Welcome to Chins Chins, my chance to chin-wag.
Each month I will be looking at something new in the modelling industry, some history from the same month a quarter of a century ago and current Bumpygreen projects I am involved in.

Stepping back in time to an era when things were simpler is how to best describe the Zephyr from Ripmax. Read how our novice modeller got on building this vintage style, electric plane.

To say I was sceptical when called to witness a marvellous new adhesive at the Sandown Model show is a little unfair. My main reason for not taking a lot of interest at first was the fact I had just bought a pile of battery packs from Overlander and my money was nearly gone.
I stepped up, enticed by the charming lady giving me the sales patter and watched as the guy gave a quick demonstration of Rocket Hot cyano & Rocket Powder. The demo was how to create a strong right angle joint with 2 pieces of balsa and using no fillets. Holding the balsa in place at right angles Rocket Powder was poured evenly along the inside of the join and Rocket Hot then applied along the entire length. This had the effect of turning the Rocket Powder solid. Waiting a few moments for the cyano to cure he passed me the piece and asked me to break the joint.
I tried .......
The wood broke and splintered before the join and even trying to force the joint outwards only resulted in the wood splitting along the very edge of the hardened Rocket Powder joint.
I was sold and bought a set of Powder & Hot along with a tube applicator and several dropper nozzles.
Used so far on the Zephyr and the Magic Fun-Fly with great success.

Rocket Powder & Rocket Hot Cyanoacrylate.

Specifications: Rocket Hot: Superthin, fast penetrating cyanoacrylate glue. Cures in 5 seconds. Will bond  metal, plastics, wood and glass. Very long shelf life. Rocket Powder: For filling gaps, creating fillets and reinforcing joints. Best used with Rocket Hot. Can be drilled, filed and thread tapped once set.

What was going on in June 1976 in the modelling world. Take a look back at some snippets from a magazine of the era.



The Editorial continued with the current big story which concerned the Control of Pollution Act with the very real threat of flying site closures due to excessive noise. Manufacturers were beginning to address the issue by supplying silencers with new engines and even after market exhausts and silencers starting to appear. Even so the biggest problem for the manufacturers was the report no demand for silencers. It still seemed however a few people were not interested in considering others and were still flying aircraft producing excessive noise. Noise is described as 'sound which is undesired by the recipient' and with clubs starting to fall foul of a few inconsiderate modellers it looked like the hobby of I/C radio controlled aeromodelling was set for a decline. The message was clear, keep the noise down or risk losing valued club sites.



Peter Chin had plenty to say as always and this time was giving top advice on the running in of a new engine. A detailed look at friction and heat and why they are the enemy of a new engine, choice of fuel, basic & in flight running in and an explanation of 'four stroking' on a 2 stroke engine.



On the trail of the editorial comes a new voice in the battle for silenced models. Piper Silencers were at the front, addressing the problem of model engine noise. With a range of Frequency Modulated silencers that not only quietened the expanding exhaust gas but also dealt with the common problem of noise 'radiated' by the silencer itself during running. This was accomplished by using a thick walled, sand cast aluminium casing and a vibrating spiral insert inside the expansion chamber. Ron Bray tested the new breed and found them a happy medium in the troubled times.



Cover model was the Cambria Traveller. 1/6th scale model of the Grumman American Aviation AA-5, with a 60" span and designed for .35 - .49 engines. A superb kit that was supplied as highly prefabricated with many foam components pre veneered. Sold as an ideal first low wing aircraft it was also advertised as fully aerobatic.



Lots of clubs from the midlands were included for this month of '76 with an increased interest all round in slope & thermal soaring including a season opening slope pylon race held at Huddersfield



Lazy days of summer at Timperly thermal / scale meet and Dave Worrel shows off his Plus Max cross country design.

The project model for next month will be the final model in the 3 part fun-fly comparison. Magic Fun-Fly from Modeltech promises to be a spectacular model to fly and having seen plenty of them in action I look forward to getting many enjoyable hours out of it.

That's it for another month,
See you in July.

Article by Chinman from Bumpy Green Model Aerodrome
26th June 2002