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Gladys International 21C

The Almost Quarterly Journal of The Sheffield

Society of Aeromodellers Issue112: 2015

In this issue… find out what on earth all these people are waiting

for...win money… explore the world of Quad building... consider

a Comet conversion and much, much more.

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Contents

Editorial.............................................................................. 3

Mishaps and Mayhem :Roger Lombard and Ed............ 4-6

Flying Kites With Electric String: Andy Timmons........ 7-8

Stop Press ........................................................................... 8

Name That Plane .............................................................. 9-10

Sloping Off: James Ford ................................................... 11-14

Converting a Comet: James Ford .................................... 15-18

One Up for The North: Neil Stewart ............................... 19-22

Quad Pro Quo: John Broadhead and Ed ........................ 22-27

Endpiece ............................................................................. 28

Acknowledgements: Thanks to all contributors. All photos by Neil Carver

except p4, Roger Lombard and p15, Phil Barrett. If you have an article or news

item for Gladys, ring Neil Carver on 0114 2667203.

Those of us lucky to be at a busy Elvington this year (front cover) were treated to

a flypast from Vulcan ‘558’ as it transited to Blackpool before returning for a full

display. The model opposite also flew but good as it is, Elvington won’t be the

same next year without the big fellow. The end of an era. indeed.

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Editorial

When someone talks of picking up a sophisticated lady at a swapmeet,

eyebrows are likely to raise. Well, start raising yours now because you

can read the full sordid story in ‘Sloping Off’ by James Ford. I have been

told that this feature may become a regular in Gladys. All I can say is that,

I for one look forward to a piece about picking up a less than

sophisticated lady at a swapmeet.

Having lowered the tone, it is time to increase the throttle and gain some

height. Way up in the clouds we have an intriguing account of a classic

conversion from Phil Barrett and a positively poetic account of Andy

Timmons’ first experiences of gliding.

Roger Lombard brings us back down to scorched earth with a bump but

Neil Stewart has us yet again above the clouds with an account of

National competition success. Frank Sinatra gets his first ever mention in

Gladys and we have another first: Gladys tries her hand at blackmail.

Mercifully we eventually settle into a stable hover with an account ‘told

to the editor’ by John Broadhead who discusses his adventures into

making multicopters, as well as revealing some astonishing details about

his youth. And there is a competition…with a guaranteed winner. Yes,

providing someone (anyone) enters then a winner is guaranteed. So let

this issue fly you to the moon…

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Roger sent this cautionary tale from the wilds of N. Yorkshire.

I’ve always been careful to throw away any damaged or even suspect

lipos but given modern lipo technology and modern lipo chargers I’ve

become dismissive about the need for standing over them while charging.

This (was) a pretty

new, definitely low

mileage, genuine E-

flite 150 25C single

cell in one of the

standard E-flite

chargers. What could

possibly go wrong?

Well, it went off like a

golden rain firework !

Fortunately I was

nearby and was able to

unplug the charger and

get it outside chop

chop. There was no

harm done except hasta

la vista charger and

battery...

The only answer I can come up with is that I was using a 12v dc input

(which had already charged an identical battery no bother).

It does say use 6v input max and it looks like they mean it!

And now to the ‘Weird and not so Wonderful.’ First up is a mysterious

growth on the wires going into a Spektrum receiver. This revealed itself

when I lost signal to my P40 (I have a witness!) and the crash scattered

bits with abandon, all over a well known playing field. The bind had

Mishaps and Mayhem: Roger Lombard and Ed.

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gone on the

receiver,

explaining the

crash but this

strange growth

was also spotted.

It was in the same

place on the servo

leads but not on

the speed

controller. Terry

was mystified so I

called up David

Tayler.

David was round in a flash, doffed in a lab coat and with a magnifying

glass the size of a dinner plate. Test tubes were filled, samples taken and

the experiments began.

All manner of alchemy took place in an attempt to identify the ‘infection’

and nothing remotely like it could be found in the Manual of

Aeronautical Diagnostics. Science, like Terry seemed stumped.

