Any RC Aircraft Enthusiasts?

[JOHN COOK]

I have a control line P47 kit that I have yet to finish,

had it since high school,,,,,,


balsa plane, cannot remember what motor

I wonder if these motors will ring a bell. Fox .29, .35 K& B Tornado .19,.35 Mc COY .049 , Veco .19 , .35. just a few I owned a few years ago .( a lot of years ago) had several others but don't recall the names . I built balsa and tissue wings, tissue was put on wet and allowed to dry and it became drum head tight. All control line for me. RC was just coming into play in my area in the 1950's ..Had a lot of fun. We used to fly combat by tying crepe paper on tail of plane (10-12 feet long) and try to cut it off with prop . All went pretty good until someone would invert and fly backward. Usually we would have at least four guys in the circle. Lots of chopped up balsa . We mostly purchased wings and used a profile of the P 51, hardly ever bought a kit. Older guy in group built a Liberator (4 engine) and it took four guys on the team to keep fuel in tanks while someone else would be cranking other engines. Lot of busted knuckles due to noise . The deal was to make sure the inside engines were full of fuel to keep control line tight where you could land. If inside engines shutoff first you would have a slow roll to the operator. We had a few and you pick it up and get the glue and more paint..

john in SC

[lyman]

I wonder if these motors will ring a bell. Fox .29, .35 K& B Tornado .19,.35 Mc COY .049 , Veco .19 , .35. just a few I owned a few years ago .( a lot of years ago) had several others but don't recall the names . I built balsa and tissue wings, tissue was put on wet and allowed to dry and it became drum head tight. All control line for me. RC was just coming into play in my area in the 1950's ..Had a lot of fun. We used to fly combat by tying crepe paper on tail of plane (10-12 feet long) and try to cut it off with prop . All went pretty good until someone would invert and fly backward. Usually we would have at least four guys in the circle. Lots of chopped up balsa . We mostly purchased wings and used a profile of the P 51, hardly ever bought a kit. Older guy in group built a Liberator (4 engine) and it took four guys on the team to keep fuel in tanks while someone else would be cranking other engines. Lot of busted knuckles due to noise . The deal was to make sure the inside engines were full of fuel to keep control line tight where you could land. If inside engines shutoff first you would have a slow roll to the operator. We had a few and you pick it up and get the glue and more paint..

john in SC

I'd have to dig it out the attic and see, I cannot remember


re the estes,

bought a mosquito, launched, never saw it again (I used the biggest rocket it would take)
no parachute, it was designed to tumble home since it was so small,,


launched many an alpha,

built a X wing, it was heavy, launched, went up maybe 60ft, and a slow arc back tot he ground,
parachute popped, but it was not that high,,,


same with another called the Andromeda,
big, like 4' tall,
big D motor, went up, maybe 60', popped the chute, and came right back down,
broke a couple parts on landing, easy repair and flew it more,

[PWC]

Still have my McCoy .35 (no that is not a caliber), Fox .15, Enya .15, Cox .049, .020, and .010. Tried to find a control line kit, but $5 models are now $35 or more. Think I could build my own pofile stunter. The scar on my right thumb is almost gone from flip'n the .35. (60 yrs)

[Griff Murphey]

The smell of glo fuel and the memory of cut fingers! I was never a good control line flyer... That whole spinning on your heels thing... There is a whole cottage industry of people making new laser cut balsa flying model kits in their garages as well as new kit manufacturers such as Brodak. Guillows has discontinued most of their small WW-1 kits but DPCM Aerowerks has picked up many of them, as well as COMET models. It's a crying shame model building and flying is no longer a standard "boys own" hobby. Kids today are sure missing out on how stuff works and how things are built. Try RC electric, it's quiet, you can fly almost anywhere! The Horizon Champ is a good starter trainer setup for about $100.

[PWC]

OoooH, Comet..those little solid body u-carve kits, 25 cents ea. (yup, I'm old) You can still get the original plans for some of the kits online, just scale them yourself. The hobby is still alive: http://www.aeromaniacs.com/ Kids are still learning to fly. If we could just get the parents to do the same for Jr. shooting programs.

I used to coach a Jr. Smalbore group 15 yrs ago. Every Tues and Thurs night we had 20-35 kids and parents (mandatory participation if their kid was to shoot). Range supplied the rifles, state assoc provided the ammo and targets. Beginner shooting, safety first, then have fun; taught the basics of position, trigger control, NPOA, and breathing and if the kids finished the program they had completed thier NRA Qualification.

Just for grins and giggles before Christmas last year, I went to check out the current program. There were 8 older teenaged Jr. shooters, all with Anschutz rifles, hardbacker coats and pants even shootong shoes. All competative.

I guess parents don't want to have their kids around those terrible guns, let alone any safe handling of firearms. I guess they would rather have their kids go to a friend's house and play with a firearm and become a statistic, or an accomplice to.

[Robert Scott]

I still buy them, build them and fly 'em when I have time. Link below has kits I built 50 years ago.:

https://www.oldmodelkits.com

[rayg]

That is one beautiful plane and flight! Have went to watch the radio controlled planes a few times and always enjoyed watching them. The wife's Uncle was into the wire controlled ones and used to watch him fly them many years ago. Ray/

[JB White]

I still buy them, build them and fly 'em when I have time. Link below has kits I built 50 years ago.:

https://www.oldmodelkits.com

I had a flashback looking at some of those old kits. Man, if I had a nickel for every drop of drool we left on the hobby shop floor......
As a youngster most all that stuff was way out of my news route pay. Could barely afford the plastic model kits or brushes and tires for my slot car. Chili dogs always had top priority on payday.
Did manage to build a couple of motorized tanks along the way.

[Griff Murphey]

It’s a real loss that model building has pretty much gone away. Taught kids aerodynamics, piloting, history, and hand eye coordination in THREE dimensions....