Good stuff Taurus Flyer!
As a mid-teenager in the early 60's I built my own radios from scratch but their success was marginal at best. They usually worked for about a half flight then the planes became free flight. I lived on a farm and most of my flights were in the spring and fall when crops were short as it was easier to search for downed planes in those times. My main problems were batteries and actuators as the actual radio part worked fairly well most of the time. This was all tube equipment and batteries for these were expensive for someone who had little money. Still good times though and I never lost interest.