ISSUE FREE PLAN: RUBBER POWERED COMPER SWIFT

1027Est. 1935

December 2022.
No. 1027. (109) £6.99
www.aeromodeller.com

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COMPER
WOHM 5C C
FF
D I ES
INDOOR FF N
TECH - BMK
EL R EVIEW
ATS
GPS
SWIFT
1930’S CLASSIC BY DENNIS RATTLE

O NATS CL – F2D, VINTAGE COMBAT & TEAM RACE O FF SCALE O OLD WARDEN O BOOK REVIEWS O MORE…
Contents
AEROMODELLER 1027 December 2022 – Next issue published on 15 December 2022.

04 HEARD AT THE 42 CL NATS:

HANGAR DOORS TEAM RACE
EDITORIAL, NEWS AND VIEWS. SIMON MOLYNEUX REPORTS FROM THE
RESCHEDULED CL NATIONALS AT BUCKMINSTER.
07 UP & COMING
CALENDAR OF EVENTS. 48 CL NATS:
VINTAGE COMBAT
08 POWER TRIP – DENIS MURPHY REPORTS ON THE VINTAGE COMBAT. Issue 1027 December 2022
WOHM 5 (Issue 109 since relaunch)
A NEW 5CC DIESEL FROM CRE8TIONWORX IS 53 CL NATS: How to contact us:
TESTED BY MARIS DISLERS. F2D COMBAT Tel: 01525 222573
A PRECIS OF THE FAI COMBAT EVENT BY GORDON Email: enquiries@doolittlemedia.com
14 GPS LOCATOR PRICE. Editorial:
REVIEW Editor: Andrew Boddington
Email: editor@aeromodeller.com
THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY FROM BMK OFFERS COST 56 OLD WARDEN Publisher: Alan Harman
EFFECTIVE GPS ENABLED RETRIEVAL FOR YOUR THE LAST EVENT OF THE SEASON IS COVERED BY Administration: Gordon Angus
Editorial Design: Peter Hutchinson
MODEL. ANDY BROUGH AND ANDREW BODDINGTON.
Advertisement and circulation:
22 SCALE MATTERS 60 INDOOR NATIONALS Aeromodeller, Doolittle Media,
The Granary, Doolittle Lane,
BILL DENNIS ON THE LATEST FF SCALE ACTIVITIES. THE INDOOR PERFORMANCE NATIONALS REPORT BY Totternhoe, Beds, LU6 1QX
MEREDITH EVANS.
Tel: 01525 222573
28 FREE PLAN – E-mail: enquiries@doolittlemedia.com
COMPER SWIFT 66 TAIL END CHARLIE
DENNIS RATTLES PLEASING RUBBER POWERED
Newstrade:
THE THOUGHTS OF CHRIS OTTEWELL. Select Publisher Services, 3 East Avenue,
SCALE DESIGN IS BUILT BY RICHARD FALCONER. Bournemouth, BH3 7BW
Tel: 01202 586848
E-mail: tim@selectps.com
38 COVER TO COVER
THE LATEST AVIATION BOOKS ARE REVIEWED BY Subscriptions:
Aeromodeller, Doolittle Media,
CHRIS OTTEWELL. The Granary, Doolittle Lane,
Totternhoe, Beds, LU6 1QX
Tel: 01525 222573
Subscribe: 12 issues - UK £75, Europe £100,
Worldwide £115

Website: www.doolittlemedia.com

AeroModeller is published monthly by

Doolittle Media, The Granary, Doolittle
Lane, Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, LU6
1QX. Entire Contents © 2022 Doolittle
Media Reproduction in part or whole
of any text, photograph or illustration
without written permission from the
publisher is strictly prohibited. While due
care is taken to ensure the content of
AeroModeller is accurate, the publishers
and printers cannot accept liability for
errors and omissions. Advertisements
are accepted for publication in
AeroModeller only upon Doolittle Media’s
standard terms of acceptance of
advertising, copies of which are available
from the advertising sales department of
AeroModeller.

Richard Falconer’s
pretty rendition of the
Comper Swift.
NEWS, VIEWS AND EDITORIAL
HANGAR DOORS
HEARD AT THE
COVER INCREASE…
I
could have started this editorial with the same statement
as the last, that a month can seem like a long time between
issues of AeroModeller, this time given the rate of change of
British Prime Ministers… but this is not my area of expertise!
However, the current political and economic uncertainties
have not helped with the costs associated with producing a
magazine.
There has been a substantial increase in the costs of paper
stock used by our printers, and we’ve been told a further
increase is coming in January. Royal Mail typically increase the
cost of postage annually and are introducing another increase
IN THE AIR TONIGHT
The popular BMFA online Zoom presentations are
restarting on 22nd November with our very own Chris
Edge presenting on the BMK range of technology,
including the GPS Locator system reviewed in this issue.
The range of devices from BMK is not just applicable to
FF models but has possible uses by drone and space
model flyers.
For more information and to subscribe to receive
updates on the presentations go to the In the Air Tonight
website www.itat.bmfa.uk
Chris Edge will be presenting online about the BMK range of
technology products for the BMFA In the Air Tonight series.
4 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
in the price we pay for commercial mailing, and as you are no
doubt aware other prices for services have also increased.
To ensure the long-term survival of AeroModeller the
publisher has reluctantly had to increase the price. We’ve done
our best to hold the cover price unchanged for nearly 5 years,
but we believe that the new price still o ers good value for
money for a specialist magazine. I hope you will stick with us at
what I know is a difficult time for many.
Regards, Andrew Boddington
editor@aeromodeller.com
CROSSLEY NEW BUILD
Richard Crossley has been in touch, pleased with the
response from AeroModeller readers.
I just thought I’d let you know that within a week of the
September issue of AeroModeller coming out with the
article about the sale of some of my competition winning
scale models I had sold three-quarters of them. One guy
even flew up from Harwich to a local aerodrome to pick up
some models in his aircraft!
I now have plenty of room for new builds including a
biplane Grumman Duck.
Richard Crossley is well advanced with his build of the Grumman J2F
Duck an American amphibious biplane.
DESIGN A LOGO
FOR SCALE WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIPS BID
Do you fancy a £100 gift voucher for modelling
supplies Do you have artistic flair The BMFA
Scale Technical Committee (STC) may have the
answer.
The STC is planning a bid to host the 2026 Scale
World Championships. They have already raised
almost 11k but need an identity, a logo, to help
raise more funds. So, this is your chance to help
and possibly win yourself some goodies.
Design some artwork that combines visuals
synonymous with Great Britain, it doesn’t have to
be as blatant as a Spitfire flying across a Union
Jack, but it could be. Something imaginative and
original, is what the team are looking for.
So, get sketching and send your entries to
EnquiriesBMFAScale yahoo.com or if you prefer
send to BMFA BUC MI STER (Attn STC Logo
Comp) Sewstern, Grantham G 5RW
Entry closes on January 1st 202

MODELAIR DATES FOR 2023

You’ll see from the coverage of the September ld Warden
in this issue that en and Sheila Sheppard have stepped
down from the running of ModelAir and future aeromodelling
events at the Shuttleworth Collection site at ld Warden. I’m
pleased to say that James Gordon and Emma Chase have
taken over the organisation having both come to ld Warden
for many years. They have already agreed the dates with the
Shuttleworth management for model events in 202
Festival of Flight - 1 -14 May 202
Scale Weekend - 16-1 September 202
Please see the ModelAir website for more information on
flying at ld Warden as well as camping, entry etc.
www.modelair.info

Emma Chase and James Gordon are the new organisers behind the ModelAir events at Old Warden for 2023.

AeroModeller 1027 - 5
NEWS, VIEWS AND EDITORIAL
2023 WORLD FF CHAMPIONSHIP
TEAM SELECTION TRIALS
The GB F1A Glider Team of George Clooney, Tom Cruise and Ron-
nie Biggs – shurely shome mishtake?! – Editor (Photo by SEE)
INDOOR SEASON AT PETERBOROUGH
Peterborough Model Flying Club have been in contact
about their winter season of Indoor Flying at the eracity –
Bushfield Leisure Centre, rton, Peterborough, PE2 5R
– which has on site car parking. The sessions are for small
and light FF models - rubber, electric or C 2 powered. o
RC, drones or shockies.
Contacts Brian Waterland 07717461000 or
Martin Skinner 07774863008 and see the website
peterboroughmfc.org
The next sessions are Saturday 26/11/2022, and
7/1/2023 starting at 10:00 am.
An interesting indoor flyer from across the Atlantic is Adrian Culf’s
capacitor electric Flying Canoe a Chasse Galerie which to
everyone’s surprise turned out to be a superb performer o send in
other unorthodo flying creations to editor aeromodeller.com
6 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
Thanks to Chris Edge for this update on the FF Team Trials.
The GB Team for the next Free Flight World Championships, due to be
held in Moncontour, Loire Valley, France in August 2023, has now been
chosen, pending the usual ratification process by the BMFA (i.e. D A
testing and waterboarding…) The event was not without incident with a
protest even before the first flight was flown, and one after we thought
we’d finished – both protests were upheld. A challenging weekend’s
weather at the massive RAF Sculthorpe in orfolk saw good flying but by a
sadly reduced number of competitors this year. nly four fliers managed a
perfect score, the top three in F1B Wakefield and the winner of F1C Power.
Particular mention to Mark Benns who made his first F1B Wakefield
team after literally being let-out of the salt mines only a few weeks before,
and with a change to the rules now allowing a lady flier to make up a team
of four, ris Best takes up her first place in F1A Glider. Well done to all.
Results
F1A Glider 1st John Carter, 2nd Chris Edge, rd Stuart Darmon, Top Lady
Kris Best
F1B Wakefield Equal 1st Peter Brown, Mark Benns, Mike Woolner
F1C Power 1st eil Allen, 2nd en Faux, rd Simon Dixon
Of course, AeroModeller will be there at the FF World Champs in the
form of Chris Edge and Stuart Darmon, this organ’s senior FF hacks who
will endeavour to bring you the hot news whilst doing their all for King and
Country!
The editor has finished his ini Beam a future Free Plan in esigner
E e Tissue. Can you send us photos of your model finished with this
graphic tissue trim for the chance to win a pri e
DESIGNER EZE TISSUE PHOTO
COMPETITION
Just a quick reminder that the competition announced in
the last issue for photos of models covered in Designer E e
Tissue from Deluxe Materials is running until the 8th January
202 . Send us two clear photos of your Designer E e Tissue
finished model together with up to a 100 word description of
what you’ve done to have a chance of winning £100 worth
of Deluxe Materials aeromodelling products, and a 12 issue
subscription to AeroModeller.
Your submission must be via email to be considered
for winning a pri e. Please also include your name and a
postal address in case you are lucky enough to win. Multiple
entries are allowed if you have more than one model
finished in Designer E e Tissue but they must be in separate
emails.
email editor aeromodeller.com Subject Designer Tissue
EVENTS
UP & COMING
Please note that the events listed are compiled weeks in advance of publication, so please check in case of change - specifically M D venues
such as Barkston Heath can be cancelled at short notice. For inclusion of your event, please send an email with date and details in a format similar
to those shown below to editor@aeromodeller.com
NOVEMBER
16 November
Flitehook Indoor FF, West Totton Community
Centre, Southampton SO40 8WU. 12:00 to
16:00. Flyers £8. Spectators & Juniors Free.
Cafe, Parking. rogerknewman@yahoo.com
20 November
BMFA SW Area Indoor Flying, Birds Of Prey
Centre, Winnard’s Perch, St Columb TR9 6DH.
1200 to 1600, FF, micro RC & electric CL.
Ron Marking ron.marking@btinternet.com
22 November
In the Air Tonight, BMFA Online Zoom
Presentation. Chris Edge on BMK and the
GPS system reviewed in this issue.
www.itat.bmfa.uk
26 November
Peterborough MFC Indoor, eracity, Bushfield
Leisure Centre, Orton PE2 5RQ. 10:00 to
13:00. FF (rubber, electric, CO2), no RC.
Brian Waterland 07717 461000
Martin Skinner 07774 863008
www.peterboroughmfc.org
DECEMBER
4 December
OFMAC Indoor Flying, Abbey Centre, Furlong
Green, Berinsfield 10 R. 09 00 to 15 00.
Indoor FF, FunFly & Scale.
Ian Melville OFMAC@redkite.aero
4 December
8th Grande Coupe de Birmingham, MOD
Lu enham. 10 00 onwards. F1G for
AeroModeller Trophy. Pre 1970 Coupe and
intage Coupe events. Fly-o s as required
( ot DT )
Gavin Manion gavin.manion84@gmail.com
01543 422509 or Stuart Darmon
stuartdarmonf1a@yahoo.com 01858 882057
4 December
Scale FF Flying nly Contest, M D
Lu enham.
Mike Smith michaeldocsmith@gmail.com
07516410905 scale.bmfa.org
18 December
BMFA SW Area Indoor Flying, Birds Of Prey
Centre, Winnard’s Perch, St Columb TR9 6DH.
1200 to 1600, FF, micro RC & electric CL.
Ron Marking ron.marking@btinternet.com
18 December
BMFA W Area Rochdale Indoor, ingsway
Park High School, Turf Hill Rd, Rochdale OL16
4 A. 1100 to 1600. All indoor inc FF with
slots.
Martyn Kinder 079890 25198
bmfa.nw@gmail.com
21 December
Flitehook Indoor FF, West Totton Community
Centre, Southampton SO40 8WU. 12:00 to
16:00. Flyers £8. Spectators & Juniors Free.
Cafe, Parking. rogerknewman@yahoo.com
28 December
‘Cold Turkey’, Barton M30 7RL. CL Comps:
BGY, Barton B, Club Speed.
Malcolm Ross 01925 766610
www.controlline.org.uk
2023
JANUARY
7 January
Peterborough MFC Indoor, eracity, Bushfield
Leisure Centre, Orton PE2 5RQ. 10:00 to
Full details of BMFA events can be found at: www.bmfa.org
14:00. FF (rubber, electric, CO2), no RC.
Brian Waterland 07717 461000
Martin Skinner 07774 863008
www.peterboroughmfc.org
8 January
OFMAC Indoor Flying, Abbey Centre, Furlong
Green, Berinsfield 10 R. 09 00 to 15 00.
Indoor FF, FunFly & Scale.
Ian Melville OFMAC@redkite.aero
14 January
Tonbridge Gassers & Rubber Fanciers Indoor,
Kings Sport Centre, 601 Maidstone Rd,
Rochester ME1 3QJ. 18.30 to 22.00. FF, LW
RC, & 3D RC timed sessions.
Steve 0208 942 5000 or Eric 07763 398416
15 January
BMFA W Area Rochdale Indoor, ingsway
Park High School, Turf Hill Rd, Rochdale OL16
4 A. 1100 to 1600. All indoor inc FF with
slots.
Martyn Kinder 079890 25198
bmfa.nw@gmail.com
18 January
Flitehook Indoor FF, West Totton Community
Centre, Southampton SO40 8WU. 12:00 to
16:00. Flyers £8. Spectators & Juniors Free.
Cafe, Parking. rogerknewman@yahoo.com
29 January
BMFA SW Area Indoor Flying, Birds Of Prey
Centre, Winnard’s Perch, St Columb TR9 6DH.
1200 to 1600, FF, micro RC & electric CL.
Ron Marking ron.marking@btinternet.com
AeroModeller 1027 - 7
POWER TRIP

WOHM 5 TBR Diesel

Maris Dislers reviews this crisply finished 5cc diesel from Cre8tionworx the manufacturers of the
WOHM and CLAMO branded single and multi-cylinder engines, as well as replica engines.

D
ean Clarke’s one-man Adrian Duncan’s WOHM 5 TBR single,
enterprise in Cambridge, while en route to him in Canada.
New Zealand resembles Generous of Duncan, or perhaps a
those of Ronald Valentine canny way of having someone else
or Derek Giles. Handcrafted do the running in?
model engines in very small batches The WOHM 5 TBR is
following a distinct theme. So that from the short-stroke
customers won’t very often su er development line, unlike
someone else “wearing the same frock”. the earlier 3.5cc/5cc
Dean’s forte is multi-cylinder types – long-stroke WOHMs. It
diesel and glowplug – right through to would not have been out
the gorgeous V-12 Wraith. He can also of place on a hobby shop
repair/restore your treasured model shelf circa 1960. Classic
engine. Oliver Tiger inspired cylinder
Starting out by restoring engines in porting, front rotary induction,
his own collection, Dean’s first home- crankshaft riding in two ball
build was an in-line twin 15 years ago, races. ot so di erent
continuing to design and build others, to a variety of 2.5cc
forming the CLAMO (Clarke Motor) diesels, only at twice
range of boxer and V-form engines. the swept volume.
All made the old-fashioned way with Unlike quantity-
basic machine tools – no computer produced engines
driven stu . He also makes a range of using crankcase
single and three-cylinder radial engines castings,
(by arrangement) under the WOHM the WOHM
(Wolfgang Otto Höpfner Motor) brand. crankcase is
Herr Höpfner continues to produce his machined
own engines from time to time, while from solid
Dean has retained the basic concept,
redesigning his range to be lighter, more
compact, and more powerful. All can
be admired at the Cre8tionworx
website (cre8tionworx.co.nz)
although not all are
available at one time.
Not so exotic but
is still out of the
rut, we tested

OH 5 TBR is the latest offering from a line

of single and multi cylinder model engines,
handcrafted by ean Clarke of Cre8tionwor .

