How long have you been in the hobby?

[Stuart Z]

40 years with around 10 taken out for full size gliding.

Mainly kit built IC power models now. Some funfighters as they are nice carpentry jobs. Now looking at a couple of plan builds, one being a “truish” scale type.

Remember, no hobby is free! This one just costs a bit more than some but not as much as others!

[Richard Harris]

I was introduced to this hobby in the mid to late 70's going along with my dad and built my first RC model in the early 80's (Super Skyman) followed by a Gangaster 52.

Have tried a number of disciplines, gliders, scale, aerobatics and have built a few turbines, pulse jets etc

More recently autogyros have been my models of choice, those that have flown one will will know how versatile they are.

A great hobby with so much to try.

Here is a photo taken back in the late 70's, my dad's model is the Red Galahad, I think the blue and white trainer is a Slim Jim. The field and surrounding land was owned by the late John Bonham who popped over to chat from time to time.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

Posted by Martin Harris on 22/01/2019 14:15:45:

This is where a little information in the Member Profile can be so useful! It does bug me a little that so few people don't take a few minutes to add some details of their experience and interests which can be so useful when answering queries or deciding how much credence to place on their opinions.

And before anyone screams "data protection" and "identity fraud" concerns, you don't need to put your date of birth, bank details or mother's maiden name in there!

It seems that at least one member saw this as a "rant". Apologies if it came over that way but I saw it as encouragement to the OP and others to fill in a few profile details, which I, and I believe many others, find useful and informative.

[leccyflyer]

25 years this time round, after a break of 18 years since my first teenage unsuccessful attempts at radio control flying. Would never have believed first time round that it would be possible to fly a full house 17" span scale Spitfire.

[Peter Jenkins]

Started building flying models in 1963 - KK Hurricane! Of course, it didn't fly! Then bought Peter Chinn's all about Model Aircraft and found out that when you dope tissue you stick in on first! That explains the wrinkly Hurricane! Then Mercury Magpie (flew well). Various other free plans from Model Aircraft Mag. Joined the Wings Club - still got the enamel badge somewhere. Big step was buying a Mills 75 in 1965 (still got it) but sadly it must have been a Friday afternoon job as the compression stop had been put in one turn too early! It would run, just, but the model it was in, Veron Provost control liner, never moved! Then a Wenmac trainer - ready to fly plastic C/L job. The Wenmac Hotshot was a great engine. Easy starter on the front really worked and the power was amazing! Took many years to get to fly more than 3/4 of a circuit by which stage all the plastic pins holding the fuselage in alignment had broken off. Then Phantom Mite - good. Then Early Bird combat wing with PAW 249! Amazing setup. Learned to fly aerobatics and the EB was tough! Then into building MacGregor radios - never worked. Bought RCS single channel with Elmic Compact escapement in a slope soarer (daft as I couldn't reach a slope so just towed it up). OK but eventually totalled. Then buiilt a Quantum 6 proportional Tx, Rx and 1 servo amp (they PCB was so small I gave up and bought the other 3). Build own design trainer with OS 30 RC but it never flew as the range on the Quantum 6 was about 20 yrds despite taking it in to Remcon twice - It's all working fine mate! Bought a Futaba M series - beautiful - still got it but never used it.

Stopped when I went to university and found a full size gliding club there. Then after getting a Silver C took a PPL conversion course and keeping that PPL going precluded model aircraft expenditure. Brief return to C/L to give my 2 sons a feel for it - no joy - they were more interested in rugby, hockey and cricket. Eventually, returned to hobby in 2002 and into R/C with Futaba - wow what a change from the old days. Never really had the time to take flying seriously till I retired. Got my B went into competing in aerobatics (F3A) and have learned more since doing that than in my entire modelling career up till then - and still learning. Getting back to building now rather than just buying ARTFs but not for the 2 mtr aerobats! One good thing with getting a B and going into aerobatics is that it has reduced my crashery considerably. Does mean the hangar is a bit full. There has only been one 2 mtr totalled when the brain fogged - so far!

