The Aviation and Maritime Hobbyist

Moving on Up,,,  After my first race win I waited around for the awards to be given out. Much to my surprise that award amounted to a picture! But, a wins a win. I was also told that the next time I raced it would be in the modified class. Those new parts I had installed were not OEM stock replacement parts so I would have to complete against other cars that had upgrades also. I had watched the modified races and those cars were beasts! They had replaced the stock electric motor with a hi-performance motor. They used special Ni-Cad racing battery packs. New tires were used along with a host of other parts to improve handling. To be competitive I was going to have to do the same. So back to The Ranch Pit Stop in Pomona as they had all the top performance parts in stock.  Since my first trip to Pomona I had taken notice ofwhat other racers were using for motors. I told the counter guy what I wanted and he asked what car I would be putting it into. When I told him a Hot Shot h...

A Day at the Races-Take 2  With those new parts added to my car it, off to the races I went. I didn't want to go to the Ranch Pit Stop, those guys look really good, so I went to one of the local tracks to try out my car. This time I would be prepared. I had repurposed one of my flight boxes. I would use a Goldberg Handi-Tote to carry the charger, which was pretty big, it would also be able to carry the spare batteries and it had a drawer for tools and spare parts. I figured for tools I would bring what I used to build the car, a couple of screwdrivers, wrenches and ball drivers. For spare parts I made sure I had some of those dogbones with me and a few spare nuts and bolts. Overtime that list would grow but for now that's all I took with me.  I felt much more confident this time at the track. I had an upgraded Hot Shot and a really good charger. I had extra batteries and spare parts. I had some practice time driving at the park. It was time to see what I could do with my Ho...

In for a Penny,,  After getting home with my broken Hot Shot I brushed off the dirt and went right to work. I removed the old steering knuckles and bearings from the front arms of the car along with the ball links. Taking a good look at those plastic arms I wondered if there was an upgrade available for them? It also seemed that most of the cars at the track had dual shocks, hmmm , I thought to myself "Maybe I should go to that hobby shop I'd heard about in Pomona and see what was available before going any further". So off to Pomona I went.  That hobby shop was called "The Ranch Pit Stop". It was one of the top spots for R/C racers. It had a Road track and an Off-Road track. That hobby shop had everything. They carried all the stock replacement and hop up parts then available. Many of these aftermarket parts were from small time manufacturers. They had stuff you would not find anywhere else. I stepped up and talked to the counter guy and told him I had a Hot...

A day at the races,,, With my Hot Shot rebuilt and ready to go I asked around the hobby shops what would be a good track to visit. There were a lot of Off-Road tracks popping up everywhere. There were outdoors tracks on private property, many times associated with an adjacent hobby shop. Some cities had even allowed R/C off-road courses to be set up in their parks! The track I heard about the most was located in Costa Mesa. It was an indoor track with a drivers stand, work tables with electrical power for charging and even had a parts shop on site. That sounded good! I grabbed my car, transmitter, battery pack and charger and headed for Costa Mesa.  The track was in an old warehouse. There might have been two separate tracks available to race on, I really don't remember. I think there was a two dollar fee to get in. I do remember that it was big. The track(s) had straightaways and lots of turns and jumps. This was going to be fun! I put my car on the track and took a place on th...

Broken but not Defeated,,, With my Hot Shot tore apart and the receiver removed I took it and the transmitter back to where I bought them. "Frank's Hobby Shop" was at that time a really nice store. About half of the store was for model train enthusiasts and the other half had plastic model kits and R/C planes, cars and a few boats. As noted earlier they had engines and R/C radios on display in the case near the cash register. They also carried all the building supplies and accessories needed to complete a project. It was a well stocked store. I went in and laid my transmitter and receiver on the case. I spoke with "Tony" (he was the owners son) and told him what had happened with my car at the park. How it took off as soon as I switched it on and didn't respond to the transmitter at all. I told him it had worked fine in the few minutes I drove it around in my yard. He took this all in and then went and and got a battery pack and a couple of servos. He plug...