8 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022


Dean Clarke of Cre8tionworx is producing
finely finished diesel and glow engines from his
workshop in New ealand.
aluminium billet. Which can look
lumpish but is done well here. Narrow
lugs probably best mounted to a metal
surface, rather than direct onto wooden
bearers. Overall weight and size are
quite reasonable. Cylinder fins and
spinner anodized a pleasing green colour
(perhaps inspired by the Bavarian Forest,
or Robin Hood’s doublet and hose?)
adding distinction to the well-finished
exterior for a bodacious overall look.
Propeller driver has a 9mm spigot for
centring the propeller. Spinner nut is
cross-drilled 3mm for tightening.
The crankshaft has counterbalanced
web with 6mm crankpin, 12mm main
journal diameter, stepping down to
10mm for the front bearing and threaded
M6 for the propeller retaining stud.
6.5mm diameter rotary intake port
and passage. Machined high tensile
aluminium connecting rod is unbushed.
Cast iron cylinder with four equally
spaced transfer bypasses and upwardly
Following classic-
era design lines,
performance and
handling are as good
as its looks.
inclined ports cut into external, lower Starts are straightforward with finger
cylinder wall. Exhausts sawn through choking alone. Too generous and it can
the mounting flange. Upper and lower start backwards and run out the excess.
sections precision ground to fit closely Two or three choked turns from cold. For
into the crankcase and cooling fins. warm starts one choke turn only, then
Flat-top cast iron piston is extensively turn over until a bump is felt and it will
lightened internally and has a pressed in start in one or two flips.
gudgeon pin. Compression setting for starts is not
critical. That can be left at optimum
On the Bench position for restarting without the
The WOHM 5 comes in an attractive tendency to “bite” with lighter loads,
box, but without instructions (those were although an energetic flip will be needed
not yet ready.) Uneventful running in, to bring it smartly over compression.
progressively approaching peak settings Contra piston adjustment is remarkably
over a series of two-minute runs for light to the touch, holding the setting
around one hour total. Then a further and backing o perfectly when required;
30 minutes before performance tests. to a slow tick-over around 3,000 RPM if
desired. Mixture adjustment is very fine,
OH 5 is not that with running position around 5 –6 turns
much larger for double open. Optimum running comes with
the swept volume of
similar icron 2.5cc mixture set just rich enough to prevent
engine. arger engine an over-lean “white smoke” misfire. Fuel
offers higher torque,
operates at moderate economy is then quite acceptable. Low
RP , for different vibration up to around 12,000 RPM, then
applications, such as
classic stunt models increasing significantly around 1 ,000
originally powered RPM, which is usual for engines of this
by 29 5 si e glow
engines. size and type.
We used a typical fuel formula of 25%
castor oil, 30% ether, 45% kerosene,
with 1.5% added ignition improver
(Amsoil Cetane Boost). Well suited to
running in the peak horsepower zone
but showing signs of over-advanced
AeroModeller 1027 - 9
POWER TRIP
Crankcase is machined from solid billet stronger than equivalent casting. Care is
taken to minimise bulk, while keeping it sturdy.
ignition with heavy loads. The WOHM
5 was much happier swinging large
propellers with fuel containing only
.75% ignition improver. That mix good
through to 11,000 RPM without RPM
loss, indicating it is not very fussy about
fuel in the midrange zone. Nothing new
in that approach. Peter Chinn used
three di erent fuel mixes when testing
the ED Super Racer, to put it in its best
light. And a good excuse to digress and
expand on the phenomenon.
Diesel Ignition Improvers
Almost all model diesels have a rough
exhaust note when pushed to highest
RPM on a basic ether plus lubricant
(base fuel such as kerosene/paraffin
optional) mix. Screw down compression
(to clear the apparent misfire) and the
problem only gets worse. Some of the
ether detonates well ahead of the piston
reaching top dead centre. Black exhaust
oil is the tell-tale sign of excessive
E ample Effect of Adding iesel gnition mprover
10 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
Sturdy crankshaft design allows this one to turn large propellers
in comfort. ecent counterbalancing keeps vibration low at
higher speeds.
internal loads. Best you can do is back
o and richen mixture to a compromise
setting.
Diesel ignition improvers (a.k.a.
Cetane Boosters) are the tincture of
tenderness for solving the problem.
Alkyl nitrates with fancy names, such
as iso-propyl nitrate, iso-amyl nitrate,
2-ethyl-hexyl nitrate or octyl nitrate.
Choice between them is mostly price
or availability because the di erences
in their e ectiveness are minimal.
Small amounts in diesel fuel modify
the way it burns and how its energy is
released, better harmonising that with
the optimum power portion of the cycle
at higher speeds. That goes a long way
toward overcoming the ether detonation
problem. The result is higher power
output, better fuel economy and slightly
improved cold starting. Think of it as a
modifier, unlike nitromethane in glow fuel,
which adds its own “chemical power”.
This e ect is proportional to the
amount added – up to a point- as shown
in the accompanying chart taken from an
old issue of Circle Torque. Disregard the
numbers on the RPM and Compression
Ratio scales, as they’ll be significantly
di erent for other engines. Look at the
trends versus ignition improver content.
Power eventually drops due to reduced
combustion expansion pressure in the
cylinder at lower operating compression
ratio.
Unless run under-compressed and
well short of peak, all diesels need
warm-up time to stable operating
temperature before final settings can
be established. That warm-up time and
tendency to overheat increases with
greater ignition improver content. Go
too far and compression setting must be
 PERFORMANCE PERFORMANCE
Bore: 18.86 mm (. 42 in) Propeller RPM
Stroke: 18.14 mm (. 14 in) APC 9 x 4 1 200
Swept Volume: 4.90 cc (.299 cu in) Super/Graupner 10 x 12540
Weight: 2 8 g ( 8.40 o ) Super/Graupner 9 x 5 11900
Height (mount face to cylinder top): 61 mm (2.4 in) APC 9 x 6 11850
Length (to prop driver face): mm (2.8 in) APC 10 x 4 11500
Mounting screw pattern: 18 x 8 mm (0. 1 x 1.5 in) APC 10 x 6 9800
Exhaust duration: 158 degrees APC 11 x 6 8800
Transfer duration: 110 degrees APC 12 x 6 600
Sub-piston induction: 20 degrees APC 12 x 100
Intake open/close: 60 ABDC – 0 ATDC APC 12 x 8 6650
Intake duration: 150 degrees APC 1 x 6 6950
ecti e cho e re 8.54 sq. mm APC 1 x 6600
APC 14 x 6 5900

increased for cold starts, the engine runs
hot despite backing o the compression
setting or overheats easily when
unexpected load in flight occurs and
won’t recover when the going get easier.
Air temperature and ether/kerosene/
oil proportions in the mix have some
e ect, but it mostly comes down to
engine type and cylinder porting. A few
slow-revving engines work well without
ignition improver. Some engines give
their best with as much as 4 improver,
perhaps because the lower operating
compression ratio reduces internal
friction losses, such as from crankshaft
flex. Around 0.5 – 1 improver works
well for old-style 1940’s diesels and
many others swinging large propellers
up to around 10,000 RPM. Higher speed
engines run best in the 1.5 – 2.5 range.
Commercial fuels can’t get it right for all
engines or uses, so follow their advice
and choose the one closest to your
needs. r mix your own – it can be worth
the e ort.
Performance Appraisal
The W HM 5 has no nasty traits that
would deter someone used to running
much smaller capacity diesels. ot
critical on settings, it does its best
work in the moderate speed running
range and with notable capability when
turning large propellers. The modest
e ective choke area works particularly
well at the lowest operating speeds.
Suspecting it might hold back higher
speed performance, we tried a slimmer
spraybar - no RPM gain, but irregular
running when not tuned correctly. Dean
had it just right all along.
Putting it into numbers, maximum
torque a little over 45 o -in torque is
indicated at the lower end. Almost all
Classic cylinder porting. n this instance,
bypasses are entirely formed in lower cylinder
portion. Special grade of cast iron used for
cylinder and piston shows only light contact after
our tests, suggesting a long operating life, if kept
away from dust.
maintained to 9,000 RPM, at which
. 8 BHP is realised. The power curve
then climbs quite gently, peaking at .42
BHP broadly around 11,500 RPM and
dropping o as vibration levels rise. ot
many published test reports for 5cc
diesels, but this one easily outperforms
the first-generation Wildcats and Drones.
More on par with the Miles 5cc “special”
or PAW 29. While the exotic multis from
Cre8tionworx are more likely to impress
the crowd gathered around a test bench,
the W HM 5 TBR really belongs in a
Classic Stunt CL model or suitable ld
Timer RC type. ■

CONTACT:
Contact Dean Clarke for CLAM and W HM
model engines at
Website cre8tionworx.co.n
Phone 021 05 9 8
The secret to keeping spinner nut pristine is choosing close- Email the eng hotmail.com
fitting bar for tightening. Anything undersi e or not round Facebook Instagram CLAM Engines
causes damage. e used the smooth end of a mm drill bit.
POWER TRIP

The OH Three Cylinder ong Stroke

Radial is one of the production models
available in Diesel and Glow versions from
Cre8tionwor . ith such specialised engines
you may not be able to buy everything
‘straight off the shelf’.

Cre8tionworx Engines The C A O multi cylinder range has

Any lover of exotic engines will enjoy looking over Dean Clarke’s Cre8tionworx
included both flat and configuration
website (cre8tionworx.co.nz) to see the CLAMO and WOHM range of engines as well engines. At the time of writing BaMoPro in
as other specials and experimental proof of concept multi-cylinder. the U had a new in bo Shadow 4 Glow
and Phantom 4 cylinder flat diesel in stock.
Website bamopro.co.uk

The impressive looking CLAMO Wraith V12 Glow has a 4-6 month lead time Currently in development is this Si Cylinder ouble Row Radial Glow
and is limited to a production run of five units of which two have already engine. o look at the Cre8tionwor website for other interesting prototypes.
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12 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