Suddenly David, ever eagle eyed grabbed the bits of the plane and

announced that the growth only appeared on the bits of wire that came

into contact with the

foam fuselage.

This was the

breakthrough. With a cry

of: ‘I’ll have one sugar

in mine’ David made a

diagnosis. The growth

apparently resulted from

a reaction between the

paint on the foam and

the plasticiser in the

wire. Obvious really.

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Another strange growth was spotted eating it’s way through a poor pilot’s

face at Weston Park (over) This ‘Por eating virus’ has apparently crossed

over from railway modelling and now poses a major threat to RC pilots.

According to Public Health England washing your hands after each flight

should arrest the advance of this most malignant of infections. Sinks are

scheduled to be installed at all flying sites. Use them.

Finally we have an aeronautical disaster of dreadful proportions. Now I

suspect few would disagree that aero modellers are not renowned for

sartorial elegance, but as the picture below shows, there can be flagrant

disregard for even the basic rules of fashion. Yes, a certain club member

was spotted at Barkston, at the Nationals of all events, wearing (I can

hardly say it) socks with sandals.

To save the culprit embarrassment Gladys has decided not to reveal his

identity this time round. He doesn’t get away scot-free though. Unless a

payment of £10 arrives in the post soon, one letter of his name will appear

each issue until it does…

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Flying Kites With Electric String: Andy Timmons

When I was a kid first time around, I always wanted to build and fly RC

planes, but with pocket money of half a crown a week it would have taken

me years to afford even the smallest of motors, let alone the electronic

gear. So I made and crashed rubber powered balsa planes, bought and

crashed catapult launched plastic delta gliders, and built and crashed kites

made out of garden canes and polythene bags. I couldn't afford proper

kite string, so the kites were lofted into the sky on wool, garden twine and

packaging string. The kites gave me more pleasure than the planes, but

planes were where the glamour was.

So when I retired a couple of years ago and became nine years old again it

was my chance to fill that gap in my childhood and I got severely bitten

by the RC flying bug. I thought powered (now electric and not gas) was

where I would find best reward and I threw myself into building and

flying foamies. Not having someone who could point me in the right

direction, I made every mistake you can think of and invented some new

ones. Nothing flew for weeks, but I learned an important lesson - don't

get attached to a plane, it's going to crash

I also learned don't leave your fingers in the way of spinning props, and

don't climb trees in your dotage, but that's another six stories.

And then I discovered SSA and the scales fell from my eyes. Here was a

group of like minded nine year olds, but with experience and the

willingness to pass their knowledge on. I was in heaven and, although I

still crashed a lot (a lot) I began to learn where I was going wrong (far too

big throws on every control surface and no idea what expo was) and

whereas 75% of my planes still went home in a bin bag, I started to

improve (honest Terry, I did).

I'd heard about 'the slope' and one day (the day of the fly in) I went, not

expecting gliders to hold any excitement. After all, my experience of

gliders had been the sixpenny rubber catapult delta planes of my youth.

They rarely survived the first flight (nothing changes) and they didn't so

much fly as fall with style.

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Oh, but I was wrong. A minute on the slope and I was hooked. I first

built a plank called a Swifter. Everyone was very polite and enthusiastic,

but I got the impression no-one thought it would fly. They were right. I

tried for a few days, by which time I'd come up with a flying wing I'd

named Mighty Mouse, so I gave up on the Swifter.

But Mighty Mouse flew. And I very quickly got the hang of holding the

plane in the wind and letting it peel off right or left and then bringing it

back. I began to anticipate what it was about to do and adjust the controls

before it did. I felt that I was balancing the plane on a huge beach ball

which I had to gently roll left, right, forwards or backwards to keep the

plane exactly on the top. It was wonderfully quiet with the vast panorama

of that 30 square mile bowl laid out in front of me. And it was then that

the idea came to mind. I was flying kites again, but this time with electric

string.

