Table of contents for June 2025 in RCM&E

Welcome to the July 2025 issue of RCM&E. Ever since I took back the reins of editing this magazine in 2019, I have used the same picture of myself on the first page of every issue. But recently, thanks to my friend Barry Atkinson behind the camera, I finally managed have a replacement taken, showing a new model to go along with all those extra grey hairs! In the original picture I was seen holding my SebArt Wind S 50E, which is still going strong. The ‘new’ model is my 78-inch Pilot RC Extra NG, which is an equally gorgeous model to fly, suiting my preferred style of relaxed turnaround aerobatics to a tee. Yes, it can perform 3D aeros easily enough, but I much prefer to guide it through…

The next jobs involved making and fitting a removable tailplane, aligning the tail feathers and sorting out a steerable tailwheel. The tailwheel would originally have been supplied with the kit but probably found a new home on a different model. The tailplane was built as a three-piece assembly, with the centre section to be permanently fitted to the fuselage. The outer sections are supported by 6 mm carbon rods fed into brass tubes built into the centre section. The front pair of rods align the LE of the tailplane and each penetrates halfway into the centre tube. The rear carbon rod is bonded onto the wooden tailplane spar on one side. The remaining length feeds through the rear tube in the centre section, then into a second tube bonded to the…

Much as I enjoy the process of designing and building my own models my busy job leaves me little spare time. This is why, apart from scratch-built models, my fleet also contains several Almost Ready to Fly (ARF or ARTF) aircraft. In my case all of these are either Extreme Flight or SebArt designs, which are produced by the same factory. When it comes to flying, I find that these models are hard to beat being lightweight, with a good finish and no bad habits. The only thing that I am less keen on is their price tag, but what isn’t expensive nowadays? Some time back, when it was just released, I treated myself to the 73 inch (1854 mm) Extreme Flight Extra. This model only enjoyed a brief life…

A powered flying wing with a prop up front always looks a bit odd to me. So, during the design and development of my Hi8us flying wing design, which featured in the July 2022 issue of RCM&E, a pusher prop was a must have. I also wanted to mix sports aerobatic powered flying with an efficient glide phase, so a folding prop was also essential. This was all very well, but I soon realised there was a potential risk of catastrophe! Read on to discover why and how to mitigate the risk…. FOLDING FORCES Folding propellers use centrifugal force to swing the blades out into action. It’s the same force anyone trying to sit on a fast-moving playground roundbout feels as the centrifugal force tries to throw them out radially,…

ANTHEM DOUBLE ACT Here’s Mark Allen and I with our BJ Craft Anthems at the Bury MFC. Both models had their maiden flights last September, but we have only just managed to get together for this photo. I introduced Mark to F3A competition and we both now fly in the UKF3A National League in the FAI (P25) class. Our Anthems are powered by Adverrun contra drive units with Debowski D3 ESCs and 10S 5000 mAh flight packs. Mark won the FAI (P25) class at the last UKF3A Nationals, as well as flying helicopters and EDF jets. Photo is by Steve Tarrant. Peter Jenkins BALSACRAFT SEA FURY As a regular RCM&E reader I thought I would send you a few photos of my latest build, a Balsacraft Sea Fury. A few…

JAVELIN LAUNCH This ‘Bird of Time’ was made by my friend Baptista Pereira (BP) a while ago as a motor glider. BP is a former Portuguese F1A and F5J national champion who has also represented our country internationally. His free- light roots clearly show in the quality of his building. The main reason I’m sending these pictures is not related to BP’s prowess as a modeller but the launch technique of our friend Mário Madeira. By the look of it maybe we should start calling him Super Mario. He does lack the moustache though! He is a gym teacher and it shows. That throw was almost javelin like. Notice he is o f the ground at launch. I just wish I knew beforehand that he would throw it like that…

BECOME AN RCM&E PLAN DESIGNER We trust you enjoyed Lindsay Todd’s short series ‘Drawing A Plan’ in the March and April issues of RCM&E and we hope it has inspired you to put pencil to paper (or mouse to CAD software!) to draw up your own designs into plans that can be used to build successful R/C aircraft. For those that intend to do so, as well as those readers who may already have some designs under way, either at the drawing stage or as partially completed aeroplanes, when your models are finished and flight tested then we’d very much like to hear from you with a view to possibly publishing your designs as future Pro-Plans in the centre of RCM&E. Please email the editor with your ideas: kcrozier@mortons.co.uk We…

Basingstoke Model Aero Club (BMAC) have been running their annual All Electric Fly-In since 2004 and it has become something of a mecca for electric flight enthusiasts. The 2024 event was held in mid-September and saw 40 plus pilots turn up with car boots and vans crammed full of models ranging from lovely scale beauties through sports jobs to prototypes being tested. As I perused the pits before the pilots briefing, I could see we were in for a good day! BMAC have a superb patch. The strip runs west to east with a slight rise at the west end so landing into a prevailing westerly is a doddle. The pits are just 10 paces behind the flight line and run the whole length so there’s plenty of space for…

