Table of contents for October 2025 in RCM&E

Welcome to the October 2025 issue of RCM&E. At my local model club over recent weeks, it has been interesting to witness one of my clubmates being coached as a new examiner for the BMFA Achievement Scheme. A ter finishing a light during my last session Neil sidled up to me with a grin on his face and I had an inkling of what was coming, ‘Please can you take a dummy B Test for me?’ I was only too pleased to help, on the proviso that Neil and our Area Chief Examiner, John wouldn’t take my ‘proper’ B away from me as without any prior practice I knew my light would be a bit rough around the edges! It was also a very windy, gusty day and I hadn’t…

Flight ready in 30-minutes says the J Perkins webpage for the Top RC S Cub 1500 mm. I timed the assembly of our review sample and that’s pretty much spot on. Other key features listed are glue free assembly, a factory fitted 3720-900 kV brushless motor, a pre-installed aerotow release, metal geared elevator, rudder and tow release servos, 17 g flap servos, an oversize battery bay suitable for 4S 2200 to 2700 mAh LiPo packs and - most eye-catching of all - a pair of large pneumatic tyres with air valves. UNBOXING Lifting the lid on the white cardboard kit box reveals a set of few airframe parts wrapped in individual bubble wrap bags, comfortably suspended at each end by two towers of firm but flexible foam. The wing panels…

Woodspring Wings MAC is located on the North Somerset Levels, just off the M5 at J20. The club has been holding its annual model show since the early 1990s. The 2025 show happened to coincide with the hottest weekend of the year so far with temperatures well into the 30°Cs. I popped along on the Sunday, which was the cooler of the two days, with more of a breeze, albeit rather gusty and variable thanks to the thermal activity about. Plenty of pilots braved the conditions though, giving the crowd an exciting and varied display throughout the day under the supervision of Flight Line Director, Steve Holland and commentators Sharon Holland and Brett Houghton. TRIBUTE I love the distinctive lines of early Y2K turboprop planes and was excited to see…

“Challenging!”, came the reply with a wide grin. I’d just asked Philip Kolb, the highly respected German flyer and glider designer, what he thought of the conditions. “Typical English [weather]”, said the friendly Frenchman Alex Gouillon. It was Saturday afternoon, Interglide 2025 was in full swing, and it was just a tad windy. At one point the gazebo I’d been sitting under looked like it might take off and put in a respectable score. A late June weekend saw 41 competitors descend on Hamilton Farm near Ashford. It’s a lovely setting with a small grass airstrip, camping site, fishing pond and cafe. Like many Kentish grass airfields, it’s located near one of the Advance Landing Grounds (ALGs), the temporary airfields built by the USAAF to provide air support for the…

Before building and then flying a lightweight F3P type model, typified by the RC Factory Clik 25, it is sensible to consider a few things. First, where will you fly it? It’s a great model for operating outdoors in calm conditions but it is really intended for indoor use. Do you have a suitable indoor flying area available where models of this type can be flown safely? Second, the build process is quite complicated using 3 mm EPP, lots of carbon fibre (CF) rod and cyanoacrylate (CA) adhesive. Third, are your flying skills up to piloting what is basically a FP3 aerobatic competition type of model? Last, but not least, the R/C gear must be small and light so will you have to buy new items? I am definitely not…

RAINWATER RUNOFF Steve Kilbon’s slot at the Weston Park 2025 Model Show followed a heavy shower which had just passed through. Steve kept the rain of the electronics during the shower but let the air low blow the water of the airframe during take-o f, resulting in a shower of raindrops running of the back of the model, some of which got vaporised by the turbine’s exhaust. Steve went on to treat us to a splendid display. Needless to say, the model was beautifully blow dried as it taxied back to the pits! The aircra t is a BVM Jets 1:5.5 scale F-18 Hornet of 2.2 metres wingspan, powered by a Spark 260N turbine. It is finished in the RCAF’s 2023 display colours. DATAFILE…

BMFA NATIONAL CENTRE AUTUMN EVENTS Manny Williamson, Manager of the BMFA’s National Centre at Buckminster writes: There is no doubt that it’s been our busiest year at the National Centre and it’s been extremely pleasing to welcome so many new visitors. Although the first signs of Autumn are already in the air there is still plenty going on and the programme of events goes on until almost the end of the year. As always there’s a wide selection of activities to cater for all model flying tastes, from turn up and fly sessions to the more formal competitions and National Championships, as well as regular training events and shopping opportunities, with the added bonus of camping availability. What’s not to like! Coming soon Here’s just a sample of events over…

I am showing the nearby excerpt from April 2012 RCM&E because the project never was concluded and I do get asked what happened to the Piper Apache. Well, the truth is the model is too small for serious scale competition in my opinion and even though the model was ready to fly (apart from paint) I moved onto other things, as we often do. I am pleased to say that the model has now flown and apart from C of G issues it went very well. But a bit more of that shortly… GRAVINER FOUND In my last column I chatted about the very successful Indoor Nationals and part of that was a very pleasant Friday spent at the RAF Museum Midlands (RAF Cosford). Brian Hunt and the team made…

