March is upon us already and has anyone had chance to fly? Storms, high winds and floods have caused chaos this month and this has meant very limited out door flyingfor me - thank goodness for the PC! Well, actually I have found one quietish Sunday afternoon when I managed to get in a couple of hours flying before the wind got back up too much.

As promised here are photos of the Pfalz, now that it is finished. I had to hand paint all of the decals due to the disintegration of the decals that came with the kit!

I have been checking out some paints and have found them to be superb for foam models, causing no reaction with the material at all. They giving really good coverage - only the white needed two coats. If you want details then drop me a line, at about £2 a bottle (enough for plenty of models) they are really good.

I took her to my field to test her out for the first time. There's more space than my back garden, and she was an absolute dream .. even as the wind picked up she turned into a kite. At this point I was able to land at my feet with zero speed relative to the ground.

Having secured the receiver properly with sticky backed Velcro (go to your fabric shop for this - £2.50 or so a metre - it will last forever!) I was even able to give her some basic aerobatic exercises - I know she is a park flyer but I just can't help myself.

I also took the Spitfire with me. I have had a few enquiries about this as people had asked (or been told) that she did not have enough power on the standard Speed 400 that is recommended. I had my doubts as well, based on my own experience of that type of model. But to do an accurate review I needed to test her as she had been designed and considering that I had left off the undercarriage etc. I thought that she may have a chance.

As suspected she did not perform anything like a Spitfire! One circuit, desperately dragging her round to a very abrupt landing proved that!

So an easy decision followed - either a Speed 480 or one of my AP29 BB's will be fitted, either direct drive or geared, I have yet to decide, but probably direct drive as the very thin shaft on the gear box provided bent even though it was not that bad a landing.

I will let you know how this goes and what modifications I make as I will probably go from AA size to Sub-C cell batteries, for better performance. She has the wing area and loading to take this and the result I hope will be just a little more like a scale Spitfire!

I was also dismayed that the tail end of the body cracked underneath the tail plane! She certainly had not come in that hard and I noticed that when I moved it back into place it sprang out again as if the foam was in some way stressed.

Despite this, the repairs and modifications will be done and I still think that she really looks the part. What little underpowered flight I did have proved that she will fly well, and I believe that she will be great when properly powered. I will report back as soon as she is done and tested.

Other news this month is that I have just shipped a Team Gear Sport Triple off to Australia - one of the first in the new design for the triple which can be easily upgraded to be a quad simply by adding a fourth motor and gear - I will bring pictures of it fitted into the Cub that she is going into, as soon as they are sent over.

This is the unit popped into my Jiant Jabberwock whilst being run-in before despatch - just a 20 x 10 prop for running in! (See right)

Other than that it has generally been a lousy month due to the weather - I have still not had chance to test Charley the parachutist but again, as soon as I have you will be the first to know.

My main excitement this month has been the possibility of a new range of ARTF (RTF practically) park type flyers that may soon be added to the Ratby range - keep an eye on the web site!!

These are all lightweight park flyers that are ready to fly in minutes out of the box and come totally complete with motor, gearbox, ni-cads, charger and radio gear.

Ideal for beginners as a great introduction to the sport as there is nothing else to buy or the experienced who want to have a go at electric but don't want a major outlay to try it.

They will be 2 and 3 channel models and if my information is correct they use fully proportional radio control on all channels (Rudder/Speed Control or Rudder/Elevator/Speed Control). These are really nice models - similar not so equipped models (or just 2 channel push button controlled) appear on the odd auction site at fairly high prices and come from the States, Canada or the Far East and so cost a fortune in postage. Mine - if the deal comes off - will range from £150 to £200 complete with no more than £6.50 postage …. Keep an eye on next months articles! .. my first ones arrive for evaluation in a few days and if successful I will be taking orders immediately and will review them next month.

OK, enough for this month - keep the electric theme going and if you have any questions then get in touch.

If you have any questions then please get in touch with Mark at:
ratby@bizonline.co.uk
or check out his web site at:
www.bizonline.co.uk/ratbyaeroplanes