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FREE FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY
BMK GPS
Locator System
CAN THIS DEVICE FROM MELIH AT BMK OFFER GPS ENABLED TRACKING AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE? CHRIS EDGE
TESTS THE LATEST FROM THIS INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURER. ADDITIONAL PHOTOS BY SUSAN EDGE
G
oodness, even the
packaging is perfection.
How you get a label on
a box with mill-metric
precision I don't know, but
the latest box containing THE product
that many have been waiting for is just
spot on; I may have to frame it. But first
let's go back a bit.
In The Beginning
Way back when, I reviewed the first
14 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
commercial stand-alone GPS tracker
for free-flight models called iCare2 (see
AM ovember 2015). To me it was a
game-changer as now you could add a
relatively small package to your model
to be able to locate it in 3-D space to an
accuracy of 5m and at a distance of
many tens of kilometers. I've used mine
ever since and helped others retrieve
models quickly from many difficult
scenarios using both iCare2 and Pyxis
competitor systems. iCare2 was killed
o a few years back to be replaced
by a much more expensive system
called FlyingNeuron, but what was
really needed was a cheaper, simpler
system with good functionality and
customer support to fill the void; I give
you (trumpets please) the BM Locator
System, comprising the FlexiDisplay
(hand unit) and Alti-Loc GPS Beacon
(model unit). This is a big move for
BM which has been largely producing
small, cheap timers and associated kit
 The Alti-Loc Beacon Transmitters come with
mounting lugs which can be removed.
The new BMK system is smaller and lighter
than Chris’ existing system from iCare on
right.
‘Kissing’ the antenna of the Alti-Loc you
want to track is the quickest way to select it.
(see reviews in AM issues 1014 and
1018), but this is a 'big-boy's-toy' with
application not just for free-flight but
space modelling, drone racing and the
like.
And again, for full disclosure I've had
a small input to the specification and a
larger input to the testing of this system
and received one of each item from BMK
free-of-charge, i.e. there was no party
and I didn't inhale. But given how good
I've found it I've now ordered more using
cold hard Scottish Spondoolies (the
official currency in these parts) and am
fitting it to most of my models.
What you got, Mister?
Alti-Loc (Altimeter-Locator transmitter
beacon) is a 1.5grm unit, ~20x20x5mm
Beautifully packaged: 'Starter Pack' of two Alti-Loc Transmitters and FlexiDisplay Receiver.
(13mm wide with the 'ears' removed)
with a power socket on the bottom, a
small push switch on one face and whip
aerial out the top. It contains small bits
of exotic stu that provide, via a FM
radio link, a model's 3D position, altitude,
and other useful information back to the
FlexiDisplay. It s the smallest/lightest
GPS tracker on the market – nu said.
To switch it on you connect a 1S LiPo or
other battery source up to 15v and let it
acquire a satellite lock; that's all.
The FlexiDisplay is a handheld unit
smaller than, say, an FM radio used for
traditional tracking. It has two buttons,
an aerial and monochrome display
originally designed for a mobile phone.
To turn it on you press the front red
button for a few seconds, after which
it will acquire its own GPS position and
give information on the last selected Alti-
Loc's position. It will also act as a radio-
controlled DT (RCDT) transmitter if you
have suitable BMK equipped models.
As purchased, all Alti-Locs will be
shipped set to a particular frequency in
conjunction with the FlexiDisplay so that
when you switch everything on, you will
get full functionality from the o .
I suspect that most customers
will plump for the package of one
FlexiDisplay and two Alti-Locs as shown
in the photo. This also comes with two
suitable Alti-Loc batteries (40mAh) with
dedicated USB charger and a USB
charge lead for the FlexiDisplay, all for
around £300; additional Alti-Locs are
£60. Should you want to wire in the Alti-
Loc to an existing model battery then
suitable leads are supplied as well, so if
you wanted to you could fire everything
up and sling the model straight way,
right? Well it's always worth reading the
manual first and BM have produced
a good online edition which at the
time of writing was here https //tinyurl.
com/2p85jv 5
Unlike the iCare2 system I've been
using for ~8 years now, the BMK
system has a pressure altimeter in the
model part, the Alti-Loc. This allows
accurate data on model altitude, and by
calculation, climb/sink rates (variometer),
with maximums being shown in a simple
table on the FlexiDisplay. What s more,
the altitude/time data can be exported
for the last ten flights, so you compare
model trims and things like rubber or
propeller e ects easily. The altimeter is
not certified to FAI standards so can t be
used as alternative scoring data – not yet
at least.
When booted up, the Red Button on
the front operates a RCDT transmitter
that can be coded and thence operates
any other BMK RCDT B1 and B2 receiver
you may have. So already you've saved
some arm real-estate by needing one
less item to carry around.
So in summary, here you have a GPS
AeroModeller 1027 - 15
FREE FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY
locator, altimeter, flight summary
database, with in-built RCDT
transmitter; it s small light and
relatively cheap against the
competition - unbelievable
Did I mentioned the WiFi and
BlueTooth capability Best not, so
as to not fry the reader s brain.
Kissing with Confidence
An issue with any GPS system
is selecting the transmitter in the
model you want to track. ften it
FlexiDisplay Default Screen 1 on switching on. (This and other requires multiple button presses,
emulated screen images from BMK.) binding of the transmitter (Tx) to
receiver (Rx) and the like; none of
that here. First, the BM Locator
System doesn t require any
Alti-Loc Tx to be bound to the
FlexiDisplay Rx. The advantage is
reduced set-up time but also the
ability to track any other Alti-Loc
on the same frequency channel,
which is useful if you want to help
a friend find their model. Second,
to select any of your Alti-Locs,
just kiss (touch) the receiver and
transmitter antennae for a few
Holding the FlexiDisplay level ensures the compass direction is seconds (i.e. one transmit period)
accurate. and the FlexiDisplay will switch
to that. Some wag (i.e. me) has
dubbed this Antenna iss (TM)
and it s a huge advantage in the
heat of a contest.
It is also possible to select an
Alti-Loc from a list of known
ones and I describe that later.
With a selected Alti-Loc you
now get lots of information
on the Flexi-Display screen,
originally designed as a okia
monochromatic pixel display,
which is easy to read in low light.
The supplied battery provides a tidy 3.1grm airborne package.
Screen Idols
The FlexiDisplay has a number
of screen and menus that display
information and allow changes to
the unit s set-up. When booted up
from cold the FlexiDisplay shows
a default screen (Screen 1) which
for most of the time is the one
you ll probably use. Let s assume
you have a Alti-Loc powered up,
kissed and thence selected on
the FlexiDisplay.
The top line describes the
Rear of Alti-Loc showing pressure altimeter and channel select
GPS status and battery voltage
button. for the Alti-Loc and FlexiDisplay
16 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
respectively (left to right); this
line is also duplicated on Screen
2. The GPS label will show if the
GPS is acquired or not, or of poor
accuracy. There are three GPS
lock states a flashing GPS
means the unit is still acquiring
a satellite lock, a flashing L W
GPS means there is a satellite
lock but it s quality is not too
good, maybe in the order of 10s
of meters of accuracy, (It s still
usable in this state but it may
take a little longer to locate the
model) and a fixed GPS means
the highest accuracy, of the order
of +-5m.
The second line shows an Alti-
Loc signal strength (left) which
will be in the range of 20 to 120,
the higher number being closer
to it of course. To the right are
values for GPS accuracy; the
higher number the lower error in
positioning noting that the best
accuracy you ll get is +-5m with
a value of 5.
Line is the Alti-Loc ID. As
purchased this will have a 6-digit
random hexadecimal value but it
can be changed to anything you
want in a settings file – more on
that later. Below that (Line 4) is
the current di erence in altitude
between the Alti-Loc and its
calibration height (i.e. the height
when powered up); there is a
up or down arrow to show if it s
climbing or not. Finally, the bottom
line is the distance to the Alti-Loc
at the last received transmission
with next to it an arrow showing
its direction. As you move, the
distance and arrow will change
of course noting that keeping
the FlexiDisplay flat in your hand
will provide the most accurate
direction to the model (or chicken
if you re so inclined; noted for a
friend).
An Alti-Loc will transmit roughly
every second when gliding, 0.5s
period when climbing and, if
not moving, about once every
8s; in the latter case the display
will show a LA DED tag. The
altitude data is updated via the
pressure transducer on the Alti-
Loc, it doesn t take its height data
from GPS which tends to be much less
accurate.
Other screens are selected using the
button on the edge of the FlexiDisplay,
hence called the Edge Button (or maybe
after the bod who suggested it, but he's
too shy to admit that…) So from the
default screen, press the Edge Button to
get to Screen 2 etc.
Screen 2 gives the data from the
pressure altimeter in the Alti-Loc, so
relative and max. height, climb or sink
rate but also a small bearing arrow and
distance (LOS, or Line Of Sight) to the
model. Both this and the default screens
have their merits, and the user will have
a preference. For instance, if you're
trimming a power model and want to
do short flights with di erent props to
assess climb rate and maximum altitude,
then this is the puppy for you. The data
is saved to a file which can be accessed
so no need to write anything down; the
method to enable this will be described
later.
Note that currently the height is
calculated relative to the 'zero' height of
the Alti-Loc, i.e. absolute height when
powered up. I learn that the FlexiDisplay
also has a pressure transducer so
relative height between the two units
could also be calculated (yes please!).
Another press of the Edge Button
gives you Screen 3 and provides a Quick
Response (QR) code that you can scan
with a phone or tablet that links to the
last transmitted position of the model
shown on GoogleMaps; this clearly is the
work of the devil!
This screen (3) includes the Alti-Loc
ID (top line) and the day/time of the
positional data (bottom line). This is
important as it possible to select an
alternative Alti-Loc from a previous flight
and display its position (via Screen 1)
and QR code to allow tracking at a later
time.
As an aside, it's fun to watch the QR
code change when the model is in flight.
The pixels obviously mean something to
the experts but I'm sure I saw the face of
Nigella Lawson at one point...
Screen 4 gives a flight summary, so
maximum height, sink and climb rates,
distance, based on the data from Screen 2.
Each flight has a sequential number
and the FlexiDisplay saves the last 10,
which you can scroll through using the
Red Button. So, what s a flight Currently
each new flight is started when the Alti-
Loc's altimeter records a climb above
20m at greater than 1m/s – I've tested
this with an E30 and it works very well
although it can be triggered by a strong
blow on the Alti-Loc, so positioning in a
model's fuselage is important. My E30
has the Alti-Loc in the pylon and flights
are recorded correctly. Also note that
the flight time (bottom line) is based on
an arbitrary but consistent criterion and Screen 2 on the FlexiDisplay includes data
from the pressure altimeter in the Alti-Loc.
must not be used for timing purposes.
The flight data from the pressure
altimeter can be downloaded from the
FlexiDisplay but best read the manual for
how to do that – it s in .CS format for
those that understand this sort of thing.
FlexiDisplay Settings
Screen 5 allows you to go to a 'Settings'
page. Press the Red Button and you'll
see the Settings options, scrolling down
Screen 3 on the FlexiDisplay has a QR code
to see them all. which can be scanned to show last position
Use the Edge Button to scroll down of model on GoogleMaps.
and the Red Button to select the option,
both at the top level (i.e. this) screen
or individual settings screens. I will go
through the important ones in detail.
'Beacon Select' is an alternative way
of, err, selecting Alti-Locs. Once this
option selected, the FlexiDisplay will
scan the current frequency channel for
any operational Alti-Locs and list them to
the screen. Use the Edge Button to scroll
Screen 4 gives a flight summary ma imum
down and then the Red Button to select height, sink and climb rates, and distance.
the one you want, and the main screens
will now track that Alti-Loc. Note that the
ID displayed will be the hexadecimal one
unless you've changed it to your own
designation in an initiation (.I I) file.
'WiFi' switches on the FlexiDisplay
WiFi operation which allows you to
download data or change other settings
via an .I I file shown on a phone or
tablet browser. The reason you will need
to use it is to set your RCDT code if you Screen 5 allows access to Settings.
have one, or to change the Alti-Loc IDs
to something sensible like CHE01 or
Cheryl . If this sounds complicated, it s
not – it s no di erent to say adding an
app to your phone, and the advantage
is that when BMK come up with new
features or updates for the FlexiDisplay
unit, so changing the start tune to your
favourite Caduceus ditty for example
( a popular beat-combo m Laud), then
it doesn't need to be returned to BMK. The Settings Screen. Use the Edge button
Note that the Alti-Loc software can only to scroll down and the Red Button to select
the option.
be modified by returning it to BM but
AeroModeller 1027 - 17
FREE FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY
Access to flight data and user variables in the . N file is via the Fle i isplay
this is considered extremely unlikely.
'Compass Cal.' will calibrate the
FlexiDisplay's internal digital compass
and it is suggested you do this on
receipt. If you notice an error on the
compass arrow's direction to the model
(Screens 1 & 2) then it maybe you're
in an area of magnetic anomaly which
can a ect the compass accuracy and
it will be prudent to calibrate it again.
Note that when searching, the compass
direction shouldn t be a ected by small
inclinations of the FlexiDisplay from
horizontal as it has a doobrey inside that
corrects for that. But, Top Tip: hold the
FlexiDisplay in the palm of your hand for
it to be as level as possible to check the
compass direction.
Using the 'Channel Scan' and 'Channel
Set' options allows you to select an
alternative channel for the FlexiDisplay.
You might want to do this to help a fellow
flier find their model if on a di erent
channel to the one you use, or in the
extreme case of too many users on
your preferred channel. Don't forget
you would need to change all your Tx
channels as well (with the small button
on the Alti-Loc) so not a trivial task and
something that the manual will explain
better than I can.
There are a other options that allow
a 'RETURN' to the main screen, a
'REBOOT' of the FlexiDisplay and, if
18 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
iFi connection.
you're really keen, you can view the
'RAW DATA' that the unit is receiving/
measuring. To switch o the unit just
press the Edge Button for 3s, or for a
hard reset press the Red Button for 6s.
Way too much information, right? Well
the nice thing is that after initial set-up
to select an Alti-Loc you don't have to
do anything other than switch both units
on and use it. For others (no names
mentioned, let s just called them Chris
and Jules) the other information can
be rather useful; now if only the Lagina
Brothers had a few of these that Oak
Island treasure would already be theirs.
The .INI File, Innit?
Many of the user variables and other
neat stu is configured on boot-up of
the FlexiDisplay in a .I I (initiation) file
that you can modify using the WiFi link.
In fact once visible on your browser, the
.I I file is directly editable, so it s easy
to set new Alti-Loc IDs, the RCDT code,
Alti-Loc channel number, and to enable
pressure-time recordings, etc. I must
check if it has the 'Strictly' results as
well...
I see the .I I file being very powerful
in time, so perhaps the option to
change flight data from vertical speed
to horizontal speed for example – useful
for drones. But if this sort of thing brings
you out in a rash, don't worry, you won't
need to worry about it unless you have
initials like CHE or JvdP.
Beam me down, Scotty
In addition to the location and altitude
function, there is another trick up the
sleeve of the FlexiDisplay and that is a
competition-standard RCDT transmitter.
When booted up and not in the 'Settings'
menu the Red Button acts as the RCDT
button for BMK RCDT receivers and
BMK RCDT equipped timers like the
E36+ and E20+. If you already have a
BMK B1 or B2 transmitter then you can
program the FlexiDisplay with its 6-digit
hexadecimal code and thence use it to
DT your model as well! This gives a very
complete system that e ectively removes
the need for an extra unit to be taken out
to the flight-line/downwind.
The RCDT code is set via the WiFi
page described earlier. If you don't own
a B1 or B2 then you can set your own
code of course, and 'bind' the RCDT
receivers in the usual BMK way. Range
has been tested by me as being better
than 1km on the ground.
Installation Tips
The Alti-Loc should ideally be positioned
vertically within a fuselage with the top 6
to 7mm clear of any conducting material
such as carbon fiber, or else GPS
performance is compromised. To ensure
you do this whilst providing a mounting
surface and additional weatherproofing
for the Alti-Loc and fuselage innards,
why not use the Edge Hat (TM); these are
now being 3D printed by alumni such as
Mark Benns (.STL file available soon).
The Proof is in the Pudding
“But enough of the functions Chris, how
do you use it in practice?”
Fair comment, let's look at a practical
scenario. You are on a perfect flying field
covered with eil raft Trimming Grass,
the sky is blue, the wind is light (Get on
with it! - Ed).
Fire up your Alti-Locs by connecting
them to a battery; let's say you have two
models ready. Fire up the FlexiDisplay
- there is an amount of LED flashing as
it boots up and acquires satellite lock –
this can take some time if you have total
cloud cover. Antenna Kiss to the model
you want to use and check GPS has
acquired on both units and the battery
voltages are good. By now you should

Typical Alti-Loc fuselage installation.
D printed ‘Edge Hat’ for the Alti-Loc
provides extra protection. (Photo by Mark
Benns)
The FlexiDisplay operates all BMK RCDT
Receivers – just be careful where you leave
it.
Use wire plastic insulation tube to reinforce
the exit of aerials and allow threading in
compact pylons.
Tape used to space RCDT and GPS aerials
on Chris’ E30 - annotation helpful for aging
brains.
see that the signal strength is near 100;
time to sling it into that stonking thermal!
Model 1 is flown but ends up in the
Haggis Farm – drat and double-drat,
you ll have to retrieve it later. Antenna
Kiss Model 2 and check the Tx ID has
changed and the distance and direction
to that model makes sense. You fly that
and make two more maxes and you re
in the flyo . But with no time to retrieve
Model 1, you fly Model 2 in the flyo ,
glide over the Haggis Farm (Phew - Ed)
and in to open land beyond. Using the
R code option and selecting each
Tx in turn via Beacon Set , you get
GoogleMap positions for both models.
Model 1 is still in the farm, so select
Model 2 again and cycle o to collect.
nce picked up, select Model 1 and
approach the farm – rats, the gate is
locked and you ll have to come back
tomorrow.
ext day after a restless night, you fire
up the FlexiDisplay again knowing that
the last Tx you selected was for Model
1 and all the data from the last received
transmission has been saved. You go
to the farm and find a slightly di erent
position to the night before as Truss, the
local farmhand, has found the model and
moved it to the office. You track the model
to the right building and engage Truss in
erudite conversation about the advantages
of GPS model tracking. Job done.
Let s now consider the tree scenario as
landing a model in a tree is often quoted
as a scenario where an FM beacon can
perform better. In such circumstances
you reduce the FM receiver aerial to just
a short length of wire to significantly
attenuate the signal and identify the
tree – I ve done this myself to good
e ect. But now we have more data to
use, so let s see how that helps. First
you know the height of the Alti-Loc from
the starting position. ext you have
the signal strength meter on Screen 1
which really comes in to its own at short
distances. The GPS distance/direction
data will get you close, within the typical
GPS tolerance but yes, closer to the
model and especially if it s up a tree
the data can be confusing. So switch
to using the signal strength, walking a
square to triangulate the strongest signal
and that will get you within a few meters.
If you wish you could still replace the
FlexiDisplay aerial with a short length of
wire as it is working in exactly the same
manner as an FM beacon. With iCare2
the transmit period when stationary was
long, in my case 50s to save battery life,
so triangulating took a long time, but the
BM system transmits at 8s intervals
even when stationary so it will speed up
finding the model. h, and don t forget
you have the R code which will show
you on a map where the model is which
can be very useful as well. And no, I
haven t tested flying into a tree... yet..
Let s add a little detail to these
scenarios and cover the generic case. In
flight Screen 1 will show an increasing
model distance, altitude and the bearing
to the model. The human body s in-built
genetic code will want you to state loudly
what distance you model is, but fight this
urge if you can as it is very annoying to
other fliers. ote that it s important to
hold the FlexiDisplay flat in the palm of
your hand to get an accurate bearing,
otherwise there s nothing else to do until
the model lands.
For the vast majority of flights you will
have seen the model down and have a
good idea where it is, but in some cases
the model s landing point may not been
seen or else you re Phil Ball and you ve
just done a hour flight to the next
county. ( ther nationally recognised
aeromodelling heroes are also available.)
This is where the R code on
Screen is particularly useful as it
allows transferring the last transmitted
GPS data to GoogleMaps on your
smartphone. As noted before, scan
the code and a link will appear that
you click to bring up the GoogleMaps
app; in some cases the app is loaded
automatically. A pin is shown at the
model s last transmission point and, if
you re clever like people called Jules,
you can use the GoogleMaps Directions
option to help navigate you to the pin s
position. Even if you re only a few fields
out the R code link will show you the
pin position relative to field boundaries,
obstacles like trees, the local Haggis
Farm, etc., all of which can help you
make good decisions on how to navigate
down wind.
This is my generic prescription,
published a few times now, when
retrieving with GPS
1) Stay put. Each transmission is giving
you the model’s position in D space
AeroModeller 1027 - 19
FREE FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY

to within ~5m, so as long as you get a

transmission you know exactly where it
is and you can navigate to it. Chasing
risks loosing the transmission (i.e. it
suddenly DTs as you start driving/
riding o and the transmission ceases).

2) Watch the numbers. Rather than

just a beep from which you can only
get direction and a poor estimate of
distance, the numbers are very useful.
They tell you how far it is and, more
importantly, if it is still going up or
not. If still going up then relax, just
enjoy the ride, if coming down then do
). ote that testing shows typically
20kms range at 80m altitude, likely
more if the model is higher but there
will be a limit on range based on the
power of the transmitter, this could be
30, 40 kms however; experience will
eventually show what is achievable.

3) Hold the receiver above your head.

Like a FM tracker receiver, every extra
foot in height is a benefit in keeping
the data coming. As with a traditional
bug, as the model gets closer to the
ground you will eventually loose line-
of-sight to the transmitter and the data
will cease. Review the numbers after
each transmission, is it coming down
or not?

4) The last transmission will likely be at

some finite altitude. If the model was
descending quickly (you’ve followed
2) right ) then it will have landed close
to the position shown on the receiver.
In this case plot the last transmission
position on a map (you carry a paper
map of the site with you, right ) and
navigate to it. If the last transmission
showed the model was still high,
say a few hundred meters, and was
descending slowly then you need to
extrapolate a landing position/area.
If your receiver has a ‘sight and go’
function then use that to plot a line
through the last transmitted position to
aid this, and/or use a map to achieve
the same.

5) You’re now downwind at the last

transmitted position. If the model

Chris ‘Antenna Kisses’ the FlexiDisplay

against the Alti-Loc aerial to pair the device
fitted in his glider.

20 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

 is within 500m or so then you’ll get
another transmission and you’ll know
where the model is to within 5m -
go and get it! If you are at the last
transmitted position and don’t get
a signal then you need to get one.
Clearly the model is further along its
flight line (as per the sight-and-go and/
or map heading) so head downwind
in 500ms steps, trying to gain height
to increase transmission range to the
model. You’ll eventually get to a point
where you’ll get another transmission
and hence you know where the model
is. If you still don’t get a transmission
after heading downwind in steps, then
frankly I’m in uncharted territory. I
would likely plot the flight on a paper
map and extrapolate more accurately
the likely landing position from the
altitude/direction data. The only
positive is that, assuming it hasn’t
been picked up, you know where it
isn’t so maybe at this point you start
phoning landowners.
6) If you’ve got a signal and the model
is in a tree you have a slightly di erent
issue. Here the GPS accuracy can be
insufficient to spot the model, but you
now use the signal strength meter on
the receiver. This displays the Tx s
signal strength with the maximum
typically being within inches of the
transmitter; it’s best to do some testing
beforehand to get used to what the
numbers mean; you can use body
shielding for direction if you wish. The
one occasion I had to use this method
was when my model landed in a tree
but was not immediately visible from
ground level. It took a few minutes
but I eventually saw it using the signal
strength information - note that you
can use the altitude value to tell how
high it is, very useful.
The Power and the Glory
All these capabilities are great as long
LINKS:
BMK shop - bmks.co.uk
BMK GPS system manual : https://cdn.
shopify.com/s/files/1/0594/0959/662 /files/
BM FlexiDisplay User Manual v1 DRAFT.
pdf v 16644452 9
BMK Facebook page www.facebook.com
Group bmkfreeflight
as you can receive the information, so
what s the range and battery life like
I tested the BMK system against
iCare2 using transmitters on a
calibrated table in the garden. I put
both transmitters side-by side in similar
models and cycled o down the drive.
Both hand units have indicators that
show when the signal has been lost, in
the case of the FlexiDisplay the top line
of Screens 1 and 2 will show a GPS
flashing tag, and a small chirp that also
indicates a received signal will no longer
be heard. I got to the local village at
1. kms and could just get a signal from
both systems, so I see them as having
equivalent ground range. Given that s a
worst case, I expect airborne range to
be in the iCare2 s tested value of ten s of
kilometers – more than enough.
In terms of battery life, The FlexiDisplay
has an in-built 1S LiPo which can be
charged via a USB port on the side with
a stated battery life of 20 hours; better
than iCare and more than sufficient. Top
Tip always take out to the field one of
those USB power bricks so if necessary
you can plug it in to the GPS receiver.
After all you don t want to have a low
battery warning just as you ve launched
your model in to a big flyo thermal,
er not that I ve ever had that happen
(remember the injunction, kids).
You can connect the Alti-Loc to an
existing model s battery or a dedicated
one via the small connector. I tend to
use the battery installed for an electronic
timer and find those sufficient for a day s
flying; the added advantage is that the
voltage is displayed on the FlexiDisplay
so you know the status of it at any time
and can re-charge if needed. I currently
prefer batteries of 500mAh for multi-
servo timers + GPS and that allows a
good trimming session, or a contest plus
F .
If you want lightest possible installation
then use the supplied 40mAh LiPo. It has
a stated tested life of 1 hour updating
the GPS, followed by a longer period
transmitting the last position as noted
below. This will be sufficient for many
shorter contest flights and trimming;
don t forget that the retrieval will often
be significantly quicker, with a swap-out
of the battery (or recharge) once back at
base. If I was using these batteries then
I d have do en all charged up ready,
with the supplied charger topping up the
one from the last flight.
The Alti-Loc will continue to transmit
at voltages down to . v at which point,
assuming you have no battery protection
circuit, it will switch o the GPS receiver
BUT continue to transmit its last position
until the battery voltage is 1.8v. At this
point the battery will be totally du but
at least it s dying coulomb may just
allow you to pick up your errant model s
position.
The Known Unknowns…
Is this all I hear you say? Well for the
time-being yes, but there is a steady
stream of new functions that are being
considered and I m told it s intended to
set up an online user wish list in due
course. For example, I do know that the
FlexiDisplay has BlueTooth connectivity
which opens up possibilities to send the
GPS and altimeter data to, say, a phone
app. at some point in the future; Rocket
Locator is a good example. Is SkipYogi
enabled Frankly I don t know but
wouldn t it be good if it was
The good news is that updates
will be available to load via WiFi, so
no requirement for a return to BMK;
any firmware changes to the Alti-
Loc transmitters will require a return,
however, but that is much less likely.
What I find with BM is that they are
very positive about users ideas and I
can visualise updates appearing with
some regularity. For example, during
testing I suggested a few extra functions
that were available with the next firmware
update – I ve never had that before with
any other supplier of model electronics.
Summary
I ve been a strong advocate for GPS
retrieval for some years now, it saves
a lot of time when going to collect you
model especially for those long flights.
Having used most of the GPS products
on o er I can honestly say that the BM
system is accurate, has good range, is
phenomenally good value for money
and gives you additional functions, such
as the flight summary information, that
you will use on a regular basis. If you re
considering upgrading from a free-flight
FM tracking system or want a high-
quality GPS for your space model or
drone, then this will delight you. Highly
recommended. ■
AeroModeller 1027 - 21
 FREE FLIGHT SCALE

SCALE MATTERS
BILL DENNIS ON THE OXFORD SCALEFEST TOGETHER WITH HIS AND OTHERS LATEST BUILDS.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS BY ANDY BLACKBURN
DANKOK where it went by the name of Dankok. a Mills 5 equivalent but with a shorter
We’ll kick o this month with another Twelve were made and remarkably one intake, which fits. The structure makes
striking model by Richard Hewitt. The still exists. The model is 2” span and use of carbon spars and thread bracing,
Hawker Danecock was a version of the weighs 15o , giving a loading of 6.5o / combined with the more traditional tail
Woodcock built for the Danish Airforce, sq ft. Power is an MPJet 040 which is and wingtip structures. The model has a
striking air of realism.

