Does anyone remember...

[David perry 1]

C1970s, a model shop in tipon, west midlands, called Flight Line Models? It used to have a spitfire covered in silver solarfilm hanging in the window. Mick Reeves i guess.

I used to gaze in awe as a kid through that window. Then i went one day and it had gone, closed down. Its been years. Probably couldnt find the place now but ive always wondered about it.

Ahhh stuff of dreams.

[Ray Wood 4]

My memories are of a model shop in Swanley Kent in the 70's run by Roy Norris he had a BN Islander hanging in the shop which had won 1972 class 2 nats with. Unfortunately short lived as Roy was tragically killed flying a DH Chipmunk 😢 still remember him as a really nice guy...

Regards Ray

[Tim Ballinger]

David,

the only model shop I remember in the area was called Penn models. It was run by the late Pete Littley who was a member of Kinver Aeronauts Radio Control Society as was I. Grand names in those days. The shop started life as an iron mongers and rapidly became a fully fledged model shop . I believe it moved to Kingswinford where it is still run by his son. As Penn and Tipton are not far apart it may be this shop you are remembering. Can’t remember any more in the immediate vicinity. If it’s not the right one drop an email to the shop , the son is sure to know if there were any more.

Tim

[David perry 1]

Tim

No, Penn models i also know well and a son of a friemd of mine works, or worked, there. Penn models was a good shop but a bit off my patch. My local shop was the arcade model shop in dudley town centre. What a place...i still literally have dreams about that place and im 57 now. Maybe i sniffed too much dope a d diesel as a kid...

[Edgeflyer]

I never strayed to Tipton, but as kids my brother and I loved a trip to SH Grainger's in Walsall. A superb model shop.

[Anthony Scott 2]

The Model Shop, Blenheim St Newcastle on Tyne, next to heaven!

[Tim Ballinger]

Phil,

I was trying to remember the Walsall shop when I saw David’s post. Graingers indeed. I used to go over specially to admire the Macgregor Single channel sets they stocked. Eventually bought a Futaba Codematc single channel set.

My go to shop was Models & Hobbies in Wolverhampton town centre.

memories

Tim

[Denis Watkins]

In and around Manchester in the 1960s were an array of model shops

And I remember 1 small town had 2 large model shops and 2 photographic equipment shops. They even had

Hasselblads in stock !

[Bob Cotsford]

I have vague memories of a model shop over Tipton/Old Hill way, I remember one in Sparkbrook better from the 60s, Hancocks? Opposite side to the Vale-Onslow m/cycle showroom. Always had beautifully built KK Flying Scale rubber models hanging in the window. Then from the 70s there was Studley Models, in Studley of all places. Apple Models on the Hagley Rd near Quinton. I spent a number of years in the 70s driving around the Midlands doing NDT, then in the 80s doing TV repair work and could never resist stopping for a browse if I saw a model shop. I was the very definition of passing trade.

[David perry 1]

Bob...tv engineer in the 80s? You must have been a radio amateur! Probably met you in ray withers hagley road shop where i worked

David

[Bob Cotsford]

David - no, only home made rc from published circuits. Calling myself a TV engineer would have been polishing the Richard, I worked for a real rogue who rented TVs from a shop in Hall Green. Most of the faults back then were dry joints, the odd HT power transistor in Phillips or transformer in Fergussons, a power supply resistor in Deccas - all predictable stuff that needed little knowledge. Oh, and worn VHS heads of course where people used those god awful cleaning tapes. We had an account with RS iirc in Garrets Green. Horrible man to work for but lots of freedom once out on the road.

[kc]

Nostalgia isn't what it was!

You have to remember the downside of the era -

in the 1960's many people worked a five and half day week, you couldn't buy a new Leica camera unless you were a professional ( Hasselblad was an exception -Sweden was European Free trade area ) you couldn't take more than 62 pounds out of the country for holidays (50currency+ 12 sterling) Retail prices were controlled- no discounting so local shops sold at same prices. Most people started work at age 15 or 16 so no need to import cheap labour but a Gap Year abroad was unthinkable.

