Tatty treasures

[Josip Vrandecic -Mes]

Seelig mechanical 4 operations timer,

In the last Century,it was the prestige, and the transition from free flight on RC.

[Simon Chaddock]

I was looking for something else and came across this.

Nothing to do with flying except that I was given its contents as a baby - although I believe it went on being sold right up to the sixties.

[Wingman]

The way things are going we may back to using that stuff within the next few years - probably be sent to us in bags by some West African nation

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Wingman]

How to here

[David Davis]

National Dried Milk, cod liver oil and orange juice made me the man I am today!

 

We kept two of those tins in a cupboard for years. One contained cream crackers, the other sweet biscuits, then when family fortunes improved in the 1960s, these were dispensed with and replaced by shop-bought items.

 

Shame really!

[Stephen Jones]

Did you say old and taty

 

who Knows whats going to turn up after i clear up my loft .

[Flite08]

A Fred Rising actuator using a Mighty Midget motor worked very well if my memory serves me right 

[Andy Freeman]

I can only offer this aged and high mileage article:

Ken Anderson.......
 

Edited By Andy Freeman on 04/07/2010 23:29:43

[Tim Mackey]

I thought it was the Dorset coast that was famous for dinosaurs - not the North east

[ken anderson.]

would all forum member's please note the time of andy freeman's post--this is the time where the various ointment's he has poured down his carb have taken effect...timbo will be having his hill top posse application - re examined etc.......i may even have to resort to giving young asher's a call to complain......and have you both re-kitted......then again- all good fun......

 

 men after my own heart...... ken anderson...ne..1          'ss..

[John Ashley]

Here is a good old-fashioned cuddle box!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JOHN BOWMAN]

A yes a FLC Flight Link transmitter, a quite expensive quality bit of kit but I remember we rechristened them "Fright Link" Because of the problems we had when they were introduced ie. loss of radio control!

 

I wonder how many of to-days pilots can be seen running after their model, transmitter held high above their heads shouting " I've lost it". Happy days.

 

May be we were just unlucky and they were as good as we were told they were?

 

Memories

John Bowman

 

 

[Tim Mackey]

Well John, that can still be seen these days - and its usually caused by people who use 2.4Ghz and then switch back to 35mhz - forgetting to extend that long shiny metal thing

[JOHN BOWMAN]

Tim Tim,

You know how to hurt an old pensioner and you promiced not to tell!

 

PS. I hope your Hawk is feeling better.

 

Your old friend

John

[Tim Mackey]

I didn't mention any names mate

[Simon Chaddock]

These photos are not really the tatty treasure (although they look the part) but the DH4 itself. They record it last flight, made in 1969, and it was 9 years old then.

Note the very modest line tension.

You can safely start a Mills 75 with your finger.

And its now 50 years old!

[Erfolg]

These are my own tatty treasures, spread over a period of probably 20 to 50 years old.

 

The first

this was consigned to the skip as far as the better half was concerned, snucked it into the garage to save an historical treasure of the past, when the sun was setting on Empire.

 

Then there is the transition to the "modern world", the age of the transistor, the miracle of proportional control.

I still have a collection of Rx's from this period, many self built. Now when I locate these and post them, have the Defibrillator and gel on standby for Timbo. There are no EU stickers and the world kept turning. My transmitter and Rx's worked well, where as subsequent Futaba Gold (which I still have) died, together with my Sanwa Clubman. Though in both cases that was after a 20 year lay of, before my returning to modelling approx. 5 years ago.

 

Now a motley collection of my early Diesels and Glo engines.

These are a mixture of AM, Charlton Davies?, cox .049, 2*ED racers (one glo headed) and a PAW 1.49

 

Then there are my old pre-electric Glo motors

 

 again a collection of names mostly long forgotten 3 * Mercos (2* 35's & 49), Enya 19, OS Max 40, Profi 61. There are many more engines still in old decaying airframes in my mothers garage.

 

There is much more junk, no, no, no. I must resist the better half's thoughts. Ah yes, national treasures. Pre Electric Flight, when modellers used anti-social, dangerous , noisy smelly, toxic chemical using engines

Edited By Erfolg on 15/07/2010 13:23:49

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Erfolg that's the transmitter I still have up in the loft (well not that one obviously )

[Erfolg]

I have been surprised by the relatively poor market sales of Waltron Gear. I found that my own to be reliable, often in conjunction with Micron 27 Rx. Yet most preferred the more expensive Futaba M.