• It is worth reporting a somewhat rare event these days; the opening

of a local model shop . According to their website;

www.dynomodels.co.uk ‘Dynomodels is a Specialist RC model

shop with a well stocked showroom based in Laughton, Nr

Sheffield in South Yorkshire.’ Their landline is 01909 561000. It’s

early days yet, but I can report a reasonably priced indoor Parkzone

Trojan was up for grabs, and yes, they sell wood.

• There is a series of funfly events at the Velodrome Manchester,

M11 4DQ coming up. There are alternating half hour slots for Free

Flight and lightweight RC (100gram scratch built and 50gram rtfs)

No shockies please. Full details from David Whitehouse

(Tel.01942897816, Emailwhitehousejdavid@googlemail.com. The

dates are, Saturday Oct 31, Nov 28 and Feb 27. Slots run from

11am till 4:30 with 4:30 to 6pm reserved for ultra lighweights.

Check details with the organiser before you go.

Stop Press !

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!!!!! Name That Plane !!!!!

This competition is simplicity itself. Below are four photographs. They are of

three (yes, three) pre-1918 aircraft. They all reside in a single UK aircraft

museum. All you have to do is work out the names of the planes in each photo. I

just need the manufacturer and the name, eg.: Picture 1: ‘Supermarine Spitfire.’

You don’t need to get all technical and say ‘Spitfire Mk1.’

It’s time to play Name That Plane!

The prize is a whopping £30. If there is more than one correct answer, a draw will take place. If no one

gets all three but several people get two correct; a draw will take place

etc. In case you haven’t got this it means that a winner is guaranteed.

Even if you are the only entrant and get all three wrong, you will still

win.

Entry is limited to one attempt per paid up club member.

• Simply send your guesses with your name and contact phone

number to me: Neil Carver, 33 Bingham Park Road , Sheffield, S11

7BD. Alternatively give them to me in the indoor hall.

• All entries should reach me within six weeks after Gladys is

published on the club site.

• The answers will be in the next issue.

• The editor is the judge and the judge’s word is final. Good luck !

Picture1

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Picture2

Picture 3

Picture 4

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Sloping Off : James Ford

The following news items are reprinted from the Callow Gazette:

• Following persistent and disturbing rumours that Callow Bank no

longer faces west an emergency meeting was convened. Heated

debate continued in to the wee small hours of the morning (sorry

Frank). At 2am, in a shock majority vote the purchase of a compass

was authorised from club funds. Investigations the following day

concluded that Callow Bank continues to face west. Members are

requested to report any suspicious movement of the slope direction.

• There have been numerous complaints from slope regulars that the

sun gets in their eyes mid to late afternoon. The committee has

promised to look into this.

• The prize in the ‘Find the Canopy’ competition remains unclaimed.

Would the winner please contact Lee.

• The spot the bench competition has had to be extended nationally.

• Phil and Andy continue to hold the slope record for the number of

sausage rolls consumed in one day. Following a lucrative deal with

Tupperware they are planning to represent the club in next year’s

Nationals

• In a shock move the BMFA has suspended its search for a national

The Mistral takes flight ( see over)

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centre following revelations that better halves appear to be

expecting an increase in the number of odious tasks to be

completed in order to give authorisation for the purchase of new

models and days flying. As a result the boffins at the BMFA are

undertaking a national study to establish a mathematical

formulation to assist members who are being taken advantage of.

• And finally: The SSA nettle soup stand at this years Nationals

turned a small profit.

On a marginally more serious note my Reichard Mistral (above and next

page) has finally flown, despite folk doubting it existed .To be fair it has

spent the best part of a year under a bench. It’s a 2.6 meter thermal and

slope glider with fibreglass fuzz with glassed and sheeted foam core

wings. It currently retails at £174 from T9 hobby sport.

