Table of contents for August 2025 in RCM&E

Welcome to the August 2025 issue of RCM&E. My local club recently hosted its third Fun Fly competition of the year in which members take turns to try one the regular fun fly disciplines, albeit using a much more relaxed format than die-hard fun flyers would probably recognise. On that evening it was ‘Touch & Goes’. The rules were simple: make as many touch and goes within two-minutes as possible, scoring a point each time the model landed anywhere on the strip, with two points for any touches made within a smaller area marked out in front of the judges. My practice light went well so I awaited my two minutes of glory, enjoying the friendly banter as my clubmates put their skills and models through their paces. When my…

My love affair with the 47 started at a very young age, probably about 11. I was involved with the Air Scouts and one of the perks was access airside during the local annual airshow. One year the Army Air Corps ‘Blue Eagles’ team arrived with their two-tone blue painted Bell 47s (or, more accurately, their Westland built Sioux). I spent a memorable half hour sitting in the pilot’s seat going over the instruments and controls. I was hooked! At the time I was dabbling in fixed wing radio control and the R/C helicopter market was in its infancy. Apart from the Micro Mold Lark and the early (expensive!) Schluter HeliBaby there wasn’t much else available. But then Jim Morley came along with his Bell 47 kit and while the…

Popham Model Show is a relatively new show on the scene and unfortunately the last two years events clashed with other, well-established shows resulting in a poor trade presence and fewer pilots attending Popham. For 2025 the Popham organisers decided to mix things up and move their show to the beginning of the events season, making absolutely sure this time that it didn’t clash with anything else! What an inspired move! The 2025 Popham Model Show turned out to be an awesome event. I went on the Saturday, along with a bumper crowd who enjoyed watching 70 plus pilots do their stuff whilst also stocking up for the new season in the well-attended trade avenue overlooking the flight line. As I perused the pits there was a definite feeling of…

MODERN MÄXI Kevin, maybe you remember our conversation about a year and a half ago about building a proper retro model, like the Keil Kraft Fleetwing at your end or, from my side, the Mäxi. To cut a very long story short please find attached images of my modern, enlarged rendition of this classic design. Mäxi was originally designed by Heinz Elsässer in 1967. This is a new, revised and 15% enlarged version. The wingspan is 1680 mm, weight 3.01 kilograms. This model was developed in close collaboration with the original designer and now features an empennage with an aerofoil section and a completely new wing, with its thickness reduced from 17 to a mere 11.8 percent and using outboard ailerons. It is electric, powered using a 6S LiPo and…

Top letter For his letter this month Sid Hazell wins a compact e455 multi chemistry AC input charger courtesy of Overlander Batteries: www.overlander.co.uk HANDLEY PAGE ‘GUGNUNC’ Regarding the above heading, I would like to let you know that I have been working on a unique project for the last 40 years (slow progress). The aircraft is a 1/4 scale flying model of the HP 39 ‘Gugnunc’ complete with flaps and slats. The original aircraft is hanging from the ceiling at the Science Museum in London. (https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk and search for Gugnunc) The reason for the slow progress is that I got married 34 years ago (a much prettier project). I am a member of the HPA (Handley Page Association) and an ex-employee. Although the aircraft is progressing slowly it included…

SEAGULL GILMORE RACER (50CC) £694.99 I www.jperkins.com One of the latest additions to Seagull Models’ impressive inventory, this 81” wingspan Gilmore Racer is sure to stir the blood of any intermediate to advanced R/C pilot. With an imposing dummy radial, classic ‘30s wheel fairings, bracing wires, teardrop tail and iconic detailed livery, Seagull have perfectly captured the machine’s style and powerful race pedigree in a semi-scale balsa and ply ARTF that simply oozes realism and has a light performance to match. Requires a 40 - 60 cc petrol engine (or electric equivalent), 6-channel R/C and 6 x digital servos. Pop into your local J.Perkins dealer for a closer look. JP CHALLENGER 50 SS ARTF £239.99 I www.jperkins.com Celebrating J Perkins’ 50th Anniversary of service to the industry, this striking Challenger…

LLEYN MAC BRING & FLY Alan Williams, webmaster of the Lleyn Model Aero Club, extends a warm welcome to all RCM&E readers to visit the club’s annual ‘Bring & Fly’ weekend from 26th - 28th September 2025: Despite the 2024 event being restricted to Saturday only due to the weather the club considered it a success and a good rehearsal for future events. At the last event the aircraft on display were an impressive collection of high-quality models with some equally impressive flying. The club was also pleased to welcome a contingent from a local Air Cadet Squadron who brought along their models and with the help of our club members they got up and running and test flown at the event. Following on from the 2024 event the club…

The Indoor Scale Nationals event has grown so much over the last few years and this year found us once again starting the weekend with the now ‘traditional’ visit to RAF Cosford. This time Paul Rich had excelled himself and managed to get us something extra special; in fact, not just one special treat but two! First, as well as the wonderful museum exhibits, Paul had arranged for us to visit the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre, (workshop) and see restoration work being undertaken. Second, Brian Hunt organised and led a tour on board the fascinating Nimrod. Brian explained that the aim of the museum is to have as much of the aircraft’s electronics working as possible. Seeing the data surveillance gathering workstations was very impressive. And getting a chance to…

