TripleDeucer

My Feedback: (129)

An Arfy?, looks like "Here we go again" on this terrible flying design. Its a great flying plane only if you have never had anything better.

Trisquire

Its basic proportions are the same as any other trainer ever designed. How bad could it be?

Mooney_driver

RCMPlans.com also has the Real Thing Mock Two (plan #877) at $13.50 from their November 1982 issue of RCM. Iam nost sure what the difference is other than the mock two has slightly less wingspan but slightly more wing area than their plan #535 Real Thing from August 1973 issue.

It was a novel little plane and was easy to build.

GallopingGhostler

I think you are right about that Mooney driver. It is a doggedly simple plane, easy to build, a Sunday sportster type flyer. It wasn't intended to be high performance, just something to bore holes in the sky, do 3 channel rudder elevator plane stunts. With a 3-3/4 feet span, a .15 Schneurle RC should be fun. Plus, because of the lower investment, bring it out when the weather conditions aren't as ideal where one doesn't want to risk their 6 lb. 6 channel with retracts and flaps pride and joy. Also, it lends itself to kit bashing or decorating into whatever form one chooses. It is strictly for non-competitve fun (unless one wants to sponsor a fly-a-thon pylon race or combat using only Real Things).

willey

My Feedback: (32)

something about it I always liked, plus it was a cheap build. That "THING" came out when I was a teenager just learning to fly R/C. Back when I lived in Riverside, CA I painted and donated a banner to there annual fun fly meet. I think there field was between Hemet and Moreno Valley out in the dessert. Well one day I was over at a good friends house about a yr. ago looking through some of his "stuff" and he had a cut out of a magazine ad you see below, I told him my history on the "Thing" and he gave me the ad and a real "Thing" that he pick up at an auction, HOW COOL IS THAT!! so I am planning to rebuild it to it's original look and we're gunna have some fun with it.

the first few photos of the boxes I took off the net way back, the others are old photos of the banner I did... Hmmmmmm......maybe I should mount an old Saito 120 on the front?

willey

My Feedback: (32)

[X(][X(]HANG ON!! fasten your seat belts people....if you can take the music, LOL!! here's a vid I found on YT

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzmx9w3Clzk[/youtube]

GallopingGhostler

Congrats Willie, I envy you. Good luck on finishing and please follow up with a completed picture.

The one I have is the box in picture #4, Real Thing for .049 to .10 engines. Unless one used Polyspan on the wings and tail, clear doped the fuselage for an ultra light finish, and ensured heavy pieces of wood were replaced with lighter ones, a .049 IMO would barely pull it along. I figure a .15 to .20 would really make it sing.

GallopingGhostler

Interesting, I don't know about others but I enjoyed it, including the relaxing music. I thought it good how the person made use of slope soaring the plane. With those large wings, it seemed to do fine even with that less than aerodynamic nose.

willey

My Feedback: (32)

Ahhh Thanks.... I will do that for sure, a little OS10 would be plenty I think. I'm thinking on putting electric to it though not sure yet? this way I would be able to make some "insane" looking motor on it

willey

My Feedback: (32)

just seeing what I could find on Google and found these pics, also I think they made two sizes if I remember right?

GallopingGhostler

A variation of the moonshine still motor?

At sea level, a modern Schneurle .10 should be more than adequate, and may be even an older baffle piston .10 with a large diameter prop. I'm at 4,300 feet elevation, and the rest of the state more or less varies from that to 7,000 feet where flying is done. So, a little more muscle helps here at least. [8D]

GallopingGhostler

BTW Willie, I copied the sticker, thanks, may come in handy later when I'm done building. [8D]

bhorton

My Feedback: (26)

Those pics are of my planes. I bought two kits for I think $15 each from Hobby Shack. I had to make some parts because the ones in the kits were not even close to being right. One had a Irving .20 that had no compression at all. On the other I put a HP .21 four cycle, a heavy rotary valve engine. Both planes flew fine. The problem I had was getting them off the ground with the original landing gear being a straight wire strapped to the bottom of the fuse. The bottom of the plane was in the grass and at full power they would just barely move. You can see in the first pic that I made a new landing gear to get the fuse up out of the grass. I flew both for a while and then sold them. Touch and go's were lots of fun.

willey

My Feedback: (32)

You must have been shocked to see your plane on this thread, lol!! I see the gear could give you that problem, also i see on one of the boxes they made one look like a fokker d8, that looks pretty cool.

GallopingGhostler

With that open front, it is almost begging for a radial cowl.

Mooney_driver

Ibuilt mine in about 1976-7 as I recall. Iused an old Enya .09 controlline engine on it and in fact still have it on mine. I flew it from a field at 1500 feet elevation and the .09 did well once it was in the air. Like others, I was trying to fly from a gras field and ended up having to hand launch the plane. It was fun to fly once it was in the air though.