The first flight showed a marked swing to the left; in fact more to the left

than Jeremy Corbyn. Following much collective muttering and scratching

of heads it was concluded that the left wing was heavier than the right

wing. 20gm was added to the right wing and this improved things

although full trim was still needed to keep it straight. So, something still

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wasn't quite right. Back on the bench the culprit was soon found. The

wings have 8 and 3 millimetre stainless wing joiners. The rear joiner

simply wasn't level with the larger front one. In fact it was 2mm lower on

the right side, hence more lift from the right wing. A quick drill and fill

solved the problem.

Sadly this wasn't the only problem I had with the fuzz. In two places the

fuzz halves were joined with all the skill and attention of a cheap Easter

egg. The main concern was that the vertical tail fin wasn't vertical. As it’s

a T tail the elevator needed packing to make it horizontal. Likewise I had

to fit the rudder vertically so it's slightly off set to the non-vertical tail fin.

On the plus side the wings came finished in translucent Oracover and are

exquisite. The fuzz, despite its problems has a good finish and is very

solidly made. Good value? Yes without doubt, and it's now flying

beautifully.

On the subject of beautiful, at the last swap meet I picked up a

Sophisticated Lady for a bargain £20. She had been left in a corner and

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nobody seemed to want her. To my eye she looked stunning, if a little old

fashioned. She had good servos and all I needed was a battery and

receiver.

When I started flying three years ago, I went from a Wildthing to Middle

phase and for some reason missed out rudder and elevator models. This

sophisticated lady has taught me the error of my ways. What an absolute

joy it is to fly. As a result of this chance meeting at the swap meet I am

now planning to acquire a Bird of Time. According to the BMFA, it’s

going to be expensive to pay this off. So far I reckon I will have to do

four shopping trips, paint a room and replace two new fence panels!

Next issue :

• Andy and Phil compare own brand supermarket sausage rolls with

some shocking results!

• John V explains how to avoid colliding with the wind turbines

planned for Higger Tor!

• Is there a monster hiding in the bracken? If so how did it get from

under Terry's bed?

Mr V., a glider….no wind turbines.

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As many of you will know, the DH 88 Comet was designed for the 1934

London to Melbourne air race and the version sponsored by Grosvenor

House, G-ACSS, won the competition.

This aircraft now forms part of the Shuttleworth Collection, and returned

to flying last year after issues with the undercarriage had grounded it for

some years. The photo below was taken at an Old Warden air show in

August:

A few years ago I built a PSS version of the Comet from a Cloud Models

kit. I flew it at the slope from time to time, but it really needed a good

blow which meant it never really got the air time it deserved.

I so enjoyed the flight display put on by the Shuttleworth Collection`s

Chief Test Pilot Roger (Dodge) Bailey that I felt I had to get more use of

the PSS model. The obvious solution was to convert it back to electric

flight.

I already had a couple of suitable E-Flite Park 450 motors together with

their speed controllers, salvaged from the Mosquito that had seen better

days. The only significant purchase therefore was a set of retracts. I had

Converting a Comet: Phil Barrett

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used E-Flite electric retracts on my P51 Mustang, and had been very

impressed by the quality whilst recognising that they were not the

cheapest around.

A trip to Leeds Models sourced the gear, and I was ready to go. The first

problem was to remove the existing nacelles, resolved by judicious use of

a Dremel drill and a number of cutting wheels. Once parted from the wing

I was able to measure up the space available within the nacelles. I needed

to mount the retracts as close to the leading edge as possible, recognising

the need to get the legs as far in front of the centre of gravity as possible.

The largest wheel that would be fully enclosed by the nacelle was 2"

diameter, which meant that the centreline of the leg when retracted would

need to be 1" above the bottom surface of the wing. I built a framework

from liteply and balsa to accommodate the retracts in the correct position,

and fixed it to the under surface of the foam cored wing with copious

quantities of Araldite supported by carbon fibre pegs to take the impact

loads from landing.

I now had an issue with the location of the existing aileron servos in each

nacelle, as the wheel and the servo wanted to occupy the same space.

Fortunately there was enough free space to relocate the servos, relatively

simple with the wing construction of a balsa skin over the foam core.

