Topics

1

For Sale / gliders and kits for sale

« on: March 04, 2015, 22:07:27 PM »

Hi guys

With the bring and buy coming up at the PSS event in a few weeks, I have some models and kits for sale, which can be brought to the event, if you are interested.

Blackhouse minimoa 3m scale glider with servos and air brakes. This is the glider I use for last year's glider towing event in France. The model is in good condition with a small dent on the leading edge.




Price 270 euro


Dg800 flyfly 4m scale glider air frame only. The model is in good condition
and can be used on the slope or towed.



price 150 euro


Standard Multiplex funjet kit. This is a very fast foam pusher prop jet which I got last year and never build.




price 50euro

Skua flying wing kit

CNC cut EPP foam wing panels for incredible durability
9mm (approx 3/8") diameter fiberglass spar system for in-flight rigidity
Wide (up to 60mm, or 2 3/8") balsa elevons with tapered cross-section for superior integration with airfoil

price 90 euro.

johnp

2

Events / PSSA Great Orme Oct 2013

« on: October 15, 2013, 20:23:52 PM »

Hi All

Well, now that I have recovered from a fantastic weekend flying with our fellow slope pilots from across the irish sea, on the Great Orme in Wales.
This was the last event of the 2013 PSSA flying season, and what a great event it was, with a large turn out of pilots from all over the U.K.
After an early start, my good wife Roisin and I arrived at the great Orme ski carpark around 12.00pm. Ray and Anne Jones arrived shorty after us, along with Phil Cooke and Matt, then after we had the usual hand shakes and greetings, it was off to the slope to meet up with the rest of the pilots.
The east slope was a new location for me to fly off, however the lift was fantastic, which was good, as any mistakes on the part of the pilot, would see the model end up in the sea.
Ray and I flew the two magisters first, and both flew smoothly out over the sea in the pure lift, them the two MB 339A's got a flight, again both flew well. I had a couple more flights during the day, however as always, I spent more time talking than flying, 'well it was nice to chat with some old faces and make many new friends.



My good friend Ray( designer of the Magister and MB 339a) and myself pose for a photo before a flight.

Getting the Magister ready for her first flight.



One of the most impressive flights of the day was completed by Phil Cooke
with his new MB 339A in the Peru Colours. This model was one of the Islandmodels kits, with the new RG14 wing sections and the model had full cockpit details designed by Phil. The AUW of the finish model came out at almost 7lbs, double the weight of standard model, however, the model flew fantastic in the strong lift with a fast turn of speed and a very smooth aerobatic flight performance, the best I have seen from this version of the model.



Close up of the cockpit details



Phil and myself with our two MB 339A's

With the light dropping off on the slope, it was time to go to our hotel and out for a bit of Craic in the local bars and clubs.

We arrived on the slope around 10.30am on the Sunday. Phil and Matt had already tested the lift, which was again good off the east slope. I had carried the big B52 on the roof of the car all the way over to wales, so today was the day for the big BUFF to grace the skies over the Great Orme.
Phil give me a flight with his Shooting star, which I had to fly in Mode 2 :?: 'I fly Mode 1' however after a few mins, I was happy soaring out over the sea and along the cliff edge.

With Ray and phil's help, I managed to put the BUFF together quickly and we carried it off to the slope. The looks that Phil and I got from the local walkers as we passed them was priceless, 'good god look at the size of that plane!' 'can you guys sit inside that model and fly it' and the best comment from a guy as we passed him, ' lads is that a B52 bomber, why not fly that model over Westminster and drop your bombs on them Tory bast*/~*'.  :clap:  :clap:



Phil keeping a tight grip on the B52.



Pilot and ground crew ready for take off!

When we got to the slope, surprise, surprise, the wind had dropped to 4mph, so we would have to wait about 45mins before we could fly the big Buff over the Orme.



While waiting we took a few pics with the big model.



Big Tim and myself



Simon and I get the big lady ready for flight!

