How many of you still own/fly your first plane/Helli

[Graham Bowers]

I still have my first ever engine, a DC Merlin that went into a KK skystreak 26 C/L model I built around 44 years ago, now long gone.

I also still have my first sloper, predictably an Impala and believe it or not, the box it came in. Last flew around 6 years ago but in flyable condition - that's the model, not the box

I also have the engine that was in my first R/C power model. I don't think I ever knew what the model was as it was donated by a friend, but the engine is an ME Snipe.

Graham

[Andy Green]

I've still got my DC Sabre from when I was 14. I also had an MK17 around that time but traded it in. Found a new one on Ebay some years ago so I have one still albeit not my original.

Andy

[Malcolm Blake 1]

The first airplane I built and flew is a Galaxy Tutor trainer and it was powered with an O.S. 35FP, which I still have.

Although the engine has been fitted with a replacement cylinder liner, I still have the original liner - just in case.....!!

Due to many repairs over its 25 year life it has become a bit heavier and is now fitted with an O.S. 46AX and if I have not been able to fly for a while I always use the Tutor, which is a trainer, to get some practise again.

Because of age and sight I now favour larger models such as my 20 year old Goldberg Piper Cub fitted with an O.S. 48 and the Bowman Magister which flies with an O.S. 91

What with the weather over the last few months it seems the Tutor will be in service again when I'm able to get airborne again.

[J D 8]

My first engine Frog 100 circa 1966,had it running a couple of years ago just for fun.Price can be seen on the box.

[Engine Doctor]

Cant remember what happened to it but my first proper i/c model was a free flight Frog Nimrod fitted with an Me Heron . Never actually flew it as FF in London was banned on our local common and had to go by bus all the way to Richmond park and by the time I finished it a new by-law had just come into force restricting flying at weekends to Saturday morning. After that I started on model I/c boats at Clapham Common pond. Anyone remember that ?

Similarly I cant remember what happen to my first engine a DC Super Merlin . It came in a Tri-angular box , remember those? Like all kids in those days I probably swapped it for something different .

[Colin Carpenter]

Hi E D . Yep , Clapham Common Long Pond ! First went there about 1969 and saw my first multi racer. Learnt all I knew from Alan Greenfield`s (Weston UK) Dad and saw John Melville, Alan Greenfield there. They were names in the IC world then. We had to wait for the yachts to finish before we could run our boats. Still got my Flight Link Duette in the shed but it stopped working 20 years ago. It guided many IC multi racers to victory including a hull from Alan`s Dad that cost 10 bob and beat John Stidwell in its first outing at Hove lake.

Colin

[David Davis]

Posted by john stones 1 on 28/01/2015 21:58:39:

I still have the same model its had

Trigger

Edited By john stones 1 on 28/01/2015 21:59:05

My first successful R/C model was a Flair Junior 60 which I sold to my cousin. By then it was a bit like Trigger's broom having had two new fuselages, three new tailplanes and a re-cover.

My very first R/C model was a 50" trainer called a Galaxy, produced by a company called St Leonard's Models. Powered by an Irvine 21 car racing engine it was too hot for me and I crashed it. Only the wing was damaged so I swapped the bits for a Telemaster 66 which required a bit of TLC and that led on to other things. I still have the Galaxy's plan and a wing rib so maybe I'll build another to see whether I can handle it now!

As for the Junior 60, maybe my cousin would sell it back to me!

[Engine Doctor]

Hi Colin . I missed you by about 7 or 8 years . By 69 these sort of models were a thing of the past !I was working , married into cars etc . Alan and his dad were there most sundays when they weren't away racing usually tuning their Big Gannet powered boat around. Alans dad helped me with my first first radio boat in about 1959 or 1960 ish prior to that they were free running and you had to catch them before they hit the concrete bank ! He built me a single channel Rx from the RCM&E one evening and I used that with a Tri-ang Tx , Galloping ghost on the rudder with no throttle . Then moved to REP Tri-Tone Tx and he built me a RX for that with reeds . That was fitted in a Piranha hull powered by an ED Hunter with home made throttle . The throttle was powered by an ED (I think) clockwork escapement. Sadly Alans dad passed away a few years ago but still see Alan now and again at his shop ( our LMS) in Teynham . I hear they still have power boats at Clapham but its a long way to travel. Nice to hear from you

[Colin Carpenter]

Hi again E D. Can`t for the life of me remember Alan`s dads name ! Although I can still see his and his wife`s faces in my minds eye after 45 years.Lovely people. Sorry to hear he has passed on. I live in Somerset now and ran IC in Bristol docks for 8 years before going over to choppers and flying for Morley helicopters at shows. Used to race Fast Electrics in the south west for about 15 years then went into planes. Used to be passable at winning in electric racing too !! All the very best.

Colin

[Martyn K]

I have still got my Tutor II which I bought 5 years ago when I returned to flying. Its rather tatty and the fin has broken off in storage. Haven't flown it since I passed my 'A' test - 3 years ago in May.

My oldest Free Flight contest model was built in 1983. Last flown in a contest in 1995.

Cant bear to part with them..

M

[Lone_Wolf]

I learnt to fly in 2011 with an ARTF Ripmax WOT4. Crashed it sortly after passing my "A" in 2012 and rebuilt it as the damage wasn't too bad. Then I found the bung in fuel tank hardened and came loose totally irrigating the fuz with glow fuel. I didn't notice this for over a week and by then all the glue joins along the fuz had let go or were no longer sound. I took the motor and radio out with the intension of throwing away the WOT4 airframe. I put the motor and radio in a Tango 40 (the one in my sig picture), but I couldn't bring myself to throw away the WOT4 airframe so it sat in the back of my garage.

After over a year gathering dust I decided the WOT4 was worth repairing so I cut out all the oil soaked wood and replaced it with new wood then a quick recover of the underside of the fuz and it's back in the air again.

So yes I still have my first model and I still fly it.

[Erfolg]

Not my first RC Model but No 5.

Starting life with a Enya 19, being underpowered to consistently get of the ground was in the air it was OK. Then re-engined with a OS 25, which was not much of an improvement. Finally re-engined with a Merco 35 in its IC form.  That was some 37 years ago.

Initially flown with this radio

Now it is electric powered, flown at Greenacres, in my opinion does not look an old design, unlike many models from the era. Using a Futaba 2.4 Tx and a Frsky Rx.

Also played a role in getting me recently through my "A" test, although that was actually done with a DB Mascot.

Edited By Erfolg on 29/01/2015 19:29:42

Edited By Erfolg on 29/01/2015 19:31:40

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Steve_Wright]

My first plane died a death against an oak tree IIRC, Galaxy Models something or other, I forget, but I still have the hatefull little Merco .35 that got it up there!

First Heli was a Morley Hughes 300, foolishly sold that one on

Edited By Steve_Wright on 30/01/2015 14:39:04

[John Muir]

My first 'proper' model was a Kamco Kadet. I had it for years and kept resurrecting it to get my eye back in with after breaks in my flying. It was never crashed but eventually fuel seepage got the better of it and it had to go. The engine, an OS Max 25, was killed off by a lean run and a restrictive exhaust system on my SMC Splot. I've still got the radio though, a Skyleader Clubman on 27Mhz.

I did try single channel with a Futaba set, sequential with an Elmic Conquest escapement, in a Veron Mini Robot, but that never did fly. Too heavy. The model's gone but I still have that radio and the DC Bantam engine as well. I recently built another Mini Robot with electric power and rudder, elevator and throttle, just for old times sake, and it flies very nicely. Wish I still had the Kadet. Actually, I've still got the plans............

[Ian Jones]

Erm, sort of yes. My very first trainer was a VMAR Discovery but after a few flights the main spar on one side folded up and that was that.

I can't say I learnt to fly with it and I regard my first model as having been a much better option, an Irvine Tutor 40 and yes I still fly it quite regularly.

Autumn 2003:

Original stripes started to fade and look untidy so I put solartrim over the top, fitted nav lights, winter 2004:

2005, started experiments with live camera feed - it worked but the range was short and the laptop screen/TV monitor were difficult to see in daylight:

After many years service in 2010 she flew with skis for the first time:

2009. First bomber conversion, just a forward sloping tube, nose up and out comes the egg. Two problems, 1. needed a very shallow climb out from take-off and 2. the egg often failed to explode. A later servo operated system was very successful:

A complete refurb last year. As I had looked after the old covering the biggest job was getting it off, the airframe was sound and not oil soaked. When the stores pod is not fitted a blanking plate made from thermoplast with some yellow paint mixed in covers the fixing holes

Should be good for another 10 years now, just as well, I have a lot more ideas on what this model may get used for yet!

Oh, the fin from the VMAR is still flying as replacement for one that was warped on my Jack Rabbit.

 

Edited By Ian Jones on 01/02/2015 01:49:57

[Ian Jones]

Oops correction.

The fin and tailplane of my VMAR Discovery ended being fitted to another model a few years later (the Jack Rabbit did get a fin from one previous careless owner, a Fizza).