ELECTRIC FLIGHT U.K.

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THE MAGAZINE OF THE BRITISH ELECTRIC FLIGHT ASSOCIATION ELECTRIC FLIGHT U.K. ISSUE No. 86 AUTUMN 2006

Transcript of ELECTRIC FLIGHT U.K.

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THE MAGAZINE OF THEBRITISH ELECTRIC

FLIGHT ASSOCIATION

ELECTRIC FLIGHT U.K.

ISSUE No. 86 AUTUMN 2006

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Electric Flight - U.K. Issue 86 - Autumn 2006

"To Encourage and Further all Aspects of Electric Model Flight inthe British Isles and Elsewhere" - B.E.F.A. Constitution

CONTENTS

Next Issue: The copy date for the Winter 2006 issue is 20 November 2006, withthe magazine due for publication by 23 December 2006.

Cover Photo: The cover photo is Bill Jackson showing off his pampered jetwhich is featured in his article How It Started… The Need for Speed andLooks (Part 2) which you will find on page 6 with additional photographs on thecolour centre pages.

DISCLAIMERB.E.F.A. and Electric Flight U.K. wish to point out that the content, techniques and opinionsexpressed in this magazine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent theviews of either the Editor of this magazine or B.E.F.A. and its committee.© All information in this magazine is copyright of the authors. Any request to use informationfrom this magazine is to be made to the editor (contact details overleaf).All reasonable care is taken in the preparation and compilation of the magazine, but B.E.F.A. andits committee cannot be held liable for any error or omission in the content of this magazine or anysubsequent damage or loss arising howsoever caused.To allow proper appreciation of the photographs used, colour copies of them will be posted on theB.E.F.A. website after publication of this magazine. If you can, check them out at www.befa.org.uk

BEFA Committee 2005/6 ........................... 4Chairman's Chatter .................................. 5Current Lines ........................................... 5How it started ........................................... 6Southern Model Air Show .........................15A memorial Conversion ............................ 18LiPo deterioration .....................................20New-2-U ..................................................24Indoor R/C Flying 2006/7 ..........................30

PANDAS .................................................36NiMH Recovery ....................................... 39Jeti ‘Advance Plus’ Programme Card ........44Electric Flight Calendar ........................... 46For Sale / Wanted ....................................50Wanted by the Editor ...............................52New to Electric Flight? Start Here ............53BEFA Sales ............................................. 54Advertisers Index .....................................54

TLC from your TLO ................................. 31

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BEFA Committee 2006/7Chairman Robert Mahoney

123 Lane End Road, High Wycombe, Bucks. HP12 4HFEmail: [email protected]

Secretary Jan BassettWebmaster 111 Plantagenet Chase, Yeovil, Somers. BA20 2PRSouth West Representative Tel. 01935 472 743

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Treasurer Bob SmithMembership Secretary 1 Lynwood Avenue, Tollesby, Middlesborough, Cleveland. TS5 7PDNorthern Representative Email: [email protected]

EF-UK Editor Jill Day6 Starboard Walk, Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN17 6QLEmail: [email protected]

Events Co-ordinator Terry Stuckey31 Dysart Avenue, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey. KT2 5QZEmail: [email protected]

Competition Secretary David Perrett10 High Lees, Sharnford, Leicester. LE10 3PWTel: 01455 272 297Email: [email protected]

Midlands Representative Roger Winsor14 Butler Gardens, Market Harborough, Leics. LE16 9LYEmail: [email protected]

Welfare Officer Dave ChinerySouthern Representative 251 Station Road, Hayes, Middx. UB3 4JD

Email: [email protected]

Indoor & Free-Flight Rep. Gordon Tarling87 Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge, Middx. UB8 2QDEmail: [email protected]

Technical Liaison Officer Alan Bedingham17 Highcliffe Close, Wickford, Essex. SS11 8JZEmail: [email protected]

Public Relations Officer John Thompson19 Park Avenue, Liversedge, West Yorks, WF15 7EQTel. 01924 515 595Email: [email protected]

Safety Adviser David Beavor34 Chestnut Close, Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambs., PE28 4TP.

Please enclose an SAE with all correspondence to the committee.

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Current LinesI hope very much that you enjoy thisedition of your magazine, which as you areall aware, is my first crack at it! I am sureyou would all like to thank your previousEditor, Jan Bassett, for his sterling work onthe magazine and I will endeavour to keepup his high standard. I would personallylike to thank him for all the support he hasgiven me over the last few weeks, andhopefully in the future, with all thetechnical stuff …it’s all a bit of a mysteryto me. I would also especially like to thankall the contributors for this particularedition of Electric Flight UK, for theirsupport and patience, which has beentremendous.

This is yourmagazine and Icannot produceanythingwithout all yourcontributions,both the writtenword andphotographs.Don’t worry ifyou have never written anything before,have a go, what you are interested in andenjoy, others will as well ...and it will keepme very happy!

Jill Day Editor

Chairman’s Chatterattending thisevent. I didleave theorganisers acopy of theBMFAhandbook andthe updatedCAP 658 from the CAA; you should haveseen their faces when they started to readthem! The Danish flyers asked for a copyof the CAP 658 because one of them wasnot happy at the amount of flyers that hadproblems. I will try and write an article withphotos for the next issue of EFUK.

It’s now the time to think of obtainingtickets for the TWS in November, there aremore details of how to get there in thisissue!Well that’s all for now so keep it safe.Keep the watts up

Robert Mahoney

Welcome to issue No 86 of Electric FlightUK This year’s flying season seems tohave flown by again. I am in the processof booking our premier event at MiddleWallop; I then noticed that the Saturdaywill be the last day of June. So it would bea good time to put the dates in your 2007diary so you don’t miss this great electricevent!

I have just returned from Aspach eventnear Stuttgart, the safety at this event wasworse than when Gordon Tarling and Iattended in 1999. I was one of the personswho were shot down! It seems that theorganizers are letting mobile phones /handys pass the flight line and up to thepilot’s box! I was asked when booking mytransmitter what channel I was using! Butthis was not checked with a scanner incase I had made a mistake. This is againstours and the BMFA / CAA’srecommendation for a safe event,especially as there are thousands of public

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How It Started…The Need for Speed and Looks (Part 2)

by Bill JacksonNOTE: See Electric Flight U.K. magazine issue No. 81 Summer 2005 for Part 1

Childhood WonderMy first recollection of liking aircraft waswhen I was about 10 years old. Mymother used to take me to Romfordmarket, Essex, in the late forties and earlyfifties when it was a farmers’ market withlivestock. In contrast to the rustic charmof the ‘olde worlde’ market place, justyards away in North Street was anoutpost of modernity (to me at the time!)in the form of a model shop. When I firstdiscovered the stockpile of wondrousthings within the shop, my world took ona new vista of interest.

The focus of my attention was a smallscale static model of the MIG 15,produced I believe from a Keil Kraft solidbalsa kit. This was placed prominently inthe front window of the shop,resplendent in its aluminium livery withbright red trim. The builder had produceda magnificent job of detail, finish andrealism, down to the pilot and cockpitcontrols. Apart from its technical appeallike a steam engine in the SouthKensington Museum, it had aestheticappeal of beauty and grace like a Cezannepainting. I was sold on aircraft,especially jets, from that time onwards.

Foibles of YouthSoon after this I started building smallrubber powered flying models and waspleased with their performance. Myintroduction to ‘jets’ was scratch-builtmodels powered by Jetex, but with notmuch success – I had yet to learn aboutthe importance of correct centre ofgravity position and motor thrust angle!

More success was achieved when Imounted the Jetex unit in a smallspeedboat and tried it out in our largecast iron bath at home. I discovered thatthe unit worked just as well upside downin the water as in air. My father said thatthe resulting smoke that filled thebathroom resembled the smell of corditefrom the heavy anti-aircraft gun heoperated in the war. He then went on toillustrate briefly what world war was like:he was not happy. I learnt to keep futureexperiments well away from the house.

The next stage was o**y f*n (mostlydiesel) powered control line models. Myfree-flight club mates used to call them“bricks on strings,” but I was impressedwhen I was timed at 91 mph with a 1.5 ccTaiphun Hurricane powered speed model.

Readers’ ModelsYour chance to show the members your model(s).

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I felt that I had arrived, but like reggaestar Jimmy Cliff sang, “There are manyrivers to cross,” or in our case, there aremany skies to fly!

I think my disenchantment with modelI.C. engines started when my next evenfaster speed model, powered by an Elfin2.5 cc diesel converted to glow, sufferedfrom catching fire. I called it Phoenix, but(unlike its namesake) it eventually neverrose from the ashes. On its lastmemorable flight, equipped with a fulltank, it authoritatively took off from itsdolly and put in a blistering performance(literally). However, by the time I wasable to land it, there was not much left.

About this time, a few modellers startedusing the early forms of radio control,one of which was affectionately (or notso affectionately) known as GallopingGhost.

It was soon after this that aviation wasput aside for other later teenage pursuitssuch as motorbikes and studying. Therewas to be a return, in an unexpected way,years later.

Oily InformationI believe the person who had made theElfin motor conversion had not paidsufficient attention to the compressionratio; it was too high and caused lessthan optimum performance with flamessometimes coming out the exhaust ports.Compression ignition engines such asdiesels (or other oil burners) rely on theheat generated by the fuel/air mixturebeing highly compressed to cause

spontaneous combustion without a glowor spark plug being involved.

Model glow motors and car petrolengines, however, use a much morevolatile fuel and rely on the auxiliaryignition providers to keep running. If thecompression is too high for the fuelbeing used, or the engine is not in goodcondition, the engine will act like a dieseland combustion will be more adetonation, rather than rapid burning,with consequential rough running(known as knocking or pinking) andprobable consequential damage. Thereyou have it, the oily horror details. Sorryto inflict you with this in a clean electricmagazine, but to appreciate the good wesometimes have to know about the lessthan good.

