Phil's SCSA Newsletter
23/04/2007

News items to phill@scsa.org.uk

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Please send photos in full resolution  as Jpegs with minimum compression and no adjustments, text is best with paragraphs but no carriage returns. 

Club web site
A contact page has been added, this should help with communication ,

 

There are four sets of photos on the site, www.ebley.plus.com/limbo/?M=D      contains some larger images without thumbnails, the opening page has 4 pictures that are changed once a month, my photopage  is updated several times a week, plus the clubs main photo page index

DIARY
 

18th-20th May 2007 G-VFWE 2007, now believed to be Europe's largest flying event for vintage & classic aircraft, will be held at Hullavington Airfield over . For details, please visit the new website at gvfwe.co.uk.

May 19-20 BMFA Salisbury Plain Free Flight Trimming
All F/F Classes. Essential to Contact Bernard Aslett at 25, Honeyhill, Wooton Basset, Swindon, SN4 7DX to pay fees and get on Army security list, and Always Contact Peter Tribe on 01225 862748, Friday before travelling

WIP
Here are a few shots of my Phantom PSS currently in-build.
It may fill a small gap in the newsletter if you have one.
 
Building it from an R.M.Green plan I bought on the internet last year.
Span: 48"
Material: White foam core, balsa covered wings, all balsa fuselage, solid sheet fin, built up balsa covered all moving tail.
 
The wings are built, awaiting glass tape reinforcing (will Antics ever get any in stock?), one aileron left to shape and some reinforcing blocks to add. I'm going to bolt the wing to the fuselage using nylon bolts rather than use elastic bands as shown on the plan.
 
Covering will be tissue if I go for the early gloss camouflage, or solarfilm if I choose the Boscombe Down colour scheme. The latter should be far easier to see!
 
The fuselage needs the planking finishing ahead of the cockpit to the nose, a nose section to be carved, a canopy to be made, and all of the tailfeathers.
 
Another few weeks should hopefully see it finished, work and wife permitting.......not sure I have those the right way round!
 
Best regards.
John Evans

 

Please see attached piccy's of my latest models, these passions stem from my childhood fantasy of being an RFC pilot, wine, women, and shooting down the Hun sounds like a noble profession to me. Don't fancy getting a head full of lead though.
 
Eindecker
This model is based on a balsa plan. Using the outlines the parts are mainly in 6mm depron and I made up the rest as I went along. The undercarriage was a bit flexible until I added the front bracing threads, adding minimal weight but is now stiff.
 
Power is from a CD ROM motor running from a 700 mAH lipo.
 
The real Eindecker used wing warping but I've gone for conventional  ailerons, trying to build too much scale into a depron model seems a bit pointless.
It had its 1st dog fight and came out the loser, a SPAD E (spade) attacked from 6 O'clock (about 7.30 actually) dived from a wall in the garage, and broke its back. A squirt of UHU POR and some tape seem to have fixed it. Those of you who know about WWI aircraft will get the joke.
 
I'm looking forward to trying it out.
 

 

Nieuport 28

 

The Nieuport is a Scorpio foamy kit that was being sold off cheap as old stock for £20, I can understand why because its been a pain to put together. Its original retail price was around £70 which compared to what you can get now is expensive. Allegedly an ARTF I found it A Real Trifle Fiddly.
 
Having said all that it flew for the 1st time on Saturday and really looks the part. Using a 280 brushed motor through a gearbox spinning a big prop it has plenty of power and scale speed. It doesn't like wind thus landing was entertaining as it can easily get blown over. Definitely one for the still summer evenings.
 
 
 
Next on the list are an SE5 and Fokker DR1.
 
 
Michael Pearce

 

There are three distinct habitats on the commons, of which unimproved limestone grassland is the richest and most important. This grassland supports more than 100 species of varied and colourful plants, including cowslip, common rock rose, bird's-foot-trefoil and quaking grass but, most famously, it is home to the Pasque flower and 13 species of orchid.  These delicate flowers fare better than coarse and rigorous species in this impoverished soil.

The 13 orchids found are: bee orchid, frog orchid, green-winged orchid, early purple orchid, common spotted orchid, pyramidal orchid, fragrant orchid, and greater butterfly orchid as well as autumn ladies tresses, twayblade, and white, broad-leaved and narrow-lipped helleborines. Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons, both owned and managed by the National Trust, cover some 350 hectares.

Photo by Pete Wolf, an early purple at Selsley

 

Monday at Selsley, the wind was too far north  and slope the lift was poor but flyable. Gordon's rapport was knocked about by the turbulence and quite a handful to  land

How high do think that is? a question often heard on the slope. Ade fitted a GPS receiver into his Dragon and found out, 2592 ASL a gain of 1922ft. the photo on the right is of an earlier and  lower flight, taken on my Nikon D50, 80mm focal length  and is 70 pixels. I make this about 1440 feet .

see photo 
http://www.ebley.plus.com/limbo/ade-weigh-a-pie.jpg 

Please note you need a spotter to look out for full size aircraft. Have a look at http://www.kisstheblade.com/150407.htm for some GPS tracks imported into Google Earth 
Tuesday
The wind was NNW not North as forecast and gave some very strong lift, with frequent dethermalling need.
Barry's Spitfire was a bit of a handful at first, but a little lead in the nose and a reduced elevator throw tamed it. 

other photos

Barry's Nebula and John's FVK

Richard's HLG

Peter at Frocester

Wednesday, poor slope lift at Selsley with  thermals. Richard's new HLG liked the conditions. Tim's Highlight speed went OK in the light thermals but being very slim it was hard to see. In the evening the wind swung to SW then west and back to SW  and gave some super smooth lift at Frocester.
At the Bear we had a visit from John Emms of Puffin Models, John  explained a little about the models motors and accessories, a good evening

Thursday at Selsley, poor slope lift but some very strong thermals. see GPS readout above

Sunday 22nd at Haresfield, mostly Zagis flown, Peter found there was not enough  lift for his VoltiJ.Two Paragliders tried the air and landed at the bottom. There was 5 Zagis, but it hard enough getting a fourmation 
The lift picked up in the afternoon, I went train spotting, to see a Black5 at Stonehouse ,see one of the photos at http://www.ebley.plus.com/limbo/steam-train-stonehouse-black5.jpg  only to find it was tender first

There are more photos of the weeks flying at http://www.scsa.org.uk/photos/phil/photopage.htm