 

I guess the Futaba had a far more professional case, not just folded, aluminium coated vinyl case. It just looked what it is folded sheet metal. It provided the confidence as to the quality to what the box contained

 

Being totally fair Futaba is only one of the competitors that is still going. The rest, long gone, Space Commander, Swann,  Fleet, McGregor,, OS,Grundig, Orbit, Remcon, Stavely, Flight Link, Soverign, Cannon, Airtronics, EK logictrol, Royal, I am sure that i have only remembered a few.

 

Knowing vaguely the two persons involved in Waltron, and the limited resources at a technical level, compared to many small electronic businesses, it was always going to be an up hill struggle. There appeared to be many issues, the general industry wide reluctance to sub contract work to specialist, from case makers, electronic component assembly. The final weakness of many UK business at that time was a 5 year (or whatever) plan, relying on opportunism or this is it. It is here where Futaba always seem to have edge, steadily improving products, often apparently providing features we modellers never knew we wanted until they were there and did we aspired to them. Must have a new set.

 

Again what could have been, if only.........................................................

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Yep my Waltron was very reliable too. I'm sure it still would be. The only issue I can remember is the nut coming loose, the one crimped into the bottom of the Tx aerial.

 

Did you ever have the 5th channel? Mine still has the holes vacant in the transmitter PCB for the extra few components. 

[Erfolg]

It certainly has the holes for the components.

 

I have the manual "Cosmos Control System", which I assume was another version of the "Sportsman". It appears i was wrong in thinking there were two, as the Manual says the Authors are Ron Donahue and Stan Yeo, yet I understand it was Walter (whose surname eludes me), who later set up Hillcote Electronics who actually undertook the electronic design.

 

Who would ever need that optional 5 channel? four are enough for anyone! Who could afford that extra servo?

 

As a point of interest I also assembled servos, from Linwood, Waltron. Could not even see the circuit boards today, never mind soldering the components. I also built a Century Electronic mixer. How did I find time to build? Perhaps the kids must have suffered from a lack of attention, lucky beggars.

 

From these build experiences I can recognise those who are politically correct, when they say the extra temperature of Lead Free Solder does not matter, and argue that industry see it as an advantage.

[Big Bandit]

Hi All,

 

My little treasures that have built up over time some from the 50's

 

  The old mercury test stand, recently bolted to a new B&Q shelf and varnished, then clamped to the portable work stand.

 

The earliest radio gear that I have left, the Fred Rising actuator is original and replaced my own "flyball" actuator efforts for galloping ghost on rudder only. All of my rubber escapements have gone some years ago.

 

The older engines that I keep in the shed, most of them recently pulled from old airframes which will now languish in the loft with all of the other unused stuff.

 

A few more motors, love all of the old cox motors, and wish I had kept the old tee dees.

 

My first 4 motors I owned from the age of 10 used in free flight and control line. I also had a couple of Mk 1 mills 1.3's sold a few years ago.

 

 The last of the old rubber kits I have.

All complete including the original tissue paste (whats left of it). Rather than build the kit's I'll scan or copy the plans and wood then build from those. Clearing the loft out for the insulation to be upgraded I found the original Slicker kit complete including the original KK balsa Cement in lead tubes. Along with the asbestos paper in the Jetex kits and all of the solvents that we used, not a very healthy hobby.

 

Chris.

 

 

 

 

 

[Erfolg]

BB

 

Confess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You are a collector, of valuable modelling artifacts

 

Whereas we are hoarders of junk, which are religiously shoved into corners and draws

[Big Bandit]

Hi Erflog,

 

Afraid not, in the 90's, I sold off 30 complete airframes, 60 odd engines, and six sets of radio gear including the RCM&E gear that I built, and all of my old single channel gear. gave my whole collection of mags away, apart from some old aeromodeler mags, the BBC Modelers World book and some of my old model related books which I still thumb through now and again. Apart from the two diesel conversions to the Cox's their all original from the 70's and 80's and so are all of the rest of my engines. there are a few new engines that are still in the box unused. I've not lost interest in them, just all electric now apart from the FF.

 

The kit's were just forgotten apart from the Cub. When we cleared the loft there was a stack of balsa that had been forgotten in a corner of the loft, but no room in the shed for it. The Slicker was amongst it.

 

I may have a good clear out soon as I've 53 kits of all types that I'll probably never build, and I've not counted all of the engines. there's also 7 boxes of plans. I donated about 20 engines a few years ago to a mates collection. Their all little gems to me from my travel through my modeling, and I still love running them particularly the diesels in the garage.

 

Cheers,

 

Chris.