Table of contents for November 2022 in RCM&E

I am writing this month’s editorial at a time of great sadness for the United Kingdom, The Commonwealth and many countries around the world as we mourn the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. However, by the time you read this the events of early September will have passed into history, as once again the fickle nature of magazine schedules means that our tribute to such a unique and special lady, shown below, is somewhat delayed. This is because the October issue went to press just hours before we received the sad news about Her Majesty’s passing, so this message is almost a month in the waiting. Despite this I am sure that a large majority of our readers will wish to join me in celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s long…

I recently covered my long time build of a Veron Tomtit and mentioned that Phil Smith, the designer had told me of a connection with Hollywood, Star Wars and the injection moulded replica engine cylinders included in the kit. I was interested to find out if anybody out there had more detailed information regarding this snippet, so I put a cheeky request in my column and some info duly arrived from George Fridlington. George had been building his Tomtit from plans and needed to source some of the replica radial engine mouldings. He contacted Colin Smith (Phil’s son) who pointed him to a company that owned the moulds and could still manufacture them. The owner sent the following to him in 2013:“Hi George, we do own the mould for the…

1 For some years now I’ve been fascinated by the myths and ‘what if’s’ surrounding the Luft46 (Google it) aircraft. It was a dark period in history for both sides, but as a former RAF Engineer the technical aspects intrigue me and keep drawing me in. Some of the German designs were decades ahead of anything else the allies had even dreamed of, let alone built! The inspiration for this little project initially came from a photo I spotted on one of the Luft46 sites of a model by Peter Iliffe. After some digging through the internet, I eventually found a copy of the plan and a couple of photos of the finished model. Peter’s plan was drawn at 1:20th scale, which gave a span of approximately 42cm. Although the…

ANOTHER HEINKEL This is my own design, ‘not really scale’ Heinkel He-162 Salamander. In fact, it’s so non-scale that I’ve called it the ‘Heinkelike Similamander’… The idea came when, on a whim, I bought a pretty cheap (and unfortunately pretty noisy) 45mm, 8-blade fan unit online. I then needed a model to put it in. I’ve always enjoyed the so-called ‘Luftwaffe 1946’ aircraft (i.e., the aircraft that were never produced) and although the 162 was built in limited numbers, it never saw action in any significant volumes. It is also (in my opinion) a beautiful design. So, I set to with a three-view drawing, a free CAD package and reference copies of a couple of existing designs and produced a working plan. Over many months that plan was converted into…

This series is about the building of a half size V8 aero engine, the ENV Type F dating from 1910. It will describe how this particular prototype was chosen and the resources available for research. It will round off with a description of the cast aluminium crankcase and the pattern making involved. Subsequent articles will cover all the main aspects of the build, including the intriguing subject of electroformed water jackets. The series originally appeared in Model Engineer, beginning in 2016 and was written as work proceeded with no guarantee of final success. But I can now report that the engine was eventually finished in October 2021 and runs well. EARLY AERO ENGINES The early history of the piston aero engine during the period leading up to WW1 is neither…

The full-size JAS-39 Gripen is the latest generation of fighter from SAAB, those quirky Swedes who have a fondness for delta and canards, with the previous Draken and Viggen delta and double delta. The Gripen is a canard equipped delta, which has been in service since 1996 with the Swedish Air Force. It is also flown by the Hungarian, Czech and South African air forces. The example being modelled here by FlyFans is based on the colourful Czech 211 Squadron Tiger scheme. It incorporates retracts, functioning canards, and is powered by a 70mm fan using a 3200 to 4200mAh 6S LiPo through an 80-amp ESC. The kit provided by CML Distribution was an evaluation sample and they asked us to not only review the model but to also evaluate it…

Mini sport aerobatic For many modellers the Covid lockdowns produced quite a bit more building than flying. So, I finally got round to drawing and building this little knockabout. It is really just something to chuck in the car with the larger models and get out at the end of the day for a bit of fun. I drew up a rough plan, built it and flew it. After a few minor tweaks it was flying great and better than I hoped, and after flying it at the club strip I was asked for a usable plan. I had named it Little Star but after being mocked mercilessly by our club’s resident mickey taker, Nigel Castle, saying it sounded like the name of a child’s toy, I had a rethink.…

Allo, allo, what’s Ashby doing back? Well, that’s a good question and one I can only answer by highlighting a series of discussions I had with our Kevin following the sudden loss of dear Alex. In that dreadfully sad respect, I can honestly say that I’d rather not be here. However, when Kevin hinted at the possibility of helping to partially fill the huge void left by Al’, the journalist in me was awakened, nostalgia kicked in, the mind began chewing over possible content and, well, here I am. In that respect I need to make it perfectly clear that I’m not here to replace Alex or even attempt to mimic his column, his style or his content. You and I both know what a ridiculous notion that would be.…

