THE MAGAZINE OF THEBRITISH ELECTRIC

FLIGHT ASSOCIATION

ELECTRIC FLIGHT U.K.

ISSUE No. 72 SPRING 2003

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E.F.-U.K. 3

Electric Flight - U.K. Issue 72 - Spring 2003

"To Encourage and Further all Aspects of Electric Model Flight inthe British Isles and Elsewhere" - B.E.F.A. Constitution

CONTENTS

NEXT ISSUE. The copy date for the Summer 2003 issue is 1st June 2003, withthe magazine due for publication by 1st July 2003.

Cover Photo: The cover photograph is Hercules of Jörg Golombek and MichaelHäberle. It is approximately 1/7th scale and spans 19’ 8½” (6m). See page 67 formore details.

BEFA Committee 2003/4 ......................... 4Chairman's Chatter ................................. 5News from the AGM .............................. 6Current Lines ......................................... 7New-2-U ................................................. 8Readers' Models .................................. 11Living with the Piccolo ........................ 17TLC from your TLO .............................. 23Fun-Fly Competition Idea .................... 28BEFA Leagues Final Report ................. 32Letters to the Committee ...................... 33Model Motors MV2020/20 ................... 36Join the Cub! ........................................ 39

Messerschmitt Me 262 “Schwalbe” ..... 44FanJet Trainer & Vampire ..................... 51The Ill-fated career of a Me 109 ............ 53The Martinet ........................................ 58“Pico-Stick” Developments .................. 60A Simple Motor Mount System ........... 62The Blue Max ....................................... 64Inspiration ............................................ 66Preset Speed Controller for FF ............. 73For Sale / Wanted ................................. 76Event Calendar ..................................... 78New to Electric Flight? Start Here ........ 84BEFA Sales ........................................... 86Advertisers Index ................................. 86

DISCLAIMERB.E.F.A. and Electric Flight U.K. wish to point out that the content, techniquesand opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the individual authors anddo not necessarily represent the views of either the Editor of this magazine orB.E.F.A. and its committee. All reasonable care is taken in the preparation andcompilation of the magazine, but B.E.F.A. and its committee cannot be held liablefor any error or omission in the content of this magazine or any subsequentdamage or loss arising howsoever caused.To allow proper appreciation of the photographs used, colour copies of them willbe posted on the B.E.F.A. website after publication of this magazine. If you can,check them out at www.befa.org.uk

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BEFA Committee 2003/4Chairman Robert Mahoney

123 Lane End Road, High Wycombe, Bucks. HP12 4HFEMail: befa@rlmahoney.co.uk

Secretary Peter Turner37 Church Street, Horsley, Derbyshire. DE21 5BQEmail: peter@alport.fsnet.co.uk

Membership Secretary David Andrews2 Gainsborough Road, Kibworth Harcourt, Leicester. LE8 0SGEmail: david@kibworth.fsnet.co.uk

Treasurer Bob Smith1 Lynwood Avenue, Tollesby, Middlesborough, Cleveland. TS5 7PDEmail: bobsmith@ntlworld.com

Editor EF-UK Jan Bassett111 Plantagenet Chase, Yeovil, Somerset. BA20 2PRTel. 01935 472743, E-mail: jan.bassett@electric-flight.org.uk

EF-UK Printer Brian Boughton'Red Roofs', Vicarage Road, Thetford, Norfolk. IP24 2LH

Events Co-ordinator Terry Stuckey31 Dysart Avenue, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. KT2 5QZ

Competition Secretary David Beavor34 Chestnut Close, Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambs.

Midlands Representative Roger Winsor14 Butler Gardens, Market Harborough, Leics. LE16 9LYEmail: Rogerwinsor7@aol.com

Northern Representative Bob Smith, details as TreasurerSouthern Representative Dave Chinery

251 Station Road, Hayes, Middx. UB3 4JDSouth West Representative Jan Bassett, details as Editor EF-UKIndoor & Free-Flight Rep. Gordon Tarling

87 Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middx. UB8 2QDEmail: gordon.tarling@ntlworld.com

Technical Liaison Officer Alan Bedingham17 Highcliffe Close, Wickford, Essex. SS11 8JZEmail: bbba18333@blueyonder.co.uk

Public Relations Officer Dave Perrett10 High Lees, Sharnford, Leicester. LE10 3PWTel: 01455 272297, Email: d.l.perrett@btinternet.com

Webmaster Jan Bassett, details as Editor EF-UK - (www.befa.org.uk)Safety Adviser Stan Rose

Tel: 01636 525029, Email: rose@elston4.freeserve.co.ukPlease enclose an SAE with all postal correspondence to the committee.

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Chairman’s ChatterDear Members

We are now approaching the thirteenth year since being formed. In thelast year I have attended the Dortmund Modellbau, Sandown Show andthe BMFA Annual General Meeting, the latter with our Secretary PeterTurner. At these events, we have promoted our Association to flyersfrom all disciplines.

Over the years I have tried to get flyers from over the channel to cometo one of our events, and this year I succeeded in getting Jean-PaulSchlösser (JePe) over to the Middle Wallop event. The sight and soundsof his models said SPEED in a big way!

There are now 400 members in the Association. We could double thisamount if every member recruited just one member. It is up to you whereour Association goes in the next few years. It would be nice to see themembership rise to over the 1000 barrier. Just think what theAssociation could do you for if we had this number of members.

Your committee is now getting ready for the next round of Exhibitionsthat we display our wares at, and in organising the fly-ins that areincluded in the events pages of this issue and on the web site.

Last year saw two new events on the BEFA calendar, An East Angliaevent at the Phoenix Club’s flying site near Lowestoft and an event atthe Exeter Club’s flying site at Exeter Racecourse. The numbers at theseevents were low, but that’s the way that events are formed.

Some good news about Middle Wallop this year is that we have beengranted our weekend event! In fact, we will be the only RC event on thissite in 2003 due to difficulties last year. This is due to your fly-in crewleaving the airfield as we found it, or better!

I would like to thank your Committee members for the hard work theyhave done during the past year.

I wish you all the best for the 2003 flying season, so safe flying andKEEP THE WATTS UP!

Robert Mahoney

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News from the AGMby the Editor

Just a little note to inform members that could not make the Annual GeneralMeeting (AGM) of the significant points of interest.

• Firstly, I’m sure you’ll be interested to know the Membership fee for the comingyear - well good news as they remain unchanged, which is £20 for UK members.

• Constitution changes:

• The post of Safety Officer has been changed to that of Safety Adviser tofall in line with the BMFA guidelines.

• It was agreed at the AGM that Robert Mahoney and Bob Smith be grantedlife membership of the BEFA.

• Election of Committee Officials.

• The following individuals had been co-opted into committee positions atthe last AGM and were elected to stand for 1 year to fall in line with thenormally committee election cycle.

• Secretary Peter Turner• Membership Secretary David Andrews

• The following individuals were elected / re-elected to the committee:

• Chairman Robert Mahoney• Treasurer Bob Smith• Public Relations Officer David Perrett• Competition Secretary David Beavor• Technical Officer: Alan Bedingham• Safety Adviser: Stan Rose

• It was announced that the Membership incentive scheme will commence witheffect from the next membership year (starting 1st April 2003). This takes theform of a £5 discount voucher for each new member that you introduce. Thevoucher(s) will be redeemable against your membership next year.

• Award of Trophies / Certificates:• E400 League

• 1st Trevor Grey• 2nd Bob West• 3rd Dave Perrett

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Current Linesfrom the Editor

My thanks to everyone that has contributed to the magazine in the recent past,which made my job much easier due to the amount of information available.However, I have very little in reserve and will need more information for futureissues. Please pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard and drop me some information.I have been promised a number of articles on a diverse range of subjects, whichshould make the next issue interesting if they all materialise. If you’ve promisedme article, please send it in as soon as you can so I can get it ready for publication.The additional time also allows for any queries to be answered without affectingthe publication date.I have been too busy to do any more on my D.H.2, but I have completed a smallEDF Alpha Jet and a Multiplex Kranich for the coming season. I’m also planing alarge model using a Torcman TM430 motor to provide about 1000W - moreinformation on all these in a future issue.It is membership renewal time and this years form is included with this issue.David Andrews is waiting for the forms to appear, so don’t disappoint him.Remember that if you want to get something off your chest or to get the membersviews, you can always send in a letter for inclusion.

Jan

• Electroslot League• 1st Dave Perrett• 2nd Stephen Mettam• 3rd Stan Rose

• The Exide / Drydex Trophy was awarded to Kevin Saunders for hisRafale ducted fan and Thunderbird 5 models.

• The QFI Trophy was awarded to Bob Smith for the technical articles hehas written for the modelling press.

I unfortunately have to inform you that an item was stolen from the Bring & Buystand. The committee work very hard on the Bring & Buy stand in an effort tohelp offset the cost of renting the centre for the AGM and Technical Workshop.This callous act made most of our effort pointless and directly impacts on themoney available to the Association. The impact is not just restricted to the financialpenalty, but also to the seriously demoralising influence it has on the committee.This theft will be raised at the BEFA committee meeting to discuss whether wecontinue the Bring & Buy stand. If we do decide to continue the Bring & Buystand, we will almost certainly have to make some changes to the format.

8 E.F.-U.K.

New-2-UA Brief Round-up of New Items of Interest

CrossfireHoward Metcalf's fabulous design for 600 motors is now available again! Pre-cutfuselage sides and die cut ribs, together with top quality wood and fittings makethis a superb aerobatic electric plane for the discerning builder and flier.This amazing aerobatic electric plane will fly quite adequately on a humble 600 -or for totally ballistic performance try a brushless motor! The speed range isincredible - at an all up weight of 40 ozs (1.1kg) and with full up elevator andtrim, it will gently 'mush' rather than stall! Flat out with a brushless, the speedis breathtaking!With little effort, the Crossfire can also be flown as a slope soarer. (Look out forSlopefire coming soon!)The fully comprehensive kit is just £49.99 + £4.50 P&P and available on my mailorder only from Peter Ross at S T C, 29 Hawkers Lane, Wells, Somerset BA5 3JJ.Tel.: 01749 679739. All major credit cards accepted.

Editors Note: Having bought a Crossfire kit from Howard a few years ago, Ithoroughly recommend it as a sport model - it is still one of my favourites.

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Max Rivers - Torcman Motors & ComponentsReaders may remember the TorqueMax LRK brushless DIY motors from Issue 68.The main advantage of LRK motors is low rpm, high torque and the ability toturn large props without the use of a gearbox. For those who don't have access toa lathe the full range of parts, sub-assemblies, kits, finished motors, speedcontrollers and accessories are now available in the UK from importer Max Rivers.The aim of Max Rivers is to encourage wider understanding, innovation and tohelp promote enjoyment of LRK motor design principles. This type of motor springsfrom a series of articles published in a German magazine, since when many modellershave built their own examples using a lathe, salvaged stator parts and magnets.For those who want to experiment further the beautifully designed and engineeredturned parts produced in Blaustein by Torcman are worthy of special attention.

Currently these parts are produced in 3 stator diameters (28, 35 & 43 mm) withup to 4 different stator lengths (from 5 to 30 mm). Altogether a set of 9 differentsizes of motor ranging in capacity from around 40W to over 1.8kW. Also beingdeveloped is a 20mm size 'Baby' indoor motor. For those who can never get enough,the TM685-40 'Monster' can deliver up to 3.5kW, is made to limited order on anexperimental basis while we wait for speed controller technology to fully catch up.By varying the coil windings Torcman motors can be optimised for differentapplications. The operating speed of each type of motor can be finely tuned from4,000 to 15,000 rpm by varying the number of turns and gauge of wire employedin the winding. This makes it possible to find the perfect power unit for almostevery application of electric flight from slow flyers through sports, aerobatic andscale to high-performance hotliners and helicopters.

The parts of an Eco X motor kit with optional assembled & glued rotor

10 E.F.-U.K.

One way to decide is to select a motor with the capacity to deliver the powerrequired, then determine a winding to match the propeller to the airframe. Thechoice can sometimes be daunting because combinations of winding/prop/batterycan lead to dozens of different performance profiles. Fortunately it is possible toaccurately calculate the motor characteristics. Help is on hand as lots ofinformation is already available (in English) on the Max Rivers web site(www.maxrivers.com)and friendly support isprovided by telephone andemail.Max Rivers supplies eachmotor ready to fly with acustom winding or in kitform for self-assembly.Contact details:

Max Rivers,7 The Green Wye,Ashford,Kent,TN25 5AJ.Tel.: 01233 812507www.maxrivers.com

A partially assembled TM350-28 motor with 12 turns

The assembled TM350-28 motor, ready to run

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Readers' ModelsYour chance to show the members your model(s).

The above photograph was sent in by Dick Godden and is his latest conversion toelectric power. It was originally built in the late 60’s as a slope soarer and hadbeen in his loft for 30 years.He says he is embarrassed because he can’t remember the name of the model. Theonly thing he remembers is that it was a plan in one of the modelling magazinesand that a fibreglass fuselage was available separately.

Motor: Graupner Speed 600 Race 8.4v motor & Graupner 2.8:1 gearboxPropeller: 14” x 9.5” CAM folding propellerBattery Pack: 7 x 2000mAh cells, which give a 4.5 minute motor run.All-up weight: 62 oz. (1.75kg).

Maybe one of you recognises it and can help out.If you recognise the model, please contact the Editor with any information, whowill pass on the message.

12 E.F.-U.K.

This is Mike Pirie with his modified Multiplex Twin-Jet. It is powered by 2 Permax480 motors using Irvine 5” x 5” carbon propellers. Power is supplied by 8 SanyoRC-2400 cells through 2 Schulze slim 26 speed controllers. The 2 speed controllersallow differential control of the motors (on the rudder stick) giving stall turnsand interesting spins. The canopy hatch was built in an elongated form whichallows easier access to the battery and speed controllers. The finish is roughlybased on the MiG 21 “Fishbed” used by the Indian Air Force. The normal flighttime is around 12 minutes.

