Other hobby

Anything you like!
Stew
Posts: 495
Joined: 02 Mar 2018, 10:21
Location: Staindrop, Darlington.

Re: Other hobby

Post by Stew »

Mine used to be full sized flying, but after the kids came along spending £100+ an hour to hire a series of worn smooth Pipers was no longer going to happen. I did sort out permission from the Chilton estate to build my own (Chilton DW1), but it's a pipe dream at best.

I have a growing collection of railway books, so at some point some kind of model railway may be making an appearance it seems.

Many things fascinate me. Model cars, model boats, computers, toy soldiers, architecture, trams, air guns, industrial archaeology, model engineering, cycling, music (would love to play an instrument) etc etc, but with a demanding full time job and two sprogs, time and money are always reasonably tight so I have to be realistic. I just can't do everything.
At this point I have a small workshop in a spare room and I seem to be able to produce flyable model aircraft given a plan and a stack of balsa, so I would call myself a 'proper' Aeromodeller.

If I had to choose another hobby, it would probably be model railways, and in particular horse drawn trams (I know, call me odd) but seeing as producing a 4mm scale working horse is neigh-on impossible (see what I did there?) I should probably stick to the Aeromodelling.
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Mike_K
Posts: 669
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 06:35
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Other hobby

Post by Mike_K »

Over the summer, half my time is taken up with a 4½" Plastow Burrell traction engine. The whole family (including the dogs) go to steam rallies where we exhibit it, so except Ponty, if there is a clash between a steam rally and flying, the steam rally usually wins as I get out voted.

Our Plastow Burrell at the Old Warden Steam Rally 2018
Our Plastow Burrell at the Old Warden Steam Rally 2018

In the past I owned a full size Robin HR100/210 “Safari” that was great for touring, but when I got married and the kids arrived it had to go as it took up too much time and money. So it was back to my first love or R/C aircraft.

Mike
pulserudder
Posts: 21
Joined: 21 Feb 2018, 02:01
Location: North Carolina

Re: Other hobby

Post by pulserudder »

Well from what I gather, many of you are quite skilled in electronics.

Toy Trains are my other primary hobby. Clockworks are my particular favorite, but I enjoy scale model railways as well, just no space for a proper layout these days. The time of day, the condition of the weather are never an issue. I have also enjoyed rc sailboats off and on over the years, bit of fishing and hiking, bit of woodworking...
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FBMinis
Posts: 55
Joined: 25 Feb 2018, 17:59

Re: Other hobby

Post by FBMinis »

- Scale models for over 20 years now;
- My 12 year old dog, enjoying the outdoors and 24/7 surveillance due to congestive heart failure;
- Simple, practical electronics.
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Tobe
Posts: 665
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 06:19
Location: Varberg or Stockholm, Sweden

Re: Other hobby

Post by Tobe »

Life is funny Mike! Used to have one too in the early 80's, I meant a Robin HR100/210, I had it for almost 5 years and I sure loved the range at 75% with a quite good speed. Mine actually came from the UK as G-BAYM if I remember correctly.
Cheers,

Tobe
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Shaun
Posts: 1049
Joined: 15 Feb 2018, 21:49
Location: West Yorkshire

Re: Other hobby

Post by Shaun »

You boys didn't fly full size the Yorkshire way. My mate had a Jodel Ambassador G-AXLS. We used to go all over the place in it. That was cheap light aircraft fun for me. We did buy a FRED between us. I have to say it was more fun flying Eric's Sharkface though. My buddy also had a Gyro Glider. That was interesting . It was towed behind a vehicle to get it skyward..

Shaun.
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Mike_K
Posts: 669
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 06:35
Location: Hertfordshire

Re: Other hobby

Post by Mike_K »

Hi Tobe
Tobe wrote: 18 Feb 2019, 06:02 Life is funny Mike! Used to have one too in the early 80's, I meant a Robin HR100/210, I had it for almost 5 years and I sure loved the range at 75% with a quite good speed. Mine actually came from the UK as G-BAYM if I remember correctly.
Mine was G-BAPY and I owned it for 6 years. We did have a few problems with it, in the first six months, one of the rear cylinders failed resulting in an emergency landing at Southend with a seized engine. We had to have a zero hours replacement engine fitted. Then a couple of years later, the wing spars failed their Star Inspection (3 year) and we had to tow it behind a Land Rover Discovery, back to the factory in Dijon, France to have new wings fitted, luckily Robin subsidised the cost. We did get some funny looks on the French Autoroutes! But we had many enjoyable trips with it around the UK and to the continent. You always seemed to get preferential treatment in France with a French built aircraft compared to when I visited France with my friends Piper Arrow. Anybody else find the same?

Mike
G-BAPY loaded on a trailer to go back to the factory in Dijon
G-BAPY loaded on a trailer to go back to the factory in Dijon
Stew
Posts: 495
Joined: 02 Mar 2018, 10:21
Location: Staindrop, Darlington.

Re: Other hobby

Post by Stew »

Oh man your heart must have sunk with the cylinder and wing spar issues. Was it C of A or Permit? That was very decent of Robin to sub the cost.
I was lucky with the club aircraft and didn't experience many tech issues.
I always admired the French machines. I was foaming at the mouth for a little Gardan Horizon for ages. Never got round to putting my hand in my pocket though.
Man I miss flying. I'll never forget my first trial flight passenger, a 90 year old woman! She loved every minute.
I still have my ATPL manuals in the attic. Can't bear to check em out. God that was a lot of work.
Martin
Posts: 744
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 14:11
Location: Warwickshire

Re: Other hobby

Post by Martin »

When I flew gliders at Bidford on Avon in the 80s we had a Robin DR.400 G-BHHR as one of the main tugs. I had a few rides in it while it was tugging. We used to take some gliders up to Feshiebridge in the Cairngorms every autumn to go after wave lift there (I got my Gold height flying the club's standard Jantar) and the Robin used to fly up there to tug us up (the locals at Feshie made do with a crude winch back then). Tragically, the Robin crashed into a mountain flying back home in 1988, killing the three occupants.
Tobe
Posts: 665
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 06:19
Location: Varberg or Stockholm, Sweden

Re: Other hobby

Post by Tobe »

Can't remember any major issues with mine and I flew it around 200-250 hrs a year both VFR as IFR. I remember an AD at the wing/wing spare but it was done in Sweden however on a subsidize cost.
Cheers,

Tobe
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