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 Square Park R/C field to watch the planes I was effectively done. Watching those planes was fun and I wanted to become a participant but it was so expensive. Life intervened and getting a job and working took over and the years rolled by.
R/C- The Beginnings
In about 1979 I discovered R/C magazines and and became obsessed with the hobby. I read everything I could about it. There were books in the library but much of that material was very out of date. The R/C mags provided me with current information about what I needed to know. Or so I thought. I was going to fly R/C!
First Purchase
One day I saw a local hobby shop (Kelly's) and went in to look around. This place was cluttered and filled with plastic model kits but it did have some C/L and R/C planes and accessories available. I spoke with the owner who offered me a discount ($5.00) on a original Jensen Ugly Stik. I paid $19.99 for that kit. I would also need an engine and the shop had a few engines for sale. The box for the airplane said "4 channel radio - .40 to .60 engine required". The shop owner had a Fox .40 that he said would work as "you don't want to over power your plane". I trusted his judgment and bought that Fox .40 for $34.99. Then the owner tried to sell me a Kraft K-line radio that only had 3 servos and was way overpriced. I had been looking at the prices of radios in the magazines and he was asking much more than its advertised price plus I needed 4 servos. Kraft radios were top tier but the K-line series were cheapo plastic versions with a bad reputation. I realize at that point he was just trying to take advantage of my naivete and I passed on the radio but did buy some Hot Stuff which was one of the original hobby grade super glues and went home to build my plane.
The Build
I am still amazed to this day how well that plane turned out. Opening that box I found a lot of wood! There were balsa sheets that held the ribs and fuselage parts, lite-ply, square sticks and thick balsa sheets for the tail pieces. There was no instruction manual just notes on the side of the plans. I didn't know about building boards or any of the things you should do to build a straight wing and fuselage. I built that plane on the patio. I truly mean on the patio. Right on the concrete! Nothing pinned down! Nothing used to insure 90° on the ribs, formers or anywhere else. I built it really fast with that Hot Stuff. It took only a few days and I had a bare airframe ready to cover. The only issues I encountered were a missing center rib and trying to figure out how you put the main spars into the wing. It was a one piece wing but the plans showed left and right halves so I built them separately. I didn't now they were shown separately to fit on the plans. I should have built the wing in one piece and the main spars should have been added then. The main spars were angled and after some time I was able to slide them into place and glue both wing halves together. The kit provided none of the additional items like hinges, control rods, bell cranks, motor mount, tires,covering material etc. needed to complete the plane so another trip to a hobby shop was necessary. I went back to Kelly's as it was close by my house armed with a list of items I needed. I wanted specific brands recommended in the magazines. The owner didn't have those items and again tried to sell me what he had on hand not what I wanted or needed. I did purchase some blue MonoKote (which is used to cover the plane) but left to go somewhere else.
Nirvana Found
This time I went to Hobby Shack in Fountain Valley. That place had everything. There was aisles of R/C plane kits and cars and boats. They had trains and Saito steam engines. The front counter cases held many different brands and sizes of engines with other cases full of R/C radios. The place was busy but the staff was very helpful and after wandering around in awe for a long time I left with a bag full of everything needed to complete the construction of my plane, except for the radio gear. That would have to wait as the cheapest 4 channel system was about $140.00! I was working full time for PacBell taking home only about $200.00 a week (which wasn't too bad for 1980) so the radio gear purchase was put on hold.
Finishing the Build
I went home and started installing all those parts. The plans showed the location and gave some tips on what to do but no step by step instructions. It wasn't that hard to figure out and I went about cutting slots for the hinges on the flying surfaces, installing the bell cranks and linkage for the ailerons, bolting on the motor mount and the landing gear. The magazines said to wait to install the control horns until after covering the airframe so that's what I did.
Covering
It was now time to cover up all that bare wood. The instructions said to paint the fuselage and cover the wing. The blue MonoKote I had bought would be used to cover the wing. This is a plastic type covering material that when heated will adhere to wood and then with more heat can be shrunk tight. It actually went pretty easy. I used a regular iron and went to work. Hobby irons made specifically for this were available. The were much smaller and not as unwieldy as a full size iron but cost about $15.00! The MonoKote did come with instructions on how to apply it and after a quick learning curve the wing was done. It looked good with no sags, wrinkles or bubbles. On to the fuselage. Even though the plans said to use paint I chose again to use MonoKote but in bright red this time. With my newfound covering skills I completed that task very fast. I finished up with the remaining bits and mounted the engine. The magazines explained how to check your plane for warps and how to align everything. I followed those procedures and astonishingly that plane was dead on. Somehow I had managed to build a perfectly square, straight, warp free airframe on a concrete patio! I had a complete R/C plane except for the R/C part.
