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How old are yours?


Jon H
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Resurrected an elderly VQ Mustang and flew it yesterday fitted with an even more venerable Laser 62. It sat in a shed for around 10 years before it was given to me a week or two back. The engine was seized solid but came back to life with the aid of heat, persuasion, ultrasonic cleaning and new bearings and runs as well as you’d expect a Laser to do. 

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The oldest one I've owned from new is my Lark helicopter!petelark.thumb.jpg.7426dcde8612da180e0782aeb94e4a66.jpg

 

 

 

My wife bought it for me for Christmas 1974. A bit like the original woodman's axe (five new handles and four new blades!), its had a lot of replacement bits up and down the years. I've lost track of how many engines its had! But there are quite a few bits that are still original - including the rotorhead, clutch and main gear to name but three! Oh, and its still flying with my original prototype 459MHz Tx and Rx!

 

I also have a Schluter DS-22, which we think was the one used for the Radio Modeller review, back in the early 70s. I've owned this one for about 20 years, and have now converted it to electric. The original motor was totally knackered!

Here's some video of it at Charmouth back in 2002, just after I got it:

 

 

I also have John Haytree's Schluter Cobra - believed to be the first one in the UK (1971/2?) - which I have renovated and also converted to electric. I'm not sure the woodwork would have taken the pounding of an I/C engine after so many years!

Cobra-1.jpg.6c979b28c8cf24d19d50dccf2afd5cf7.jpg

Cobra-2_red.jpg.a07f8d83932dd0c621abb05b2c9f6cc2.jpg

 

 

 

Funny how helicopters - despite their reputation for being difficult to fly seem to survive longer than fixed wing!

 

?

 

--

Pete

 

 

 

Cobra-1.jpg

Edited by Peter Christy
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Much to the surprise of my LMS (JDM) I bought a DS22 kit, no collective pitch, Meteor 60 for power, never flown a heli before, but I could fly it round in figures of eight OK. Despite a motor change it seized twice at a great height. The descent was rather difficult because of the time delay from shutting down the motor. Got fed up with 10 hrs repairing for one hr flying so got rid of it.

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I had an enforced modelling layoff for about nine years and my oldest is now a 2m Dalotel, maidened at the first open aero meeting in July 2000. At nearly 5kg the OS 91FX would scarcely loop it but a YS 110 fixed that. Now sports an OS 120 FS and to say that it is showing its age is a bit of an understatement but it has been flown most weekends for 20 years.

I have another slightly smaller one which uses a Dave Smith Models wing core which must be at least 40 years old.

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The prototype Flair Hannibal - yes the PROTOTYPE from 1981 (we think!) is alive and well and flown regularly by Neil Tidey. The insides have gone distinctly brown, and it is affectionately known as The Mary Rose. 

 

We have a 1973 Kaos still going too. 

 

My oldest plane is a toddler by comparison, a 1991 Wots Wot.

 

 

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  • 4 months later...

Next month it will be 50 years since my dad gave me a Keil Kraft Mini Super kit for a birthday present. To celebrate that I took it down from the garage ceiling, gave it new rubber bands and took it to the field.

 

Originally the model was said to need two or three channels: engine, rudder and maybe also an elevator. Me and my dad built it for three channels. Later I added ailerons, steerable nose wheel and enlarged the rudder a bit and after that it became a very nice, easy to fly little model.

 

 

 

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