Simon must have had 'three weetabix' for breakfast that morning for he managed to throw off the big Buff on his own :clap:













The flight was great and the big lady flew very smooth in the strong lift, however I did damage the model on landing breaking the fuselage behind the wind, 'I hate big ROCKS' :evil:  :evil:



Rock number one on approach!



I just missed this rock, and then had to fly into the ferns, however the model is repaired and ready for another mission :lol:



Ray with his Alpha Jet, along with Dave and myself.





This is Simon's U2 about to go off the slope.



U2 and B52 in formation



A group photo of all the pilots on Sunday

Well another event season over, and a big thankyou to Phil, Matt, Simon, Sue, Tim and all the local pilots, not forgetting my good friends Ray and Anne for a fantastic weekend, I look forward to attending next years event, and maybe a squadron of B52 bombers flying over the Great Orme :?:  :?:

3

Wanted / Coverite iron on fabric

« on: October 11, 2013, 21:15:36 PM »

Hi guys

Has anyone got any vintage cream coverite iron on fabric, very like solartex except it is the USA version, Dave in the states needs a roll or less, it is for covering a biplane tailplane section. If anyone has any for sale, could you e-mail me or post here, as I want to add it to Dave's kit, which will be shipped within the next two weeks.

Thankyou

Johnp

4

Misceleanous / Newcastle Airshow 2013

« on: August 11, 2013, 20:39:02 PM »

Hi all

Here is a few photos from the 2013 Newcastle airshow Co Down which took place on saturday. This has to be one of the best flying displays I have ever seen, and I have been at quite a few airshows over the years in the uk and USA. This is a small show compared with most shows across the water, however, the aircraft are close into the beach and low. The Reds put on a great display as always, so did the Hunter, the Vulcan and all the aircraft attending the show, but the star of the show, has to to be the F86 Sabre. This pilot started his display flying low between the mountains and came down along the beach at full speed 20ft off the sand, the crowd went wild all 125,000 of them, with a big cheer, I have never seen a display like what this pilot flew, just fantastic.

This show is getting better with each year and has now in my opinion become the top airshow in Ireland.

Here are some pics from the day.





CASA Irish air crops on a very low pass





I think this is a Seafurry



C47 from England, brave guy in the doorway!

5

Misceleanous / Visit to the Irish Air Corps base at Baldonnel

« on: July 28, 2013, 23:18:37 PM »

Hi all

Just back from a great visit this week to the Irish Air Corps base at Baldonnel in Dublin. Fred and I along with the members from the Ulster Avaition Soc, managed to organise a trip to the base last Thursday, to have a look around the museum and also visit the other hangers on the base which house various types of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

The visit began with a meet and greet in the front car park with pilot Officer Stephen Morrison, who acted as our guide through out the day. First stop was the air Museum which displays various types of aircraft, engines, uniforms, weapons, aircraft parts and of course model aircraft. A guide showed us around the various displays and answered many questions from the members, I must say at this point, that this guy was the most knowledgeable person I have ever talked to, when It came to aircraft.

After a most interesting talk on the history of the Fouga Magister and the Silver Swallows, I asked, if it would be possible to take a few photos of the magister with the Islandmodels PSS version of the aircraft, which I had brought along with the hope of getting a few shots. I must say that the staff could not have been more helpful, and give Fred and I full excess the the fouga aircraft inside and out, so we got a lot of good close up photos of the aircraft  and it's markings, we even got offered a copy of the full set of  original plans for the Fouga magister showing all the markings of the Silver Swallows, if we would donate the PSS Fouga Magister number 220 silver swallows to the museum to hang over the full size CM-170 display, my words 'DEAL SIR'

Some photos of the Museum:


Fred looking at some of the many displays of aircraft.







Various engines and a 1:1 scale model of vintage aircraft







Various Irish air corps aircraft from history.



Fouga cm-170



A fouga with front gun pods



Photo of rear cockpit on the Magister



Fred and I with the model PSS Magister



A photo with the full size silver swallow's magister



Fred with the model fouga Magister beside the full size aircraft.

I will update this post tomorrow with some more text and photos.

JohnP

6

Misceleanous / Roisin takes her first flying lesson in a glider!

