The Lockheed XP-38 Lightning (prototype) used handed engines; the props rotated so that the blades at the top approached each other. Although this is the normal way to do it, it turned out to make this aircraft unstable as a gun platform. They tried it the other way and it solved the problem. The re...

Thanks for that, I did not know. Top marks to LMA - again.

I just renewed my membership online, chose to be registered with CAA, paid with PayPal, but then saw that the £9 fee for the CAA had not been included in the payment. As I have the required proficiency ertificates I expected the CAA fee to be taken with the sub - so what happens next?

EXCHANGE COMPLETED

If anyone has recently bought a FrSky Taranis Plus transmitter and now wishes he had not done so, I am ready to trade the following list for it:- JR PCM9X transmitter in original packing 35mHz JR type NET-J35P transmitter module 35mHz FM 9 channel JR receiver type NER-549X crystal 65 35mHz SPCM 9 ch...

I think you will find that the Zenoah 23 and 26 silencers are identical, they have the same bolt spacing. I also discovered that one of them will fit nicely on a DLE20. The bolt spacing is not exactly the same but the DLE bolts are a bit narrower and the holes on the Zenoah silencers are a loose eno...

More research into the P-38 shows an anomaly. The counter rotation as already described is the usual set-up; it is used on the DeHavilland Hornet. However photographs show the prototype P-38 with this same arrangement, but production models had the opposite. The propeller pitch is easy to read in ma...

Paul, yes, that was the one. The earlier one was finished in olive drab with invasion stripes. Not a great aeroplane, tended to fly like a garden shed.

I built two examples of the T-240, both powered by Zenoah 23 and both well matched by an 18 x 6 prop. I know of one that had a Zenoah 38 which was fine, so the 26 should be ideal. I believe the 6 inch pitch would suit the model's airspeed better than 8 inch. The structure of the model as presented i...

The P-38 was designed to have counter-rotating airscrews, the starboard one rotating anticlockwise as seen by the pilot. The RAF ordered their first aircraft with right hand rotation on both shafts. Now here’s a quote from FIGHTERS Volume Four, by William Green, Pages 115-116:— “For some unexplained...

Years ago I wondered about an electric pump for petrol, and a friend pointed out that some cars use an electric pump to push petrol from the tank to the carburettor. They work fine, so he said ‘why not use one of those?’ A puYears ago I wondered about an electric pump for petrol, and a friend pointe...

I have an MVVS 26cc engine, built like a watch, runs like a sewing machine, tough as a Russian tank. This company has a long history of making good engines and the latest ones are first class. Note that the ‘Evolution’ versions from 26cc upwards are actually MVVS. Can’t speak too highly of my specim...

Don’t bother about avoiding some bleed, just block it. We are obviously talking about spraying, so when the tape is first in place give a thin coat of clear dope over all the edges. This will probably bleed in places but it makes no difference. It blocks the little gaps that the colours would otherw...

Bob, this is getting away from the main thread, but following experience with small electric foam things I am now inclined to solve the switch problem by doing away with switches and instead plugging the power lead from the receiver to the battery directly using Deans plugs. They don't let go easily...

I don't know whether this will help, but here goes: I did an experiment a long time ago on a small model with a HAL 2000 fitted, and the radio programmed to turn the HAL on only if the radio went into failsafe, and to set the throttle at low idle at the same time. Turning the transmitter off resulte...

There is a lot more to the assessment of model performance than simple wing loading.
Try this link, it covers the interesting subject of wing cube loading very well.

http://www.theampeer.org/CWL/reynolds.htm

I should add that WCL enables comparison of models that differ greatly in size.

I have an MVVS 26cc which came new out of the box with a black coating on the piston skirt. This is normal for this engine, so I suspect that this may be what you are seeing on your engine rather than burned-on oil. If so, be glad, it's a sample of MVVS quality construction and attention to detail. ...

I used a Zenoah 23, firstly for some time without a trumpet, then with one. Two differences: (a)without the trumpet there was fuel staining down the fuselage side from liquid fuel runs, and (b) the running time on a full tank was at least 20% greater with the trumpet. I have had similar effects with...

Keith, does this mean we now have the basis of an excuse for scale model builders who do not put a pilot in the cockpit?

Ken
The email did not arrive. I have altered the font on my website in case it has caused confusion. If that does not work I will somehow make contact via the membership secretary.
Clive