|
Grampaw -> RE: NoN Throttled Cox power (9/28/2005 8:11 AM)
|
Man did this thread stir up the dust up in the brain dome! Back in the early 60's I bought a Comet rubber powered Piper Cub to work on at night after work. I hadn't built a model in years. I finished the Cub, built a 2nd one and then discovered RCM and got hooked on RC. I bought several issues at a Newstand, pouring over the articles and plans until I began to understand more and more of it. I wanted to fly RC real bad. I stopped by a field one Saturday that was having an AMA get together and was blown away with the planes and the guys out there. I was really hooked. Most radios were the Reed types, with some Single Channel and Galloping Ghost stuff. But I wanted realism, and as a result had to wait a bit longer. Then RCM began publishing a monthly column (can't recall the author) on building your own Proportional Radio Control set. I read and reread it each month, but knew I could never build it. I was down again. Then Heathkit came out with their Proportional 3 channel set. A TX, RX and 3 servos, that you built yourself! And, they offered monthly payments! Before I could place an order, they offered an Optional 4th channel (a rudder knob that sat up on top of the Aileron and Elevator stick! I placed my order and in two weeks was into the assembly process on my own radio outfit! I learned a lot from their instructions, and after finishing my 4 channel rig, started to fly RC airplanes in ernest, and haven't stopped yet. I flew planes with that Heath rig for about 12 years. Didn't have to change the TX battery until after it was 5 years old, and that was due to an error on my part. I finally retired it after joining an AMA Chartered club to change over to the latest more modern gear. The first Heath servos were a lot larger than today's stuff, but I crammed 3 of them into a few 1/2A planes and they flew pretty well. I replaced them with smaller stuff as they came on the market. I used to create a lot of notice as I was the only one flying a single stick transmitter. A lot of the guys didn't believe it. A funny thing happened later on as I was asked to help a few new guys learn to fly. Everyone of them had Airtronics dual stick proportional sets, so I had to learn to fly dual stick planes in order to teach them to fly with them! That one summer I did not take any of my stuff to the field, as I was flying everybody else's gear. I finally had to call a halt to the Instruction bit so I could enjoy my own planes again. As the years passed I moved to larger airplanes, but as of late, find myself not enjoying flying as much as I used to. After reading the posts on this forum, I dug up several 1/2A sized plans I still hoard and gave them a look see. I remembered the fun we used to have with them. Several on this thread mentioned certain planes I have built, flown and enjoyed and it has given me the hots to chop some balsa, small size and hopefully have fun again. Thanks guys........G P
|
|
|
|