GallopingGhostler

Mooney_Driver, back in those days with the price of RC gear, I remember that a 2 channel plane with constant throttle was not unusual. I certainly did it. The Enya 09-III as a CL put out 0.20 HP whereas the throttled RC one put out 0.16 HP. The Enya's displacement is actually .099 which is for all tense and purposes a .10. I imagine you had a blast with it.

One accessory I bought then was a special nylon holder for behind the engine bulkhead mounting. It came with a music trip wire and a pin above it hooked to. With full down elevator, a string on the servo link would pull the music wire off the pin, causing it to snap over like a guillotine over the fuel line with a little molded ledge just below the fuel line. This pinching action stopped fuel flow and the engine. It was a pylon racing accessory. I might still have it floating around, but it would be easy for someone to construct something similar. Thus, with only 2 channels, one could cut their run if a situation came up requiring it.

However, with servos as cheap and even lighter these days, for sport flying, one doesn't need such an accessory.

Joe Nagy

My Feedback: (3)

Hi Everyone;

Greetings from the ever warm 'Valley of the Sun'.

Now; sit down, and fasten your seat belts, and put a helmet on!

Ta-Dah!! News Flash!! Hobby People in their web site just announced a 40th Anniversary Edition ARF version of the Real Thing, I think for $69.99. Look it up for yourselves.

Oh yes, be sure to let your Santa know just how many you will need.

Isn't RCU wonderful, in all the vast and needed information and knowlege provided herein! OK, OK, I get the message, I'm heading outta town real quick like, best regads and Happy Holidays from Glendale, Arizona

Joe Nagy.

GallopingGhostler

Joe, thanks for the reminder but Steve Percifield in Post #23 (see Page 1 of this thread) beat you to it. Next couple of posts discussed it.

http://www.hobbypeople.net/index.php...price&dir=desc

do335a

Now that's a real BARF!

Mooney_driver

Was it called a "mouse trap" as it sure sounds like you are describing a spring loaded mouse trap! Do you have a picture or drawing of it?

Yes the "Real Thing" was fun to fly as it just buzzed around the sky and was not so fast as to be hard to handle. Ibuilt the Aero Commander Shrike from a 1976 RCM and used 2 of the Enya .09 controlline motors on it! Now that was a hand full and was a really GOFAST and hang on airplane with those motors! The Real Thing on the other hand was just a nice Sunday flyer type airplane. Which was cheap to make and fly and easy to repair. I did end up crunching the wing so Iused a wing off of a nother plane and just kept on flying. I see from the Hobby People add that was posted that they are recommending a 2814 electric if you go electric. Ihave no electrics at all but have been wanting to try one. Perhaps this would be a good one to start with!

GallopingGhostler

I did a quick search. I may have it in an old model kit box, but it escapes me now. I think it was a "Sonic" product. Came with a piece of surgical rubber, which collapses very easily when pinched off by the music wire. The music wire had a little loop at the end for the release string off the elevator linkage. The nylon plastic base with holes for 2 bolts or screws for mounting was about 2" long by about a half inch or less high.

Looks like you had the equivalent of an R/C jet experience with the Shrike.

That's what I gather. I think it will be my next kit build, due to its simple and quick building structure. I might test out my newly broke in Fuji 099S-II ABC baffle piston non-Schneurle engine, since it fits in a .15 engine mount. Good way to experiment with prop sizes (7x4, 7x5, 8x4, 9x4, etc.) with this 5.5:1 low compression engine.

With all that wing area, you could even go to an over-capacity battery and lounge around lazily for while with that plane.

Frank Schwartz

My Feedback: (1)

Well, all your questions are now answered. I just received my latest issue of Model Aviation and the kit is back! You can buy it from Hobby People and it now is made for either glow or electric......

And Model Aviation is getting less and less for the builder and more for the buy and fly people.....grieves me.....

GallopingGhostler

Frank, I guess it is to be expected. The ARF's have dominated the market, there are fewer than ever kits now. Before, I didn't have the time to build. Now I do. I think I bought that Real Thing kit from Hobby Shack Lakewood store, back in the late 1980's. Now that I thin about it, I think that is where I picked up the 2 Fuji 099S-II's for a song. Then, they had opened additional stores in the Southern California area. Prior, the only store was their warehouse facility with showroom store in Fountain Valley in Orange County.

One thing good though are the PDF plans on both [link]http://www.outerzone.co.uk[/link] and [link]http://www.hippocketaeronautics.com/hpa_plans/index.php[/link]

There are some really good plans for stuff I know that will never be kitted or kitted again. Those I can scratch build. Also, to keep prices reasonable, the construction industry insulating foam, Corroplast and competitor derivatives, paper covered poster foam board and Doculam with example models and plans, bulk silk fabric from Internet fabric warehouses help to defray costs.

oldfartpilot

My Feedback: (118)

In the early 80's, I received the Real Thing w/OS .10 in a trade.  Don't remember what happened to it.  When I saw an ARF in a Hobby People ad, I had to have one.  It arrived this past week, don't know what I'll power it with yet. .049 to .19 2 stroke. maybe OS 20 FS.  It's still ugly.