I know the little story of Phoenix is not acommon happening. Probably, AlfumasoMotorfanoilio (that woke the spellchecker up) will write back and inform mehow reliable and sophisticated theinternal combustion engine is with thelatest refined electronic ignition, fuelinjection and computer enginemanagement systems. Yes the I.C.engine has served us well for over acentury and come a long way in that time.However, we are now fortunate to havemany choices, especially in our hobby,on the means of propulsion we can use. Ibelieve the electric way is the mostefficient and convenient way. We cannow see small electric ducted fan modelsflying faster than some gas turbinepowered jets at a fraction of the cost andparaphernalia.

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Electric motors and ancillary productslike batteries and motor speedcontrollers, suitable for model aircraft,have only become generally commerciallyavailable in the last 25 years. I amamazed at the progress made in that timeand the wide range of quality productsnow available at a reasonable price. Theattraction for me is how much power canbe delivered from such a small size unitas a 400 brushless motor.

Bill steps down off his soapbox andcontinues to talk (mostly) about electricflight …

Return to the FoldIn late 1979, many years after flyingcontrol line models, I was walking withmy family alongside the local heath whenmy wife brought my attention to thepresence of radio control gliders high inthe autumn sky. “You used to fly modelaircraft like that, didn’t you”, sheremarked, and added “Wouldn’t you liketo take it up again?” She didn’t have tosay it twice, I started paying attentionwhen I heard the words ‘model aircraft’after some talk about decorating and newcurtains. However, I had to wait to thenext day for the local model shop toopen.

My training with fully proportional radiocontrol equipment went fairly smoothlyon an I.C. powered trainer. I then boughta Phoenix (100 inch span) glider whichwas a popular type at that time. This wasa clean and pleasant change from noisypower planes tearing about the sky, butnot entirely without its own particularproblems.

My heath is fairly accessible to thegeneral public and I found that thebungee launch system, of severalhundred feet of nylon fishing line andbungee rubber, seemed to attract youngmotorcyclists, horse riders and obliviouslovers. It seemed they were all eager tofrequently get wound up in my bungee.

I persevered with this situation for sometime, but the last straw came one daywhen I thought that I had the field tomyself. I bungeed off and gained a goodbit of height, I saw the glider twitch as itsniffed out a thermal. “Looks like it’sgoing to be a good flight”, I thought. Itwas at this point that I noticed that theorange day-glow parachute, attached tothe end of the bungee, had landed andwas continuing to move away from mealong the grass. ‘Funny’, I thought as Iobserved that the wind was neither in theappropriate direction nor strong enoughto have this effect.

I landed as quickly as I could as I sensedthat something was seriously wrong.Looking towards the parachute I noticedon the far side of the field a person towhom the parachute was heading.‘Funny’, I thought again, not knowingwhat was happening. I ran after theperson, and as I got near I realized thesituation. The elderly lady had seen mygoat tethering hook in the ground(unknown at first to her, anchoring the farend of my bungee) and with Superwomanstrength had pulled it out. The hook hadtaken all my strength to push it in!

She was in the act of trying to stuffseveral hundred feet of fishing line and

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bungee into her shopping bag as Icaught up with her. “Please can I havemy bungee back”, I cautiously requestedof the lady, but she was very reluctant togive it up. I believe she thought that ithad been used to tether some gypsy’sescaped horse and she didn’t want togive up her precious acquisition to me. Isuspected that if I hadn’t convinced herit was mine she seemed determinedenough to fight me off with my owntethering hook. A vision of biblicalSamson slaying the Philistine armysingle-handedly with the jaw bone of anass jumped into my mind.

I walked off the field disappointed,wondering why I couldn’t enjoy myflying without some external problem.

Introduction to Electric FlyingSoon after this, my local club had anauction and I bought a Humbrolpolystyrene ARTF power assisted gliderkit (approx.1m span). This free-flightmodel came complete with a little electricmotor and a single AA size NiCd, all forthe knock-down price of £12. I knew thiswould be ideal for the heath, after theproblems I had with bungeeing largegliders and the by-laws restricting I.C.powered flying.

I was disappointed at first by the lack ofpower, some flights lasting no more thanten seconds. Eventually, I discovered,that if I was patient and kept recharging(direct from a large bell-battery), soonafter each flight, the NiCd became moreenergetic and the flights became longeras more altitude was reached. The singleNiCd seemed to thrive on this treatment.

Flights continued to improve all the timeas I learnt to trim the model for theoptimum according to the day’sconditions. Even though the model wassmall and not radio-controlled I enjoyedwatching it fly. It had character andcharm in spite of its simplicity; I fell inlove with electric flight at this point!

However, little Humbrol electric was notto be with me for much longer. Afterseveral weeks of being my frequentfriend, on a warm sunny morning it leftmy hand on its last launch. It circledthree times overhead, as if to say cheerioto me and the heath, gaining height allthe time. It then straightened out andheaded south east towards the risingsun. Humbrol had come of age and wasout to discover the world... or theThames Estuary at least. I never saw itagain.

In addition to the pleasure the model hadgiven me, it made me realise the potentialthat I had on my own doorstep. Theheath could be my private flying fieldwithout the other problems I hadencountered previously, if I flew radio-control electric.

At that time (early eighties), I knew ofonly two other people in my club, ofabout 50 members, that were interested inflying electric. Not to be deterred, Icollected all the information I could toenable me to build something that wouldfly convincingly and be a good exampleto the o**y f*n flyers in my club.

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On rare occasions, the model magazineswould publish the odd plan of an electricplane. It was only when I discovered thearticle in the Radio Modeller on theVoltaire that I felt that here was an aircraftthat would be taken seriously. Also, Icould obtain a suitable motor and batterypack that would do it justice, withoutbreaking the bank.

Voltaire (owner unknown)(see picture below)

My resulting Voltaire was powered by astandard Mabuchi 540 and a 8 cell packof Saft 1200 mAh sub ‘C’ NiCds.*Interms of today’s electric exotica, it was avery basic power system. However,together with a dedicated and wellthought out airframe, it was as good as

you could get for the performance,money and simplicity. Voltaire was amajor contribution to the way forward forelectric flight, and it could do goodaerobatics albeit limited by lack of rudder.One had to be careful when flying slowor on a landing approach as it had (ormine did) a tendency to tip stall.*NOTE: With a small increase in weightand size, at time of writing, sub ‘C’NiMH of 4300 mAh capacity can now beobtained. This is a capacity increase ofabout 400%, a tribute to the evolvingtechnology.

There have been a lot of skies flownsince Voltaire, including being introducedto slope soaring, another enjoyable facetof our hobby. Since then, I haveincreased my electric building and wound

Bill’s modified Voltaire

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down I.C. For over three years I have notbuilt nor flown an I.C. powered plane ofmy own. Also, I have disposed of nearlyall my o**ly f*n bits. Electric flyingrefreshes the parts that castor oil cannotreach.I know, I’m preaching to the converted,so let’s get back to flying!

Return to Pampered JetMy previous article described myPampered Jet (1067mm span), a “far-offscale” Pampa Jet. This had beenconverted from an externally fittedWeMoTec Mini Fan 480 and Plettenberg200-25-4 motor by grafting on part of aWattage F86 Sabre fuselage with theoriginal Wattage fan unit and 400 sizebrushed motor still fitted. This

modification gave superior performanceand appearance to Mk 1, bringing thePampered Jet alive. (see picture below)

However, after about 30 enjoyablesprightly flights the performance startedto drop off, until eventually the planesunk to the ground and could fly no more.

I had unwittingly flown the poor littleWattage 400 motor to death. In itswillingness to supply full performancewithout complaint I had overlooked itslimitations. It had given its all until theend, without any of the usual visiblesigns of distress such as the spread of theBlack Death (carbon dust from the break-down of the brushes and commutator, – amotor’s costly equivalent of letting outthe smoke from a speed controller).

Pampered Jet Mk 2

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This situation reminded me of a popularset up, amongst the early electric jetjockeys, of a Speed 480 Race motor in aMini Fan. This reportedly gave goodperformance from an economical andreadily available set-up. However, therewere tales of brushes lasting only 20flights if you took liberties with theavailable power.

The Trial I can hear the Model Aircraft Judge inhis summing up at my trial:

“You have shown a blatant disregard forthe well-being of your own motor. Yoursentence would have been to spend therest of your life flying with oily fanengines. However, owing to your

defence council informing me offmitigating circumstances regarding yourefforts to push back the frontiers ofscience and technology, and fly on theedge (‘Do what? I just felt the need forspeed your honour,’ Bill thinking), I amgiving you a suspended sentenceprovided you agree to showing moreconsideration for your last remainingbrushed motors”.

I nodded sheepishly in response and leftthe court a free man, heading for theopen space of the flying field, my JointStrike Fighter (brushless fitted) in onehand and my transmitter in the other…

Statement to the PressIn my defence, I had been lulled into afalse sense of security by Percy, a built-up propeller-driven flying wing, powered

Pampered Jet’s hatch

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by a rear-mounted Speed 400 6V and an 8-cell pack of GP 1100 NiMH. This had givenme hundreds of enjoyable and reliablesprightly flights.

I had underestimated the extra work-loadthat a similar motor (as I thought) enduredin a ducted fan unit. Its willingness togive good performance, that I exploited,belied the effect this was having on itslongevity. I was expecting too much.

I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.My wife is supporting me in this matter asI have promised not to waste thehousekeeping money in future.(see top picture page 28)

In place of the Wattage fan unit anddeceased motor, I decided to fit a Mega16/15/2 brushless motor and Mini Fanborrowed from another model. This hadnecessitated cutting a hatch in the bottomrear part of the foam fuselage to enableremoval of the Wattage fan and motor. Ihad to relieve the inside of the fuselageand hatch to accommodate the increaseddiameter (by about 5mm) of the new fan,and blend the result to make a smoothtransition into the remaining tail tube. Iused a large diameter round file andfinished off with smooth sandpaper.(see photo page 12)

I then tacked the fan unit, with motorfitted, into the top part of the fuselageusing a little 5 minute epoxy on themounting flanges. This was to hold theassembly in the correct alignment positionfor the next stage. White PVA glue wasthen used to secure the hatch to thefuselage.

Micro balloons filler was used to fill minorindentations at the joins, and a few stripsof solar film, were applied. This quicklymade a semi-permanent mounting for thefan assembly that was simple, hardlydetectable and strong. It only requires asharp knife to effect future access withoutmajor hacking.