The matter of installing the motors now needed some thought. The E-Flite

motor was designed for a rear mount, but the problem was ensuring the

thrust angles were correct when gluing in the bulkhead to which the motor

was fixed. I decided to install the propeller and spinner on the output

shaft, with a removable 1/16th balsa shim between the front of the nacelle

for clearance. I was then able to position the motor and bulkhead within

the nacelle so everything was flush and true with the front of the cowling.

An initial glue with a hot glue gun gave me an quick fix, but I then

resorted to trusty Araldite to support the installation.

With retracts and motors in and the servos relocated I was now in the

finishing straight. The wiring to the nacelles needed to be buried in

grooves cut in the foam core. This was quite a task, as I was trying to

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accommodate power supply leads, speed controller leads, servo leads, and

retract leads. In the end I decided to use three different grooves in order to

prevent one huge groove weakening the wing too much. The grooves

were then covered with a 1/16th balsa capping strip sanded flush with the

wing surface. As you can imagine, the wing looks fairly busy on the top

surface with all the wires emerging, but of course they are hidden when

the plane is assembled.

There was inevitably the need to repaint the nacelles after filling the cut

lines and recover the underside of the centre section where the wiring

tunnels had been cut.

The fuselage needed little alteration, only the installation of a battery

hatch under the nose together with a liteply battery support and its

associated Velcro fixing.

The end result is shown below:

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My main concern with the build was the likelihood of the model being

vulnerable to tip stalling. The beautiful tapered wing shape is asking for

trouble, and of course installing the retracts didn`t help the wing loading.

Under normal circumstances I would have wanted to introduce some

significant washout to the trailing edge, but with a finished foam core

wing this just wasn`t possible.

I have had two flights to date with the model, and it looks and sounds

magnificent in the air. However, both flights have had some issues with

tip stalling in turns, fortunately recoverable. The secret appears to be to

keep up the flying speed whilst turning only with ailerons on a gentle

basis. Landings are quick, as you would expect with the wing loading and

the slippery shape. This is never going to be a relaxing model to fly, but

the sight of it in the air makes the stress worthwhile !

Up, up and

away...phew.

Guess what

happened one

second later.

Minimal damage

though.

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One Up for The North: Neil Stewart

Those of you who know me will be aware that I fly indoor rubber

powered free flight and some of you have seen me fly at Bradway or the

Manchester Velodrome. However I don’t just fly for fun. I also fly in

competitions, so off I went to Bristol to fly in the national championship.

I hoped to be accompanied by Pete Dolby, but he was out of the country

on family business, but I was assisted by Brian Castleton who acted as my

timekeeper, bag carrier and general factotum.

Arriving at our lodgings the night before the competition we found that

we were within sight of the venue, conveniently located between a pub

and the local sex shop. Flying was to take place at the Brabazon Hangar,

at Filton next to the Airbus works. This is the former Bristol Aircraft

works and contains a small private museum dedicated to the Bristol

works. Concorde was assembled there and there is a Concorde outside

one of the three the hangars.

The next morning we set off to find the way into our hangar, but

whichever way we went our way was blocked by security fencing.

Eventually we found our way to the security gate which was situated

down a cul-de-sac on a housing estate at the side of some allotments. We

were shown into the hangar by the museum curator who mounted a

bicycle and rode in front of us. He explained that because of the size of

the venue, it was easier to cycle than to walk. When we got in the place

was huge. If you have seen the hangar at Barkston, this had about six

times the floor area, and had an unobstructed height of I estimate 65 feet,

with about another 20 above that if you wanted to risk the girders.

I had entered six classes: pennyplane (3.1 gram class), gymminie cricket

(lightweight version of the BMFA kit), 35 centimetre (1 gram class), no

cal (profile scale), legal eagle (a small cabin model) and living room stick

(a 7 inch span lightweight). These were to be flown in various rounds

over the three days.

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I had never seen the venue before, unlike some of the other competitors

who lived nearer and had been able to practice there. Since it took me

over four hours to get there, this would never be an option for me. I was

therefore at a disadvantage from the start.

