Getting the decals for our planes made has always been a very tedious job. We either spent a lot of money having them produced commercially or had to beg friends with access to vinyl cutters to make them for us. As the newcomer in the team, and somebody who loves to play with computers, I decided to bite the bullet and bought a vinyl cutter myself. It’s a Silhouette Cameo 3. Not only is it good value for money, but it has excellent and very easy to use software.

I’ve started preparations for the decals for the JS3, which are going to be challenging. As a trial run, I redid the decals on a 14-year old Diana 1 (1:3.4, 4.28m) glider that I took over from Richie. Even though the Diana1 is 14 years old, it was one of the first planes built using the same techniques that we are now using for the JS3. With only 5.3kg it’s a light weight, excellent for more difficult conditions. I maidened it last week, after giving it a full refit of its electronics (and new decals!). Below some pictures of the old decals, done 14 years ago, and the new ones done on the Silhouette Cameo 3. I’m very pleased with the result. I’m even more pleased with my refurbished Diana1, which now looks like new and flies like a dream!

Oh, and I couldn’t resist adding two pictures of my new Diana1 and myself on the slope last week….