No not aerobatics or scale, the competition I refer to is within the trade. Let me explain by putting you in the picture and to do that we have to go back to the end of July.

Right there we were, the last Friday in July up on the slopes outside of Leek and to do a little name dropping I was flying with Simon Cocker. Simon was flying a Condor of about 4.5 metre span, Me...? Well I was test flying a Rico-She LW, the conversation got round to electric flight to be exact brushless motors.

I don't know how many of you have read about Simon putting two brushless motors in his Twin-Jet but this was the way it was going. He said it made it really go as you would expect. I told him of Mike, a fellow club member fitting one of the new AXI brushless motors into his Balsacraft FW 190. Mike has reported going from a standard speed 600 to the AXI it has made a big improvement to the performance and also improved the flight times.


Mike holding his FW190 and a close up of the AXI brushless installation.

Now like most things you normally get what you pay for and I said this to Simon referring to some of the big guns in the world of brushless motors and controllers. Simon said that these big guns had started to drop the price of some of their goods, but from time to time a bargain comes along and that is what I'm getting at. With more manufacturers making brushless motors and controllers the competition is getting greater and so the price to you and I is coming down.
Let me know what you think. It can only be a good thing but think about this, would the price reflect the quality?

Staying with competition but this time man and machine against man and machine when I competed the following Sunday up at Leek. This was one of the F3F events that are run by the club throughout the year. Now I have never taken part in a F3F event so it was all new to me. Anybody that doesn't now what F3F is well it's a time trial you fly your glider on a 100 metre closed coarse having to fly 10 legs which adds up to 1Km and the winner is the fastest over the 10 laps.



I'm not going to bore you with all the details but I came 6th out of 11 and I came away knowing in my mind that had I been flying a model that was better suited to the job I would of finished higher. After all I was using my Rico-She which is only 60" span and I was competing against proper out and out glass and carbon F3F racing machines of 3 metre span, so 6th is a good result.

Now reading all this you may be saying he's gone all gliders. Well you're wrong! I have been going up to the power field flying and building power models. You may remember I showed you a photo of a Fokker D7 I was building well that is ready for covering but it has been put to one side for now. The Cap 232 that to is ready for covering but again that has been put to one side, this is something I do from time to time I start something then shelve it and switch to something else.

This model Tiger Moth is about 5 years old and has been in the condition you see now for about 2 years and is only now being finished off.



The same can be said for the little sports job below.



It is a model called Something Special this had the wing built then got shelved for about 3 years and has only just over the past 2 or 3 weeks been finished, and a nice model it is too. It is 36" span, powered with a OS25SF and goes like a rat up a drain pipe. And as for the little F15 that is a electric powered model that has been taking shape over the last 2 or 3 weeks so as you can see my interests are mixed and that I think is a good thing after all variety is the spice of life or so they say!!

Last month I told you that besides me competing in an F3F event I would be attending a fly-in. This particular fly-in I was invited to by "Gray" the gent that writes the sports channel in RCMW.



He is a member of the North Cotswold Club and if you have a look at the photo you will see him holding a model glider called Hawker Headbutt, this is taken aloft on the back of any high wing sports model on a specially made cradle and then with the release mechanism being self contained within the glider it is then flown down as a thermal glider but not as big!!



I was let loose on the sticks once it was released and that was interesting because Gray and I fly on different modes!! All went well and as you read this I am in the process of building a Headbutt and cradle myself.

Have a look at the photos and you will see what diverse collection of models could be seen that weekend.

Well I think that's it for one more month. Only 4 more to Christmas, and please remember that as you slide down the banister of life just look out for the splinters!!

"Be good"

Wayne.

E-mail: waynesworld@bumpygreen.co.uk


Article by Wayne Haycock from Chase Radio Controlled Aero Club
1st September 2002