NOTE: If you can afford the long dryingtime, PVA is an excellent glue to use withpolystyrene foam and is a good gap filler(do remember to wipe off the excessbefore it dries). The result is lighter thanepoxy and more resilient than foam-friendly cyanolate.

The Mega 16/15/2 motor and Mini Fan inthe previous model had been powered by8x1950 FAUP NiMH with a Jeti 40 speedcontroller, and took about 32A max.

I “invested” in a Flightpower 3s1p pack ofEVO20 2500mAh LiPos and borrowed aJeti 70 Opto to cope with the extra power(estimated to take about 46A). These fittednicely in the plane without any surgery,and the original position of the C of G isretained.(see bottom picture page 28)

Mk 3 Pampered Jet, thus newly equipped(wing loading had increased from 13.8 to16.4 oz/ft²), was hand launched in thenormal way (keeping previous trims).Instead of taking up the usual climb angleof about 15 degrees with mild acceleration,it pulled away from my hand andaccelerated with vigour at a climb angle ofabout 45 degrees – no bungee requiredhere! It only took seconds to reach aheight of several hundred feet.

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I split S to bring it back down towards me,still accelerating as it whizzed past my leftear at a speed far in excess of anythingbefore. The flight envelope was exploredwith a few rolls and loops, as well asflying slow to see if anything hadchanged.

I was pleased to find the handling wasjust as sweet, a bit better if anything, as ithad more authority in manoeuvres withthe extra power available. Landings werejust as gentle.

I was very happy; Pampered Jet hadretained its personality but had gainedmore presence (and of course – speed). Ihad fulfilled my ambition, dreamt aboutdecades before, of building a fast modeljet with (enclosed) ducted fan propulsion.

Like the little MIG 15, sitting in thewindow in the shop in Romford manyyears ago, Pampered Jet has the samesort of beauty and grace, but my planecan fly with scale performance.

That reminds me, I need to consider mynext project. I rather like the look of thatAlpha MIG 15, it’s beautiful and if I canstretch to a Mega 16/7/4 motor andLipos, it would really go. It’s my birthdaysoon, I wonder what the wife is gettingme – I hope it isn’t wallpaper for mymodel room!

Bill Jackson

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Sunday 17th September was abeautiful and balmy late summer’sday …even at the crack of dawn. It

certainly felt like the crack of dawn as Iventured forth to accompany my husbandKeith to the Southern Model Air Show.Why, you may well ask …because I am adutiful wife! However, by the end of theday my belief of what the day thatstretched ahead was to be like for mecertainly changed.

The journey was easy because of coursethere was no traffic at that time of themorning on a Sunday. Consequently, wewere amongst the early birds who werealso arriving, by this time it was about

Southern Model Air ShowPresented by Croydon Model Flying Club

The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood, Kentby Jill Day

9am, which ensured the parking washassle-free. Always a good sign when theday begins well and certainly this bodedwell for our day ahead. As a bonus, TheHop Farm which can be visited atwww.thehopfarm.co.uk was an excellentchoice of venues for the show, with loadsof character and plenty of stuff to seewhich would encourage making the day afamily occasion. The setting for the flyingdisplays was a huge open space with abackground of trees. This made anexcellent stage for boys as young as 12years, to men up to… well a great dealolder, to display their planes anddemonstrate their remarkable skills, whicheven I could appreciate, and which was ajoy to watch.

Photo: Keith Day

One of the younger Electric Flyers

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Some of the country’s top pilots were atthe show demonstrating all types ofmodels from Vintage Scale Biplanes to thelatest Turbine Powered Jets andhelicopters, all very exciting. The modelflying displays were absolutely thrillingand some were fun as well. For instance,trying to burst balloons in the air and onthe ground, and attacking toilet paper withthe aim of ripping it in half! This was alongwith a spectacular Warbirds pyrotechnicdisplay which was enjoyed enormously bythe crowd.There was a slot each day dedicated toelectric flight plus electric helicopters in

the helicopter slot. I’m afraid I can’t tellyou all the things you are longing to knowabout the planes because unfortunately Ido not have the knowledge, all I can do isgive you a flavour of the day.

In fact, it was a very exciting day, with lotsto see and experience, even a radio controlflying lesson for novices during the lunchbreak. Plus two absolutely wonderfulAerobatic displays with full size planes, aSukhoi 26M, piloted by Will Curtis and anExtra 300L piloted by Paul Fellows. Again,both much enjoyed by the spectators.

One of the stands dedicated to Electric Flight

Photo: Keith Day

Photo: Keith Day

...and there was more!

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There were also various commercialstands from companies selling theirmerchandise, with some products beingsold at special show prices. Even if youdidn’t want to buy anything it was a goodopportunity to rummage round the standsto see if there actually were any ‘musthaves’ or ‘can’t live without’ stuff to buy.

Above: ...and then there were the Electric Helicopters

Below: ...and a familiar name

Photo: Keith Day

Photo: Keith Day

So there you have it, I went to keep Keithcompany and ended up having a jollygood time and looking forward to nextyear! We took a few photographs just togive those who weren’t lucky enough tobe there some idea of what they missed.

Jill Day (see photos page 27)

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My first meeting with Arthur Foxwas when radio control was inits infancy and he astounded us

by walking on to a playing field inNottingham and test gliding a large model.Many years later he came on to the BMFAStand at Doncaster Racecourse and wegot talking. He had in the meantime gaineda reputation for designing and buildingunusual models, mostly Vintage style, andwon many awards for them. Our talks gotround to my other hobby, the NorthernAeroplane Workshops where we arebuilding a full size Camel from originaldrawings. Many of you will be aware ofthe Sopwith Tripe and Bristol M1C madeby the NAW and now flying regularly atOld Warden. We are based at theYorkshire Motor Museum on BradfordRoad, Batley, West Yorkshire, and Arthurwas kind enough to donate several of hismodels to be displayed there.

Unfortunately Arthur died earlier this yearand I asked permission of his sons to beallowed to convert one of his models toelectric power and fly it at some of theshows in his memory. His later models hadbeen electrics, and it was suggested thatthe twice size ‘Ladybird’ would be themost suitable. The original of course beinga semi-scale free flight model kit by KeilKraft for a 1cc diesel. His plan of this 84"span model was featured in RCM&E justtwenty years ago, powered by an OS40four stroke, and the model showed signsof a lot of air time.

A MEMORIAL CONVERSIONby John Thompson

In my workshop was a spare 600wattoutrunner motor which could swing a 13"prop and would be lost in the radialcowling. The top half of the cowlconveniently hinges up, giving idealaccess, so the motor was installed with asimple alloy bracket and the Jeti controllerVelroed neatly in the bottom. This leftspace above for a battery pack to be slidinto a ply tray, so the only change was ahole for this in the firewall. Although mostof my batteries are LiPos they would betoo light for the CG, so a pack of 14x4/5subC Panasonic NiMh was installed in a plytray. These seemed to give enough waftbut I was a little concerned with the40amps! Two servos on Rudder/Elevatorand a RX battery with state indicator werelost in the capacious fuselage.

Down at the beautifully mown Dewsburyfield with a gentle breeze she lifted off infine style. However, it had an objection toturning right and caused some heartstopping moments trying to get it down.This was eventually diagnosed as wear inthe complex rudder linkage inside the fincausing blowback. Not wanting to dig intothe structure a simple solution was anunobtrusive closed loop system whichworks perfectly. I took it to Chester whereit attracted a lot of attention, but wasunable to fly due to the turbulentconditions. A card was attached toannounce that it was there in memory ofArthur. Many claimed to have built theoriginal KK one and an Irishman wasecstatic as he had two of the bigger ones.

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E.F.-U.K. 19

Many pictures were taken. The first publicflight was at the York Club’s Ebor eventand the first flight was perfect, slow andgraceful, with a certain presence in the air.The next one was not so good and itseemed the cells were objecting to thehigh current. However, Mike Proctor andthe team were kind enough to award itFirst in Sport, thanks lads.

Back home a pack of 3,000 cells was madeup from some that the American Teamwere selling off at the World Champs in2004. These would stand the amps with noproblem and the weight was still justunder 8lbs all up. This was a lot better andat our Pontefract meet two flights weremade, although I must admit my rudderelevator flying leaves a lot to be desired.

Arthur’s models at the Museum include,1933 Hobbies Monoplane, BishopsEndeavour (now that is a beast), At Ease,Fillon’s Champion, Lanzio Record Breaker,and Bower’s Duck, so if you are at a looseend one Sunday morning we are usuallythere, drop in for a chat. Incidentally anypayment from this article will go to theNorthern Aeroplane Workshops funds.Also, we can usually provide a speaker forClub talks within reasonable distance ofLeeds, Wakefield, and Huddersfield.Many thanks to Bill Macleod for takingthe flying shots with my camera at thePANDAS event.

John A ThompsonChairman, BMFA Northern [email protected]

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20 E.F.-U.K.

Use of four DVMs to measure individual cell voltages

The majority of electric flyers whouse LiPo battery packs are wellaware of the pros and cons of their

use. It is the cons which tend to be ofgreatest concern but in my opinion, thedifficulty is simply that we have not beenusing LiPo packs long enough to havedetermined exactly what is “best practice”

in this area, and the majority of problemsstem from this fact. We are improving ourprocedures continuously and if we allowfor the improvements that manufacturers(of both cells and ancillary equipmentsuch as chargers) are constantlyintroducing, then our difficulties willreduce significantly over the next coupleof years.

LiPo deteriorationby Bob Smith

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E.F.-U.K. 21

I am not referring to the kind ofcatastrophic failures, which dooccasionally happen but to thedeterioration which occurs progressivelywith the use of the pack and whichunfortunately seems to be irreversible.This is compounded by the fact that, atthe moment, it seems to happen farsooner than we might hope. I recentlyhad an opportunity to look into oneparticular aspect of this problem, and wassurprised by my findings, but at least Inow know what to look for in the future.

