Wrigley, but I may not have the surname right, it was so long ago. He was a working man from Yorkshire but a very intelligent and well-read man. In the late Thirties and early Forties he was a trumpeter in the Swing Bands of the era in London. When war broke out he decided that he didn't want to kill anybody so he volunteered for the Merchant Navy but after several trips he jumped ship in South Africa. Then after many months travelling the length of Africa, debating with himself whether he really could take a life, he joined the British Army in Algiers. He landed on either Sword or Gold Beach where he was wounded in the mouth. This put an end to his musical career. After the war he became influenced by the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti and through his interest in this philosophy he got to know George Harrison and Eric Clapton. The last time I saw him was in the late Sixties when he turned up driving George Harrison's psychedelically painted Mercedes Benz. in the company of a young lady many years his junior. Harrison had not yet passed his driving test so Don was his chauffeur for a while. I heard that after he died, his ashes were scattered on Eric Clapton's garden.
2. On June 6th 1994, the fiftieth anniversary of D Day, I was living in North Devon and I was married to an Irish girl. I used to listen to the Irish radio station RTE on the way to work, you could pick it up easily that far west. That day, the broadcaster asked for comments from listeners, and then he asked whether anybody was actually there at the time. An old Irishman phoned up and said that he had been in the second wave. When asked for his abiding memories of D Day he replied, "Wading through the bodies of the Hampshire Regiment..." Lest We Forget.
3.Yesterday some people organised the lighting of candles on the graves of soldiers in the Canadian Cemetery in Normandy. I copied and forwarded the post on a well-known social media website. It provoked a response from an Australian lady I'd met in Galipolli in 2009 and from Vincent Saffiotti, the head honcho of La Coupe Des Barons. Translated from the French it means, " Macron, look and reflect, you will never reach even the ankles of these heroes."
Emmanuel Macron is the President of France.
1. I used to know a man called Don Wrigley, but I may not have the surname right, it was so long ago. He was a working man from Yorkshire but a very intelligent and well-read man. In the late Thirties and early Forties he was a trumpeter in the Swing Bands of the era in London. When war broke out he decided that he didn't want to kill anybody so he volunteered for the Merchant Navy but after several trips he jumped ship in South Africa. Then after many months travelling the length of Africa, debating with himself whether he really could take a life, he joined the British Army in Algiers. He landed on either Sword or Gold Beach where he was wounded in the mouth. This put an end to his musical career. After the war he became influenced by the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti and through his interest in this philosophy he got to know George Harrison and Eric Clapton. The last time I saw him was in the late Sixties when he turned up driving George Harrison's psychedelically painted Mercedes Benz. in the company of a young lady many years his junior. Harrison had not yet passed his driving test so Don was his chauffeur for a while. I heard that after he died, his ashes were scattered on Eric Clapton's garden.
2. On June 6th 1994, the fiftieth anniversary of D Day, I was living in North Devon and I was married to an Irish girl. I used to listen to the Irish radio station RTE on the way to work, you could pick it up easily that far west. That day, the broadcaster asked for comments from listeners, and then he asked whether anybody was actually there at the time. An old Irishman phoned up and said that he had been in the second wave. When asked for his abiding memories of D Day he replied, "Wading through the bodies of the Hampshire Regiment..." Lest We Forget.
3.Yesterday some people organised the lighting of candles on the graves of soldiers in the Canadian Cemetery in Normandy. I copied and forwarded the post on a well-known social media website. It provoked a response from an Australian lady I'd met in Galipolli in 2009 and from Vincent Saffiotti, the head honcho of La Coupe Des Barons. Translated from the French it means, " Macron, look and reflect, you will never reach even the ankles of these heroes."
Emmanuel Macron is the President of France.
06-07-2024, 08:52 PM
I have been practicing every day this week and now have the engine and model sorted out. I have tried various props ranging from a 12x6 to a 10x8 but I can't say that I've noticed much difference in the performance of the model. Essentially there are two slow speed and two high speed events in La Coupe Des Barons and I was hoping that a change of propeller would make a discernible difference but that does not seem to be the case so I'll stick with a 12x6 or 11x7.
I'm very impressed by the OS 52 FS Surpass. After fiddling about with push-rod lengths, carburettor adjustments and transmitter settings I now have a very slow tick over, excellent transition and plenty of revs at WOT, mind you, I am using 16% nitro fuel.
I have also mixed in some down elevator at 75%-100% WOT. If anything there's a little too much because I have to hold in a little up elevator at maximum speed but I find this a bit easier than pushing in down elevator, the Baron has a Clark Y wing section remember. However, it nearly caught me out on the first take off after I'd set the elevator-throttle mix. I took off, moved the elevator stick to the neutral position and pushed the throttle stick to its maximum position. Suddenly the nose dipped! The model had not attained maximum speed of course and suddenly it was getting a down elevator signal! Oh how we laughed but I held it, throttled back a bit and the model climbed away. I'm really looking forward to this year's Coupe.
I have a busy day in prospect because I am singing in and compering an Open Mic night this evening. So far there are eight acts that want to perform.
I may fit a new cowling to the Baron and give it a test flight tomorrow but I don't think I'll go flying today.
PS. Jonathan Harper has advised me that the new larger silencers are less restrictive than the old silencers fitted to the Laser 50s and 75s. That's good! I hate noisy engines.
PPS. My two tonne van has been fixed so I'll have somewhere to sleep at La Coupe!
I'm very impressed by the OS 52 FS Surpass. After fiddling about with push-rod lengths, carburettor adjustments and transmitter settings I now have a very slow tick over, excellent transition and plenty of revs at WOT, mind you, I am using 16% nitro fuel.