Next is the canopy and hatch. Trim the 3 mm lite ply base to fit, ensuring that the grain runs crosswise to allow it to follow the curve of the longerons. Cyano in place C1 and C3 and then drill through front and back for the 6 x 3 mm magnets. Leave the drill bit in place after the first hole and drill the second with another drill bit to prevent unwanted movement. Repeat as you move up through the drill sizes. Blacking out the interior of the cockpit is best done now whilst the interior is accessible; a felt tip pen was used on the prototype. Once the magnets have been epoxied in place add C2 and the laminated ply hoop, trimming off the ends after trial fitting. Now…

As mentioned in a previous ‘One Man…’, I had suggested following up on a theme I’d been asked about earlier: converting existing model kits from rubber power to electric powered R/C devices. It’s been done before by many, from the small, scale kits supplied by several companies, up to models approaching a one metre wingspan. So where to start? As before, I like to take a pragmatic approach. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel, take a reasonably sized model, use easy to source and cheap equipment and only add extra wood and weight where it’s absolutely necessary. Specialised, ultra-small/light avionics and tiny models can wait until later when experience has begun to build. As a test model I chose one of the Dumas range of 30’’ (750 mm) wingspan rubber…

BMAC EASY GLIDER The Basingstoke club holds an annual Fun Challenge Day with a different event each year. Their 2023 event featured a mass build of Spitty models made from Depron. For 2024, Roy Thompson proposed a glider challenge. The idea was to design a simple to build electric glider that would fly nicely with a reasonable glide. After researching suitable plans, Roy had the basis to start drawing up the 1.6 metre span BMAC Easy Glider which is constructed from 5 mm Vitrex premium foam underlay. Fibreglass cross-weave tape and packing tape is added for strength and colour, and the fuselage is basically a long foam box to hold all the parts together. MODEL MAGIC Always preferring scale models, Kevin Wesley has built several from kits and plans over…

It’s the summer of 2018 and I’m in Meiringen, Switzerland at the F4 Scale World Championships on a large military airfield surrounded by the beautiful Swiss Alps. My father, Marcus, is attending a World Championship for the first time after having resumed flying after several years off. He is competing with his 1:3 scale Stampe S.V.4c. After the second round my dad is surprisingly near the top of the rankings as a newcomer and has a good chance of making it to the podium. As you can probably guess, he did it - my dad became the World Champion in F4H! “Incredible, I want to do this too!”, I said to my dad. So, we didn’t waste any time and started right away. The search for the right aeroplane was…

You know how it goes - you don’t see a maiden for ages, etc… First up at CMFC was the cooperative build of the fifth scale Slingsby Tandem Tutor from Trevor Hewson and Peter Caldecott (fuselage and wings respectively). I had brought the original along for the occasion but as it had the same colour scheme as mine you could be forgiven for thinking that you had double vision. The maidens went off without incident, each builder taking it in turns, and satisfaction abounded. Then the photographer in me took over and I lined the pair up for a few static shots. The day was bright and sunny, with a light breeze, and as the post flight conversation continued there was a sudden loud crash and we turned to see…

My Eurofighter Typhoon has flown indoors and outdoors using a standard four channel micro-Rx with 5A integral ESC. As a comparison the Trident F-4, using a Minimum 35 mm 1S EDF unit, has a 320 mm span and weighs 36 g ready to fly with a 1S 380 LiPo. The Typhoon uses the Minimum 30 mm EDF unit and has a 340 mm span but still only weighs 36 g. I have also been experimenting with the new Minimum 30 mm unit fitted with the more powerful 7.2 volt coreless motor. A Minimum RC 2S 12A ESC and 2S 180 LiPo are required for this system. This adds a very small amount of weight for quite an increase in thrust. I will be keeping you up to date with the…

As an experiment, two different models were 3D printed to see if that kind of construction was viable and actually flew well. One was a P-47 Thunderbolt, the other a scale open structure Cub look-alike called a Zlin Savage Bobber. Both plans were from Plane Print. The idea came from my son Jack and his clubmates at the Woodsprings Club who had the printing expertise and wherewithal, starting with the P-47. The construction technique was to very carefully align and join the sections of printed plane with CA glue, not so easy to do well. All other gear was either screwed or glued in place. Jack completed the prototype without any major problems but found the end result quite tail heavy, solved by using two 2200 mAh LiPo packs in…

BRAKE TESTED! During the 2024 Basingstoke All Electric Fly-In James Bennet was flying his HeeWing Ranger in FPV mode and following Dom Mitchell’s Avios Super Tucano on a circuit. Dom decided to drop the flaps for a slow fly-by and, as the model slowed down, James’ Ranger ploughed into the back of it! Dom’s Super Tucano escaped pretty much unscathed, but James’ Ranger disintegrated in mid-air and fell to the ground. James reported a few days later he’d repaired the model and it was back in the air again for more FPV shenanigans! DATAFILE…