Blanik L-13 Review

I wanted a scale glider of a reasonable size but they are expensive and my slope skills don't yet extend to getting landings right most of the time, especially at sites like the Great Orme which is merciless if the model gets caught up in the 'rotor' effect on a good windy day. I needed something to practice with that wouldn't cost hundreds of pounds to buy or to repair. After quite some searching and hesitation I ended up buying a HobbyKing Blanik L-13 glider which has a very off scale electric motor in the nose but it does provide a means of getting to altitude.

The thing is that it has a 7' wing span and is supplied with everything either fitted or just some minor assembly required and claims to have a good aerobatic performance. All this for a few pence over £85; was this too cheap or a bargain I wondered?

Well the maiden flight has taken place and several more since. A few niggles in the assembly and the shedding of the folding propeller are, I suppose, what you get with a cheap model but it flys well and it looks good too, though silver isn't the best colour against grey clouds! On the whole I would say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the handling and I look forward to trying out as a slope soarer before too long. As for robustness and providing a means for me to get my practice in, only time will tell.

Review

RC AeroBase Official Launch

Today sees the official launch of a problem solving internet database for Radio Control modellers, RC Aerobase.

It came about due to the frustration at having to search through many websites to try and seek solutions when if there was a single place to find concise, relevant and authoritative answers life would be so much easier. This website was started in Autumn 2015 and sufficient articles added by 16th March 2016 to go for an official launch. The intention is that it will grow as more volunteer contributors come forward either to enhance existing articles or add new articles.

The originator of this idea is fellow South Cheshire Radio Control Society (SCRCS), Bob Hynes and following much discussion we formulated the framework and production of RC Aerobase website.

The majority of articles have three main features that are present.

1. The article title is a brief description of the problem as perceived when it occurs.
2. The body of the article contains the potential cause(s) and
3. the potential fix(es).

The website is aimed at everyone, regardless of experience or degree of knowledge; all can use it to problem solve or contribute to help others. Indeed we are looking for knowledgeable authors to add their specialist knowledge to a wide scope of subjects.

Vampire Flying

Following on from enjoying the hand launched Fizza I decided to bring out another old friend from a long sleep, my Vampire. This model will be 10 years old next month so it's doing very well indeed, do vampires live forever?

It's what we call stand off scale, if you stand back it looks like the full size version, well stand right back and you don't even see the propeller on the font. Anyway I like twin boom aircraft, they look so right somehow and the performance is outstanding. Fast or slow, it's great fun.

Ravenair Simulator

Landing a Boeing 747

A Christmas present from my wife was to visit Ravenair flight training and air charter at  Liverpool John Lennon Airport for a simulator flight. We took another couple with us so it was a shared experience we all enjoyed. I decided to be a little adventurous had the simulator setup as a Panavia Tornado as used by the RAF, it was quite sensitive on the controls but I did alright until it came to landing - always the painful bit!  I did land on the runway, the last ten feet of it, then through the perimeter fence and followed that with a nice drive through a wooded area. My wife opted for a more gentle Boeing 747 which she enjoyed and landed on the runway without overshooting. Oh well! 

It was great fun but whilst waiting for out turn I couldn't help looking out of the window at all of the real aeroplanes and thinking "If only...."

 

Model Flying, Great To Be At The Field Again

Wind, rain, a boggy field and a dodgy knee has reduced the amount of model flying I have been able to enjoy this winter. Thankfully there's been an improvement in all of these aspects recently, some sunshine even but the flying strip was still too wet to cut the grass so some suitable models had to be chosen. My hand launch Fizza was built from scratch by me 10 years ago and despite sending 6 weeks smashed up in a tree some years ago still fly's well (after repair of course). 

I'd forgotten what fun a simple model like this can be, it's just a sheet wing with elevator, ailerons and throttle being the only controls. Power is from an Enya 15 BB engine making it quite nippy, yet it glides well - which just as well as it needs gliding down and belly landing at low speed.

I haven't flown a helicopter for months and so I'm pleased to have succeeded flying it and taking home piece. Power for this 450 size helicopter comes from a LiPo battery which provides a flight time of around 6 minutes, it's a good idea to land before that time is up though!

Loch Rannoch

February 2015 we were in Scotland at Loch Rannock. Our timing couldn't have been better as there was enough snow to be picturesque but not enough to cause any travel problems. Some days were really sunny and one day was really wet but whatever the weather sent we were able to enjoy ourselves.

We were able to abandon the car on the better days and go for walks. Having had a dodgy knee for quite some time it was a bit of a concern and not entirely painless but I was lucky. My brother, his wife and my wife were all on this holiday and went down with heavy colds. Somehow I didn't; I'm guessing it was somekind of flu and having had my flu jab last October I was protected.

Other days we travelled by car to tour the area and on one day, the rainy day, we went to Fort William by train from Rannock station. The weather for journey was good, but we got soaked while we were there, just the excuse we needed to spend an hour in front of an open fire in a pub to dry off.

As well as getting around we had a whisky tasting, a painting session and a haggis supper. The Haggis supper was at Kynachan Hall, an annual fund raising event for the local community hall. We were made very welcome even though the majority of people there were locals and it was the most enjoyable evening out of the holiday.

