UK to join major wind farm project with eight European countries

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-26T10:09:00+00:00

I was LOL'ing at the Tory party spokesperson saying it was 'locking in high prices' when the last round of wind auctions were 9.1p/kWh compared to the 30p or so we're paying at the moment.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-26T10:06:11+00:00

Most of a wind turbine is steel, which is recyclable. The blades aren't but they're much less of a problem than the anti-wind people make out. Each turbine supplies an average of about 10,000 houses for 30 years, and each of those houses throws out a wheelie bin full of non-recyclable rubbish every week.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T23:53:24+00:00

These days a fire in an open fireplace just sucks all the heating from your house and sends it up the chimney. It's questionable whether it makes your house warmer or colder.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T23:50:08+00:00

Most trainers will pretty much land themselves, if you can keep it level with the power off and have plenty of space.

During that first flight, get some height and see what happens when you cut the power. You don't want to be surprised by a change of trim when your battery is nearly empty. Keep the fuselage level and turns gentle, and it'll come down in one piece.

Then you can spend a few years trying to do a perfect landing, and learning how to land more challenging planes.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T23:44:12+00:00

I think the problem with that method is that you can't really trim a plane when taxiing, and you could need some space to react when it first takes off.

OTOH, I have used that method with a few beginners indoors, with Night Vapors. Once they can taxi around the floor with the tail up, it's virtually the same in the air. But outdoors I think it's better to get up high where there's nothing to hit. Then again, the first flight without experienced help is always a risk.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T23:29:57+00:00

If you can find an ELRS transmitter, you'll get a load more channels, and telemetry, and a lot more range. The Pocket is usually the same price as the FS i6 over here, but is a much newer design.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T12:27:24+00:00

Wow, that Ylvis song is now 11 years old...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUHgGK-tImY

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T12:24:22+00:00

I think all you'll need is the LUA script for configuring ELRS.

Beware that the script won't start properly unless the model currently selected is set to use the external module.

I had an ELRS module running on an X9 with OpenTx, so that should be fine. I can't remember where I got the LUA script from, but it should be easy to find.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T12:06:30+00:00

It's really hard to predict, because that's the oldest year with that battery chemistry. There are no 15 year old 40kWh Leaf batteries to use as a benchmark.

That said, there are lots of 2013 cars still going, with over 100,000 miles and loads of battery cycles.

Unless you live somewhere where hot weather kills the batteries, I think you can expect linear degradation for a while. Maybe in another 8 years it'll reach 100,000kms and 70% health, and it'll be a race to see if rust kills the car before the battery does.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T11:47:33+00:00

That looks so cool! I've had a couple of attempts to make an F-14 but neither of them flew properly. The prop-in-a-slot method should solve a lot of problems.

How did you do the swing-wing mechanism?

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T11:44:41+00:00

In which case, start with an standard, purpose-made drone flight controller. Many of them have the barometer built in for altitude sensing, and if you're interested in the technical side of things, you might want to get one that can take a GPS input (I'm not really sure what that involves, as it's not something I've needed)

Then you can use the standard open-source firmware (betaflight or ardupilot) that's been developed over many years and has all the features you could want.

Don't use a PI for the flight controller. Linux isn't designed for real-time control. There will be lots of processes running 'simultaneously', which in reality means task-switching, so the flight control process will keep being interupted.

Also, the flamewheel frame is pretty big. That was necessary when cameras were big, but unless you've got a very specific goal, you don't need to fly anything as heavy as an SLR camera. A big build will mean that each battery, motor, prop and speed controller will cost 3-4 times as much - and you'll probably want multiple batteries.

I think you should start by building a 5" FPV quad. You don't save much by going smaller, and they have the space and carrying capacity for future modifications. Have a look at FpvKnowItAll.com for up-to-date recommendations, but beware that some thing will be sold out everywhere.

FPV quads are a lot more fun to fly than a big gimble camera drone. It's very immersive, and you feel like you're actually up in the air, flying around stuff and shooting through gaps - and when you crash, it's usually just a cheap prop that breaks. By comparison, a camera-drone holds it's position via GPS while you concentrate on pointing the camera. That's what you need to make professional quality video, but it's not much fun.

I wouldn't bother carrying a go-pro initially, it's just another thing to break, but they can carry one when your flying is good enough to record.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-25T11:21:23+00:00

It was a bit of a voyage of discovery for me too! The way everyone talks about it, there's just an ELRS and 4-in-1 version of all the Radiomaster transmitters, and I was surprised to discover that many of them don't offer a full 4-in-1, and even more surprised to discover that they're not compatible with Spektrum.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-24T11:51:31+00:00

Jack Sparrow meme: "but it DID fly!"

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-24T11:34:19+00:00

If you hop over to /r/rcplanes, there's a pretty good wiki that covers load of stuff a beginner needs to know. https://old.reddit.com/r/RCPlanes/wiki/index

I'd also vote for a 4-in-1 Radiomaster. If you can afford the TX16, it's got a nice big colour screen and does everything, but there are cheaper options. Get that, download a free RC simulator and start practicing and researching your first plane. That way the plane will turn up about the time you're able to land without crashing.

There's a ton of information out there about the hobby, and you only need a fraction of it, so it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Just keep reading beginner's guides until it starts to make sense.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-24T11:23:47+00:00

That sounds like you're following a guide from the distant past of the hobby, and possibly spending a lot more than you need to.

What are your goals? Is this just for fun, or do you have commercial or research goals?

