Planes
Terrific Trainer
Puppeteer
My flying history,
I first got interested when I was about 6, Dad was clearing out the garage and he had stashed up the top was his old control line plane. This absolutely fascinated me, not that I knew anything about it then, but I have since found out it was a Keil Kraft Phantom fitted with a Mills diesel MKII. Some time after it managed to get broken and destroyed in some move or other. The kit has just been discontinued but with the help of my local model shop, Addlestone Models, I managed to get hold of one of the last kits. I am now in the process of building it, as an added bonus most of the original engine is still in tact, just needs a few bit to repair.
Some time
after that myself and a friend decided to have a go at control line. This ended
in several failed attempts, broken planes and one new engine that I could never
get going…. Frustrated and disappointed, mostly with the engine unreliability, we both moved
onto radio controlled cars, electric....
Both of us
brought Tamia Sand Scorchers and this kept the fun going for years. But still fascinated
with the planes we used to cycle of to Windsor Great Park and watch others fly Radio
Control planes. But with the failed attempts with the engines before I always
dismissed it as just a wish.
As time
went on, marriage, house, kids, etc and interests changed, all these things went
on the shelf. Until a few years ago I started playing around with the cars
again,
both my sons where interested, so any excuse… but this time I got hold of an IC
powered car and to my surprise had no problems with the engine at all.
Then one
day out of the blue a friend of mine, Martin, who has never shown any interest
in planes before, but he did fly kites (big ones), turned up with “look what I
brought…!”, yep he had brought a plane, a Flair Magnatila. That was it, if
Martin was going to have a go, then so was I.
Martin soon discovered, even before he had started building it, that this was the wrong plane to learn on so, what was needed was a trainer, next stop was Sandown Model show. We both brought Terrific Trainers from Avicraft and set about building. My first stop was an engine, there was no way I was going to start building a plane only to find I had the same problems as before with the engine. So, older (much older) and wiser, and after reading all the instructions I got the thing on a test bench, first time, started no problems, so that was me started, onto the build…
The next thing for me to do was to find a club, again Addlestone Models to the rescue with a name and phone number of a club in Horsel, just down the road. So along I went and started chatting to the members of Woking Model fliers. I was welcomed with open arms and enthusiasm. In fact within about 30 minutes of arriving at the club I was asked, "come on then, where is your plane, lets have a look and get it in the air", the fact it was still on the building board was no excuse. So within about two weeks I had finished and was flying, at last, my dream come true...!
Over the last few years I have had more time to build than fly, which is why I have so many planes. I get a lot of satisfaction out of building and fly when I can. Due to work and other activities the only free time I get to myself is in the evenings, building time. It took me about a year to get my 'A' and a few re-builds along the way. We did have a days flying with RadioFlight Services, this was run by a chap called Malcolm Wood at the time, this was a real boost to the learning curve. It took us both from not being able to take off or land to solo flying.... in one day...
Just for reference Radio Flight services is still going, but now run by a Adrian, link to his site is in the links page. This I think was the best way for anyone to learn or 'have a go' and they offer all sorts of services and different levels of teaching, you are paying them, so they will teach you what you want... Taylor made teaching, just how it should be...
Next is a sort of archive / database of the planes I have built or building.....
This plane was a good one for me
to learn on, it was built from kit and this made it easy to repair, which was
just as well. And the best thing was it was easy to fly. It was supposed to fly
on three channel, but it seamed to have a problem so it had one flight before the ailerons where fitted,
all of learning was done 4 channel, this may have slowed me up a bit, but I did get my
‘A’ in the end, only took me about a year…!
Built
From:
Kit
Manufacturer:
Avicraft
Construction:
Box Fuse, Foam Wing, Tail Dragger
Date started / finished: 4/96 - 7/96
Engine:
O.S.40LA,
Enya No.3 Plug, Model Technics Duraglow 10%
Radio: Futarba, S3001,
Modifications: About four different tail drags, from drag to wheels, it has a very small
non-steerable wheel at the moment, this seems to work so it this will be the last one.