By the 1970's there was the 3 day week, power cuts for 3 hours every night, petrol went up from 30pence gallon to 35 pence GALLON overnight and petrol rationing coupons issued but not used, house prices had gone astronomical - a decent semi cost over 9000 pounds in London suburbs,

Ah, yes it was a better era then.........

[Paul Marsh]

I remember Graham's Hobby World in Stoke. Used to go there either on train, or bike it there. was 16 miles from home.

Bought my first model, a Yamamoto from him.

[Robert Welford]

When I started aeromodelling in the late 60s as a boy the local model/toy shop was Gills in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire (West Midlands now). I bought my first engine from there, a Cox Babe Bee - I still have it.

[Geoff S]

Posted by kc on 28/06/2020 11:53:04:

Nostalgia isn't what it was!

You have to remember the downside of the era -

in the 1960's many people worked a five and half day week, you couldn't buy a new Leica camera unless you were a professional ( Hasselblad was an exception -Sweden was European Free trade area ) you couldn't take more than 62 pounds out of the country for holidays (50currency+ 12 sterling) Retail prices were controlled- no discounting so local shops sold at same prices. Most people started work at age 15 or 16 so no need to import cheap labour but a Gap Year abroad was unthinkable.

By the 1970's there was the 3 day week, power cuts for 3 hours every night, petrol went up from 30pence gallon to 35 pence GALLON overnight and petrol rationing coupons issued but not used, house prices had gone astronomical - a decent semi cost over 9000 pounds in London suburbs,

Ah, yes it was a better era then.........

Of course it isn''t

There was actual petrol rationing in 1956 (the Suez crisis) just after I'd passed my motorcycle test. I think I was allowed a gallon a week for my 250cc BSA C11 but I can't be sure of the amount.

The abolishment of Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) destoyed many small businesses, eventually my father's radio/TV/electrical (and other stuff, including firearms!). Bigger shops were able to sell at prices we were paying wholesale which caused a lot of controversy as long standing customers thought we'd been ripping them off. That, and the increasing reliabilty of electronic goods like TVs meant businesses like ours that provided good back-up service (I've repaired TVs on Christmas Day and served people at the back door with batteries for Christmas gifts) became less important, much like real bricks and mortar model shops now.

My first foray into model aircraft was at a local shop in Heanor, Derbys. Wayland's shop was run by Wayland more as a hobby than anything else. He shared the small cluttered premises with his wife who sold needlework/handicraft items. I built a Precedent Electrafly because I already had a 2 channel 27Mhz Futaba transmitter I used for model yacht racing (I built a 1metre yacht from a free plan and still have it). The rather odd method of using the elevator control to switch the motor on and off made it hard to know if there was power or not, which made for a disasterous flying experience for a new comer like me . Wayland was a lovely bloke who was a great help to me when I bought and built my first proper powered trainer though less so when he let me buy an MDS 40 for it (after all, how difficult could such a simple engine be to run?).

I think one reason modelling is less likely to maintain itself is the lack of shops like Wayland's and the help and advice that come with them.

Geoff

[Michael Kulagin]

The first model shop I used was in Mill Rd, Cambridge back in the mid 60's, on the right just up from Parkside Pool, I think it was called Renbroes. It used to soak up all my pocket and paper round money. Ride there on a Saturday morning for a pint of Keil Kraft nitrated diesel fuel then back to Stourbridge common to fly control line, usually combat. Keil Kraft Tallon, remember them?

[Cuban8]

The whole economic model is so utterly different to what it was in the so called 'golden age'. Our expectation of continuous instant service at any hour of the day is something that didn't exist when I was a kid in the 60s and obviously long before that. We accepted that goods were relatively expensive compared to one's income, but we didn't have the 'upgrade fever' anywhere near a much as exists now, so your radiogram, tele, kitchen appliances etc etc tended to be kept for far longer - if it still works, why do I need a new one? and if it doesn't, I'll get it fixed, type of mentality. Easier credit, loans, credit cards and H.P. loosened the shackles and set the scene for the ruin of far too many individuals and families as we've witnessed in recent years.

