Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I was the guy in his 30s with all kinds of stuff going on in his garage. I couldn't allow any kids in though, I was in So. Calif. and the cry of the native was Sue, Sue!! One kid did make it through the door though and on a bike no less, he was the only kid in the hood that knew I was building a Sand Rail and not a dune buggy. He even knew it was a mid engine. He turned into my foster son. Raced right home and brought over his sister, a tall skinny red head with braces that looked like chrome reverse wheels. Wow, did she ever turn out to be a beauty!! They were 6 and 10 at the time and still with me today. I hope to be teaching the boys two sons how to build models this year.

GallopingGhostler

One of the greatest engine blessings I had was when I wanted to put a slightly more powerful engine in my CG Jr. Falcon. I had ordered an OS Pet .06 CL/FF engine from Hobby Shack back in 1973. They didn't have it in stock and for no additional cost substituted an OS Max .10R/C with ganged exhaust baffle for reliable idle. That was the smoothest running and easiest hand starting engine I ever had.

I put it on a Ken Willard Top Flite 39" span Schoolmaster. On Ace Pulse Commander with KRD quick blip throttle, it would climb out at 45 degrees getting to altitude quickly. At half throttle, it flew like it had an .049 in it. Then at idle I could bring her down. She seemed to fly forever on 2 oz. of fuel. I could do really wild rudder only aerobatics with her, would amaze others how one could maintain full control with simple R/C.

When I first got the engine, had a dog of time starting it with a Fox short idle bar plug. Then I substituted a Swanson Associates Fireball Hot standard plug in it. It became a totally different engine. At full throttle, it was the loudness as an unmuffled .049 reed valve. At half throttle, with the exhaust baffle plate partially closed, it sound muffled.

At idle, it was very quiet, would idle for long periods on that standard plug and throttle back up without any issues. Even though non-Schneurle, engine is light at only 3 oz, a good upgrade for any half-A airplane in my books, flies comfortably with a 7x4 prop, although Peter Chinn said it would turn an 8x4 with ease. I've got 2 of them.


I also wanted to add that my first model airplane kit was small plastic static display model my father bought for me when I was in the 1st grade in 1961. It was a Douglas DC-8. That was the first time I worked with Styrene glue. Nowadays, everyone is into kid safe. Then, and before 7th grade, I worked with all sorts of model airplane cements, paints, dope, etc. I didn't know you weren't supposed to sniff them, because it never occurred to me that some considered these as recreational drugs. None of my friends or acquaintances used drugs.

All I knew is they had a purpose, to put together model airplanes and paint them, as well as repair other broken items and touch them up.

I still remember the yellow and black 1958 Studebaker President that my father owned. It had an engine fire. The mechanics rebuilt the carburetor and repaired the fire damage, but it never ran good since. In 1960, my father traded it in on a new, 1960 Dodge Lancer push button automatic, in red with white trim. Then in 1966, he traded it in on a light yellow with black interior 3 speed standard 1966 Chevrolet Malibu hardtop. I really liked the new car smell of it. It was quiet on the highway, too.

oh44077

My Feedback: (5)

reflecting on different times in our life I tell people for me that the thermostat on the wall means a lot to me as I had to keep coal in the furnace and hall out the ashes which we used on the side walks to keep from slipping in the winter time. the radio was the big thing no tv. warmest room in house was kitchen that where we slept. for us old geezers this is why I think we appreciate things more today. 80+ years gone by. 60 years in chemical plants and can still breath. 2 years in the army cant beat the discipline. no argument here just think the young people today should have to do at least 6months of boot camp. oh well that's enough could go on and on. been in the hobby since mid fourtys

koastrc

1 January it will be 50 years for my bride and I. Raised by a old Aunt and Uncle things would be called hard, but the truth is, real happy days. When my bride and I started dating she made up her mind to come visit one Saturday. When she gets to my house the old aunt reports to by girl friend that I was flying my planes in the school yard with my buddies. My bride found my buddies and I flying the stew out of our control lines and having pure fun doing it. In our fifty years of marriage, my hobby has never been a problem. Like many of you the start in the hobby was full of wonderful and amusing adventures. My old Aunt and Uncle was never impressed with the hobby, but they never discouraged my efforts. They helped if they could. Not once in these fifty years has my bride complained about the hobby. All my children have grown in a home that has always had a work shop.
Thanks for all the stories. It brings back some terrific memories.

donnyman

Arup

you must have had christmas at my house my mother is of german descent, and our christmas stockings were hung on one of thse fake fireplaces (we lived in housing projects) The candy would stick to the stocking so you ended up with a mouth full of fuzz sometimes, my folks did a fine job with us six kids, my dad lost a finger to frostbite selling trees to pay for our gifts. my first mccoy 35 and a berkely p40 stunt blew me away