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The second model from Mike Pirie is a modified Balsacraft Bristol Blenheim. Span60” (154 cm), wing area 530 sq. in. (34 dm2) and weighs 64 oz. (1.8 kg). Power isfrom two 8.4v Speed 600 motors and Graupner 8” x 4” SlimProps on 6 Sanyo RC-3000HV cells giving 9 minute flights. It is modified to allow easy battery changesfrom under the wing (the original layout requires the wing to be removed). He

14 E.F.-U.K.

This is another Mike Pirie model, a Voster Hercules. It is 72” (180 cm) span, 580sq. in. (37.4 dm2) and weighs 116 oz. (3.3 kg). It is powered by 4 x 6v Speed 400motors with Aeronaut 2.64:1 gearboxes, Graupner 8” x 6” SlimProps and 18Sanyo CP-1700 cells giving flight times of 7 minutes. Mike says it needs bungeeassistance for ROG, flies like a trainer and the gearboxes produce a very realisticsound. He also says the kit (bought 3 years ago) was let down by poor accessoriesand the lack of English instructions.

Editor: Close-up of the glazing and crew of the Blenheim - it really does make adifference to the looks of the model and well worth the effort.

also fitted a clear canopy and gun turret complete with crew (1.5g total weightfrom Small Scale Custom Services).

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Above is an aerobat, called Smooth-E, designed by Stuart Ord. It was designed 3years ago, and after a few teething troubles is a satisfying flyer. The aim toproduce a model that was able to do big, smooth manoeuvres like i.c. aerobats andhave power to spare. It is now powered by a Mega 22/30/4 brushless motor with aRobbe Planeta 4.6:1 gearbox, a Hacker controller on 26 to 30 cells and a 12” x 8”propeller. Span 62” (157 cm), area 650 sq. in. (42 dm2), weight 136 oz. (3.86 kg).

Another model sent in by Stuart Ord, and is a Nano Gnat. Span 28” (71 cm), wingarea 262 sq. in. (16.9 dm2), weight 7 oz. (200g) with 8 x 300mAh NiMH cells.Powered by a GWS IPS motor, 4:1 gearbox, 2A controller and 10” x 4.7” propeller.He also flies it with 6 x 300mAh NiMH cells, which saves some weight.

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Stuart Ord’s again. He says its not very vintage as it is covered in SolarFilm, butit looks good in the air. He says the wings a very prone to warping, but are sortedout easily with a heat gun. Powered by a Speed 600 motor, a 2:1 gearbox, 10” x 6”propeller on 8 cells.

Below is the final model from Stuart Ord, another own design called Nemesis.Span 85” (216 cm), wing area 724 sq. in. (46.7 dm2), weight 65 oz. (1.84 kg). It hasa Graupner Speed 700 motor on 10 cells with a direct drive 10” x 8” propeller.The current draw is around 26A giving 260W. Control is rubber / elevator with anRC switch operating the motor.

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Living with the Piccoloby John Jackson

Hi all, many of you have no doubt, like myself, have noted in passing the adventof the indoor helicopter, some may even have taken it up as an interest. Like mostI had seen the adverts but taken no move to acquire one, until actually watchingone fly indoors whilst on holiday, and I was just hypnotized. Maybe it was thewine, but watching it hanging there defying gravity left enough impression totrigger a buy a few weeks later.The Eco Piccolo from Ikarus is a half pound fixed pitch electric helicopter. It usesa variant of the 280-sized motor and its structure is a few bits of carbon rod andtube, several fairly complex plastic mouldings and a front canopy stuck togetherfrom thin vac-formed plastic parts. It can be assembled in one evening (honest!I’ve timed an assembly at just over 2 hours) and uses just two 6 gram servos. Thebuild instructions are clear and it’s hard to get wrong. There, that doesn’t soundmuch does it? Fortunately that’s just the start of the fun.I took my newly assembled Piccolo to one of our occasional club indoor meets,and it skittered about the floor, wobbling and attacking ankles, sometimes rotatingrapidly on its four polystyrene training balls. Talk about nervous, the sweat wasmaking the transmitter slippery. After several hops and lurches some long dormantheli reactions awoke and I managed a few terrifying seconds of hover, the otherclub members watching warily from positions near the far wall. The heli sat inthe air with the right skid low, later I learned this is characteristic for a clockwiserotor as the tail thrust tries to push the heli left.Hops got longer, mostly, and were punctuated by panic landings, many of whichdetached the rotor head completely, it flying then through the air like a whirlingboomerang on its own, to the amusement of the spectators. This latter behaviouris a design feature, thehead pops off the hubbearings to remove theenergy in the spinningrotor and reduce damageto the rest of themechanics.Over the course of severalsessions I gained skill andconfidence, until thetraining undercarriagewas removed and the helicould now fly longer, freedof the extra weight.

A Piccolo heavily disguised in a Bell 222 body kiy

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Two years later I’m still learning, and enjoying the thrill of just watching thelittle cutie whirring quietly around a hall. I’m getting to grips with flying nose-intowards me, and have tweaked, modified and generally tinkered with the machineto my satisfaction.Encouraged by my eventual ability to do a basic up-down hover, I wanted to meetwith other enthusiasts, and have travelled up to 3 hours on occasion to Coventry,Halesowen, Dewsbury, Rotherham & Queensferry. These meetings are always insome sort of large hall, and sometimes have fixed wing fliers enjoying the weather-free conditions too. I spent an enjoyable Saturday at Leominster recently at aheli-only event, we had 18 helis present, all variants on the Piccolo or ModelsportHornet, which is Piccolo sized but very different in character. Go to a meeting likethese, will you fellows, loads of tips to pick up and you can see if helis are for you.So what other kinds of tiny helis are there? Presently there are 3 generally availablefamilies, the Piccolo, Hornet & Mario Arguello’s MIA range (Robin and Housefly).

The Piccolo is availablein fixed pitch form, orcan be converted tocollective pitch, andjust becoming availableare slightly largerversions, the Eco &Pro. All have a fixedpitch tail where yaw(“rudder”) control isby varying the speed ofthe separate tailmotor. The mainmotor is 280 sized, tailis N20 like the littleWattage B2 bomber, or150 size for the Pro.

The Hornet is also to be had in fixed or collective pitch, but uses a shaft to takepower to the tail and yaw control is by varying the tail rotor pitch, requiring athird servo. A 300 motor as per the Graupner version is used.The MIA designs seem to be rare over here in England, I haven’t seen one yet. TheRobin is 280/300 sized, the smaller Housefly has a Mabuchi 180, it used to use a150 like the GWS IP series fixed wing motors. Tail motor for the housefly is N20.Getting goingAny top tips for getting going with your first indoor heli? Yes I have a few:1. If you can, get someone competent to help tweak your new baby and trim it.

An original Piccolo (left) and new larger Eco Piccolo

E.F.-U.K. 19

2. Use a training undercarriage, it absorbs some of the shock from sudden landings.3. Fly in a large space preferably with a smooth floor, and no wind i.e. indoors.The heli tips over less and you can find lost bits easier.4. Some time on a simulator will help, but the real thing isn’t quite the same.5. Never surrender! If the flight goes badly pear-shaped, fight to the last inch tokeep things upright, then shut the throttle promptly once the ground has arrivedto reduce any damage.A few improvementsWhat is it about helis that makes pilots so keen to mod. them? Witness the vastrange of aftermarket stuff on heli dealers’ walls! I regularly log on to the Piccolobulletin board on the web, and the swapping of ideas, mods., battery types,beginners’ tips is continuous, this is a very active board. Make no mistake, thePiccolo flies pretty good out of the box, and other than use an 8 cell NiMH packinstead of the standard 7 NiCd mine went months without anything except a bitof cyano here and there.OK so I glued a bit of balsa above the battery front to stop the battery rearsagging, glued a bead onto the tail skid to stop it snagging the floor, vented thecanopy top (the motor gets very hot), glued the head bearings on, glued the motorpinion, weighted the main blade leading edges….see what I mean? By the time youread this I’ll have again filed, taped, lightened, replaced or bodged something.The list of things people have done to the Piccolo is really endless, here are someI have seen, most are applicable to fixed or collective pitch versions:1. Alloy hub. Recommended! To replace the plastic main rotor hub, which canbreak, and to prevent loss of the two ballraces. When the head pops off in a crash,sometimes the ballraces gowith it and disappear intosome dark corner. Theycan be tied on with dentalfloss or glued but this is abetter solution.2. Anti-rotation link. Thisdrives round theswashplate; the standarditem is a wobbly thingwith a stiff hinge. It ispossible to make a betterhinge from a controlsurface hinge though aCNC machined version isavailable, which also has

An experimental brushless motor from an old CD-ROMmotor. Rewinding 15 turns of 0.4mm wire and ballraces.

20 E.F.-U.K.

the advantage of locating the swashplate properly. As standard this can floatconsiderably up and down, losing control movement.3. Swashplate location. The plate has to swivel in 2 axes; the standard setup hasno bearing at the centre, just a gap! Springs, balls, silicon rubber tube, pen partshave all been ingeniously applied to the shaft to locate the plate and stop it flappingup and down. A ball conversion is now available for the plate to swivel on, inconjunction with the above anti-rotation link makes for far more precise control.4. Main blade bolts. The standard nylon nuts & bolts are horrible, are you listeningIkarus? Easily replaced with slightly larger metal ones and Nyloc nuts, whichstay adjusted for tightness.5. Adjustable servo links. Instead of squishing the dogleg in the wire, fit a straightwire and a screw type clamp on the servo arm.6. Undercarriage mods. Usually applied after beating the original carbon strutsto death, some have used wire instead, or adapted the MIA kit.7. Tail skid. Often replaced with wire, from piano wire to paperclip.8. Cut blades with varying amounts trimmed from the main blade trailing edge toraise the revs. Improves hover stability, quicker response to controls, copes betterwith wind. Beware though, if the motor isn’t fast enough, the heli may not lift!9. Replacement blades. Carbon replacements from Robert Lee in Sheffield are toughand intended to improve forward flight. Hornet blades have been tried with success,they have less pitch so see the comments on cut blades.

The CD-ROM motor compared to the original motor

E.F.-U.K. 21

10. Tail boom. The original is adequate but seems to split if knocked. Replacementsare available which are stronger or lighter, certainly cheaper, and inventive ownershave used alloy or even dowel.11. Tail motor. Eventually burns out, more quickly on 8 cell packs. The WattageB2 motor is cheaper, or TSH micro motor for electric control line planes. You dohave to fit a pinion to these.12. Main motor. The standard 295 and 310 motors do work, the 295 doesn’t havemuch reserve of power. Normal hop-up is the Orion Elite Micro Modified, a corelessSwiss motor that requires lower gearing or even cut down blades. For more moneythe little Astro 010 or Hacker B20L bring brushless to the Piccolo.13. Batteries. The standard 250mAh 7-cell pack is good for about 4 minutes on aPiccolo. Use Sanyo or Panasonic AAA cells, the red JST connectors can be betteredbut they work OK. For longer flights 8 AAA NiMH cells (not all types are good)give twice the flight time, but please let the motors cool between flights! The tailmotor life will reduce. Some new Lithium polymer cells from Kokam look promising.14. JMP HF9-32 heli controller gives the tail virtually DC drive to cure the above!I’d better stop there, but many custom carbon and alloy parts are available, fins,swashplates, canopies, gears, bearings and shafts. Improvements in batterytechnologies, small radio and the increase in the indoor scene in general bode wellfor the future of the small helicopter and fliers are getting into rotary flight whowould otherwise never have considered it. Enjoy the pictures enclosed, I enjoyedtaking them and have met lots of grand folk in my microheli flight so far.If you are able, surf over to the Ikarus website and look in on us, on the Piccoloforum at http://www.ikarus-modellbau.de/Ikarus/

John’s half Bell in flight at Leominster. The Tailboom is built from 1mm carbon rod toRob Hemmings’ plan of the Bell 47 Sioux. Photo by Gary Wright

22 E.F.-U.K.

Contacts for specialist items: Apologies for any not included here. I have leftout the big advertisers, you can look them up yourselves:

Piccolo upgrade parts. Ian Ankers, E-Flight, PO Box 432, Southport,Merseyside, PR8 4WX, UK. Tel: 0845 6446517 (Local Rate), Fax: 0870 7202778(National Rate). sales@e-flight.co.uk www.e-flight.co.uk

Piccolo upgrades. Precision Model Products, 118B Long Pond Road, Plymouth,MA 02360, USA. Tel: 508747 4556.warcoly@aol.com www.precisionmodelproducts.com/

Speed controllers. Castle Creations, 18773 W. 117th Street, Olathe, KS 66061,USA. Tel: (913)438-6325.info@castlecreations.com www.castlerc.com/index.html

Microhelis and upgrades.Dreamhobbies, 2728 Delta Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90810, USA.steve@dreamhobbies.com http://dreamhobbies.com/

Helihobby (electric helicopter specialist). www.helihobby.com/

B2 motors. Hillcott Electronics, 40 Church Lane, Henbury, Macclesfield,Cheshire. SK11 9NN, UK. Tel: 01625 420247info@hillcott.plus.com www.hillcott.plus.com/

Hornet upgrades, canopies.George Ioannidis, 96 Ripon Way, Borehamwood, Herts, WD6 2JA, UK.orders@electricrotors.com www.electricrotors.com/

Hornet upgrades (and heli tips, mods). John Kallas, c/o Red Duck Music, 16033Bolsa Chica Rd, Huntington Beach, CA 92649, USAjrkallas@earthlink.net http://microhelis.homestead.com/index.html

JMP controllers, WES gear pinions.RCS Technik, 22 Dartmouth Park Avenue, London NW5 1JN. 020 7267 9049sales@rcscale.co.uk www.rcscale.co.uk/

Piccolo spares.. Graham Stanley, Wychwood House, North Brook Road,Coundon Green, Coventry, CV6 2AJ, UK. Tel: 02476 204818graham@modelfly.com http://modelfly.com

Shulze, Hacker. Gordon Tarling, 87 Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex.UB8 2QD. U.K. Tel: 01895 251551sales@gordontarling.com www.gordontarling.co.uk

Robert Lee, carbon main blades and fin.Note these may be out of production for a while. Not too long I hope!rob@carbonblades.co.uk www.carbonblades.co.uk/