My model of the Boulton Paul Defiant Mk.1 is built from the Chris Golds plan (MW3764), using the laser cut wood pack and canopy set supplied by Sarik Hobbies. It is 72” wingspan, weighs 13 lbs, with a 6S 5000 mAh LiPo driving a Ripmax Quantum II 61 motor. The working turret is my own design. It uses four channels: the servo that raises and lowers the retractable fairing behind the turret, switching on and off a Dr Mad Thrust gun flicker unit which drives the flashing LEDs in the gun muzzles, a servo to rotate the turret and a servo to move the guns up and down. It is all controlled by sequencers programmed in my Jeti transmitter so just one switch on the transmitter starts and stops the…

Last month saw me preparing for the first flight of the Step One Baby and I’m pleased to say the fledgling has not disappointed. However, from egg to first flight was a slightly more complex process than I had anticipated. This has nothing to do with building the model which, aided by the on-line manual (containing no less than 50 photos!) was very easy. After 75 years of model building and flying, can you still experience euphoric moments? The answer is yes, you definitely can, and size really doesn’t matter, which is a good thing! I had high hopes for her/him (well, you can’t call a baby ‘it’, can you). My model came very speedily from AT Models and with minimal beautifully coloured foam parts and CA recommended for the…

Many who know me will know that I am slightly partial to the old Balsacraft/Precedent kits and one model that I usually take everywhere is my Limbo Dancer. I’ve not been without one for many a year. It’s one of those models that’s fun; it will get on and off the ground easily in winter conditions; it just works in any situation and should anything ever happen to it I can build another from the plans very quickly. However, my Limbo Dancer had not seen the flying field in around three months, due to an experiment gone wrong or maybe an error in judgement on my part. For years I’ve powered my Limbo Dancer with an old O.S. Max 40 FP two stroke. A good, reliable glow engine, it’s nice…

Further to my article on the Encanto F5L competition thermal soarer in the January issue, I planned to review another design for the same class and then later write another article comparing the flight characteristics of the two. Although I write that the Encanto and the Skyhawk are competition models, they are equally suitable for sport flying. The F5L class allows for a mainly wooden construction, two metre wingspan thermal soarer with an electric motor for launching. The competition rules consider the flight duration within a set time window followed by a precision landing for additional points. The class dictates the models can only be controlled with rudder, elevator and spoilers (air brakes for precision landing) and is commonly also referred to as RES. As such it is probably the most…

A simple butt joint is not the strongest of joints in the general lexicon of fitting things together but there are times when there is little in the way of options. I speak specifically of the average canopy frame whereby the side rails have to be attached to the front and rear frames in situ so as to ensure a proper fit. There is a simple way to reinforce these joints by pinning them together with short lengths of fine piano wire. Here’s the trick: cut a short length of the piano wire with your wire cutters, ensuring you do so at an acute angle in order to form a sharp point. Fit the wire, point outwards, into your drill chuck and drill into the framework to create the joint.…

At the end of my assembly review of the D-Day version of XFly-Model’s Spitfire Mk.IX in the April issue I signed off with the promise to “… bring you up to date with how the ‘Johnnie Johnson’ Spitfire flies as soon as I can.” Now, finally, I can make good on that promise after several weeks of waiting for the right conditions. Originally, I had planned to make this model’s maiden flight from the tarmac runway of a Cotswold based club that I had recently joined, as a follow up to the successful first outing of the Spitfire’s desert liveried sibling at the same strip earlier this year. However, work commitments and bothersome wind directions (every which way but the right ones!) conspired against me. I am also fortunate to be…

My simple and lightweight method of mounting the aileron servos is to make mounting brackets and glue them directly to the rib. If you have a 3D printer you can print a neat mount specific to your chosen servo, otherwise knock up a balsa and hardwood version. Either way, face the mounting plate with balsa to form a frame for the wing covering to attach to. I have used this method for years and it has proven to be perfectly adequate. The servos I used throughout are Hitec HS82MG but any mini servo with a similar torque spec will be okay. I would strongly recommend using metal gear versions to reduce the possibility of gear stripping in the event of a sudden stop. Full size servos are best avoided on…

SLINGSBY SKYLARK 1 The full-size Skylark 1 made its appearance in the 1950s. At one-sixth scale, as interpreted by Chris Williams for RCM&E’s next pull-out Pro-Plan, it makes a very handily sized glider and fits nicely with Chris’s previous scale models at this scale. As this is a fairly small aeroplane and the wing loading needs to be kept low the airbrakes have been left out and so glide path control has shifted to the ailerons which are programmed to lift simultaneously when the occasion demands. Also, the wing mounting pylon has been widened to help contain the strain from any side loads, such as an emergency crosswind landing on the slope. Please note that although small in size the Skylark needs as much building as any larger scale model…