Update
For those of you who don't know, the 82" Vulcan is no more! After probably 20 successful and may I say, fabulous flights, the model suffered electrical problems and nose-dived into the ground from around 50 feet.
The cause?
There's no doubt at all as to what happened. Landing the penultimate flight, the model caught a divot on the field with the nose wheel retract, raised it's nose and caught air so I pushed the nose down causing the front wheel to come down a bit hard. The front retract collapsed but on closer inspection only appeared to have slightly bent the leg.
Rather than risk causing any further damage to the retract, decided to hand-launch the mode for the rest of the session.
So, with all wheels retracted, connected up a fresh battery and launched the model for what turned out to be the last time. After a couple of circuits, on a banked right hand turn, the model lost all power and comms with the radio. She banked violently right and spiralled nose first into the ground.
After checking the lipo, the 4S had discharged itself due obviously to the fact that the damaged nosewheel retract had been under load and draining the battery.
Total loss!! - Anyone that knows me will tell you I'm not affected by losing a model. I was simply relieved the model had come down harmlessly into an adjoining corn field and not onto a road.
It was probably the next morning when I realised that the glorious Vulcan was no more and I needed to do something about it. I'm torn between building a similarly scaled Buccaneer and redoing the Vulcan. Friends seem to have made up my mind for me though in that Vulcan XH558 100" wingspan is now being built!
I have been persuaded to incorporate retract once again but this time, there will be a separate flight battery so as to ensure the same problem does not occur again.
I'm not going to start a build log but will post the odd photo here. For now...Roy

Sorry for the loss. It happens to all of us. Now for some real fun with the BIG bird. Let me know how you make out with Tue landing gear. Are you going with a semi scale gear that retracts in a scale manner, tucking under? I'm really thinking this one through, cause I want it to look right. I think a fixed drag bar (attached to the bogey and the airframe) may be the easiest way to accomplish the scale tuck. I'm gonna experiment with a mock up model to test my theory.

Rich

Roy, so sorry to hear of the loss of your beautiful Vulcan. Glad you are building another, it was really something in the air.

Regards,
Jeff

That's a real shame, Roy. It was such a beautiful model, and so realistic. Can't wait to see the new one...

Steve

For those of you who say I build quickly, the news is, progress has been quite slow. The main reason I suppose is that if I'm going to build a model for the second time, I'm going to make absolutely sure it's better than Mk1 so even more care is being taken. Anyhow, more a pictorial update than build log update but to outline progress so far:-
Fuselage is started and bomb-bay doors are happening on this version.
Wings are close to skinning.
Retracts are installed
At the present rate of progress, I'd estimate another 4 to 5 weeks to get anywhere close to a finished model. No rush, especially with the weather being as it is!
For now.......
Roy

take your time Roy. it's the only way to get a perfect (almost) model. I still haven't gotten anywhere near close to starting mine yet. life is in the way too much at the moment. hope it slows down for a while. LOL.

Rich

The Vulcan successfully maidened yesterday evening. I will be updating the log with photos and possibly video over the coming days.

nice.

..."I see you shiver with antici............................................ ...........pation!"

with apologies to Tim Curry

Originally Posted by Steve85

..."I see you shiver with antici............................................ ...........pation!"

with apologies to Tim Curry

Steve, if you're referring to my mental state for the maiden - spot on!
She flew beautifully. A little nose heavy which was caused by incorrect location and forward rake of the the main retracts. This meant, to keep her nose down whilst rolling for take-off, too much nose weight had to be added which meant the whole maiden flight was carried out in a nose heavy state. Not a problem though for a model with such a vast wing area and low wing loading.
Graceful, magnificent......(searching for superlatives!).....just a dream to fly. Bomb bay doors have yet to be tested in flight but I have no concerns about them misbehaving or malfunctioning.
Since the maiden on Saturday evening, I have successfully removed and re-positioned the main retracts and removed the excess nose weight which will make for a very enjoyable second flight when the weather permits.
I promise that the video link will be posted once I have had chance to edit the audio. (remove a section where I am heard to blurt out some random expletive).
The pictures attached are stills from the video which was again taken by a fellow flier and friend Sandracer17 (Tim). Thanks also to Elecracer (Charles) for the support.
All that's left to do now is finish the paintjob, print /cut the new decals (XH558) and then maybe, if I'm invited, take the model along to Finningley where XH558 is based and take some rather tasty photo's (fingers crossed). As and when any new photos are taken, I'll bore you all further and post them here!!
For now........
Roy

did you do retracts, or not?

kinda sucks about 558 being grounded next year. I hope they can come up with some sort of solution before that happens. would be nice to see the old girl around for a while longer. basically, I'm thinking selfishly, because I know I probably won't be able to make it to England next year to see her fly and I'd really like to se her fly one more time. LOL.

Rich

Rich, yes, retracts are fitted. new heavier units than were installed in mk1. i must clarify the situation with xh558 though......xh558 will fulfil a complete year of shows (tech and weather permitting) during 2013 but after 2013 season is through then she will be grounded sadly.

100" Scratchbuild Depron Vulcan Maiden Flight (1 min 19 sec)

Maiden Video
As promised, here's the video of the 100" Vulcan's maiden flight.
Light was fading fast and so just a couple of circuits were in order. Model proved to be quite nose heavy as explained earlier but not a problem to fly.
Good weather forecast this weekend and now she's been painted and in the livery of XH558, hopefully more video should be forthcoming.

Excellent model and flying, I have a great respect for builders like you who can keep the weight down and achieve that amazing scale flight!

Ethan

Hi Electrify,
congratulations for your beautiful implementation of such a wonderful airplane.

I am also a fun of the Vulcan, and have built a much more modest model last year.
It is at scale 36:1, so about 36" wingspan (93 cm) , weights 850 g , is also a pusher, the construction material is Yellow Foam.

A video can be seen here:

Avro Vulcan Mk2 B RC model scale 1:36 Variante 3 (2 min 8 sec)

The build log here:
http://www.fly2air.com/a07/index-a07.htm

May be we should create a "Vulcan bomber models fun club".