« on: July 17, 2013, 20:21:05 PM »

Hi all

Last weekend, my good lady Roisin, took her first flying lesson and she loved it! Roisin has started to travel with me to most of the RC glider events here in Ireland and most recently, a trip to France, so she decided that she would go one step better, and try out the real thing by taking a flying lesson in a DG 505, with the Ulster gliding club. Her 30min, flight was very smooth, and she even picked up a few good pockets of lift, coming off the nearby hills and cliffs along downhill beach. Here are a few photos taken on the day.


Ready for take off.


Canopy locked and hooked onto the tug.






Not a good photo, of the take off, I only had the small camera with me.


30mins later, a smooth landing right down the grass strip.

Thanks to the Ulster glider club for a great day and a very happy lady.

JohnP

7

Events / Newcastle Co Down

« on: June 20, 2013, 21:39:08 PM »

Just got some info on this year's Newcastle airshow,

It is being now called the Jetfest!.

Red Arrows
F86 Sabre
Typhoon

and fingers crossed for good weather, the Vulcan

I will update as the lineup is confirmed,

jp

8

Wanted / Needed wire bender

« on: October 20, 2012, 13:49:55 PM »

Hi Guys

Does anyone have a wire bender for sale, or even to borrow, I have a few parts to make, and I need one asap.

Cheers

JohnP

9

PSS / My first visit to the Great Orme with the PSSA

« on: October 15, 2012, 19:43:44 PM »

Hi Guys

I travelled over to join up with the pilots of the PSSA , on the slopes of the famous 'Great Orme' in north wales. It all started at 5.00am Saturday morning, car packed to the roof, bid farewell to my lovely wife, and off to
the ferry in Dublin. First port of call, was a meeting with Fred at Dublin port, who handed me a very large roll of thin ply, filling the front seat as well, lucky I drive a people carrier.

I arrived in Holyhead around 10.45am and after about an hours drive to Llandudno, I drove along marine drive and up into the tank track car park. I could have arrived at the Orme a lot sooner, however I kept stopping along the route, to take photos of the beautiful scenery. There was quite a gathering by the time I arrived, and after a few introductions by Phil and Simon around the local pilots, I was soon rigged up and taking my first flight of the Orme ( a Great Orme Virgin !).



One of the best photos taken by Phil of my 787 in a low pass.

I flew the 787 dreamliner for my maiden flight, and soon was soaring high up in the strong lift. After about a 15min flight and a few long passes for the cameras, It was the turn of the Mig 29 to take to the air, which didn't go well at the start due to the wrong amount of down elevator trim, sending the model down low over the sea, however I managed to guide the Mig out into the lift zone and slowly regained height, until she was soaring fast along the ridge along with the other jet models and a big pat on the back from Phil!



Another fantastic photo by Phil, this time the Mig 29 in full reheat!

I was starting to enjoy myself now, so I decided that the small B52 was next to fly, and along with Simon flying his larger B52, we flew a series of low beat ups along the slope in, at one stage very close formation passes. After I landed my own B52, Simon handed me the controls of his model, which flew very similiar to my big B52. This model has a set of whistlers installed, which makes a great engine sound on the fast low passes and looked very realistic in the air.




Two B52's on a Bombing run in formation

I had a ball flying the little BD5 in the strong lift, however the f14, which once again, did not fly well and was damaged on landing, even after some input from Matt who has flown the same model.

I took a rest from the flying, and with tea in hand, I sat back and watched Simon,Phil and Matt, perform some very close in formation flying along the slope, then simon took out the big Canberra and flew one of the best flights I have ever scene on the slope, with a very large PSS model, ('boy, can this guy fly a model')



The B52, Shooting Star and a hawk coming in close together on a low pass.



Simon flying his very large Canberra on a very fast low pass.

The light was dropping fast but I still had time for a quick flight with the Quark 2m, which after a quick trim out, was handed to Simon, who give the little model a good workout ( Simon will be doing a review of the Quark 2m in RCME). So last on the slope and last off the slope, I had a great day's flying and enjoyed every minute of it. That night we all met up and went for a meal, a couple of drinks and of course a lot of flying stories.