OXFORD SCALEFEST
September saw a welcome return for the
xford Scalefest meeting, particularly as
Dreaming Spires was blown out earlier
in the year. Charlie ewman took the
unusual step of running the event on
a Thursday as an experiment because
of the increasingly-difficult weekend
parking at Port Meadow. I had my
doubts, but I was wrong; the turnout was
good and apart from one regular, most
of the usual suspects were there and a
good time was had by all in very clement
conditions. However, the fact that so
many were free to attend, unencumbered
by work, was revealing about the

Two views of Richard Hewitt’s Hawker Dankok, showing an impressive air of realism. (Photos by Richard Hewitt)

22 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

Steve Glass’s Chipmunk would have been an impossible project before the advent of the gyro. (Photo by Andy Blackburn)

demographic for ‘real’ aeromodelling! very long bungee would not detach and f Simon’s diesel models I particularly
Again, power was the most well- the model wing-overed into the ground hoped to see him try the Flycatcher from
supported and we were able to contrast beyond our encampment. The resultant the AeroModeller plan. I built one a few
the flying style of gyro and non-gyro impact released the tight bungee which years ago and it was hopeless, lacking
models. The gyro model is very steady whizzed at high speed through the in all directional stability. Walking back
and predictable, never deviating from its assembled flyers and models, luckily with the bits one day at Port Meadow I
circular path. Steve Glass’s Chipmunk without picking anything up on the way. met a chap who had built one with the
was very impressive in the way you
could see it reacting to aileron inputs
almost instantaneously. Ivan Taylor’s
beautiful FW190 also impressed but
was hampered by a variable engine run.
Best flight was Mike Smith’s DH4 which
wandered about the field before coming
back almost to land in the tent. In rubber
one of my favourites was Ivan’s Mig but
it flew as if the wings were very pointy,
which they are, and sustained some
damage.
Simon Rogers had a fleet of diesel
models but only flew his Hotspur in the
glider competition. n one flight the

van Taylor’s fabulous Fw190 was going well, aided by its gyro, but the ills was getting a little hot and
bothered. (Flying photo by Andy Blackburn)

AeroModeller 1027 - 23
Steve Glass’s electric Saab Tunnan was a
fine flyer and featured in September 2014
AeroModeller.
FREE FLIGHT SCALE

Avro 560 Simon Rogers’ Avro 560 appears

to be Dart-powered. Is there a simpler
scale subject?

Heinkel He5 Hansa The Heinkel Hansa

featured in the 1955 Aeromodeller Annual
Pete Fardell’s atmospheric Bleriot passes overhead with just the right degree of translucency. but is woefully inaccurate. Nevertheless it
Interestingly, all the Shuttleworth pioneer machines appear to have just been re-covered in very clean does fly well this one by Simon Rogers.
linen! (Photo by Andy Blackburn)

same lack of success. Furthermore, he
said he had been in the same club as
designer Stan Perry who said his never
flew either, despite the encouraging
blurb accompanying the plan. This kind
of thing was apparently quite common
in the magazines, but what could be
wrong with the Flycatcher? Yes it is
a slightly odd-looking thing with the
extreme stagger, virtually no nose and an
oddly-shaped and low fin, but nothing
to suggest it would be an anvil. I did
experiment with increasing the fin si e
but to no avail. Any ideas? Because I am
getting perilously close to trying again.
I had with me the Coasby BA Swallow
that I revisited recently to see if that
extreme pendulum rudder really worked.
ne thing I realised is that the pendulum
weight needs to be quite substantial
because I could see that even on hand
glides the rudder was being blown
straight by the slipstream when it should
have been heeled over. That is another
reason for scepticism over the Flycatcher
which also features a pendulum rudder;
an inch of cored solder as the weight is
not even going to balance the rudder.
Anyway, the new Swallow has flown
about fifteen times without mishap,
which must be some kind of record for a
low-winger.
STATIC JUDGING
The xford Scalefest and the FF Scale
Nationals a few weeks earlier both
featured static judging to the BMFA
schedule and on each occasion it turned
into a chore for all concerned. Most of
our meetings are Flying Only, where we
just turn up and get on with flying. When
the Nationals were held at Barkston it

Ivan Taylor’s big Mig 3 gets away before coming to grief – could it be the pointy wings? (Photo by Andy Blackburn)
One of the few glider entries was this attractive Hotspur – yet another Simon Rogers model. (Photo by Andy Blackburn)
mattered less that judging took all day
because we could wander o and watch
the combat or try to find something to
buy in the trade stands that wasn’t made
of foam. However, here the process
became tedious and it was clear that we
need to find a way of speeding things up
in one-day meetings.
The easiest way to streamline the
process is to have just one static judge,
rather than two discussing every point.
Provided the judge is experienced, I
Simon Rogers had built a Stan Perry
Flycatcher of ill-repute, unless you know
differently A very attractive sub ect from
May 1955 AM that somebody needs to get
to fly
doubt whether there would be much
di erence and it certainly dramatically
reduces the time spent. With two judges
one falls into a routine of searching for,
and discussing, errors but on your own,
you very quickly get a feel for the overall
shape. If a fault cannot be seen within 20
seconds, then it can’t be very important
and doesn’t matter anyway.
The existing static section is largely
unchanged since its inception in the
late sixties, although thankfully the
requirement to provide long rulers with
which to measure things was long-since
rescinded I think it is still fit for purpose
and should not be simplified significantly
because paradoxically, having fewer
aspects against which to assess does
not make judging easier or quicker.
Mike Stuart gets his Fleetster away at Port Meadow.
LYSANDER
A few months ago I embarked on a
double-size KK Lysander for either
electric or diesel power. I lost impetus
but this week just a few hours work
got me back on track and the model
is now finished. I made a front cowling
incorporating an ED Baby, which is the
least powerful of my engines because
in retrospect the Lysander is too small. I
didn’t even measure the thing, which is
why the cylinder needs a hole. However
there is a limit to how much you can
enlarge before more ribs, formers and
stringers are called for.
I double covered the fuselage with
polyester tissue (two pieces) and
Modelspan; the remainder in tissue only.
Markings were printed on paper, given
two coats of dope to seal and then stuck
AeroModeller 1027 - 25
FREE FLIGHT SCALE

The double si e ysander is finished in odelspan and enamel, with The E Baby in the ysander is fed by a home made tank from a small spray
paper markings stuck on with canopy glue. bottle lid.

on with thinned canopy glue.
The wing area is 1sq ft and the weight
8oz, although I suspect tail weight,
unusually, will be needed. Even I can
do that sum and the loading is a little
more than I had hoped but nothing can
be done about the weight of the engine,
prop and mounting. It should fly well;
it’s the landings I worry about. I think
the experiment has worked apart from
the choice of subject. Any of the high
wing designs will have a lot more wing
area, enabling the loading to be brought
down to around 6oz/sq ft. The Guillows
designs would also be worth looking at.
FUEL TANKS
The problem with certain engine
mountings (like in the Lysander) is the
tank because it has to sit on a solid
surface. The commonly-available tanks
are tall and thin and the pipe exits straight
down, and while this makes it easier to
judge the length of run, it complicates
installation and gives a big change in fuel
head. This can be a problem with front
induction engines. In the case of the

our columnist’s models at

O ford Scalefest. Note the
position of the pendulum
rudder on the Swallow
which persists throughout
flight. The ysander can be
a good it Scale model
it’s vestigial wings cause it
to fall out of the sky usually
after 0 seconds, but not
today

Many Guillow’s kits are available as laser
cut kits from www.guillow.com , but
not the Pfalz and some earlier Guillow’s
designs which can be found on Outerzone.
odel flies with ero dihedral, if a little
oddly!
Ron Marking’s Puss Moth is beautifully
decorated; the blue centres of the fuselage
lettering are still to be added. (Photo by
Ron Marking)
Dave Causer’s AeroModeller DH80a Puss
Moth from the Belair kit. Thankfully Dave
has modified the fictitious cabin roofing of
the original. (Photo by Dave Causer)
The nose of Fred Longbon’s Puss Moth is
too wide but does make fitting the ills
easier. (Photo by Dave Causer)
Lysander the pipe has nowhere to go. I
have occasionally made my own tanks
but now I’ve found a very easy solution.
Lots of little squirty bottles as found in
chemists, or lens cleaning liquid have a
clear plastic lid of just the right size. Drill
it straight through at the bottom from one
side to the other. Cut a piece of suitable
brass tube to length and crimp and solder
one end to seal it. Find the place where
the tube lies halfway across the tank and
file a groove to let the fuel in. Finally seal
the tube in with proper Araldite. Passing
the tube all the way through the tank
anchors it securely. There is nothing new
in adapting plastic objects as tanks; PE
Norman used the cases for toothbrushes
in his ducted fan jets.
PFALZ
Another abandoned project was this
Guillows Pfalz. I like the Guillows designs,
especially the ones where the vertical keel
structure used by all of them makes sense
and this one looks remarkably accurate,
even down to the flat top wing and the
small tail. It did not take long to finish it
o and spray it silver. I have just done a
few test flights and it certainly flies but
there are quirks. Noseweight has almost
cured a stall on glide but it flies right with
adverse bank. No doubt some dihedral
would cure that but for me that is not an
acceptable option.
CONTESTS
A conversation at Old Warden touched
on what models might be suitable for
Flying Only contests. Currently we have
two main types of outdoor contest;
Flying Only and the Open classes where
static judging takes place. The former
is more popular than the latter, which
is perceived as more difficult and much
more work but it need not be. There
are ways, with minimal e ort, to be
competitive in both with the same model
and thus increase your flying time.
In an Open contest you need to
provide some documentation so that
the judges can compare your model
with the full-si e, while you go o and fly
something else. That’s the only di erence
as far as the competitor is concerned.
Most of the marks awarded are for the
accuracy of the outlines and it takes no
longer to build a model that is the correct
shape than otherwise.
An ideal model for this approach is
the KK Piper Super Cruiser from the
Superscale range. Of the three, the Piper
has the most wing area and a fabric-
covered structure more appropriate to
our building techniques. The full-size
Luscombe Silvaire fuselage, by contrast,
is assembled from aluminium cones
and not represented well by stringers.
The Piper also has all the attributes for
a fine-flying model, equally suitable
for conversion to rubber or electric,
whichever is your favoured power
source.
For Flying Only, the only improvements
for practical use are to separate the
wing panels from a fixed centre section
and to sheet the LE for strength. For the
Open classes, the biggest improvement
is to reduce the size of the tailplane – it
is unnecessarily huge. If you really want
to go to town, add the missing fuselage
stringer but after that it’s up to you.
The important thing is to get out and fly
while you can. If you want to be kept
up to date with what’s going on with FF
Scale, send an email to Mike Smith at
michaeldocsmith@gmail.com
TWO PUSS MOTHS
Always a popular design, this month we
have two versions. The first is by Ron
Marking and is essentially an enlarged
Westwings kit and so is very light at
9.5oz. The motor is an inverted Dart,
which I hope behaves itself. Initial tests
look very promising. Enlarging a rubber
model for diesel seems a very good way
of getting a light model. Ron is mainly a
duration flyer but is also one of very few
who also have some interest in scale. It
has always puzzled me why there is so
little crossover but there isn’t. I fly scale
when it is nice and duration when it isn’t.
The other Puss Moth is the Longbon
design, built from a Belair kit by Dave
Causer and fitted with a Mills 1. . I
have built a couple of these models
and it is certainly one of the best-flying
models I have had. Dave has chosen the
challenging scheme worn by G-ABLS
and described how he did the fuselage
pinstriping. The first stage is to paint
the gold in the general area of the stripe
and then apply narrow tape of the
appropriate width before spraying the
whole thing black. Then peel o and
admire.
That’s a lot of new models for us to see
next year. ■
AeroModeller 1027 - 27
 FREE PLAN

Comper
Swift BY DENNIS RATTLE
RICHARD FALCONER BUILDS THE 24” SPAN RUBBER POWERED COMPER SWIFT ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN
MODEL AIRCRAFT MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 1963

28 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

The Comper Swift has distinct out-of-the-rut lines and Richard Falconer’s build
shows what a charming model it makes. The plan shows adaption to Cox TD 010, or
with a slight enlargement modern micro RC and electric or IC power would make a
fine small flyer.

L
ike a lot of 1950’s kids
I spent my pocket
money and a great
deal of time building
Keil Kraft 3/9 scale
kits. These would have been
three shillings and six pence
but the government of the time
decided that model aircraft were
not educational and imposed
purchase tax! The manufacturer’s
business plan was essentially
short term in that the inevitable
failure of most of these models
was enough to direct disillusioned
builders to some other hobby.
Exceptionally a Hurricane built
when I was eight gave me
sufficiently inspiring flights to
hook me for life. As all were cut
with a broken razor blade my
mother was adept with prompt
sticking plasters as I dripped
blood on the kitchen floor. The
great Doug McHard contributed
regularly to the AeroModeller but
in the 60’s he was a sta writer
for Model Aircraft. This design by
Dennis Rattle from Cheltenham
accompanied one of Doug’s
articles about improving small
scale kits. To me the Comper was
a revelation. Lightweight, easy to
build and a sensible si e, it flew
beautifully.
There is no need for me to add
to the building instructions, but
I would make a few points. No
dihedral is shown on the plan and
it may well fly without it but I’ve
added 18mm to each tip and this
seems to tie in with the length of
the struts. It’s up to you whether
to make the wing detachable: I

AeroModeller 1027 - 29
 FREE PLAN

tend to pile on the turns which makes

this feature desirable! The undercarriage
should be improved by terminating the
radius arms on the centre of the fuselage
not the sides: leave them free to move to
avoid damage to the structure. Raise the
tailplane 2.5mm as it never sat directly
on top of the stringers. A removeable tail
will make the model virtually crash proof.
This is easily e ected with a cocktail
stick pin at the front and a rubber band
attached to ‘small hooks’ simulating
the struts. More interestingly I have
It is worth taking the time to make the dummy Pobjoy engine as it is such a prominent feature.
experimented and found that the model
flies better with a smaller tailplane. The
Pobjoy drawing is fair but you will find
better drawings on the internet. Like
Dennis, spare yourself the exhaust. Make
the cylinder fins by wrapping the barrels
with thin string and then smothering with
cyano. As with the wheels I turned all of
the engine components in the chuck of
my battery drill. I double sleeve these
with aluminium tube holding the wheel
to the axle with a further ring of tube.
This means that the wheel can be held
on its inner side with a drop of epoxy.
Faring the undercarriage legs with balsa
is easy, just groove the wood and attach
with more epoxy. Also reduce the nose
profile of the fuselage so that it’s about
crankcase diameter and leaves a free
airflow to the Pobjoy cylinders no need
to change the drawing just look at the
various images on the internet. Finally
o build a bit of ‘fle movement’ in to the undercarriage as it will save shocks to the fuselage. add a pilot: he’s a big feature in a tiny
aeroplane.
Nick Comper was the son of Sir Ninian
Comper the distinguished ecclesiastical
architect. He too was hugely talented but
given to alcohol and practical jokes. His
company went into receivership in 1935
and a few years later he was killed in a
street altercation after he had decided
to pose as a terrorist while holding a
lighted firework. A concerned passer-
by knocked him to the ground and he
died. A sad postscript was the use of the
Swift’s plan image on the dust jacket of
an edition of Rachel Carson’s pioneering
ecological work ‘Silent Spring’, the
innocent little Swift being depicted in the
unlikely role of an evil crop sprayer.
If you go on the internet you will find
various other small free-flight Swifts. I
suggest none are better than this except

Before flight trimming check the balance is on or slightly in front of the main wing spar and there are
no warps.

