Where to fly ?

Hi folks

As a kid back in the early 1970s I used to fly control line and free flight on the local common or recreation area. 45 years later I've retired from work and I'm amazed to discover many of the Keil Kraft and Veron kits are still available. I quite fancy building a Veron Deacon. I built it's little brother the Cardinal way back then. However I'm wondering where I'll be able to fly a ic / power model in these health and safety conscious (and litigious) times. I'm in Wrexham in North Wales. I'd be prepared to travel into Shropshire or Cheshire. Even so, none of the clubs in the area seem to do free flight, with the possible exception of Deeside (but even that does not look ideal, close to the River Dee and I gather they have a waiting list for membership). Must admit I'm a bit baffled as if people are building these kits they must be flying them somewhere ! Anyone know where ? I could take my chances up on the Denbighshire moors, but likely to be very breezy, besides it would be good to meet some other FF enthusiasts

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

Alan

Hi Alan and welcome to the forum.

While it is true that the number of places where you can fly IC free flight has massive shrunk there are still sites to be found though you may have to travel bit further than you hoped. The BMFA run a series of national free flight comps throughout the country at which 'fun flying' (i.e. not competing) is actively encouraged and most events find a small group of flyers with free flight sports models like the Cardinal and Deacon .

Here's a link to the BMFA FF site. If you are not a member already its well worth joining as at a minimum it includes insurance for model flying. There is a Northern area meeting but being in the south I can't remember where it is

freeflight.bmfa.org/newcomers

Personally my opinion would be small rubber models flying in a park is fine ( particularly if you have BMFA insurance) and on a quiet part of the moor with a small diesel powered FF model I doubt you'll have much trouble. In fact a mate flies on the pennine moors, though retrieval can be tricky in the boggy conditions. I have flown small ( .5 to .75 powered diesels) IC FF models from common land near my home, though I don't make a habit of it

Your best bet maybe be to attend one of the FF meetings next year and see for yourself the fun to be had. It's a bit of a trek for you but I can recommend the ModelAir events at Old Warden .

The other alternative, that many have turned to, is to fit single channel RC . Usually rudder only nearly to keep the model in the field then you will probably be able to fly at some of your local clubs ?

Hi Squirrelnet

Thanks for your suggestions. I did go to Old Warden a few times as a kid and would love to go again, but obviously I am hoping to find somewhere rather nearer to home to fly on a regular basis .

I checked out the events calendar on the BMFA website, but for the area heats it does not actually specify the venues

So I've dropped an email to a chap on the BMFA FF committee to see if he has any suggestions.

Failing that I may have to do as you suggest and build it as single (or maybe two) channel RC so I can fly at my local club field. However I guess that would mean I would only be allowed to fly when someone is available to act as my instructor, precisely the situation I was hoping to avoid by going the FF route.

Love your model by the way. Stunning

The person you need to contact is Admin on this very forum.
Give Andy Sephton a call! He's our free-flight guru. :lol:

I'm sure you'll find that trimming a radio assist free flight model is just as challenging as full free flight trimming at the outset. After that its just fun all the way. It does make free flight power a practical proposition. Plus, check out what they could do with rudder only way back in the day, all sorts of aerobatics.
Good luck
N

Hi F/T I live in Meliden and my nearest club is Rhyl I believe they have some F/F flying but not sure This may help
www.google.co.uk/search?q=rhyl+model+fly...ceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Ref Deeside I think they have moved and are actually now in Cheshire. I plan to join Rhyl when I am fit enough . Have you thought about sloping on the Orme? With radio of course

Another thought if your interest lies in the smaller rubber powered ff kits from the likes of Keil Kraft and Veron is to fly indoors

This may help

www.bmfa-nw.org

There may be one of the local clubs who run indoor events over the winter. Nigel runs one in the Derby area.

As a Free Flight power flyer I have got used to a couple of hours drive for a days flying .

