Watt Watch........trends in model flying

[Myron Beaumont]

Bet you remember the series of 3 shilling/9 penny's worth of KK kits. All those stringers stuck to all those formers you cut out with a broken razor blade ? It was a good way to learn though wasn't it ? Cor blimey ! Memories Eh?

[Tim Mackey]

As I was only 1 yr old in 1952 ..i am guessing my KK Ranger must have been Mk2 LOL

[Peter Miller]

I had a KK Pacer, That was planked and stringered with a sort of squashed radial cowl if I remember correctly.
The only way that I could the KK Flying scale models to fly was round the pole, they went well that way.
And the KK hand book had two whole pages of accessories! WOW!!

[Mike Rolls]

Peter
Yup - that was the Pacer. The Mk II Ranger looked rather like a smaller version of it if memory serves.
The Mk I really was awful as a structure - but on poor structural design I wonder how many Mercury Monitors losst the nose due to the plan calling for simple adgeg gluing of an 1/8" ply firewall to the balsa planking - same poor idea as with the Ranger. More experienced guys reinforced it in a variety of ways. Trusing innocents like me built it as shown - and the radially mounted AM35 nearly had my kneecaps off as it shot out the front the first time it was started!

Timbo - you mean you were a late developer?
:-)
Mike

[Peter Miller]

The really bad one was the KK Spectre. IT would snap just at the rear of the cockpit down through the cut out for the flap joiner.IT wouls snap on a decent landing and a heavy one was certain to break it. I even heard of one that broke in mid loop. A simple ply doubler cured that one easily enough. Nice model apart from that weakness.

I Liked the Junior Monitor, that was wild.

[Tim Mackey]

Yes Mike, and keep trying to convince myself that I still am - and that when I grow up, I WILL actually like 3D flying / extreme control surface equipped stupid looking aeroplanes rather than a gorgeous scale warbird :-) Ho Hum

[Phil Meredith]

cant wait for my second childhood to start (you know the one women say we men are always going through) still having my first at 52, anyone know when the second normaly kicks in, is it normaly around the male menapause period or senility, i dont want to miss out :)

[Mike Rolls]

Peter
Junior Monitor - the original planked version or the second with hollow log fis whihc proudle bore 'NEW Junior Monitor' on th ebix and in the ads fro about 10 years? Several of the latter were flown by the Fulham boys on Hounslow Heath with beam mount Elfin 249s and AM 25s, vaguely remember one even had a Racer up front whihc must have been a bit of a shoehorn job.
PS _ I well remember your Thrift design - I also used the Fox 25 for a while back in the late 70s early 80s, although my only Detroiter designs were bigger - 35 to 45 power. I even designed a couple of Detroiters for R/C - Dereck Woodward showed one in his column years back.
Mike

[Glenn Howcroft]

I built a small KK free flight glider as my first flying model ... don't know what it was called. Bought it for my youngest. Needless to say he never got a look in !!

Phil .. the second childhood starts when you decide to add ANOTHER hobby ... thats the time the women REALLY begin to moan at you.

I build and fly planes and heli's, race fast electric MONO and HYDRO speedboats, occasionally race electric buggies ... and try to play guitar ... wife says the only difference between me and the kids is the length of the trousers and the price of the toys !!!

[Mike Rolls]

Peter
A PS on the Spectre. IIRC dodn't KK make the sides in two pieces to get the wood into the box? Dave Platt was/is a superb worker and it may be that his design didn't translate (structurally) with kit compromise. First time I saw Dave fly was at the '58 Nats and his models really stunt out then as now.

Mike

[Glenn Howcroft]

Don't know if any of you will be interested as its not flying ... but have a look at the vid at this URL ...

http://www.fastelectricsrfun.co.uk/ampdraggers/photosandvideos.htm

The guys racing pop cells regular ... sometimes a cell a race .. thats 4300 Mah NiMH or better ... anywhere between 7 to 20 cells depending on the class. I've seen 100 amp ESC burnt out in a single race and thats with a water cooling jacket to take the heat away. The REALLY hammer the electrics.

My oldest blew a Hacker navy 70 amp esc in half a race .. and there only 6 minutes long.

[Myron Beaumont]

Nostalgia I vaguely remember it. "They" do say that the older you get ,the more you revert to being a baby again - certainly happening to me -- not like all you young'uns out there .I still get my greatest pleasure out of the building stage as I did in 1940 kitbag or something.I do have a problem with my brain cell & 2 neurons when it comes to all things digital -is it a phobia or just age I wonder ( now I'm getting myself confused before I start balsa bashing in a minute - It might just have something to do with a lager for breakfast !!??