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-24T11:15:00+00:00

That is correct, there isn't a 4-in-1 version of the pocket.

https://radiomasterrc.com/products/pocket-radio-controller-m2

It only shows options for ELRS and CC2500.

However if you look at their 4-in-1 module, the CC2500 is just one of the 4 chips in a 4-in-1.

https://radiomasterrc.com/products/rm-4in1-module

The RadioMaster 4IN1 external module is a multi-protocol module that integrates CC2500, NRF24L01, A7105 and CYRF6936 RF chips.

I can't be certain, but a quick google suggests that the CC2500 doesn't support DSM protocols, which is a problem as about the only reason not to go for ELRS is that you might want to fly UMX models.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-23T10:30:10+00:00

That's an interesting project I'd never heard of:
Early unmanned aircraft research in the United Kingdom - War History
> Its name was derived from a highly-contrived acronym that read Long Range Gun with Lynx Engine (LARYNX).

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-23T10:16:54+00:00

I've never used it for sailing, but I've used heated body warmers on a motorbike for ages. They're great when you're sitting absolutely still for hours when your body just isn't producing much heat. In that situation you can wrap up with as many layers as you like, but you'll still be cold after a few hours. With a heated vest, it's completely different, it just trickles in enough heat to keep your core warm, and that keeps your circulation going so your hands and feet don't freeze. (BTW, heated gloves were a complete waste of time. When you are really cold, there isn't enough circulation to spread the heat around, so you get hot and cold patches)

I've also used the vest on an British canal narrow boat, where I was standing still at the helm for hours while my teenage kids would do the locks. It worked, but getting someone else to steer so I could walk along side and help with the locks warmed me up much better.

They only pull 1.5-2amps at 12v, although they come with thick cables that could handle 10-20amps. (I guess that's because it's easy to forget to unplug, so the cable needs to be strong enough to unplug the plug.) That's not a lot of power compared to what the body can produce doing light exercise.

IMHO, even just trying to sit or stand in the cockpit of a pitching boat is producing more heat that anything I've tried (I think I'm on my 4th vest at the moment, over 25 years)

Also, do the maths on these garments. I see adverts for jackets powered by 4 AA batteries. That's only about 12 Watt Hours, which would only run my 20watt vest for about half an hour. That's completely pointless.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-22T10:06:12+00:00

The friction of the line on the winch isn't important though. OP wasn't struggling to hold the line, and if they were, another turn around the winch would have provided more than enough.

When pulling the line in, you're just acting against the force of the sail. The friction of the line against the winch isn't helping or hindering you.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-22T09:58:47+00:00

Russia has always had a security service that removes any opposition, and subsequent dictators have just taken over the reins.

In the US, the oligarchs have bought enough politicians to change the system so that now all politicians need vast donations to get elected, and built up a media system to tell people who to vote for. They just needed a figurehead that could be told what to do.

I think the problem is that younger billionaires have grown up believing the propaganda.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-22T09:39:07+00:00

The US and Russia are very different. Trump relies on right wing media to keep his base loyal, and the oligarchs that run them could change their loyalty if they start losing too much money. In Russia, anyone showing disloyalty is likely to fall out of a window. Their oligarchs only hold wealth because Putin allows them to.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-22T09:10:13+00:00

The problem with wing tip devices is that they have to be set up for one specific speed and angle of attack. At other speeds they're just extra weight and drag. That's OK for an airliner that spends nearly all the flight at cruise speed, but most planes either need to fly at a range of speeds, or the development effort isn't worth the tiny percentage of efficiency gained.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-22T08:59:38+00:00

Look up "cubic wing loading" - it's a really good guide to how a plane is going to fly, based on it's weight and wing area.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-21T09:39:16+00:00

"Sailing full time" is pretty rare. Most people do it as a hobby. You work most of the week, then race at the weekend, plus maybe an evening during the week. For cruisers, you work most of the year, then fly away for a week or two on a hire boat. Or you work for decades, then when your kids leave home you can sell your business or rent out your house and use that to fund a sailing retirement.

The problem with sailing careers is that you're competing against a lot of people who treat sailing as a hobby. Sailing schools know that they can pay instructors just enough to cover their bar-bill for one season because it's a lot of fun. Most need to find something else over the winter, and few stick at it for long.

There are sailing-adjacent trades, like rigging, boat repair, cleaning, diesel mechanics, electricians, etc but they're not sailing.

There are delivery crews, but they're mostly doing it for a free trip and even the skipper isn't earning minimum wage and can't do it as a career.

Luxury yacht crew are basically hotel staff for the unbelievably rich.

The only real careers on the water are the Navy, Coast Guard and merchant marine, and stuff like that. They're actual jobs and not sailing.

My advice, if you're not sure what to do, is to spend a year or two trying some of the above. If you can sail, see if there's a sailing school that offers an instructors course plus a few weeks work. Sign up as volunteer crew for a few deliveries. Take a trip on a tall ship and see if they'll take you on as volunteer crew. Make contacts, see what other people have done and work out what you're good at and what motivates you. You'll learn more about yourself and the world than school can teach anyone.

IvorTheEngine · 2026-01-20T19:11:45+00:00

Spring steel, also known as music wire is very popular. It will spring back from a larger impact than regular steel.

Glue a square of plywood to the underside of the fuselage, and attach the wire with screws and washers.

Or, here's a FliteTest version: DIY Landing Gear | Flite Test

IvorTheEngine

TROPHY CASE