My strongest discipline is usually pennyplane, having placed at the

nationals at our old venue of Boulby (near Whitby) every year except one,

and having won it twice. The way it works is this. To get a good time you

need to make the most of the venue by flying right up to the ceiling,

cruising round and then descending. The technicalities of how to do this

are beyond the scope to this report, except to say you need to have made

the right propellers for the place you are flying in. As most of my flying is

done in venues with half the height of the Brabazon, my pennyplane

wouldn’t climb to the roof. The best I could manage in practice was 7

minutes, 17 seconds, not nearly enough. I put on thicker rubber but that

didn’t help. I did find a propeller designed for use at Cardington (over

In a Scout hut near you: You don’t have to go to Bristol to encounter indoor

rubber powered freeflight. Note the hand made prop

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100 foot ceiling). I thought would do, but it wouldn’t fit the motor stick.

Then the session ended and it was time for the lightweight classes.

I was only flying one lightweight class, that was the 35cm. challenge. I

only had one airframe with me, a well used and overweight one.

Misunderstanding the rules I started to fly on a half motor but I was soon

put right by the organisers. I put on a full motor and practiced a bit and

put in an official time of 8 minutes, 31 seconds. By the time I had done

that it was the end of the day’s flying.

On Sunday morning the air didn’t seem as good as it hadn’t warmed up

yet. I messed around with various stuff, assembled a pennyplane that I

had used at Boulby when I had won the class and fitted my only high

ceiling propeller. After lunch the air was good, and I improved my 35cm

times with a best of 8.52. I couldn’t get any more turns on as my motor

stick wasn’t strong enough. In pennyplane I managed 9.21 and 9.30, with

the model scraping the rafters, and running out of turns before landing.

As I had no more propellers with me so I settled for those times.

Not so much: if it looks right it’ll fly right as: If you can see it you are lucky.

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As the air was good I put in some times in no cal, with a best of 3.09, with

3.05 as backup. Being a scale event, these models don’t fly a long time,

so I was pleased with that. What I wasn’t so pleased about was that I

seemed to be the only entrant putting in times, so it wouldn’t be much of a

contest.

I felt I had done as well as I could so I packed up and left.

On Monday it was much colder so I didn’t try to improve my scores.

Some others were flying in no cal, so I felt better about that. I didn’t fly

gymminie cricket, as when I enquired no one else seemed to have a model

with them. I could have flown but I didn’t want to win by default.

Sunday seemed to be legal eagle day with several of us flying that class.

This is a new class to me and although my plane flew nicely with a good

pattern, it didn’t fly for long enough. Again I needed a different

propeller. My best time was 2.45 and really you needed in excess of three

minutes to place.

The last event was a champagne fly off in living room stick. This was to

be a mass launch at the end of the afternoon, the last down winning the

drink. There were members of the British F1D team in this so it was to be

quite competitive. We all launched together, and there were several mid

airs. I escaped but finished up in the corner, not climbing high enough,

probably due to my plane being too heavy, so I didn’t win the drink.

Anyway I don’t like champagne, if it had been scotch I’d have tried

harder.

At the end of the day I found I had won the no cal event, and was third in

pennyplane, so I felt I hadn’t let the Northern Area down, with me being

the only entrant from the north.

The last word must go to one of the Ulster contingent who said to me

when I was complaining how difficult the ceiling height made things,

said “Well the only thing you can do is wind the bejeezus out of your

motor”.

That’s all for now!

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Sometime over the summer, with nothing more than the promise of tea, I

lured John Broadhead round to my house. I know that sounds a bit weird

so let me point out that the aim of this was to get him to explain his mildly

eccentric habit of bolting wood and tiny bits of circuitry together to make

copters with varying numbers of propellers.

It was a trade off. He got tea, even a biscuit and I got an article… a real

quad pro quo... Boom boom.

