RC Flying

[andya]

Those Kraft receivers were pretty good. Had one for my first model that was powered by a 0.19. First flight was
rudder only with escapement control. Press the button the right number of times to get left or right.
was fun.

[Jim]

Hi Andy,

We ran quarter midgets in the mid 50s as kids. One of the tracks south of San Francisco, Redwood City, had an RC field close by we'd go watch. Those guys were flying the old escapement controls too, looked to be pretty hard to learn. Saw our first fly away there. Now a days it seems to be all the instant gratification folks playing with ARFs, Almost Ready to Fly, instead of building and gaining hand skills along the way. Those big scale jets look interesting, the ten foot long helis too.

[HunterJ]

You guys rock - enjoy reading your reminiscences. I was never able to afford RC but it fascinated the heck out of me and still does but I've got a real one in the making

And the latest generation get excited by drones - go figure!!!!!

[walt.buskey]

Hunter, good to "hear" you again -- how're things down under?

I was hooked on airplanes ever since my first ride in a J3 in the spring of 1956! Always dreamed of doing RC, but yeah, it was too expensive.

Had to rely on the Sales Leadership Club (selling stationery door-to-door) to get their "prizes"-- which for me were always Testor's or Cox plastic control line airplanes, with reed valve .049s. I saw RC prices go down (and their capabilities jump) during mid-life.

The first RC radio I got I ordered channel 42, telling myself I'd have a flying RC model (and know how to fly it) by the time I hit that age (42). My first one was a 4-foot styrofoam glider in the shape of a B-52 with a piece of plywood epoxied to the cut-off nose and -- yep, one of my ancient .049s from when I was a kid screwed onto it. Talk about squirrelly!! Swept-back wings probably not the best choice for a rank beginner... But I got it to fly. That was 27+ years ago....

[Jim Hann]

When I was growing up in the 50s RCs were just starting up and were big $$$$$$. I did build quite a few RCM 40s and 60s with son in early 80s. He still has his first one I don't . I also built a 1/3 scale Cub with a 4 stroke for the Grandson. A couple of weeks ago I gave away a Sig 1/4 scale Cub kit that I never got around to building. I enjoyed the building more than the flying of the RCs.

My Dad loved building at least as much as flying, even more so as he got older. The result is I have a lot of his stuff that needs to be sold or flown! These are some pictures from when I was out for Dad's funeral. Some were moved to the garage because we needed sleeping space in the basement. The airplane on the bench in the first picture was on charge (trickle) because even though it was February if there was a warm day and somebody else was going out Dad would go! Y'all might recognize a couple of scale airplanes in there amongst all the pure R/C stuff.
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Interesting discussion on the RCs and you guy's deep roots in flying so I moved the posts to a new thread. Hope y'all don't mind. I tried RCs but just tore a bunch of stuff up and never really got any good at it.

Thanks Steve!

[wyandot jim]

Those look great!!! The yellow one looks like a Luscombe 11. I can't tell what the red and white on is. Son has all the ones that I built at his house. Living in Corpus the wind just blows to much for RCs most of the time. Sometimes he flies a 60 size helo in the back yard.

Yea thanks Steve for moving this.

[bigjohnnie]

As I sit here in the garage at my temporary work table and staring at the wing I am building, I found Kinda funny you guys mentioning flying / building RC planes. I got back into it to feed my aviation habit since I sold my tripe. ( Next week it's doctor visit to get basic med stuff done, then look for another full scale one to fly.) But I have all my pop's RC stuff as well , and even though it's "vintage 80's" I can't bear to part with it. I did find a whole bunch of small parts and tools that I am using now to build a Goldberg " Gentle Lady" glider just like the old and tired one I am flying now. ( I built it 25 years ago.) Been working on this wing for about 3 1/2 weeks now because my problem is I can never build exactly to plans. I always have to add *something* that the model never called for. In this case it is spoilers. Since the wing isn't very "fat", I had a very, very hard time mounting the servo in the wing and having everything fit. But, I *did* it and now I am acting like a school kid deploying them up down with the transmitter. Oh, the joy of having your idea work. Back to building.

[Jim Hann]

Those look great!!! The yellow one looks like a Luscombe 11. I can't tell what the red and white on is. Son has all the ones that I built at his house. Living in Corpus the wind just blows to much for RCs most of the time. Sometimes he flies a 60 size helo in the back yard.

Yes Jim, that is a Luscombe Sedan, Dad started with Cleveland FF plans and scaled them, all scratch built. The Red/White (N2496A) is an ARF Cub from Hangar 9, tail is J-3 shaped but it has a Super Cub cowl. The all red one is a Stinson 108-2 from Ikon N'west. The Learjet is from Great Planes, yes it has a regular engine in the front. I was flying Lears for AirNet when he built that. The unfinished wood twin is a Jetstream 41 that is also scratch built, I was flying those for a living when he started that one too.

I've got a lot more squirreled away here and there, split between scale and sport. Of course I had to buy this one when I saw it: http://www.e-fliterc.com/Products/De...ProdID=EFL2790

[wyandot jim]

Jim,
I was just funning you on the Supper Club Yea the Pacer looks great. Except I got turned off by this.

Motor Size:

10-size brushless outrunner. That sounds like something that runs on Electrons rather than alcohol and caster oil

[Jim Hann]

Jim,
I was just funning you on the Supper Club Yea the Pacer looks great. Except I got turned off by this.

Motor Size:

10-size brushless outrunner. That sounds like something that runs on Electrons rather than alcohol and caster oil

That big Cub is a lot of fun, has a Zenoah G26 gasser in it. As for the electric, I'm getting more into it as time progresses. I like not having to clean up the castor/klotz mess afterwards, I've got enough oil to clean off the belly of 43D! The power to weight on the current generation electric stuff is incredible!

I have a great little DC-3 electric and a Long-EZ electric also along with a few others still in boxes, the Pacer and a C-195 among them. I just don't have enough time in the day for three kids (we just built a mousetrap powered car) and the Pacer, and the models, and the honey do list!
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