Nightflyer

It does seem that some model clubs, ATC / Army Cadets, after school clubs or Scouts groups liked RTP. It is sad to see not that many get the opportunities for model flying these days. My sons Cub/Scout group when they found out my flying and model flying background all went after their badge. They all enjoyed building chuckie gliders having a go at RTP and going to Duxford.

The model mags of the 70's and early 80's published a number of interesting designs from profile to scale models, ducted fan, autogyros, and some racing models. I think it was Aeromodeller had a fantastic profile Gee Bee racer that a couple of Elmbridge guys had tuned performance racing them at the Modelmakers Festival in 78 and I think in 79. It would be nice to track some of them down.

With some of the other posts about after school and also ATC activities all were certainly popular clubs or etc that got youths into RTP. It would be good to see it happen nowadays, but as usual there ae many other distractions these days.

Posted by KiwiKid on 10/07/2017 14:23:21: I came upon this site a couple of months back when looking for something else - looks quite intriguing. I guess you could fly indoors when the weather was poo. **LINK** Thanks for that, funnily enough I found the same site just before I read your post. I have had a look and yes this looks like they have taken over from Ballards and there are also some useful new items, kits and plans, so well worth a look for those into RTP.

I thought I would start this thread off the back of a weekend of fun with my family flying electric round the pole models in the garden, and the realisation that I have been on and off for nearly 40 years now and got to thinking how many either still do, or have in the past, or what had become of RTP flying - certainly in the UK at least. I first became aware of RTP flying as a boy when there was an article in a Keil Kraft catalogue about RTP and converting rubber models to RTP written by Harry Butler. I was intrigued at the time as I was into control line and just starting to develop an interest in rc.It was when in 77 that I went to the Model Engineer Exhibition and witnessed it for the first time and then at Sandown Model Symposium that I started to become interested. Nothing more happened until 1978 when I went to the Modelmakers Festival at Brean Sands where Harry Butler was demonstrating it and you could have a go, that I bought a profile Spitfire model, and built and flew it there, that myself and my dad became hooked, bought the gear to set us up and started flying models in our back garden and in halls with the model flying club and at some exhibitions and indoor events local to Hastings at the time. So for most in Britain, it was Harry Butler (from Clacton as I recall) who managed to develop a range of products suitable for a commercial sale and led to the growth of the hobby. There were kits available and plans (some from Aeromodeller), and information on converting some of the rubber scale models for RTP. From memory it was about 1980 that Harry Butler then sold his rights to Keil Kraft who continued to promote RTP for a number of years. It was a while later that I learnt that Ballards in Tunbridge Wells then had acquired the rights and up until a few years ago you could still get RTP goods from them, but sadly I do not know what the situation is like in the UK now. So what was RTP? Much like Scalextric you had a power source, a hand throttle to control the DC power. Power was fed out to the Tether Pole which supplied power via ballraces to thin tinned copper wire flying lines which served the double purpose of providing power to, and tethering the model plane. Models could be prop driven, ducted fan, or even autogyros. Models could carry some lighting, or have retractable undercarriage, flaps, or bomb release, and even be aerobatic (loops and wingovers) depending on model type/motor/flying line length. BUt some of the best fun was either flying combat - streamer (and sometimes tail!) cutting or racing (Gee Bee racer models were excellent). Anyway it would be nice to see if others remember RTP, or fly still, or can add to the history or know what has become of it. Are my children the last generation of RTP pilots?

