December 2007

Sunday 30th December .A grey overcast , very light south westerly drift not that cold for last weekend of the year.


Saturday 29th December. The night of the "blades", the helicopters outnumbered fixed wing models by two to one. So we know what some fliers got fro Xmas.

Marley had a very nice little “Lady bug”. After setting up on a transmitter in my mode gave it a test flight. Got airborne after managing to persuade brain that to steer a rudder/elevator only model on the ground one must use the right stick. Flew well although a bit fast and fragile for indoor flying. Marley was pleased to see it flying.

The “England” triplane made it’s indoor debut, still seemed to have some handling issues but did make quite a few laps. In the “concours-de-elegance” most indoor models would fail. At least Phil’s models make by ink streaked models look good. But top has to be Mike Brinkworths variation on the IFO.

Since starting the Bye yak series the little Ultimate 300 had not flown. A slight upgrade off motor to swing a bigger prop however really transformed this model, sadly a landing mishap has brought this airframe to the end off it’s flying days but I replacement will be built.

Triplane awaits it's indoor debut.

A beefed up "Phase 3".

Great turnout. Play the new game "spot the student".

CB's been at the ink pots. Supposed to use a spray gun not a brush.

Has Clive finally "hacked" the hover?

Couple of great shots of Pico Z heli by Phil.

Re-motored Mini Ultimate on it's last outing.

Sunday 9^th December

Windy and wet, as apposed to wet and windy.Dropped by field in mid afternoon just to check how things were.
The strip is in good condition despite rain. The farmer has spread manure on the grass, he has put horse manure on the area we use (none on the strip) at least this is not unpleasant like the cow manure he has spread on the rest of the filed. With the rain and with frosts forecast this will not take long to break up and wash into the soil.

Surprised to find the England family out flying. The rain had stopped and by late afternoon the wind had dropped a bit.
They were test flying the little Triplane that had been seen unfinished the week before. It flew rather well, but did seem to have a few handling issues, a bit unstable. Got some good pics and a nice video clip for future use.

Very cute little OD Triplane.

A few handling issues but did fly rather well, if not allways where the pilot wanted.

Saturday 8^th September Wind and rain outside but a pleasant night in. The first of our now, weekly indoor sessions.New word invented by Phil “boviphobia” I think we were all suffering from it by the end of Saturday’s session.Paul, we had all come to accept your flying of the “holy cow” over the last few evenings, it had flown rather well, gentle flying around towing streamers behind, even came off worse in a mid-air.
But.??
Fitting a “mega” is to much, 200 watts is very OTT for an indoor model, the fact that every time it hit the wall or ceiling a large lump flew off tells most of us it is far to heavy, fast and overpowered for indoor use especially when it is being flown in proximity with a lot of light models.

So please do not fly it again indoors with a “mega” fitted your not impressing anybody. I personally think that 100 watts flat out is the limit for indoor flying

“Rant over, climb off box”

Quite a few new models, Steve Whitehead had a couple of designs of that he had found on the internet, both being very well constructed from a mixture of foams. The flying wing flew very well, but didn’t see the more conventional model fly.

Good number of helicopters, with another E-flite Blade XL taking to the air. I had a fly with Kens, it is remarkably stable and gets you flying around very easily. It has a few handling issues when flown at speed but these are to do with the fixed pitch set up not being contra rotating problems.

(Note added Monday 10^th, talking to the guys in West London models they say you can fly the E-flite Blade XL using a Spectrum 2.4 Ghz computer set this allows you to increase the control throws and adjust the power curve which can make the Blade more responsive.)

Stan fitted a training undercarriage to one of his helicopters to let Paul have a try unfortunately Paul bent the tail boom, probably would have been better if it had a “mega” init?

Steve Whitehead with his two models fronm internet plans.

"Flying plank" in flight.

Stan's heli with training undercarriage.

"Would be lot better with a mega in it"

"Trust me it really would be better with a mega in it"

E-flite Blade a really excellent first helicopter.

Interesting view of pit area compared with similar picture 12 months ago, most models are now purpose built indoor models and the flying has really improved.

Now. Pit area 8th December 2007.

12 months ago, 2nd December 2006

Sunday December 2^nd again wet and breezy not certain if anybody flew.

Saturday December 1^st
Day was wet and breezy with no reports of any activity at Standish Lane.
Another good turnout, 11 adults & 3 juniors for the evening session.

Paul and his son had their converted control liner out using only standard two lines and a few off the shelf components they have now fully proportional motor control system as well as elevator. Watch out for a technical article soon to be published on this set up.

The England squad brought along their not quite finished triplane, still technically a biplane should be flying by next weekend.

Trevor England managed to get his micro heli caught up in the folded cricket nets, to try and dislodge it dad threw his wallet at it that landed on top of the net. Then the roach pole arrived and they broke that as well (see picture). The model was eventually retrieved but didn’t fly again that evening.

Rob did his “Ridley Scott” bit and got some more video, including film of control line from behind the pilot, well at least a few laps until the lines caught up with him.

Again thanks to Phil for a large portion of the photos.

Several present expressed and interest in making indoor flying a weekly event, I’ll see what I can do.

Modified contol line model.

Handle, with servo tester and small RX battery.

Small Lipo battery and speed controller fixed to airframe.

Biplane/Triplane identy proplem.

Very different little heli. Think it's called the "Fairy"?

Micro heli, one wallet and part of roach pole caught in net.

Excellent parking well out of the way.

Rest of the picture courtesy of Phil.





Sunday 23^rd December. Foggy start to day but cleared to quite a warm afternoon (in the sun at least) with a light southwesterly wind.Good turnout for weekend before Christmas.Brian was flying his large Super Greenley; this is the Large Model Associations (LMA) trainer and is a very good introduction into large models. My photography of airborne models has gone down hill since I read the manual to my camera, that’s my excuse for the poor quality of shots. I have spent some time trying to capture Clive’s “Striker” in flight but has proved far to fast, but my best shot of the day was a pure fluke when I captured it while shooting Phil’s model, it may be a bit out of focus but it is the best picture I have of this elusive beast in flight.

Phil's artistic shots of the weekend. The control line circle was busy all day with a few members having ago with young David’s model, many of the more senior members showing how it’s done. We will be looking at cutting a circle (well the centre spot) for a control circle; this could double as a helicopter hovering area, which has been requested by a few members. This will probably not be until the spring when we start cutting the grass again though.


The "England teams" Trex in flight.

Phil's first power model

"Super Greenley" sun bathing.	"Super Greenley" takes to the air.

A couple of the Greenley in flight..

December 2007 Blog

Gloucester Model Flying Club