[David Davis]

"...Then into building MacGregor radios - never worked..."

Mine had a range of about four feet or 1.25 metres.

[Ray Dunn]

Well Sonny, you have really hit the nail on the head, when it comes to getting us oldies reminiscing and this hobby has an abundance of them

I've been in the hobby for 60+ years, in part as a result of receiving Xmas presents like the Keil Kraft (KK) Hurricane and Lysander (father wanted to be a spitfire pilot). I've always been working very much to a budget (maybe my subsistence farm upbringing, or I suspect a balsa basher trait). This led me to build my own radio gear in the single channel days and eventually the RCM&E receiver and soldering up servo kits. (It was nice to get back to this recently with an OpenXsensor receiver plugin. Cheaper, lighter and generally more effective that the commercial parts it replaced! Great to see the current generation being inventive and exploring repurposing standard industrial products)

My early rubber powered Hurricane did fly after a fashion. It took off from the front porch. It had flying speed by the time it shot off the front step and banked left 90° under power (slight warp) then glided fairly straight down the garden. Well on the best flights... I think I'd built a few balsa kits by then. For me that model was the first to really looked the part.

Having a wife and eventually ~20 horses to support, has kept my spending in check for many a year….

I do seem to be drifting into more expensive servos and kits now, ending up with a carbon fibre discus launched glider (DLG). Wonderfully addictive to fly, with flight heights and duration readouts from the transmitter (amazing these latest 2.4 radio sets.)

These days, I do come home with the plane in one piece most days. Though overconfidence recent resulted in my DLG’s receiver battery ejecting during launch! The glider continued to full launch height, straight up and straight down… and amazingly it was repairable.

Always learning, as Benny Hill used to say

(rambling) Ray

[SONNY MONKS]

wow ray,that is a long time,respect to you.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Martin McIntosh]

I started in 1959 aged 11 with a KK Spitfire and DC Bantam. Never could start it but my mate had a Champ with a posh Mills 0.75 so we somehow managed basic c/l flying. I later built a Cardinal FF. The tissue was glued on with flour and water paste. It was white and I wanted the wings red so just slapped on some dope. Nobody told me that you have to use clear dope first. Took it to the local park where some kind soul came along and got the Bantam going. Off it sailed with a full tank and ended up in a lake. Two hours or so later it drifted to the other side.

A distant relative on my Scottish side called Douglas Paton passed away and I was given his beautifully made models. Evidently he was quite a name in those days. These included an ECC Telecommander 951A Rx and an ED ground based Tx complete with 8`6" aerial and a grounding spike. Never did get it to work properly but it gave me an interest in electronics which has been the basis of my career. Along came the RCM&E UK Rx which I put together and it actually worked; even managed to miniaturise it, got rid of the relay and fitted it in a Cox TD 010 powered model.

Modelling was frustrating but so much more fun in those days when every little piece had to be made, not bought. A single successful flight was quite an achievement. It put me in good stead for designing equipment and models.

Now back in the shed for more work on the rather more sophisticated current Spitfire.

[Malcolm Fisher]

I built my first model circa 1950 - a Keil Kraft rubber powered Chipmunk. It flew but not very well or very far. Later models included gliders and FF models. I changed to C/L after getting tired of chasing my free flight efforts and worrying about losing a, to me, costly engine. As a teenager with very limited spending power I learned to carve propellers when it came to be an issue of buying half a pint of diesel fuel - half a crown in those days - or a new prop at a similar price. My props worked but were probably not very well balanced and often broke in a too common "arrival". Ventured into R/C with a McGregor single channel super regen 27 MHz set advancing via Flight Link Duette two channel and eventually to a six channel Futaba M set. Initially with gliders and later power models. Now returned to slope soaring and electric foamies with 2.4 Gig with still some 35 Mhz and 27MHz radio older models.

Malcolm

[Old John B]

I started in 1941 with a rubber powered model covered as I remember in some kind of orange film. We used to fly it from a hill in the park. Father made a Daily Express glider, can't remember when that joined the family, and I remember that was covered in brown paper.Several "Frog" models followed and the "Frog" fighter that I still have, though the oil bottles and the gadget for putting in the rubber motor have long been lost My son who is now 59 played with it and it is still intact in its box.