New challenges,, First R/C Car Since finishing that P-51 I had taken a break from airplane building and wanted to try something new. The R/C Car crowd had been around since the 60's. I had some slot-cars when I was young but being able to actually steer a car was want we kids all wanted to do. R/C let you do that. The R/C Cars looked like race cars with glow fuel engines. The were raced on courses set up in parking lots and sometimes indoors. Indoor carpet was put down as bare concrete floors were just too slick. There were special tires and tire "goop" (it made the tires sticky) people would use on bare floors and that helped but control was still an issue and the tires and goop made a mess of those floors. Carpet improved the traction and made real racing possible.  Outdoors or indoors those racecourses might be as simple as straightaways and a few turns or elaborate layouts like a LeMans track. The cars were fast but temperamental and noisy and you had to build t...

Stepping into Scale  This is what greeted you upon first opening the box. Lots and lots of wood!  This would be the first R/C Scale plane I had ever built. Scale model planes come in several variations. There is "True Scale" which is an exact miniature version of a specific full size plane. These planes copy the outline of the plane, wings and tail group. The paint scheme and markings along with panels lines, rivets, access doors and all the other features of the the full size plane are duplicated. These planes win contests and are very complex and difficult to build and fly. Next is "Semi-Scale" they are not exact copies. The differences may be subtle but are noticeable to the trained eye. They often look much like the originals but some changes to the airframe, wing and tail group are made to make the plane easier to build and fly. These planes often have much of the additional detailing done as on a "True Scale" plane and you end up with a very go...

SO MANY PLANES,,, When I agreed to build planes to order I set it up so the buyer would provide the kit. I started out building "Sport Planes". These planes in general are not meant to look like any specific full size airplane. R/C Sport Planes are also all built pretty much the same way. I gave several options on how complete I would build the plane. I offered "Bare Bones" which was a complete airframe, uncovered with no engine, radio equipment or other accessories installed. Next was a covered airframe but still no engine, radio or accessories. This was my favorite build as a lot of flyers hate covering a plane and would pay good money to avoid it. I didn't have to outlay much in money for materials, I could build and finish them fast and the profit margin for the time spent was the highest. Some buyers would also bring an engine and/or radio they wanted me to install onto the kit. That wasn't a problem and on those builds I would also install all the ac...

Endings and Beginnings,  I had recently relocated to a new residence in the city of Orange. The longtime girlfriend was no longer in the picture. She was gorgeous and thought of herself as a "hippie chick" because of her choice in clothing and was a "Free Spirit" but that was a contradiction in terms. She was also high maintenance, volatile, and a bit crazy! She wanted to get married on a cliff overlooking the ocean, barefoot, wearing some kind of tribal garb, with peacocks at sunset. I said "No, that's not gonna happen". I was soon looking for a new place to live! She would periodically reappear over the next decade to rekindle and reconcile which while always fun but never ended well!  A coworker I had known for a few years asked if I wanted to share a place with no strings. She had a boyfriend but didn't want to live with him. She did have a couple sons that would be living with us also. They were about 12 and 14 yrs old and as I came to lear...

New Plane(s)!  Since I had sold my plane and made some money on the deal it was time to look for another one. Most hobby shops had bulletin boards that listed upcoming R/C events. Pattern (aerobatic) and Scale competitions were very popular as were what is called a Fun Fly. With Pattern and Scale your plane and your performance was judged on multiple criteria. For Pattern these include noise, weight and size and your ability to fly the "Pattern". Scale R/C planes are judged on how close they replicate the full sized plane. To get a high score you need to duplicate every detail on the way down to rivets and brake lines and fly it in a prototypical manner. These contests often serve as qualifiers for regional, national or international competitions. A Fun Fly is a low key get together with no flight or aircraft judging. A Fun Fly can be for any type of plane or be genre specific. Scale, Jet or Warbirds are just some of the Fun Fly events that are available. All these events a...