30 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022


Eddie J Riding’s
Comper Swift three-
view from August 1945
gives information on
scale sizes.
for Andrew Moorhouse’s 13inch Peanut
version – clumsy fingers meant mine
was never finished but Andrew himself
constructed a much larger version which
I recall flew beautifully. There were other
kits Westwings was obviously brilliant
but I’m lukewarm about the popular
eron o ering which was distinctly
non-scale. I also made several Cox Tee-
Dee 010 powered versions as Dennis’s
The outline of the Comper Swift is
undeservedly featured on the cover of the
early environmental catastrophe warning
book ‘Silent Spring’.
Charlie Newman’s 30” span 130g Comper
Swift won a Bronze Medal at the Model
Engineer Exhibition and was on the cover of
March 1992 AM.
Richard Falconer really likes Comper Swifts!
Having built several Rattle Comper Swifts he
is now building the simpler Ron Warring 18
inch design from April 1957 Model Aircraft.
plan. These flew reasonably even if the
2 ,000 rpm scream was a singularly
inappropriate sound accompaniment.
These days we have electrics.
AeroModeller 1027 - 31
 FREE PLAN – COMPER SWIFT BY DENNIS RATTLE
PLAN 714 IN AEROMODELLER 1027 DECEMBER 2022
FREE PLAN
Original September 1963 Model Aircraft Article
FULL SIZE PLANS!
COMPER SWIFT
AN ATTRACTIVE SCALE RUBBER MODEL, WITH POWER CONVERSION DETAILS,
FOR THIS ATTRACTIVE PRE-WAR LIGHT PLANE. DESIGNED BY DENNIS RATTLE
L
OOKING for a subject requiring
the minimum possible building
time, but with good flying
capabilities, I chose the Comper
Swift as my entry for the
Blackbourn Trophy, a club competition of
the Glevum M.A.C., which is held in two
parts— Concours and Duration R.T.P. It
took first place in the event, but flying is
not restricted to R.T.P., it flies equally well
FF and conversion to an engine powered
version is included on the plan.
The actual aircraft was a popular
sport 'plane in the 1930's and to the
best of my knowledge one still exists.
(Correct GA-BUS regularly appears at air
displays, etc., cockpit close-up is of this
machine and photo was taken in 1958—
Editor.) Three di erent engines were used
at various times, but I have chosen the
Pobjoy version as possessing the most
character.
At 1 in. to 1 ft. scale, the span is 24
in., scaled up to twice this size, the
model would be ideal for the smaller
Dennis Rattle’s original The Scarlet Angel from September 1963 Model Aircraft.
R/C equipment now on the market. This
particular machine, The Scarlet Angel,
(VT-ADO) featured in a book of the same
name and provided the decor of the
model. The only deviations from true
scale are a slight increase in dihedral
angle and tailplane area.
Construction
This is straightforward, the basic
fuselage sides being built one on top
of the other for "sameness." Cement
formers to one side, join second side,
add decking, sand nose laminations and
nose formers to shape in situ.
The wing and tail are also quite
straightforward and constructed over
the plan in the usual way, but to ensure
a good flying performance a warp-free
structure is essential.
Covering
Use lightweight tissue throughout, water
shrink, apply two coats of thinned clear
dope, colour with two coats of thinned
Humbrol. Decorate as indicated on
drawing and I suggest the use of stencils
for registration markings.
Colour Scheme
Fuselage, fin, and rudder scarlet, white
registration and trim lines. Name The
Scarlet Angel in white on nose. Wings
and tail-plane—white, scarlet registration
and trim line (trim line on underside wing
only). Struts white with scarlet trim.
Wheels and Engine
The aircraft owes much of its character to
these two items and time spent thereon
will be well rewarded in the finished
model. The more experienced modeller
might wish to improve the performance
by incorporating a gearbox in the dummy
engine. For this purpose the gearboxes
supplied with the ready-to-fly Frog Mk.
V or Buccaneer, being obtainable as a
separate "spares" item, are ideal.
Trimming
Ballast with Plasticine inside the nose
(most probable) or tail, to balance at
indicated position and check glide. When
satisfactory, apply some 200- 00 turns
on the motor and trim out any power stall
tendency with downthrust packing, or
undue turning characteristics with side
thrust. For the Tee Dee powered model,
obtain running shoes! ■
Cockpit close up of GA-BUS instrument panel in
1958. I’m sure a quick search online will produce
something clearer.
AeroModeller 1027 - 33
 FREE PLAN – COMPER SWIFT BY DENNIS RATTLE
PLAN 714 IN AEROMODELLER 1027 DECEMBER 2022
 FREE PLAN – COMPER SWIFT BY DENNIS RATTLE
PLAN 714 IN AEROMODELLER 1027 DECEMBER 2022
 COVER TO COVER
BRILLIANT BOOK
BONANZA!
CHRIS OTTEWELL SURVEYS THE LATEST FULL-SIZE AVIATION PUBLICATIONS
Christmas is coming and choosing gifts can be tricky! However, anyone (or more) of these great books would make an
excellent gift for any aircraft or flying enthusiast.
Bader’s Big Wing Controversy
Dilip Sarkar MBE, FRHistS
Published by Pen and Sword
ISBN 978 1 39901 715 2
Price UK £25.00 USA $49.95
Douglas Bader
Dilip Sarkar MBE, FRHistS/Published by Amberley Books/ISBN 978-1-4456-1276-8/Price UK £25 USA $39.95
Although this is not a newly published book it
is “THE” definitive biography of probably the
most “Marmite” of the RAF heroes of WWII.
I’ve included it in the review article as reading
it in conjunction with Dilip’s new “Big Wing”
book covered above makes both books even
more interesting and informative.
Most of us probably first read of Bader and
his exploits in Paul Brickhill’s hagiography
“Reach for the Sky” and the subsequent film
of the same title. However, even those works
make it clear that for dramatic purposes,
“things have been simplified”. And to be fair,
apart from the other usual considerations
Bader was far too complex a character to
understand from a slim paperback or a 90
minute film.
38 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
Dilip Sakar is a well-respected Historian who
writes books rather than a journalist or general
writer who has turned his hand to writing about
air warfare. This means that he has done all
the research in an academically sound way,
going to primary sources wherever possible
and consulting those who were there if they are
still living. He is also an excellent writer who
presents the facts in a clear and concise but
compelling way. As a result, his books are both
readable and valuable as history text books.
The “Big Wing” controversy has raged for
years; even though most people concluded
many years ago that Dowding was right to
fight the Battle of Britain the way he did.
Nevertheless, he was removed from his
position and replaced by those very people
who might have cost us that battle and
hence the war. Dilip has carefully collected
all the facts and pieced together what really
happened, then worked out and explained
better than anyone else “why”.
I found the book fascinating and thoroughly
commend it to you all.
I am delighted to discover that a sequel,
“Bader’s Spitfire Wing, Tangmere 1941” is in
preparation and may well be published by the
time you read this. I look forward to reviewing
that in due course.
Air ice arshal Trafford eigh allory worked
with ouglas Bader who was an Acting Squadron
eader to develop the Big ing concept.
Dilip uses 50 pages to give us a much
more complete and certainly more balanced
picture of this man – courageous but a bully.
A total snob who felt that ALL pilots should be
officers and all officers should be ex-public-
school boys. An excellent pilot but perhaps
less excellent than he thought he was At
times apparently lacking in empathy and yet
who worked tirelessly for the disabled in the
later stages of his life.
Some of his comrades in arms hated
him and even refused to attend post-war
events if they saw he was on the guest list;
many others hero worshipped him. This
book explains and resolves some of these
dichotomies. Furthermore it’s a great read
 trove for the scale modeller looking for an
authentic alternative to all those “Ferocious
Frankie” and “Big Beautiful Doll “ paint
schemes we see repeated on the scale flying
scene.
A lot of the other pictures make the fine
details needed for a top class scale model
much clearer – for example there’s a great one
of the wing guns being loaded which clearly
shows the hatches and doors involved.
This book also includes a quite a few
orean war pictures which give yet another
dimension to the range of illustrations and yet
more options for the keen scale model builder.

Images of War - P51 Mustang

Martin W Bowman
Published by Pen and Sword
ISBN 978 1 52674 639 9
Price UK £14.99 USA $26.95

This is quite a di erent book to the others

reviewed here. It contains a very brief history
of the P51 and its extended family but is
mostly an album of excellent black and white
photos of Mustangs of all types in service
Plenty of photographs of different marks of ustang with detail for adding realistic weathering of
around the world. It’s an absolute treasure service aircraft.

This is a fascinating book Even the foreword, often ignored by the reader, is interesting and
intriguing being written by one Brigadier General Elliot Roosevelt USAF (Ret). And yes, that IS
FDR’s son; a pilot and a keen proponent of the Mosquito especially in the reconnaissance role.
US pilots either loved or hated the Mossie. It appears that many, perhaps the majority, of US
pilots were unused to twin engined “tail draggers” and many others had difficulty coping with
the torque e ect of twin Merlins both rotating in the same direction. However, for some tasks the
aircraft was unbeatable so served in US reconnaissance squadrons in specialist roles, where for
the most part it was greatly loved.
Lots of great pictures in the book for model builders looking for an unusual colour scheme and
a good and informative read all round.
In addition this book raises a question. It refers to one US squadron exchanging its
Beaufighter night fighters for Mosquitos; I was previously unaware of the Beaufighter in US
service and would love to know more. Whilst there is a little more information on this in the book,
I wonder if Tony Fairburn would like to make this the main topic of his next book

The Mosquito in the USAAF

Tony Fairburn
Published by Pen and Sword
ISBN 978 1 39901 733 6
Price UK £25.00 USA $ 42.95
A H osquito model in USAAF markings would make an interesting change.

AeroModeller 1027 - 39
 COVER TO COVER
Christopher Shores is a prolific writer on
aviation history who with Giovanni Massimello
has assembled a small multi-national team
to document the air war in the Mediterranean
from 1940 to 1945. This is a huge task and
this 500+ page book is the fifth in a planned
set of six volumes.
It is however very much a reference book,
covering the claims of all participants for each
day documented, along with the actual losses;
the discrepancies are often just as great as
you might imagine. Well written narrative for
each day is also included which brings the
events to life aided by the many illustrations.
Although in black and white, the illustrations
will be of most interest to model builders as
once again we find good photographs of both
familiar aircraft in unfamiliar markings and
colour schemes, and also unusual aircraft.
For example, I was surprised to find a picture
of two USAF YP80A Shooting Star jets being
operated experimentally in Italy in April 1945.
They did not encounter let alone engage any
enemy aircraft.
At the other extreme is a lovely air to
air shot of a German He 46E parasol wing
monoplane apparently used in anti-partisan
operations in the Yugoslav mountains. That
would make an excellent scale model subject.
There are also more “action” photographs
than seen in most air warfare books. For
example, there’s a great air to air photograph
of a Heinkel 111H trying to avoid being shot
down by an RAF Beaufighter; he failed.

A History of the Mediterranean

Air War 1940 – 1945 (Vol 5)
Written by Christopher Shores and Giovanni
Massimello with Russel Guest, Frank Olynyk,
Winifred Bock and Andrew Thomas
Published by Grubb Street
ISBN 978-1-911621-97-3
Price UK £50.00 USA & Canada $75.95 Beaufighter X NT895 ‘H’, 252 squadron flown by Heinkel He 46E ‘R’ reconnaissance aircraft over
Plt Off Underwood on 21 September 1944. Croatia in July 1944 has the making of a stable FF
scale model.

Prototype Hawker P.1040 which would become the Sea Hawk.

aircraft design from the 1940’s onwards.

In addition to the copious illustrations (both photographs and drawings) the book included
a detailed table briefly describing each test flight made by the prototype aircraft up to and
including the Hunter. The “Remarks” against many of the flights make interesting reading and
show some of the dangers of test flying in that era – for example the P1040 fighter –
“04/04/1949 Eric Brown – Cat Launches. Rear fuselage ripped open by hold back extension
puller.”
Many of the projects of the 1950’s were sadly never built. Some because a competitor’s
proposal was preferred and others in the misguided “cull” of jet fighter projects led by Duncan
Sandys. All however are sufficiently covered to allow a pretty accurate model to be built.
Some other companies’ aircraft are also covered including one that I have never heard of –
The Gloster GA2 “Ace” which was built and flown with quite impressive results. A good subject
for a small rocket powered model I suspect.

Hawker’s Early Jets

Christopher Budgen
Published by Pen and Sword
ISBN 1526792176
Price UK £25.00 USA$49.95

This excellent and very readable book will be

a great resource for all those fans of Rapier
rocket motors, Jetex and TSP their modern
equivalents, not to mention those of you
building EDF and even turbine models. It is
a detailed and well written account of the
Hawker company’s evolving thinking on jet The Gloster GA.2 “Ace”.

40 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

 This is an absolutely fascinating book. Although the author died in 1956, it has only now been
published. Frank Warren Merriam was a flying instructor from before the First World War who
taught many better-known pilots how to fly. He also knew virtually ALL the early pioneers. In his
later years he tried to collect stories from his former pupils, peers and those pioneers who had
survived until then.
The result is an ama ing book that every real aviation enthusiast should have in their library.
Imagine speaking to someone who when asked “Who taught you to fly” can answer “Wilbur” –
being one of the Wright brothers of course r alternatively “Bleriot” Reading this book is as
close as you can come to this today and for these things alone it is worth buying. Add to this the
ama ing period photographs; for example the author and Harold Barnwell (brother of the famous
Frank Barnwell, Chief Designer at Bristol’s) together with a bulldog in (or perhaps “on” ) a Bristol
Boxkite, this apparently being the first bulldog to fly This was taken on or about Sept 25th 1912
and published in The Sunday Pictorial newspaper.
Anyone interested in the early days of aviation simply must buy this book.

Echo’s From Dawn Skies

Frederick Warren Merriam AFC FRAeS
Published by Pen and Sword
ISBN 1526726203
UK £20 USA $34.95 Book author Captain Frederick Warren Merriam Alec Ogilvie (left) at Eastchurch in 1911 preparing
at the controls of a Bristol Boxkite in 1911. for the Gordon Bennet Race watched by Wilbur
Wright.

Qantas and the Empire

Flying Boat
David Crotty
Published by Key Books
ISBN 978-1-913870-37-9
Price UK £17-99

Here’s a final treat for you. A well-illustrated Carpentaria ready to be towed up the slipway at Rose Bay.
account of the Shorts C Class or Empire flying
boats in antas service. Each of their do en
boats, their individual history and eventual
fate is covered in some detail along with many
excellent period photographs and posters.
I have long been fascinated by these aircraft
and must confess to a personal connection
as Dad flew on their successors, operating
out of Rose Bay in the late 1940s and always
remarks on the superb engineering operation
they had there. As well as the flying boats
themselves, this book illustrates some of the
difficulties associated with their operation as
well as some of the outstanding flights carried
out by their crews. These were perhaps the
outstanding British airliners of the pre-war
period and deserve more attention than they
usually get.

Coolangatta comes in to land.

