Stickbuilder

I am sure that this question mush have come up before, but what constitutes a Vintage Kit? If the manufacturer is out of business, and the kit is at least 20 years old does that qualify? Example: Does the Die Crunched PICA 1/5th scale WACO YMF that was manufactured in the 80's (blue photo on box) qualify? What do you guys think?


Bill, AMA 4720

LSP972

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Anything on eBay. The use of the word should be forbidden there.

The actual definition (one of them, anyway) says 'A year or period of origin'. So, it would seem to me that a vintage kit is one from whatever "period" you choose. When you realize that a Sterling kit can be the same "vintage" as a Bridi kit; well, the word sort of loses its punch, ya know?

Bob Laine

My Feedback: (91)

The word vintage is another word that can be very subjective. I've been flying for almost 47 years. To me "Vintage is something that was designed before I started flying with the planes and equipment that were designed before I started. Kraft, EK Logictrol Proline Royal Heath and Orbit, radios, would be be "Vintage" to 90 percent of the RC flyer's today. To the rest of us "old timers," they would be just old equipment that is no longer made. "Antique" has a different meaning alltogether. Heathkit, Orbit, F&M, Controlair as well as most of the other Planes, and equipment that is 20-25 years old would come under the catagory of "Antique". Vintage would be something In use before the advent of todays modern designs. ie Freeflight aircraft that were built before they were coonverted to fly under "RC," or an "original Kit that was designed in the 40's. Tube type transmitters and receivers. (not a reproduction) And.........don't forget "GOLDEN AGE" which carries with it another entirely different meaning that is sometimes confused with Vintage, and Antique.

dicknadine

Since I have been building model airplanes since around 1936/7, does that make me Antique or Vintage?? words are sometning to play around with. I still feel YOUNG- most of the time as I build my models. Dick

papermache

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"Vintage" comes from the winemaking trade. In winemaking a "vintage" year is one in which an unusual set of climate and weather related conditions combine to produce outstanding grapes, which make excellent wine. Thus a "vintage" wine doesn't necessarily have to be old.

In merchandising, "vintage" has come to mean "the best of an era". Anything 25+ years old can be classified as "antique", but being antique doesn't make it vintage, and something can be vintage without being antique.

If you're totally confused by now, you should be. Add in the fact that words like "best" are totally subjective, and that makes adjectives like "vintage" totally useless. At best, "vintage" describes an antique that's in good shape, so the seller thinks it should be worth twice as much as it is. I wouldn't count on it to mean much else.

papermache

Bob Laine

My Feedback: (91)

Now why didn't I say that...........Guess I've never consumed wine, Fred Sanford's "Ripple," or "vintage".

Bob Laine

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Make's you "ancient and a relic" Just like me. You started the year that AMA Started. I started in RC in 1959, and free flight and control line in 56. AMA 1843

Stickbuilder

Well, I built my first model airplane in 1949 (you had to shut one eye and squint with the other to make it look like an airplane) So, I suppose I've been around a while. I got my share of busted knuckles trying to get that %%$#%@@ GHQ to start, never had that kind of problems with my trusty old Super Cyclone though. My first R/C system (could you call it that?) was a Charley C/G tube set up. Then I went to a Kraft 10 Channel reed system, then to a real live full house EK Logictrol, and now JR PCM. So I've been around the block once or twice.

To be more precise, Do you guys consider the PICA WACO YMF 1/5th scale in the 80's blue picture box to be a vintage model, and does it qualify for posting in this thread? Or do I need to bring out my old Ramrod 600?

Bill, AMA 4720

Bob Laine

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Stickbuilder, It's not close to being "Vintage" to me. But Now my 48" spook gull wing is. My 1st Reed set was an F&M 10 channel. I flew it on a Buzzard Bombshell. Also vintage to me. The 2nd RC plane I flew was a Goldberg, Jr Falcon, with Mule Transmitter, Citizenship SH-100 receiver, and Controlair SE2 compound escapement bought Controlair before they sold out to World Engines. AHHHH Those were the days.

Stickbuilder

I forgot, I had the Mule as well, but I had a Bonner Vari-Comp escapement, so mine was better'n yours.