New Skills and a BIG Surprise  Getting home with my new prize I quickly opened the box to look at what I'd gotten myself into. On the box it listed everything that was inside. All those accessories I had to purchase for my first plane were included in this kit. If they weren't a SIG product they were from some other top name manufacturer. I went about looking at those items then moved to that bundle of wood. The die-cut sheets were all perfect. No trimming needed this time. The location for the fuselage parts was printed right on the wood! This was going to be easy. Next I looked at those foam core wings and thought I better start reading the instruction manual. Not just notes on the side of the plans this time but a real manual! It had about 30 pages and went over all the aspects of how to build that plane. The plans also showed a lot of detail. I was more than pleased at this development. I now understood why a SIG kit cost more. The pre-printed wood, all those accessories,...

Endings and Beginnings Upon arriving home after my disastrous solo attempt I laid out all the broken pieces and started salvage operations. The plane and engine were not repairable, they were toast! The good news was that almost all the other things I had purchased were reusable. The radio equipment looked ok. The receiver and battery had been wrapped in foam rubber for protection and seemed to survive unscathed. I unscrewed the servos from their broken mounts and put the radio gear aside until I could take it back to Hobby Shack for a checkup (as noted on the previous post it passed that checkup). I went about removing all those parts I had installed with so much care. The nose and main landing gear with its tires and wheels. The control rods, bellcranks, clevises, control horns and all the threaded rod was checked for damage and put aside. The fuel tank had split open in the crash but the stopper, pipes, fuel line and klunk were cleaned and also set aside. All these parts would fly...

Toy Grade vs Hobby Grade equipment. When it comes to R/C there is really two levels available. Toy grade and Hobby grade. The big differences between the two is quality and price. Toy grade is found in big box retailers and toy stores everywhere. They don't cost much because they are not meant to last. They're fun to fool around with but will get broken pretty fast and are not easily repaired. They are not meant to be disassembled so parts are rarely available. They're considered disposable. They're TOYS!  Hobby grade is subdivided into entry level, intermediate and advanced and are completely different from toy grade. Entry level is for the newcomer and will let you learn how to control a vehicle or aircraft, provide modest performance, and replacement parts are available. Cars, trucks and boats have competition classes just for this type of vehicle. Most of these come pre-assembled but some are available as kits. Performance or "hop-up" parts are also ava...

Final Preparations  Before going to the R/C field for that first flight I needed to make one more trip to the hobby shop. I had to go get what is called "field equipment". There are multiple items needed to get that engine on your plane running. Since I was new to this and trying to keep costs down I purchased just the basics I thought I would need. These included *  Glow plug clip * Glow plug wrench * Spare glow plugs * Gallon of Fuel *  Hand Crank Fuel pump *  1.5V Battery *  Box of #64 Rubber Bands Thinking that was the last money I would be spending I totaled up what I had spent. I was in over $300!!! But that should be it. Done. No more expenses. Little did I know,,, I put all this into a cardboard box and was finally ready to fly my plane. The Big Day has Arrived. I'm going to fly an R/C plane!  I packed up everything into my car, and off to Mile Square Park I went. I was nervous but very excited that this would be the day I had dre...

  I, like many others, tried flying Control-Line Airplanes which as detailed in Now and Then,,,(3) didn't go too well. Then I got a Cox PT Trainer with throttle sleeve control. I was finally able to fly in circles without crashing. I never learned how to do much more than that. Eventually after many flights the plastic posts on the fuselage where you attached the wing with rubber bands broke. I was now 15yrs. old, a sophomore in high school and had taken some ribbing about flying my plane. I never fixed that plane. I succumbed to peer pressure and that was the end on my C\L flying. I had developed other interests (cars, girls), and was on the football and wrestling teams so I didn't have a lot of spare time. I still watched airplanes fly overhead and boats whenever I was near water but except for visits to the "Movieland of the Air" Museum next to Tallmantz Aviation headquarters at Orange County Airport (now John Wayne Airport) and sometimes stopping at the Mile Squar...