r ward

my first CL plane at 13 or 14 was a "buster" profile plane by Top Flite IIRC. I put an ill-starting M'coy .29 in it because that was all I could afford. I think I repaired that plane about 25 times before I got through a full tank of fuel without crashing !.

F.Imbriaco

My Feedback: (56)

Geez :
I also had an Aurora L-19 Bird Dog. Almost forgot the manufacturer until I saw your post. Got it Xmas 1960. Flew it several times for 4 or 5 laps until it was damaged beyond repair. Took out the .049 and built a Berkeley Bulp Pup that I got from A.H.C. That was some building task for a 10 year old on his own. Have pics of it. In 1962 I saw my first "big" C/L ship- a Goldberg Shoestring Stunter. That site was all I could think about for the longest time. In 1964, I traded in O&R 23 and also taped "Barbary" quarters , "Mercury" dimes and "Buffalo" nickels from my coin collection(desperate kid) to some cardboard stock and mailed to A.H.C. for a Ringmaster kit and my first "big" engine, a McCoy 35 Red head.The build was a challenge for an unassisted 12 year old, but I finished it and flew it level with a loop here and there for many outings at a local park. Thereafter, I was kicked out of there by the Park Ranger- who actually did me a favor because he told me of the Union Model Airplane Club in Union, NJ.
I'm still at it today, thank God.
My latest C/L ship is an electric twin motor" TURNING POINT" with 3 retracts. Automotive finish, the works. Designed by Bob Hunt- a fellow UMAC'er since 1965.

Viper1GJ

My Feedback: (20)

F.Imbriaco, it was really cool to read your post. After several .049 planes my first "big C/L" was the Goldberg Shoestring Stunter with McCoy 35 red head in 1962. I was in the 4th grade and like you was figuring it out unassisted. I mowed yards for model money. I got most of my advice from the C/L guy that worked behind the hobby counter at the local Sears. I flew at the local park also until we got run off by the city. The Shoestring lasted until the Ambroid glue holding the bellcrank mount came loose and the bellcrank pulled through 2 or 3 ribs. I still remember holding on as it did uncontrolled outside loops until it hit inverted and stopped. Photo my dad took below.

That L-19 set me on my life course of C/L, RC, Full scale pilot with 20 years military and 19 years airline flying. Retired now and trying to be full time model pilot. Model airplanes have been my go to passion since the start.

F.Imbriaco

My Feedback: (56)

That's a really beautiful Shoestring. Retirement and model airplanes are a great combo.

karolh

This hobby of ours has to be without any doubt the greatest one ever, as it has so many different and diverse offerings, plus the added benefit of meeting some of the nicest persons in this world.

elmshoot

My Feedback: (6)

That L-19 set me on my life course of C/L, RC, Full scale pilot with 20 years military and 19 years airline flying. Retired now and trying to be full time model pilot. Model airplanes have been my go to passion since the start.


Almost exactly the same for me. Models lead me to all the other things in my professional carreer.
Cox PT-19 Christmas 1967, NAVAL Aviator 949 carrier landings 22 years in the Airlines. Teaching, mentoring, modelers and can still kick butt occasionally in model contests.
Sparky

Viper1GJ

My Feedback: (20)

Sparky, keep it up. My goal is to keep flying models as long as I can walk and chew gum. Bending over and getting up is getting a little tougher but still love it. I was out today with some of my best friends flying helping and enjoying the company.

Gary

elmshoot

My Feedback: (6)

Gary,
Is that silk on your Shoestring? Quite advanced finishing technique for a youth. If you did that without mentoring I am in awe!
Fingers on a nylon prop I still have the scars!
My first big engine was a hand down K&B .35 Green Head. It had the exhaust was on the left and burned your fingers when adjusting the needle when side mounted on a profile fuse.
Sparky

Viper1GJ

My Feedback: (20)

Sparky,
Yep its blue silk. I remember it came in a plastic bag from the Sears hobby counter. The clear dope I got at the local airport in a quart glass jar. This was my second attempt at covering. First was a Baby Ringmaster done with nylon fabric from fabric store which was a disaster. After the Shoestring I learned to cover the bottom first so the top would overlap on the bottom and not show. Look carefully and you can see the scissor cuts as I tried to get it to stick to the edges. It was so bad I tried to paint the blue dope around the edges to cover up the silk overlap from the bottom. Just made it worse. This was the first time I tried to use tape to make straight paint lines. Worked ok mostly.

You can't see the wrinkles in the color photo but they show in the black and white below. I remember my dad posing me for the color photo but don't remember the black and white taken. What I learned from the Shoestring was not to trust Ambroid glue to hold the bell crank platform to balsa ribs. Lol I still remember that thing doing outside loops bigger and bigger till it went in.

