Does anybody knows what to use to paint EPP in a way that color will not come off sticking and taking off an adesive tape?
I did find a primer sold in Italy, but they ask 15€ for 10 ml (1500€ per liter)!!!
Thanks for every suggestion.

Merry Christmas to everybody

Sometime I do not anderstand these bloody peope that register themselves in this forum and make just one post asking for help and when you try to give suggestions on how identify the causes of they problems and how to solve them they give no sign or answer, even after one week. Sometime just a "thanks" or "it is not my true problem, but good attempt" would be appreciated. I start thinking that I should stop trying to help peole if they are so ungrateful.

I was watching the video of the mini racer posted yesterday and considering the room I have inside the only way to know the real speed would be to place inside a Voltron jps data logger : small and light enough for this model. If someone has one to sell for a cheap price I will be glad to get it.

Here we are to show another use for my modified wings, originally cut for 32" wingspan but shortened from the tips down to 25" wingspan.
Fuse is in fiberglass (I made 2 moulds, one for this mini racer and one slighlty longer for a 32" wingspan one) as you see in photos.
Set up is as follows:
motor T-m F60 2350kv
ESC Blheli 40A 2-6s
UBEC 5V 3A
Battery 2x 1000mAh 3s 45C in serie
prop apc 4.1x4.1
el servo TGY 9018MG
ail servo 2x D56LV
receiver Orange 6ch
Power 630/640W on the ground (full charge)
Weight 394 gr. ready to fly

The video will give an idea of the speed of this model, alhough most of the time it is out of sight (sigh!!) and there were some flies in front of the camera that do not help to focalise it. I must admit that I lost sight of it 4 or 5 times when it was coming stright in front, but at the end I must also admit that it is very easy to land.
Also the finishin is awful because the white paint was of the wrong type and of poor quality and when I realised this the model was already painted with 2 hands and I did not want to go over with other 2 not to increase the weight.

Mini racer (2 min 33 sec)

...Continue Reading

Not to be polemic, but I find it hard to believe that somebody wants to get rid of 150 years of RC thinking when the use of radio controls for models does not have more than 70 years story.

In a similar way as the MIG29 I made the F22 taking the drawing from the 3 vews of the real plane with minor modifications. Size has been selected at 55 cm (22") and the weight resulted of 209 gr (without battery) for 2 reasons: for the same wingspan there is more surface and I had to add 10 gr lead on the tail to be able to enter a decent spin (screw?) maneuver; I could have avoided that placeing the motor just 2 cm tailward. Sorry for the few "out of the frame moments, maybe I'm not so good as I thought.

f 22 (4 min 27 sec)

It is about 2 years now that I have this model. The plan has been downloaded from internet (but I will also supply it here) and resized for 55 cm (22") wingspan.
A friend of mine built a cnc cutting machine so he cut the deprom for me (all pieces in depron 6 mm). I did assemble it and finished with the german colors.

Main features are :
motor 2204 - 2300kv ( got from banggood sale)
prop 5x4.5
ESC BlHeli 30A opto
UBEC 5V - 3A
servo 2x 9gr.
receiver Orange
weight 175 gr without battery
battery 3s 1000mAh

Video has been shooted with zoom 2x and I must recognise that I am improving in keeping plane in the frame.

MIG 29 (5 min 1 sec)

This weekend I have been able to make nealy decent videos with zoom (first one 1.5x and second one 2x) apart few moments where the plane is out of the frame (problem that happens when you shoot with your phone on your head) and it disappears against the clouds.
Last time I forgot to mention that the receiver is an orange one, the ESC is a "Red Brick" and the elevator servo is a TGY-9018MG.
At the time the cost of the model has been less then 100€ (receiver and 1 battery included).

nearly a racer 2 (5 min 50 sec)

Another sample of what it is possible to get with my "modified GLH II wings". Wings have been covered with obeche and the fuse is a little bit stronger, so the weight without battery is 460 gr.

In the video the first flight was made last week, but unfortunatly I came in for landing too fast (I knew it was too fast but I did not want to go around for another approach) so the plane jumped anf flipped breaking the tail. Just a little hot staff and this week I made the second flight you see in the video, this time the approach has been slow enought, but I can assure you it could be slower. The final part shows how little throw is needed on elevator (and this is valid also for the "4 days" model).
The videos have been made with my phone and no zoom so part of the time you do not see the plane, but you get an idea of the speed anyway.
I made also 2 more videos with zoom, but the sky got cloudy and the light was not sufficient for the autofocus and on the top the plane was quickly disappearing on the grey background.

nearly a racer (6 min 10 sec)

Features:
wingspan 84 cm
length 65 cm
weight 460 gr without battery
motor NTM 2836 3000kv
ESC 60A
Prop 5.5x5.5
battery 2200mAh 3s 60/120C

The speed computed with the doppler system is 220/225 km/h but being passes too distant for a "real" reading I can estimate it around 240/250 km/h.