E.F.-U.K. 23

TLC from your TLOby Alan Bedingham

This time I'm going to look at the heavy metal end of our hobby, 14 cells and up.A lot of people seem to be reluctant to get into this size of 'plane which I find alittle odd. In fact, I reckon the best way for an oily fan driver to try electric is totake an existing 40 size 'plane and stick some electrics in it. The logic is that theexpense of converting an existing 40 size model to 14 cell electric is about thesame as building a 7 cell model from scratch and 14 cell models are far more likelyto fly successfully than some of the 7 cell stuff I've seen in model shops. You don'tneed to buy new lightweight radio, the motors are not that expensive, and if youfind electric power doesn't suit you, just convert it back again! True, you've got tobuy a decent charger but that won't be money wasted because it can be used tofast charge your radio batteries. All that hassle trying to decide whether to putyour gear on overnight charge becomes a thing of the past.I once (rashly) said about ten years ago that we would all be flying electric modelsin 15 years' time and oily fans would have died out. Given the number of electricmodels appearing in my club and the way brushless motor prices are dropping,maybe I wasn't so far wrong. There's still some prejudice to get rid of though. I getsharp intakes of breath when I'm asked how much I paid for some of my motors,yet, when I query the cost of the four strokes in their models, and it's double whatmy motors cost, they don't think they're expensive. Odd that. And they don't seemto mind paying fifteen quid a gallon for fuel either!Anyway, off the hobby horse and on to the first query from Peter Shanks:-An ARF ConversionI am considering converting a Ripmax Citabria 40 to Electric. Essentials are1630mm (63") span and 2600g (92oz) weight. Would it work and what motor,battery, gearbox, prop equipment would you suggest I consider? I am looking fornon frantic duration with ROG? I would rather not enter the world of brushless ifpossible, but if that is what is needed so be it! Hope this is enough info forsuggestions. The Citabria is a Cub style ARTF built in traditional manner, balsaand SolarFilm. Ribbed wings are 590 sq ins , 12% thick with v slight curve tobottom of wings and a parallel chord of 10ins. The weight of all the components ofthe kit excluding any electrics, servos, or receiver is around 1500 g, so theirquoted weight of 2300 - 2600g must be all up, with a .52 -.70 4-stroke.I think this looks like a practical conversion.You're looking at 14 or so cells, one possible motor/gearbox combination is theGraupner Speed 700 Neo geared (around £80 ) running an APC 12x8 prop. All upweight will be in the region of 102-105 oz, giving quite a reasonable wing loadingof around 25 oz/sq. ft and a power loading of around 65W/lb. If you find you needmore grunt, try a 13x9 which ups the current to 35A and the power loading to

24 E.F.-U.K.

77W/lb. I'm flying a 'plane similar in size and weight to this on 14 cells with twodirect drive Astro 05s on the wings and it's quite sprightly, including flying offwater at 136 oz!

Even Bigger StuffNick Marshall is into bigger planes than most of us and asked about a cost effectivepowertrain for a Sopwith Pup at 66in span and an estimated weight of 9 1/2lb. Hetried to get a Speed 900 but they were out of stock and wondered about two Speed700s geared to a common shaft. He estimated he would need around 1000W to flyhis beast. What I find impressive is that he's building and flying these big electricaeroplanes on an annual modelling budget of £250-300!I think your estimate of around 1000 Watts for the Pup is generous and you couldprobably get away with less - maybe 750Watts - but, as you say, finding a reasonablecost motor is difficult at this power level.I have some suggestions for you :-Your idea of using two speed 700s is a good one, the difficulty comes with findinga commercial gearbox to do the job. I would suggest you build your own -- gears,cogged belts and pulleys are available from :-

S.H.Muffett Ltd,Ashdown House, Lamberts Road,North Farm Industrial Estate,Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 3EH.Telephone: 01892 542111 / 01892 532900,Fax: 01892 545916http://www.muffett.co.uk/

E.F.-U.K. 25

ElectriCalc suggests that two Speed 700 Neos (#6306) wired in series on 21 cellsand geared to one propeller shaft at a ratio of 1.9:1 would drive a 14x8 APC to givea thrust of around 6 lb at a reasonable 36A. No need for advanced engineeringskills, good quality ¼in ply is plenty strong enough to make the gearbox frame -- if you plan ahead, you can integrate it into the structure of the 'plane like I'vedone with my Bristol M1. (I owe Nick an apology here, the numbers I sent him inmy original reply were wrong, bit of a cock up on the calculation front I'm afraid,must try harder. These I've checked three times!)

Another route is to scour the second-hand market for something like an Astro 40geared or one of the big brushed motors from Graupner or Mega. I've seen bigAstros in the bring and buy at Leamington Spa, so it might be worth putting awant ad in EF-UK and Q&EFI.Have you heard of the Dewalt motors that are popular in the US?Here's some info from the Modelair-Tech web site :-Dewalt 18.0V Motor. The Dewalt 18.0V motor (photograph overleaf) normallyruns on 16-21 cells coupled with our H-1000 belt drive. This combination of theH-1000/Dewalt 18.0 motor is capable of flying 700-1400 sq. in. sport models weighingup to 12 lbs. The motor is supplied ready to install in our H-1000FW or our olderH-1000BM. The motor needs to be modified to be used on the H-1000FW. This canbe done by the modeller with a lathe and a good drill press, however, we suggestthat you let us do it for a small fee. MSRP: $51

26 E.F.-U.K.

Special H-1000/motor combos. The H-1000FW is available with the popular Dewalt18.0 volt motor. We have found that the most useful ratios and cell counts for thiscombo to be 3.1:1 for 16-18 cells and 3.6:1 for 19-21 cells. Props range between 14”& 16" in diameter. If you desire to swing slightly smaller props, choose the 2.86:1ratio. Models it can fly range between 700 and 1300 sq. in. and weigh between 7and 10 lb. The motor has replaceable brushes and a ball bearing supported outputshaft. Modelair-Tech has a "combo" nearly ready to install in your model.

MODELAIR-TECH, P.O. Box 1467, Lake Grove, N.Y. 11755-0867, USAPhone and Fax: 631-981-0372, E-Mail: modelairtech@rc-aero.comFor Continental Europe and British Isle sales, please contact Gordon TarlingMy experience is that US Dollar prices can be read as Pounds Sterling by the timethe stuff gets over here and the VAT man has put his squeeze on.

The Dewalt Motor - Unmodified (left) and modified for use with the H-1000FW drive

The Dewalt motor with Modelair-Tech H-1000FW belt drive

E.F.-U.K. 27

If you're willing to experiment, a really cheap route is to look at using car heaterfan motors, they're designed to run at 12V for literally years, so I would have nohesitation running them at twice that for short periods and they're designed torun at low speed with big fans.Have a look in your local scrapyard for something from a medium size car like aMondeo, stick 21 or 24 cells on it and see how big a prop it will turn, you may notneed a gearbox at all. As you're building a model with a radial cowl, you mightwant to grab one of those 'pancake' style radiator cooling fan motors and try thatas well. If it does work, I want to hear about it, so please do an article for EF-UK!Since I wrote this reply to Nick, the Flyware range of outrunner brushless motorshave reached England, and include some designed for this sort of power level. Iknow this won't be an cheap way to go, but, spending some £200 gets you abrushless motor and controller that will handle 750 Watts and swing a big propwithout a gearbox. It's not that long ago that this sort of money wouldn't havebought a 21 cell brushed rare earth motor without a controller!When you get past the 7 -8 cell range of models, the cost of brushless motorsnowadays is often close to brushed motors, so the decision to go brushless, withall the benefits of low maintenance and higher efficiency that bring, becomes easy.Lead Acid Batteries - Again!My charging battery seemed to be down on capacity so I did a bit of diggingaround to see if I could find any help on the net. Sure enough, I found a site -http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/ - that has all you need to know about thecare and feeding of these unwieldy, recalcitrant beasts.One possibility suggested was that the battery might have sulphated up. Sulphationoccurs when lead sulphate cannot be converted back to charged material and canhappen when discharged batteries stand for a long time. The remedy is to (waitfor it) apply a constant current of one to two amps for 48 to 120 hours at 14.4VDC. Yes, 2 to 5 days! I tried it, and it worked for me, so if you've got a batterythat is feeling its age you may want to give it a whirl. Don't forget to check theelectrolyte level and top up if necessary with de-ionised water, the battery will belosing water as it gasses.Perhaps I should explain - hydrogen and oxygen gas are produced as part of thereaction during charging, depleting the water content of the electrolyte and,incidentally, making one of the most explosive combinations of gasses known toman, so be careful about naked lights and sparks near the battery when it's oncharge. Before you ask, yes, you can top up maintenance free batteries, just priseoff the cell covers with a screwdriver. There's nothing you can do with gel-cellbatteries if they're sulphated up except put them in the recycling bay at the tip.Next time, some aeroplane queries and some rules of thumb.Don't let the smoke out!

28 E.F.-U.K.

Fun-Fly Competition Ideaby John Bowerman

Since getting into electric flight I have been constantly looking at getting back into the area of modelling I was interested in when using the infernal combustionengine. I have always admired the elegant lines of gliders but never had the patienceskill or the eyesight to be interested in participating in this side of the hobby. Imuch rather enjoy the sports aerobatic and scale side of the hobby, principally thesports aerobatic side over the last few years.As I have grown used to the electric motor so my aspirations have grown in termsof power, weight and capability of the aircraft have developed. My first real successwas in converting the very suitable plan of the Ripmax Xtreme.By redrawing the outline of the aircraft and modifying it to suit electric power bythe removal of all the plywood and making the fuselage a basic ¼ square structure.I made no alterations to the actual design only to the method of construction.This coupled with an Astro 40 plus Gearbox at 3.1:1, 16 x 3000 NiMH cells and aAPC 13” x 7” propeller provides a very satisfactory power train to give goodaerobatics for 6 minutes plus take off and landing. I learned a lot with this aircraftand it showed me that electric flight does not have to mean low performance.I wanted to develop the idea of the Xtreme, but around the 10 Cell power pack somy latest effort designed around the 3D principle is 650 sq. in., weights 37 ozs.dry (less battery) and 57 ozs. with a 10 cell RC-2000 pack. With an AXI 2820/10driving a wooden 11” x 7” propeller the static current is showing as 34A.The first flight was on the 28th December 2002. The patch was waterlogged so wedecided to take off from the rough rather than a hand launch. I prefer to take offfrom the ground as this way you get a better feel for the aeroplane before youcommit to aviation.In 3m it was airborne and it seemed like the most natural thing to do. The powerof 360W made the climb easy and the thick wing section made every thing veryslow and easy. The loading made the landing easy even in the fairly strong breeze.We only managed three flights before it became too unpleasant but I am convincedthe idea will work.My prototype model has the following specification:Wing Span 48 in. Average Chord 12 in.Section Clark Y at 15% All up Weight 43.5 ouncesWing Loading 10.87 ozs / sq. ft Motor VM24/16Propeller: MA Wood 10” x 6” Batteries 10 Sanyo CP-1300Power input 366W (@ 35A) RPM 7500Where are we going with all this I hear you ask well here's the idea.

E.F.-U.K. 29

Electric Fun-FlyIf you think about what the power boys do with their Fun-Flys it becomes clearthat the flight time is only 2 minutes of power, give or take. The tasks they haveto perform are Limbo, Touch & Go, Timed Glide and Loops and Rolls.These tasks are timed and I believe the max time is 2 minutes so what is to stopand electric style competition based upon this formula. We could not compete withthem but I feel we could provide a competitive class within our own discipline.Looking very loosely at design criteria it seems to me that about 450 - 500 sq. in.of wing area would be necessary if the loading is to be kept down. The aircraftwould need to be minimalist in its design, much like the current power Fun-Fly.Looking at classes there could be two as in the power regime, one for ferrite (NoCobalt) motors and standard control surfaces and one for brushless motors andcontrol mixing. I would suggest the 600 size motor as a good starting point eitherdirect drive or geared, certainly for the Standard Class. The other class could beleft open and allow the battery size to be the limiting factor.Considering the current market place it should be possible to get the flightequipment weight down to 14 ounces. The airframe weight should be able to beconstructed down to about 18 ounces with sensible structures. Power source couldbe the CP-1300 in a 10 Cell pack weighing in at 13 ounces.A 10-cell CP-1300 pack providing the motor with 26A (312W) will give 3 minutesat full bore and you are going to have the throttle closed for some of that time.

John’s prototype model in translucent red and blue

30 E.F.-U.K.

The total of this little lot comes to 45 oz. so even with a few extra bits that alwaysseem to accumulate it should be possible to have an all up weight of say 48 oz.(3lbs). The wing loading on this at 500 sq. in. would be around 14 oz. / sq. ft,which is not bad for a fun fly.There is a certain amount of interest in my own club and it is my intention todesign and build an aircraft at 500 square inches to test the theory so to speak.Encouraged by this I have drawn up a simple set of rules, which could be adoptedif there is enough interest.Common Rules

1. 10 cells maximum.2. Allowed controls.

a. Rudderb. Elevatorc. Aileronsd. Throttle

3. Same motor, propeller & battery combination to used for all events.4. Take off from the ground.

Standard Class1. A single Ferrite motor only.2. No mixing of control surfaces. Note: Two servos can be used for

aileron control, but they are to connected to the same Rx output.3. Take off from the ground.

Class 11. Any Motor(s) Brushed or Brushless.2. Mixing of all control surfaces allowed in any combination.

EventsTime Glide

Motor power for 30 seconds and then switch off and longest glide.Bonus points for landing within 3m of the Landing Spot

Touch & GoAs many touch and goes within a 7.5m square box within 2 minute slots

LimboAs many passes under a limbo tape within a 2-minute slot time to startafter the first underpass.

E.F.-U.K. 31

Another view of John’s prototype Fun-Fly

As mentioned the rules above form a starting base for any interested parties. Ifthere is any interest then I would be very interested in your responses. I can becontacted at john.Bowerman@virgin.netGood flyingEditor’s Note:Due to the relatively small number of entries at fly-ins last season, the subject ofcompetitions was discussed at a recent BEFA committee meeting.The committee consider that there is little point in continuing with the Vintagecompetition as the potential number of entries is extremely limited, and last seasononly one person registered at a couple of events.Due to the larger number of scale models flying it is intended to retain the Scalecompetition, subject to review during the season.This Fun-Fly idea was considered to have merit and the committee would considerrunning a form of this competition during one (or more) of the fly-ins this season.Whether this competition format takes-off (pun intended) is down to themembership, and specifically those attending fly-ins.It is requested that anyone interested in this type of event contact the Editor so thatthe level of interest can be gauged. See page 4 for contact details.