We used to buy solid model kits for about one shilling and flying model kits for a few pence more.

I left school and went to sea in 1948 and model flying took a break for about ten years but the bug was still there and very soon model flying (Gliders, control line etc etc) became part of my life again.My son got the bug too but went on to fly full size machines for a living

At 87 I am still at it, the chaps at the club are all very good and keep an eye on me just in case !!!!!

I intend living until I am 120 so I hope that they can keep up with me ???

Old John B

[Ronaldo]

Around 50 years for me, ...... and oh boy have I seen some changes in the hobby ... all for the better. No doubt many who have been in for longer will have memories of model progress that go even further back than I've seen !

Started with chuck gliders, rubber powered, then my first IC was control line. My first RC was a McGregor single channel, and a plan built glider, can't remember the name. Then as funds allowed I moved onto a 2 channel set, high wing rudder/elevator trainer, which made all the difference, and gave me (what I thought at the time) total flying control, apart from no throttle so just waited till the fuel ran out and landed dead stick. The real game changer was when I finally managed to afford a Skyleader 6 channel fully proportional system. WOW ! there was no going back then !! I had arrived !! lol. I fly petrol, glow, electric, sports, and scale models, and a couple of hot liner gliders, which has progressed tremendously with the introduction of Lipos. Even petrol engines have improved in design and performance compared to the early engines.

Back then it cost a fortune for radio gear, some of today's radio gear prices for beginners just starting out are only a fraction of the cost of what we paid back then. After Skyleader I moved on to Digi-fleet PCM radio, JR, and now Spectrum.

All in all, it's been a fantastic very satisfying journey, I've made many friends, and gained lot of help and support from family and club members. Hoping for many more happy model flying years to come with all you fellow modellers !

 

 

 

Edited By Ronaldo on 23/01/2019 22:13:39

Edited By Ronaldo on 23/01/2019 22:22:47

[Brian Hammond]

Well done Old John,I thought I was pushing it at 81so I will tell my friends at the club they might have to put up with me for a few more years, but if they read about you they won,t take over the grass cutting as I,m still young. Do you remember when a small diesel was a couple of weeks wages? Tell them that today.Brian.

[Martyn K]

Since 1970. My first kit was a kk Soarer Baby.

Martyn

[robert chamberlain]

hello all,--- what "after flying" cleaning fluid do people find works the best for them for glow/oil engines?

[Denis Watkins]

If cleaned at the field, at the end of the flying, the lads use a squirty bottle filled with water and a few drops of washing up liquid, as the mess is fresh

More stubborn mess can be moved wit £1 Shop Bath Foam, just a few squirts

[Stuart Z]

Posted by Denis Watkins on 15/02/2019 06:22:38:

If cleaned at the field, at the end of the flying, the lads use a squirty bottle filled with water and a few drops of washing up liquid, as the mess is fresh

More stubborn mess can be moved wit £1 Shop Bath Foam, just a few squirts

I add a dash of vinegar to soapy water sprayer. Smells a bit like a chip shop but seems to be a bit better on caster based fuel residue.

Try an exhaust deflector tube thingy, generally I don’t get much residue on the model at all.

[Nigel R]

Window cleaner in spray bottle from £1 shop, the vinegar then comes pre-added.

[Martin McIntosh]

Tesco`s hard surface cleaner diluted 5:1. Same as Flash but usually cheaper.

[Cuban8]

All sorts of moonshine brews to make cleaning fluid over the years, think I've tried them all. TBH, good old Fairy Liquid, suitably diluted, is as good as anything, I find. Breaks down oil and dirt effectively and won't affect coverings or paint. An occasional 'deep cleanse' with 'Elbow Grease' spray from Poundland (dilute 50:50 with water) keeps surfaces like new. A decent cotton cleaning rag that's not saturated with old oil and cleaner residue, also helps immensely.