Bill, AMA 4720

Stickbuilder

I flew the Live wire Champ with mine (sort of). My Falcon use the Kraft reed set-up. Those were the days????? Lord, I remember taking 3 or 4 sets of batteries so I could re-tune the reeds and maybe get one flight in.

Bill, AMA 4720

Bob Laine

My Feedback: (91)

Stickbuilder....... Mine was self netrulizing. the Bonner wasn't. 1 click for right, two clicks for left. I crashed tring to get use to the bonnor escapement. I still have my "Mule and escapement. Rat's ate up the receiver. I'm wrong. not the Bonner, I'm thinking of the Badcock escapement.

What I remember most is running across the field with my transmitter over my head shouting......"I ain't go it". Most fun I ever had in my life, those day's.

GoldenAge

Vintage: Anything that isn't an ARF Gosh, you could almost really say that now as builders seem to be an increasingly rare breed

Stickbuilder

You mean Babcock, don't you?

Bill, AMA 4720

Bob Laine

My Feedback: (91)

Thanks for correcting me. Of course it was Babcock. My brother own a "Badcock" furniture store, and I just slipped. But wait............as far as I'm concerned, they were BADcock escapements. Bob

The Ghost

Dick,
NO That just makes you a legend.

Cheers

Stickbuilder

So are we at a consensus, The WACO ain't Vintage??? It shore is purty tho.

Bill, AMA 4720

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

The word vintage itself simply means "of a particular year or period." That year could be 2005 or 1805. Vintage means absolutely nothing unless you specify what vintage - or year - it is from. It's the same as saying "of the year ___." In other words, a Bridi Sun Fli IV is 1969 vintage, or, of the year 1969.

The problem is, the word has been twisted and distorted to mean old, dated or antique. When someone says they have a vintage glow engine they are not describing the age of the engine; if they say they have an early '70s vintage engine, then they are. Technically, every manufactured object is vintage, since every manufactured object has a specific date of origin. That's not to say that certain dates or eras, i.e., vintages aren't more desirable than others.

Bob Laine

My Feedback: (91)

Raindav........You are technically correct. However, many words take on a new meaning and understanding as the are used over and over. Many time the original meaning is so twisted that it becomes the normal and excepted way of describing something. And, so it is with the word "Vintage". as an example, you may or may not remember when some where about 35 year's ago the word "GAY" had an entirely different meaning than it has today. The excepted meaning of the word "vintage," today means something that is old. I don't mean to be argumentative, but that's just the plain facts.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Bob, I agree that saying something is vintage is saying it's old. It's just not specifying how old. I have a 2004 vintage video card in my computer. To some people I know, who play lots of PC games, that's really old. If I simply said I have a vintage video card that could mean anything; 1989, 1997, or whatever. Granted, many words have vernacular or colloquial meanings in addition to their so-called official meanings. That's just the way language works when it's used by lots of people in everyday life. I'm sure most people have at one time or another used a screw driver or a wrench to hammer something. I hope you don't think I'm being argumentative either. I just think this is an interesting discussion. Although, I do take exception to your use of excepted to mean accepted, unless, of course, you meant that the case of the word vintage is an exception to the rule. In that case excepted would also be an exception.

Bob Laine

My Feedback: (91)

RainDav....I meant accepted but I misspelled the word. And I don't think you are being argumentive at all. Like you, I also enjoy this thread. There is no telling where it will take us. The word I was refering to in my last post was a word that many years ago was a word that was used to describe when someone had "Happy" feeling. Today that word no longer can be used in that context. As for my self I'm of the "Vintage" of 1935.

Bob

Mike Denest

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Anything you can't get parts for.

StraDog

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OK, does that make it a "CLASSIC"?

Stickbuilder

OK, does that make it a "CLASSIC"?
[quote]
That kit was a, "Classic", before PICA ever went under. (IMHO) I didn't want to get into a semantics argument here, I was just trying to find out if this kit qualified (per the constraints of this forum).

Bill, AMA 4720

Bob Laine

My Feedback: (91)

Just to add to the discussion.............. I consider the Waco, to be a "Golden Age" aircraft.