With poor weather stopping most
of the country from flying Bumpy Green had a chance to take the Bumpy Bus
out and about. We were invited to spend some time with George and Penny of
SAMS Models.
SAMS are one of, or the major suppliers of free
flight models and related accessories in the UK. Free flight is the name given
to the area of the hobby where models are built, trimmed and flown without
radio or any other form of control, simply relying on the stability of the
design in flight and the builders ability to set the model up in such a way
that it will climb in circles under power for a short period of time, for
example 30 seconds, and then continue a gliding flight back to earth.
George and Penny... Proprietors of SAMS models... |
A small selection of the kits and accessories available
from SAMS... |
At the beginning of the century when model flying first became
a reality. Materials for building models as we know them today just did not
exist, even balsa wood could not even have been dreamt of at the time. The
first models were nothing more than a stick of spruce and the wings were made
of feathers.
With the advent of the wright brothers success, flying was
no longer a dream, it had really caught the imagination of the general public.
Very quickly the building and flying of model aircraft became the new exciting
hobby for enthusiasts young and old and by the 1930's people were even building
there own spark ignition petrol engines especially for flying models. However
due to the heavy equipment required to operate these engines power to weight
ratio was always marginal.
Radio control over the years has overtaken the traditional
methods of modelling but there is still a significant number of people who
continue to fly their models without the use of radio.
Free flight is often regarded as a more complicated side to
the hobby, however this is not the case. Although more building skills are
required compared to todays ARTF and precut kits, free flight models are typically
far less expensive and surely the ideal way to learn construction techniques
and the trimming of their larger radio controlled brothers.
Most of all free flight is a fantastic way for youngsters to start in this
exciting hobby of ours. We at Bumpy Green were all building free flight models
at no less than 6-7 years old!!!
A freind
of Penny's
uncle and his wife were running a corner shop in St.Albans, and part of the
shop was given over as a model shop. After a period of time they decided that
it was all getting to much and after a telephone conversation with George
and Penny they offered them the model business. George decided as he had little
else to do at the time that he would accept this kind offer and in 1974 SAMS
was born. The model shop was located at the top end of the Hatfield Road in
St.Albans, Herts.
After some time in the
business George saw that there had been a great decline in the world of free
flight modelling and also that the shop had become a very expensive overhead
to have. At that point he sought to kill these too birds with the one stone.
In the first instance
he and Penny noticed that as there were now very few companies dealing in
the free flight business. This gave them the perfect opportunity to specialise
in this field exclusively, offering not only to keep the die hard f/f modellers
well stocked but also to make sure that the products available were of a very
high standard.
Secondly they decided
to become exclusively mail order. Therefore not having the expense of the
shop to worry about, after all you need to sell an awful lot of balsa to keep
a shop open these days.
Rubber
Rubber is a much underated source of power for small model aircraft although
almost all early free flight models used rubber for power. On smaller models
perhaps a single strand of 1/8" rubber right up to multi-strand motors
sometimes using 8' of 1/4" strands all braided together and carefully lubricated
to reduce friction as the motor is wound. This motor would then through a simple
link and one-way clutch drive a hand carved propellor (these skills are all
but extinct today) When the rubber motor has fully unwound the prop then just
free wheels until the model has landed.
SAMS keep no less than
21 stock sizes of rubber strip for motors. From 020 (20 thousands of an inch)
to 125 going up in 5 thou stages and then jumps to 3/16". There is a
good reason for this. No two models are alike, of two models of the same span,
one might climb to the roof while the other might not climb at all. On the
other hand one or other or both might climb too hard and need to go down a
size or two to get a correct flight pattern. Don't just assume that the rubber
you get in a kit is ideal for all conditions, experiment with different sizes.
There are two excellent short articles in the SAMS handbook (available from
SAMS) on the subject of choosing and winding rubber motors.
CO2
In theory, almost any model aeroplane can be converted to C02. With motors
starting as small as 1mm3, designed to go into a model of only 4 inch wingspan,
to a large 500mm3 motor that can power a model of over 40 inch span with a
bewildering number of variations of cylinder capacity and layout from the
little single to the mind blowing 18 cylinder double banked radial, only 1½
inches in diameter there is something here for almost any situation. SAMS
are recognized as the experts in C02 in the UK and also export all over the
world. They not only sell these little gems, but actually like passing their
knowledge about them to modellers around the world.
They also offer the entire range of Gasparin motors, as well as their own
under their Aerographics label, which has been designed to compliment their
own range of kits. A complete listing of all the motors available is in their
handbook.
Electric flight.
Yes thats right electric flight is more than possible for free flight models.