 

Blanik L-13 Glider

I wanted a scale glider of a reasonable size but they are expensive and my slope skills don't yet extend to getting landings right most of the time, especially at sites like the Great Orme which is merciless if the model gets caught up in the 'rotor' effect on a good windy day. I needed something to practice with that wouldn't cost hundreds of pounds to buy or to repair. After quite some searching and hesitation I ended up buying a HobbyKing Blanik L-13 glider which has a very off scale electric motor in the nose but I'll come to that in a moment.

The thing is that it has a 7' wing span and is supplied with everything either fitted or just some minor assembly required and claims to have a good aerobatic performance. All this for a few pence over £85; was this too cheap or a bargain I wondered?

Well the maiden flight has taken place and several more since. A few niggles in the assembly and the shedding of the folding propeller are, I suppose, what you get with a cheap model but it flys well and it looks good too, though silver isn't the best colour against grey clouds! On the whole I would say that I'm pleasantly surprised with the handling and I look forward to trying out as a slope soarer before too long. As for robustness and providing a means for me to get my practice is, only time will tell.

After a few months I reviewed the model and published that on the 7th April 2016. You can it here.

Quarry Bank - Industrial Heritage Site

Happy new year everyone, may it be a healthy one too. We've got off to a good start with a visit to Quarry Bank, Styal, Cheshire. There's a lot to do and see and we didn't have time for them all but we did have a short walk by the River Bollin and a tour of the mill where all the water driven machines are not just displayed, they still work. Fascinated by the machinery this where I spent most of my time.

There's a lot more to see next time, the Apprentice House (home to the children who worked at the mill) and nearby Styal village will be first on my list.

In the mean time here's a photo gallery of visit and a very brief video of one of the weaving machines running.

A Pygmy Hedgehog, Eagle Owl and Meerkats, It's Zoo2U

Tor with Jelani

A surprise present from my wife by Zoo2U, a family run business which aims at educating children and adults about wildlife. The animals were presented by Tor in a warm, knowledgeable and friendly manner. She was a great at answering all of our questions.

It seems my that my wife booked this visit some time ago and at the time of the booking she was allowed a selection of three animals to be brought to our home.

Pygmy Hedgehog - Thistle

First to put in an appearance was "Thistle" the pygmy hedgehog and it can't be denied that for a hedgehog she's pretty cute. Tor explained that Thistle was actually a cross between  a four toed hedgehog and an African hedgehog. A calm creature that we all took it in turns to hold.

African Eagle Owl - Jelani

"Jelani", an Eagle Owl from central Africa was next, Somewhat smaller than the Eurasian Eagle Owl it is none the less quite big, weighing at just over 1.5Lbs. We were surprised that Tor said he would fly in our living room and wondered if Jelani would be distracted by our Christmas tree, however he behaved impeccably apart from being rather besotted with his own reflection in our window. His wing span was impressive as he silently flew across the room then flared for landing. It's quite noticeable that as with other Eagle Owls he has a brightly coloured yellowish/orange iris, indicating that he mostly diurnal (daytime hunter) and that much of his time is spent perching and waiting for something tasty to come along. By the way owls with dark irises, such as our barn owl are mostly nocturnal and their preferred hunting method is completely different as the fly low over rough grassland searching out their prey.

Meerkat - Kato or is it Leo?

Finally it was time for a pair of meerkats, "Kato" and "Leo", to make a lively showing. Meerkats belong to the mongoose family and also come from Africa (not Russia!).They did have an attraction to one of pot plants and the Christmas tree but could could be quickly brought to order with the rattle of a container of dried meal worms. That was something we learned - meerkats have huge appetites. They had already had two meals that day but soon very quickly gobbled up more meal worms from our hands.

All too soon the visit was over; it was quite an experince having the animals so close and being able talk to their keeper in such a pleasant and informal way. Tor obviously loves to be with the animals and show them off at their best. There's a few more photos in a Zoo2U Facebook Posting and to round things off there's some video below.

SS Great Britain Re-Visited

Back in December 2014 we visited SS Great Britain which is now a museum ship in the harbour at Bristol. It was fascinating, full of detail, even atmospheric smells and we ran out of time to explore it fully. Fortunately the ticket has a one year lifespan so we were able to re-visit just before it expired.

Although it appears to be floating, it is not and on the previous visit we had not really appreciated that this meant we could go underneath it and have a look at the hull.

Standing next to the huge propeller at the back gave an idea of the great thrust it must have provided. SS Great Britain was one of the first to have a screw propeller as opposed to to  paddles which she was originally intended to have.

SS Great Britain was a huge ship by the standards of the day and as well as it's revelutionary propeller it was made of iron.

Inside, the ship is a travel back in time, it seems like it must have just docked and as everyone had disemabrked then vistors were allowed on board. The dockside hasn't been neglected either with packing cases, barrels & building all lending to add to the realism and atmosphere. The entry fee isn't cheap but it's comparable to many attractions these days and worth every penny.

Prior to our visit we visited the nearby Orchard Inn to try out some local cider which was very good, somehow a very tasty pie found it's way to our table too.

It was dark afterward we finally left so that the staff could go home and we enjoyed a stroll along the harbour, the dockyard cranes which were prepared for Christmas making an interesting landmarks amongst the other lights surrounding the area.