32 E.F.-U.K.

BEFA Leagues Final Reportby Dave Perrett

In issue 70 of EF-UK, I penned a few paragraphs describing the progress of theBEFA League E 400 and Electroslot events culminating with the Nationals on the25th August. This note is to bring you up to date. The season concluded with twomore events, one at York and the final one at Pillerton Hersey.York - 15th September.This venue, which more properly is at Haxby, ,just outside York, was provided forus by Mike Proctor and his crew. In the previous year at York the stubble remainingon the field was adequate to puncture fine holes in the covering, particularly ifyou were using the lighter weight of transparent Profilm. No problem this yearand the weather conditions were quite good, even if the attendance was not.Pillerton Hersey - 22nd September.The following week we were at Pillerton for the second time in the year thanks toJohn Lewthwaite. Happily the conditions were good this time particularly as oneor two final league positions were to be settled on the day. Unhappily, despite myattempt to persuade others to join the fun, the attendance was again low. (Perhapsyou intending competitors had not yet completed models for these events!!) Theresults were very close. Out of a potential 100% the top three in E 400 were in the99% bracket and in Electroslot the top three exceeded 98%.The first three placings in these events were as follows:-

E 400 York Pillerton Electroslot York Pillerton1st Steve Mettam Trevor Grey 1st Steve Mettam Steve Mettam2nd Dave Perrett Bob West 2nd Barry Flude Neil Stainton3rd Bob Smith Neil Stainton 3rd Bob Smith Dave Perrett

The final league placings, for the best four events, were:-Place E400 Electroslot1st Trevor Grey Dave Perrett2nd Bob West Steve Mettam3rd Dave Perrett Stan Rose

The calendar for the league events this year are in this issue, come & join us. TheElectroslot competition rules are on the BEFA website and in the BMFA handbook.Most people seem to think that you need high tech models, but that is not so isconfirmed by the above tables. Both Trevor Grey & Neil Stainton used well builtand flown traditional balsa models. Should you not join the leaders straight awayyou will find it encouraging to improve at each, or at least every other eventWhatever it is fun to fly with other like minded modellers and to learn from them!!See you there!!

E.F.-U.K. 33

Letters to the CommitteeDear Editor,I have just read the EF-UK Issue 71 very interesting Super 80 article and wouldlike to take up one point. On page 64 the author stated he reinforced the webbetween the top and bottom wing spars so they were strongest AT THE TIP asthat is where most deflection is observed.Unfortunately although wings deflect most at the tips both the shear and bendingforces are concentrated at the wing root in all flight conditions. For a constantchord wing, the shear forces are at the maximum at the root and decreaseapproximately linearly to zero at the tip. Thus the webbing between the top andbottom spar caps should be thickest at the root (say 1/8" vertical grain balsa on abig 8lb model) and decrease in thickness to a minimum (say 1/16" vertical grain)at the tip. For D box wings the webbing should never be left off as it also serves toclose off the D, increasing the wing’s torsional stiffness greatly.While talking about forces ona wing it may be worth notingthat in a constant chord wingthe bending forces decreasetowards the tip according toa square law. Thus half wayfrom the root to the tip thebending force has reduced tojust one quarter of the rootvalue. Ideally for maximumstrength and minimumweight the spar caps shouldbe tapered from the root tothe tip in a similar manner.Of course all rootreinforcements should betapered off to avoid any stressrisers.I hope this helps modellers build stronger and lighter wings,

Neil Stainton.Response from the Editor:Not much I can say about this except that I should have spotted the error in theoriginal article. Thanks to Neil for correcting this error and providing some usefulguidance about bending moments and wing design.

34 E.F.-U.K.

Dear Editor,The scale competition debate is similar to that which the BMFA have had recentlyand they have come up with the option of a flying scale competition for any modelsand a flying / static competition for self constructed planes.This was in a recent BMFA News, BEFA should adopt a similar approach, eitheraccept all planes but only mark on the flying characteristics or include constructionbut exclude ARTF planes.Alternative options are just to fly for fun, prize for the best scale flight, and aprize for the best constructed plane - includes vintage and sport.I would appreciate a 30 min session AM and PM when scale planes could be flownwithout concern about fast fun planes being in the air.I am confused about the soaring spot, the technology allows flights of 40 minutes+ with no problem, what is the purpose and how long does it go on for?What are the events for? If they are to allow anyone to fly then the current pegsystem is fine, if you do want a display of electric flying, especially the largerplanes, you may need to allow some time for groups of folk to fly specific scheduleswithout the concern of who else is in the air.There have been very enjoyable displays of pico jets, scale planes, EDF and Iwould encourage you to enable more people to do some display flying. Thealternative is spending the day flying large circuits missing the faster / slowerplanes. The public then never see a plane doing manoeuvres reasonably close.This probably varies according to the balance of flyers / spectators

Mike Payne.Response from the Editor.Mike raises a number of interesting points here.The BMFA approach seems quite sensible. The biggest problem BEFA has is thatmost flyers don’t seem to want to take part in the Scale (or other) competitions. Thelimited number of entries makes it impractical to split the Scale competition intotwo groups as we may only have one entry in a class. I think that this will have tobe discussed at the first fly-ins of the season to see what the consensus is.I personally think that dividing the fly-in into sessions for different types of modelcan work very well. Maybe we should try slots for Vintage, Scale and Fast Jets -something to consider between now and the start of the fly-in season.

The soaring spot, commonly called the All-Up-Last-Down, or AULD, is a traditionalevent that is the most popular event BEFA runs. Mike is correct that flights of 40+minutes are possible, in fact I’ve been flying a Lithium Manganese powered modelwith a 50 minute motor run. The primary purpose is to simply see who can fly thelongest in the prevailing conditions. It also serves a secondary purpose in giving

E.F.-U.K. 35

CROSSFIREHoward Metcalf’s fabulous design for 600 motors is now available again! Pre-cut fuselagesides and die cut ribs, together with top quality wood and fittings make this a superbaerobatic electric plane for the discerning builder and flier.This amazing aerobatic electric plane will fly quite adequately on a humble 600, and fortotally ballistic performance try a brushless motor!! The speed range is incredible – at anall up weight of 40 ozs and with full up elevator and trim, it will gently ‘mush’ rather thanstall! Flat out with a brushless, the speed is breathtaking!Crossfire can also be flown as a slopesoarer (Slopefire coming soon!)

The fully comprehensive kit isjust £49.99 + £4.50 P&P. All majorcredit cards accepted.Mail order only from Peter Rossat:

S T C,29 Hawkers Lane,Wells,Somerset.BA5 3JJTel: 01749 679739.

the fly-in organisers a break for lunch. Given ideal soaring conditions, the AULDcould potentially last all afternoon, but a number of options can be used to bringthe event to a close in around an hour.The first option is to force entrants to perform a limbo below an imaginary line.When the requirement for a limbo is announced entrants have a limited time toperform the limbo and failure to descend low enough in the time frame meansdisqualification. Successive limbos can be called to drain battery packs.The Competition Director can also introduce any other restrictions, such as limitingthe height of climbs. Once the number of flyers in the AULD is reduced to the lastfew, normally flying is allowed to resume.I think that some of the main reasons for people attending fly-ins are to see whatinteresting models are around and chatting about the latest ideas or equipment.Looking at the figures from the Sunday at Middle Wallop last year, we only hadabout 1/2 as many pilot’s registered as cars attending. This suggests that flying isat best secondary for some people attending the fly-ins. Unfortunately, we can’t tellhow many of these are ‘general public’ coming to see what it is all about and howmany are just not flying that day..

Jan BassettPlease send any correspondence to the Editor, contact details on page 4.

36 E.F.-U.K.

Model Motors MV2020/20by Bob Partington

The MV 2020/20 motor is produced by Model Motors, the Czech Republicmanufacturer. These motors were originally marketed under the Velcom banner.I have been very impressed by model goods from the Czech Republic.They are produced by good engineers, and therefore they are of high quality andalso inexpensive, making them very good value for money. I got the motor fromthe importer Puffin Models.The motor is a 400 size brushed Neodym type, which is claimed to be suitable foruse in electric ducted fans. Being of 400 size it fits the WeMoTec 480 Minifan. Thedimensions are 27 mm diameter, 55 mm over all length and the weight is 105g.Suppressers are already fitted internally. The brushes are the same cross sectionas the Plettenberg, so from experience I expect a long brush life.

I tested the motor in the Minifan on 10 x Sanyo CP-1700 cells. The current hot offthe charger was about 33A with an average across the run of 24A.It is noteworthy that the data sheet included with the motor says that the highestefficiency is at that average current! The corresponding power was 330W and241W. In comparison on the same set-up the Plettenberg drew 30A (300W); and22A (239W).

Model Motors MV2020/20 with a Plettenberg 200-20-6 (on the left) for comparison

E.F.-U.K. 37

I checked the RPM at the average power and found it be almost exactly 28,000,which is about the same as the Plettenberg. The thrust corresponding to thisfigure was extrapolated from the WeMoTec data sheets giving 23 oz. (6.4N) atswitch on, with an average of 18 oz. (5.0N) across the run.

Encouraged by these numbers I replaced the Plettenberg in my Glockner Sabrewith the MV and flew it. As expected the performance was about the same and theduration only a bit shorter.I have just test flown my RBC kits Ta 183 Huckebein for the Minifan fitted withan MV 2020/20 for 10 cells (see the picture overleaf of the motor including it fittedin the model).The model at 44 oz (1.25kg) weighs the same as the Sabre and because the duct isshort and straight through, with no obstruction (unlike the Sabre) the model isfaster and duration the same.I have also bench tested the MV with 12 x Sanyo CP-1700 cells. The power was upfrom 241W to 353W with current up from 24A to 29A. The motor gave no sign ofoverheating, and indeed as can be seen in the picture the back of the motor is veryopen.However, I don’t intend to use the motor on 12 cells because I know from experiencewith the Plettenberg 200-25-4 that at these current levels brush life is frustratinglyshort.In summary this is a pretty good brushed motor for EDF.

Glockner Sabre as used to test fly the motors

38 E.F.-U.K.

The RBC kits Ta 183 Huckebein. The view below shows the motor as fitted to the modelusing a WeMoTec 480 Minifan.

E.F.-U.K. 39

Need a handy, tough little Park Flyer?Join the Cub!

by Brian RawnsleyAfter a season of park flying with the GWS Pico-Stick last year, I was looking fora new and different park flier. Browsing the trade stands at the BEFA TechnicalWorkshop last year brought me face to face with a GWS Pico Cub J3F kit. Theprice looked reasonable, the kit itself simple and attractive.But was it just a “dressed up” Pico Stick? Would the same GWS 150 power unitcope with the increased drag of a square fuselage and wing struts? After somedithering I jumped in and bought the kit. I have not regretted doing so.At home, out of the box came two fuselage halves, made of polystyrene foam. Thencame Depron wings and tail, and a complete range of components including amotor, gearbox, propeller, pushrods, horns and glue. The fuselage, wings and tailare pre-coloured in “Cub Yellow”.Assembly of the fuselage was straightforward; the fuselage halves being joinedsandwiching a single engine bearer. The instructions recommend holding the halvestogether using “paper tape”. I tried using masking tape for this, but found thateven this relatively “low tack” tape lifted a bit of the yellow surface finish on thepolystyrene foam. Maybe rubber bands would be a better idea.

The GWS Cub waiting to take-off for another flight

40 E.F.-U.K.

The GWS Cub climbing out.

A

The Cub on a low(ish) fly-by

E.F.-U.K. 41

The wing struts are mounted by gluing little nylon brackets to the fuselage andwings. Each bracket has a single hole, and the bamboo struts have a “quick link”type pushrod-keeper fitted on each end. It is worth making sure that thesemountings are firmly glued in, as the wing struts really do work for a living!The vacuum-formed plastic engine cowl looks flimsy, but in fact seems to bendrather than shatter in hard landings. Motor and propeller installation isstraightforward, the propeller a GWS 10” x 4.7”.For the tail and fin, the instructions suggest applying transparent tape to thehinge lines, then to “carefully bend the surfaces 40° each side until they movecomfortably”. To lighten the load on the servos I chose to cut through the rudderand elevator hinge lines with a balsa knife, chamfer the edges a bit and then hingethem with the transparent tape. This has worked well in service.

Addition of the radio, servos, undercarriage, fairings and other details wasstraightforward, and are well explained in the illustrated instruction manual.All in all, a couple of evenings’ work and I had a model ready to fly. Holding themodel in my hand, it looked and felt very different in character from the PicoStick. Somehow, the Cub feels tough, rigid and boxy, where the Pico Stick feelslight and flexible, as if a puff of wind would blow it away.I use my favourite park-fly battery, the 300mAh 7-cell Nickel Metal Hydride unitsupplied by Overlander. This required a little carving of the polystyrene foam

A close pass at slow speed

42 E.F.-U.K.

around the battery compartment to fit, but seems to give about the right power toweight ratio. Despite warnings in the instructions not to use more than 7.2 volts(6 cells), I have not yet had any motor overheating or life-shortening problems.To fly, I adjourned to my local park during a rare spell of winter sunshine. Takeofffrom the cricket pitch was nice, the tail showing little tendency to swing. Themodel was airborne in a few yards. The rate of climb was very positive, similar tothe Pico-Stick. The first difference I noticed was when turning. The yaw / rollcouple is much better than the Pico-Stick, so the Cub is easier to control in turns.This may be because the high wing and cabin give some additional dihedral effect.The second difference is much more profound, and gives the Cub a character all ofits own. When I throttled back fully, I found that unlike the Pico Stick, the propdoes not stop, but keeps on “windmilling”. The Cub then slows down and to keepit from stalling, you have to descend at quite a steep angle. With the large propacting as an airbrake in this way, I found I could descend to land in true STOLfashion. Who needed flaps? Crossing the “crease” at about shoulder height, Ifound I could land and stop about half way along the cricket pitch. Having learnedthis party trick, the Cub became a fascinating aeroplane to fly. Flights are typicallyten to twelve minutes, and during one flight, I managed more than twenty circuitsand touch-and-go landings. Ground handling is fine, and the Cub can be taxiedand steered around quite precisely.The GWS park-fliers are supplied with very narrow, over-large, spoked wheels.These look fine on the Pico-Stick but I feel they just do not look right on the Cub.

