A good friend of mine, John Hoggard, assisted with some of the mechanical bits. He is a master with the Dremel. Unfortunately he wasn't available the day I had to glass the wings. Wow, does that epoxy go off quick! Still not too bad for my first time and they are big wings. Next time I will spend more time sanding and filing before glassing, but you live and learn.
I sketched out the gas, air, fuel and electric systems before installation. There are 2x1.5 ltr main tanks plus a UAT. there are 4 batteries, 2 for the radio, 1 for the turbine and 1 for the lights. 11 servos all Futaba. 1 Gas cylinder for the on board start and 2 air reservoirs.
	The decals for the model exterior were another challenge. I did the crests on the tail fin myself. I had an old BA press pack that had the old "To Fly To Serve" crest on it. After a bit of mucking about on the PC I was able to print them in silver on a LaserJet printer using some special paper from Paper Direct. The name and the registration are required in white. Have you ever tried to print white? So I sent off to a company that does vinyl graphics for cars and after some initial misunderstandings they provided the decals for the name and the British Airways. I've run the engine in the model and tested the under carriage. I am about ready for taxi trials and that all important maiden flight. I may convert to 2.4Ghz and I need to sort out the lights but I'm fast running out of excuses.
The kit came with a basic, 3 bits of balsa, cockpit arrangement. so with pictures from www.airliner.net I managed to reproduce the cockpit main and engineers panels. The centre consul is the turbine control panel which is switched on via linkages to a pitot out the bottom of the aircraft. Also the radio fin on the top of the cockpit is the radio switch.
The almost finished "Babacombe Bay"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Balsacraft EasyStreet - Martin Riley

This aircraft is designed for a can 600 motor spinning a 9"4" prop, but seeing the performance of some of the Webmasters upgraded models to brushless, I thought that this would be a good intro to the technology as the kit came without a motor or Speed controller. The model has ample room for an Outrunner to spin, so a look around the trade stands at the Nationals dragged me towards a TowerPro unit. It was lots cheaper than equivalent powered motors from other manufacturers, but it appeared well made. The motor kit came with a spare prop shaft, a front mount for firewall bolting, and a rear mount for a pusher configuration.  All bullets and heat shrink came in the pack too.

40" span, 4 channel aerobatic ARTF model marketed by Ripmax. I chose the longer of the two motors, no reason why, but I did. On two cell packs it is sedate, but swift. rates are a must so you can contain the roll rate so you can take a breather. On a 3 cell pack, you can imagine the difference..... half as much power again.
	The motor comes in two varieties. The longer one spins at 980 RPM per volt (980kv), whilst the shorter one is 1200kv both are optimised for 3 cell LiPo packs
Impressive bag of mounts, bolts and other essentials came as part of the motor purchase

A brilliant introduction to electric flight.  This model is small enough to throw in your boot built up, to just add a battery when the sun comes up. With the brushless motor, weight is greatly reduced over the speed 600 set-up. With the weight loss comes agility and additional flight times, and of course slower / softer landings. Any brushless option will allow the use of 3 cell LiPo packs which gives the extra umph over any NiCad pack you have lying around. Three cells into a can motor will be fine for a few flights, then the dust from the brush's blow away......... and you have no motor.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

IFO - Indoor Flying Object - Paul Harrison

This aircraft is designed for indoor flying (as the name might suggest) and park flying on calmer days. It is a carbon rod framed circle with transmitter mixed Elevons. A pair of the lightest servos you can afford, along with a short range ultra light receiver are the basic equipment of this unusual model. Origin power train was a six or seven cell AAA NiCad pack and a "Can 380" turning a 10" x 4.7" GWS type "Slowfly" prop through the GWS gearbox.

A substantial upgrade to the above format is a brushless / LiPo power set-up. I picked up my IFO from the Loughborough 2006 Swapmeet for a fiver. It was basically the carbon framework with a pair of hinged and horned control surfaces. 

The keep the weight to a minimum, I selected a brushless outrunner that was happy to spin a 10"x4.7" GWS prop on a two cell LiPo pack, as that is the guide prop size. The motor selected is an outrunner rather than a brushless " can style" motor, as I did not want to add the weight and complexity of a gearbox that would be required with that type of motor.  My motor is a Waypoint E2208-34 outrunner from RobotBirds for around £15, and it is controlled by the smallest 10 amp speed controller I could economically find. All up and ready for flight, my IFO weighs in at a mere 134 grams.

I covered the carbon frame with transparent Solarfilm to start the upgrade off, and then added a pair of 3.6 gram servos. As the model was previously owned, the control surfaces had already got horns and link rods..... so it was easy enough to just glue the servos at the correct distance from the hinge line to establish full movement of the Elevons. The battery flight pack that I chose is a 2 cell - 7.4 volt 350 maH unit with a 26C capacity, again from RobotBirds for £13.00. The model on less than full throttle will put vertical out of your hand with no effort, and the draft from the prop will pull the carbon around a room extremely slowly with full control. Thrust from the power train is difficult to measure with a circular model made of Solarfilm, but I saw 240 grams on the scales before I lost my grip - It should be able to hover rather easily on the 2 cell set-up.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

6mm Depron F15 pusher jet - Paul Harrison

This aircraft is built from 6mm grey Depron sheeting, and has a total build value of about £5. The model is basically a copy of the brilliant HET F18 built from balsa and ply..... and has almost exactly the same dimensions. These would look good together at the flying field. shame I can't fly them both at the same time myself.
	Everything looks the same until you look at the back of the model. The HET F18 (£80 kit) is powered by a fairly expensive brushless EDF unit (£60 for the fan and motor) and a 2500maH four cell LiPo pack.... (£80) this Depron model is powered by a £9.00 brushless bell motor and prop, and a 3 cell 1500maH LiPo @ £19. Once complete, the model will be painted up to increase its realistic appearance, but for now night time grey will have to suffice. The blue tape lines are the hinges and the covering for the carbon wing spars.
The HET model uses mixed Elevons, where the Depron model has an all moving tail surface as well as conventional ailerons.

Just a note on the performance to be expected...  the HET model weighs a magnificent 1080 grams, where the Depron model is a mere 380 grams. These are fully loaded model weights including battery flight packs. This is power to weight difference should be quite exiting, as the bell motor is noted for its high performance from such a small size, and can be utilised spinning between a 8"x4" and a 10"x7" Slowfly prop.