Ways with Cyno.

[wonwinglo]

Faced with the problems and dangers of Epoxy resin I have evolved other ways of getting around not using this volatile material,when your hands flare up into tiny blisters with large areas of skin that just cracks you start to question the use of this material,so take care ! make no mistake Epoxy resin is dangerous so dont get blase with it.

So I decided to expand on the use of Cynoacrylate especially when repairs are required,you know the score areas of broken timber, with far from perfect joints due to crash damage where you splice in wood to make good,so my solution is quite simple and requires a bottle of cyno and a supply of ordinary household baking powder and an old small paintbrush,just piece together the structure until you have no bits left or of any use,if you need to re-inforce any area take some ordinary domestic bandage and press into the corners as you go along.

So you are left with a surface that looks like a crater on the moon,dont worry with a little care the integrity of the structure can be improved,just take a generous supply of cyno ( medium I find versatile ) and then drop some baking powder onto the liquid,work this into the corners quickly and within seconds and a puff of smoke the joint will be like rock,what happens is the baking powder arsorbs into the cyno and a chemical change takes place,it probably acts as a catalyst quickly,instantly in fact ! I stole the idea from the rocket cyno where you get a miniscule amount of the powder for a lot of money,baking powder costs a few pence and a packet will last you for ages.

A simple idea that will assist those awkward repairs to get you flying again.

[wonwinglo]

Kill that oil.

The reason that my models last so long is that I dont just throw them away at the slightest bump,in fact I have often salvaged wrecks from the flying field and got them flying again much to the amazement of the original owners !

One of the biggest problems involves oil soaked structures especially around the nose area of well flown models,the oil works its way in and around the nose seeping in under covering and working its way down to the tail in many cases.

Do not despair as there is an easy solution to this dilemma as you just cannot glue onto oil.

Grab a box of tissues and heat up your covering iron to max heat,place a few tissues where the oil is present and place the very hot iron onto them,watch as the oil is drawn into the tissue,keep repeating until there are no traces of oil,on awkward areas you can even play a heat gun into the corners to loosen the oil then dab with the tissues.

Once as much of the grease and oil has been removed consider treating the wood before you go to the covering stage,solarcoat is a good if smelly material to use here but you cannot use iron on covering straight onto it,take some balsalock on a piece of sponge and wipe a thin film over the area,now you can go ahead and cover your repairs.

[wonwinglo]

Setting up MDS Carburettors

One of the most useful general purpose engines on the market,the MDS range is also probably the most mis-used and mis-understood,these reliable little powerplants are cheap and powerful,the reason many do not get the best from any glo motor is the way the carb is set up initially,dis-regard the manufacturers instructions that the carb is pre-set,impossible until a little running of the motor has taken place,follow these simple steps to get the best from your MDS carb,a little bit of tweaking can work wonders with reliability-

Note that these carbs have a secondary needle valve,this can be the cause of many problems if not set to the optimum position,firstly remove the main needle valve and give it a wipe,make sure that it is in good condition and not bent at the end,next screw this back in all the way and then back off anti-clockwise three whole turns,next attach a piece of plastic fuel pipe to the fuel inlet on the carb,place one finger over the carb intake and gently blow through the pipe,you should just be able to hear air hissing through,to check this quickly release your finger over the carb,as you place it you should feel a slight resistance,if you cannot blow freely through then there must be a blockage,rectify and then proceed to the next stage.

Now turn your attention to the secondary needle and note its position,it should be just slightly proud of the housing,if not take a small screwdriver and unwind slowly,MDS put a locking paste here so it could be difficult to shift,take care as it is made from brass and it is easy to do damage,now set your needle 3-4 turns out fully from fully closed,fill the tank with fuel and run the engine,get it running rich at full power with plenty of smoke and lift the model vertically into the air and hold it there for a few minutes,if the engines dies then open the needle half a turn at a time until it keeps running but there should be still plenty of smoke.

Now throttle back the motor fully and sharply open the throttle and note what happens,if it splutters and takes a while to pick up wind in the secondary valve a small amount until the response improves but do not overdo things,only a little at a time.

If the engine refuses to run smoothly then take the secondary needle the other way ie outwards and then compensate by turning the main needle inwards until the engine runs smoothly,now do your vertical check again and see what happens,you should soon find the best optimum position for both slow running and full power setting,however be warned that your idling will only improve with lots of running,the tapered bores of modern motors whilst giving long life does mean we need to make sacrifices on the engine idle during the engines early life,just run the motor a little rich to compensate,best way is to clear the engine with short bursts of power during the flight,say in the circuit just before landing.

With a little bit of care you should be able to get your MDS running like silk,I have lots of these engines and they certainly give me good service.

One other tip is to replace the rubber o-ring at the base of the carb every seasons flying and to make sure that it is fully seated at the base of the carb,do not be tempted to add another seal above the lip,it does not work !

[wonwinglo]

Sanding balsa sheets.

If you ever need to sand down balsa sheets, either to save weight or get a better finish here is a great tip,all you need is one of those brilliant palm sanders now available in DIY shops throughout the country.

First take the sheet of balsa and tack onto the full length of the edge of the sheet with cyno two pieces of piano wire,adjust these so you will just take off sufficent material to do the job,once in position run a flood of cyno to lock the wire in place,the idea is to use the wire as your guide,when the sander hits them you know that sufficent wood has been removed then just move along until you are happy.

This idea was first developed to remove those stubbon parts from die cut kits,especially where the die has only cut half way through the sheet,by using the above the parts will just fall out ready for assembly.

Give this one a try you will use it again and again,when you weigh the timber you will be surprised how much weight you would have been carrying around on your model for no reason.