Back to Basics

Whoa! "the sort of spongy mix of moss and grass that is at Cashmoor"  Only place I can think of that might be like that is "off runway".  Runway is bowling green quality.    You need to come back to visit Cashmoor Brian. 

Phil, I have a "depth perception" problem even though the runway is a lot wider now. I have a bent MIG 15 and a Hawk with a busted U/C leg to prove it.
Anyway, if you were short like me, you'd be more aware of how long the grass really is.

Once again Summer arrived, and as usual, due to other commitments, the flying I planned to do just didn't happen. The Big Fun was finally maidened and by sheer luck flew straight off the board. It was flown with 30g of ballast for the first flights, this precautionary extra weight was taken out, giving a much better "feel" to the model and it has proved to be a solid performer, and although I did poorly in the initial "Concours" ( Skeletons don't score many points in a beauty contest), and I missed the first active round of the Phoenix Club Model Comp, but with one more competition day to go, the Big Fun is placed in the middle of the pack. Not too bad considering the poor start.

As I've been unable to go out to fly, some of the time I've spent "tidying" my sheds. In reality, all that happened was that the mess was redistributed to give myself some working room. It more or less worked, and apart from scrapping a load of puffed LiPos, I re-arranged the space taken up by my ready to fly models. One thing that came out of doing this was the rediscovery of my old Super Air. This model was one of a group of six which we used to more or less fly in formation at the Phoenix Club field. That was 2016 and the last time the model flew. A couple of weeks a go I hauled it out into the daylight and after a good dusting off and a wipe over with a damp cloth, I undid all the electrical connections and treated them all to a touch of contact cleaner (Deoxit D100L). I flushed out the tank and fuel line with new fuel, what a waste? Not when you consider the result of a dead engine when the model is in an awkward place, like over trees and down wind. I fitted a new LiFe Po4 flight battery, filled the tank, and with the engine still at the settings used all those years ago, it started and ran without missing a beat. I've managed  five or six flights so far and apart from the mopping up oil after each flight it has been really good to be flying with an engine again.

The Super Air is a very plain model, but its looks belie the performance and it does most aerobatics in a competent manner, as well as enabling me to gain some much needed confidence again. The Moonglow hasn't been forgotten, just temporarily abandoned! There really isn't much in the way of major building to do, but small details do take longer than one allows for. One sort of model has been popular with some of the Phoenix flyers, a concoction of foam board powered by an EDF.

These models of the F-22 Raptor originated from an American outfit called "Flite Test", there's a free download on the Internet. I've started to make one, its taking me a long time, mine is  a scaled down version powered by a 40mm EDF. I've added an augmenter tube hoping that it will give a bit more than the claimed 400g thrust of the bare EDF. The total weight of all the parts  is just under 300g so it might fly if I'm careful with the extra bits required for finishing..

Last year, during one of the seemingly never ending storms, a very tall pine tree, situated within a few feet of the bottom of my garden, took on a distinctly dangerous looking downwind tilt. I reported it, but was told not to worry. I tried not to, but a couple of hundredweight of leaning and creaking pine tree over my head, caused me to have severe doubts as to whether I could get out of my shed should the darned thing decide to complete its fall. Just after Christmas we had another bout of high winds, the tree gave up, it didn't fall far, just against the next downwind tree that had a dead branch stuck out. Now the leaning tree is held by a relatively thin, dead branch. I reported it again, and within a few weeks, a jolly chap with a camera came and took photos of the tree. That was early in January. When the creaking got extremely loud earlier this week, I 'phoned the tree people at BCP Council. They were polite but couldn't possibly say if or when anything could be done. Now, in desperation, I've had to convert my "storage" shed into a "workshop". I use the term lightly, it is of course simply a place where I could set up my portable workbench and do some proper stuff. This shed is not on the flightpath of a falling pine tree, and might enable me to catch up on several months of relative inactivity.
Today I've made a start on re-covering a Wot 4 Classic that I bought last year, it was basically sound and built well enough, but was suffering from detached covering film here and there, the aileron servo mounts had to be replaced, and the rudder had to be sorted out as it had a distinct "under camber" that I couldn't correct. The original engine was an Irvine .53, I'm replacing it with an OSFS .70 Surpass, and altering the ailerons to incorporate Chris Foss' suggested combination flaps/airbrakes. These might help lower the landing speed caused by the extra weight of the four stroke.
The covering I'm using is new to me, its from 4Max and is a lot cheaper than famous brands. So far the covering has been easy to use, and seems to go round compound curves as long as its stretched and pulled a bit. 
 
 

Keep on at BCP. If they do come down tell them not only will it harder to remove and may cost them more, ie; compenastion for loss of Workshop.

My experience of that covering film from most suppliers regardless of brand is EasyCoat in disguise. Lot's of colours but won't match virtually anything that was covered in Oracover.  What I have found after not too long a time is it starts to lift and leaves the colour behind. aka that damn Monokote.  Although anything from Chris Foss is easy to match colours.  However, it is half the price of Oracover (I blame the Germans and the EU)

I don't know who makes the covering that's sold by 4Max. Its similar to the budget stuff sold by Hobby King some years ago. The adhesive isn't the same colour as the film, and it handles much better than Easycote. The film presents quite differently in as much as it has no cardboard tube, its simply rolled onto itself and comes as what looks like a  15mm diameter (approx)  stick of coloured plastic. The tightness of the rolling does make it a trifle awkward when initially positioning a piece, it tries to spring back to its original shape, but as soon as a couple of tacks are in place, the rest of the process is pretty normal. Might give the finished model a light spray of polyurethane varnish to seal the edges, always a weak spot when flying "oilies".

Same tightly rolled stuff that MacGregor flogs then.  I bought some Guild Chemicals fuel resistant lacquer years ago and just discovered it in my paint store.  I have just used it to seal decals and edges on the oiler AcroWot 

clearly you should have bought a house nearby  a local councillor  In my area they dont have potholes and all that porper stuff  - I wish ! 

This has been a difficult year, late January/ early February, I started to have difficulty in walking. Things got worse as the year went on. Finally diagnosed with a triple problem, which is now being sorted. Walking again now, might even get in a spot of flying as well, as long as its not too cold.
My building board has been deserted for most of this year. The only model on it has been a second hand UnoWot that came in a job lot I bought last year. The model needed  a new wing and some general tidying up. Chris Foss supplied a new wing kit and I finished covering it yesterday. The first "real building" I've been able to do for what seems an age.
I'd attach a picture, but the camera battery is flat and I don't know how to do it with a mobile 'phone.