[Peter Miller]

Second childhood? Heck, I have never left the first one!
The hollow log Junior Montor, The last one that I build had a schnuerle port Fox 15. It went. My first has an AM if I remember rightly.
The Detroiter wing was nice but you had to handle it so carefully. Jack Sheeks seemd to use it exclusively. Thrift was nice, I remember that someone once won Novice stunt with one.
Yes, The Spectre did have two piece sides but the weakness was caused by that cutout and the sharp corner of the rear of the cockpit just above it.
I think I still have a picture of Dave Platt starting his Crusader at the Nats in 58 or 59. He started it inverted and after that members of our club no longer felt that it was wimpish to turn models over to start them.
That is the only problem with any form of racing, it gets expensive.
Fun Fly models can be fun and so are scale. personally I like to try all sorts of model.
I remember that when I first described them in "Engine bay, RCMW" (Sorry about that) people said that they would never win the fun fly events over here and that they would never catch on.

[Peter Miller]

Hi Myron
I have a little saying. "Nostalgia is the philosopher's stone of reality."

[Mike Rolls]

Peter
Jack Sheeks - some lovely designs - wonder if he is still with us? I remember The Knight and I think I have a drawing of his Fw 190 and Corsair somewhere.
Mike

[Peter Miller]

Mike
Jack Sheeks is one of the great names in C/L stunt. He did a lot, some 60 plus designs in his own name and a few more built by others., a Stuka and I seem to remember a Grumman Skyrocket among many others.
Put Jack Sheeks into Google and it takes you to his biography, seems that he is still alive and well. The site features a copy of his Spitfire plan. There are other sites about him as well.
He used a rather strange template for his wing section. I used the old Aeromodeller equiangular sections. I still have a lot of the templates that I cut from that sheet but now I use them for drawing gentle curves

[Mike Rolls]

Peter
I also used the equiangular sections to produce Detroiter ribs - usually 18% for the 35-45 class.
Must look up Jack on Google (don't know why I din't think of it)
Regards
Mike

[Peter Miller]

Mike
I used 18% as well. I designed a model called Nebula for the Fox 25 using the EA sections but not a Detroiter structure. It was never published for some reason. (Not submitted.)
I flew it in Novice Stunt at the Essex Showground in the late 70s. After my flight one of the judges came over and asked "Do you always fly stunt with a team racer?"
Well it was rather fast, I put that down to the section. I did a Marauder slightly small for a Fox 19. Again not sent in. Earlier this year or late last year my R/C version was in AMI. Made a nice model.

[Mike Rolls]

Peter
Judges humour - dear old HJN judged the first vintage stunt comp at Old Warden back around 1983 or so. I flew a PAW 149 powered Happy Harold. It was a bit breezy and the 8 or 9 ounce model had a bit of a struggle at times. Henry sympathised with me, asking how I coped with such line pull!
Mike

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Do we need a new 'vintage' section in the forum chaps ;-)

[Peter Miller]

No, not really, This one is doing quite nicely thanks

[Myron Beaumont]

Peter Got to agree . Does anyone remember the Nobbler .I scaled it down when I had 2/6 pence a week pocket money & got a Frog 2.49 for Xmas .I would really like to try a 4 leaf clover with R/C .Does anyone do that any more?

[Mike Rolls]

Nobler - happy days. I used to correspond with George Aldrich, the designer, back in the 89s and 90s until his death (George designed the original in 1950, first published in 1952).
Mine - built much later - had a Fox 35 and weighted 38 ounces, whihc was quite light for a Nobler (Dave Day had one with a sheeted wing and - IIRC- glassed whihc weighed over 50). I couldn't get on with it for some reason - it just didn't suit me as well as mine favourite own designs - so I gave it to a clubmate, Roy Cherry ( a subsequnet Gold Trophy winner, althoughh not with my Nobler!)/

The Nobler has almost certainly won more contests, in the hands of more differnent fliers, than any other design regardless of category.
Mike

[Peter Miller]

When I extended my RAF service from 5 to 12 years I got £100 in cash as I went on leave,a fortune in 58. I bought a Fox 35 from HJN and "designed" a Nobler from the tiny 3 view in Aeromodeller.
My favorite model was Coy Lady, I like the lighter ones. Later on I loved the Smoothie for windy weather, I built the Dumas kit in the 70s.
Recently I designed a 35 powered stunter and was able to fly the full schedule including clover leaves. even though I had only had a very few C/L flights in the last 25 years. The model is called Deja Vu.
I do fly a diferent clover leaf in R/C, do a loop and then on the way down (with slower models,Up with fast ones) do a quarter roll, another loop and quarter roll until you have done four loops at 90 degrees and all touching. Very satusfying when you get it spot on.

[Nicholas Booth]

My club is gradually converting to electric one by one and I think suppliers like Brc and RCMdirect are to thank for it. You can spend a furtune but these guys are making electric affordable and fun. I think as time goes on the affordability will move up the size range of planes from just the small to mid size range to the larger types of planes. As for direct costs, my club operates a strict 81db noise policy, Ducted fan was never going to happen until Nigel's EZE fan and with a 4100KV motor, I am expecting some serious speed.
Just a note that I have just built a Yak with a Saito 125 upfront so as they say I swing my props both ways :) next project is an electric conversion of a 7ft wing span Top Flite DC3, and thats something I wouldn't have said I would try 2 years a go, go on dip your foot in the pool, the water is really that bad..........