Posted by gangster on 29/06/2017 10:26:23: Yes Maurice I believe the plan showed both. ( the senior having a flat bottomed wing and the Custom a bit symmetrical. I don't seem to have the plan any more for either. I did find the plan for the corsair and the tiger. Both nice looking models. I sold my old Tiger that had been flown to death and fuel soaked for a very good price. The guy who bought converted it to a plug to make a glass fibre mold with a plan to making kits. Not sure he was not on sticky ground there copyright etc. The deal was as well as the price paid and the plan returned I was to get one of the kits from the first "litter". Alas the kits were never made. At least I got enough money for my clapped out old model to buy a kit of a different model   Ah yes your mention of the Corsair and Tiger models now remind me of them. I am not sure where Trueline were located but they did do a nice model range from my recollection of a few designs. If an 11 yo lad at the time can build one they were not too hard to build and looked good. My fathers Custom was Enya 40 powered with Futaba M series rc and mine was a Merco 35 (though I never did have good engine reliable running even with changing the Carburettor) with Skyleader Clubman (not the Super) rc. I reckon the Custom would make quite a reasonable electric model. As a change of manufacturer how about EMP (Edmonds Model Products), my father built the Easy Rider which both he and myself flew. This model looked and flew nicely with Enya 40 power and had some years flying until the plastic fuselage failed around the former in front of the wing leading edge. It was a sad end to the model but the plastic obviously had become fatigued either through flying stresses or sunlight as I am not sure whether the plastic was uv stabilised but it did survive from about 78 until 1986 without any crashes.   Mind you one model I always wanted from Micro Mold was the Spitfire Mk24/Seafire Mk47. I never got hold of one though one of the guys got hold of a kit from a show second hand in the late 90's and it looked and flew beautifully.   Edited By Nightflyer 2013 on 29/06/2017 13:11:42

One other model that was a massive influence on me was the MFA Hummingbird. I think that and the Magicfly were key to helping kick start electric flight in the UK. The Hummingbird certainly was for me. The performance was far from impressive but flight was possible, and when I look at the electric models i have and have had they all lead back to that Hummingbird of the early 80's.

One other model that was a massive influence on me was the MFA Hummingbird. I think that and the Magicfly were key to helping kick start electric flight in the UK. The Hummingbird certainly was for me. The performance was far from impressive but flight was possible, and when I look at the electric models i have and have had they all lead back to that Hummingbird of the early 80's.

Some great comments which I would concur with. I have tended to favour Futaba or Savox where quality and reliability are concerned, or Hired or others when cheap is desirable. I am not wild on SD200s as had issues with them on an electric Hurricane and my Simprop Excel. They seem 8k at first but after time give trouble. Hs55 comments elsewhere on here I agree with comments on.

I contacted Lidl to see if they will get more. They advised 3-6 months will be the next time.

I did still have my plan but it is not in my plans file, from memory it does not give you the foam wing profile properly. Otherwise easy to knock up a wing.

Martin your electrified model looks good might go similar way if I get a second model.

The Tomtit did look nice. Regarding the Custom Executive mine got totalled as a result of a sudden cut on the Merco 35 and my dads as a result of aeronautics while learning but lovely looking model. Mind you one model I loved also was Skyways Hawk 70.

I am sure others like me have fond memories of some more and manufacturers that are no more. For me there are a few that inspired or were key to my early years... As a young boy in the mid 70's my dad started off flying with a Truline Custom Executive, a 4 channel trainer. I liked it so much I pestered my dad to build one for me. I shall have to load a pic at some point. It was towards the late 70's that the manufacturer disappeared and I still wonder what happened to them. Another model I loved as soon as I saw it was the Ripmax Aviette Moonshiner a lovely 40 size aerobatic hope which I ended up getting as a present on completing my O levels and still have today. Then there was the Keil Kraft SE5a which really looked good and the Veron Avro 504K. There must be loads of others too.

Martin - I think you are right about fees. Some of the venues charge ridiculous fees it is what always affects so many events. Look at the Model Engineer Exhibition, Sandown, The Nats, etc. It is interesting that when some of these venues open they fight to attract events i.e. Sandown Park in the 70's, Wembley Conference Centre for the ME in the 70's and early 80's, etc. Trouble is once the venues start to grow or prove popular so venue managers start to get greedy when they know they have other alternatives open to them to fill their diary of events. One must also remember that organisers have to cover the cost of the venue hire and if you have falling attendance numbers it is always going to pressure entry prices and traders pitch prices. I think a recent example might well be Brighton's Modelworld which in the end led to this years event being cancelled (hopefully only a very temporary loss).