Forgive me Geoff, but the local one man and his wife family model shop that we knew and enjoyed in our youth just can't ( and mostly doesn't) survive now and, to be honest, I feel that what positivity they undoubtedly had to offer in years past is largely irrelevant now.

Edited By Cuban8 on 28/06/2020 13:21:35

[David perry 1]

Probably right Cuban8. I could never afford back then what my kids afford now. Remember the old"please allow 28 days for mail order". 28 days!!! Strewth...28 hours is long now. Its a joke really. No deferred gratification anymore.

On the other hand...i have an electeic powered radio conteolled ex rubber powered free flight 24 inch Sapphire which would have been impossible. Is that good? Im not sure, in the whole, but its fun.

Im getting back into building vintage gliders and reduacovering the simple joys of balsa bashing rather than foam hacking. Delicious but dusty.

My other main hobby is amateur radio and the golden age of that, c1970 to 1980 was an age when a good commercial radio cost an enormous sum of money, truly enormous. Many months worth. Today its a few weeks worth for most.

And wouldi swap my futaba tx for my first stavely 4 channel? Nope.

But we drift ..Flightline in tipton. And i still never have built myself a big spitfire.

[wingcoax]

Bury used to have two, Roy Levers "MEGA MODELS" and Bury model shop. Roy moved to Bolton and the other went mostly into cars.

[kc]

Picking out a random RC magazine from the 70's - RM Dec 76 - indeed shows Flightline Models at 75 Park Lane east amongst about 100 other dealers in the Model Shop Directory. An ad in the classifieds offered a secondhand Staveley 4 channel for 60 pounds while a new Futaba 4 channel with nicads and 4 servos was 154 pounds. Are we living in the Golden Era now? or was it better then with local dealers?

Of course it all depends on personal circumstances but for most of us RC Golden Era was last year, maybe still this year. Next year? who knows but I suggest stocking up with everything you need now if you can do that and still eat and pay the bills!

[Doctor Chinnery]

Going back even further, anyone remember The Model Aerodrome across from Colmore Row and the Cathedral in Brum? I couldn't have been more than 8-9, but it was love/obsession the first time I looked into that big concave (no reflections!) window. My first KK kits from there too with saved pocket money and also my Dad bought me my Albon Merlin there.

We had an excellent small shop in Kidderminster in the late 70s and 80s run by Reg Grimmet, very helpful guy, lots of practical advice too, got my 1st Gangster him as well. Apple Models on Hagley Road was excellent, but unfortunately didn't seem to last all that long. There used to be a cracking shops in Wigan and Yeovil as well back along - all gone now. Anyway, so far Penn Models are still there for us. Plus a little treasure house round the back of Bromsgrove too, and they'll service your lawnmower at the same time.

[alex nicol]

Thinking back, some of the things you did or could do quite easily then would raise howls of horror now.

In the early 70's when I was in my early teens I flew mainly control line combat pre Rossi & Super Tigre times. Pink Panther & Ironmonger days. (anybody remember them) Everything was covered in nylon and powered by PAW. I remember being in the garden shed (Dope, balsa cement and fuel proofed all banned from the house) trying to cover dope and fuel proof a combat wing in a single evening for flying the next day and having the bright idea of warming it up over a parrifin heater to speed up the drying process.

Fortunately no disasters occurred but when I think what could have happened ........... Olympic gold medal in stupidity

Thank goodness for heat shrink film

[Doctor Chinnery]

You could well have been in receipt of the first Model Aviation Division, Darwin Award.

[alex nicol]

In my defence I was only about 13 or 14 at the time and allowed to be an eejit on the grounds of age and given that I didn't remove myself from the gene pool Darwin Award doesn't apply .......... although it could have been a close thing.

[David perry 1]

Flight line, park lane yes thats the one. Obviously not recalled by any bar meself. Thanks for looking itnup. Was that in an online archive somewhere?