£20 on eBay for a fully working ‘semi-vintage’ electric helicopter complete with on board radio and battery – not bad! Ikarus (Germany) first released the Eco Piccolo in 1999 and took the world by surprise. Small helicopters are now everywhere both in the hobby store as fully functioning machines and in toy stores as… well … Continue reading
I’ve decided to treat my restored MFA Sport 500 fixed pitch to the latest .40 cu. in. engine from the Sanye works. Not heard of Sanye? You will I’m sure have owned at least one of their products in your modelling career as this is the factory that turns out the SC, Magnum and ASP … Continue reading
One of my favourite engines in my collection is a little ASP 25 Redhead. As an old engine it’s in excellent condition but has suffered some minor hanger rash in the form of scratching to the back of that distinctive red cylinder head. Anodising applies a tough natural oxide surface layer through electrolytic passivation in … Continue reading
Having completed a collective version of the MFA sport 500, the bug had bitten and I decided to keep an eye out for a fixed pitch version to restore. I didn’t have to wait long as parts are plentiful and come up often. First job was to strip it all down and clean everything (I … Continue reading
(I’ve uploaded the full set of MFA sport 500 manuals, templates, advertisements and magazine reviews here) Mechanical sympathy was a term coined by Jackie Stewart during his time as a Formula 1 driver. It was his opinion that the best drivers were those who also best understood the machines they drove. I learnt a lot … Continue reading
In one of my earlier posts I described why I purchased this particular Shuttle and why it means so much to me. Well, getting the Shuttle fully restored has taken a while but here she is in all her glory. Waiting for parts to come up on eBay has been the biggest hurdle. I like … Continue reading
James, Planes and Automobiles 