Yep I still have the scars on my fingers also.
Gary

Clean

Bet it still looked good in the air.

do335a

Jim Walker/American Junior Firebrat with Fox .15, 1958 age 9.
No pix but still have the engine.

karolh

At 77 years young I can attest to all of the above, and have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

Lee Taylor

I was 8. The model was a Carl Goldberg Li'l Wizard. The year was 1960. Life was good

carlnoki

Mine was Wen-Mac Dauntless Dive Bomber in yellow and orange.
Power was teh mk-111 .049

it worked for me in the drive way.

Carl Cisneros

Appowner

Cox PT-19 somewhere around 1960. I was 7 or 8. My dad had his private ticket, learned in a full size PT-19, but he had no clue about models. So we screwed up and made the lines way too short. I can still see my dad getting very, very dizzy in the front yard. Thankfully the rubber bands on the model did their jobs. We then called my Uncle down (lived down the street) who flew free flight. But he and my mother grew up building models with their parents. So he helped us sort out the PT-19 and we got many successful flights after that. The rest as they say, Is History!

Tom Nied

Yeah for me it was the Cox PT-19 also. It wasn't even mine but my friends who shared it with me. We used a 4'x8' sheet of plywood as a runway to takeoff. Thank goodness for the design and rubber bands holding it together.

DDLDAVIDL

Just trying to get to 10 post....but..

I remember my father used to build these and we would sometimes fly them in the local park. Still remember the smell of the alcohol fuel. This would have been in the early 80's. He probably had them since the 70's.

H5606

Not my original from '70~'71 but the Chinese clone from a couple years ago in the fenced backyard. Measured out and painted the small white circle for reference to keep me from hitting the surrounding obstacles. Credit goes to my wife for launching and video. Failure on my part to communicate clearly the intended ROG resulting in the delay at launch; she had previously done a hand-launch on a different model...

RacerX9623

[email protected]

I got my first CL model when I was 12 years old, about 1950. It was a bright red, solid wood (hollow fuselage), wings (20" span), & tail, and balloon tires. It had an O&R 23 ignition engine with a hand carved prop. The owner was tired of it and sold it to my mother for my Christmas gift, for $10.00. Being totally ignorant about fuel, I never flew it, but did repaint a couple of times. I really wish I still had it!

corsaircrazy

My Feedback: (2)

My very first control line plane was in 1961.. a cox helldiver with a 3rd line to bail out pilot. Lasted 3/4 of a circle. Did a figure 9. Didn't know about making the lines the same length. All up.. No down.
then I went on to build a Zipper. Great little plane. Flew the heck out of that one. Went on to shoestring, flite streaks, tutor, voodoo...etc.

BelAirBob

GallopingGhostler

It wasn't until I was out of the house as a young adult, learned that balsa flies better. Crashed a 21 in. (530mm) Sterling Beginner profile Fokker E-III Eindecker kit build many times until I learned to fly CL. It was very sturdy, didn't shatter into pieces if flown over grass, unlike the plastic RTF's of the day.

PipeMajor

My Feedback: (1)

Age 10 in middle Tenn. I thought it was a Cox L-19 Bird Dog but previous posters said Aurora. Google pics verify it was Aurora. Dad never explained the concept so my few attempts were not successful. I had a follow-on Cox P-40 (the tan version with inverted engine). It never was attempted for flight. Wound up with a Cox .020 PeeWee.

Three years later we PCS'd to Clark Air Base, Dad preceded us by 6 months because of the housing shortage caused by the rapid buildup for Vietnam. I ran up the .020 in my uncle's basement in Olympia, WA. Was a bit surprised that it filled up with oily exhaust.

That Christmas of '64 my folks got me the Cox PT-19 (this one had the reversed blue wings/yellow fuselage) and the same uncle shipped over a Sterling Ringmaster with a McCoy .35 redhead. I studied the flight manual for the PT-19 and now that I understood how it worked, I was able to fly the tank out. Those tropical breezes required frequent dashes to regain line tension.

I got the Ringmaster assembled using Ambroid cement (the orange stuff), kit silkspan and Aerogloss dope. Clark had a large hobby shop which had a CL field next to it and a shop area in the rear where the airmen who lived in dorms could build models. It was staffed by a fulltime Filipino modeler, Sanchez, who built some of the most beautiful silk/dope finished CL stunters I had ever seen.

Ringmaster was successfully flown and I was amazed how much better it flew than the overweight underpowered 1/2A plastic airplanes. I still fly CL today, 55 years later. And Ringmasters!


Age 13, Clark Air Base circa 1965, Republic of the Philippines. My first 'large' balsa gas model. Sterling Ringmaster, McCoy .35 Redhead.
I went to school with Chuck Yeager's daughters.




I

elmshoot

My Feedback: (6)

Clark 2017 a mere shell of itself.
Trying to post picture I flew into Clark in Nov 2017