I have also mixed in some down elevator at 75%-100% WOT. If anything there's a little too much because I have to hold in a little up elevator at maximum speed but I find this a bit easier than pushing in down elevator, the Baron has a Clark Y wing section remember. However, it nearly caught me out on the first take off after I'd set the elevator-throttle mix. I took off, moved the elevator stick to the neutral position and pushed the throttle stick to its maximum position. Suddenly the nose dipped! The model had not attained maximum speed of course and suddenly it was getting a down elevator signal! Oh how we laughed but I held it, throttled back a bit and the model climbed away. I'm really looking forward to this year's Coupe.
I have a busy day in prospect because I am singing in and compering an Open Mic night this evening. So far there are eight acts that want to perform.
I may fit a new cowling to the Baron and give it a test flight tomorrow but I don't think I'll go flying today.
PS. Jonathan Harper has advised me that the new larger silencers are less restrictive than the old silencers fitted to the Laser 50s and 75s. That's good! I hate noisy engines.
PPS. My two tonne van has been fixed so I'll have somewhere to sleep at La Coupe!
06-08-2024, 09:56 PM
Vincent Saffiotti's remark about the President of France (post 12365) reminded me of a visit to France of another president on 11th November 2018 to commemorate the centenary of the end of the First World War. Apparently he was scheduled to visit a military cemetery in which thousands of his countrymen were buried, victims of that awful conflict. Allegedly he refused to go because it was raining at the time and he did not want to be seen in public with wet hair. It is also alleged that he referred to the fallen as "losers."
Now I do not know whether any of this is true. I'm quite prepared to admit that this could be a story made up by his political opponents and printed in the press but it is true that he was in France on that day and that he not visit the military cemetery as planned.
As a European and a resident of France I am grateful for the sacrifice of his compatriots in two world wars.
It's a good job that they didn't share his obsessive concern about their personal grooming!
Now I do not know whether any of this is true. I'm quite prepared to admit that this could be a story made up by his political opponents and printed in the press but it is true that he was in France on that day and that he not visit the military cemetery as planned.
As a European and a resident of France I am grateful for the sacrifice of his compatriots in two world wars.
It's a good job that they didn't share his obsessive concern about their personal grooming!
06-08-2024, 11:19 PM
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While we remember the sacrifices of D Day, the remains of three British soldiers from the Great War have recently been discovered and buried with full military honours. One of them was identified as 2nd Lt James Arthur Greenhalgh who had been a teacher and a footballer for Bolton Wanderers FC which was one of the founding clubs of the English Football League in 1888.
The other two were buried under those ubiquitous gravestones of the Western Front with the inscription, "A Soldier of the Great War. Known Unto God."
Full details here: https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/news/f...est-in-france/
It appears that beards may be worn in the British Army these days. It would never have been allowed in my day! Mind you, beards are very fashionable amongst British youth.
The other two were buried under those ubiquitous gravestones of the Western Front with the inscription, "A Soldier of the Great War. Known Unto God."
Full details here: https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/news/f...est-in-france/
It appears that beards may be worn in the British Army these days. It would never have been allowed in my day! Mind you, beards are very fashionable amongst British youth.
Last edited by Telemaster Sales UK; 06-08-2024 at 11:43 PM.
06-09-2024, 07:51 AM
06-09-2024, 08:15 AM
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Perhaps the gas masks are better now. About ten years ago I saw a Sikh firefighter and that got me thinking.
I've just received an email from the organisers of La Coupe Des Barons telling me that I am Pilot no. 7 in Group 7. I had asked that all of the four strokes should fly in the same group but the organisers have simply put models together according to their competition numbers. For example all of the models in Group 7 have numbers between 238 and 263 and those in Group 8 have numbers ranging from 270 and 313. I will find myself flying against models powered by two strokes and electric motors. That's not a problem, I will measure my performace against those of other four-stroke pilots.
There is one group, Group 2, which does not consist of models listed numerically. It is made up of experts but the man who flies the No2 Baron and who won the competition last year and is always there or thereabouts, is not listed at all this year. Something more important must have cropped up!
BTW isn't 7 supposed to be a lucky number?
I've just received an email from the organisers of La Coupe Des Barons telling me that I am Pilot no. 7 in Group 7. I had asked that all of the four strokes should fly in the same group but the organisers have simply put models together according to their competition numbers. For example all of the models in Group 7 have numbers between 238 and 263 and those in Group 8 have numbers ranging from 270 and 313. I will find myself flying against models powered by two strokes and electric motors. That's not a problem, I will measure my performace against those of other four-stroke pilots.
There is one group, Group 2, which does not consist of models listed numerically. It is made up of experts but the man who flies the No2 Baron and who won the competition last year and is always there or thereabouts, is not listed at all this year. Something more important must have cropped up!
BTW isn't 7 supposed to be a lucky number?
Last edited by Telemaster Sales UK; 06-10-2024 at 12:05 AM.
06-11-2024, 08:23 PM
The weather forecast down south looks like Gotterdamerung this weekend! Consequently the organisers of La Coupe Des Barons have postponed the event to some as yet unspecified date in September.
06-12-2024, 04:17 AM
On-line Mirriam Webster : a collapse (as of a society or regime) marked by catastrophic violence and disorder; broadly : DOWNFALL
the Götterdämmerung of Communism
Dictionary.com : German Mythology. the destruction of the gods and of all things in a final battle with evil powers: erroneous modern translation of the Old Icelandic Ragnarǫk, meaning “fate of the gods,” misunderstood as Ragnarökkr, meaning “twilight of the gods.”
In other words, looks like you may have an extended gully washer?