Let’s start by looking at ‘balancing’ as wehave come to know it. This is a processintended to make sure that a set of cellsin a series pack are kept in ideal conditionby keeping the individual cell voltagesidentical (or as near to that as we canmanage) during the re-chargingprocedure. The need to follow such aprocedure stems from the critical natureof the maximum cell voltage duringcharge. To obtain maximum capacity in aLiPo cell we must charge at a rate of 1C(e.g. 2.4 amps for a 2400 mAh cell) untilthe voltage reaches but does not exceed,4.2 volts. Exceeding this value, even byrelatively small amounts, can damage thecell. In a series pack, it is possible todamage one or more cells if we onlycontrol the total voltage. As an example,a charger might charge a 4S pack to 16.8volts (4 x 4.2) but if the individual cellvoltages are not measured and controlledthis could be the summation of 3 cells at4.1 volts and 1 cell at 4.5 volts, resultingin irrecoverable damage to that cell.

Balancers are available as add-ons or as abuilt-in feature of a charger, and they doa good job in preventing over-voltage

damage. I recently had a problem with a4S 3200mAh pack which was well downon capacity but which I knew had beenbalance-charged (or maybe charge-balanced) from new. My charger has acomputer interface which shows thebalancing process as a set of voltage/time traces for each cell in the pack and Iknew that although there was someimbalance at the end of the discharge,this was quickly corrected when thecharge was started and all four cells inthe pack were spot-on 4.2 volts atcompletion. I originally thought that thismeant an optimum condition for the packbut the loss in capacity must mean thatthere was still a problem of some sort.

If the problem was not in the chargingprocess then could it be in thedischarge? My charger was telling mewhat was happening during charge, but Ihad no idea what was happening toindividual cells during discharge, andthere was even a problem at the end ofdischarge as the voltages began torecover immediately discharge wasstopped and the values at the start of thecharge would be very different to thoseat the end of discharge. I did not have afacility for computer-graphing the cellvoltages during discharge so had toprepare a cable which connected thebalancing lead to a set of DVMs allowingme to read and note the cell voltages atfixed time intervals. I have plotted theseindividual cell discharge voltages inGraph 1 and compared them to a set froma new pack in Graph 2. (Graphs on page 22)In both cases the discharge was at aconstant 20 amps (approximately 6C)

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22 E.F.-U.K.

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E.F.-U.K. 23

It is now easy to see why the first packwas producing reduced capacity. Of the 4cells, cells 1 and 2 were OK, but 3 waswell down and 4 was critically low. Eventhough the cells were balanced duringcharging, this procedure was not able tocorrect the problem with cells 3 and 4,and the discharge cut-off wasexacerbating the situation. In this test, Iused a manual cut-off when cell 4 becamecritical and the total voltage at this pointwas 12.0. If an auto cut-off had beenused set at 2.9 volts per cell (11.6 v total),the readings at the end of dischargewould have been lower still with cell 4being subjected to even further damageby each cycle. The point about recoverymasking the extent of the imbalance isgiven by the cell voltages at the start ofthe charge, which were 3.62, 3.62, 3.55,and 3.48 volts. These give a clue thatthere may be a problem but do notindicate its magnitude, especially whenthe balanced charge brings all the cellsback to 4.2 volts.

My conclusions from this briefinvestigation are that we need to check

the balance of our series LiPo packs interms of discharge as well as charge. Itwould be nice if we could apply the sameactive logic that we use in charging tothe pack whenever it is discharging butthat may not be feasible in the modelduring flight. What may well be helpful isan occasional bench discharge using asystem which displays the traces ofindividual cell voltages throughoutdischarge but again I do not know ofsuch a system at the moment. I imaginethat the hardware/software used for thebalanced charger could be adapted tothis task, i.e. a balancing charger/discharger, but until such a unit isavailable I will use my set of DVMs togive me occasional checks.That, of course, is only diagnosis. Thereal problem is how to correct suchproblems when they arise, and to quote“aye, there’s the rub!”

Bob Smith

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24 E.F.-U.K.

• Size 22 x 42 x 145mm• Weight 271gm• Use: Planes, Helicopters, Boats• Configuration: 3S (2mm air gap

between cells)• Charge 3.3Amp• Discharge 66A continuous

Ref. New from the Electric Flight Storewww.e-flight.co.uk/

50" wingspan, 37-1/2" long, 387 sq. in.wing area, 44 oz. flying weight. You don’thave to glue anything: the airplane ismade of injection-moulded foam partsthat come painted and decorated. Youdon’t have to solder anything: twogeared “400 size” motors come installedwith electric connectors all ready to pluginto our pre-connected Jeti speed control(see below: PCJES030). 5 micro servoscome installed with connectors: two forailerons and one each for elevator, rudderand nose wheel steering and they areready to plug into your receiver. Theouter wing panels plug into the centrewing section and can be removed for

New-2-UA brief round-up of new items of interest

If you are a manufacturer or retailer that has something new you want toshare with the readers, please send details to the Editor (details page 4)

New high discharge 20c Poly-PROLithium Polymer cells are nowavailable.These are the latest Lithium Polymercells available from E-Flight in a widevariety of capacities. All packs comewith a separate multi-connector PCM-Guard, which allows individual cellcharging, to check cell voltage andre -balance when necessary. The PCM-Guard (optional part) plugs into themulti-connector and regulates chargevoltage PER CELL to a maximum of 4.2v.All packs come as pictured on website,with high quality silicone cabling sizedappropriately for expected current draw,cells are sonic welding to a PCB board.All 3S and 4S packs above 1200mAhhave 2mm air gaps between cells and weuse ‘Cool Shrink’ perforated shrink wrapfor even cooler discharging. Poly-PROlithium-polymer, high performance 20Cpacks not only delivers the highestvoltage and retained capacity in theirclass but also sport the widest set ofsafety features on the market. Poly-PRO3 Cell 11.1v 1500 mAh Lipo Packdischarge up to 30amps. All ‘XXHDGold’ brand lipoly packs can bedischarged at a rate 20 times theircapacity.Example: a 1200 mAh (1.2 Amp hour)pack can be discharged at 24 amps and a3300 mAh pack at 66 amps continuous.This is NOT the peak discharge rate; it isthe rate that these packs can bedischarged at CONTINUOUSLY.

STM387 ST Model Cessna

“Skymaster” Two Motor Electric ARF

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E.F.-U.K. 25

compact transport. The included flightbattery is a 9 cell, 1800 mAh NiMH pack.The wall charger will re-charge this in 6-8hours. To charge your battery at the flyingfield you will need a field charger. Theairplane flies for about 8 minutes on eachcharge. At full throttle the plane takes offquickly and is capable of mild aerobatics.It is not for the total novice, but is a greatsecond airplane.

Ref. New from HOBBY-LOBBYwww.hobby-lobby.com/

Larger Electric Planes

E-Flite Ultrastick 25 is for electric sportpilots ready to transition into the nextphase of aerobatics25 key features• Fully built and coveredairframe is highly prefabricated• All flight control surfaces are pre-hinged• Aft float mount is included with kit forflying off water• Firewall set up for two differentbrushless outrunner motors• Fully prebuilt and covered airframe• Strong landing gear mounts for smoothgrass takeoffs and landings• Preinstalled steerable tailwheel• Prehinged flight control surfaces• Large wing area• Wing designed for optional quad flaps

Ref.model flight www.modelflight.com.au/electric_rc_planes.htm

Hangar 9 Pulse XT 40 designed for glowor electric powered. The Pulse XT comeshighly recommended by Modelflight.Looks great in photos but even better inreal life!• Glow or electric power option built intoa classic design• New improved bolt together assembly• Mike McConville design• Latest design and constructiontechniques• Quality materials and genuine UltraCotecovering• Great sport flying characteristics• Fly using either glow or electric power,no electric conversion is necessary

Ref.model flight www.modelflight.com.au/electric_rc_planes.htm

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26 E.F.-U.K.

New Catalogue now available. WhilstMEGA Motors have been around for over14 years now, it has never been too easyfor the non-internet reading members ofthe modelling world to obtain data about,or even a list of, the range of motorsproduced by Karel Matyas. This has nowbeen put to rights by the launch of acoloured catalogue totally in English.

Although heoriginallyincluded a fewFerrite motorsin his range, hisimportant claimto fame was theintroduction ofthe Cobalt andNeodymiumrange ofreasonablypriced motorscovering thepopular powerrange of 100 to1000W. Thesewere wellsummarised atthe time by the much missed Dave Jonesof “Silent Flight” fame as “affordablepower” and possessing “grunt”. Perhapsthe most popular unit was the 10-cell unitwhich enabled many to compete at the 10-

cell International level for a comparativelyreasonable price. Much has moved onsince then and things have not only gonebrushless but also “inside-out”!

MEGA have kept up with this in all themodelling spheres of cars boats andplanes with high speed units for ductedfans boats and cars across to the slow

speedoutrunnersinitially ofappeal to thepower modelaircraftenthusiasts.Perhaps themost strikingunit is the 600size Outrunnerwhich willusefully turnan 18 inchpropeller on 10Nickel cells!

Rather thantrying tosummarise the

catalogue here, why not obtain a copyfrom Alan Fry at ImporTekniK, 29Braiswick, CO4 5AD and phone/fax 01206852 209 for the overall cost of £2 includingpostage.

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E.F.-U.K. 27

Above: Group display of Electric Flight Below: Two of the planes demonstratedPhoto: Keith Day

Photo: Keith Day

(see also article Southern Model Air Show page 14)

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28 E.F.-U.K.

Photo: Bill Jackson

Percy (see page 13)

Photo: Bill Jackson

Pampered Jet Mk 3 (see page 13)

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E.F.-U.K. 29

Photo: John Thompson

RBC Channel crosser (see page 37)

Pete Lewis’s fleet (see page 36)

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30 E.F.-U.K.

INDOOR R/C FLYING 2006/7

Provided by the BMFA Northern Area

GARFORTH SQUASH & LEISURE CENTRENinelands Lane, LS25; off the A63 Leeds-Selby Road

Saturdays 2-5 pm Nov 11 - Dec 9 - Jan 13 - Feb 10 - Mar 10

5 badminton court size with high ceiling.Licensed Bar, refreshments available.

