Model glider mini minimoa

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Talking about TC's for a mo. This was mine just after I got it in 1967

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Not too bad after about 2 months though. Thompson Road Sprint. Just over a mile on the Old Thompson Road, Singapore. I still have the aeroscreens :cool:

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Quite special compared to the standard jobbies too

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There was even an MG badge on the ally inlet manifold!

The secret for the heat shrink, either the material I used on my Minimoa and the Solar Film type is to have the iron at the correct temprature. If it's too cold it won't stick or shrink and if too hot then it shrivels up and it's even easier if you have a proper iron for the job. Similar to this

https://www.gliders.uk.com/PROLUX-THERMAL-SEALING-IRON-W_STAND/productinfo/PX1361AGB/
 
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Nice TC Jon. I think you'll recognise the car (when I've finished the WIP).

Yeah, I got the iron, with thermos sat (and a special "sock"): But whatever I tried I either got the iron too cold (didn't stick) or too hot (burnt holes in it) - all just as you said.

I guess when I started with tissue and dope, I made a mess of it (so long ago I can't really remember) but nowadays, it's "easy peasy" (not that I've done it for several years now). Like I said, I'm sure with film it's "just" a knack, but I clearly don't have it!

Re Jetex: They disappeared YEARS & YEARS ago, but a while back, they suddenly made a come back. I have one of the "new" ones (I'd guess about 10+ years old now) and some pellets, but guess they're dead now.
 
AES said:
Yeah, I got the iron, with thermos sat (and a special "sock"): But whatever I tried I either got the iron too cold (didn't stick) or too hot (burnt holes in it) - all just as you said.
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Temperature is the key here. There is no magic setting as all films are different depending on colour, transparency, base material ect.
The secret is to cut a small sliver of film, Get your iron hot then drop the piece of film on to the iron hot plate. If it doesn't curl or curls ery slowly then it's too cold. If it curls instantly and shrivels and burns it is too hot. What your looking for is the film to curl quickly and not burn within a few seconds.
You did remove the backing film didn't you? I as because we once had a new member turn up at the club with his shiny new Hi-boy trainer, Immaculately built and pre-flight checks were perfect. After a couple of minutes in the air it decided to undress itself. He had left the backing on the film.

Gerry
 
Gerry said:
Temperature is the key here. There is no magic setting as all films are different depending on colour, transparency, base material ect.
The secret is to cut a small sliver of film, Get your iron hot then drop the piece of film on to the iron hot plate. If it doesn't curl or curls ery slowly then it's too cold. If it curls instantly and shrivels and burns it is too hot. What your looking for is the film to curl quickly and not burn within a few seconds.
You did remove the backing film didn't you? I as because we once had a new member turn up at the club with his shiny new Hi-boy trainer, Immaculately built and pre-flight checks were perfect. After a couple of minutes in the air it decided to undress itself. He had left the backing on the film.

Gerry
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Thanks for the tip Gerry. Yes, I did remove the backing(!!!), but didn't know the tip about dropping a scrap on the iron to check the temp. Too late now though, it's all stripped off, re-primed, and awaiting an "attack" with the rattle can stuff.
 
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be, now days it's all composites, my HLG gets to about 200ft off a hand turn launch, but the thing below really has no limit except eyesight.
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Yes as a kid I remember going to Wanstead flats in London with my dad to watch the model aircraft being flown, some amazing works of art and some had working radial engines. Also there were boats and allsorts being driven on the lake on the other side of the flats. These days it seems to be all pre made drones and not hours of cutting balsa wood.
 
Spectric said:
Yes as a kid I remember going to Wanstead flats in London with my dad to watch the model aircraft being flown, some amazing works of art and some had working radial engines. Also there were boats and allsorts being driven on the lake on the other side of the flats. These days it seems to be all pre made drones and not hours of cutting balsa wood.
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If you've seen the price of balsa wood these days, you'd know why!
 