Hi Steve, Yes it may be slightly different to the Lidl one. Well I flew the Lidl one last night - in fact my 14 yo son who wanted the glider flew it the most and tbh it flew better than I expected and certainly better than when it was a free flight glider. My son enjoyed it a lot. With two 9g servos a Lemon rx and a 1s 500mAh Lipo pack it seemed to balance just right. Now I am thinking about tracking a second model down to electrify.

I have always had a soft spot for Cambria models right the way back as an 11 yo first getting into rc modelling in the 70's. I always wanted to get a Grumman Traveller but never did. However my first kit was the FW190D followed by the P51. The latter had quite a long life into the end of the 90's!. Having built those I then had a Capstan which I enjoyed a lot. I cracked the canopy and had replacement sent to me very quickly along with decals and catalogue. I also remember fondly two Instructor kits being built during both of the weeks at the National Modelmakers Festival at Brean Sands when it was a 2 week event (really miss those festivals they were such great fun). It was great seeing Cambrian at Wings and Wheels and has refuelled my interest in their models - now my 14 yo son wants a Spitfire!

WOW the Felix is like twice the cost of the Lidl one. Am glad I got one from Lidl. Flew it free flight in both glide and loop mode before modifying it. Hopefully in rc mode will have some fun tonight now finally finished.

One for Jon Harper here. I think you are right about the need to look at the constructive feedback for helping improve things going forward. For me WnW is my local show for some years now and so as a local like to see it successful. It might help to look at some of the formats used previously, and one of the key things would be to make it more family orientated, as if all or most of the family are entertained it brings people through the gates. Talking about the 'Acro Wot' flying. If a show something akin to the old Sandown Symposiums are concerned then encouraging trade and variety of trade helps. I am not sure how much the weather contributed to this year's flying programme but the wind was tricky on Saturday (and hats off with how well the pilots coped) especially when airspace is tightly controlled at North Weald. A healthy mix of jets, large, helicopters, drones?, average and even 'fun' models are always entertaining. It is never easy organising a show (even from personal experience in the past) you can never please everyone all of the time but a few things can make it easy to please most of the people most of the time. I am sure things can improve and I think despite everything we should all acknowledge the hard work of all those involved in making the event happen, which often is forgotten.

Have to say it had been a few years since I took the family with me to the show and most of the comments myself and my wife would agree with. The main one being that it had shrunk to its heyday. I am Not sure if it is the economic climate, change in modelling or peoples expectations. We went on the Saturday and so also went to the market and I would say even that is smaller so perhaps it is a sign of the times. It must be hard for the traders to meet cost of attending the show and sales, but without them shows would be poorer still. As for flying maybe the challenge of finding dazzling show stoppers or firsts detracts the search of average or slightly above models and flying for want of a better description on which most shows have been underpinned. Sadly it did not feel like a family show and looks like in future I won't be taking my family - at least it will cost me less.

Same here as also converting one.

Also bought one of these today and having played with it be tied converting it I think the carbon rod will help fuselage rigidity. Might fit a tow release in the fuselage. Hopefully will have radio in tomorrow.

Trees have a magnetic attraction for models, I remember having a Centi Phase some years back finding a tree having had a powered model cut across my flightpath when I was in my landing circuit. Two things are useful in any club I think. One is to have a 'Tarzan' member who climbs trees like an ape - as I was fortunate. The second is to have some nice long light whippy poles kept at the field that can be used to help flick the model out of the tree if needed. Just don't attempt either method if your model ends up caught in an electricity pylon!

I also fly a Foam E and have done since early March without any problem, as have others in my local club for some time. From what you describe it could well be a bonding issue of the adhesive used. The use of cyano on foam - I trust you mean a foam friendly one as there are some around which people might use one that attacks the foam. The models are light in comparison to the full size wood and foam wing Wot 4's but would have expected a good development programme before the model went into production. Hope you mate gets his issue sorted out.

I have to echo the praise of others on here for Micron. I have used them since the very early 80's at different times for some of their kits. All have arrived complete, in good time, and all have worked giving life to some of my aircraft and boat models. It is something to see that they stand the test of time. Well done Micron from the 70's onwards.