GallopingGhostler

Donnyman, some are taking those older Jetex kits and converting them to electric ducted fans and micro RC. One could scale them up also and make larger RC planes.

Here is where someone has built a small EDF module to replace the Jetex motor and is flying them free flight.

http://jetex.org/jetex-blog/entry/ed...ex-flyers.html

donnyman

The d/f conversions are real nice and quite inovative but building the little mig was for a break away from my usual builds and a precurser to modifying a drawing to use this. (picture) Since the Byron mig came out I been wanting my own so I am doing a little designing. won't take much it is a simple plane. scratch building is in my blood.

hapyjac2

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I got to get in on this. I'm 64 and I remember building my first RC plane in the late 60's, had to build the radio too! A 4 channel Heath Kit transmitter and had to build the servos too! What a joy when completed. To bad it flew away and I never saw it again.

GallopingGhostler

Wow, donnyman, a Wren turbine nonetheless, I'm impressed. That's advanced modeling at its best and I'm in no shape to pursue that level of investment and dedication to fly those. For me, my speed is a bit slower and more relaxing. Got a Sig Wonder flying wing that I hope to maiden soon with an Enya 15, that's about as fast as I'd want to go.

Ouch! That musta' hurt. What plane did you lose, hapyjac?

karolh

I'll be 74 next March and have been in this hobby since I was 14. In the beginning I started out with those Sterling rubber powered models which I never ever got to fly right and then graduated to flying C/L which was then all the rave with mostly balsa and tissue covered profile models with the British made ED diesels engines. Between getting married in 66 and starting a family in 68 my hobby activities came to a halt until I came in contact with RC flying in 78. What a revelation coming back into the hobby was for me as I came face to face with things like Monokote and epoxy to name a few, the likes of which I had never known about. My first RC model was a second hand Goldberg Skylark with an ST 35 and controlled by a Aero Sport 4 ch radio from Hobby Shack. Over the years this hobby has made tremendous progress and at times when I reflect to times past I am amazed at how far we have come in a relatively short time.

Karol

flycatch

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You and I had the same thing happen. Built the plane and radio only to see it fly away.

AllModesR/C

LOL That's heart breaking.

Greybeard1

Had my first RC do a flyaway, didn't try RC again for maybe fifteen years or more, then,the money began to go out almost as fast as I could bring it in.

Rich.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Thanks John, I didn't forget any of this but it's something I really enjoyed watching. I went to the Pomona fair every year and went to the model shows, I even got to fly once at Disney Land when they had the ring. I never got any wings though. Used to go to that little hobby shop on the end of Van Neys a lot to see what R Denny had for new items.
I had most of the Cox model planes too, the P-40 was my favorite but I flew the Lil Stinker the best. Hated that PT though. They were all pretty heavy slugs compared to the ones we built. Wish I still had my prop rod!
The Dam Basin was where Clarence Lee could be found testing out his new engines, he taught us kids to tune and how they worked.
Better times!!
Jetex, started my first forest fire with one. Well, maybe only a brush fire but it scared us when it flared up.
Gene

hapyjac2

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Well I feel a little better I'm not the only one that happened to. It was an old Bipe kit Don't even remember what engine I had on it. Old tissue and dope, took forever to build. Took off great and looked good as it flew away. Somewhere in the Pine Barrens of South East New Jersey. I also left the hobby for a few years, then got the itch, now I'm committed to this darn hobby, or maybe I should be committed.

rt3232

My Feedback: (6)

+1 more on the fly aways but in my case I had to hand lounch and for got to turn the reciver on we watched fly up in to the clouds never to be seen again.

This thread has been a hoot and the wife has ask why I laugh so much when reading it.

Cheers Bob T

donnyman

Reading about all the flyaways makes me feel blessed, All my "flyaways" were recovered. last year I though the receiver was on, the plane spiraled the engine quit and the bird landed quite intact only 100 or so yards away.

But ask me about how many rubber bands I used or did I tighten the wing bolts and we have another story.The fuselage on my kaos has been rekitted and rebuilt at least five times (try that with a arf) this fuse is my new one wasn't enough pieces for a #6 rebuild, remember...... tighten those wing bolts.

I use a Goldberg eagle 2 to keep my thumbs from rusting up but my last flight was real short because I only had eight rubber bands in place at launch you know the rest of that story.

donnyman

I know what you mean, my wife sat down and read several post. now she ask every day....... whats new.

Charlie P.

Does anybody remember this toy? One of my best Christmas presents ever.



The fan held the balloon in the center of the slip-stream, and it had a throttle and a joystick. By adjusting the throttle you could position the balloon closer or further, and the joystick did the other two axis's, so it was three dimensional flight. In a calm room it was still controllable out to 10 feet or so.

