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.

Last months project saw a return to the Protech model hoard I accumulated last year. The Thermal 220 is the third in the 600 motor powered electric glider range, this time with a 2.2M dihedral wing. Find out how I got on trying to break the Protech glider building record.

The past 2 weeks have been occupied with a visitor from the United States. I have known Sterling (her nickname) for many years & knew she had been interested in flying at an early age due to her father building r/c gliders. She was quite pleased to come along to Bumpygreen to see some of the real life flying as she had followed the growth of Bumpygreen Model Aerodrome from it's early days. The main aim of the session for me was to test a new 10 4/5 C cell Ni-Cad pack from Overlander. This pack is 5mm shorter & 50g lighter than an 8 C cell 2400mAh pack.

Overlander CP1700 mAh 10 cell flight pack

Specifications: Type: 12v 10 x Sanyo SCR 4/5 C cell Ni-Cad flight pack. Capacity: 1700 mAh Discharge Rate: 30A + Charge Rate: 170mAh for 14 hours / 2A for 1 hour Weight: 440g Dimensions 180 x 45 x 26 mm

Testing was carried out in the painted Twinjet as the extra voltage could overcome the additional weight. As it was the packs first charge I was not expecting a huge leap in performance but it did seem quite lively, a lot more like a standard Twinjet on 8 cells. The duration was reasonable for a first charge flight and the motors are a little tired these days as they have had a lot of use in this model and about 5 minutes of good flight was available before the note of the props changed. Swinging the Twinjet round for an approach I had not taken into account the shift in wind & as it turn I stalled it. Down she went, fortunately from not more than about 6 feet up, so a wrinkle in the nose paint and an ejected canopy were all that happened.

I look forward to trying this pack in a number of models. Most notably the YT Mustang & Protech Unlimited which both have the powerful Overlander 625 Typhoon motor fitted. I feel that inline gearbox I got a while back needs testing with this pack too.

Also new but at the same time old: This months 1976 Radio Modeller featured an out of box view of the Cambria Pioneer mentioned in these very pages last month & a few months ago with my own Pioneer experiences. Kevin called one evening & said he had found another one and it was £20 ~ did I want it? Does Cyano melt styrofoam? YES of course I wanted it. On instruction to check it all over to make sure it wasn't really just junk Kev turned up a few hours later with it in hand. What can I say.....



It is handsomely finished with dark wood staining & is covered with gold film of some kind. Blue stripes adorn the wing either side of the cockpit & a nice touch are the patches on the wings with zig-zag edges looking very period. Dummy rigging wires are installed & are made of elasticated thread adding a much enhancing touch to the model.



Speaking of nice touches check out that super pilot with his goggles & scarf. Very fine painted detail on his jacket, hat & face. He has a real grimey, been flying for hours look about him & best of all his scarf really flaps behind him so it should look great flying.



Another impressive touch are these longeron gussets. Having seen a few of the uprights pop out of my own Pioneer on landing these were exactly what I was thinking of doing myself as I had seen this on a larger Bleriot model one time.



Taking the prize for most dramatic feature are the presence of ailerons. They are very small and are reported by the previous owner to ''not be any good for rolls'' but I doubt this is the sort of thing I will be doing whilst flying it. I hope to get this model airborne in the coming months, if the summer finally arrives in earnest.

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



The opening theme this month was the ignorance of a minority of self interested contestant flyers regarding the silencing of models which led to the noise pollution by 'model aeroplanes' -by name- was included in the Government Control of Pollution Act. The only plus to this as reported by Radio Modeller is the forcing of these minority groups to comply or abandon the hobby. Stressing that the former would be better but the latter is acceptable to maintain minimum noise annoyance, thereby keeping flying fields open & flyable. With a vast range of silencers available at the time with up to 4 stage systems including tuned pipes the feeling was there was no need for unsilenced models.



Cover model seen launching here was the Keilcraft SE5A built & flown by Gordon Whitehead. 39.5" span & powered by an OS .15 2 stroke (Gordon remarked on the fact the instructions show a non silenced installation) which fitted perfectly, with the silencer not making a huge impact on the appearance.
Covered with tissue & painted just as the original World War I scout plane would have looked.



Peter Chin gets the latest OS MAX 40F-SR- onto his test bench to find out why this engine produces 20 to 25% more power than the standard .40 size engines of the time. Helped along with features such as twin ball bearing crankshaft, bronze con rod bearings, the new OS 4B auto fuel metering carburettor & a massive .60 size crankshaft journal this engine output just over 1bhp or .9bhp fully silenced.




Featured plan of May '76 was the Buckshot designed by Pete Buckingham. An aerobatic slope soarer of 74" span. Aileron, Elevator & rudder controls gave this model a wide range of manoeuvres it could accomplish with ease. Nice to see pictures from the 70s taken at Ivinghoe Beacon, where the Bumpygreen crew often frequent the slopes.




Brilliant article from Geoff Meakin explains Thermals. How they are formed, how to spot them, how to use them & what to watch out for.




Finally a change to the parting shot, with a lack of club group pictures again, Model shop pictures are featured. Showing what it was like back in the 70s with models hanging from the ceiling. I'm sure I've seen the guy in the 2nd picture at some recent shows ~ must be the haircut.

Recently Bumpygreen helped beginner Jason Williams realise the ambition of flying a radio controlled aeroplane with the Scorpio Java. So Impressed was he that he asked where he could buy one for himself. With the recent arrival of the Ripmax Zephyr we invited Jason over to try this vintage style ARTF kit for himself as an aid to choosing a model to take back to the south coast with him. Find out next month how he got on.

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

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