Crash
Damage: It’s had a few…. This is my trainer, this is what I first started
with and it has been repaired just a few times, OK Lots... The first set of wings
broke
it two, the first time I managed to repair them with the help of some carbon fiber
rods left over from Martins kites. Second time they had to be
replaced. New ones where cut from foam by my instructor, Gordon. The front end of the fuse has been rebuilt twice, as a direct result
of burying the nose in the ground. The engine has had three replacement props,
and two new needle valves. The undercarriage replaced once, and one new wheel.
It has had one new RX, the old one when back to Furaba for repair. And last but
least, I can’t remember how many times the tail has come off, but what the
hell, that’s what glue is for, and what would we do without 5 minute epoxy.
Other
comments:
This is not mine, but this is what it should look like when it's done..
This plane is one that sparked me
off into building planes, ‘cos it just looks so cool. There was an un-covered
one hanging at the Flair stand at Sandown Model show, I love Bi-planes and this
on looked just too good. But it is still on the
building board. I started building this about three years ago, I have the fuse,
tail and one wing complete, all I need now is on more wing , fit the engine,
radio and cover it… the PUP involves quite a lot of building and I am not in a
rush to finish it, I don’t want to fly it until I have good level of flying
confidence. One day it will fly.
Built
From:
Kit
Manufacturer:
Flair
Construction: Box Fuse, Buit up
wing (both of them), Tail Dragger
Date started / finished: 7/96 - Still going
Engine:
O.S.52FS, OS FS Plug
Radio: Futarba,
Modifications:
Crash
Damage:
Other Comments:
This is my first low winger, it is small, quick to build and cheep… And the main reason was to find a ship to install the O.S. 26 FS, yet another amazing engine from OS. And yes that is grommet flying the plane...
I have a 6oz tank,
the thing potters around the sky at less than half throttle, so I get about 25
minutes of air time…! I have had one small problem, and this was my fault. The
plane flies very well, for my first low wing, I was suppressed how stable it is.
But as I got used to it and tried some simple aerobatics I soon discovered it
had a problem, if you opened up the throttle the plane would clime at an
alarming rate. After some time I could not see the problem, I came up with the
idea that it needed some down thrust, I put this question to a news group on the
internet rec.models.rc.air, I got quite a few replies and most said the same
thing, yes down thrust would do it, but, the most likely problem would be the
wing incidence. So after getting hold of a wing incidence gauge I soon
discovered it did have about 6deg positive incidence. I have now corrected this and
set it back to zero but not had chance to fly it yet…
Unfortunately the manufacturer
seems to has disappeared…..
Built
From: Kit
Manufacturer: Airwave Model Products
Date started / finished: 8/98 - 2/99
Construction: Box Fuse, Built up Wing, Tail Dragger
Engine: O.S.26FS, OS
FS Plug
Radio: Futarba, Protec mini
Modifications: Just the wing incidence, but then I should have got it right in the first place..
Crash
Damage:
Built
From: Kit
Date started / finished: 4/96 - 7/96
Manufacturer:
Construction: Box
Fuse, Foam Wing, Tail Dragger
Engine:
Speed
400 Direct
Radio:
HiTec,
Modifications:
Crash
Damage:
This was a Christmas present from
my Mum and Dad, it has had one flight and resulted in a bad crash, much to
windy, my fault…
Built
From: ARTF
Manufacturer:
Date started / finished: 2/98 - 3/98
Construction:
Pod fuse, Built up Wing, Trike
Engine: Speed
300
Radio:
Futarba,
Modifications:
Crash Damage: Boom came out of pod
and mountings ripped from wing, all very easy fixes and now already to go.
This was a great plane to build, but seams to have disappeared from the manufactures list. I have not finished it yet, I have yet to finish the graphics on the wings and set up the radio. One day I will get around to flying it but I need a lot more flying time yet. If you look carefully you can see Shawn in the cockpit.....