AeroModeller 1027 - 41
 CL NATIONALS
TEAM RACE 2022
D
ue to the unavailability on
Barkston Heath this year,
the race was on to find an
alternative venue to host the
2022 Control Line Nats. As
luck would have it our ational Flying
Centre was booked for a cancelled World
Cup event, albeit midweek, just before
the traditional August Bank Holiday
slot. The bonus for the competitors was
that Stunt, Combat and Team Race
could all compete at the same venue.
Everyone that attended was rewarded
with a superb multi-disciplined venue,
a truly world-class Team Race circle,
42 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
SIMON MOLYNEUX REPORTS FROM THE RESCHEDULED
NATS RACING ON THE 23-25 AUGUST.
the superb campsite and shower block
and, most importantly to the Team Race
competitors, very efficient organisation.
Whilst Combat and Stunt enjoyed
buoyant entry levels, Team Race su ered
from a lower than usual entry due to
several no-shows. The mid-week time-
slot proved none too popular with some.
Some people conveniently overlooked
the fact that for many years, those of us
that work non-regular hours have had
to take leave each and every year to
support the BMFA in competing at the
ats. Unfortunately, it is possible that as
the Barton Club were overlooked in the
Sion Burns releases his British Goodyear racer. He travelled from
venue selection this year, some members
may have taken exception. This would
be a very sad indictment of the current
state of Team Race in the U , this writer
certainly hopes it was not the case.
An extra bonus for attendees was
the BMFA Centenary Exhibition, with a
stunning display of our aeromodelling
heritage with models from British, World
and European Champions. A particular
highlight for me was to see 1984 F2C
World Champions Steve Smith and Colin
Browns iconic F2C model. We were also
privileged to have Steve and Colin in
attendance; Steve was competing very
Menorca to take part in the Team Race Nationals.
The BMFA Centenary Exhibition was the perfect backdrop to the CL
Nationals and prizegiving. (Photo by Andrew Boddington)
John Broadhead had returned from racing on
the continent to take part.
Sion Burns with one of the many Argander
like British Goodyear racers.
The Toogood/Lewis/Toogood pit crew prepare
their Barton B model.
1984 F2C Team Race World Champions Colin Brown and Steve Smith were
present and involved in the Nats. (Photo by Andrew Boddington)
e ectively in intage Combat and F2B,
with Colin doing sterling work in the
Team Race judges tower.
With the superb facilities on site,
the BMFA Centenary display in the
Goldsmith Hangar, and the multiple
control line events to be flown there was
a really nice, relaxed atmosphere building
on the Monday afternoon. Even the
weather forecast was good .
f those that did turn up, Sion Burns
travelled all the way from Menorca with
a selection of very competitive racing
models and once again deserves the
gong for biggest e ort made’. Sion
is a formidable competitor and builds
beautiful and very quick racing models.
His well-used Classic 15 model powered
by a Rothwell R250 seems to win every
time out, with just about anyone holding
the handle. Could he take the trophy
once again
F2C teams Barker/Tricker and Waters/
Broadhead were fresh back from
International duties in France after
With only one hard circle in operation there was an appreciative audience to watch Toogood, Hill and
Cannon compete.
attending the French and Dutch GP’s.
Would their recent experience show in
their performances this time out
Due to having just one hard circle
available, CD Chris Barker drew up a
schedule of flying one round in each
class alternating between vintage and
modern classes. This meant a rapid
turnaround of equipment and certainly
kept us on our toes
Heats
We were blessed with a nice bright
start to the first day, lovely conditions
for model aircraft racing, day two again
dawned bright but a little bree y. A little
trickier but eminently raceable. Finals
day was a whole other matter though
Vintage A
With minimal entries we were set for
some chilled racing. intage event
CD John Mealing added to this with
his charming manner ensuring racing
was carried out efficiently and in
AeroModeller 1027 - 43
CL NATIONALS
alcolm Ross pitting Alan Hill’s nicely finished model.
excellent humour. First up was Vintage
A. Toogood/Lewis had good airspeed
and stops to record a 3:39.0, Cannon/
Pinkerton had a time of 4:51.9. With just
two entries present Vintage A was over
very quickly
British Goodyear
After many years of being dominated by
Ol’ Blue models it appears that this year
the pretty Argander was the model of
choice in British Goodyear. Sion Burns
had a very nicely finished brand new
model to ‘shake down’ on the Monday
with PAW power. The motor had some
engraving on the crankcase implying that
it may well be a Macclesfield Special’.
Also in the Argander club were
Molyneux/Thorpe with a Technohobby
K12 powered fully-painted rarity,
aspiring to actually look like a full size
racing plane, and Fitzgerald/Greenwood
brought along an as yet unflown model
built by the late Team Race stalwart
Jim Holland. Cannon/Pinkerton flew an
Argander-a-like, built from an unknown
plan. Also in the club were Barker/Tricker
Neil Tricker releasing a F2CN model for Chris Barker.
44 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
Happy band of Barton B finalists.
with their excellent minimalist and very standards to which we all ascribe. Alan
skinny carbon fuselage model. has a mass of competitive experience in
Molyneux/Thorpe led the way after a all classes and his models demonstrate a
smooth run to a 4 48 in the first three very detailed approach. They are usually
up heat, Barker/Tricker weren’t running very fast and very reliable. His pit crew
at all consistently with a 6:36 and the Ross/Robinson were doing a good job
vastly experienced team of Fitzgerald/ but due to a timing error no time was
Greenwood were having a few teething recorded. Cannon/Pinkerton were not
issues including a fuel line falling o and too far o with a 54.84. This was a
a missed catch finishing at 56 laps. very pleasant race to observe, the big
The second heat was a 2 up with glow powered models growling round
Waters/Burns recording 4:53 with a harsh impressively, we were all looking forward
sounding model, possibly a vibration to the Final.
issue, and Cannon/Pinkerton with a 5:52 The favourites in the Final had to be
On day two Molyneux/Thorpe
improved by a tiny 0.7 secs, Waters/
Burns did a 4:50.3 and Fitzgerald/
Greenwood got their ducks in a row to
record 5:01.6, these three teams making
it through to Thursday s final.
Barton B
An excellent heat was flown for the first
round of Barton B. Toogood/Lewis/
Toogood recorded a very respectable
40. 5 for the 80 laps. Alan Hill flew
his beautifully prepared model, made to
Sion Burns readies his Rothwell R250
powered Classic 15 for Charlie aters to fly.
Not everything went smoothly for team
aters Newbold in intage 1 2A.
Hill/Ross, with Alan Hill dominating
the class in terms of airspeed for
many years. This has been to the
consternation of other competitors,
but inspection of Alan's beautifully
prepared models and his enormous
experience leaves little doubt that sheer
hard work and understanding have
led to superb performance. Also in
the mix were Toogood/Lewis, showing
ballpark airspeed, could they emulate
the reliability and stops? Cannon /
Pinkerton were down on airspeed but up
on enthusiasm, and once racing starts
anything can happen... The models
got away well and coming into the first
stop Hill seemed to get the timing of his
landing out of sync and left Malcolm
Ross little chance of making a catch
leaving just two horses in the race.
And then the unthinkable occurred, the
model of Toogood/Lewis retired leaving
Cannon/Pinkerton a free solo run to the
end, to great cheer from onlookers. A
thoroughly well-deserved win for these
two stalwarts of control line racing.
F2C
The Blue Riband event F2C attracted
four entries. The models are the lightest,
fastest accelerating, and most economic
of all the racing classes.
It looked to be a close-run a air
with all teams running a similar pace in
practice. Fit gerald/Greenwood su ered
a DQ, landing their model outside the
pitting line. This was due to the pilots’
circle being denoted by white paint on
bleached concrete, proving just about
invisible in peripheral vision. This was
repainted overnight to better e ect.
Waters/Broadhead were at the top of the
timesheets with a 3:28.00 for the 100 lap
heat, Molyneux/Thorpe second fastest in
3:29.3 and Barker/Tricker third with 3:34.
Day 2 saw some very blustery weather
early that was a factor for the F2C
fliers. Biggest improvement was Barker/
Tricker jumping up to second qualifiers
by 0.2 secs with a 3.29.1. Fitzgerald/
Greenwood put in their only time of
3:50.0, cementing 4th place. Molyneux/
Thorpe flu ed a take-o which saw the
model run in, and Waters/Broadhead
also failed to improve.
Vintage B
Due to their being just two viable entries
it was decided to run a straight final.
Toogood/Lewis/Toogood romped home
in 7:33.0 with Cannon/Pinkerton/Leeman
trailing in 9:55.7.
F2CN
The profile version of F2C, ’ was fairly
well subscribed with 5 entries. In round
one Fit gerald/Greenwood su ered a
DQ, Cannon/Pinkerton did 4:51 with an
inconsistent run, Barker/Tricker su ered
a loose spray bar and a horrible engine
run enabling only a 5 minute heat time.
Molyneux/Thorpe were looking good for
a really quick time, and gliding in for their
second and final pitstop, the model 0.5m
o the ground they somehow went under
the lines of Waters/Waters who were
supposed to be pitting! Such a shame as
estimations put the time around an easy
3:50, this was to prove very costly later.
Waters was D ’d, and a refly awarded. A
reluctant engine resulted in a dodgy too-
cool engine run and a pedestrian 4:05.3
for Molyneux/Thorpe. Bizarrely Sion
Burns su ered a similarly poor run in his
heat to record exactly the same 4:05.3
time with his Trigger’s Broom’ model.
This truly excellent model flies beautifully
and is very quick, despite having been
crashed many times. Some say it’s on
its second new fuselage and third new
wing, but when it was going it was pretty
much the fastest model there. The wing
is a patchwork balsa-quilt, obviously very
e ectively repaired as the model has lost
none of its speed.
On day two Fitzgerald/Greenwood
jumped to the top of the timesheets
with a very respectable 3:54.2. This was
of great credit to Mark Greenwood in
particular who was battling a series of
health issues throughout the competition.
Waters/Waters were a little o the pace
with 4:16, no one else threatened to
change the qualification order.
Classic 15
This class is flown to a very British’
specification favouring liver style
engines. Sadly, as usual, UK rules are at
odds with what happens Internationally
so we operate very much in our own
bubble. The virtually unobtainable
Rothwell R250 used by Sion Burns
continued to run well in his beautiful own
design model, with a first heat time of
4:36.9. Toogood/Lewis were next up in
5:10.6 with Cannon/Pinkerton unable to
record a time.
Pat eeman produces some finely crafted
ini Goodyear models. Powered by 1.5cc
plain bearing engines the class is flown over
grass and is a great introduction to Team
Racing.
Pat eeman warming the engine on his ini
Goodyear model prior to the final.
Day two saw a three-up race with
Cannon/Pinkerton having good starts
and reasonable airspeed with very low
range. This resulted in a 6:21.4, their
first time on the board with the ex-
Ed eedham 12 powered model. I
estimated six stops, but actually lost
count! Waters/Burns dropped to a 4:51
and Toogood/Lewis having a D F with
an unreliable shut o .
Open Goodyear
A 2.5cc glow, running at peak revs
with an open exhaust usually grabs the
attention. Sadly the only heat produced
just one competitive time for Fitzgerald/
Greenwood/Thorpe of 4:24.8.
Vintage 1/2A
With just two entries Toogood/Lewis
looked to be going quite nicely with their
delightful model recording 4:10.8. It was
decided to run the final on the second
day with Toogood/Lewis coming through
to win in 9 0.0 with Waters/ ewbold
runners up in 11:30.2 with a variety of
model handling issues.
Mini Goodyear
This traditional beginner’s event is run
over grass and attracted three entries.
Pat Leeman had a couple of very nicely
presented own design models on show.
Pat is obviously extremely fond of this
delightful class and has produced some
very attractive models with which to
compete.
AeroModeller 1027 - 45
CL NATIONALS

Combat or Team Race The first attempt at the ini Goodyear final was The eventual two up final which was won by Cannon Pinkerton.
chaotic...

It was decided to run a final on
Wednesday afternoon with the three
entries, after a bit of practice. What
followed was highly entertaining if a
little unconventional. Chaos would also
describe the first running, with some
spirited flying contravening just about
every rule in the book. This led to some
fearing for the vocal cords of CD Pete
Jephcott when issuing many warnings,
none of which were heeded Eventually
common sense prevailed and the team
of Waterland /Lever D ’d. This left a
two up final to be flown, which Cannon/
Pinkerton won in 10 11. , and Barker/
Leeman completed 122 racing laps.
Finals Day
Unusually for the ats Finals Day was on
a Thursday. Disappointingly it dawned
grey and dri ly. The forecast was for rain
clearing but in reality the weather was
set for the day with just a couple of small
gaps to enable some F2C practice and
the British Goodyear Final to be run.
(Postscript - The poor weather initially
caused the postponement of the F2C
Final, with the expectation that it would
be held later in the season. This was later
changed so that the F2C results were
based on the heat times. So, 1st Waters/
Broadhead, 2nd Barker/Tricker, rd
Molyneux/Thorpe.)
British Goodyear Final
An individual warm up period of 5
minutes is allowed for each team
to find their race setting. Fastest
qualifiers Molyneux/Thorpe took their
12 Argander into the circle where it
steadfastly refused to run cleanly. After 5
minutes of messing around they had no
setting and not much chance. Waters/
Burns and Fit gerald/Greenwood did
seem much happier with their models.
n ,2,1 Go ’ all models got away
well, it was immediately apparent
Molyneux/Thorpe were in trouble with
what seemed to be dirt in the fuel
line. Waters/Burns were going well
but not quite on song with Fit gerald/
Greenwood having similar airspeed.
Then, inexplicably, the 12 Argander
model coughed and bingo - fuel line
cleared. The race was on The 12 had
superior airspeed and great stops with
around 180 laps to go there was plenty

Nigel Thorpe and Simon olyneu wait for F2C practice time. Unfortunately Off she goes, but no F2C final race today. Nigel Thorpe is more usually seen
the weather got worse and postponed the conclusion. at intage Combat events with the Feltham team.

46 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

British Goodyear finalists. From left, anny illiamson anager of the B FA National Centre who presented the awards, ark Greenwood, ike Fit gerald,
Nigel Thorpe, Simon olyneu , Charlie aters, and Sion Burns.

of time to catch up. The race was the

usual lively a air with a few interesting
‘moments’. At one stage Mike Fitzgerald
was cutting o as Waters overflew rather
high leaving Molyneux performing a near
wing over to avoid catastrophe. Very
sadly Mark Greenwood s model su ered
a significant break in the fuselage after a
fast landing. They kept going, but looking
at it after it was a wonder it hadn’t
failed completely. Molyneux/Thorpe
were su ering with sti ening controls,
resulting is some interesting laps towards
the end of the final.
But the orange Argander of Molyneux/
Thorpe had now got ahead, the yellow
The F2CN finalists of olyneu Thorpe, winners Fit gerald Greenwood, and aters Burns.
model of Waters/Burns had a rough
sounding PAW tailing o slightly and
Fit gerald /Greenwood inevitably running
slowly with their airframe issue. ■

RESULTS:

2022 NATIONAL TEAM RACE CHAMPIONS

F2CN - Fitzgerald / Greenwood
British Goodyear - Molyneux / Thorpe
Open Goodyear - Fitzgerald / Greenwood
Mini Goodyear - Cannon / Pinkerton
Vintage A - Toogood / Lewis
Vintage B - Toogood / Lewis / Toogood
Vintage 1/2A - Toogood / Lewis
Classic 15 - Waters / Burns
Barton B - Cannon / Pinkerton / Leeman

The Classic 15 was decided by the Round times, with Cannon Pinkerton third, aters Burns the F2C - Waters/Broadhead (Decided on heat time)
winners, and Toogood ewis second.

AeroModeller 1024 - 47
 CL NATIONALS

BRITISH NATIONALS VINTAGE

COMBAT COMPETITION DENIS MURPHY REPORTS FROM BMFA BUCKMINSTER ON THE NATS COMPETITION
HELD ON 24TH AND 25TH AUGUST

V
intage Combat started
at around 10.30am on
Wednesday. Engines were
allowed to be started at
10.00am giving 30 mins to
obtain a good engine setting prior to the
competition starting. Conditions were
pretty much the same as for the Oliver
event the previous day (see last month’s
issue), warm but with slightly more wind.
With an entry of 33 competitors, the
Combat circles were again placed on the
main runway with two dedicated circles.
The idea being that the first round and
losers’ rounds would be flown in two
circles, with one circle being used for the
remaining rounds. F2E and ½ A would be
flown in the second circle after intage
had completed on Thursday.
First Round
The first round always springs some
surprises whereby some of the more
established names come a cropper.

Lionel Smith launches for

Steve Smith while Roger Fisher
releases the streamer during
the British Nationals Vintage
Combat held at Buckminster on
Wednesday 24th and Thursday
25th August 2022.

48 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

Richard Evans and Tony Frost were the pit
crew for ave ood flying against an ever
improving artin Johnson in green shirt.
Tony Frost and ick ewis launch a model
for Richard Evans during what was possibly
the closest First Round bout when he flew
against Gordon Price foreground .
Roger Fisher had a First Round win against
Johnathon Crabtree left .
espite ma or outboard damage this armonger X 68 kept flying.
Notable this time was Chris Fisher, who
won Oliver Combat the previous day,
being beaten by Martin Kiszel who has
been flying his “goofy” left-handed style
particularly well since his return to the
combat scene this season.
Possibly THE bout of the First Round
was between Richard (Legend) Evans
and Gordon (Mine’s a Scotch) Price.
Four minutes of close-following combat
ensued and ended in a draw. Both
pilots on their knees with the e ort and
applause from the watching crowd. The
re-fly was also a nip and tuck a air,
this time Richard just getting the upper
hand. Some of the main contenders won
through as expected, Richard Herbert v
Peter Harvey, Tony Frost v Alan Bunker,
Dave Riley v Denis Murphy, and igel
Thorpe, fresh from his team race exploits
Previous day’s Oliver Combat winner Chris Fisher was in the osers’ Round against Tim Hobbins right
and managed a win.
with Simon Molyneux, v Willie Wallace.
ick Stowe was given a bye due to the
odd number of competitors.
Losers’ Round
Sometimes called the “Last Chance
Saloon”, the Losers’ Round enables
those knocked out in Round ne to fly
o in order to get to the next round. It
also ensures that all competitors get to
fly a minimum of two bouts each. First
up in Circle ne was Richard (The Shoe)
Stitson v Peter (Pylon) Harvey, Richard
winning through. Chris Fisher redeemed
himself v Tim Hobbins, Moggs Morris
won against an improving Chris Davy
and Roger Fisher, runner up in liver
Combat the previous day, won against
Richard Berry.
In Circle Two, ick Stowe beat Willie
AeroModeller 1027 - 49
CL NATIONALS

Johnathon Crabtree launches during the intage bout involving F2 flyers ave Riley left v ave iseman.

Wallace, Dave Wiseman beat Dave
Wood, Alan Bunker beat Dave Chalk, and
Gordon Price beat Denis Nosher Murphy.
Eliminator Round
Due to the number of entries it was
necessary to have an Eliminator round.
Martin Kiszel v Richard Herbert
resulted in a win for Richard. The bout
between Chris Fisher and Lionel Smith
was not without some controversy. The
bout was hard fought as per their Oliver
bout the previous day. At the end of the
bout Lionel was declared the winner,
Chris complained that some dark arts
had happened during the bout although
the Centre Marshall hadn’t signalled
anything untoward. After some heated
discussions, a re-fly was ordered, and
yes you guessed it, Chris won!
Simon Miller v Nigel Thorpe was an
interesting bout. Nigel was spreading
himself between being a mechanic in
the Team Racing and being a pilot in the
Vintage Combat. For whatever reason,
Nigel stepped out of the circle and was
disqualified. Frank Marshall v Tony Frost
was a bit untidy, Tony managing to take
the winning cut late on. Dave (The Grey
Fox) Harrison v Richard Evans was won
by Richard. Dave’s pit crew took a long
time to start his engine and when finally
started and launched had a bad setting.
Dave Riley v Dave Wiseman, both
seasoned F2D flyers, was a terrific bout
to watch, Dave Riley winning through.

Chris avy and Alan Bunker launch their respective models for the Eliminator of Johnathon Crabtree Richard Evans launches for Tony Frost left
right v Gordon Price. who won his bout against Frank arshall.

