Still here.

It has been a long time, but for those following my sailing Blogs its clear I have been busy.

I have been flying. Many sundays with the Bedlam Bay Barnstormers, our local park fly group, and also most months at Strathfield indoor evenings, where we have been going for what must be close to 25 years. I missed a few of the HStore Sutherland Saturday nights over the winter because Dad was not well enoug for the cold and its a long way from home for me alone. And last Saturday clashed with a christmas function.

But I have now been building again. The model in the photos is not a Mustang but an Australian Commonwealth Aircraft CA 15 Kangaroo. Built at the end of WW2 to flying prototype stage before cancellation, it obviously draws a lot from the best the allies had produced to date, but it is bigger and longer than a Mustang by quite a bit. Long ago scrapped, a few photos exist and the graphics for this one come from Derek Buckmaster's web site. His was a profile catapult glider and I scaled it down to 160mm span.

It flys on the Tanaka IR Rx with rudder and throttle via a Mini Aviator Tx. Weight is 3.5g with a 20mil battery. Durabatics with Derek's design printed via paint jet.

I just edited my earlier clutter post with some better model details.
No building lately but some repairs and maintenance of models and gear.
Had fun at Strathfield last week with my trimmed Plantraco Racer type now equipped with an EPilot Triad 4ch RX. A few years ago who would have believed 9in span 4 ch proportional RC would be possible with commercial equipment.
I have also added a rudder servo to the 13inch Ultimate Bipe. Should improve CoG position as well as add an added dimension to flight envelope.
I have a couple of boxes of models ready for next Saturday's HStore event at Sutherland.

Latest Park Flyer

My new Mustang as promised. Its about 750 span, and under 300 g. Made from half iinch sheets of blue foam, carved to shape and covered with silver gift wrapping tissue. Decals are laser printed paper to match an active prototype flying out of Melbourne, and featured in a recent Flightpath magazine. Conopy and Cockpit were saved from a worn out foamy RTF from long ago. Motor is a small outrunner running off 2S900 cells for very long flights. Wide speed range.

Storage Clutter

When you have been at this hobby for a while you collect a few models and storage gets cluttered: Models are
12 inch GeeBee R1 with M20 motor and JMP Rx on R and E
13 inch Howard Ike with geared 7mm and Plantraco on R and M
In box is a 10inch Pilatus PC9 in Aust RAAF Aeorbatic team Roulettes colours. Has 7mm DD and plantraco on M and R
In the left corner are containers with the 2.5g Mr Mulligan and a 2g stick model for IR, plus a ubiquitous IR micro copter.

Box of "one day", worn out or maybe flyers, all 12in or smaller:
G-A..SS is a DH Comet racer with two 4mm motors and IR on R and M , has flown enough to wear out a paoir of 4mm motors.
NR 278V Travellair Mystery, DD 6mm and bit RC, has flown a bit.
NR 10538 Laird Solution Thompson Trophy winner, took a while but has recently flow on Plantraco R &M with geared 7mm motor. A bit heavy but now at least stable.
R 14899 Folkerts Jupiter Thompson Trophy winner, originally a geared 6mm and bit RC but is warn out after 3 motors and frequent arrivals. EPs fude and depron surfaces, like most of these models.
R 614K Weddell Williams Thompson Trophy winner. A match for the Travelair.
VH USU Smithy's Southern Cross Fokker Tri Motor, first to fly US to AUST, Has flown with three 6mm pagers DD and bit RC, but a it hard to trim as motors wear unevenly.
Red and White flash is a profile Pitts, originally a Chris #d model with full fuselage, JMP and coils on ailerons and elevator. Variousmotors, M20, geared 7mm, twin 7mm geared together. The model is wornout many times.

I spent a periods modelling all of the Thompson Trophy winners for Bit Car RC. Most flew OK but the Mulligan was too big and the Solution a it heavy. I will try again with better RC and battery.

Hanging space: L-R

Profile DC3, Mustang park flyer, Whitman Bonzo P Nut, CAC Nomad inverted on box. EPP Delta in fore ground. In the boxes are a PNut Bleriot, 18in Mr Mulligan, balsa Laird Turner Meteor, Caudron , Gee Bee Z, Victor Airtourer, and others. On the left in blue towel is a RM model yacht, and in the wooden box is the 1.2m indoor RC Bleriot.

Hanging are mostly of my "active" park flyer size models, from left :
White foam Mosquito bomber, Red tip of a 280 size club Pylon racer, 20in Spitfire, indoor 3D type profile, Blue foam profile Sea Fury, depron indoor aerobat in CL stunt style, Yellow Bonzo in balsa and film, balsa and tissue Kityhawk, Yellow Miles Sparrow Hawk, Sopwith Pup, Rubber powered Waco Bipe on shelf awaiting electric RC conversion.

There is a wardrobe of bigger models and some storage boxes elsewhere.

Its been a while since I posted but that does not mean I have not been flying or building. There have been regular sunday mornings with the local retirees etc as well as several indoor evenings at Strathfield and Sutherland. My newest model is below pictured with the Lil Gem from a while ago. The Ultimate Bipe is 300 span and has the same gear as the Gem, 4g servos, 5g motor and 100 or 200 size 2S cells. Again weight is 60g. It has now had a lot of flights and is pretty nimble at full power but can also slow down well with all that wing area. It will ROG from a gym floor or I hand launch it at half power.

I have another set of similar micro hardware and plan a new profile 4ch model about 450 span and minimum weight. Hopefully 3D capable.

Meanwhile my club at Macquare Uni, has negotiated a new field after our old one had a basketball court built on it. Our hours are restricted but it is the best of the three fields we have had over the 20 odd year historuy of the club. I will be sharing my sunday mornings now beween the club friends and the local retirees.

Under construction is a new Mustang, made from slabs of blue foam, all carved, shaped and tissue covered. Its about 800mm span and will be for outdoor flying. I think it will look bettter than that description, photos next post after it has flown.

One of the HSTORE photos of the nearly 20 year old Bleriot,

1.2m span, about 400g, all balsa scale structure

Based on full size prototype hanging in the Power House Museum, Sydney.

Now with brushless motor inside dummy spinning Gnome radial, and 900 Lipo.

It flies better and longer than it ever has, more power and duration and no more weight.

It was built for one of the first indoor RC competitions in NSW and came second with a meager duration of about 2 minutes 30 seconds. How things have changed.

The model featured on the cover of my 1992 book on electric flying in Aust, now out of print and well out of date.

We had another HStore indoor evening last week. Flew the nearly 20 YO Bleriot which now has a brushless motor complete with spinning Gnome radial dummy engine. At 1200mm its a big model for indoor but its a big Gym and it still flies slowly. Same weight as always but now with heaps of duration from Lipos.

Some photos of my models on HStore site: http://www.hstore.com.au/hstore.asp

Have also been flying with some retired locals in a nearby park early on Sundays, lots of fun with small models in the calm air.