Built
From: Kit
Manufacturer:
Date started / finished: 4/98 - Not quite done yet
Construction: Box / Built up Fuse, Built up
Wing
Engine:
O.S.46FX,
Enya No.3 Plug
Radio: Futarba,
S3001,
Modifications: Yep, the top wing. The original planes show a metal plate screwed over
the struts from underneath, very nice, but, you will have a job doing this in a
field…! So, I have soldered some captive nuts to the struts and rebuilt part
of the wing inside and now have nylon bolts through from the top. This was all
done quite carefully and does not look ugly or out of place.
Crash
Damage:
Other comments:
First saw this plane fly at Old Warden at a LMA display, I know it's not exactly a lage model but as it turned out it was the prototype being tested. At the time there where two models in the series, Splatfire and Mustprang, both are the same design, small fixed wing and can be chucked in the back of a car with ease. I have built the Splatfire and Martin has the Mustprang. Yep that is Wallace in the cockpit.
Built From: Kit
Manufacturer:
Date started / finished: 8/99 - 10/99
Construction: Box Fuse, Solid wing, wings permanently fixed to fuse, belly lander (No
Undercarriage)
Engine: O.S.15FX,
Enya No.3 Plug
Radio: Futarba,
Protec mini,
Modifications:
Crash
Damage:
Other Comments: The kit was cheep, simple to build and the instructions where, how can I say, a work of art.... Simple, Very clear and VERY tongue in cheek...
This was built from some free plans from 'Aviation Modeler', I don't normally build from the free plans, mainly because I don't normally like any of them, but this did take me fancy. The construction was very simple and very different, well for me anyway. It was built with weight in mind, or lack of it. total weight, 305g, including the radio, flight pack, the lot.. Also the it's the first time I have used 'lite span' as a cover, not so easy, it does not shrink as much as the normal solar film, also it has no glue, so you have to paint balsalock on the frame first. Very tedious but worth it in the end.
Built
From: Plans
Date started / finished: 2/2000 - 7/2000
Construction: Built
up Wing, carbon boom fuse
Engine: Speed
280
Radio: Jeti-04, Hitec-HS-50 Servos
Modifications:
Crash
Damage:
Other Comments: The original design was using 4AA cells (600mA) I found some Sanyo Twycell (NiMh) cells and made some packs up of 5AAA cells giving (6v 700mA) and a bit lighter...
This is not mine, but this is what it should look like when it's done..
Started building this some time
ago, decided to fit retracts. Installed mechanical retracts, but because on the spit
the wheels fold up outwards the linkage was all back to front so it kept jamming
and I just could not get the sodding thing to work reliably. So out they
came and now I have fitted Eurokit spring-air retracts, air up, spring down. So
if you get an air leek or something else fails the undercarriage will come and
lock down. This is about as
far as I got.
Built
From: Kit
Date started / finished: 1/2000 - Still going
Construction: Box
Fuse, Foam Wing, Tail Dragger
Engine: O.S.52FX,
OS FS Plug
Radio: Futarba,
S3001,
Modifications:
Crash
Damage:
Other Comments:
This is a small glider built from plans out of RCM&E, 2 channel and should be easy to fly. It only took me one evening to build it and another to cover it.
Built
From: Plans
Date started / finished: 4/98 - 6/98
Construction: Box
Fuse, Foam Wing
Engine: Wind
Radio: Hi-tec
Modifications:
Crash
Damage:
Other Commnets:
I saw this plane and engine
demonstrated at the model engineer show a couple of years ago, I was so
impressed with it I got one. Not even started to build it yet.
Built
From: Kit
Date started / finished: Still in the box...!
Construction:
Plank
Fuse, Built up Wing, Tail Dragger
Engine:
MDS
17, Enya No.3 Plug
Radio:
Modifications:
Crash
Damage:
Other Comments: