Help. Bitten by bug!

[chris evans 8]

Long time lurker on here but time to say hello and make a confession.... I'm hooked and if i dont stop soon, not only will my garage be full and my wallet be empty, but my wife will be very upset indeed.

 

My first hit was with my grandparents . They took me to Bobs Models in Solihull (no longer in business) and let me choose my christmas present. They probably thought maybe I'd plump for an Airfix model, maybe even a MAMOD steam engine at a push or something railway-based but we (they) got upsold a Tamiya 1/10 Mini cooper with all the necessary peripherals. i'd broken my RC cherry.

 

I spent an absolutely magical few days building the kit and finally running her out. As an 10 or 11 year old i got the hang of controlling the model fairly quickly. Reversed controls etc no issue. LOVED taking it to pieces, rebuilding it, the smell of the synthetic grease on the nylon gears, or the arcing mechanical speed controller (I can smell it 22 years later here)

 

Fast forward 15 years and once I was earning some proper money I started spending it on toys. Real cars for one...(fast german ones.. love taking those to bits too) , but also 1/8 scale nitro and 1/5 scale petrol things which only travel across 2 axes (boring) - but i always loved building & messing with them.

 

I was living in London at the time and sofa-sized petrol buggies are somewhat antisocial in the local park so to keep me going I tried out some of those contra-rotating small helis in my living room; slicing through house plants and annoying my then fiancee no end.

 

Anyway. Boring. Finally moved out to the sticks to do the children and dog thing and really on a whim decided to try model flying properly. It had always held a degree of mystery and un-attainability to me. Stuffy clubs with cliques of old boys... "it's extremely difficult" etc... hmmm. I'll give that a whirl. Whats the worst that can happen etc.

 

Bought myself an Eflte apprentice to give it a go and fly alone in the fields behind my house. The build wasnt anything particularly special so didnt really spark an interest in that side of things, but I surprised myself at how quickly i picked the flying up - getting out of the beginner modes in a few flights and managing to fly resonably proficiently without 'assistance' after a week or so. Dog loved chasing it around and around in slow-lowbanked circles in the fields so it was mutually beneficial. Put it in the trees a few times but i was generally successful.

 

I (Prematurely) bought myself one of those rather large Carbon Z cubs which i promised myself i would not try until i had properly mastered the apprentice. Obviously that went out the window and within about 3 days of finishing the cub and 2 weeks of having the apprentice I snuck to my local club (which I'd recce'd online) before their official hours, hopped over their fence and shot a few nervy but successful circuits in the big blue cub. Way too early for me in my flying career... but we got up, around tidily and down smoothly.... Success.

 

I liked the facilities at the club so much (excellent rwy, wide open space etc) that i signed up a few days later and arranged a lesson with the club chairman and the club's own trainer AC.... to get myself signed off as proficient to fly there solo.

 

I'd never flown an IC aircraft until that point and did a fair bit of bluffing as to my flying experience (oh ive been flying my foamie for 6 months etc... rubbish... more like 3 weeks) anyway, the chairman (fantastic guy, gave up his afternoon to give me these lessons) took me up, we did some circuits, approaches, finally landings and t/o and within 2 hours, a few coffees and 5 short flights he signed me off as proficient to fly at the field! from nothing to that in a few weeks! loved it

 

Of course the problem now is that i've spent tbest part of 600 quid on a couple of foamie electrics but i've tried something with a living breathing motor; smelly, oily, noisy, tempremental... i HAD to get one.

 

So obviously I bought myself a high wing nitro (Seagull Boomerang) which i had great fun with for a few weeks, until I lost it by doing some silly full throttle dive which i couldnt recover from (idiot... totally my fault... my first bin bag job) and from there I've moved to Hangar 9 pulse 40 which I have an Evolution 10cc in and is great fun. So far I've largely kept it out of the ground and have around 50 flights on and getting better all the time.

 

Problem is now that I can't stop planning / researching / tinkering;

I'm 75% through an old Carl Goldberg Cub Kit which I bought because I'd bought a second hand saito from Ebay (I am loving 4 strokes)

I have a Black horse Chipmunk (the smaller one) ready to be built with a Saito 82 and I'm thinking of going for the top flite cessna 182 kit to keep me busy... 

 

My basic aerobatics are coming on and certainly getting neater (who knew you needed to chop the throttle at the top of a loop !) but for me there's nothing better than a slow taxi,  scale like long takeoff roll or no-bounce landing... so satisfying i could do it all day

 

too much too soon? probably...  and a major ramble from me... but point is - what a great hobby this is! it has everything; great people, technical stuff, hand-eye stuff, being outside with like-minded people... brilliant... and what's better than sitting with flask of tea with the old boys down the club just shooting the breeze... (as long as they don't take the mick out of the new boy too much).

well and truly hooke

[Broken Prop]

Chris, there is no hope for you now. You have been bitten.

Welcome to the club!

[ChrisB]

Hi Chris, welcome to the club. It sounds like you're well on your way to success.

I had/have a Goldberg Cub. Now in the attic after 10 years of flying. A superb model with a Saito 65 in the front. A few pointers. Its not a trainer and won't fly like a trainer. Rudder is needed in the turns, especially right hand turns, where it drags its tail. Mine was a floater, but up to a point, then it would drop a wing.

That said I put 600 flights on it until it became fuel soaked and I had a change of direction. I might revive it one day.

As for the Chippy, check the amount of glue used, especially at the back end. High power dives as you describe about your trainer may prove destructive, as I've seen on a number of ARTF models. Make sure the stern post and tail are well glued using 24hr epoxy..yes its messy but wipe off excess with meths. Make sure the hinges are glued and pinned and there's no slop in the linkages.

Other than that enjoy your four stroke scale flying. The Chippy and cub will be ideal for the scale takeoffs and landings, don't slow them down too much and roll them on.

Cheers

[Peter Miller]

Great. Building is the only way to go. That way you also learn how to repair. And you know that it was built well.

[GONZO]

Just wait until you get into 'proper' building. Running your hands over a virgin silky smooth piece of balsa. Your gaze transfixed by the close even grain and uniform colour and density. You've been seduced and your in a trance of desire. Then you suddenly snap out of it, grab your knife and start cutting it into pieces to build your latest creation from the plan you purchased a short while ago. Just joking, but there is something quit sensual about a new stash of balsa from which to make your latest plane.

Engines! If you find them 'interesting and desirable' in there own right that could cost you dear. Especially if your interest takes a turn to the vintage collectable type. I'm 70 next year and have decided to generate spread sheets of my 'bits and bobs' so that when the time comes(who knows how long any of us have) the wife has an easier time sorting the lot out. In so doing I've found that my engine collection runs into three figures and my 2.4gHz Rx is not far behind.

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Hi Chris and welcome. Oh dear, you do seem to be right in the grip of the dreaded spiral of doom - there is no escape so just dive in and enjoy!

[Shaunie]

Hi Chris,

Sounds like you are hopelessly addicted, you could try a course of inoculations of glowfuel and Balsalok but they are rarely successful in the long term. You are most likely stuck with the affliction for life, all you can do is sit back and enjoy it. You seem to be progressing well and haven't let your first walk of shame, binbag in hand, put you off!

Good luck and see you here frequently, Shaunie.