Smoking in the bar only.

Separate slots for Slowfly; Aerobatic; Scale; and Heli.

Sub 250 and equivalent brushless motors only.Any legal frequency

Proof of BMFA membership essential

No free flight or ICSpectators welcome on the observation balcony

Pilots £5.00 juniors £2.00Spectators (on balcony) £1.00

Please Contact:John Thompson 01924 515595

[email protected] Northern Area website

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E.F.-U.K. 31

Those of you who actually read theseramblings of mine may rememberback in the Winter 2005 issue of

EFUK I was experimenting with reducingthe weight of my 2.5m Silent Dream electricglider by substituting LiPos for NiCds. I’dmanaged to save 10oz. by fitting a pair of3S Kokam 1500 LiPo packs, getting me towithin around 9oz. of the glider version.At the time, I couldn’t find an outrunner toreplace the existing Cobalt motor andgearbox that offered the right combinationof low weight and ability to swingrelatively large propellers at 20A on a 3SLiPo. The key number I was looking forwas a kV (rpm. per Volt) similar to the Irvine05/07 and 3:1 gearbox I was running.

Why is kV so important? Take two motors,one with a high kV and one with a lownumber. Hook them up to the same sizepack and the high kV motor will try to spinfast meaning you will need to use a smallpropeller to keep the current withinreasonable limits. The low kV motor willspin a larger propeller at the same current.It’s a good way of getting a feel for how amotor is designed to be used. High kVmotors are good for ducted fans andgeared set-ups, low kV for direct drive. Ofcourse, it’s not as simple as that because alow kV motor may be designed to run withhigh cell counts and could be hopelesslyinefficient on less cells, but you get theidea.

The Irvine kV is 1834 rpm per Volt, dividedit by three for the gearbox gets to a kV of

TLC from your TLOby Alan Bedingham

around 600. There are outrunners outthere with kVs in this area, but they’re allgreat big things designed for lots of cellsto replace .60 to .90 glow engines andtherefore as heavy as the motor/gearboxI’m using. If I was willing to use agearbox, then there are plenty of brushlessmotors to choose from, but I didn’t wantthe weight and complication that agearbox brings.

I finally found an outrunner that might dothe job, a Hyperion G-2220/14 (don’t ask,I’ve no idea what this gibberish means)that only weighed 3oz. and had a kV of930rpm per Volt and the specs said it washappy at 20A. OK, not quite what Iwanted, but pretty close. I ran thenumbers through Electricalc and yes, itwould swing a propeller in the 10 to 11in.range at around 20A on a 3S LiPo at anefficiency in the order of 85%. The pricewas good at £43 from Robotbirds so it wastime to battle the moths in my wallet andflash the plastic.

When it arrived, I was a bit shocked athow small it was but pleased with howwell it was made. Dunno about you, butwhen I get something as nicely made asthis I sit there going ‘Wow, look at that!’.‘Er indoors just curls her lip and looksscornfully at this big kid with his new toy.They just don’t understand, do they?Anyway, I nailed it to my test rig and ransome tests using a 3S 1700mAh 20C packand various propellers. I settled on a pairof 10.5x6 Aeronaut carbon blades on a –5deg. hub that increased the diameter

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32 E.F.-U.K.

slightly to 10.75in and reduced the pitch toroughly 5in. Current was 19A and thestatic thrust was a massive 38oz.! Lookinggood.

The electric Silent Dream now weighed thesame as the glider version – success atlast! To be fair, the glider version has two148 servos and a 600AA receiver batteryplus a bit of lead for balance, the electricversion has a 500AR receiver battery andmini servos, but I’d got to where I wantedto go, the wing loading of both is nowexactly the same at 10.6oz./sq.ft. A weightreduction over the original set-up of an 8cell RC2400 pack and Irvine 05/07 withgearbox of 19oz!

And it flies very well, plenty of climbperformance, enough duration with the1700s to keep me happy and it’ll scratchaway from low level in the merestsparrowfa... (sorry). I’ve finally got what Iwanted after some 30 years of playing withgliders.

Let me explain: back in the 70s when Ireally got hooked on toy gliders (and realones, but that’s another story) all we hadfor launching them was hand tow orbungee. Hand tow needs two of you, sothe bungee was the preferred launchmethod. Yes, it worked, but it was a painlaying it out and the parachute alwaysdropped off to one side in the thistles andit would take ages to find it and then theline would snag on something or breakand, and, and …we even had one bungeenicked by the local yobs when our backswere turned, heaven knows what theywanted it for? I tried fitting a little glowmotor to one of my gliders to make it selflaunching – not really a success with that

horrible oily lump hanging out in thebreeze and the drag from the fixedpropeller. I even built a scale Nimbus witha 0.20cu.in. four stroke on a pylon thatretracted into the fuselage – most of thetime. One club member experimented witha drop-off power pod with a parachutewhich got over the weight and dragproblem but led to another – finding thepod when it landed. I even seriouslycontemplated rocket boost! (Editor: Arelatively expensive option as it will costaround £3.25 for a launch) So you can seewhy I’m so pleased to have at last found alaunch method that imposes virtually nopenalty on the glider’s performance, just alittle extra drag from the hub and blades ofthe folding propeller.

Electric Glider Competitions

So why don’t I enter electric glidercompetitions? Mainly because I don’t likeany of the rules… that’s right, any ofthem.

I actually ran some of the earliest towlaunched glider competitions way back inthe 70’s and spent a fair amount of timehoning the rules to make sure that the bestsoaring pilots would win rather than theones who spent the most money. I alsoused to fly in F3J glider competitions untilthat degenerated into a fastest launchthen crash into a minuscule spot test forwhich you needed an electric winch and astrong composite glider. It’s true thatthermal soaring ability is still important,but not half as much as spending loads ofmoney on the latest fashionable toy andwhat’s this business about penalties ifyou overrun the max? I always used toallow a one minute overrun of the max so

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that you could do a civilised approach andlanding into a spot that was at least 50yards square. I reckoned that anycompetent pilot should be capable ofdoing that, so if you missed either of them,you got no score. And the time startedfrom release off the line, so screamingpower winch launches weren’t needed. Iblame it on the Continental influence,they’ve always been keen on precisionduration competitions.

Anyway, back to electric competitions. Idon’t like the BEFA rules (7 cells, eitherNiCd or NiMH and no recharging) becausethey’ve turned into a race to see who canlay their hands on the highest capacitycells. The original idea was good in thedays when 1700mAh or 2000mAh cellswere about the best you could get, but it’sgot silly now that cell capacities are up to4300mAh. Thermal soaring skill is lessimportant than spending loads of moneyon the latest cells and brushless motorsand gearboxes and climbing up to a dot inthe sky.

The BEFA Speed 400 rules were originallymeant to be a low cost introduction toelectric glider competition. OK, the motoris only a fiver but you need a sixty quidgearbox and a high tech carbon framedglider to be competitive which rathernegates the original idea.

The Australian rules are completely barmy,the only way you can win is if you’redrawing 100 plus Amps! Surprise,surprise, an F5B glider did very well inone. They’ve tried to mitigate this byusing a thrust rig, the idea being that youmeasure the weight of the glider and itsstatic thrust, and do a calculation that sets

the motor time you’re allowed. In theory,you should be competitive with arelatively low power (and cost) set-up.There are issues with how you calibratethe rig and who provides it for eachcompetition, but the really scary bit is theactual test. Have you seen the picture inthe August 2006 QEFI? A 700W glider onthe rig running up to full power – youwouldn’t get me within a hundred yards ofthat lot. I wonder if they’ve done a riskassessment?

The BARCS rules changed recently toallow 200W of power and that’s it. Thebad news is that this requires everycompetitor to buy reasonably accuratetest equipment and repeatability is also amajor issue. You carefully set up yourpower train to 199W and on the day of thecompetition it measures 201W. What doyou do now? Plus, it’s dead easy to cheatby having a switch on your transmitterthat limits throttle throw for the test.Unfortunately this rule also means thateveryone is flying the same size glider andsimilar power trains, not good for anyonewho only wants to enter the occasionalcompetition and uses his/her glider forsport soaring the rest of the time, theyhave to buy something new to compete. Ihear that they’re thinking about changingto a Watt/kg rule which will allow a biggervariety of ‘planes to enter.

I reckon there’s the germ of an idea here,it’s getting close to what I think would bea more sensible set of rules.

What I propose is a Watt hour perkilogram rule.

Yes, I know, it all sounds horribly technical(I am the TLO after all), but it’s not really.

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34 E.F.-U.K.

Watt hours is a measure of the real energycontent of a battery relating it to bothvoltage and capacity in Ah, a true measureof how much grunt is available and forhow long. It’s a simple calculation,multiply the number of cells in the pack bythe individual cell voltage and capacity inAh

Take a 7 cell pack of 2000mAh NiCd cellsas an example:-

Each cell is worth 1.2V and 2000mAh(2Ah), multiply these together and you get2.4Wh.

Multiply this by 7 for the number of cellsin the pack and you get 16.8Wh.

Simple, just read the labels and count thenumber of cells, no measurement required.

Then you weigh the aeroplane with thebattery in, hardly a complex process.

Divide the Watt hours by the weight ofthe ‘plane in kilograms and there you go.

Minimal processing time and virtuallyimpossible to cheat. Obviously, only cellswith the manufacturer’s labels on wouldbe allowed and the labels must be visible.

The tricky bit is deciding how many Wh/kg to use as a basis for the rule. Oneapproach could be to wind the clock backto the earlier days of the BEFA rules andbase it on a typical glider used then. Theyused 7 cell 2000mAh packs and the glidersweighed around 2kg. The number you get

is 8.4 Wh/kg, call it 9Wh/kg to makethings simple. We know from experiencethat this amount of electric fuel is enoughfor five rounds and that it will get a gliderto a reasonable height to go thermalhunting.

The difference with this rule to any of theothers is that you can use any size glideryou like and any type of cell. Existingcompetition gliders would still be legal justby changing the battery pack.