Gordon Tarling said:
If you've seen the price of balsa wood these days, you'd know why!
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The last time I looked at Balsa wood was when I was still wearing shorts and knee length socks, with the prices in pounds, shillings and pence but I do remember seeing it piled up in model shops as sheets and all types of profiles and the fun I had cutting out all the shapes for a model, always had problems with the tissue covering though. So just gone and looked for Balsa wood, it is dearer than redwood but comparable to some hardwoods, is it actually more expensive when compared to the average wage, ie 1967 £36 a week to now where minimum wage is £360 ?

But looking at 1/16 Messerschmitt BF-109 Balsa Model Kit this model kit is nearer £60 and in 67 kits were only in shillings so even if you said it was 6 shillings it has gone up over 100 times! so yes I can see your point. On the other hand we had to put up with clockwork motors because battery motors for Mechano were very expensive so swings and roundabouts.
 
Can anyone remember the maker of the cellophane packaged balsa planes from the 70s? My local toyshop used to have a whole rack, from basic glider to rubber band powered ones with a wire and red wheel undercarriage. Hundreds of hours of fun assembling, flying and repairing
 
@furnace: If I remember rightly, that was a small company led by a husband & wife team called Janice & Dave(?). In the 70's & 80's they spent quite some time and effort promoting those kits in low-level contests at the BMFA Nationals every year to try to bring on a new generation of modellers. Don't know how successful they were, nor what happened to the company (whose name I've also forgotten). Typical!

@Spectric: Yeah those kits aren't cheap by any means. And one of the problems that all "mass-produced" kit manufacturers have is that they cannot pick and choose the best grades of balsa to use in their kits, so as a buyer, you can often end up with a less than ideal wood selection in the various parts of the kit - and just like any other flying machine, model or full size, but especially so with FF, weight is at an absolute premium. Guillows is/was BTW, a well respected FF scale kit manufacturer (from the US).

BTW, re balsa itself, I seem to remember reading somewhere that officially, balsa is classed as a hardwood. If so, it's hardly surprising that the price of balsa has gone the same way as all other wood. And I think a primary source of balsa is/was Ecquador, which can't help with the prices either (if still true)
 
The price of Balsa has gone through the roof because the Chinese are buying it all up to use as the cores for wind turbine blades. Some retailers are having difficulty obtaining stock too.

Gerry
 
I haven't seen balsa for at least 10 minutes now

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My part finished 1/4 scale, 3.4m DFS Habicht. It was designed and built for the display at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the wooden spar was such that it was rated at +12g, minus 9g and was the worlds first fully aerobatic glider.

I hate to think just how much balsa there is in there? Plus 1/8th, 1/16th, 1/32nd and 1/64th ply!

If you think that balsa is expensive you will definitely sneeze at 1 6/4th ply. A sheet 1 X 4 foot will set you back about 40 beer tokens!

If I can get it right it will have a red sunburst design. Not quite the same as this. Not too sure about the fuselage design?

Habicht paint 1.png
 
Gerry said:
The price of Balsa has gone through the roof because the Chinese are buying it all up to use as the cores for wind turbine blades. Some retailers are having difficulty obtaining stock too.

Gerry
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That's interesting Gerry. I didn't know that. Just for interest, do you happen to know what they do with it - cover it in carbon fibre & glass matting then 2 part "epoxy" I guess? And what do they do for a blade main spar?
 
That was more or less what I had in mind Jon (though not the mimicking of the cellular structure of balsa). Wonder what that would cost in comparison with, say, a one eight sheet of quarter-sawn (for wing ribs yer know)?

Thanks, interesting article - there's so much "clever new stuff" around these days, I for one just can't keep up (to be honest, I probably never could)!

BTW, I notice that article is 7 years old!
 
AES said:
That's interesting Gerry. I didn't know that. Just for interest, do you happen to know what they do with it - cover it in carbon fibre & glass matting then 2 part "epoxy" I guess? And what do they do for a blade main spar?
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No I just know that's where it's all going.

Gerry
 

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