Simon Chaddock Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 This was my first RC 'own design' and dates from 1965. Pictures taken in 1966. 48" span all sheet covered (fuselage 1/16, wings 1/32) V tail rudder only. Home assembled Macgregor TerryTone 1ch RX with a vane damped rubber escapement using pull/pull cables to a rear mounted crank. A 3V dry cell provided the electricity and the nose weight. Very ambitious with such a small 'rudder only' V tail and not surprisingly it provided very little control with the result it crashed in the normal way! Later rebuilt with a higher aspect ratio wing of the same span - which made the control problem even worse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vecchio Austriaco Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Simon, I actually loved the V-tail on gliders without aileron, in my opinion they worked better than the normal cross or T versions. (see my airfish-glider , somewhere further up this thread... VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Percy Verance: Yes, that probably is a Tinker, probably Tony Rose's. Tony (sadly no longer with us) was one of the most active and helpful members of the Watford club, and the Tinker was a firm favourite of his. Strangely, I picked up an untouched Skydancer kit a few years back - I think they went back into production briefly, years after the original firm stopped. The quality was nothing like as good as the original, but I still have it awaiting its turn on the building board. Now I've retired, I've got a bit more time for balsa bashing....! Martin:Thanks for publishing that picture - it brought back a lot of happy memories! I don't recall the incident of "bouncing a wheel off the head of a rather disgruntled spectator" - I was probably otherwise engaged - but the pilot was probably just trying to attract his attention! Speaking of Mr Cooper and the Skydancer, I do recall one beautiful summer's evening when Brian and I were the only ones flying down on Croxley Moor, the two of us getting involved in an impromptu "full throttle, low pass" contest. Probably the only occasion when I managed to "outfly" him, as on my penultimate pass, you could actually hear the grass whistling through the undercarriage as the Skydancer whizzed by. At that point he conceded defeat, but I decided I could do better! On the next pass (full throttle, remember!) I did manage to get it lower, but unfortunately the wheels made the briefest of contact with the ground. The result was reminiscent of a "Tom & Jerry" cartoon, as both tyres simultaneously split, flying off into the scrub, whilst the model - still at full throttle - came to a screeching stop, still upright and undamaged, on the hubs, in the middle of the patch! Much to Brian's amusement! He was laughing so much, he nearly crashed his own model! Happy days! -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Loughborough University had an aeronautics department with a modest wind tunnel. As a final year project (1968) a group of students were asked to build a small man carrying hovercraft from scratch using aeronautical construction techniques ( i.e. Rivets and aluminium!). Having produced a design they were asked to validate its aerodynamic stability in their wind tunnel but apparently no one could make the model. By a roundabout route I ended up being paid to create a 1/5 scale model for them and I was not even studying aeronautics! An all balsa job. I saw the maiden 'flight' of the final product but never got to have a go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 Interesting stuff, Simon - and I'm thinking there's a bit of 'Supercar' influence in the design, perhaps? As a bonus, you might spot a brief appearance of one of the mods in the clip, too...... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Anderson Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Remember the Windbag,I first seen it at Sandown I flew this one for a friend A free plan the Bede BD5 Irvine 40 with robart pump Edited By Joe Anderson on 23/01/2015 19:27:01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David perry 1 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 That clip of Supercar shows the fuel gauge which runs beyond 250. I have no idea what the units are but whatever they are, Im sure glad I dont have to fill the blighter! D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Privett Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Take another look, David. The units are marked on the gauge; "LBS X 10" it says - with the figure of 2570lbs (presumable the max) also displayed. Well over a ton (or tonne!) of fuel, so no, I wouldn't want to have to fill it either - and especially wouldn't want to have to pay for the fuel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fly-navy Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Posted by Peter Miller on 09/03/2013 12:55:46: Aden, 1961. Control line circle in the back ground. Too cold to go swin=mming. Well, it was down to nearly 80F Oh picturesque Crater City eh Peter!! Those magnificent stunning rays swimming about. Happy days. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David perry 1 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Posted by John Privett on 01/04/2015 21:53:46: Take another look, David. The units are marked on the gauge; "LBS X 10" it says - with the figure of 2570lbs (presumable the max) also displayed. Well over a ton (or tonne!) of fuel, so no, I wouldn't want to have to fill it either - and especially wouldn't want to have to pay for the fuel! Well Spotted John, I missed the Lbs x 10! D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 While clearing the house I came across this picture of my old Flair Cub. It was powered by an Enya 40 but I crashed it while trying to fly it in winds which were too strong for the model and my piloting ability as a beginner! I had a blue and orange one just like it. Crashed that one too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 You not like Cubs David John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony K Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of my first RC aircraft. It was a David Boddington "Apprentice". Built in 1968, it flew quite well until I tried to control it. It hit the ground rather heavily.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted April 24, 2015 Share Posted April 24, 2015 Posted by john stones 1 on 23/04/2015 18:33:40: You not like Cubs David John It would appear so! I crashed this one too, trying to land it in a cross wind, however, at least I know its fate. After repairing it, I listed it on eBay and a bloke from Bristol bought it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I found this photo album a few days ago and there is a few snaps of me and my gliders from about 1980. If anyone can remember when 35MHz was introduced that will accurately date it because one of my flying colleagues bought one of the first 35MHz Futaba transmitters about the same time.. Please forgive my self indulgence... This was an own designed slope soarer known on the site as the 'Dying Duck' Mainly, despite having 3 x 8G Piano wire joiners, the joint used to flex like mad when anything resembling a manoeuvre was attempted - it looks like the wings were flapping.. It was a big beast (for the time) - just over 12 foot span with a 12" wing rootchord. Quite a small tail and moment arm but it was a fantastic glider. The nose was also very short. Needed almost all of the lead of a church roof to get it to balance. The good news was that it never needed additional ballast in a breeze. It would out soar anything else on the slope in those days. Speccing out in slope lift was a regular hazard. Even in apparent flat calm it would be flyable much to the chagrin of those flying with me.. Flying at Blackstone Edge. A superb Slope Soaring Site just off the A58 - Littleborough to Halifax road. About 1000 feet up and all downhill to the Irish Sea - about 50 miles away - perfect for West > South West winds Finally, this was a Solent Sailplanes Ridge Rover (I think). Had 2 wing planforms - the inner section could be plugged in to increase the Span - to about 110" if I remember correctly. I remember destroying this rolling it violently in a downwind dive. The model simply disintegrated mid-air.. Happy memories Martyn Edited By Martyn K on 05/05/2015 13:41:57 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Sagitta 900 about 1980 Daughter No1, perhaps 8 or 9 years old, now 40. You do the maths Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Acland Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 I think I was about five when this was taken holding my Brothers Kiel Kraft Pirate. Now 73 and still building and flying R/C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 My first electric model. Flew well, considering it only had a 6 cell 1200mah Nicd pack. Was around 1994 ish, I was about 19. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted December 10, 2019 Share Posted December 10, 2019 In 1966 I joined a full size gliding club whilst at University and this prompted me to build some small solid balsa models of the types of glider that I flew. Student space limitations prevented me building anything big enough to fly. First a small scale 'desk top' model of a Rollason Condor towing a Slingsby T49 Capstan as used by the gliding club. My finger dexterity and eyesight were definitely better back then. After I went solo I built a larger 'cabinet' model of the clubs Skylark 4 which with its 18.2 m (60 ft) wingspan had quite a high performance. It was a delight to fly. Some trainees even did their first solo in it. Now 54 years old. I still have them in the loft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Cardin Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 I confess I am in crazy love with planes and model planes! But I was unable to save from such fever as I was bitten when only one year old! December 1965 at a Control Line meeting in Madrid with my mother. It seems that at the moment of the photo I was rather more interested in stones than in planes, but things should change very shortly! Edited By Jesus Cardin on 11/12/2019 12:23:21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Cardin Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 I had to wait till six years old to get my first flying model: the Modelhob Sirocco free flight glider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 Not sure whether I've posted these two pictures before but they're still good for a laugh! SPOT THE DIFFERENCE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Cunnington Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 Extra wing bands LoL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 Control line combat competition between the Luton club and the Halton apprrentices in 1963 - I am in there somewhere. F3E competitors at the Nats (later redesignated F5B) in 1991 - some of us still fly F5B. Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 My first 500 watt electric glider - in the late 80s (1987 I think) . Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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