SONNY MONKS Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 hahahaha are matchsticks still used for building? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 I'm using lolly sticks on my foamboard efforts, does that count? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Posted by SONNY MONKS on 07/02/2019 16:10:03: Hi Ash,I wasnt in the hobby in them days,but what i do remember,is that people,as a whole,were not as stressed and depressed as what they are now,even my mother,agrees with me there,so i must have a point. No so sure about that, might just be that we tended to take things more in our stride in times past and were reluctant to vent our feelings in public. I've mentioned before that I have a 1938 Daily Sketch, that I found under some old linoleum, and in it is a lengthy article about the stresses and strains of modern life (how about a world war to worry about?). In the UK, with a welfare state, free health care, infectious disease hardly a problem, serious illnesses that would have previously done for you, being little more than troublesome ailments now, and infant mortality, thankfully, a rarety - it's natural that some need to find things to worry about. Yes, Yes , I know it's not perfect, and I'm not remotely interested in the politics of who does or doesn't have a panacea for 21st century problems, but I'd not swap life today for anything in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Difficult to say, as the hobby just gets better over the years. I started in the late 60s, control line, rubber, free flight, but the 80s decade was the 'beginning' of the best time for me. Loads of real 'builders' kits around (tho' I'm happy with some artf kits, got some myself) We moved from 27mhz on to 35mhz, a game changer. Plenty new young members were joining the club, willing to learn, and who didn't mind getting covered in balsa dust and shavings. We could always find areas available for clubs to fly from. It was a time of increasing development in radio, glow engines, scale, sports, pattern ships, etc, and continues to progress to this day in all fields of RC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIMON CRAGG Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Posted by Cuban8 on 07/02/2019 17:29:39: Posted by SONNY MONKS on 07/02/2019 16:10:03: Hi Ash,I wasnt in the hobby in them days,but what i do remember,is that people,as a whole,were not as stressed and depressed as what they are now,even my mother,agrees with me there,so i must have a point. No so sure about that, might just be that we tended to take things more in our stride in times past and were reluctant to vent our feelings in public. I've mentioned before that I have a 1938 Daily Sketch, that I found under some old linoleum, and in it is a lengthy article about the stresses and strains of modern life (how about a world war to worry about?). In the UK, with a welfare state, free health care, infectious disease hardly a problem, serious illnesses that would have previously done for you, being little more than troublesome ailments now, and infant mortality, thankfully, a rarety - it's natural that some need to find things to worry about. Yes, Yes , I know it's not perfect, and I'm not remotely interested in the politics of who does or doesn't have a panacea for 21st century problems, but I'd not swap life today for anything in the past. Agreed 100% But still be good if you and I could find out how to get a definitive answer to the "Examiner competency" question!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-J Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Ah nostalgia ... not as good as it used to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan M Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 The answer - for me - has to be the present, or if you like the current decade. I have a fabulous choice of stick and tissue FF plans from pre-War to the present which I can download and build from balsa ordered online (and a far greater range of other materials and equipment that a single model shop could ever carry), I can put together a 2-stroke classic pattern ship from a modern laser-cut kit, or stay old-school and build a trad Chris Foss aerobatic for 4-stroke or a similar era slope-soarer, or very quickly assemble an ARTF and bung in my own RX, plus I can benefit from very high-tech materials and extraordinary electronics and TX programming by way of a current DLG design or moulded slope-soarer. On top of all this, there are superb resources and knowledge-bases online, enabling learning and communication that simply didn't exist when I was converting a Keil Kraft SE5A (from Henry J Nicholls on the Holloway Road) to Telco CO2... surprised it actually flew! Edited By Jonathan M on 07/02/2019 19:33:20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marsh Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Now, spoilt for choice, cheap, easily accessable (internet ) and reliable. Thinking about it, in the "olden days", many kits were of dubious quality (some weren't), reliability of radios and engines hit-and-miss, and that rubbish for sale then, today won't last 5 minutes in today's market place. Crazy you can buy a 6 channel computer radio set for £100 in today's money, with a receiver, 2.4Ghz, hundreds of model memories, and more functions than most would ever need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Smith 14 Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 Been flying nearly 50 years and it just gets better things like large petrol jets and the radio we have now was just a dream, but hoping to fly more control line this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jenkins Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Having started in the 60s, missed out the 70s/80s/90s and returned in the