A group photo of the pilots on Saturday

The next day was the total opposite to Saturday with zero wind, which was a pity, because a bigger crowd of pilots arrived with some fantastic PSS models which included a flying dinosaur, however, all was not lost, with a good collection of electric gliders taking to the air and plenty of chat and craic in the car park among the pilots. I got the chance to meet up with Ray Jones of the Dragon models company, who first sold the kits for the M339 and the Magister which Islandmodels will be adding soon to their range of models. Ray brought along  three fine examples of the twomodels which after nearly twenty five years of flying service  still looked
amazing and attracted a lot of attention.



Ray Jones (in the middle) and some of the local pilots display four fine examples of the M339 and Magister

I headed back to Holyhead around 6.00pm and got back to Armagh around 1.30am, indeed the journey home was very smooth, except, I got stopped by a lovely young Holyhead port security lady, who stopped the car and asked me to open the boot, then called over to two police constables who started to walk over quicky to the car, however, thinking I was about to get arrested for heaven knows what, the lady looked at me and said " sorry about this sir, but the two constables asked me to stop you because they seen the model planes in the back of your car, and one of them is a keen RC model pilot". Ten mins later and after a good look at the planes I was allowed to proceed.

Overall the weekend was just brillant, great weather, good lift onSaturday, a great sellection of models to view, and most importantly, a great bunch of friendly guys who made me feel very welcome and right at home.

A big thank you to Phil, Simon & Sue, Matt, Tim, Ray and all the local pilots ( sorry guys but to many names to list) who made the weekend so special, hopefully I will be back next year.

If you want any info on PSS flying, checkout the PSSA website: www.pssaonline.co.uk

Here are some more photos from the event :



The Mig29 takes to the air



B52 wingman cleared for take off!



A fantastic p47 from the hanger 9 kit converted for slope soaring



Great way to keep warm :?:



Phil Cooke's Shooting Star on a fast low pass for the cameras



This is the way to fly! Tim takes it easy in very relaxed mode :clap:

10

PSS / PSS Hawker Hunter FGA 9/Mk58 RAF Jet Fighter

« on: September 16, 2012, 21:31:08 PM »

Hi Guys

This is a new project to convert an EDF fly fly hunter into a PSS model. I have always had a love for the Hawker Hunter due to it's shape and also, it was the first jet aircraft i had ever seen back around 1965 as a kid. Recently I watched a fantastic display by a Hunter at the Newcastle airshow, therefore I decided to look for a kit was could be used as a PSS
glider.



(Hawker Hunter FGA 9/Mk58 RAF Jet Fighter) the model will be finished in these squadron colours.

I have in the past used the jets from the fly fly hobbies range ( see Mig 29 thread) which with a few changes to the kits, make good PSS models. I picked up a hunter kit for a good price (under £100) in a sale, all foam, off the web with the following specs:

Wingspan    : 1112mm
Length    : 1507mm
Wing Area    : 52 dm sq.
Flying weight    : 2100g

The model out off the box is a nice size and hopefully should build into a good sport scale model.




Out off the box, this model is a quick build, however I intend to glass over the foam airframe and give it a new part scheme, also I found that some of the parts are a little twisted and the surface finish of the foam is very rough, which I have not found with other fly fly jet kits, so a little fillers will be added to the surface before the glass cloth is applied.



The fuselage comes in two parts and has to be glued. I will add some cardon strips to reinforce the top of the fuselage as it appears a little weak around the joiner.



Just got a very nice hunter pilot from hobbyking was is the perfect size for the model.

Well that's it for now, tea time I think!!!!

11

For Sale / workshop clearout!

« on: August 22, 2012, 21:46:17 PM »

Hi all!

Due to the fact that I can't get into my workshop and also have to many models to build,so therefore I have some models to sell and give away to a good home!