A quibbling question: whilst playing with one of my ‘boy’s toys’ at the side of the runway an inquisitive chap sidled up to me and asked a question that frankly raised my hackles more than a little. ‘Why do you bother with putting something in the cockpit? It’s a waste of money and effort, isn’t it?’ That’s tantamount to asking a top-flight scale modeller why he bothers to build a magnificent replica of his chosen aircraft when he can get away with an ARTF plastic pastiche. The ‘look’ is what is needed, as simple or difficult as you choose to do it. GOING THE EXTRA MILE Or even just an inch… ‘Dressing’ a model, scale or otherwise, gives a nice but bland aircraft that extra bit of life, the nod…

Andrew Taylor, a lifelong aeromodeller who, since the 1960s, had owned a 1000-acre arable farm in North Norfolk, complete with its own airstrip and model flying site, was a passionate aviation enthusiast, both model and full-size. Andrew sadly passed away recently, and this is written as a tribute to show some of the contributions to his life-long passion of aeromodelling, both nationally as well as locally in his beloved County of Norfolk. As well as being a very modest and experienced modeller, Andrew had been a highly respected stalwart of the Large Model Association for many years, hosting Fly-Ins, open to the LMA and local model clubs, which have raised thousands of pounds for the East Anglian Air Ambulance. He had been designing and building unusual, quirky scale models for…

Popham is a bustling airfield right alongside the A303, 11 miles south-west of Basingstoke. Show Organisers Mike Pearson, from the airfield, along with Terry Weeks and Alan Wallington from the Southern Area branch of the BMFA, heeded the feedback they had received from last year’s inaugural event and put together a smashing show for us over the weekend of 20th and 21st August 2022. On the day Terry was in charge of the flight line, ably assisted by Dave Newby who managed the flying slots board, and Pete Bennett and Steve Vine who were the show’s Flight Line Directors, making sure everyone on the flight line side behaved themselves. On the public side of the show Alan, the show’s Trade Coordinator, kept tabs on the traders whilst Commentator, Derek Small…

SAITO FG-41TS £1049.95 I www.hobbyplastic.co.uk In a world where electric power is seemingly dominant in our hobby it’s good to see that the market remains strong when it comes to liquid fuelled engines, a prime example being the latest release from Saito. Designed and manufactured to the jewel-like standard that’s become synonymous with the brand, the 40.9cc FG-41TS twin four-stroke petrol comes complete with electronic ignition and brings the promise of power, reliability, longevity, and economy. Measuring 160mm long (stand-off mount to firewall) x 215mm wide and suitable for 18 x 10” to 20 x 8” props at 1,700 - 8,300rpm, the 41TS will grace the engine bay of any suitably sized model. Available from your local MacGregor stockist or online from Hobbyplastic. SEAGULL TURBO SKYLANE 182 £302.99 I www.jperkins.com…

Well known indoor modeller, Eric Strefford has, of course, more than two models in his hangar and at the time of writing there are eleven designs available. I have had the F-35 and the Hawk flying well for some time and a feature in the August RCM&E by the late Alex Whittaker spurred me into increasing my squadron strength. Before expanding on this I’ll just take a step backwards. My F-35 and Hawk were being enjoyed indoors pre-covid and after numerous flights I added an undercarriage to the Hawk. The weight of the F-35 without the flight LiPo is 27g and the Hawk with U/C 28g. Add to this the 1S LiPo; a higher power type is needed, and I use the Giant Power 220/260mAh 50C cell which weighs around…

If you love model aeroplanes it’s pretty much impossible to ignore all those RTF electric powered R/C scale jobs made primarily of expanded foam. But no matter how cool they might look on a low fly-past, up close they can’t help reminding me of squishy food packaging. And the average factory foam finish is seriously vulnerable to dirt, dings and degradation from even minor impacts. Using Ezekote and 1.5 oz glass cloth, along with Foam 2 Foam glue, I’ll explain how to add a finish that that both strengthens the surface of such models and improves the appearance dramatically. Check out my complete step by step conversion on www.rcmodel.com.…

LOST GLIDER GUIDER Fortune favoured this classic glider pilot at the Sherlowe aerotow held at the end of May. As luck would have it, Frank Skilbeck had packed his DJI Mini 2 drone in the back of his car and it was the perfect bit of kit for spotting the lost soarer. Over to Frank: “I used the Mini 2 in search mode helping to locate a glider ‘landing’ in the adjacent rape seed field, where the rape seed was over 1.5 metres tall.” The following text was first used in Arnaldo Correia’s ‘Spanish Dawn Patrol’ article published in RCM&E November last year. However, we didn’t have sufficient space to show the entire sequence that Arnaldo managed to capture on camera. As Arnaldo says, it’s a salutary but very Photo:…