It is now very popular in fact and the tiny motors that can be supplied by
SAMS would put even the lightest park fly setups to shame. Starting with the
positively microscopic KP- 00 which has been designed for models of 13-20
inch span. These motors run on 1-3 50Mah cells.
KP-00 for models of 13-20 inch span... |
Next in line is the KP-01
which I have recently bought for an Aerographics Luton Minor that I am about
to start building for a review. This Motor is for Models of 20-28" span
and runs very well on 3 x 50Mah cells (Provided). Two spare props and a spare
pinion gear come with this motor and also available is the very tiniest speed
controller you ever saw. Its about half the size of a penny and I dont mean
the missus George :-).
KP-01 for 20-28" span models... |
Here on theKP-02. You can clearly see the built in battery
pack. This motor is for models of up to 9.5 oz.... |
The KP-02 is the big
brother of the 01 for up to 42" span or 9.5 ounce models. The 3 cells
for this motor are 110mAh and the prop is 6-7". All of these motors are
charged from a special field charger which contains 4 x1800Mah cells. To fully
charge your cells takes.... wait for it....3minutes max.
Well if all that is
not enough to whet your appetite for a bit of Free flight how about the incredible
ducted fan unit. This can be configured to produce 86grams of thrust for a
20" span model jet. Now come on stop slobbering on your keyboards lads.
There is no excuse not to get involved in some of this. Four 120 Mah cells
and the whole unit is only 1.75" in length and width.
|
At 1.75" long this unit can be configure to produce
86 grams of thrust...
|
You can just see the Hunters ultra light structure in
this picture... |
And here's Tony looking on in disbelief at the finished
article... |
Aerographics have celebrated
50 years of the full size Hawker Hunter with a model specifically designed
for this ducted fan motor. The kit and motor unit will set you back a microscopic
£53.90 including P+P.
Jets.
Rapier jets are little motors that come in four sizes. These are ignited with
a small fuse which fits into the rear of the motor. They give off very little
heat and are much safer to use than the larger r*ck*t motors that have found
popularity in recent years. Also they are very effective in use and provide
ample power for lightweight models such as the Bell X-1 and Komet 163 by Aerographics.
These are the smallest of the Rapier jets...
|
Unfortunately sizes 3/4 had sold out such is there popularity...
|
 |
The Bell X-1 Designer test his model...
|
All of these models fly well on the Rapier
range of motors...
Whilst
we were all chatting a call came in and a chap was concerned that Boots the
chemist no longer provide the essential sodastream bottles used to fill the
air tanks of Co2 motors. Penny suggested that Bumpy Green could investigate
other suppliers of Sodastream gas bottles, so here goes.
Sodastream gas bottles
are currently available from:
Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's,
Argos,Morrisons and Somerfield. You can also buy cylinders and refiills direct
from Sodastream, if you wish to do this the prices are as follows:-
Spare 25-30 litre SodaStream Steel cylinder (Fizz
On-Line, Original, Gemini machines) £11.39
25-30 litre SodaStream Steel cylinder refill (Fizz On-Line, Original,
Gemini machines) £3.49
Spare Alco2Jet 100 litre cylinder - under license (Xpress Machine)
£25.00
Alco2Jet 100 litre gas refill (Xpress Machine) £10.00
Spare Alco2Jet 60 litre cylinder - under licence (Plus machine) £17.50
Alco2Jet 60 litre gas refill (Plus machine) £5.49
Note: Alco2Jet Cylinders are not for sale. They remain the property
of SodaStream (CO2) SA at all times and are transferred to you subject to
the terms of the User License Certificate attached to the initial Cylinder
you received.
If you wish to Contact them either go to www.sodastream.co.uk
or phone thier customer care line 0800-626225.
SAMS also have their own range of models
called Aerographics to compliment their electric, rubber and Co2 Motors and
some would say that these models are the pride of the company. I cant say
that I'm too surprised at this because the quality looks quite exceptional.
Gone are the days of low grade fence wood for f/f kits and the printing on
the parts to be cut out is crisp and clear even for Tony who is as blind as
the proverbial bat :-) Aerographics Kits are nearly all scale models and use
a variety of the power sources mentioned above.
|
Auster J-4...
|
The Gloucester Gladiator... |
The printed box makes you really want to buy it with a full
colour representation of the original aircraft the recommended power plant.
Inside you will find a packet of strip wood and some very nice tissue instead
of the usual horse hair mattress available in most model shops. A clearly
drawn plan is neatly rolled not folded and where applicable you get the bits
required to make the model rubber powered.
Hawker Hunter and ducted fan setup... |
Imagine flying this on a calm summers day... |
The latest in the Aerographics range is the Comper Swift,
This model is not yet in production and is still in prototype form. The full
sized aircraft is being displayed at Old Warden as part of the Shuttleworth
Collection.
