The SM74 is now flying well [see news 14 April and 14 May 04]. The improvement results from extending the wingtips by a few inches. It is a deviation from scale, but not noticeable.

Push-on Gunthers are good little props, but they do have a tendency to fly off. I thought it occurred only with tractors, but now I know better. My Canberra [twin pushers] is awaiting repair after shedding one prop just after launch. A more-reliable retention will now be applied to all my Gunther-propped models.

My flying is still glitch-free; what a relief ! The Schulze receivers have proved to be a good investment.

After twelve months trying, I am at last getting some usable airspeed recordings from the Eagletrees Datalogger. The suppliers sent me a replacement unit, but it was not noticeably better than the first. What did make a definite improvement was adding a back-up battery to the BEC [the test model is electric-powered]. Look in the Tech Index for the first report.

The photo shows my "baby" Calcutta [with mods not quite finished]. It was made twenty years ago, powered by one Cox 049. Lack of throttle control was a serious deficiency, and it hasn't flown for many years. It is now electrified, and performing quite well. I feared that 28oz AUW might be too much for a single direct-drive Speed 400, but it's OK, presumably helped by its light wing-loading.