An overhead pass showing the near scale outline

E.F.-U.K. 43

For this reason, I have now replaced them with some very light foam-rubberwheels with plastic hubs. These were again bought from a stand at the BEFAworkshop event, and have proved fine in service.The Cub is at its best in calm conditions, and I only take it out in the evenings orearly mornings. It can handle a little wind, but is not comfortable to fly in anythingmore than a “light air”. Over several park-fly sessions it has proved quite robust-the main “wear and tear” problem being with the Depron undercarriage fairings.This has resulted from many misjudged “STOL” landings where I have flared outtoo early or too late, the resulting “bounce” causing the undercarriage to flex,and the fairings to crinkle and crack a bit.In conclusion, I like the Pico J3F Cub. It is a useful, practical model with lots ofcharacter. For me, the “spirit” of park-flying is grabbing three battery packs, thetranny and model fully rigged, at the beginning or end of a normal day. Then ashort walk from home to the field, or a stop on the way to work, for a quick halfhour session. The Cub fills this requirement quite happily.If you have any queries or comments, you can contact Brian via email atsandra@brianrawnsley.freeserve.co.uk.Kit: Pico Cub J3-F from Grand Wing Servo (www.grandwing.com.tw)Span: 39.8” (1 m), Loading: 4.4 oz./sq.ft. (13.4 g/dm2), Flying weight: 8oz (225g)Fitted with: GWS Pico 4ch Receiver, GWS Pico 6gm servos, GWS Pico 2A SpeedController, Overlander 300mAh NiMH Battery.

The Cub looking longingly down the strip awaiting another go

44 E.F.-U.K.

The Messerschmitt Me 262“Schwalbe”

by Christian HoffmannBefore I began the planning of my new project, I had to decide which Ducted Fan(DF) would be used. As I am a promoter of 1/5th scale models I made calculationsabout the diameter of DF required.This would have to have been 120mm diameter and the model would have been2.5m span. This was too big for my taste, and would have broken the bank.Recalculate for 1/6th scale, and a 2m span model and a fan diameter of 80mm and90mm would also be possible - this was it!A 2m span model is an eye-catcher, and for propulsion 30 cells should be sufficient.As DF two Aeronaut Turbo-Fans were chosen. These are affordable and are verylight in addition. Accordingly to the leaflet that comes with them, a thrust of 13N(47 oz.) at 15V when used with an Ultra 930-6 motor can be achieved.For 2 fans this would produce 26N thrust. The whole model ready to fly could be5 to 5.5kg and have a thrust to weight ratio of 50%. This would be adequatepower for a jet-like performance. Now that the propulsion decisions were made,construction could begin.

Looking down the rear fuselage

E.F.-U.K. 45

Joesf Hösef was asked to enlarge a 3-view drawing to the required size - no needfor time consuming drawings. Now I had some large sheets of paper with mydream model on at the correct scale of 1/6th.The fuselage sections of the 3-view were used to cut the formers. Building thefuselage was in the normal manner as half sections (like the full-size Mosquito).Formers were made from 4mm balsa ply (or 3mm liteply) with 5 x 10mm and 5 x5mm balsa longerons.The whole fuselage was sheeted with strips of 3mm balsa (which can be seen insome of the photographs). At the same time, the fairing between the fuselage andfin was built.A NACA 0010 section was used for tailplane, and a hole this shape was cut throughthe fin. The tailplane was made ribs and spars, sheeted with 1.5mm balsa and theelevator made from solid balsa.To improve the scale like appearance, counterbalance weights were fitted to rudderand elevator. After a final sanding, the fuselage was covered with 25g/m2 glass-fibre cloth using DDS-Lack The tailplane was covered with a fabric covering. Acanopy was vacuum-formed and a hatch cut in the fuselage for the battery packs.

The internal equipment - plenty of room

46 E.F.-U.K.

Special attention was paid to the decoration of the cockpit (Editor: which is clearlyevident in the photographs). As I had a good picture of the pilot’s office, it wasbuilt as accurate as possible.The 1/6th pilot figure is something special. It was taken from the stock ofPetrausch, and is extremely light and very realistic (I think that one of Pete’spilots would also fit very nicely). Lots of small levers, instruments, switches andcontrol stick make the final touches.It seems like a mad undertaking, while on the other hand you want to save everyunnecessary gram on a DF model. But sometimes you can’t live without a certaintouch of luxury on a scale model.Having made so much progress with the fuselage, the building of the wings couldbegin. As a wing section, I chose the Ritz 2-30-12. It had less camber than theNACA 2412 section and therefore should be better for greater speeds. Anotherpoint to consider was the depth of the undercarriage.The building technique was threading the ribs on an 8mm carbon tube like ashish-kebab, which makes building without a warp very easy and avoids the buildingof a crutch. The servo leads were also fed inside the tube.

Battery packs & speed controller readily accessible from a hatch on top of the fuselage

E.F.-U.K. 47

To achieve the necessary torsional stiffness, the tube was enclosed by an upperand lower spar and shear webs. The wing was only planked in front of the spar,therefore creating a ‘D’ box without adding much weight to the structure.The trailing edge was created by 2 narrow strips of balsa with a layer of 40g/m2

glass cloth between (carbon rovings could also be used). After cutting out theailerons, the retracts were next.As the 100mm diameter wheels were width than the depth of the wing. However,the wheel boxes could sit above the top skin as they are inside the wide fuselage.A few ply plates were attached to the spar to provide mounting points.The model was then assembled for the first time and the wing fairings werecompleted. A very lightweight and fragile airframe stood in front of me. The controlsurfaces were then hinged.Just before I could commence building the nacelles, it was time for our clubexhibition in Geisenhausen. The building of the nacelles required some thinkingand patience. My first efforts were put into thrust tubes. These had to be 45cmlong, because the fan unit had to be placed at the front for CofG reasons.

The amazing cockpit and pilot - could be the real,thing

48 E.F.-U.K.

To avoid losses in thrust, the inner surfaces needed to be very smooth. A simple,but ideal, solution was found by covering the 0.4mm ply with transparent Oracover(Profilm in the UK) and then rolling them into a tube. This had to be done carefullyto avoid getting air bubbles between the film and ply. I would prefer to treat theply with sanding sealer, or make the tubes from glass cloth.The rear 100mm of the thrust tube reduces from 90mm to 80mm diameter toproduce a thrust cone and increase the efflux velocity. Two rings of rolled ply jointhe DF and tubes together. The whole assembly was completed by the addition offormers planked with 2mm ply.It should be pointed out that there is a long tube, ending in a cone, fitted to therear of the motor. This is so that the cross-sectional area of the thrust tube remainsconstant along its entire length.The front and rear outer parts of the nacelles were vacuum formed from ABS. Therear section is glued in place, but the front part is detachable for maintenance ofthe motors. Finally the nacelles were covered with tissue and prepared for painting.The nacelles had now to be fitted to the wing. For this purpose square balsa wasglued to the underside of the wing to take the stress. The nacelles were glued tothe wing and fairing made using epoxy and micro-balloons.

The front hatch showing the nose leg mounting and speed controller

E.F.-U.K. 49

It was now time to cover the wing in iron-on fabric. This time iron-on coveringfrom Conrad Electronics was used, which worked very well - no need to prime anda very reasonable price. Fuselage joint lines were imitated with thin stripes offilm. Everything was finally sprayed in the paint scheme of 9 Staffel, Jagdgeschader7 Parchim. The first flight attempts were unsuccessful because the grass was toolong, and the nose leg was too flimsy and had a lot of play.Adjustments were made getting ready for Aspach, where a successful maiden flightwas achieved. However, before the second flight one Aeronaut DF disintegrated,which might have been due to a small stone being sucked in or poor bonding ofthe fan blades. The Aeronaut DFs were replaced with Schübelers. These produced2N more thrust each and I consider these are the best DF you can get for yourmoney. The changing to the DS-51 fans had paid off without any question. Morethrust and a higher speed fit perfectly with the whole appearance of the model.The flight time is around 5 minutes.The dream of this jet model cam true. The many hours spent in the workshop aremore than compensated for by the fascinating looks of the model and the remarkablygood performance.Maybe we will meet at a show in the future, but be ware the bug might bite you!

One fan assembly with centre body

50 E.F.-U.K.

Dimensions:Span: 200 cm 78.7”Length: 172 cm 67.7”Weight: 5.3 kg 187 oz. (11.7 lb.)Wing Area: 57.1 dm2 885 sq. in.Wing Loading: 92.8 g/dm2 30.4 oz. / sq. ft.Wing / Tail Sections: Ritz 2-30-12 NACA 0010

Equipment:Impellers: 2 x DS 51, 90mm diameterMotors: 2 x Ultra 930-6Batteries: 32 cells Sanyo 1700 SCRCSpeed Controller: Schulze d53/60bo

Performance Figures (approximate):Thrust: 30N 108 oz. (6.75 lb.)Thrust : Weight 45%Jet Efflux: 48 m/s 107 m.p.h.Current: 30APower: 1200W

The tail fin showing the modified Swastika (a requirement in Germany)

E.F.-U.K. 51

FanJet Trainer & Vampireby John Stennard

After making and successfully flying an indoor model using the GWS DF unit Iturned my thoughts to an outdoor model. I picked on the FanJet design as I hadbuilt a glow-powered version that had flown well.My indoor fan model used a moulded Depron wing available from Flitehook. Thesewings are 18" span and originally designed for a rubber-powered model. For thefan model I had cut and rejoined two wings to give a 24" span. I designed theFanJet around a strengthened version of this wing and it has been very successful.It was the free plan in the Sept Q&EFI. My test flights were done with a 6 x Sanyo120 mAh NiCd pack as used with the indoor model. The flight duration was rathershort so I began experimenting with larger packs. My best results have been witha 6 x 600 mAh NiMH pack. In this configuration the AUW is around 190g (6.5oz).It will actually easily lift a 7 cell pack. This improves the performance but exceedsthe manufactures specifications!

With the FanJet flying well I looked for a second design and decided on the Vampire.This uses the same strengthened ‘cut and joined’ 24" Depron wing. The Vampirequite literally flew out of my hand and performs well. It is not as fast as theFanJet and really does need the 7 cell pack to get the same performance.

FanJet with 6 x 600mAh battery pack

52 E.F.-U.K.

With the GWS DF units costing around £12 this is a very low cost way to enjoysome small jet flying. The models described here cost about £4 to make and reallydo fly well. Ideally a twin jet model is the way to go as for 30g extra weight youcan double the power output. I note that the new GWS models to suit their unitsare both twins.My next model will definitely be a twin and for both light weigh and ease ofconstruction a profile fuselage with Depron wings and tail surfaces makes sense.This will be my chosen construction method for a few more GWS jets.

The FanJet in flight with the 6 x 600mAh battery pack

The Vampire with GWS DF

E.F.-U.K. 53

The ill-fated career of a Me109by John Norman

As an air-minded 10-year-old towards the end of World War Two I made my firstattempt at a flying model aircraft: a Hurricane from an Astral kit. I happened tobe the envied possessor of a quantity of single-edged razor blades and, with theirhelp, I managed to create a bloodstained Obechi airframe covered in white tissue.I painted the whole lot with some light blue enamel which had been in the coalcupboard for as long as I could remember. Needless to say my Hurricane provedabout as airworthy as the dustbin to which it was promptly consigned. The strangepart is that I wasn't put off. I kept trying and, four or five years later, I actuallygot a model to fly properly. Someone once said to me, "born aeromodellers justdon't give up!"This all came back to me as I looked at the remains of my Me109 waiting, as thephotograph shows, for the bin-men.

An ignominious end!

54 E.F.-U.K.

The scratch built 109 started its life four years ago and, at its demise, had thefollowing specs:-

Span: 43" (110 cm)Controls: Ailerons, rudder, elevator, throttle.Motor : Pro 480 with Mini Olympus gearboxPropeller: 9” x 6” CAM SlimPropESC: Multiplex Pico 400 with BECBattery: 8 x Overlander 1300 NiMH cellsWeight: 36 oz. (1.0 kg)Power: 90W at 12A

I obtained the outlines of the model by roughly scaling up a beautiful Doug McHardplan for an 18" rubber-powered 109. The built-up balsa, liteply and foam structurewas covered with panels of thin card and the whole job finished in desert camouflageusing swatch pots of matt emulsion. A set of Flair decals completed the exercise.The model had been conceived as dual-purpose - powered scale with a battery packor PSS without. In its PSS form it needed only 3 oz. of lead at the front to achievebalance. Everything seemed OK, but it just didn't fly. On the slope it just wobbledaround and plonked into the ground.After the first set of repairs I decided to abandon PSS and concentrate on thepowered option. At this stage the motor was a 6v Speed 400 with a Mini Olympusgearbox. Propellers are a problem with the Mini Olympus, and I ended up adaptingone of those cheap black 9” x 4” folders which were very common a few years ago.

The Me109 in its first incarnation

E.F.-U.K. 55

Power was provided by a 6 cell NiCd pack. Sounds alright? Well it wasn't. After areasonable, if short, climb-out she cavorted all over the place with me in a panicyanking at the sticks and, doubtless, making things worse.After an interval of some months I made the necessary repairs and tried again. Itook the opportunity to increase the wing incidence slightly, move the balancepoint forward and fit a fixed 8” x 6” propeller. All to no avail: another short,hopeless flight and a bad crash.When, ultimately, I got round to the repairs, I decided to increase the wing area byinserting a 10" flat centre panel. Still no joy. Just another crash. My companionon the day, who had ACTUALLY SAT IN THE COCKPIT OF AN Me109, said,"Well, the full-size was like that - twitchy as hell."As the wing was broken I reverted it back to scale. I did away with the receiverbattery and fitted the Multiplex controller with a BEC. I made up a pack of 10

Foam ribbed wing was built on to thin card lower skin. Top covered with small panels.Technique involves coating both surface with white glue and ironing in place when dry

56 E.F.-U.K.

NiMH 1000 cells to see if a little extra urge might help. Whew! It went off like a jetstraight into a half-loop and inverted flight (I can't manage inverted yet!).More uncontrolled full-throttle aerobatics followed, during which we heard a loudcrack. Until then I hadn't thought of throttling back! When I did, she suddenlysmoothed out and flew a nice half-circuit around us and back into wind. Wow, Ithought, I've got there. Not quite. The right wing folded upwards and she floppeddown like a Monty Python parrot.To bin or not to bin? On and off for months I picked over the remains. Finally,encouraged partly by wifely optimism ("of course you can mend it") and partly bythe memory of that miraculous half-circuit, I decided to have one last try.I took a lot of care over the repairs and improved the finish by stippling some greyover the rather bright sand coloured top surface. The 400 motor was replaced bya 480 and a 9” x 6” propeller fitted. I'd acquired some of Overlander's green 1300cells, eight of which - although theoretically down in the W/lb. department - seemedto offer plenty of oomph in practice.So, one fine October weekday I took her out to give it a go. I was pleased to be onmy own. You don't feel such a chump when things go wrong if no one's about, doyou? With no helper, I had to use my catapult self-launching set-up. The initialomens were not good.