The emphasis would be on the pilotfinding lift rather than the money to buythe latest cells, the electric power train isthe equivalent of a towline launch to areasonable height, from then on its pilotskill that counts.

To summarise my proposed rules:-

1 Maximum of 9 Wh/kg, calculated asabove, any type or number of cells.

2 NiCd and NiMH rated at 1.2V, LiPorated at 3.7V, Lithium metal phosphate(LiPh = Saphion) rated at 3.2V percell.

3 Cells to have manufacturer’s labelsclearly visible.

4 No recharging between flights.5 One minute allowed for initial powered

climb, flight time to start at motor off.

6 One minute allowed for landing if themaximum time is overrun.

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7 Landing to be in a reasonable sizearea, say 25m radius, flight timezeroed if you miss it.

All the other rules as BEFA competitions.

Bring these rules in and I might betempted to have a go, as it stands, I canraise no enthusiasm at all for electric glidercompetitions.

And please, please, let’s get a sensible setof rules working before some idiot decidesto introduce a set of F5J rules withprecision duration and one metre spotlandings like F3J!

Now I’ll retire to the bunker, put on myNomex suit and wait for the bang!

Handy having a flying field that used tobe a dummy airfield in the war, we’ve got anice strong bunker on site.

LiPo Yet Again.I got clumsy and managed to put a deadshort across one of my LiPo packs, onlyfor a couple of seconds, and nothingexploded or caught fire. I thought I’d gotaway with it as the battery seemed tobehave normally for a couple of weeks.Then it started to bulge and the balancerwas complaining when I put it on charge.The bulge was hard, not the soft bulgeyou get when cells puff up a bit, so Istripped the pack down to have a look.There’s a picture here of the cell that wasmost affected, it had swollen to nearlytwice normal size. I’ve no idea what themechanism is that caused this, just bewarned, it could happen to you!

By the way, remember what I said aboutusing short leads on your batteries? Oneof our members managed to connect thepositive and negative leads of his NiCdbattery together because he wasn’tpaying attention to what he was doing. Ithad started fizzing and popping, so heyanked it out of the ‘plane and threw it on

the grass. When I came over he wasstanding there scratching his headwondering why his battery was getting sohot and blowing its vents while peoplehelpfully poured water on it. I pulled theleads apart, but it was too late, onedeceased battery. Now you know why Iuse such short leads.

Before you ask, no, that wasn’t how Imanaged to short out the LiPo pack!

Don’t let the smoke out!

Alan Bedingham

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PANDAS(Pontefract and District Aeromodellers)

Electric Fly-In 2006by John Thompson

Sunday, July 23 dawned dry with acloudy, overcast sky and lightwinds, all good signs for the days

flying plus the grass had been cutrecently, so take-offs should be noproblem.

The Pontefract and District Aeromodellers(PANDAS) team was on site early to setup the TX Control tent with the flight line,and the car park was soon filling up withflyers, traders, and spectators. Thirty fivepilots booked in, mostly with severalmodels each.

Chairman Trevor Jones started theproceedings with the pilots’ briefing,indicating the problems which cansometimes arise in a public park. Flyingwas soon in progress and what an

assortment of planes there were.Pete Lewis and his team were soonwhizzing around with their superchargedEDF profile Harriers. I understand thatthere is an upsurge of interest in thisdesign by Dave Chinery, which was a freeplan in RCM&E many years ago. At thattime the performance was very marginalbut now with 40,000rpm available inWeMoTec 90mm fans and lightweightbatteries, they are hot. At Blackpool I sawthese hovering in a 30mph wind!

Paul Crawshaw from Harrogate flew a nicetwin engine Albatross flying boat.

One event tickled my fancy when a visitortried to drive his car over our footbridge,luckily without damage and I just had totake a picture erasing the number plate outof courtesy.

Paul Crawshaw’s fleet

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E.F.-U.K. 37

Ouch!

Alan Wales receiving the Eric Johnson Trophy

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38 E.F.-U.K.

Phil and his RBC team were there showingthe model that he and Nigel Hawes hadflown across the channel to achieve a firstwith an electric model (photo see page 29).(Editor: This is not a first it has been donebefore, they just didn’t realise it)Apparently, they are also claiming aBritish distance record.

It was nice to see Cohn who runs my localmodel shop in Cleckheaton in attendance.

Club mate Alan Wales put on a fine showwith his modified Hangar 9 ARTF Mustangwith big AXi to win the Eric JohnsonTrophy for the highest placed PANDASmember. Unfortunately, Eric died earlierthis year after a long illness.

In a similar vein I was flying a twice sizeLadybird, which Arthur Fox designed andbuilt over twenty years ago. This wasoriginally powered by an OS40FS when itwas published in RCM&E in 1986. Arthuralso died recently and I was givenpermission by his sons to convert it toelectric and fly it at the shows in hismemory. A 600W out runner and 14 cells(for CofG) swinging a 13” x 8” propellorgave this 84", 8lb. model a sprightlyperformance.

Scale winning Lancaster

The most impressive model was probablyBrian Shorthouse’s Lancaster from theNejhuis plan which flew realistically

several times and deservedly gained firstin scaleIn the afternoon the TX Control was

TX Controller Bill Winstanleyvirtually DIY and Bill Winstanley just hadto sit there and enjoy the view.With the fine Yorkshire weather and thegood grub from Barbara Jones and Kath, a

Barbara and Kath, caterers extraordinarygood time was had by all. Anothereasygoing, fine days flying.This event just gets better and better, sosee you all next year.

John Thompson

Twice size Ladybird in memory ofArthur Fox

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E.F.-U.K. 39

The idea behind this articleoriginated in the requirements ofElectroSlot competitions to the

BEFA/BMFA rules. These rules requirethe competitor to fly 5 rounds on a singlebattery charge using 7 sub-C NiMH cells(NiCd are also allowed but the increasedcapacity of NiMH means these areinvariably used). Each round is anattempt to produce a flight of 15 minutesincluding a maximum of one minute ofmotor run although this can be used atany time during the flight. There is then alanding spot with points available forduration and landing accuracy. Longsoaring flights can be easy in good liftconditions but not so easy if the liftdeserts you. The ability to find lift and toextend the flight is often a function of theheight to which the model is climbed andthis depends largely upon the poweroutput of the drive train since the power-on duration is limited to one minute perround.

The competitor therefore has a balancingact to attempt. He can set up his model togive 5 minutes of power-on (1 minute perround for 5 rounds) plus any safetymargin he wishes to create, and acceptthat this set up is going to give him aparticular rate of climb and a particularheight gain potential for each round. If hewishes to obtain a greater rate of climband height gain potential he can set up todraw more power, i.e. he can increase theprop size and/or use a different motor/gearbox, and hope that he can completehis flights with the lesser power-on timethat the new set up will provide. In eithercase he will sometimes find that as he

reaches the final round of the competitionhis batteries, which are now probably 80%discharged, are delivering much lesspower, and hence much less height gainpotential.

Look at graph 1 on page 41. This graphdisplays the discharge voltage curve of a7-cell sub-C pack of NiMH using constantcurrent discharge at a rate to provide a 5-minute run. This is not a perfect model asin flight both the voltage and current drawof the battery reduce as dischargeproceeds, but it is a good approximationand does not affect the point I wish todemonstrate. I have divided the time axisinto 5 one-minute periods and you will seethat for the last period in particular thevoltage reduction means that the poweravailable (in watts) is greatly reduced, andthe reduction in the rate of climb isobvious to the pilot. Typical figuresmight be 40A at 8v giving 320W at thebeginning of round 1, and 32A, 6.7v and215W, half way through round 5, which isa 33% reduction in power. The result ofthis is that the pilot then tends to run thepower-on climb for longer in an attempt toachieve the same height he reached inprevious rounds but at a much slower rateof climb. My theory is that this is exactlythe wrong approach and I will try todemonstrate this.

Let me firstly define what I mean by“recovery”. On graph 2 on page 41, youwill see an enlarged section of graph 1with the continuous discharge curveslowly reducing voltage. If, at point X, westop the discharge the battery voltagebegins to build up or recover and follows

NiMH Recoveryby Bob Smith

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40 E.F.-U.K.

Set-up of the battery test equipment

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E.F.-U.K. 41

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42 E.F.-U.K.

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E.F.-U.K. 43

the upward line. When the discharge isrestored at point Y the voltage reducesback towards the original curve but for awhile, it is higher than during continuousdischarge and therefore there is morepower (in watts) available for this briefperiod.

In fact, the ElectroSlot modeller gains aslight advantage repeatedly through thecompetition as he uses power in bursts ineach round and “recovery” occurs eachtime he switches off the power throughoutthe competition. During the early rounds,the effect is too small to be apparent, but“recovery” might be critical in the lastround when the voltage is dropping veryquickly. Graph 3 shows how the dischargevoltage curve might look in a situationwhere the pilot takes a long (30 seconds)slow power-on climb at the beginning ofthe slot and then a second even slowerclimb to use the last of his available power.He does get two “recoveries” but doesn’tgain much. We can estimate the poweravailable by taking the average voltagesduring the power-on periods so that forthe first period 6.6v at 40A for 30 secondsgives 2.2 W-hours. For the second period,this is 5.4v at 40A for 30 seconds giving1.8 W-hours, a total of 4 W-hours.

If, on the other hand, he deliberatelychooses to fly a pattern consisting ofseveral short power bursts with, say, aminute between each, he would benefitfrom several “recoveries” and the totalheight gain potential might prove to besignificant enough to extend his flight tothe end of the slot. This pattern is shownin graph 4 using six short 10-secondbursts of power and if we repeat the powercalculations, we get 0.85, 0.83, 0.81, 0.80,0.78, and 0.74 W-hours for the six power-

on periods giving a total of 4.8 W-hours, a20% increase over the original figures.

I have to admit that tales of quarts and pintpots come to mind, and if this edition ofEFUK had been published on April 1st youmight well have taken it all with a pinch ofsnuff, but I promise you that although thetesting was fairly basic the figures arerealistic and there is an advantageavailable if you can use it. It mustoriginate with the electrochemistry of thecells and that is way beyond my ability toexplain. If you really want to complicate it,you could try to include the effects ofacceleration and momentum in the model,but if you can do that whilst still searchingfor lift, you are a better man than I GungaDin.