A friend of mine who had a 4 days bought a new house and decided to stop flying for the time being (I do not know how long he will be able to stay away, as his father was a modeles and he grew up on the flying fields). When he heard that I crashed my one decided to give me his. It is not exactly the same, but very close and came with a shortened 8x3.8 slow flight prop which is not very efficient that I did not change yet. Its weight is 365 gr (without battery) as wings are covered with paper and also dimensions are slightly different. If I had to make another one I would make the nose 5/6 mm longer to help balance, even if also on this balancing weight is not needed, but it is on the limit.. the first video has been shooted with my phone and "Cinema FV-5" app on autofocus (no zoom) the second with about x2 zoom but I admit I will need more practice to keep the plane within the frame. As you can see the image is much better (on focus)

4 days b1 (5 min 13 sec)

4 days b2 (5 min 6 sec)

...Continue Reading

It has been a long time (over 4 years) from my last post and now I wish to show the first model made with my "modified GLH II wings". Actually it has been built nearly 4 yers ago and it has been named "4 days" which is the time needed to make it from materials to first flight. We made over 20 model as many that saw it flying wanted to get one. Many flights during its life, but last year I crashed it loosing elevator (reason unknown), but I have a video that you can see here :

4 days (5 min 7 sec)

It has been shooted with my smartphone on autofocus (no zoom) and that is why the image is not perfect.

Features:
wingspan 84 cm
length 70 cm
weight probably around 390/400 gr without battery as I covered the wings with bristol board.
motor D2826 2200kv
ESC 30A 2-4s
Prop 7x6
battery 2200mAh 2s (yes 2s) 30C

If you like speed you can use a 2200mAh 3s 30C with a 7x5 prop (40A ESC) and you get a little devil or a 4s with a 6x4 or 6x5 prop to get a BIG devil (only beware of wing stress).

After I saw in a ChillPhatCat's post a pack of balsawood ribs for a wing I have been thinking a while of the possibility to use cheaper materials for this components. Actually in Italy Balsawood is expensive and for sure it is possible to save something at least for rectangular (untapered) wings.
First alternative material is depron, which is also very easy to work : cut as many rectangular pieces as required ribs just a little bigger than the ribs themselves; make 2 ribs in playwood or aluminum as per cutting a foam wing; pack everything together with 2 threaded bars (2 or 3 or 4 mm depending on the rib size); finally cut the ribs with the hot wire. You can foresee also the slots for the spars (make them a little smaller as the wire will "eat" some material and the spar must be tight) and also eventual lightening holes. Off course the depron could be 3 or 6 or other mm size depending on ribs and wings size.
The second alternative is to use foam, but not the normal white foam, the more compressed one (see photo) that could be found yellow, blue, green, pink and maybe more colours : you just cut a piece of wing with the playwood ribs previously described and then slice it on the thickness you need.
It should be simple and easy.

I decided to publish all the plans posted up to now (9) in my blog in the tiled version for all those that could be interested but do not know how to get the image and print it....Continue Reading

Material needed :
- polythene flexible sheet (the one used to cover the salad in the vegetable garden will do)
- 60 gr/m2 glass cloth
- 120 gr/m2 glass cloth
- packing paper light
- a small piece of nylon cloth
- epoxy resin
- pure alcohol (the one used for liquors 95%)
- off course the wings with the shells
- an old fridge or freezer compressor (must be working) to be used as vacuum pump
- plastic to make a sealed bag and tape to seal it

Cut a piece of polythene big enough to envelope the wing (top and bottom) and make an invitation bent on the line of the leading edge (photo 1).
Cut a piece of packing paper like the polythene size.
Cut a piece of 60 gr glass cloth like the polythene size.
Cut 2 triangular pieces of 120gr glass cloth with base half the wing central cord and high 3/4 of the wing span (photo 2)
Cut 3 squares 1"x1" of nylon cloth

Now take the polythene sheet, place on it the paper and the 60gr cloth on the paper (no wax or detatching agent is needed as the epoxy will not stick on the polythene).
Mix the resin and the catalyst and dilute with the alcohol (40% about). For each wing in the photos I did use 12 gr resin, 5 gr catalyst and 6/7 gr alcohol. In my opinion it is better to dilute the resin beause it will be more fluid and you will need less resin to soak the glass cloth; remember that all the weight you place in this operation will increase the wing weight, whilst the alcohol will go away.
Now soak the whole surface using as less resin as...Continue Reading