50 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

 First Semi Final saw Steve Smith (left) losing
against Dave Riley on ground time after two
cuts each.
The final two Eliminator bouts were
Johnathon Crabtree v Gordon Price.
Johnathon, double ationals winner last
year in both liver and intage, had no
such luck against Gordon and exited
the competition. Eamonn Fosdike v Alan
Bunker resulted in a win for Alan.
Second Round
The second round took place on
Thursday. The start was delayed
somewhat by heavy rain showers and
a fierce wind. Due to the delay, the F2E
and A were looking very unlikely to
happen as a large number of competitors
in those classes were still in the intage
competition. John Leggott vs Martin
Johnson were up first. Martin seemed to
improve as the competition went on and
was a deserved winner. How far could
he go
Simon Miller v Sam Hobbins was
an interesting contrast in styles. The
younger Sam moved around the circle,
often flying low inverted, Simon flying a
more traditional style flying downwind.
n this occasion the young pretender
was outdone and Simon progressed.
Richard (HRH) Herbert v Richard (The
Shoe) Stitson was a fairly routine a air,
Richard winning through. Moggs Morris v
Gordon Price (F2D 2022 at’s Champion)
produced possibly the shock result of the
round with Moggs getting the better of
Gordon. Was it the it ats
Alan Bunker v Richard Evans promised
to be a great bout. Richard took two cuts
to Alan’s one. Then with only 10 seconds
of the bout remaining, disaster struck
for Richard as he was judged to have
stepped outside the circle, resulting in
an immediate D . Lively conversations
ensued ick Stowe who had showed
some good form, then went out against
the ever-consistent Steve Smith.
Tony Frost v Dave Riley was an
excellent bout. Dave was 2-1 up with
about 1m of streamer left. Tony had
no streamer left so was desperately
attacking Dave for all he was worth.
Dave defended magnificently by using
avid Riley and Gordon Price pitted for
Simon Miller (left).
the whole circle and flying inverted. Try
as he may, Tony was unable to get a cut
and Dave was declared the winner after
a full 4mins of combat with no ground
time Ian Perkins v Chris Fisher brought
the second round to a climax, Ian’s
model was hit in a mid-air and could not
continue. A win for Chris.
Quarter Finals
Martin Johnson v Chris Fisher started
the uarter Finals, resulting in a win
for Martin who continued to impress.
Possibly the most eagerly awaited bout
was that of Dave Riley v Richard Herbert.
After a line tangle, Richard took the
whole of Dave’s streamer before crashing
vertically and broke his prop. Dave
managed to stay airborne while Richard’s
pit crew changed his prop and got him
back up in less than a minute. Dave
then managed to get the cut he needed
for the win. This just proves that HRH
is human after all Alan Bunker v Simon
Miller ended rather disappointingly.
Alan’s model was launched at the start
and went into an inverted manoeuvre
before levelling out straight and level.
The result an instant D for Alan and a
win for Simon.
artin Johnson in the second Semi Final when he flew against
Semi Finals
The first Semi Final was between Steve
Smith and Dave Riley. With so much at
stake, it was a frantic bout with lots of
tight following by both pilots. Dave was
in the lead by 2 cuts to one before there
was a line tangle, Steve took a cut in the
tangle and then crashed. With the score
2-2 on cuts, Dave won on ground time.
The second Semi Final between
Martin Johnson and Simon Miller looked
pretty even for a couple of minutes.
Unfortunately Simon, whilst flying directly
overhead, lost his balance and stepped
out of the circle and was automatically
D ’d. Unlucky Simon, but fair play to
Martin.
hird l ce l
Fly o for third and fourth place saw
Simon (The Whippet) Miller v Steve
(Steady) Smith. Simon looked down on
airspeed compared to Steve, probably
due to a wet soggy model. After a couple
of minutes into the bout with the scores
level, there was a mid-air. Steve got
back up, but on landing had no streamer
attached and was D ’d Third place to
Simon, with Steve picking up Fourth.
AeroModeller 1027 - 51
 Gordon Price launches
the model of Dave
Riley (blue) during his
Vintage Combat Final
CL NATIONALS win against Martin
Johnson.

The Final
So to the Final of Dave Riley v Martin
Johnson. Dave’s model appeared to be
quite a bit quicker and tighter turning
than Martin’s giving him an instant
advantage. Dave followed Martin for
a minute or so, taking two cuts and
then defended extremely well for the
remainder of the bout. The bout ended
2-0 to Dave giving him his first intage
Combat competition win in 30 years of
trying! Well done both.
Thanks must go to the members of
the CFA Committee (Combat Flyers
Association www.combatflyers.co.uk)
for their hard work in organising and
running the events, together with BMFA
Buckminster for hosting the event. If
we are unable to get a FULL Nationals
at Barkston Heath or elsewhere in the
future, Buckminster is the perfect venue
for CL only events. It was unfortunate
that due to the weather conditions on
the Thursday intage finished late, and
therefore F2E and 1/2A events were
unable to be run.
is lific tion les
In the intage competition, there were
several disqualifications (D ) over the
two days, mainly for pilots stepping
out of the circle with two feet. Why
people are doing it is anyone’s guess.
Dizziness could be a factor along with
lack of awareness where pilots are in
the circle, and possibly the speed of
the models. All pilots are getting older
after all. The slower Oliver class did not
seem to be a ected in the same way.
The rule is quite specific, if you step out
with two feet you are D ’d. Perhaps the
way forward is for Centre Marshalls to
be more vocal, and possibly physical
in order to prevent these D ’s from
happening? No pilot wants to travel
hundreds of miles at great expense just
to get D ’d. This particular issue was
brought up at the CFA AGM and caused
a lot of debate. I’m sure we have not
heard the last of it! ■

Winner of the Final, Dave Riley (right) with pit crew Gordon Price and Alan Bron e fly off Simon iller right took third place and Steve Smith fourth
Bunker and runner up Martin Johnson with pit crew Jonathon Crabtree and place with their respective pit crews.
Lionel Smith.

52 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

 CL NATIONALS
BRITISH NATIONALS
F2D COMBAT
GORDON PRICE REPORTS FROM BMFA BUCKMINSTER ON THE
NATS FAI COMBAT COMPETITION. PHOTOS BY DENIS MURPHY
T
he 2022 F2D National
Championships was held
on Tuesday 23rd August
as part of the Control Line
Nationals held at the BMFA
Buckminster NFC. With only 6 entries,
and run alongside the Oliver Combat to
avoid pilots needing to fly in both comps,
a short competition was expected.
Centre Marshal Vernon Hunt assisted by
scorers Lex Scurfield, Ben and Martin
Dave Wiseman and Harry Walker prepare a
model for launching.
Harry Walker (black shirt) in a bout with
Gordon Price during the British Nationals
F2D Combat.
Johnson started the action at 12 noon.
With 6 entries the F2D two lives system,
where you have to lose twice to be out of
the competition, suggested 11 bouts to
leave one winner with one life left.
In the first few rounds notable were
Alan Bunker losing by 9 seconds to
Gordon Price (2 cuts all) and by 6
seconds to Dave Riley (1 – 0 to Alan in
cuts). For reference any score closer than
5 seconds or 10 points in F2D is a re-fly
Centre Marshall Vernon Hunt signals to scorers that the bout between Dave Riley and eventual F2D
Nationals Combat winner Gordon Price (red shirt) has ended.
Winner of F2D Combat Gordon Price
(centre), Dave Riley second (left) and
Harry Walker third.
so Alan was very close.
After three rounds three pilots
remained: Harry Walker (2019 champ),
Dave Riley (2021 reigning champ) both
on 1 life and Gordon still with 2 lifes left.
In round 4 Harry was unlucky to have
a single model F2D ‘Helicopter’ after a
collision, where the model does a flat
spin, while leading 1-0. Harry’s model
did not cut its own streamer so the pit
crew had an huge mess to untangle
resulting in more than a cut’s worth of
ground time and a loss for Harry. In
round 5 Gordon took three cuts of Dave
and then kept trying to dump his full
streamer on Dave’s model. Eventually he
succeeded and removed Dave’s wingtip
in the process which then got tangled in
the string and around Dave’s elevator,
which was not clear from the middle until
it finally fell o .
So Gordon Price finally won the F2D
Nationals after 14 odd previous attempts,
with 2 lives intact and having beaten
each of the other 5 opponents.■
AeroModeller 1027 - 53
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 EVENT REPORT
OLD WARDEN SCALE WEEKEND
ANDY BROUGH AND ANDREW BODDINGTON REPORT ON THE LAST MODELAIR EVENT OF THE
SEASON THAT SAW THE REINS HANDED OVER BY KEN AND SHEILA SHEPPARD TO A NEW TEAM
W
ith somewhat
blustery conditions
at the Shuttleworth
Collection site on the
weekend of 17-18th
September - wind speeds often well
over 10 mph - I think some of the FF
scale flyers were put o from attending
on what was a new date for the Scale
Weekend. There was however plenty of
sports FF flying taking place, and on the
Sunday competitions run by SAM 35 for
Precision Rubber Powered models (AKA
the Rubber Bowden) and small single
channel models. This Old Warden was
particularly significant as it marked the
retirement of Ken and Sheila Sheppard
from ModelAir and their organisation of
the Model Events at this venue.
56 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
Many will have attended the
model flying meetings at ld Warden
Aerodrome over the years; often they
have become the highlight of the year’s
events calendar. No other venue can
provide the ambience of the airfield, with
its unrivalled collection of historic planes,
the parkland setting and the occasional
comings and goings of the museum
planes. The ability to fly models by free
flight, or with radio assist, control line
or full house radio control also makes
the venue di erent. That this happens
every year is down to the hard work of
a dedicated group of modellers. Several
groups have run these meetings over the
decades, who can forget Ron Moulton
with his laid-back style and ability to
attract famous aeromodellers so you
ark Pedwell flew by single
channel Noel Shennan’s Cricket
from ay 1964 odel Aircraft.
could meet your heroes!
For the last 23 years it has been the
ModelAir Team firstly Mike and Joan
Reynolds assisted by Ken and Shelia
Sheppard and then in more recent
years it has been their responsibility to
stage these events. To those attending
it all seems to just to flow along with
ease which shows just how e ective
their leadership is. To organise and run
these meetings there has to be a strong
team especially in the modern era of
tick boxes, overreaching legislation
and demands of insurance companies.
However, it takes clear focus, enthusiasm
and leadership to pull it all together. en
and Shelia have done that magnificently.
The Scale Weekend just gone was the
last to be organised by the duo. Both
Do not fear, model aircraft events are
continuing at Old Warden with two dates for
2023 organised by James Gordon and Emma
Chase. www.modelair.info

Chris Chapman had an interesting array of

FF EDF (Electric Ducted Fan) jets powered by
LiPo battery or SuperCapacitors to his own
design in moulded foam, inspired by the Jetex
Tailored series of kits of the 1950’s which had
moulded balsa fuselages. The orange model
is the Avro 707, forerunner of the Vulcan.
After 23 years involvement with ModelAir and the running of aeromodelling events at Old Warden,
Sheila and Ken Sheppard are retiring. Ian Lever of SAM 35 presents them with tokens of appreciation
for all their hard work. Your editor would also like to publicly thank Ken and Sheila for all
they have done to make Old Warden such a special place for
aeromodellers. (Photo by Penny Housden)

Brothers Mark and Lance Pedwell

were continuing their family’s
aeromodelling tradition. Mark has
a Frog 45 (he had been looking for
one for years as their father flew
one) that he found as a wreck at
a swap meet for a £5; he stripped
the tissue, remade the joints, and
recovered. As he couldn’t find any
black tissue for the fuselage, he
ended up using tissue from around
oranges bought in Aldi! Lance has
his original Vespa from 1972 with the
addition of some 1/16” square balsa
on the wing underside to straighten
out warps.

Chris uses vacuum forming techniques to

produce the airframe shells with what was
called Graupner Vector Board and is now
produced by Pichler as Super Board (Steve
Webb Models can supply). Method is to carve
a solid half side mould of the fuselage less
the thickness of the board used. The foam
board is reasonably stretchy so the vacuum
and a bit of prodding will mould it cold around
the form. He then uses a heat gun over the
surface to relax the foam and then this sets
into shape when cold. Model shown is the
Paul also had with him his scale XP 6 ‘ oonbat’ first seen a couple of years ago in A as work in
Hawker Hunter inspired by the Jetex kit, with
progress and now nearly finished but unflown. The model was designed by ick Howard and published
the under trough now serving as an air duct
in May 1988 AM.
to the EDF unit which is from Drone spares.

AeroModeller 1027 - 57
EVENT REPORT

The gentlemen flyers of SA 5 prepare their single channel models for a precision competition.

Paul Briggs enjoyed his weekend at Old

Warden despite the weather. On one of the
many trade and enthusiast stands he found
the parts for this ‘jet’ engine which anyone
reading US model aircraft magazines of
the 1950’s will recognise from the MEW
(Minnesota Engine Works) adverts. This new
MEW 601 engine was supposedly easy to
run and worked by vapourising ethanol or
gasoline fuel from a heat source in the steel
tray below the main jet cylinder which then John Ashmole was back running the Rubber Bowden on the Sunday with his usual enthusiasm and
sprayed through into the tube at the rear diligence. Here he sets the target time of 0 seconds flight for ave Banks who flew another of his fleet
where combustion took place – not for the of quirky small own designs.
faint hearted and definitely not to be tried at
home!
It was great to bump in to
three generations of family
flying together. From left,
Alan Bird with icroRC
RTF Sonik ustang with
stabilising giro, Lyndon
Bird, Sarah Rowse, friend
Thomas Boyd with Sonik
Corsair, and Rowan Bird.
This was their first time
back at Old Warden in
three years because of
Covid, and they were
thoroughly enjoying
it. Small RC electric
stabilised RTFs have
their place as an easier
introduction to what we
do, and they’re fun!

Catching the editor’s eye, Doug Campbell

had a ills 1. powered Tyro which was not
only designed by his father David Boddington
but finished in classic B marking scheme
but with a different colour palette.
 Edward Gautrey was struggling first to start and then trim his FF twin rotor autogyro. The Contra
Gyro is an old A design by aurie Ellis and the plan U644 still available from Sarik Hobbies.

the SAM 35 and ModelAir committee

members planned to present awards
for their service. They coordinated the
presentations to happen at 9.30 am on
the Sunday before the start of play, firstly
SAM 35 followed by ModelAir. They
were very moved especially as it was
also Sheila’s birthday! We all sang happy
birthday at the end which brought Shelia
to tears…
ModelAir continues with Emma Chase
and James Gordon heading up the team.
There are two dates booked for next
year: Festival of Flight 13-14 May, and
Scale Weekend 16-17 September 2023.
www.modelair.info ■
Richard alby often has a stand at Old
arden and you can be sure of seeing
engines there which you won’t see anywhere
else. These talian ena diesels are at the top
a rear induction k and below a later FR
Front Rotary alve version.

,
much patched Sirocco
ave Rumball and his
ea with a elie onocoupe, and en
Bryan in
Cousins Braydon ileson and alin Hall were ior Tomtit competing
Bates with a FROG Sen run by SA 5.
flying all weekend under the watchful eyes of the Rubber Bowden
Shaun ileson. The Junior Glider competition was held both
days, with gliders built and decorated in one
of the hangars before flying. Photo by Stuart
arsden