Tongue in cheek, well maybe a little, but itall helps to keep the grey cells active, andthat must be good for us, mustn’t it?

Bob Smith

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44 E.F.-U.K.

Jeti ‘Advance Plus’Programming Card

by John Thompson

If like me, you sometimes get confusedprogramming speed controllers fromthe transmitter stick and are not sure if

you have done it correctly, then help is athand.

Jeti have always been acknowledged asbeing at the fore front of this technologyand the ‘Advance Plus’ series is theirlatest offering. They come in ratings of 4,8, 12, 18, 30, 40, 70, and 75 Amp, which areprogrammed through a tiny card with sixjumpers, measuring only 40 x 45 x 3 mm,

costing only £3.95! Provision is made foreither Opto or BEC by means of the toptwo sets of pins.

Operation is simple; first the jumpers areset to the required positions:

· Nixx is for NiCd/NiMH and Li-xx isLiPo/Li-Ion.

· Brake is obviously on or off.

· Cut Off Voltage High is 0.9v/cell forNixx or 3.0v p/cell Li-xx.

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E.F.-U.K. 45

· Cut Off Voltage Low is 0.7v/cell forNixx or 2.7v/cell Li-xx.

· Timing low (soft) for 2 to 6 polemotors and maximum efficiency.

· Timing High (hard) best for outrunners.

· Cutoff Type gives the option ofhard abrupt stopping when thevoltage drops, or slow wind downto give more warning.

· Throttle curve is unusual as itgives the option of either Linear,where half throttle is 60% of fullrevs or Logarithm 80%.

Now plug your Controller into the topright connection, our motor into thecontroller and lastly the flight batterypack. Now switch the ESC on and a single

beep will verify the programming is done.Just disconnect the battery first then theESC and the job is done.

With the Opto ESC the beep will comeafter the RX battery (4 to 6V) has beenconnected to the top left connector. Thepins seem to be gold plated so should lastwell.

And that is it, tests on my Diabolitin using5 LiPo and 40A Opto with Torcman 35/20/21 were perfect. Perhaps a Soft Startshould have been added for gearboxesand big props but perhaps they thinkthese are not necessary with out runners.

John Thompson

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46 E.F.-U.K.

Electric Flight CalendarIf you would like details of your event to appear in these pages please send full details tothe Editor EF-UK, contact details on page 4. Please bear in mind that this magazine isquarterly so ensure that the details are sent in good time.

For last minute information on events please check out the events list on the BEFAwebsite www.befa.org.uk. Dates, times and, even locations of events can change at thelast minute. You are strongly advised to check on events with the given contacts beforesetting out on your journey to any event.

All BEFA flying events require proof of BMFA (or equivalent) insurance and an ‘A’Certificate to fly. For fixed wing models, any of the fixed wing ‘A’ certificates areacceptable. For helicopters, a helicopter ‘A’ certificate is required.

All flying models must have been satisfactorily flown at least twice since build or repairbefore flying at a BEFA event.

NO TEST FLIGHTS ON THE DAY

Standing Events1st Sunday of every month - The Brighouse Vintage MAC have been using the smallairfield at Tockwith, near Wetherby, Yorkshire for several years, but have recently hadnoise problems. The field is now all electric & any BMFA Member is invited to fly thereon the 1st Sunday in each month from 10 - 5pm for a small fee. Do not be put off by‘Vintage’ they fly anything! There is a concrete runway available and details of the sitecan be obtainedContact Derek Haviour 01422 204 472

October 20068 Pudsey Swapmeet and Indoor Fly-In by the Northern Area BMFA. PudseyCivic Centre just off the ring road between Leeds and Bradford. Doors open 9.0am, onetable free per BMFA member. Entry FREE. Indoor RC from 12.30 to 5.0pm for sub 160gmodels only, £2 per pilot, juniors free. Free parking and refreshments available all day.Contact John Thompson 01924 515 595 (reasonable hours please) or [email protected]

15 BMFA NW Area Indoor Fly-in at the Springfield Sports Centre, Rochdale. Flying from11am to 5pm, £3 per person, BMFA card must be shown. For more information seewww.bmfa-nw.org or email [email protected]

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27 Basingstoke Model Aero Club (BMAC) Indoor Flying Night

The location is, the Brighton Hill Community College, Brighton way, Brighton Hill,Basingstoke. RG22 4HS. Flying will be from 8.00pm till 10.00pm, in the large sports hall sothere is plenty of room for flying fixed wing models like the Shock Flyers, or for polishingup your aerobatic routines with that electric helicopter. There will be a small fee to helpcover the cost of hiring the hall, BMAC members £5 & £7 for non-members, spectatorsare also welcome at £1 / person. All are welcome, so please come along and enjoy thefun.

For more info see the BMAC Web site Forum - Meetings & Events at

http://bmacuk.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=588#588 or

Contact Roy Thompson 01256-476231

November 20065 BEFA Technical Workshop at the Royal Spa Centre, Royal Leamington Spa,Warwickshire (see website). The doors will open for traders to set-up their stands at 8am,with the doors opening to the public at 9.30am. All the usual features:

Technical Presentations: The talks are still being organised, keep an eyeon this page for news.

Traders’ Fair: The invitations for traders are being prepared, keepchecking back here for the latest list. Any traders wishing to attend that have notreceived an invitation by 30 Sep 06 should contact the Secretary, Jan [email protected] for details and to reserve tables.

Bring & Buy Stall: As usual the Bring & Buy stall will be set-up in theFoyer. Items can be registered and left at the stand from 9.00am, but trading starts onlyonce the main doors open. If selling items please complete a copy of the registrationform available on website. Please do not complete a separate form for each item, althoughmultiple forms can be used if more space is needed. It is also essential that items arelabelled with a minimum of your name & the asking price.

Raffle: The raffle will take place as normal, with prizes being supplied bythe traders. The draw will take place immediately prior to the last technical talk. Tickets. Due to increasing costs, we have had to increase the ticket prices for the 2006 TechnicalWorkshop, the first increase since 2001.

The 2006 prices are: £7.00 in advance *£9.00 at the door

Mail orders for advance tickets must include an SAE for return of the tickets. Please alsoinclude a contact telephone number in case of queries.

Mail order requests should be sent with a cheque payable to B.E.F.A., to: TWS Tickets,111 Plantagenet Chase, Yeovil, BA20 2PR

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48 E.F.-U.K.

Alternatively advance tickets may be purchased using the PayPal button on the website. Other online payments methods are available, contact Jan Bassett [email protected] for details.

Ticket orders received before 30 October 2006 will be posted. After that date the ticketswill be available for collection at the door as they may not arrive on time otherwise. Anyquestions on ticketing should be made to Jan Bassett [email protected]

*There is an additional charge of 25p per ticket and a handling fee of 50p per order foronline tickets. This additional charge is due to the fees payable to PayPal and to coverpostage of tickets. This still represents a good saving especially as you you’d have topay 2 lots of postage if applying by mail.

5 The Brighouse Vintage MAC have been using the small airfield at Tockwith, nearWetherby, Yorkshire for several years, but have recently had noise problems. The field isnow all electric and any BMFA Member is invited to fly there on the First Sunday in eachmonth from 10 to 5pm for a small fee. Do not be put off by the ‘Vintage’ part they flyanything! There is a concrete runway available and details of the site can be had bycontacting Derek Haviour

Contact Derek Haviour 01422 204 472

19 BMFA NW Area Indoor Fly-in atthe Springfield Sports centre, Rochdale. Flying from11am to 5pm, £3 per person, BMFA card must be shown.

For more information see www.bmfa-nw.org or

Contact [email protected]

24 Basingstoke Model Aero Club (BMAC) Indoor Flying Night.The location is, theBrighton Hill Community College, Brighton way, Brighton Hill, Basingstoke. RG22 4HS.Flying will be from 8.00pm till 10.00pm, in the large sports hall so there is plenty of roomfor flying fixed wing models like the Shock Flyers, or for polishing up your aerobaticroutines with that electric helicopter. There will be a small fee to help cover the cost ofhiring the hall, BMAC members £5 & £7 for non-members, spectators are also welcome at£1 / person. All are welcome, so please come along and enjoy the fun. For more info seethe BMAC Web site Forum - Meetings & Events at

http://bmacuk.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=588#588 or

Contact Roy Thompson 01256-476231

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E.F.-U.K. 49

December 200617 BMFA NW Area Indoor Fly-in, see November 19 for details.

January 200721 BMFA NW Area Indoor Fly-in, see November 19 2006 for details.

February 200718 BMFA NW Area Indoor Fly-in, see November 19 2006 for details.

March 20074 BEFA 2007 Annual General Meeting at Leamington Spa, Warks.

18 BMFA NW Area Indoor Fly-in, see November 19 2006 for details.

More details will be published in due course.

If you have an electric flight event you want to have included, please send an email givingthe details to [email protected]

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50 E.F.-U.K.

Member's Sales & WantsFOR SALE / WANTED

FOR SALENew Blade Runner indoor helicopter, including 27Mhz R/C, LiPo battery &charger: £35Hornet Helicopter FP VGC, with carbon blades: £20All are plus postage or can be picked up from Leamington Spa. Contact: Neil Stainton 01926 314 011Email: [email protected]

FVK RIVAL 2.8m span is for sale, Co Durham. It is fitted with a Kontronik480 brushless with 5:1 gearbox, Hacker 70A ESC, six new servos, Schulze 8channel receiver, Carbon propeller & spinner, and comes with a 3300mAh flightbattery. £450-00 or vno or swap - what have you got?Contact: Jim Horne 01388 819 638Email: [email protected]

Puffin Models Elegant, 2.6m glider / electric glider. Flown twice, but otherinterests took over - no equipment fitted. Offers around £100.