The basis of the fuselage is a sheet balsa horizontal crutch which is used as a datum forthe wing seat, tail seta, thrust-line and general alignment. Vertical upper and lower

keels together with formers are added to achieve shape. The final airframe is completelycovered in thin card supported where necessary by scraps of shaper foam

E.F.-U.K. 57

At the first release the bungee just dragged the model into the heather. At thesecond attempt the wings cleared the heather but clipped a small gorse bush. Forthe third attempt I propped the launch pad up with some boxes from my flight bagto give a higher angle of attack. At release the line slipped off the hook and shotoff on its own. The shock was sufficient to topple the launch pad contraption andthe Messerschmitt stood on its nose.I just laughed and started to set it all up again. At the fourth try patience got itsreward. The Me109 went up straight and true to a good height. As she levelled offI slowly opened the throttle and climbed away. At a safe height I did a turn…and,well, a really exhilarating 10 minutes ensued.Some lovely banked turns, lowish passes and climb-out at realistic speeds, steadycircuits at half-throttle and all to the accompaniment of a magical purr from theMini-Olympus. Everything was just right. I didn't even think of touching a trim.The ending, of course, couldn't be totally happy. During the flight I had twice lostthe orientation but had quickly regained it. When it happened a third time at lowaltitude I just lost it and in a second or two it was "Surrey all out", as my Granddadused to say. So it is definitely R.I.P. Me109.I suppose I couldn't blame people for thinking that I imagined the last part of thissaga. When I told my friend - the one who had sat in the Me109 - I could see thedoubt clouding over his face.I've no witnesses of course, and the only evidence I've got is of yet another crash.Perhaps I'll build a replica - that sounds like a good idea. In the meantime I've gotthe memory of those 10 minutes. They can't take that away!

ME109 alongside two of John’s other card covered creations

58 E.F.-U.K.

The Martinetby Stuart Ord.

The Martinet was first designed and built about 8 years ago. It was an immediatesuccess despite its low power & cheap (AA) cells. That model had 2 mini-servosfor aileron & elevator. Motor control consisted of a blade fuse inserted just beforelaunch! On 6 cells it was a tad leisurely despite the low 17 oz. (480 g) weight.

Since then, I’ve built four more. I don’t remember the exact history, but all hadGraupner Speed 400 motors with 2.33:1 gearbox, giving the best performancewith 8 or 9 cells on a 7.2v motor and a 7” x 6” propeller.Along the line, the models acquired a flight switch with BEC, a third servo forrudder, and a fourth to allow flaperons. I found that the flaperons action didn’tmake much difference (Editor: sounds like insufficient flaperon throw to me). Sothe last Martinet went back to a single aileron servo to save weight.The construction is a little odd as the model is one piece with a blue foam wingwhich is only covered with SolarFilm directly on the foam. The original had a fulldepth balsa spar, but Martinet 1 suffered a wing failure during some tight loops.Since then a single tow of carbon has been lightly epoxied to the outer surface ofthe spar, with a second tow in the central region. Lightening holes are cut behindthe spar, leaving around ½” (13 mm) wide foam “ribs”.

The Martinet

E.F.-U.K. 59

Over the years the cells went from 500 mAh, to 600, then 700, and I’ve justbought some 1000s. I’ve still to find if they can take 8A discharge on a regularbasis OK. Maybe I’ll try NiMH cells this year, or maybe my first small brushless.Over all this is a delightful, cheap model. It doesn’t have a high power to weightratio so “prop hanging” is out of the question, but aerobatics are pretty goodconsidering its size and power.As a famous full-size aerobatic pilot (Bob Hoover) once said, “it’s all about energyconservation”. It can fly in a very small cube of air (but it’s too quick for indoors)and can slip into the car boot without others noticing.

Span: 36” 91 cmWing Area: 246 sq. in. 15.9 dm2

Motor: Graupner Speed 400, 7.2vGearbox: Graupner 2.33:1Propeller: 7” x 6”, pushed onto shaftWeight (8 cells) 21 oz. 600 gCurrent (8 cells) 6.2APower (8 cells) 48W

The plan for the Martinet is available at www.chestermodelflyingclub.co.uk,as is a construction article that can help during building one.

Close-up of the internals - shoe horn anyone

60 E.F.-U.K.

“Pico-Stick” Developmentsby Brian Rawnsley

I have been experimenting with the Pico-Stick in an effort to find alternativesolutions to making it flyable in a much smaller indoor space.The first solution was a “lightest possible wing loading for slowest possible flight”type solution. I have increased the chord to 10” (25 cm) and span to 48” (122 cm).

The wing was built-up using 1/16” (1.6mm) balsa ribs, 3/16” (4.8mm) x 1/2”(12.7mm) balsa trailing edge, and a 3/8” (9.5mm) square shaped leading edge. Thewing section is Eppler 387, but modified to have a flat bottom. It is covered with“Non-PVC Food-Wrap” aka Cling-Film from Sainbury’s, which is applied to topand bottom surfaces with Bostik all-purpose clean contact adhesive.The wing joiners are now 1.5mm carbon rod, sleeved with heat-shrink tubing fora positive fit and a bit of shock absorbing. The joiners are inserted in the normalPico-Stick fuselage wing-mount. The dihedral is about twice that of a standardPico-Stick. A large fin and barn-door rudder, made from 3mm Depron, replacesthe original to give good directional control at slow speed. The 7-cell 300mAhNiMH pack is moved forward of the wing to counterbalance the new, heavier tail.This produces a model with about 1/2 the wing-loading of a standard Pico-Stick.It certainly does fly slower and turn tighter, and can therefore be flown in smallerspaces. I have flown it for a “season” indoors. The main lesson learned is thatwooden wing joiners are not strong enough.The second version is a “Most Manoeuvrable” type, with a fun-fly type wing withstrip ailerons. The aim was for a model with about the same flying speed as astandard Pico-Stick, but much more manoeuvrable. The wing structure is built-

E.F.-U.K. 61

up from balsa similar to type 1, but with 3mm Depron ailerons added. The aileronsare “coupled” with the rudder, being pushrod actuated from the rudder servo.The wing span is 40” (102 cm) and chord 10” (25 cm), uses an Eppler 374 sectionand is covered in SolarFilm.This model is really fun to fly indoors and will fly in a smaller space than thestandard Pico-Stick, but is a little “hairier” than the first type. I have also flownit outdoors and feel that it is capable of some manoeuvres if the speed range wasnot limited by the large geared propeller. The main lesson learned was thatSolarFilm shrinks a bit too strongly for such a light structure, causing the trailingedge to warp. It was a case of using what I had available. (Editor: If you reduce thetemperature right down, the shrinkage rate reduces dramatically.).

The linkage arrangement for the rudder and ailerons

62 E.F.-U.K.

A Simple Motor Mount Systemby M D Mackendrick of Phoenix MFC, Dorset

This is an easy and strong motor mounting system for all electric flight motors,but particularly suited to outrunners and other brushless motors. This mountingmethod allows for easy setting of any required down & side thrust. It also reinforcesthe nose of the aircraft.The material required is flat alloy strip. I mostly use 10mm x 1.5mm strip boughtat B&Q or any other hardware store. The finished mount is glued to the aircraftwith epoxy. If I have to use 15 mm wide strip I drill lightening holes along thelength of the strip where excessive strength is not necessary.

Step 1. Select the mounting hole method - see diagrammed variants - decide on thelength of the side pieces -I usually leave an excess to cut off later. Make the holesor notch in the middle of the strip to match the motor & its mounting screws.

Step 2. Mount motor & mark width forbending. Then remove the motor and ina suitable vice carefully bend the cornersas shown. It's best to clamp the weakenedi.e. drilled part of the strip in the vicejaws to keep it flat.

E.F.-U.K. 63

You can easily bend the mount to fit curvature.

Step 3. Your airframe must be built with the nose section incomplete, usuallysides only finished. Unless you are using the battery position to set the CofG,complete as far as possible the remainder of the model including covering and allfittings & electrics.Step 4. Put motor & mounting plates into nose & clamp with clips or pegs to geta satisfactory fit and move the position forward or back to establish the CG.Remember there will be a propeller, spinner & cowlings yet to add weight in front.Also don't forget to set any down thrust. Mark the exact position of the alloystrips; remove the motor & using epoxy glue the mount to the sides.Step 5 Re-mount the motor & build the front cowlings/hatches to match. I oftenuse a plate of Ply held by the motor mount bolts to support the front of thecowlings Do remember to build in some cooling air access. Usually I have madesome sort of intake underneath or even left the bottom of the motor uncovered i.e.no under-cowl.I have used this system to mount Aveox motors with gearboxes in 3 aircraft , anAXI Outrunner in an Alienator, an Astro Cobalt 05 & of course several speed400s, some with gearboxes.Tip- to remove the mount, heat with a largish soldering iron. The epoxy willsoften & separate easily.

64 E.F.-U.K.

The Blue Maxby John Stennard

Looking for a ‘bigger than normal’ model for electric power I came across theGlobal Models Blue Max. This model is sold in the UK by YT International. It isa ‘vintage, Eindecker’ style model of 1.7m (67") wingspan and is designed for a.40-.46 2-stroke or .52 4-stroke with an AUW of around 2.5kg (5.5lb.).I wanted to use an electric power unit that would give enough power from 2 x 7 or8 cell standard packs. I did not want to have to use larger packs. John Emms ofPuffin Models was consulted and he was confident that a standard Model Motors24/12 or 24/16 brushed motor with a 3:1 gearbox would give the required poweroutput. A test with the 3:1 geared 24/16 and a APC-E 14" x 7” showed that around300W+ were available with 14 or 16 cells, and on 16 cells gave around 6000 RPM.3000mAh NiMH cells were used for the tests using a Jeti 450 opto ESC controller.

The excellent quality of this ARTF model made it a pleasure to assemble and theconversion to E-power was very easy. I may have ‘over engineered’ the motormount but a 14" propeller at power encourages one to ensure the mounting is asecure and solid fixture! The final AUW is 3kg and the Blue Max has flown withboth the 24/12 & 24/16 motors. The 24/12 can only be used up to 14 cells and a 12"prop. This motor flew the Blue Max adequately but is probably best suited to a 2-2.5kg size of model. The performance is better with the 24/16, 16 cells & 14"propeller combo, giving a very short take off run and 8+ minute flights.I think the performance using electric power is very appropriate for the type ofmodel. A spritely takeoff, stable and pleasant handling characteristics in flightand easy landings make it a lovely aircraft to fly.

E.F.-U.K. 65

I think my objectives of getting a ‘large’ electric model in the air, using coupledstandard packs, has been very successful. Other than electric gliders my largestmodel to date has been the Multiplex Cargo. In fact the Blue Max has very similarflight characteristics.The 24/16 motor and excellent quality indrive gearbox from Puffin Models costsaround £70. I think this represents a very good value for money power system forthe Blue Max, and any model of the 2-3kg size.Would it be better with a brushless motor? As a regular user of brushless motorsand AXI motors in particular, I am sure it would, but of course at a price. Whenthe new larger version of the direct drive AXI arrives I will be able to give it a tryand see how it compares.

66 E.F.-U.K.

InspirationThe following photographs were submitted from various model events during the2002 season. They are included here to give illustrate what is possible and toinspire for the 2003 season.

An Auster in yellow Army coloursThere are plenty of novelty designs out there

E.F.-U.K. 67

The Hercules of Jörg Golombek and Michael Häberle. It is approximately 1/7th scaleand spans 19’ 8½” (6m), has a wing area of 5200 sq .in. (335dm2) and weighs 44 lb.(20kg). To get this brute off the ground, 4 Marx GT300/10 motors run through 5:1

gearboxes and swing 20” x 10” propellers using a total of 48 cells.

This is the Fiesler Storch of Klaus Seidel. It has a span of 9’ 5” (2.85m) and a flyingweight of 12.1 lb. (5.5kg). It is powered by an Ultra 1600-8 motor coupled to a 2.4:1

gearbox, a 20” x 6” propeller and 24 cells.

68 E.F.-U.K.

This is Philipp Gardemin with his 1/6th scale Junkers Ju-52. It is almost 16’ (4.85m)span, has a wing area of 4620 sq. in. (300dm2) and weighs 43.5 lb. (19.7kg). It is

powered by 3 Torcman 350/28 22T brushless motors, sharing 48 cells and direct driveonto 17” x 8” propellers.

A Gee Bee Model Z in yellow and black

E.F.-U.K. 69

The same Me 109 cutting a groove through the sky

The large Messerschmitt Me Bf109G-6 of Christoph Meindl. Span is 2m (79”) and itweighs around 6kg (13 lb.). It is powered by a Graupner Ultra 3500 with a 2:1 gearbox

with 36 x Sanyo RC-2400 cells and swinging a 24” x 14” propeller.

70 E.F.-U.K.

The Gotha Go 151 of Bruno Schmalzgruber. It is approximately 8’ (2.5m) span and has aflying weight of 12.3 lb. (5.6kg). Power is from 2 Keller 25/12 motors on 2.5:1

gearboxes, turning 14” x 8” propellers on 16 cells.

This is a model of a Boeing prototype aircraft of the “Blended Wing Body” type.

E.F.-U.K. 71

A semi-scale Boulton-Paul P111 ducted fan in prototype yellow markings.

A very nice Fouga Magister in dark blue with white wings and red tip tanks.

72 E.F.-U.K.

A very nicely finished scale ducted fan model of a Henschel Hs132A jet dive bomber. TheHs132 was designed as a jet replacement for the well known Ju87 Stuka, but never saw

service as the first prototype were captured just before making its first flight.

In the foreground is a very sleek looking twin EDF model called Blade in blue andorange, judging by it’s looks it should really motor. Behind is an F9F Panther EDF in

standard US Navy colours of dark blue with white trim.

E.F.-U.K. 73

A Preset Speed Controller forFree-Flight Models

by John Bunting

With the advent of ultra-lightweight radio gear, the free-flight electric model maybe a declining species. However, I like to have one or two such models to fly oncalm evenings, or at meetings where radio flying is limited. In the interests ofpeace and quiet, I converted a small model from a ½cc diesel to electric power,using a KP02 power unit. This has a geared motor driving a 7” propeller and ispowered by 3 small 110mAh NiCd cells. From a full charge, the motor drawsabout 5A and runs for about a minute.It occurred to me that if you have a little power to spare, it might be useful to beable to reduce the motor speed and fly the model with less power, but with alonger motor run. The best way to do this, without wasting any battery power,would be to use a circuit similar to the output stage of an RC Speed Controller; aMOSFET switch controlled by a signal of variable mark / space ratio. In this casethe signal would be generated by a simple CMOS oscillator, with the mark / spaceratio set by a small potentiometer before flight.