A healthy turn out of 12 flyers in the Rubber Bowden given the flying conditions for the small models.
inner of the ow ing Biplane category was Ron Johnson with his O flying wing, while Bert
hitehead won the High ing category.
Classics all, ready for the ourney home
Graham inch had filled his GB GT boot
with some lovely models including a Nat nee
and ercury Tiger oth.
 FF Contest
INDOOR FREE FLIGHT
PERFORMANCE NATS
MEREDITH EVANS REPORTS ON THE
INDOOR NATS HELD ON 16TH TO
18TH SEPTEMBER 2022
The outside breeze being channelled through
ventilation and heating ducts had a detrimental
effect on Tom Goodwin s Gyminnie Cricket.
60 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
T
his year, the usual indoor
performance venue at the
Thames Valley Athletics
Centre (TVAC) was not
available due to re-surfacing
of the floor. Therefore, the Indoor Free
Flight Performance ationals had to
be held at yet another new venue.
Fortunately, Tony Hebb the Indoor Tech
Committee chairman was able to secure
the use of his local leisure centre at
Daventry. In May, this had been used for
one of the U F1D Team Trials events
and was found to be ideal. This venue
has a large single open space with a
ceiling of 9.2 metres, defined by support
rails for cricket nets, along with other
lighting services and structural members.
Tom Goodwin’s Limited Penny Plane (LPP) at the Daventry leisure centre Indoor FF Performance Nats.
Unlike TVAC, a model which hung up on
these obstructions was easily retrieved
and not one model was lost during the
contest.
n Friday, the absence of both Tony
Hebb and Mark Benns meant that
Hans Staartjes and Mike Colling were
left to fill in as joint Contest Director.
The decision was taken to split the hall
virtually between relatively light and
heavy classes; the light classes getting
the better air at the entrance door end.
Most people obeyed this demarcation
and there was never the perception that
the hall was too small for our needs.
Friday 16th September
With the first day of the contest falling on
 avid Goodwin’s Catapult glider on a trimming flight.
a Friday, there were only five contestants
present at the start of the first morning.
This low turnout led to the CD
authorising self timing; an arrangement
which then persisted for the rest of the
championship. At this early stage, the
flying mainly consisted of trimming flights
with the heavier models. Ian Pearce and
Roy Sellwood were mixing the Gyminnie
Cricket (GC) and Limited Penny Plane
(LPP) classes, while I started with
LPP and o-Cal scale. In the lighter
half of the hall, solitary F1D flyer Hans
Staartjes was assembling his model and
checking its glide. These check flights,
performed with the propeller replaced
by a ballasted dummy hub, are a useful
part of F1D flight preparation and are
used to get the tail setting angle exactly
right. An experienced flyer will know
how many seconds of glide they will get
from a hand launch and adjustments are
made until the expected performance is
achieved.
From the start of the flying session,
it was immediately apparent that air
conditions were not good. The exterior
sidewall of the hall was equipped with
two extraction fans, which clearly
connected to the outside. In addition to
this there was a ceiling mounted heating
duct with four vents blowing air down
Ian Pearce’s 35cm Challenge model. He went on
to win the class.
Roy Sellwood’s pretty Airacobra No-Cal.
at an angle towards the floor. utside,
it was quite bree y and cold, so air was
forcing its way in through the wall vents,
as indicated by the fans rotating slowly.
It was never clear whether the air coming
out of the heating vents was actual
heating air, or air forcing its way into the
system from outside as its e ects were
quite intermittent. Either way, it was
quite powerful enough to stall a model,
or dash it towards the floor making
accurate trimming difficult.
Later in the morning David and Tom
Goodwin arrived, along with Bob Bailey,
who all made a start on Gyminnie Cricket
and LPP. I spent the morning setting up Tom Goodwin launching his Catapult glider.
my LPP and doing some quick flights
in o-Cal scale. This was using my
old Dornier 5 model, which is rather some initial Catapult glider trimming,
warped and overweight now, so no great even though conditions were not
performance was achieved. With their good, with the turbulence a ecting the
relatively short tail arm and limited tail transition to glide.
area, LPP models can struggle for pitch When rubber powered flying resumed,
stability, and in the prevailing conditions Roy Sellwood spent the afternoon flying
this was certainly the case. My model his P 9 Airacobra o-Cal, which looked
struggled and couldn’t realise its hoped- very attractive in its yellow and green
for potential. civilian racer colour scheme. Generally,
At lunchtime, propeller powered during the afternoon conditions improved
flying was stopped for a half hour Hand and this allowed flights of the lighter
Launched Glider (HLG or F1 ) and classes such as Rob Funnel’s Living
Catapult glider slot. Bob Bailey and the Room Stick (LRS) and Ian Pearce’s
Goodwins made use of this time for 5cm Challenge. Hans was also getting
Ian Pearce steering his F1L model. Tim Chant’s Legal Eagle winner.
AeroModeller 1027 - 61
Free Flight Scale
Mark Harper has returned to indoor
competition and was flying this Bob Bailey
designed PP.
And this is Bob Bailey’s PP.
Tom Goodwin made the most of the good
conditions on the Saturday with his F1R.
Tim Chant’s winning PP
62 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
ark Benns’ large H G glider went on to win the class.
good times in F1D, as was experienced
during the Team Trials at this site. I spent
the afternoon trying to get the best out
of my LPP, which was not pitch stable
enough to recover sharply from a roof
beam hit. The Goodwins spent the
afternoon making progress in GC and
LPP. Towards the end of the afternoon,
Tim Chant arrived and began some
setup flights with his Legal Eagle and
LPP. Unfortunately, we had to pack up
at 16:30 in order to be out of the hall by
17:00 for another activity. This led to a
rushed pack-up as people tried to make
the most of the good conditions at the
end of the afternoon. In my case, this led
to a spectacular folding table collapse
which completely destroyed my LPP
model.
Saturday 17th September
Weather conditions on Saturday were
much more favourable, with warm
sunshine and almost no wind. Inside the
hall, the extractor fans were stationary
and flying conditions were very much
improved. There was still the occasional
bump, but the air stabilised very nicely
during the day. The weekend brought
new arrivals including Mark Benns as
Contest Director, Dave Whitehouse and
Mark Harper, who was returning after
some time away from the hobby.
The better conditions brought out the
lighter models and soon the lighter end
of the hall was busy with Living Rooms
Stick and 35cm challenge models, F1Ls
and the usual F1Ds. There was also
a surprise visit from former UK Team
member Derek Richards, along with
some local flyers from Birmingham. They
were not taking part in the contest, but
it was great to see Derek once more
engaged with the indoor free flight
performance scene. As for myself, I was
involved in a close battle with Tim Chant
in Legal Eagle. Turbulence near the floor
made the required take o something
of a lottery, but we were able to make
some very good flights. As lunchtime
approached and we ran out of time, Tim
was in the lead by one second and that
was how it remained as we moved on to
other classes.
At the start of the lunch break, we
all stopped flying and held a minute’s
silence to commemorate the passing
of Her Majesty the late ueen Eli abeth
II. nce the finish of the silence was
announced by Mark, it was time for the
half hour glider slot. This was rather
busy, with many of the competitors
taking part, although mostly in Catapult.
Mark Benns was supreme with his
familiar, large HLG model, but there were
also good flights from Tom and David
Goodwin.
In what would turn out to be the best
conditions of the championship, it was
very busy on Saturday afternoon. Many
people were trying to get their best
flights in LPP, which is traditionally the
class with the most entrants and hence
is the most competitive. Bob Bailey was
continuing with his unusual own design,
which has been kitted by Bob and other
members of the Indoor Tech Committee.
This has proven to be very popular
and two of the kits had been built and
were flown by Roy Sellwood and Mark
Harper alongside Bob’s original. The
design is unusual in that it doesn’t use
all the available wing chord or propeller
diameter. This gives a longer tail arm
and less pitch de-stabilisation from the
propeller, improving the overall pitch
stability, which can be a problem for
LPP designs. This was not, however,
a one-design contest, with Tim Chant
flying his carbon-sparred Gowan LPP
model. David Goodwin and Rob Funnel
were also performing well with their more
conventional LPP models.
In the good air conditions, Tom
Goodwin was making a start in F1R with As I had expected Sunday to have the equipped with a motor stick section
a 0.6gram fixed-pitch propeller model. best conditions, this was the time I had made from a specially moulded carbon
He had initial problems with hang-ups reserved for my F1R flying. My model fibre tube. This was obviously very sti
on the ceiling structure, but was soon weighs 0.5 gram without rubber and and, at this stage, rather heavy when
making good flights. With the absence of has a fixed pitch prop. At this weight, compared to the balsa tube version.
Tony Hebb, this class was unusually wide the model is pretty rigid; the converse of There was also discussion as to whether
open. My afternoon was spent battling which can be a problem with F1R models the necessary stick bow due to the motor
Dave Whitehouse in F1M. This class is obsessively built to an arbitrary weight tension would be achieved with this
intended as an entry into F1D and has target. In the early stages of my indoor construction. This is an essential feature
seen some great multi-way battles over performance career, it was continually of a modern F1D, where the motor
recent years. It is also possible to fly a dinged into me by the old hands’ that tension bows the motor stick against
LPP as an F1M, as it meets the rules if a given model must be rigid enough to the resistance of the wire bracing. This
you use a 0. 5gram half motor with a hold its shape in flight and be able to provides downthrust which avoids a
0. 5gram ballast stick. Tim Chant chose survive handling. A model with these power stall just after launch, an e ect
to do this with his Gowan, but the result properties, even if it’s overweight, will which dissipates as the torque drops o .
was some way behind the dedicated fly and will teach you something. You Having competed in five other classes,
F1M models. Fortunately at the end of can then look at ways of progressively I hadn’t spent the time required by my
Saturday’s session, there was no-one getting the weight down. F1D to get the most out of it. I’d had to
else using the hall so we were able to Having found the torque level required adjust the pitch trim to provide more stall
leave some of our equipment in place for my F1R to reach the ceiling, I then margin in the slightly lumpy air and this
and make best use of the excellent put up two timed flights as a benchmark required considerable readjustment of
conditions. before moving on to F1D. Tom Goodwin the P setup to compensate. The model
had spent the morning finishing o is still 10 overweight and flies correctly,
Sunday 18th September his flights in Living Room Stick and if not very competitively in its current
Sunday Morning’s weather was once Gyminnie Cricket. Then, having seen my state, so I left things as they were and
again sunny, but with a slight bree e. F1R times, he was inspired to try and prepared for some nominal flights after
Inside the hall, the ventilation fans better them. He tried very hard and got the lunch break.
were turning, but only very slowly, so closer by adding a minute to his times Sunday’s lunchtime glider slot saw
conditions were not quite as good as from Saturday, but it was not enough. Mark Benns flying Catapult, having
for Saturday, but still quite adequate. Having put the time in on F1D, finished with HLG on Saturday. His
Sunday usually presents the opportunity Hans Staartjes spent the morning best model was destroyed when the
to get in those final flights and really experimenting with a F1D model wing came o during the launch and
push things in the classes that matter
to you. Tim Chant, Bob Bailey and Mark
Harper were finishing o their flights in
LPP, while Ian Pearce and Roy Sellwood
were completing 5cm Challenge. I had
found myself a few seconds behind Dave
Whitehouse in F1M and as he was not
present on Sunday, I decided to try and
catch him unopposed. My first flight
was a slight improvement, but my final
flight ended in a hang-up in the ceiling
structure, with critical damage during the
retrieval.
Having completed LPP, Tim Chant
moved on to o-Cal scale with his
Cassutt Racer alongside David Goodwin,
who was also putting in some final o-
Cal flights with his Heinkel. Tim had a
few problems this year, but the addition
of a big aileron trim tab and some ballast
rectified things enough for him to take
the win over David. Based upon our
experiences this year, I would conclude
that o-Cal models don’t have a long
shelf life. It seems they are particularly
prone to warping with their minimal
structure and tissue covering. Hans Staartjes is experimenting with a carbon motor tube on his F1D model.

AeroModeller 1027 - 63
 RESULTS:
Free Flight Scale
F1D ½ MOTOR (3 ENTRIES)
1. M. Benns 11 25 + 11 2 22 48
2. H. Staartjes 11 15 + 11 09 22 24
. M. Evans 0 5 + 08 1 16 28

F1L ½ MOTOR (2 ENTRIES)

1. I. Pearce 0 4 + 0 54 15 28
2. T. Goodwin 06 20 + 0 05 1 25

F1R ½ MOTOR (2 ENTRIES)

1. M. Evans 0 49 + 08 00 15 49
2. T. Goodwin 0 5+0 1 15 06

F1M ½ MOTOR (3 ENTRIES)

1. D. Whitehouse 06 0 + 05 59 12 06
2. M. Evans 05 50 + 05 52 11 42
. T. Chant 0 06 0 06

F1N (HAND LAUNCHED GLIDER) (3 ENTRIES)

Hans Staartjes steers his more traditional F1D Bob Bailey launches his Catapult glider. 1. M. Benns 41.80 + 9.20 + 42. 0 12 . 0
model with balsa tube. 2. T. Goodwin 25.00 + 2 .00 + 28.00 80.00
. D. Goodwin 2 .00 + 2 .00 + 2 .00 69.00

the violent, unrestrained acceleration year, the gap while the final scores were LIMITED PENNY PLANE (LPP) (10 ENTRIES)
shredded the tail surfaces. He then compiled was filled by a mass launch 1. T. Chant 06 52 + 0 00 1 52
2. D. Goodwin 06 29 + 06 8 1 0
moved on to a fleet of smaller models, contest for LPP models; last one down is . R. Funnel 06 5 + 05 45 12 8
but was unable to challenge Tom the winner. Seven competitors took part,
NO-CAL SCALE (4 ENTRIES)
Goodwin whose model performed some but the almost inevitable mid-air collision 1. T. Chant 02 1 + 01 5 04 06 Cassutt
perfect glides from a transition just below took out two of them almost immediately. 2. D. Goodwin 01 4 + 01 50 0 Heinkel
. R. Sellwood 01 + 01 42 0 19 Airacobra
the e ective ceiling. Bob Bailey also ne by one the models landed leaving
had an ama ing Catapult flight when Tim Chant victorious with a slightly 35CM CHALLENGE (2 ENTRIES)
1. I. Pearce 06 44 + 06 1 1
his small model successfully threaded conservative 6 45 to go with his LPP win 2. M. Harper 04 1 + 04 45 09 16
its way through the roof structure in the Championship.
GYMINNIE CRICKET (GC) (5 ENTRIES)
without touching anything following an With the mass launch complete, it was 1. T. Goodwin 05 01 + 05 05 10 06
overenthusiastic launch. time for the presentations. Gwynedd 2. R. Bailey 04 29 + 05 16 09 45
. D. Goodwin 04 21 + 04 45 09 06
The final session of the ationals is and Mike deserve our special thanks for
quite short as flying is stopped at 15 00 their dutiful e orts over the three days LIVING ROOM STICK (LRS) (5 ENTRIES)
1. D. Goodwin 05 08 + 05 1 10 9
to allow Gwynedd and Mike Colling in keeping track of 196 competition 2. R. Funnel 04 2 + 04 2 08 59
time to compile the final scores. I put flights in the eleven classes from twelve . M. Harper 04 8 + 04 20 08 58

up my two flights in F1D which were competitors and for publishing the final LEGAL EAGLE (4 ENTRIES)
nothing special, but Mark Benns was all results so quickly. The verall Points 1. T. Chant 0 5 + 0 21 06 56
2. M. Evans 0 29 + 0 26 06 55
for readjusting the VP to get the most Championship and our congratulations . D. Goodwin 02 51 + 02 49 05 40
out of the model. Unfortunately, there this year go to David Goodwin, with a
CATAPULT GLIDER (5 ENTRIES)
was not time for this and it wouldn’t score of 0 points built upon his victory 1. T. Goodwin 5.00 + .00 + 6.00 108.00
have changed the positions, but merely in Living Room Stick and the consistency 2. D. Goodwin 28.00 + 2 .00 + 29.00 90.00
. M. Benns 25.00 + 0.00 + 0. 0 85. 0
improved my scores. Having had the full of placing in all seven classes he
three days this year, there didn’t seem to entered.
be such a mad rush to get flights in just This year, the return to the three-day would always welcome new competitors.
before the close and so things settled format allowed more classes to be flown It’s more accessible than you might think
down in preparation for the Limited by each competitor, ensuring the survival The BMFA Indoor Duration Technical
Penny Plane Mass Launch. of the lesser’ classes which su ered last Committee website is indoorduration.
As there was no auction of donated year. Competitor numbers appear to be bmfa.uk ■
indoor equipment and materials this recovering slowly after Covid, but we

The winning Catapult glider of Tom Goodwin makes the most of the roof height. Mass launch of LPP models gave time for the results to be collated.

64 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022

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 TO FINISH
Tail End Charlie
Another pot pourri of aeromodelling miscellany…
Roger Cooper
1936 – 2022 RIP
I was very sorry to hear from
Roger Cooper’s wife Joan
that he had passed away
towards the end of October
after a short illness. Whilst
I hadn’t known Roger for a
great length of time, he was
the sort of person who could
(and did) become a firm friend
very quickly.
Regular readers will
remember his article on
his Northwick Park club
(March 2021 AM) and more
recently the excellent job
he did refurbishing George
Sayell’s 1955 KK Ranger
whilst retaining the patina.
The last time we met was
at Old Warden in May when
Richard Evans took a break
from combat to perform the
honours as Ranger test pilot.
In his earlier years he had
designed his own models and
been a keen Jetex rocketeer.
More recently he was a keen
user of Redfin engines and
liked the unusual; for example
his “Ascender” from a July
1 2
1: The late Roger Cooper starting the engine in the Ranger prior to its first post renovation flight at O in ay 2022. 2 Roger Cooper and his 1954 own
design Arrow with Jete 50. 3: Roger ready to “Fly the orld” 4: Roger Cooper recently built the Jim Fullarton designed Ascender canard from July 1951 A .
66 AeroModeller 1027 - December 2022
1951 Aeromodeller plan, a
pusher canard of 40” span
powered by a Redfin reed
valve 1cc diesel. Roger was
also the first participant in our
“Fly the World” event.
On a personal note, he not
only collected a nearly mint
ETA29 from Gildings auction
for me, but on hearing I was
awaiting major surgery, arrived
on my doorstep with his wife
Joan to deliver it, even though
he knew that Covid restrictions
would limit our meeting to a
few minutes shouting across
my drive. He was a true friend
who will be sorely missed. Our
thoughts remain with Joan and
his family.
The Ascender
When I saw pictures of
Roger’s Ascender model
I took a quick look on line
and discovered that it was
designed by Australian expert
Jim Fullarton. He wrote in the
original build article that “This
design started back in 1944,
when the disclosure of such
types as the Miles ‘Libellula’
3 4
and the Curtiss ‘Ascender’
inspired me to attempt a
semi-scale prototype for
a canard lightplane. Two
di erent designs were built
before the ‘Bee’ version,
which has been lost in a creek
for some months, placed
second at our Nationals.”
Who agrees that this would
be a great choice for a historic
plan article?
As Jim goes on to explain
that the model needs nose
weight roughly equivalent to
the engine weight. So it seems
to me that a modern variation
with electric power would be
ideal, as the battery can be
placed to get the correct G
of G with no need to carry
otherwise useless weight! Now
to convince the Editor...!
Silky Smooth
Mike Smith wrote about
his recent experiences with
silk covering, favouring silk
layered over tissue. He uses
silk covering over tissue on
his Free Flight Scale models
(see the DH4 in past scale
reports and Scale Matters
column) and recommends
a company called Silkcraft.
Mike says “The Silk Chi on
they sell is very good and the
cost is very reasonable. See
www.silkcraft.co.uk/white-
silk-per-metre Weight is 3.5
m/m a little heavier than Esaki
tissue but well usable. They
sell it per metre or by the roll if
you have deep pockets.”
So that’s not only another
month but another year
under the bridge. Please do
let me have your comments,
complaints, suggestions,
memories and anecdotes
either direct to chrisottewell@
anworld.com or by post via the
editorial offices.
Email Note – There is no
dot “.” between “chris” and
“ottewell” neither is there an
“r” in my name! Sometimes
people make those mistakes in
typing my e-mail address and
wonder why I don’t reply… ■
By Chris Ottewell
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