First you need a sound file of your flight. Remember that the closer the pass to the microphone the more precise will the estimation be. If the passes are too far from the microphone the frequency analysis (and therefore the speed result) will not be real.
Second you need a spectrogram progam, which can be downloaded from internet, but you can also find as app for android in the playstore. With this program you will see graphically (and read) the incoming (higher) and outgoing (lower) frequencies (remember that the more preccise the reads will be the more real the result will be).
Third you need to calculate the sound speed, which depends on local temperature (°C) and humidity (%) of the moment (this latter is not much effective and could be ignored, but temperature is important as it could change results significantly), but this is included in the datasheet supplied herebelow. I suggest to separate the single passes audio and produce multiple frequency readings in order to have more speed computing which can give an idea of your model speed (input data are to be placed in the orange columns).
Hope this will be helpful for all those that do not want to put a gps data logger on the plane.
Finally remember that all the apps using Doppler effect to compute the speed of your model ignore the humidity datum and get the local temperature datum from the meteo system, that is why they require the gps to be on, therefore they can not be used on a second moment. If they do not ask the gps to be on do not trust their results.

I do not use more thickness than originals, as my goal is to acieve higher speed. Basically in the center I use a 17 cm (nearly 7") cord goe445 wich is simmetric and laminar with thickness increased to 7.4%, thus giving about 10 mm thick airfoil. On the tip I use a 11 cm (nearly 4 1/2") cord mh42 airfoil with thickness increased to 8.9 % to get an airfoil with the same thickness (in mm) as in the center with 1.7° negative incidence to get zero lift effect. In this way wings are neutral with constant thickness but absolutely no tip stall causing a sudden flip, if you slow the plane progressively increasing elevator up with no motor thrust it will start to sink flat.
All airfoils can be made with the program "profili" , which is free and can be downloaded here :

http://www.hoppenbrouwer-home.nl/ika...re/profi12.htm

The material used is not the normal polystirene (white) foam, but the more compressed one (see photos); you will barely notice the weight increase, but the strength will be much higher.
Now the strengthening tecknique depends on the weight of the model and the speed you want to achieve and if wings will be swept or not.
for speed up to 200 km/h (125 mph) and flying weight up to 600 gr (22 onces):
- On the swept wing I use a .8 mm piano wire rolled up the soldering iron (see photo) to cut a 3mm deep x 1mm wide slot top and bottom of the wings at the max thickness point for about the 2/3 or 3/4 of the wing span in which I glue with foam...Continue Reading

This story starts long ago: on the italian magazzine "Modellistica" of December 1993 I saw an article about an electric model designed by Joe Beshar, which I believe also cooperated later on with Lanier for the realization of their Shrike model.
I did like the geometry of the model and, with a friend of mine, decided to make one for a .40 glow motor, but changing some things :
- wing arifoil : I opted for a GOE 445 laminar and faster
- wing span : I went for 130 cm (52") to achieve surface enought extended to manage the extra weight
- fusolage : new in fiberglass to include some kind of karman.

The motor chosen has been a kwick 500 from supertigre which allowed the model to reach 130+ Mph.
Not only, but the model resulted also very maneuvrable and, despite its nearly 2.2 Kg (5 lb), with an excellent gliding capacity and on the top NO STALL (.... ok no significand stall: it just lowers the left wing of 1-2" and slides on that side regaining a little speed).
2 years later Lanier launched its Shrike.

Later on I made also a smaller version of about 80-90 cm (32-36") for a MDS .15 with resonance and the result has not been far from the bigger brother.

Today my son has one with the wing tips cut 5 cm (2") per side and with a MVVS 40 GRRT ( the very old pilon motor), which flyes at about 160 Mph.

white gas model plane (3 min 36 sec)

I am thinking about making a small one for an electric motor; we'll see.
At the end many thanks to Joe Beshar for its wonderful idea.
If you want the original lanier plans you can find them here:
https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=8900
https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=8886

Time for strange ideas : what happens if I add a couple of wings to a zeppelin baloon ( not full of gas) ? Will it fly ?
Peculiar item, but it flyes.

I did find the Elipsia model for the AFPD simulator and I have been impressed by its performance, so I decided to reproduce one. First step getting the plans, which I was not able to find in interned. Being it a fomie I thought it was enough to have the 2 views, side and top, to make it, so I entered the edit model mode on AFPD, placed the Elipsia on perfect top and side view and catched the image with proper software. Images have been reworked and placed on such dimensions that could be printed with the posteriza program ( my second post) on 3Wx5H horiz. paper for the top view and 5Wx1H vert.paper for the side view . Despite the obtained drawing are not perfect it is possible to built the model with some adaptations.
Flying exclusively outdoor I skipped the airbrakes on ailerons. The result is what you can see in the video ( pls consider that I am a terrible 3D flyer)

elipsia rough (4 min 34 sec)

sorry for the audio, but it was a windy day and there is some background noise.

More details
motor turnigy 2204-14T 19 gr
servo 3x4,7 gr
esc turnigy 10A
recever orange 6 ch naked
battery nanotech 2s 460 mA 25/40 C
all depron 3 mm
total weight 180 gr