Kontronik Smile 40-6-18 opto, brushless, speed controller, 40A 6-24Vwith Kontronik 4mm silver connectors on the output and Schulze 3.5mmconnectors on the input and has been used twice. He would like to exchangefor the same or very similar with BEC or sell for £65

Contact: Trevor Wain 01332 792 508

Email: [email protected]

WeMoTec Midi-fan fitted with an Aveox 36/24/2 sensorless brushlessmotor - Price £70. Contact: Jim Horne 01388 819 638Email: [email protected]

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E.F.-U.K. 51

...and WANTEDGarry (in Australia) would like information about plans for a Vickers Vimy,preferably around 36" to 40" span but any thing would be appreciated.

Contact: Garry

Email: [email protected]

Peter Vivian would like to contact any others in his approximate area(Camberley, Surrey) who are also new to Electric Flying, with a view tomutual assistance and support. Peter returned to model aircraft fairly recentlyafter a 55-year break, with an interest mainly in building and experimenting(definitely NOT ARTF!). He would like to meet up with others having similarinterests.

Contact: Peter 01276 21304

Email: [email protected]

Neil Stainton wants a Highlight electric fuselage, any condition.

Contact: Neil Stainton 01926 314 011

Email: [email protected]

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52 E.F.-U.K.

Wanted by the Editorany of the following (see page 4 for contact details):

• General / Technical Articles.

• Hints & Tips.

• New Product notifications.

• Product Reviews.

• Photographs of your models.

• Electric Flight Event Reports.

• Any other item of interest to electric model aircraft flyers.

Please send colour Digital photos or photographic prints (6” x 4” orbigger) to the editor. If possible, please do not send inkjet prints as toomuch quality is lost during the printing and scanning process.

If you have no way to email or write the files to a CD, please contact theEditor for other options.

Photographic prints supplied will be returned, unless specified otherwise(as long as you give a return address).

Digital photos should be sent at the highest resolution possible, in colour,and preferably uncompressed. Where compression is unavoidable thecamera should ideally be set to the lowest compression possible and atthe maximum resolution. Digital photographs can be emailed to theEditor at [email protected]

Readers always like to know what equipment is fitted to models so theyknow what combinations work well (or not so well). Therefore pleaseinclude as many details of the models in the photographs as possible, butideally at least wing span, wing area, motor(s), gearbox(es), propeller(s)or fan(s), battery pack(s) used & the flight performance.

Where articles are produced on a word processor package, please send anelectronic copy - it make the Editors job much easier and quicker. Idealformats are Microsoft Word (any version), Works word processor,WordPad or Notepad. Other formats can be accommodated, but pleasecontact the Editor first.

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E.F.-U.K. 53

New to ELECTRIC FLIGHT?START HERE . . . . .

You may be taking up Electric Flight for the first time or you may be convertingfrom another discipline. Whatever your situation, help and advice is available.BEFA has prepared an information sheet which details further sources ofinformation which you may find useful when just joining the hobby. To receive acopy, please send a Stamped Addressed Envelope (S.A.E.) to Robert Mahoney,address on page 4.

BEGINNER'S GUIDEA Beginner’s Guide to Electric Flight is available, which explains many of the‘Mysteries' of Electrics’ and will, hopefully, set you off on the right foot. Pleasesend £3.00 per copy required to The Editor of EF-UK at the address on page 4.Please add £1.00 extra for overseas postage and remit in Sterling. Cheques shouldbe made payable to BEFA.

TECHNICAL HELP SERVICETechnical help is now available again for the use of all members. We regret thatno telephone service is available, but all questions in writing (or email) will beanswered by our Technical Liaison Officer (TLO). Please refer your queries to ourTLO, to the postal or email address on page 4. If sent by post, please ensure thatyou include an S.A.E. for a reply.

CONNECTIONS SERVICERequests are frequently received from members who wish to be put in contactwith other members living in the same area. The easiest method of doing this isto place a free 'wanted' advert in the classified section of this magazine.Alternatively, a request may be made IN WRITING to the Membership Secretarywho is allowed to divulge such information to members ONLY. Please supply asmuch information about your location as possible and please remember to includean S.A.E. for your reply.

B.E.F.A. MEMBERSHIPMembership of the Association is open to all. Those who are not members ofBMFA (our national controlling body) will have a subscription to EF-UK membershipwith none of the other benefits. Overseas members are very welcome and will beclassed as full members if they belong to their own national controlling body.

CONTACTFor full details, please send an S.A.E. to the Membership Secretary (address onpage 4) requesting a membership application form. Those with Internet accessmay visit the B.E.F.A. website at www.befa.org.uk where you will find all themembership information you should require and a application form.

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54 E.F.-U.K.

B.E.F.A. SalesBEFA Round, Coloured Rub-down Decals - Ultra-thin & light - 50p each

EF-UK Back Issues - Issues 71 to 73 and 75 to 85 are available to BEFA membersat £3.00 each, or £5.00 each to non-members. These prices include UK P&P,overseas rates on application. Reprints of earlier issues may be available to specialorder at slightly higher cost, contact the Editor for details (see page 4).

EF-UK Index. A comprehensive index of EF-UK, from issue 28 to date, is availableby sending a £1 coin to cover copying and postage cost.

Binders:- are available to hold 8 to 12 issues of Electric Flight U.K. Produced indark blue with gold lettering on the spine, these cost £4.50 each including U.K.postage. Please add £1 for European postage and £2 for Worldwide postage.

Please send all orders to The Editor of EF-UK at the address on page 4.

Sweat Shirts & Tee-Shirts: Stock of these is now almost all gone - pleasecontact Robert Mahoney regarding remaining stock, sizes and prices.

PLEASE REMIT IN STERLING ONLY,WITH ALL CHEQUES MADE PAYABLE TO B.E.F.A.

Advertisers IndexBEFA Sales................................................................. 62

Fanfare.............................................. Inside Back Cover

For Sale / Wanted ......................................................... 5

Hyperflight.co.uk ........................................................ 34

New-2-U ............................................................. 24 to 26

RC Groups / E-Zone ......................... Inside Front Cover

Traplet ............................................Outside Back Cover

EF-UK advertising rates are £25 per inside or outside cover page,£20 per full page, £10 per half page, all per issue.

Contact the EF-UK Editor for more details (see page 4).

Page 55: ELECTRIC FLIGHT U.K.

– MAIL ORDER –SPORTS ELECTRIC FLIGHT

FANS AND GEARBOXESwww.fanfare.f9.co.uk

FANSMorley ‘Jet Elec’ Fan .............................. £15.00WeMoTec Micro-Fan (280/300/330) ..... £14.00WeMoTec Mini-Fan (400/480) ............... £28.00WeMoTec Midi-Fan (540/ 600/930) ....... £38.00

GEARBOXESMaster Airscrew - 2.5, 3, 3.5:1 ............................. £16.00MP Jet Planetary - 3.33 & 3.8:1 - 400 / Pro 480 ...... £28.00MP Jet Planetary - 3.33 & 3.8:1 - Speed 480 ........ £28.00MP Jet Planetary - 3.33 & 3.8:1 - 540 / 600 ............ £28.00MP Jet Plastic BB - 4 & 5:1 - 280 / 300 ...................... £8.00MP Jet Plastic BB - 3, 3.5 & 4:1 - 400 / Pro 480 ......... £8.00MP Jet Plastic BB - 2.33, 3.5 & 4:1 - Speed 480 ..... £10.00MP Jet Plastic BB - 1.75, 2.33 & 2.8:1 - 540 / 600 .. £15.00Mini Olympus ............................................ £8.00Olympus ................................................. £12.00

MOTORSMPJet Brushless motors; 9 motors; outrunners,inrunners & geared; 280 to 700 .... £40.00 to £58.00 WEP Turbo 10 ....................................... £55.00Fanfare Silver 16T & 20T ...................... £34.00Fanfare Powermax 40T ........................ £38.00Speed 600 8.4v BB SP .......................... £17.00Speed 600 8.4v Race ............................ £22.00RE 380 / Rocket 400 ................................ £5.00Speed 480 BB ........................................ £21.00Pro 400 .................................................... £5.00Pro 480 HS ............................................... £6.00Pro 480 HS BB ......................................... £8.00

MAXCIM BRUSHLESSMax Neo 13Y 1430 rpm/v ................... £160.00Max Neo 13D 2470 rpm/v .................... £160.00Maxu 35D, 21 Cell Controller ............... £140.00Maxu 35C, 25 Cell Controller ............... £180.00Superbox 1.6 to 4.28:1 ......................... £50.00Monsterbox 4 to 6.8:1 .......................... £60.00Motor Mount ........................................... £12.00

MOTORS / GEARBOXESSpeed 400 FG3 ..................................... £17.00SpeedGear 400 4:1 Inline ...................... £38.00SpeedGear 480 3.45:1 .......................... £55.00SpeedGear 600 2.8:1 ............................ £51.50SpeedGear 700 2.7:1 9.6v .................... £70.00SpeedGear 700 Neo .............................. £92.00Mini-Olympus & RE380 .......................... £12.00Olympus & 540 ...................................... £19.00Jamara 600 2.9:1 ................................... £24.00Jamara 650 2.9:1 ................................... £26.00

PROPSM.A. Folding 12x8 ................ £14.00

15x12 .............. £15.25M.A. Wood Electric 10x6/10x8 ......... £4.25

11x7/11x9 ......... £4.5012x8/12x10 ....... £5.0013x8/13x10 ....... £5.25

Carbon Folders 7x4 .................... £6.00(Perkins) 8x4 .................... £6.00

11x8 .................. £9.00Slimprops 8x4, 8x6, 9x6 .... £3.50APC Electric 5½” - 12” dia . £3 to £4(full range available) 13” - 20” dia £5 to £15

Selection of Graupner & Aeronautfolding & fixed props.

CHARGERSSpeed 1 Pulse / Pk

Det 4-8 cells ........................................... £27.00Speed Ex Digital

as above with discharge ...................... £55.00Simprop 25 cell .................................... £100.00

Wheels, Wire, Servos, Fuses, Caps,Powerpole, 4mm & 2mm gold conns.

FANFARE • 18 HILLSIDE ROAD • TANKERTON • WHITSTABLE • KENT • CT5 3EX‘Sports Electric’ Helpline - Phone / Fax: (01227) 771331 - E-mail: [email protected]

Now online at - www.fanfare.f9.co.uk

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