However, the low battery voltage was a problem. CMOS circuits need a supply ofat least 3v, and the MOSFET needs a gate-to-source voltage of between 3v to 6v,depending on the type, to switch fully ‘on’ for a current of 5A. The battery isnominally 3.6v, but can soon fall to less than 3v when the motor is running.I was about to drop the idea when a possible solution came to mind. When switchingan inductive load, such as a motor or solenoid, an induced voltage peak is generatedat the junction of switch and load, at the end of each ‘on’ phase of the switching

74 E.F.-U.K.

cycle. The peak is of short duration, but can reach a level much higher than thesupply voltage, and may exceed the safe working voltage of the MOSFET.For this reason, a reversed diode (D3 here), is usually connected in parallel withthe load. When the induced peak voltage exceeds the supply voltage, the diodebecomes forward-biased , and forms a low-resistance path from the MOSFET tothe supply line. This limits the peak to a safe level, and in my test circuit theoscilloscope showed a peak amplitude of about 8v.If we now connect another diode (D4) and a capacitor (C2), as shown, we havewhat is called a ‘diode pump’ circuit. The capacitor is charged up, via the diode, toa voltage almost equal to the peak value and this gives a DC voltage, which can beused to power the CMOS oscillator. This will also give an output signal highenough to switch the MOSFET.This is possible because the oscillator needs only a very low supply current,typically 100µA. Provided that the battery voltage is initially high enough to getthe circuit started, it then holds itself up by it’s own bootstraps, so to speak, andkeeps working until the battery drops below 2v, and is therefore almost completelydischarged.The circuit works well with the KP02 unit, allowing the motor to be set from atick-over to almost full speed. The maximum speed is not quite as high as whenrunning direct from the battery, as there must be at least a short ‘off’ period in theswitching cycle to keep the diode pump working.If you want to keep the option of running at absolute top speed, a small 2-wayswitch or connector could be fitted top bypass the MOSFET and connect themotor straight to the negative terminal of the battery in the usual way. (Editor:alternatively just remove the unit and connect the battery to the motor).The circuit also worked with two other small motors from my junk box, but theDC voltage from the diode pump will depend on the motor characteristics, so inthat respect the circuit should be regarded as the basis for further experiment.The MOSFET should be of a type with a low gate threshold voltage; the FP45N03Lstarts to conduct below 2v, and a search of RS or other suppliers’ lists shouldreveal a few other suitable types. If you are using a higher voltage battery, of 4.8vor more, you may find that the diode pump is unnecessary and the oscillator canbe run direct from the battery. However, make sure that it’s output voltage remainshigh enough, at least until the battery is on the verge of being fully discharged. Ifthe MOSFET gets more than slightly warm, it’s almost certainly not being switchedfully on by the gate signal.For the oscillator, the pin connections are shown for a CD4001, but any otherCMOS IC containing two or more inverters could be used (e.g. 4011 or 4069).With VR1 and C1 values shown, it runs at 3kHz. The circuit can be assembled ona piece of Veroboard just over 1” square, and weighs less than ½oz.

E.F.-U.K. 75

Component List:IC1 CD4001 VR1 1M0 min. presetR1 820K Q1 FP45N03L or similarR2 47K D1, D2, D4 1N4148 or similarR3 100R D3 1N4001C1 220pFC2 22µF or 47µF, 16V min. electrolytic

The above view showsthe holes used from thecomponent side and thetrack cut locations forreference.The top left view of theVeroboard is as seenfrom the track side aftercutting the tracks asshown.

The view on the left is the finished boardcomplete with all components. Please payattention to component orientation.

(Editor: When fitted in the supply output from an RC switch, this design could beused to control the speed of motors used in electric retracts or similar devices).

76 E.F.-U.K.

Member's Sales & WantsFOR SALE / WANTED

For Sale on behalf of the estate of the late Sqn Ldr Ken Wood, MBE. The modelsare all fully built & shipping is difficult, but delivery and/or viewing can be arrangeat any of the BEFA fly-ins or the AGM. For more details (or digital photographs),contact Jan Bassett on 01935 472743 or jan.bassett@electric-flight.org.uk:

• Goldberg Electra powered sailplane with modified nose shape (78” spansingle-piece wing of 663 sq. in.). Fitted with 1 Hitec HS-80 & 1 FutabaS143 servo. The motor mounting is designed for a Keller 22/12 motor, butwould fit a 600 motor & compact gearbox with little or no modification.Covered in SolarFilm, the fuselage, fin & wing centre are red, with thetailplane, elevator & rudder in white and yellow outboard on the wings.Intended for 7 Sub-C cells, but would take 8 Sub-C or 10 4/5 Sub-C. Pricefor a quick sale to a good home at £40 ono.

• Goldberg Electra powered sailplane with modified nose shape as above.Fitted with Fleet FPS-24A speed control, Micron Mini Rx and 2 FleetFPS-18 mini servos. Covered overall in Fibafilm with the fuselage, elevator& rudder in white and the wings, tailplane & fin in red. Intended for 7Sub-C cells, but would take 8 Sub-C or 10 4/5 Sub-C. Price for a quicksale to a good home at £40 ono.

For Sale by Eric Cable, the following motors which are boxed and unflown.Contact Eric on telephone 01935 478974 (Yeovil).

• Plettenberg HP 200/20/12 motor - £75

• Astro 05 FAI, 6 turn motor, geared 2.2:1 - £95

• LRP Super 400 - £25

Wanted by the Editor (contact details on page 4) any of the following:

• General or Technical Articles.

• Product Reviews.

• New products.

• Electric Flight Event write-ups.

• Hints and Tips.

E.F.-U.K. 77

• Photographs of your models (with dimensions, equipment installed andflight performance please).

• New items of interest for inclusion in this magazine.

• Photograph prints supplied will be returned if you supply a return address,unless you specify otherwise.

• Digital photographs should be at least 1000 pixels wide, in colour anduncompressed wherever possible.

Requests for inclusion in the For Sale & Wanted pages can be made by email, postor by telephone, to the Editor using the contact details on page 4. Entries can alsobe submitted on-line from the For Sale & Wanted page on the BEFA website atwww.befa.org.uk

If you wish to have pictures included with your for sale or wanted entry, postphotographs, or email graphic files, to the Editor. Graphic files should be in colourand uncompressed were possible.

Adverts will be included in both E.F.-U.K. and on the BEFA Website unlessinstructed otherwise.

uzzflight167 Duffield Road, Derby. DE22 1AJTelephone: 01332 601693Email: pete@buzzflight.co.ukWebsite: www.buzzflight.co.uk

Hummingbirdthe definitive control-line trainer - ideal for youngsters

Deluxe Kit - complete with motor, propeller, prop. adapter, spinner, wheels, balsa,u/c wire, control-line / power wire, on-off switch, battery connectors, sundries,building instructions & full-size plan, bellcrank and control handle. The onlyother items needed are the covering and a 12v 7AH battery. £39.99 + £2.50 P&P.Standard Kit - contains balsa, u/c wire, control-line / power wire, on-off switch,battery connectors, sundries, building instructions & full-size plan, bellcrank andcontrol handle. Again the covering and a 12v 7AH battery are not included. £24.99+ £2.50 P&P.Plans & Instructions - £7.99 including P&P, add £5.99 for control-line / powerwire and switch. Please contact us for Overseas prices.Please make cheques payable to Buzzflight and allow 14 days for delivery.

78 E.F.-U.K.

Electric Flight CalendarIf you would like details of your event to appear in these pages please send fulldetails to the Editor EF-UK, contact details on page 4. For last minute info checkout the events list on the BEFA website at www.befa.org.ukDates, times and, even, locations of events can change at the last minute. You arestrongly advised to check on events with the given contacts before setting out onyour journey to any event.You are asked to please check with the organisers of non-BEFA events for theirqualification requirements before the event.All BEFA flying events require proof of BMFA or equivalent insuranceto fly. Additionally, all models must have been satisfactorily test flownprior to the BEFA event to fly - NO TEST FLIGHTS ON THE DAY.The BEFA has not yet set minimum qualifications to fly at our events, i.e. noBMFA certificates are required to fly. Currently all that is expected of pilots is areasonable level of flying competency.

April 2003

27th BEFA League Event at Pillerton Hersey. ElectroSlot / E400 leagueevent. For info contact Dave Perrett at d.l.perrett@btinternet.com

May 2003

16th / 17th Brooklands Museum 60th Anniversary of the famous DamBusters Raid. Brooklands Museum where Barnes Wallis developedmany aircraft, but perhaps best known for his Dam Busting "bouncingbomb" will be marking the 60th anniversary of this raid on Friday16th & Saturday 17th May 2003.

The main event will take place on the Saturday, where electric (&i.c.) Scale Model Flyers are invited to compete for the Barnes WallisMemorial Cup & other prizes in an event guaranteed to test the flyingskills of all B certificate pilots. As many will know, 3 aircraft typeswere used in the original development and final execution of the raid.The Vickers Wellington & Mosquito using the original Highball depthcharge, and finally the Lancaster's of 617 Squadron for the raid.

Modellers have to modify or build from scratch these aircraft, sizedapproximately to the scale of a solid practice golf ball. This to becarried in the bomb bay and released over water and a mock up ofone of the original dams. Those perfectionists who consider they cango one better and spin up their golf ball in situ before release arewelcome to incorporate an additional drive motor.

E.F.-U.K. 79

As a further tribute to Barnes Wallis, who as you may know also didall the original design / development work on "Swing Wing" technology,we would welcome demonstrations of his R100 Airship, VickersWellesley, Wellington & Swallow aircraft. Many other types are alsowelcome, those built or flown from Brooklands, such as the Sopwith,Hawker and Supermarine. Where plans are not readily available, theMuseum archive should be able to help. Back up crews and non flyersare welcome and we look forward to a great days flying.

In order to plan everything well ahead, the Museum would appreciategetting an idea of numbers in advance, so please let them have yourname and details by contacting Gemma Lane on 01932 857381 or viaemail at events@brooklandsmuseum.com

18th BEFA League event at Leicester. ElectroSlot and E400 league event.For details contact Dave Perrett at d.l.perrett@btinternet.com

June 20031st BEFA League event at Leamington Spa. ElectroSlot / E400 league

event. For info contact Dave Perrett at d.l.perrett@btinternet.com1st Hayes & District M.A.C.’s Diamond Jubilee Electric Fly-In at

Cranford Country Park, Hayes, Middx. Pilots’ Briefing 10am, ends6pm. Full 35MHz band - Now ALL channels (odds & evens). Fly-for-fun plus informal Scale, Vintage and Last Down comps. Possiblya Pico-Jet Pylon Race! A Traders’ “village” is planned. (Trader’s set-up from 8am) Bring the family to enjoy the beautiful woodlands,river and adventure playground. Toilets (incl. disabled) andrefreshments available in the park. Further details from Dave Chinery0208 573 4687 or DavidDchinery@aol.com

15th BMFA Southern Area Fly-In. Lovely site courtesy of WinchesterMAC with large area of short mown grass, access off the A .52Winchester to Petersfield road. 10am - 5pm. Trophies for scale aircraftby popular vote. Other trophies. Lunchtime All Up Last DownCompetition. Join us for a relaxing fly All frequencies can be used.Entry fee £3 per pilot. For more information see page 78 or contactAndy Palmer at 92 Durley Ave, Waterlooville, Hants, PO8 8TZ, emailandy@palmer99.freeserve.co.uk or telephone 02392 253761, orEddie Clowes at 7 Thatched Cottage Park, Southampton Road,Lyndhurst, Hants, SO43 7BW, telephone: 02380 282847.

22nd Chester MFC - RC All Electric Fly-In at the Roodee Racecourse,Chester. Open duration, vintage & scale competitions - entries onthe day. Extended sports flying. Pilot’s briefing at 9.30am. Enquiriesto C R Filtness, 26 Raymond Street, Chester - Tel 01244 378476.

80 E.F.-U.K.

June 2003 (continued)

22nd The 12th annual Cumulus E-fly-in will be held at the Cumulusclub field in Winssen near Nijmegen, the Netherlands. For moreinformation, please http://home.hetnet.nl/~ronvans/

28th / 29th Wings and Wheels Model Spectacular at North Weald Airfield,Essex. All the usual attractions of this annual event. Please see theadvert on page 79 for more details.

July 20035th BEFA League event at Middle Wallop. ElectroSlot and E400 league

event. Due to the field being shared with the fly-in only ODDfrequencies are available on 35MHz. For more details contactDave Perrett at d.l.perrett@btinternet.com.

5th / 6th BEFA Fly-In at Middle Wallop. On the Saturday (5th) the sitewill be shared with the League events and therefore even frequenciesonly for 35MHz. No Free-Flight. The Sunday (6th) is Fly-In onlywith all frequencies available. For more information contact RobertMahoney at befa@rlmahoney.co.uk

20th Grand Electric Fly-In at Pontefract Park (off J 32 M62) presentedby BMFA Northern Area with Pontefract & District Aeromodellers.10am to 5pm. Low key events for Scale (Flying), Sport, Vintage,AULD, & Helicopters (if numbers allow). Pilots £2 per event,spectators free. Proof of BMFA insurance essential. All frequencies.Raffle. Free boot sale. Traders by prior appointment only. Sorry nocamping. For details see http://www.pandasclub.fsnet.co.uk/ orcontact John Thompson on email j.thompson3@ntlworld.com ortelephone 01924 515595 (reasonable hours please).