I spent hours trying to find which bulb on the string burned out and we were happier than ever when we got them shining again they were pretty big back then also. man I would love to capture the warm feeling of the christmas holidays we had just to share it with others cause thats when it is at it's best...............Hmmmmmmm pretty much like this thread. The hard times made the good times even better.

donnyman

To one and all

I had no idea when I started this thread just how fantastic it would be. YOU -- have brought much laughter and tears to share with us, and that, I think Is what the world needs. Please don't stop I can,t sleep thinking about what has been said here. I am glowing with happiness, your memories have warmed and cheered me. I feel we are sittng at the flying field telling our war stories. I am looking forward to more.

Like how many times have you been whacked by prop? I got 60 year old scars. model fuel stings in those cuts.

donnyman

What you did in your day would seem impossible to todays youth. Many don't have any household chores to do, and it shows in their character.........God help us!

donnyman

Thank you ...I'm his dad!

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Donny, I still have scars on both hands mostly from a Cox .049 Baby Bee and a few from the Cox .020. You're dead right on the fuel stinging in those cuts! I remember flying short strings on the airplanes with the .020 so I could fly in the street. I had a friend named Zia Purto who was my flying buddy in Junior high school. He moved to Modesto, California and we fell out of touch so I don't know if he stayed in the hobby or ever got into RC.

donnyman

Oh yes! Them 1/2a's were murder until you learned how to flip that prop. the plastic ones were like knives.
It's strange you mention lost friends not five minute ago that's what was on my mind. The guy that really got me going with controline was Joe Reese he had a modified zilch (i think) he modified it to simulate the Bat plane and everyone called it that even the girls. Haven't spoken to him since 1958 or 9. would love to shake his hand.

wnewbury

The local hobby shop sold white nylon Top Flite props. They were OK for the engines we had in the 60s and 70s and were easy to see and avoid. Then it was decided that the nylon props were not strong enough and the LHS started selling black props. They were strong BUT they had a white stripe that was not at the end of the prop. The tips of the prop were invisible. I lost more skin and blood to those darn things. I still hate them.

skylark-flier

Yeah, I'm with you and the 60-yr old scars. And you'd think that after 60 years (geez, it really WILL be 60 in 2 more months) of experience I'd know better ... I'm living with a pair of 4-month old finger cuts as I type this.

Familiarity breeds contempt - I've heard that phrase most of my life, now I've experienced it once again. Hooked the battery to the glow plug, used the electric start, THEN RAN MY HAND THROUGH THE SPINNING PROP at full throttle to get to the needle valve. Somewhere in the process of re-defining and adding a number of new "not so nice" words to the English language as I used my hand to brush the dust off that spinning prop, I got my hand turned around so the back of it could enjoy some of the "gentle caressing" that the front was getting - didn't want the back of my hand feeling left out or anything.

As a result, 2 fingernails got sliced in half, one vertically, one horizontally - and NO, I have no idea how that could happen, but it did. The horizontal slice was rather nice about it - nail came off and is re-growing quite nicely. The vertical one, however, decided to stay with me and the nail is now growing back to normal, but I get to deal with a twin nail in the front while it grows out.

Yeah, prop-whacking - the sport of idiots (like me).

And it's still all FUN!!!!!!!!

Oh, yeah - OS.40LA, 10x6 black prop.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

When I got back into RC in 2004 I built a LT40 to fly with my youngest. I had a sheet of paper get sucked through the prop in the blink of an eye when the engine was running. It left my son with quite an impression, the paper was cut on the first few inches from the edge. The sheet had a straight cuts ever 1/4" down the length and he hadn't even be able to see it go through it was moving so fast! I showed him one of my .049 scars and explained if it had been the .40 ST on the LT40 I probably wouldn't have the finger. He is real careful around the prop after that.

toolmaker7341

Do you have plans for the Ranger 30 that can be used to build one?

GallopingGhostler

Correction, took a while for my memory to return more complete. (Donnyman, look what you started, I think you may have come up with a permanent cure for dementia, LOL. ) He sold that car outright. He also owned a 1950's black English Ford. I remember him grinding valves on the head, using a paste and special tool that rotated the valve incrementally to ensure proper mating of the valve face and seat surfaces. He'd take us to grandmother's on holidays. My great grandmother owned a store, we'd get gliders and cap bombs from her. Cap bombs looked like rockets with a chamber to place a cap for pop guns. One would toss it, when it hit would make a loud pop.

http://www.retroplanet.com/PROD/24884

GallopingGhostler

Here: http://www.outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=3830 Photos shown are of my airplane.

