discussion Another Parnall Elf

[Greyhead]

At the end of last season this thread was left a bit “up in the air”, paradoxically because I couldn’t get up in the air!

I can now say that the exhaust works very well and there are no signs of the paintwork failing around the undercarriage.

One thing of note is the aileron control arms; these originally used a 2mm nut and a closed loop adaptor.

Nuts are intended to be locked, either against another nut or some hard surface, but in this instance I’d used the nuts as a bearing and vibration etc. has caused considerable wear.

I’ve replaced the nut with a length of snake inner cyanoed into the tube and then tapped 2mm for the closed loop adaptor. I was a little worried relying solely on glue to hold the tube and snake together but when testing the result it was impossible to pull the closed loop adaptor out of the tube.

 

[Guest]

Grahame,

Just a quick tip on the exhaust tubing if I may,

I recently had a similar problem on one of my Nephews R/C Cars where the silicon tubing had melted joining the manifold to the tuned pipe....and this is on a Nitro Engine. Wanting to do a quick easy fix without travelling miles to a model shop or waiting for mail order, I went to Halfords and got some car radiator hosing.. ok, it cost me just under £5 but I have plenty spare and as it is quite thick walled stuff it wont melt easily. Given the sort of temperatures it is designed for in a proper car, I don't see this stuff burning away just yet. The High temp Fuel tube as sold in Halfords would probably do just as well for your model as it is slightly small diameter and still thick walled.

Just use a couple of small hose clamps to secure and it's done.

So far my quick fix on the car has worked well and has had several runs, the Tubing is still as good as when it was fitted.

Ps......Glad you managed to get some flying in, she looks fine in the air.

Regards......Mark

 

[Guest]

Your article in the mag inspired me to look closer at the Elf II, (straight wings) and I have been working on a CAD plan for a 70" with an RCV 91. I didn't find any plans anywhere except for a 3 view of th Elf 1, some what different to the Elf II and looking as if it was a 5th down the line copy. I visited Shuttleworth last year and was kindly allowed to get a load of photos when it happened to be in the workshops. I am hoping to visit Shuttleworth in the next month or so which is a bit of a journey ( I live in Cyprus). I have to thank you for some of your ideas which have been very useful, the wing locking mechanism for one. I am currently at a 90% finished stage with the plan and am getting pretty good with CAD drawing and have collected quite a few bits and produced the parts for both wings and hinge and lock mechanisms.

In the mag You didn't mention wingspan or engine size but I have now found this site which would have made my life a lot easier if I had found it a year ago but I am retired so have a bit of time available. The local club here is pretty good (safety is a bit dubious though). I will post some pics when I get to that state. All the best

 

[wonwinglo]

Hello 'R' good to hear that there is still plenty of interest in the Parnall Elf design,my own model is now an hangar queen with flat tyres but she has given me many happy flights with an OS.91,the plans I used were done by Chris Hughes a friend of mine who goes under the name of Modelplan,he is based in Coventry,UK.

My own model was the protype built for Modelplan to test the design build,I also flew her at Old Warden Scale days before they introduced those silly B-Certificate regulations in the name of safety,and they would not let me fly her,my theory is if you can take off or land in a few designated feet then that is what makes a pilot.

I am not interested in throwing a model all over the sky,safe steady scale flight is more important to me.

Best of luck with your own build,you must be keen to travel all of that way to get scale fidelity !

 

[Greyhead]

Glad you’ve found the thread useful; when I wrote the article for RC Model World I included the web address but the editor in his wisdom deleted it before going to press. A great pity in my opinion; I’m sure, as you’ve found, that it would be of interest to many modellers.

When you start your build I hope you’ll also start a thread here about it; “Yet another Parnall Elf!” we’ve already got one member who is hopefully going to start one.

Anything you think I might be able to help you with you only have to ask.

 

[Guest]

Parnall Elf plans

Hi, Would you know if plans are still available for the Parnall Elf that you have constructed please? Thanks, Bob

 

[Greyhead]

You could try Xplans; they have a lot of old MAP / Argus plans, they don’t actually list the Parnall Elf but the list only has plans that have been asked for before.

http://www.uknets.co.uk/rcplansguide/xplans.htm

It was a free plan with Radio Modeller October 1991

I don’t know if it would be possible to copy my plan, it’s double sided and 2 colours, but if Xplans can’t help you I could ask at the local print shop and possibly get a price.

