The winter build season has arrived

 The nights are starting to draw in, and the building season has started. I managed to pick up a balsa USA Fokker D VIII 1/6th scale kit for a reasonable price, the box had been opened, but it looks like all the parts are there, only time will tell. The instruction manual is very comprehensive, and the hard wear kit looks to be OK. 

I've made a start on the wing and it's going well, at the moment.

Inner wing panel. 

 

 

outer wings  

 

I've joined the 3 wing sections together, there was quite a bit of fine adjustment to get the spar lined up straight when clamped together, but it went together OK in the end.

You can see more by clicking on the Fokker D-VIII on the right of the page.

A bit of Sunday afternoon flying

 The weather is being surprisingly forth coming at the moment, so a few of us arrived at the field for a bit of quite electric flying. Scott, Jeff, Keith, Les, Ben, Robert and my self turned out. The strip is in good condition, having been mowed a couple of days ago, the wind was a little stronger than anticipated, but everything went home in one piece. Scott successfully maiden his foam Wot 4, it flies nicely, gets off easily but floats on a bit when landing.

Robert brought out his Gloster  Gladiator, for a few fights.

 

 

 

Tuesday,s flying Session.

 The weather was perfect for a spot of aviation down at the field. The wind was very light, and it was surprisingly warm for the time of year. The only fly in the ointment was the Sun was in the wrong place, maybe we can ask God to move it to the right a bit. The usual suspects turned out to enjoy the weather. |Lucian came along for a bit of tuition and is picking it up nicely, he made his first landing today, well done.  👏👏

 

 

 

 

Not a bad day for flying

Fairly light winds a bit over cast but still a nice day to get out flying, a few members turned up, me, Mike, Dave, Jim, Keith and John also a potential new member Ian. He brought along a nice scratch built Tiger cub

I flew the RCB combat with 4s and managed 98mph on the GPS.

 

Ian's Tiger Cub

 

 

 Keith's home brew model, an interesting concept, still looking for a brave test pilot.

 

 

Proof of the 98mph I'll take a bit of nose weight out and hope for the TON

 

 

 

Building tools

 

 I've made a few useful tools for the latest build project. A couple of sanding blocks, 150X50mm, that I stuck 120 and 240 grit paper to, when they wear out you can prise off the paper and replace, or if that dose'nt work they only take about 30 minutes to print. I also made a sanding block that fits the servo cutout holes in the wing, it's 34mm at one end and 44mm at the other and 4mm thick. I also made some magnetic right angle jigs, the magnets were for another project but were not used, they are quite strong, so care is needed. They were made to fit between the wing ribs to hole them upright when glueing. 

I also made a box to hold round and flat scalpels, it's got a bit of foam in the bottom, which can be replaced, to protect the tips.  

Overall, I'm pleased with the Bambu P1S, I've had few print failure's and there has been a minimum of tweaking required to get good prints.

 

 

 

Wednesday 2 July

 Not a bad turnout for this Wednesday, considering the forecast wasn't brilliant. The wind was quite strong and gusty from the west, which made landing a bit "interesting", a few go-arounds were the order of the day. It settled down a bit as the evening went on and ended up very pleasant. Thanks to Jon C who made the fish and chip run which was enjoyed by many. Here's a few videos courtesy of Kev

 

Wednesday 25th

Another great club night, the wind died down nicely and it was warm. Steve got out his spitfire and had a couple of good flights. Les brought along his storch but it didn't fly as he's still setting it up. The evening ended with a bit of fun flying the viper's.

 

 

A couple of videos of the spitfire.

 

A great Wednesday evening

Finally the weather has improved, which made for a good turnout on Wednesday. There was a good selection of planes on view. Steve managed to get his diesel running and passed the TX around to a few members. My Tiger moth flew nicely, changed the prop to 14x5 which made it easier to land. Ben is flying well hopefully to get his A later in the year.

Wednesday March 26th

 A lovely day for flying today, the wind was light and quite warm. The flying strip is in excellent condition, having been cut twice this year. 

John S had brought along two of his very nice stick and tissue models, one a Trixie and the other |I didn't get the name of.

 He had some good flights as the conditions were ideal, here is one of his launches.

Mike K got his I/C powered wot 4 out for the first time this year, as the walk over to the flying strip has dried out considerably. 

I took along my FMS Olympus, which is the first time I have flown it for a while, had 5 flights with it, and decided I must use it more as it's very nice to fly. My hobbyking Goblin meet an untimely end when I lost concentration for a split second, I had a GPS module on it, and it went from 98mph to 0 in less than a second. Oh, well, makes a bit more room in the hanger for another model.

 

The strip in great condition.

 

 

 The strip has had it's first cut of the year and is in excellent condition. It's probably the best all year round flying strip in the southeast. Les has made a really nice table to stand the solar battery charger on 👍👍👍👍. The sun is out, and the winds are light, ideal flying conditions.🛬.

 

A new 3d printer

 I decided to treat myself to a new 3d printer as an early Christmas present. I decided on the Bambu Labs P1S. There's a page on the right with more details and thoughts.

The Grass Has Been Cut

 

The grass at the flying field has been cut, hopefully it will stop growing till the spring 🤞. We're lucky that the strip remains flyable throughout the winter, and we can get down for a spot of flying when the weather permits. 

“Entente Cordial”

Horam model fly club were kindly invited to join Eastbourne & District model flying club at Deanland for Vintage day and what a great day it proved to be with many members from various clubs Joining together to enjoy both flying and watching the huge mix of Vintage models being put through their paces in sunny but somewhat blustery conditions. This day was very much in line with the Horam committees aspiration to work more closely with other local clubs to both promote and enjoy model aircraft in all their forms -

A great deal effort obviously went into organising this event so a big thank you goes to the organisers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great Wednesday evening Aug 14.

 We had a good turn out of the Wednesday evening flying session. Terry, Steve, Robbie, Jeff, Jon, Mike, Kev, Scott, Les, Ben, Mark, John S, Matt, Ronnie and Dave who turned up late with nothing to fly!! The weather was very nice with light winds and a good sky, and a nice temperature as well.

There was a very eclectic mix of planes on show, from RE diesels to a couple of 3D addictions. John S brought along a few of his home built electrics, which flew very well.

Mike had some nice flights with his Pulse with an OS 61 upfront.

Robbie had a vintage plane with I believe a 2.5cc diesel. Sounds very nice.

But it did look a bit underpowered, do we allow RC cars at the field?

Matt, Ronnie and Scott are all coming along nicely, they have all got take-offs and landings under their belt's, a bit more polish, and they can start looking for their A cert.

There were a few aircraft in the air at once, but with the good level of flying skills demonstrated all landed without incident. 

The evening finished off with the usual bit of viper fun, though Kev's was found to have a issue with the gyro. A couple of nice pictures courtesy of Les.

Jon seeing how low can you go.

A really nice evening enjoyed by all, hopefully we can get a few more in before the night's draw in.

Wednesday Evening 31/7/24

 An enjoyable evening flying, though the wind was a bit gusty early on, but it died down about 7pm. With 8 members turning up and one guest, who is thinking of taking the hobby up again.

 

Terry brought along his Brooks Comet from a 1937 free flight design, power by a magnum 52 four stroke. He managed a flight when the wind eased off.

Jeff got his SIG mini out for the evening, and managed to the OS 52 Four stroke running after a lay off.

Perseverance is an asset where diesels are concerned.

Congratulations are due to Jeff for passing his BMFA B certificate. Well done Jeff 👏👏👏

There was even time at the end of the evening for a few of us to nip down the chippy for a fish supper. 🐠