Cheshire Falcons
Model Flying Club
Brian has an extensive range of models in his hanger, this Bungee launched glider is an old favourite and one he designed & built himself.. if it looks a bit familiar well Brian is well read and may have picked up a few design tips from various sources across the years.
It showed its paces when even high wing trainers failed to cope with high winds and gusty conditions
on this typical English Summer's day!
Another of Brian's favourite models, remember the Flair T6 Harvard. This one is a bit battered from many a campaign and Brian has to keep reminding himself that the design can tip stall and bite back should the concentration wander!
Our brave pilot looks a little apprehensive!
as Colin's new Acrowot strains at the leash.
An OS61FX up front gives plenty of urgency to the occasion.
Maiden flight, the moment of truth!.... But hey... the bird flies ............on rails!
and after a gentle workout, on finals for the first time, proves that Chris Foss was no mean designer.
However......... a home build ( of mine) is bound to need a little tweaking!
like..... nobody mentioned the dangers of having a Profilm edge at the wing LE,
the whole cover simply ripped away in mid dive!!.. I thought I had lost the model.
I did a lot of Googling, before I decided on a suitable colour scheme, but although it was tricky to apply, I am really pleased with the overall effect, metallic red & white flashes at you from afar should your attention stray, and a blue belly ( sounds like a serious medical problem) in contrast, unerringly signals orientation. Now that it is run in, that OS61FX sounds smooth, businesslike & provides sparkling acceleration!
This was Colin's OS 40 powered 'Winter hack' a veteran of many a wet & windy meeting.
The complex geometry of the wire undercart survived many a bumpy landing
but an electrical glitch one day saw it diving to earth on full throttle....
Disbelief from Pilot, Jeremy- chief mourner and the lowing herd.
This is his more recent eBay purchase, an interesting low winger of unknown vintage complete with flaps!
But the occasional dead stick added spice!.
World Models Super Stunts 40, big & slow, a super trainer which will take loads of punishment!
Maybe you noticed, this is the model which got caught in the top of a tree,(see 'our strip' ).
After energetic retrieval using a very long pole and lots of rope, one Sunday, it had to be partially rebuilt.
but after that it gave another 18 months of valiant service.
Another of Colin's swap meet challenges!
And now for something completely different
Now I know why the Avicraft 'Panic' is called a 'Fun Fly'!
However, you know how you straddle your model prior to takeoff
as the engine clears its throat?
Well I lost my balance.....
Not funny... but easily repairable!
Hairy electrics
Now thats an interesting looking flight box!
Ken's semiscale WW1 German Bi-plane The Albatros C1,
Now sports a rear seat gunner.
It looks so photogenic in the air
and lifelike in a 'touch and go'
Ken's Magnatilla reaches for the sky and is caught here doing a 'scale speed' flypast
before doing a quick orbit...............
Ken, by the way, has a hanger full of WWI planes,
he has loads of patience to fettle them at the strip,
here he is with his Fokker Triplane
and showing off his Eindecker with a slow pass for the camera.
and here is his lovely little 3 channel Strutter
But not all Ken's planes are of WWI vintage, he was so taken with Rays PT19 that he bought its twin,
but, did you notice, this one is No 74 not 47! so we can tell them apart!
This is the kind of summer weather when we have to listen out for thunder
It makes little sense ( for those still using 35MHz) to stroll around a dairy meadow
waving a lightening conductor at the skies!
Ken's latest market find is in the mould of a Wot 4
but with built up wings it seems as light as a feather and flies well.
Martin's PC-9
(Tucano) from Phoenix Models which shared hanger space with his new 'Spitfire'.
There are dangers however in buying a 'fish glue ARTF'
as shown, it did not take much 'G' to crack the horizontal stab.
But worse was to come, 4 or 5 flights later the Spit developed a mind of its own and plunged, not so gently,
into an adjacent field. A flight battery problem, we believe.
Our sympathies are with Martin, not the only club member to trudge home that day with a bin bag of balsa!
But Martin is not one to let these things get him down,
from his distant past he found the remains of a Trainer which had once met a sticky end.
The fuse was in 3 pieces so that had to be replaced.
and a couple of feet of downspout provided the answer
The height of elegance, you must agree!
But laugh you may ( and we certainly did ) here is the proof that after a little fettleing at the strip
it proved to be very flyable and was modified with improvements many times.
Till one day the brave pilot lost his head..........
Now Martin tells us that his new Scottish Aviation Bulldog, in Swedish Livery is nearly ready for launch.
HOW do I change the program? Chairman Len with 'Old Reliable'
We've got the blues!..
Len arrived today with an electric blue, electric ducted fan Heinkel derivative straight off his building board.
In with the LiPO, off she went with a hand launch and showed us that she had perfect manners
...until the first loop
At the top of the page you will see what happens when the leading edge covering becomes unstuck
Well it happened again, and after a slightly hairy landing we were all able to congratulate Len
on the fine work he had put in making all those wing ribs!
Club Secretary Dennis chats with Dave,................................October afternoon at the strip.