The Gloster Javelin is the first of three new models I will be revealing as pullout Pro-Plans in RCM&E over the next few months. The Javelin will be followed by the Jaguar GR.1 and then the Tornado GR4. All three models continue to follow my recent theme of post war jets, particularly classic aircraft of the 1960s to 1970s era. The Javelin has always been a favourite of mine and is a subject that is rarely modelled. This model, along with the Jaguar and Tornado, have been flying as bare wood prototypes for some years now, simply because I don’t like covering models. But also, if I ever wished to make any modifications, it is much easily done on an uncovered model than ruining a covered, finished model. Well, that’s…

For this month’s kit preview I’m going to take a look inside the box of the VQ Tiger Moth kit which was sent over by their UK distributor MacGregor Industries. With a wingspan of 1.4 metres VQ’s rendition of the classic British biplane is available in two colours. The yellow version replicates G-AHIZ, as flown by the Cambridge Flying Group, and from a quick look at their website (https://www.flyvintage.co.uk) it looks to be a pretty good semi-scale likeness. However, our review model is for a German registered aircraft, a DH 82A Tiger Moth II, D-EHHT which started its career in the Royal Air Force. Postwar it received several German registrations and was displayed at the Deutsches Museum Flugwerft Schleissheim from 1992 to 2014. This is a branch of the German…

The Stearman (Boeing) Model 75 is a biplane initially used as a military training aircraft. Over ten thousand were built in the USA during the 1930s and 40s. Stearman Aircraft became a subsidiary of Boeing in 1934. Known as the Stearman, Boeing Stearman or Kaydet, it served as a primary trainer for the US Army Air Forces, the US Navy (as the NS and N2S), and with the Royal Canadian Air Force as the Kaydet throughout World War II. After the war was over thousands of surplus Stearmans were sold for civilian use, becoming popular as crop dusters and sport planes, as well as for aerobatic and wing walking displays at air shows. In the UK the Stearman is probably best known for the thrilling wing walking displays by the…

It used to be that when it came to sourcing the spruce spars for my wings I was able to get hold of six-foot lengths, thus obviating the need to join separate shorter lengths to get the job done. Now though, postal rates have become so prohibitive for anything over four feet in length that, added to the sky-high costs of materials generally, it has become necessary to consider the unsavoury possibility of some old-fashioned splicing, or scarfing if you prefer. The concept is simple enough: make the angle of the splice acute enough to give the maximum gluing area. But the process can be complicated. This was not my first dance with the process, so I wasn’t going in cold, but I thought it might be a good idea…

Last time, due to space limitations, I had to break away from my description of the internal components of this very nicely made model helicopter. So, let’s resume with the avionics, including the H1 Flight Controller and M10N GPS unit which are all neatly installed. The 4S 3000 mAh LiPo and the ply battery mounting tray are fitted with matching pieces of hook and loop tape so the battery can be dropped straight in after charging. A thin hook & loop strap is also supplied to wrap underneath the mount and around the LiPo to keep it well restrained in flight. Unlike most model helicopters of this size fitted with two individual tail blades the Bell is fitted with a one piece, two-blade tail rotor of 153 mm diameter. This…

Top letter For his letter this month John Adams wins a compact e455 multi chemistry AC input charger courtesy of Overlander Batteries: www.overlander.co.uk CHEROKEE SURVIVOR I read Keith Cherrington’s letter about the VK Cherokee and it certainly brought back memories. The Cherokee was my first low wing model a ter learning on a Senior Falcon, initially using 10 channel Orbit reed equipment, then using Kra t equipment. Like Keith’s, it was powered by one of Dennis Allen’s Twin plug Merco 61’s. I noticed Keith’s had the ‘dustbin’ silencer on his engine. The Cherokee was built by my father, which we both lew. As Keith says, it was a delight to ly. This dates to about 1967. The model we built I still have to this day. It is showing…

NIPPON TOMBO When Dave Goodenough was researching his next own design the Nippon ‘Tombo’ (Dragon ly) looked almost model-like and whispered, ‘build me!’ Thankfully, there was a reasonable 3-view of the cra t. Tombo was a simply made glider, designed to meet Japan’s need for training whilst readying for war. Easy to assemble, this cheap to build glider, with its viceless lying manner yet aerobatic ability, fitted the bill. With little other information available the wee beastie, presented as November’s pull-out Pro-Plan is a best e fort, brought forth from that scant documentation. BEST OF BRITISH Danny Fenton visits BMFA Buckminster for a celebration of all things British where the great weather, although a little blustery, attracted an eclectic mix of models. The model trade was also well represented with…