Shogun 2m french aerobatic short kit wings, tailplanes and fuselage -

price £25.00  sold



Delta type glider with servos, flys great, well used,small crack in fuselage but with a little TLC, would make a fun glider

price Sold



small m339 PSS glider needs TLC

price Free ( sorry gone to a good home!)



flyfly dg1000 glider flew this model for years, again with a little TLC could be a nice scale model.

price Free ( gone)



set of EPP electric prop jet models from robot birds well used.

price Free (gone)

If anyone would like any of these models, I can throw them into the car when I come down to Big L at the end of next month :lol:  :lol:

12

Misceleanous / Newcastle airshow 2012

« on: July 24, 2012, 14:03:01 PM »

Just seen some of the line up of aircraft displays for newcastle air show  on the 11th August 2012

(1) BBMF Dakota

(2)Tucano Display

(3)Hawk Display

(4)Typhoon Display

Also :

aerostars dislpay team

PR MkX1 Spitfire

And best of all, a Hawker Hunter "miss demeanour"which I seen a few
years ago in England.



A small airshow compared with Portrush, but what a line up of aircraft
   

Anyone who is thinking  of coming up for the day, let me know, we could meet up for a days craic!!

13

PSS / SU 35 from one of our South African pilots Mike Mays

« on: November 09, 2011, 19:24:49 PM »

Hi

Here are a few photos of a pilot from South Africa Mike Mays, who I have been in contact with over the last month. Mike has designed a PSS 'SU 35' which I am glad to said has made her maiden flight over the weekend.

I will let Mike in his own words tell you all how the first flight went:

Hi John,
              Firstly thanks for your interest and assistance when I was really grasping for confirmation from outside that this beast looked like it would fly.
Not only did she fly but extremely well. The PSS fest I entered was held on a mountain just outside a sleepy little town called Volksrust, fairly near the escarpment , which means the winds generally blow in this area.
On saterday we had a nice blow of about 35kmh with gusts up to 40km/h as big thermals passed by.
After flying one of my smaller 3mtr scale ships to check out the air I decided to give it a go.I rechecked the balance and because of the strong wind decided to move the battery slightly more forward. Just before launch my helper and I decided to go full rates, rather than 50 percent incase I needed control authority in a hurry.
On giving the nod my mate Norbert threw it and after a small wobble left and the right she started climbing, I put in 2 x clicks of down initially , but once on the step I took these back out, so it flew perfect trim free. I kept reminding myself to keep the speed up but I even went into a passing thermal and slowing her down she climbed up well in the lift, the flight was about 30 minutes long and she is fairly quick , but incredibly smooth to fly, I was actually astounded by how well this thing grooves in the turns, no sign of any tip stall tendancies.
 
After gaining some height I circled around in the calm air at the back of the slope and just let the Su-35 mush down , it lands a bit like a brick but thankfully at least no damage.
 
I think I could get hooked on jets they just look awesome in the air.









Thanks Mike for sharing the joy of a first flight and a great model from  all the pilots on Gliderireland

johnP

14

Misceleanous / Portrush International Airshow 2011

« on: September 04, 2011, 23:10:18 PM »

Richard,my good wife Roisin and I , took the train to Portrush to see some great flying from the full size models. the weather was not good, however we still enjoyed the flying. The star of the show, was a fantastic F16 Falcon from the Belgian air force, which flew a close in display around the bay, and to finish off, the pilot released a set of flares. The Vulcan which was to display around 1.30pm, didn't make it, due to bad weather in England :cry: .

Here are a few photos from today:

15

PSS / F22 Raptor

« on: August 17, 2011, 22:27:17 PM »

Hi all

Here are a few photos of another little project I have on going along with the F14, ( "not more jets John, I hear you say!") The flyfly F22 Raptor, a kit which I came across on ebay, 'a wee bargain could'nt resist it'. It was designed for  ducted fan, however the reports have been a little negative on the forums about this model, however I think it may fly as a PSS model with a thinner wing cord, and a few adjustments to the fuselage. Here are a few photos:



The wings are covered in plastic film and spray painted, the wing cord has been reduced to half the thinkness, close to an RG15 airfoil!



Not sure if this model will glide at all, however, it should be interesting to see how it goes on the slope :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

keep you all posted on the out come ??