donnyman

g/ghost

What I did?? you shook my gray matter with the cap bomb. I lived in a 13 story building so you can imagine what was thrown from our roofs. we and I mean "we" (my friends) would terrorize the neighborhood with mass bombings. wooden matches didn't do to bad either. all the caps that didn't pop in my dick tracy snub nose special went into cap bombs. i loved them.

rm1963

Yes I'm an OLD timer! But times are different, now we have usable technology, and this technology is readily available.
I started building kits in the late 1940's, got into UC inthe eary 1950's.
First successful airplane was a ringmaster with a " forester or foster" 35; the flying field was between a hydro-electric plant,
and the BN train depot, the field was owned and maintained the the city. I'm not certain about engine, that was a long time ago.
The engine cost was a factory promotion deal, I sent them $5 and any old engine and they would send a new engine.
This engine was a glow plug type, and I had no problems with it.
The field only had one circle, we kinda shared lines, but later on u-relys caught on.
Sad part; went back 25 years later, field still there but had closed several years before because of noise,and safety concerns.

toolmaker7341

Thank You

rt3232

My Feedback: (6)

You betcha been there and done it to, at my age (83) I am not sure wich side of dememtia I maybe we are on. but it is still FUN.

cheers Bob T

biam

You guys are lucky that you just got cuts. I lost an inch off my left thumb in june of this year. About two weeks of recovery and back to the field! The offending plane was one of the first flown. Got to get back on the horse that threw you!

Gearbreaker

When I could only dream of affoding RC I took a plastic control line Testors "Miss America" and put a Radio Shack kids CB walkie talkie in it. I removed the speaker, installed a diode and transistor that pulled in a relay when the "Code Key" on my unmolested walkie talkie was pushed. The relay fed a motor from an erector set which was hooked to the elevator via a bicycle spoke. When all was said and done the plane flew on a single line tied to a stake in the ground with a clam ring for a bearing. Start it up and constantly hit the code key on and off and it would fly wiggly but via remote control. Quite a feat at 10 years old. Ah, those were the days!

vertical grimmace

My Feedback: (1)

My older sisters boyfriend (at the time 1982), who is responsible for guiding me into R/C, had an interesting first experience with a radio. He had purchased a 2 channel radio from a local hobby store (not knowing it was a surface frequency) and had big plans for his CL Ringmaster! Keep in mind I was just hanging around watching all of this. With no real aerodynamic knowledge, he was gonna make that Ringmaster RC! He installed the servos to the elevator and rudder, burying everything in the wing. No ailerons, the rudder should be enough!
On the big day we went to our local RC field. This Ringmaster had a Fox combat .36 installed, so it would have no trouble getting airborne. One of the R/C pilots walked over and said, "Let me know when you get that thing going, so I can be sure to get out of here!" He was serious too. And of course, we paid no mind. Well, he got it fired up, and I am pretty sure I released it. She left the ground, quickly, the arched over to the left and went straight into the runway!
So, I am sitting in the pits, wondering why it did not work ( was around 11 years old). I was watching a guy just doing touch and goes with his Sky tiger. After he landed I asked about his plane, as it flew so well. I asked him why he thought the Ringmaster did not fly. He said it needed ailerons most likely. That was the day I learned what an aileron was!
Interesting, My friend tried to use that same radio in an Eaglet 50 within a year. That is when we learned why you do not use surface frequencies for planes!

Greybeard1

Ringmaster with a .36, and I assume you meant the combat special, a .19 would have been more like it. I think I would have liked to witness that splatter, it had to be spectacular. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember the inboard wing being a little longer than the outboard? Or built with a weight on the outboard wing to compensate for the weight and drag of the lines. I don't remember which method the Ringmaster used, only that I gave Sterling some pretty good money for them. Not all at one time, but on different occasions. I built mine without landing gear, they didn't really need it. Hold them out at speed and just let it go. A couple of dipsies and they were flying. Still managed to find the ground more often than I wanted, while still at speed.

Rich.

GallopingGhostler

Sterling's similar sized 42" wingspan (1067mm) S-46 profile F6F Hellcat's instructions recommended a .19 for RC. IMO a Schneurle .15 is more powerful than the cross scavenged engines of the day and would work, too. A cross scavenged Enya .15-III or later would work. I found out that engine put out about the same amount of thrust on an 8x6 prop as a sport Schneurle OS Max .15FP with an 8x4 prop.

On the profile S-1, one offset the wing by 3/8" or 1/2" toward the pilot (left wing) depended upon the thickness of the fuselage. A half ounce of weight is usually the amount of tip weight to use. On an RC, one should center the wing and eliminate the tip weight.

Most nowadays fly it with the traditional landing gear for authentic looks, although nothing says you need the landing gear (unless in a contest or event requiring historic looks).