This is the first build of the prototype Comper Swift
ready for flight testing... |
A particular favorite of mine and the one that I decided would
make a great review model is the Luton Minor, look out for this review soon.
I hope to have the model reviewed for the SAMS Indoor Flying meet at Watford
leisure centre on March 3rd 2002.
The Luton Minor-Review coming soon... |
The Box Ready on my bench... |
It will be powered by the recommended KP-01 electric motor
which has to be seen to be believed with its tiny speed controller and built
in battery pack.
Andy Sefton, is as most of you
will be aware is the chief display pilot for the Shuttleworth collection and
used to be test pilot for Roll Royce on the Spitfire for them. He was asked
to design a rubber powered model bearing in mind that it should suit builders
from the age of ten and upwards. He came up with a model called the Lacey.
Lacey-Designed by Andy Sefton... |
This very simple looking model has slab sides and a slab wing
but in terms of performance it is superb. I have seen this model fly a few
years ago at Olympia. It caused quite a stir amongst both experienced and
new f/f enthusiasts and probably encouraged many to become involved. The prototype
has in fact won a few competitions. This model is available from SAMS and
we are told that it's a pleasure to sell as well as fly.
|
Models
for the beginners...
|
For
the very young (8 year +) the Butterfly and the Junior are pefect. (The Junior
is a kit version of the Butterfly). At the time of writing I have just been
informed that a new version of the butterfly has just been released. This
is called the Kollibri (or in english Kingfisher. Just to add a little culture
to the proceedings) and sells for £7.95+ £1.50 postage. This model
comes with 2 props as being made from depron it can be flown indoors or out
hence the other prop.
Kollibri priced at £7.95 +£1.50 postage
and packing... |
Butterfly is an ARTF... |
Junior is the kit version... |
This particular range
of models are from West Wings and come in varying stages of ARTF. This is
a perfect introduction to F/F for the beginner and will help to take you through
the process of learning to trim and fly these models.
But that's not all, there
are far more models in the beginers range from SAMS and too many to catalogue
here but if you have always fancied tinkering with indoor models take a look
at these picture below and see what grabs you.
K-Models range of Rubber powered aircraft for the beginner...
Another range of highly
prefabricated kits comes from a company called Hacker. I have to point out
that most free flight kits that I have seen before have the rib and former
outlines simply printed on to the sheet wood. These particular models have
much of the cutting out done for you and have been built in as little as six
hours before.
|
DHC-2 Beaver from Hacker
|
OOps I'm beginning to
sound like an advert aren't I. I'ts not my intention but its so long since
I've been involved with this stuff that our day out was a bit like a visit
to an Aladdin's cave of model goodies I really had fun. After all this is
how modelling started for me many moons ago.
The range of tiny accessories
available from SAMS is quite amazing. You would rarely see such things available
for larger R/C models. Woven wicker seats for the pre war era aircraft and
proper spoked wheels for the golden age machines in various sizes.
A wide range of accessories are available... |
Spoked wheels and wicker seats... |
Also on display were carved wooden propellors for the Shuttleworth
Collection types. Dummy engine cylinders, engines, fittings of all types and
various selections of high quality Japanese tissues, silk, dope and glues
all make up a complete package for anybody who wishes to get involved in f/f
modelling today, and each item designed to weigh virtually nothing as is required
with these little models.
Just some of the high quality coverings available... |
Firstly
we would like to say a big thank you to George and Penny for allowing us to
invade their business for the day and also for the hospitality shared with
us.
We know how hard it is
to run a busy company and it cant be easy when Tony and I come bowling in
through the door with cameras and recording gear but we were made to feel
most welcome. Even when we needed to have half the stock brought out to take
photos for you 'orrible lot out there:-)
It's good to see that
despite its decline in popularity since its peak before radio became available
that the hobby has still kept up with recent developments in technology. Even
if you are a died in the wool R/C man you could learn a thing or two here
particularly in terms of weight reduction and covering techniques used in
free flight.
Keep an eye out for that
review.
Article by Tony and Daren from Bumpy Green Model Aerodrome
16th February 2001
| Comments left by others... |
| Comment by bert on 00000000000000. Rating none |
can you help? i am building a model a/c that specifies a gasparin gm 300 co2 tthat i cannot locate. do you have such an item,or an alternative source of power. the kit is a aerographic fairey firefly. i am a novice
thankyou in eager anticipation
bert |
Are Gasparin CO2 engines still in production? If so, how much (UK£) would a G2.6 or G2,8 cost? Do you have / can you supply them? |
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