Now John is the most modest of men and will hate me saying it, but I

have to say he is rather good at producing these flying bedsteads. True,

John’s flying machines will not win any beauty contests… but gosh do

they fly well.

What follows is a reconstruction of our conversation in mock interview

style.

So John, what got you into building quadcopters ?

Well I was just curious—mainly about the electronics. You really need to

be prepared to mess about with programming if you want to build a quad.

It's pretty easy though and there’s tons of guidance on the net these days.

So you don’t really need a degree in electronic engineering ?

Nope, I think my background in telephone engineering helped– it’s all

Quad Pro Quo: John Broadhead and Ed

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about problem solving and finding fixes and workarounds. I also think my

work with the CIA helped a bit.

Sorry John… you were in the CIA?

No. I will deny that if you use it.

Right ok. So you started with a quad ?

Yes, but I worked from scratch– there were no plans.

So what is a typical set up ?

Ok .I used the following for the quad in the pictures:

4 Engine bearers 12”x1/2x1/2

4 Bluewonder motors1300kv 8a props 8x4

4 Props 2cw 2ccw

4 12amp quad escs ( but plane ones can be used -although they

have smaller response times

1 Naze32 flight controller using Baseflight software which is free

from the net as an App in Google Chrome

1 Rx fr-sky 4channel receiver

1 lipo 1300mh

1 powerbreakout cable and tons of cable ties…tons and tons of

cable ties...and a partridge. It has to be in a pear tree though.

A close up of the robust engineering and liberal use of cable ties on

Johns’s quad

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I have since changed the escs to 20a.The RX is a fr-sky D4R-11 running

in CPPM mode ie one cable for RX to controller. (CPPM is a mixing type

for helicopters that allows 3 servos to drive the swash plate for two

functions (Cyclic and Collective Pitch Mixing). CPPM gives me seven

channels from a four channel receiver. The battery is a 1300 11.1 3 cell

and the weight without the battery is around 1lb.It flies fine on the stock

settings from flight controller

Steady as a rock and in complete defiance of all known laws of nature

Inverted ,it mowed the entire lawn on one battery

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Phew: Any building or flying tips ?

Think about what size you want to build. The smaller the model the

twitchier it is. There was a big difference between my 12inch and the

10inch. Read a lot and You Tube is a great source of info. Anything on

building by Bruce Simpson is good. Beware ESCs. I have found that

some even same model ones are not always set up the same from the

factory. There is a lot of discussion about whether to use Baseflight

software or Cleanflight for the flight controller. I think Cleanflight offers

a lot more potential. When it comes to test flying no two are the same. I

always hold them first to see if they pull in any direction. A common

problem is the gyro may be too sensitive. I always keep them fairly close

in – over 30ft and it starts getting easy to get disorientated.

Tell us about the tricopter in the rest of the photos.

My son bought a quadcopter and crashed it. There were three salvageable

motors. I was too tight to buy another one so a tricopter it was! I didn’t

even measure lengths or make a plan. I Copied tail from one on You tube

and it was actually dead simple. The tail governs yaw and spins it. It uses

an Openpilot controller. OpenPilot is an open-source community

dedicated to perfecting flight control algorithms. I bought mine from

banggood.com and it’s pretty easy to use, with good online instructions. I

get a flight time of around 4minutes with a 1000 mah battery

27

So what’s next ?

A bicopter. With full camera gear installed.

Well good luck with that…can we talk about your time in the CIA now ?

If we do I’ll have to kill you.

Ok John… maybe another time...

Editors notes:

Bruce Simpson seems a controversial figure in the RC world, at least in

terms of his relationship with Model Flying New Zealand, who are critical

of his views on flying quads. I haven’t seen anything to cast any doubt on

his building expertise though. John will happily answer any quad related

questions you have. Just don’t mention the CIA.

28

Endpiece

Photographic proof that Phil’s Comet lands fast.

Just as Malcolm launched his glider the Wormhole flashed into

existence. Seconds later it vanished and in another universe a

Wildthing glided gently to the ground.