27th BEFA League event at Leamington Spa. ElectroSlot / E400 leagueevent. For info contact Dave Perrett at d.l.perrett@btinternet.com

27th Bath SPARCS All Electric Fly-in at RAF Colerne Wiltshire.Airfield site with grass and tarmac runways. No competitions. Proofof BMFA insurance required. Regret no facilities for spectators. Pilotsbrief 1000. Contact Bob Partington Tel 01225 891441 orbob.partington@ukonline.co.uk

August 20033rd BEFA Fly-In at Woburn Abbey. For more information contact Robert

Mahoney at befa@rlmahoney.co.uk10th BEFA Fly-In at Leamington Spa. For more information contact Jan

Bassett at befa@electric-flight.org.uk

E.F.-U.K. 81

16th/17th Greenacres Fun Fly at Walsall Airport. Cost per frequency £2.50.The usual arrangements for camping, trade, etc. For furtherinformation contact Andrew Moult on telephone 01922 724311 oremail Andrew@tmoult.fsnet.co.uk or alternatively Peter Hubbard,on 07754 058872 or email hubbardp@blueyonder.co.uk

17th BEFA East Anglia Fly-In at Phoenix MFC, Lowestoft. All electricflyers with BMFA insurance welcome. Fun flying with the additionof Scale, All-Up-Last-Down & Vintage competitions. Even frequenciesonly. Barbecue / liquid refreshments available. Pilots entrance fee of£2.00. Location at Pakefield, Lowestoft, Suffolk. For further infocontact Tom Taylor, 01493-668555 or e-mail tom.t.usn@lineone.net.Additional information and location map available at the PhoenixMFC web site at www.phoenix-mfc.freeserve.co.uk

31st Furness Model Aircraft Society annual Electric Fly-inbeginning at 10am. The venue will be the Rakesmoor Lane flying siteat Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Entry fee will be £4 per modeller.Proof of insurance is required on the day. Further details from GaryKnight, 12 Dale Street, Askam-in-Furness, Cumbria. LA16 7DH. Tel.01229 467447 or email gp.knight@ukonline.co.uk

September 20037th Open Electric Day at North London RCMFC, Baldock. Entry

£5 on the day. No Free-Flight. Limited Trade welcome by priorappointment only. Proof of insurance essential. Food & drinkavailable. For more details call John Raines on 01462 893059.

7th West Calder Aeromodellers fly-in. Tarmac & grass runways.Snacks available. Free entry. SAA/BMFA insurance required. 10amto 5pm, all welcome. More details at www.modelclub.org

13th The Northern Area BMFA presents the Annual Pudsey Swap Meetand Indoor Free Flight event. Pudsey Civic Hall, near Leeds.Doors open 8.30am. Tables £3 each, admission £1. Flying starts 1pm.Classes for: Small Scale; ARTF Butterfly; Foam 200 & Civic / miniGyminie Cricket; Dart; and Hamster. Charge will be £1 per classentered (Juniors free). Details Gordon Warburton 0113 2852947orNorthern Area Website (http://members.aol.com/bmfanorth/) oremail bmfanorth@aol.com

14th BEFA League event at York. ElectroSlot / E400 league event. Formore details contact Dave Perrett at d.l.perrett@btinternet.com

21st Pillerton Hersey fly-in courtesy of John Lewthwaite, including anAll-Up-Last-Down competition. Contact John Lewthwaite for moreinformation on telephone 01789 740 688.

82 E.F.-U.K.

September 2003 (continued)

28th BEFA League event at Pillerton Hersey. ElectroSlot / E400 leagueevent. More info from Dave Perrett at d.l.perrett@btinternet.com

November 20032nd BEFA Technical Workshop at the Royal Centre, Royal Leamington

Spa. The usual Traders Fair and technical presentations.

E.F.-U.K. 83

JUNE 28TH & 29TH 2003at North Weald Airfield, Essex

(Just off Junction 7 - M11 motorway)

The largest RC Model Show in the SouthFlight Line directed by The Ghost Squadron

Electric Model Display Pilots welcome, pre booking required.Please contact us if you are interested in displaying your model.

Other attractions include:- Large Model Boat Pool,Model Car displays, Over 70 Model Trade Stands,

Gigantic Modellers Bring & Buy, Bar, Refreshments, Saturday NightEntertainment plus lots more!!

See all about the 2002 Show on our web site

www.wingsnwheelsspectacular.comEntrance Prices Advanced Prices

Adult £ 7.00 Adult £ 6.00Concessions £ 6.00 Concessions £ 5.50

Children (5-16) £ 4.00 Children (5-16) £ 3.50

Family Ticket (in advance only)(2 adults & up to 4 children) £20.00

You can telephone, fax, post or email your order to the address / contact detailsbelow. Applications for advance tickets much reach Wings & Wheels no later

than 24 June 2003. No refunds will be made. Please allow 14 days for delivery.

Tel./Fax: ++ 44 (0) 1480 462265email: wingsnwheels@dial.pipex.com

Designaction Limited, Wings & Wheels, PO Box 284, HUNTINGDON. PE28 9AE

84 E.F.-U.K.

New to ELECTRIC FLIGHT?START HERE . . . . .

You may be taking up Electric Flight for the first time, you may be convertingfrom another discipline. Whatever your situation, help and advice is available.BEFA has prepared an information sheet which details further sources ofinformation which you may find useful when just joining the hobby. To receive acopy, please send a Stamped Addressed Envelope (SAE) to Robert Mahoney, addresson page 4.

BEGINNER'S GUIDEA Beginner’s Guide to Electric Flight is available, which explains many of the'Mysteries' of Electrics’ and will, hopefully, set you off on the right foot. Pleasesend £3.00, per copy required, to The Editor of EF-UK at the address on page 4.Please add £1.00 extra for overseas postage and remit in Sterling, cheques payableto BEFA.

TECHNICAL HELP SERVICETechnical help is now available again for the use of all members. We regret thatno telephone service is available, but all questions in writing (or email) will beanswered by our new Technical Liaison Officer (TLO). Please refer your queriesto our TLO, to the postal or email address on page 4. Please ensure that youinclude an SAE for a reply.

CONNECTIONS SERVICERequests are frequently received from members who wish to be put in contactwith other members living in the same area. The easiest method of doing this isto place a free 'wanted' advert in the classified section of this magazine.Alternatively, a request may be made IN WRITING to the Membership Secretarywho is allowed to divulge such information to members ONLY. Please supply asmuch information about your location as possible and please remember to includean SAE for your reply.

B.E.F.A. MEMBERSHIPMembership of the Association is open to all members of the BMFA. Those whoare not members of our national controlling body may only subscribe to EF-UKwith no other benefits of membership. Overseas members are very welcome andwill be classed as full members if they belong to their own national controllingbody.

CONTACTFor full details, please send an SAE to the Membership Secretary (address on page4) requesting a membership application form. Those with Internet access mayvisit the B.E.F.A. website at http://www.befa.org.uk, where you will find all themembership application form & information you should require.

E.F.-U.K. 85

MAIL ORDER MODEL SUPPLYGOLD PLUGS Ideal for Speed 400/6002mm plug 75p; cuts into two giving one plug/socket2mm solder socket 43p. 2mm plug and a 2mm socket £1.15Lightweight 2mm plug and socket 55p; Max 15A motor current drawSpares. 2mm light plug 40p. 2mm light socket 20pPack of red/black shrink: 3.2mm or 4.8mm 50pGOLD PLUGS 600 or larger motor4mm plug 90p; cuts into plug/socket. Very low resistance4mm hollow plug and a separate 4mm solder socket £1.15Spares. 4mm hollow plug 85p. 4mm solder socket 43pLightweight 4mm plug and socket 75p; Max motor current 35A suggestedSpares. 4mm light plug 55p. 4mm light socket 25pPack of red/black shrink: 6.4mm £1.25: 4.8mm 75pProviding that you bear in mind the suggested amp ratings all the 2mm and 4mm plugs areinterchangeable. All fit any of the same size.EXTRA FLEXIBLE WIRE. 0.5mm2, 129 strands, Max 10A, 35p/metreRed or Black or White. Park Flyers etc. or servo extensions.EXTRA FLEXIBLE WIRESupplied in packs of 1 metre of red and 1 metre of black, i.e. 2 metres of wire0.75mm2, 196 strands; ideal for weight saving, Max 15A, £1.00/pack1.00mm2, 258 strands; ideal for weight saving for speed 400, Max 19A, £1.40/pack1.50mm2, 378 strands; ideal for speed 400, £2.00/pack4mm2, 1036 strands; £3.50/packSILICONE INSULATED WIRE. Pack of 1 metre of red and 1 metre of black1.5mm2, 378 strands. £2.502.5mm2, 651 strands. £3.00All wire can be cut off the roll, in longer lengths if required.CELL HEATSHRINK metre lengths25mm 50p; suits single AAA or AA cells or any same size48mm 75p; suits single sub C cells/sticks or packs of dumpy 60065mm 85p; suits 1700 or 2000 packs, also RC oblong sticks etc.94mm 95p; suits double deck packs (1700 etc.)All sizes layflat width, supplied in clear. 48mm available in opaque blue also.WIRE HEATSHRINK metre lengths1.6mm 50p; 2.4mm 60p; 9.5mm £1.00. Black only3.2mm 75p; 4.8mm 80p; 6.4mm 95p. All in red or black.

ALL ORDERS PLUS POSTAGE: 60p UK; £1.10 Europe; £1.70 WorldM. E. DONKIN, 37 WYDALE ROAD, OSBALDWICK, YORK, YO10 3PG

Tel/Fax 01904 414738. Mobile 0771 202 8329.E-mail: michael@moms63.freeserve.co.uk or modelsupply@netscapeonline.co.uk

All messages - an attempt will be made to contact you. (I work shifts)Computer faxes must send start signal before my fax will respond!

86 E.F.-U.K.

B.E.F.A. SalesBEFA Round, Coloured Rub-down Decals - 50p each

BEFA 2000' Millennium Decals - £1.00 each

Back Issues of EF-UK - No's 38, 40, 41, 44, 52, 53, 55 to 63 (inclusive) at £1.00each for BEFA members, or £2.00 each to non-members. Issues 64 to 70 are alsoavailable to BEFA members at £3.00 each, or £5.00 each to non-members. Theseprices include UK P&P, overseas rates on application.Please Note these are the ONLY back issues now available.

EF-UK Index. A comprehensive index of EF-UK from issue 28 to 59 is availableby sending a £1 coin to cover copying and postage cost.

Binders:- are available to hold eight issues of Electric Flight U.K. Produced indark blue with gold lettering on the spine, these cost £4.50 each including U.K.postage. Please add £1 for European postage and £2 for Worldwide postage.

Sweat Shirts & Tee-Shirts: Stock of these is now almost all gone - pleasecontact Robert Mahoney regarding remaining stock, sizes and prices.

Please send all orders to Robert Mahoney at the address on page 4.

PLEASE REMIT IN STERLING ONLY,WITH ALL CHEQUES MADE PAYABLE TO B.E.F.A.

Advertisers IndexBEFA Sales .................................................................. 86Buzzflight .................................................................... 77E-Zone ...............................................Inside Front CoverFanfare ............................................... Inside Back CoverFor Sale / Wanted ........................................................ 76Mail Order Model Supply............................................ 85S T C (Crossfire) .......................................................... 35Traplet ............................................. Outside Back CoverWings & Wheels .......................................................... 83

E.F.-U.K. advertising rates are £20 per full page, £10 per half page, per issue.Please contact the Editor for further information (see page 4).

– MAIL ORDER –SPORTS ELECTRIC FLIGHT

FANS AND GEARBOXESwww.fanfare.f9.co.uk

FANSMorley ‘Jet Elec’ Fan .............................. £15.00Adaptors for 480 & 410 motors .............. £3.00WeMoTec Micro-Fan (280/300/330) ..... £14.00WeMoTec Mini-Fan (400/480) ............... £28.00WeMoTec Midi-Fan (540/ 600/930) ....... £38.00

GEARBOXESMaster Airscrew 2.5, 3, 3.5:1 ............... £16.00TAB Inline 2.65 540/600’s .................... £40.00TAB Inline 2.08 & 3.05 480’s ............. £40.00TAB Inline 2.1 700’s .............................. £50.00Mini Olympus .......£8.00 Olympus ...... £12.00

MOTORSWEP Turbo 10 ........................................ £55.00Speed 500 E Race ................................. £13.00Speed 600 8.4v BB SP .......................... £15.00Speed 600 8.4v Race ............................ £18.00Speed 650 9.6v BB Race ...................... £33.00Speed 700 ............................ £14.00 to £22.00Speed 700 Neodym ............................... £38.00RE 380 / Rocket 400 ................................ £4.50Speed 480 PB .. £14.00 BB ................ £21.00Pro 400 ...............£5.00 Pro 480 HS .... £7.00

MAXCIM BRUSHLESSMax Neo 13Y 1430 rpm/v ................... £160.00Max Neo 13D 2470 rpm/v .................... £160.0021 Cell Controller ................................. £140.0025 Cell Controller ................................. £180.00Superbox 1.6 to 4.28:1 ......................... £50.00Monsterbox 4 to 6.8:1 .......................... £60.00Motor Mount ........................................... £10.00

MOTORS / GEARBOXESMFA 2.5:1 N.I.L. with 540 ...................... £21.00Speed 400 FG3 ..................................... £17.00SpeedGear 400 4:1 Inline ...................... £35.00SpeedGear 480 3.45:1 .......................... £48.00SpeedGear 500 2.8:1 ............................ £40.00SpeedGear 600 2.8:1 ............................ £41.00SpeedGear 700 2.7:1 9.6v .................... £60.00SpeedGear 700 Neo .............................. £82.00Mini-Olympus & RE380 .......................... £12.00Olympus & 540 ...................................... £19.00Robbe 410/35/45 ................................... £36.00

PROPSM.A. Folding 12x8 ............... £14.00

15x12 ............. £15.25M.A. Wood Electric 10x6/10x8 ........ £4.00

11x7/11x9 ........ £4.2512x8/12x10 ...... £4.5013x8/13x10 ...... £5.00

Carbon Folders 7x4 ................... £6.00(Perkins) 8x4.5 ................ £6.00

11x8 ................. £9.00Slimprops 8x4, 8x6, 9x5, 9x6 .............. £3.50APC Electric 6” - 12” dia. .......... £3 to £4(full range available) 13 ” - 18” dia. ..... £5 to £10

Selection of Graupner & Aeronautfolding & fixed props.

CHARGERSSpeed 1 Pulse / Pk

Det 4-8 cells ........................................... £27.00Speed Ex Digital

as above with discharge ...................... £55.00Simprop 25 cell .................................... £100.00

Wheels, Wire, Servos, Fuses, Caps,Powerpole, 4mm & 2mm gold conns.

FANFARE • 18 HILLSIDE ROAD • TANKERTON • WHITSTABLE • KENT • CT5 3EX‘Sports Electric’ Helpline - Phone / Fax: (01227) 771331 - E-mail: john.swain1@virgin.net

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