Welcome to the Forum Alan. We have an into-thread, if you have a moment, a post similar to the first one you did on this thread would be appreciated.

www.aeromodellers.co.uk/forum/thecafe/10...-yourself?start=1590

As far as your question of where to fly goes, Squirrelnet has provided an excellent answer. All I could add is that there are regular winter indoor meetings, both RC and FF, in the RAF Shawbury Station Gymnasium. The contact is John Minchell. You can find his contact details on the BMFA Website; he's a member of the Scale Technical Committee. Let me know if you can't find him.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Having checked out the sites of the club's mentioned the flying fields don't appear to be best suited to true free flight. Guess I'll have to go the RC route.

On the subject of indoor flying (mentioned by Squirrelnet) I called in at Steve Webb models in Frodsham and was amazed at the quality and low prices of the electric indoor RC scale models now available. Certainly something to consider for winter flying. However for the moment I'm looking for something to build !

Its looking like I'll have to go RC , so possibly just need to decide if I go assisted free flight with just one or two channels or full 4 channel. No real price difference these days (just the price of an RC engine if I can't get my old OS 46 ungummed) !

Thanks again

Alan

Hi Re ungumming your engine Soak it in Amyl Acetate or Acetone in sealed container for a day or two And try to dismantle. Application of heat helps with the aid of a blow torch. Keep the blow torch well away from the solvents. If still a problem boil it in Ethylene Glycol in a saucepan but not the best one though as it will not be useful for food afterwards.Keep it on the simmer for an hour or so .Then working with it while still hot crack as many threads as you can .Once you've done that the rest will come apart easily. Just one thing Keep any plastic parts out of it. e.g. carburettor parts etc If nothing moves warm it up again then leave it soaking overnight and try again.. If there is any anodising it will be removed by the E.G. One thing that could be useful is to remember that sustained pressure will often work on really frozen threads as opposed to sheer brute force which can cause damage.

If Steve Webb's is your 'local' shop, whereabouts are you actually located? (I don't want the house number and street name!) I do know that people travel to Webbies from as far afield as Llandudno, so maybe you know Timbo Mackay from there who uses the 'other' forum, and it is possible our paths have unknowingly crossed in there.
My local flying club, which is r/c, is just moving home, as you may have gathered from other threads on here, but we have a pretty large space, and occasional free-flight or radio-interfered free-flight could be possible, once we get sorted out.
We are outside a small village called Daresbury, just South of Warrington, if you are interested, and within sensible reach.
www.halton-and-district-mfc.co.uk/

Don’t be put off with the idea of radio. Quite a few hardened FF people are moving over! We call it radio assist or radio trim. Full house is a bit blasphemous though.

I have a single channel FF model (rudder only) 40ins span diesel powered that spends most of its time flying free and simply receives a nudge now and again from me via the TX just to keep it in the field so to speak. So the amount you interfere using radio is almost entirely up to you. By the way you also have an effective D/T - full rudder - if needed.

Rubber powered models are also now using radio - have a look at this chap flying in the middle of Manhattan!

domoremaths. On you Tube!

So radio will in fact open up areas on which to fly I find. The radio gear in my rubber model cost less than £15 and weighs less than 10gms including battery.

Have fun.

Thanks for the suggestions John. I'll start with the cold acetone (cellulose thinners ?) and only progress to the use of heat if that does not work. Just a bit worried that engine may contain rubber seals (do they have crankshaft seals like 2 stroke motorcycle engines ?) would be damaged by hot solvent.

Eric thanks for the invite to join Halton. Im just down the road in Wrexham, less than an hour away (so long as M56 is not snarled up). I had looked at your website but Google maps showed your field to be right next to the Manchester Ship canal , close to the Mersey, which rather put me off from the free flight point of view.

Where are you moving to ?

I checked out the videos on YouTube. Awesome. I thought only competition rubber models could perform like that, not vintage/ semi-scale, certainly not a Hurricane carrying RC gear !

Very impressive, but not for me. Not sure I've got the skill to build light enough and far too windy in these parts