Although I’m sure the model would fly built as per plan it certainly isn’t true scale and the wing hinges shown definitely wouldn’t work so the plan is really only a starting point.

 

[Greyhead]

I have heard from Bob that unfortunately “Xplans” haven’t got the Parnall Elf plans. I’ve taken my plan to Prontaprint but it isn’t really viable to have a two-colour copy made with an estimated cost of about £60.00 and no guarantee as to the final quality.

 

[Guest]

Hi Grahame, I have had a computer failure and lost all my contact details. I have started my drawing of the changes to the Elf plan and require your assistance please. Would you please email me again so that I have you address again. Regards, Bob

 

[Greyhead]

I suppose it had to happen; after 4 years of trouble free flying the Elf bit back today; of course it wasn’t the Elf’s fault it was mine!

It was one of those very rare days at Redmarshall, really hot and a flat calm. The first flight was uneventful apart from a rather fast landing, which inevitably ended with the model on its nose; it’s amazing how much even a slight breeze slows the landing approach.

After watching a few other models flying I prepared for the next flight. By this time the windsock was behaving rather oddly, there was still no wind as such but every now and they the air “moved” and this movement was in random directions; could it have been caused by thermal activity?

I should have known better and changed to flying the ArcoWot, but the other models had had no problems; I opened the throttle but half way down the strip the Elf lifted a wing and cart wheeled along the ground.

It looked a sorry sight; one wheel bent up at 45º, one set of wings at very strange angles and warren girders sticking out every which way. I picked up the bits and did what I should have done earlier; I carried on flying with the AcroWot.

Having got the model home and had a chance to have a good look at it I can safely say it’s not as bad as it first appeared. Most of the bolts holding the Warren girders and cabane struts on one side of the model have sheared but having replaced them temporarily with twists of wire the wings are once again aligned correctly and they fold with no trouble. The axle bent back into position easily, the only real damage is to the rear of the fuselage just in front of the tail plane where some of the sheeting has split, this is not a structural part so it will be easily fixed with a drop of cyano.

I think I really got off lightly, although replacing all those bolts is going to be a tedious job.

 

[Greyhead]

The Elf is ready to fly again but we’ve got those strong winds back again, most frustrating! I found one more thing that was broken, the cockpit bulkhead, which holds the compass and a couple of switches. It’s not a structural part of the fuselage, it’s only for scale detail and will be quite awkward to replace so I’ve deferred that job for now.

Replacing the 14BA nuts and bolts went a lot easier than I thought it would from my experience of doing the job originally. What made the difference this time was that I had fitted the Warren girders in place temporarily with thin wire.

The Warren girders are the only things holding the wings in the correct positions relative to each other. The first time I did the job I fitted one Warren girder, then the next and so on, this meant that the wings tended to move about as I worked on them making life rather (very!!) difficult. This time I locked the wings in position with the carbon fibre “tongues”, removed one Warren girder at a time, which left 5 still holding the wings, fitted this one with the 14BA nuts and bolts and then removed the next. Whilst still not the easiest of jobs it was a lot better and is a lesson learned for the future.

 

[Greyhead]

The End of an Era

After giving me much pleasure over many years, both building and flying, the Elf is now on its way to a new home, in South Africa! Deciding whether or not to sell the model was not an easy task as she really is a “one off”.

The offer came just as we had sold our house and storage was a real issue and some things just had to go. It was a toss up between the Elf and the wife but the thought of eating beans on toast for the rest of my life swayed me towards parting with the Elf and in all honesty I don’t think I’d have got as much for the wife.

 

[Guest]

I'm sure we all feel for you Greyhead. I recently parted with one of my tanks,it was like losing a family member!

"It was a toss up between the Elf and the wife but the thought of eating beans on toast for the rest of my life swayed me towards parting with the Elf and in all honesty I don’t think I’d have got as much for the wife. "

Had me crying with laughter though!

 

[Greyhead]

Richard

I've received your private message and tried to send you an email but it was returned, have you got a new email address? I can't contact you via the "private message" system.

Grahame