noughties, I would say now is the best time. All very well looking back to flying my Early Bird combat wing on my own in the late 60s - enjoyable but not as enjoyable as flying one of today's electric aerobatic machines in a competition. I still have, and like to fly, IC scale and non-scale models, build kits but also assemble ARTFs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SONNY MONKS Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 Lolly sticks,now that would be a long build,and challenging i suppose nigel,i like a challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Freeman 3 Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Early 80's was the start of Giant scale with the Quadra 32cc being the start of larger aircraft. Transmitters even started to have features like dual rates and the servo reversing switches. Later PCM was introduced and dual conversion receivers which really improved the reliability of radios. For me it was the 90's that were the best as the world started to open up for South Africans politically so we had far more exposure to the world. We could even participate in world championships! Ducted fans and turbines were the rage and very impressive to see the development. Prices started to become more affordable with the mass production being used. Servos could now be left in airframes and not swapped around when you wanted to fly another plane. Computer radios with model memory also made this much easier especially when you could allocate a name to the airframe and not the 1, 2 or three of the early radios Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Posted by Jonathan M on 07/02/2019 19:31:47: The answer - for me - has to be the present, or if you like the current decade. I have a fabulous choice of stick and tissue FF plans from pre-War to the present which I can download and build from balsa ordered online (and a far greater range of other materials and equipment that a single model shop could ever carry), I can put together a 2-stroke classic pattern ship from a modern laser-cut kit, or stay old-school and build a trad Chris Foss aerobatic for 4-stroke or a similar era slope-soarer, or very quickly assemble an ARTF and bung in my own RX, plus I can benefit from very high-tech materials and extraordinary electronics and TX programming by way of a current DLG design or moulded slope-soarer. On top of all this, there are superb resources and knowledge-bases online, enabling learning and communication that simply didn't exist when I was converting a Keil Kraft SE5A (from Henry J Nicholls on the Holloway Road) to Telco CO2... surprised it actually flew! Edited By Jonathan M on 07/02/2019 19:33:20 THat reminds me of my first club, The REgents Park MFC. We used to fly on Hampstead Heath and Epsom Downs. I was only with them for a few months. I wonder if any of them are still around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyer Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Here and now! As it's the anticipation of what I'm going to build and fly............. Regards Ade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iqon Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 The 0`s. if you want nostalgia it`s still there, but now we have electric and petrol. ( and me ). Is that why your depressed John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piers Bowlan Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 NOW. Radio, Engines, motors have never be cheaper and you are spoilt for choice. It it sad that one can no longer browse in your LMS unless you are lucky enough to live near the few remaining shops but their demise just reflects the retail trend in general. On the other hand online it is a global shop with infinite variety of choice, availability and price. If you are a traditionalist (I am) then thousands of plans are available online to build that model you always hankered after but couldn't afford or simply didn't have the time, back in the day. Perhaps that is not so much nostalgia as an opportunity to fly something different to one of the modern offerings but using modern reliable and cheap radio control. And now we have the choice of using a traditional two stroke, four stroke or electric conversion. No, we have never had it so good, to coin a phrase! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinBrian Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 For me I would say that now is the best era for modelling. OK more rules and regs etc but modelling is far cheaper than it was in the 60s & early 70s (My first full set of propo radio was c£180.00 in 1970 ish - that equates to about £2700 now. A single servo was c£25.00 An OS61 FSR was about £75.00 which was about a weeks wages at the time. Now If you want to build you can but if you want to get a model into the air quickly you can - at a price that would have been unbelievable 30 - 40 years ago. Radio is incredibly reliable and cheap, engines and electric motors too. Good servos are available for around a tenner or less. In real terms what has increased in price are plans, building materials, and kits. You have never had it so good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SONNY MONKS Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 Were the diesel engines more reliable than the 2 and 4 stroke glows,and the petrol engines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Welford Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 I agree with FlyinBrian in terms of reliability; accessibility and cost. The downside is pressure on flying sites; demise of local model shops and the reduction in numbers especially of the younger generation. This is a significant risk for the future of our sport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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