The first three included balloons went quick but the "gear" would tape to any party balloon of that size. My cat thought this was a great adventure to take them out like a SAM and the resulting "Pop!" would traumatize her for about a week until she screwed up he courage for another attempt. I think I just plain wore mine out. Otherwise I'd still be playing with this one.

GallopingGhostler

Never had that one, but how many remembered these water rockets?



Colors were different in the 1960's, but still the same toy. I received for Christmas the base station pump with also a Redstone Mercury capsule that separated with parachute when apogee was achieved.

FlyerInOKC

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I remember the water rockets!

AA5BY

I remember having a water rocket... and a heli with a handle with a pull lanyard for spinning it up to fly.

HoundDog

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My Son David was about 15 and flying better than me. I took a 2 leter soda bottle drilled a No 7 hole in the cap Rubber banded a Half x Half x 24 Inch balasa stick to the bottle , sorta a tail. Filled the bottle half full of water. Fired up the compressor with a thin blow nozzle on the end of the hose. then hold the nozzle tightly in the hole in the cap, squeeze the air gun trigger and watch the gage on the compressor till it hit 100 PSI then through the bottle and stick up straight into the air. It would take off spraying air all over U but it would go up about 60 feet and then tumble end over end on the way down. Well I let David do it a couple of times and we were having lots of fun. Any David was getting ready to launch this thing and he drooped it it took off across the back yard right toward the neighbors house at what seemed 100 mph. Lucky it hit a tree instead of the neighbors house. That bottle Literately exploded with a really loud bang ... I didn't think Dave would ever stop laughing ... Till I explained to him I dought that the AMA Insurance would cover the damage he would have done to O'l Mann Kreaugers House. So much for water/compressed air bottle rockets.

Charlie P.

Oh yes. Half the time was spent waiting for someone to fish the rocket out of eaves troughs.


And these guns - that would sooner or later wear down at the catch and get you in the fingers or face when winding it up!




And remember sling-shots? When they weren't confiscated and you had to make another from a branch and a bicycle tire.

rt3232

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yup, living out of town a bit we had a few brush filled fields, so the 4 of us boys in our little tract of houses would build forts and shoot rocks at one another till our parents found out about it got a few bruises and a small cut on my head, boy did we get corporal punishment. this was back during the early 40's we even made rubber guns and got woopet for those after shooting at a police car open window and hitting the cop but he was good about it he just took the guns and gave us a good talking too, then our dads did the rest

Cheers bob T

rgburrill

My brothers and I had these as kids. My older brother pumped his up to high and it blew up. I pointed mine at a concrete wall and it shattered. My younger brother launched his quite high and it dropped down a neighbors chimney. They didn't last long.

Gray Beard

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The first time I fired off my bottle rocket I squatted down and launched from between my legs, all the dirt and water splashed up and got me in the butt. I tended to over pump them and they would split from the pressure or the hold clamp would break. I think they are still made??
The only fly away I had was with my very first free flight, the Rascal all balsa 1/2A plane. I built several of them but that one was the best of the bunch. It was many years before I found out that the Dakota Bipe was designed to have an off center fuse so I straightened one out so it looked right, flew very well but my older sister ended up sitting on it? Go figure.
I still have a Whamo wrist rocket and you can still get sugerical hose at the drug store. Marbles and ball bearings for ammo.

GallopingGhostler

Yup, those buggers had good thrust for a toy.

They are still available. http://www.scientificsonline.com/product/water-rocket

Top Flite Rascal? I guess sometimes odd things happen. Never got into gas free flight as we had a 15 mph trade wind breeze in Hawaii nearly all the time. Also places to fly were limited in size.

I used to buy the wire handle slingshots with plastic covering, they were inexpensive and used a leather thong or pocket (have no idea what it is called) that held the payload. Rubber bands would quickly wear out so I'd used stationery rubber bands chained together and doubled/tripled up. We'd shoot rocks as they were readily available, play war and shoot the other's plastic army men down.

donnyman

the rockets and stuff I well remember but never owned, Now slingshots and rubber guns is another matter. I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with aslingshot so only had a few they were frowned upon in the city (Brooklyn N.Y.)

but so were the rubber guns, now if I recall the rubber guns shot rubber bands Right? Well we could little afford buying rubber bands so we nailed the rubber bands to the front of the gun and used a clothes pin half to hold the stretched rubber band and inserted little linoleum squares we cut to size between the rubber strands as projectiles. trust me you did not want to be hit by one. all of mine were conficated by the police but I,d build me another that day!

AMA 74894

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OH yeah... and yes. those water rockets are still available, (I got one for my kid a couple years ago... ) I'm looking for a photo that I KNOW I HAVE (an old Cox tether car.) well I've posted this one before, but can't quite find the one I'm looking for...
this one was my 9th birthday, with a Cox Tethercar called the 'Shriek' .. (and it DID shriek too with that little .049 )
My Brother Mike (MinnFlyer) on the right, me on the left... and a fuel bulb full of Missle mist