Radio Quest
For several weeks that plane sat on display in my living room while I was putting away money for the radio gear. During that time I took several trips to the Mile Square Park R/C field to see what R/C gear was popular. Back then there were many different brands of equipment on the market. The serious flyers used the top shelf Kraft equipment. Circus Hobbies Century radios, which were actually a JR Propo radio were also used by those top flyers. Circus Hobbies was actually part of Circus Circus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. Airtronics, World Engines, ACE and others were popular brands. Futaba was the most used of this second tier of R/C equipment. None of these radios were cheap. All were well over $200.00 and the top stuff was $600.00 and up! I asked several of the flyers for recommendations and found out that the Hobby Shack house brands (Cirrus, Aero Sport) were made by Futaba. They looked and performed well for the novice and were much cheaper. With this new information I went back to Hobby Shack to have a look. The Aero Sport 4 channel was on sale for $139.00 but the 6 channel was only $10.00 more. The Cirrus 7 channel was about $40 or $50 higher than that, way more than I could afford so I became the proud owner of an Aero Sport 6 channel R/C system.
A personal note
In retrospect the Futaba would have been a better choice not because it was a better radio but because that showed to others you were a "serious R/Cer". Silly, but some of those guys at the field loved to trash talk about what equipment people used. If you used an Aero Sport radio, even though it was made by Futaba and was almost identical except for the color of the case to the radio they were using, they would make lots of unkind remarks. Just a few of the guys at the field did this but weekdays they were always there! Being the butt of someone's joke is never fun. As a novice you needed a flight instructor and since weekdays they were always at the field they were the ones available to teach you how to fly. So you just had to grin and bear there boorish behavior. Weekends there were many more, much nicer flyers available to give instruction.
Radio Installation
Installing the radio equipment was not that difficult. The plans showed the suggested locations for the different components (servos, receiver, pushrods, battery and switch) and in no time at all I had it all installed. I was almost ready to make that first flight.
More Power
On one of my visits to the R/C field I had asked if my Fox .40 engine was going to have enough power for a Ugly Stik. The consensus among those I asked was that while a Fox .40 would get me in the air it was not the best choice. They all felt that a .40 size engine would not have enough reserve power and that the difference between full speed and stall speed would be small. They asked why I bought that engine. I replied that was what was recommended by the owner of a hobby shop. They asked "what hobby shop?" And when I said "Kelly's" someone said he was well known for pushing stuff he had in stock. I told them about the K-line radio he wanted me to buy and someone else said "I bet that was the only radio and engine he had." He was right, that was the only radio and it was biggest engine he had. I never bought anything else from that hobby shop. I did stop in a few years ago and the place was more cluttered and packed with merchandise that was so old the box art on the plastic model kits had faded away to almost nothing. It looked like he hadn't put anything new on the shelves in thirty years. He did have some plane accessories still in the case but this was really old stuff. The bags had yellowed but you could see where he had put new price stickers on the packages numerous times. It looked like a hobby shop museum from the 70's with 2014 prices!!
Engine search
Since I decided I would need a new larger engine I started my search at, where else, Hobby Shack and quickly saw that I would once again have to wait as new .60 size engines carried a hefty price tag. I had also started going to "Frank's Hobby Shop" in Orange. They had a large train section but also carried a lot of R/C cars, planes, parts, most anything you needed. They also carried all the R/C magazines. I was buying every issue of every magazine available. Those magazines were filled with how to's, engine tips and building information. One day while in the store looking around I saw in the case an engine with a tag that said "used $35.00". It was dirty, I asked "Tony" what it was. He said it was an "Enya .60" I asked to look at it and he pulled it out and I gave it the once over. From my magazine reading I knew how to feel for compression and rusty bearings and look into the exhaust port for signs of cylinder scoring. Everything looked OK. Well worn,but not worn out. Tony knew I was interested but I handed it back and said that "$35.00 was just too much for me to spend". He started to put it back into the case and I started to leave. After walking a few steps away he called out for me to stop. I turned around and he was holding that engine up and said "twenty bucks". Luckily I had exactly one $20 bill in my pocket! I laid down that $20, he bagged up the engine and I was out the door and on the way home to finish up my plane.
Final Steps
All I had to do was mount the engine and install the fuel tank. I removed the Fox .40 and bolted down that Enya. For the fuel tank I had to bend some copper pipes (one for fuel, one as a vent or pressure line ), add fuel line with a Klunk (that lets the fuel line swing freely in the tank) and fit them through a stopper that goes into the neck of the fuel tank. Make sure to tighten down the stopper! Then I had to connect the pipe with the klunk, using more fuel line, to the carb and the other to the vent or the muffler pressure tap. When that was done I was ready to take the first steps to becoming an R/C Pilot.
Time to Fly!
To be continued,,,
R/C- The Beginnings
In about 1979 I discovered R/C magazines and and became obsessed with the hobby. I read everything I could about it. There were books in the library but much of that material was very out of date. The R/C mags provided me with current information about what I needed to know. Or so I thought. I was going to fly R/C!
First Purchase
One day I saw a local hobby shop (Kelly's) and went in to look around. This place was cluttered and filled with plastic model kits but it did have some C/L and R/C planes and accessories available. I spoke with the owner who offered me a discount ($5.00) on a original Jensen Ugly Stik. I paid $19.99 for that kit. I would also need an engine and the shop had a few engines for sale. The box for the airplane said "4 channel radio - .40 to .60 engine required". The shop owner had a Fox .40 that he said would work as "you don't want to over power your plane". I trusted his judgment and bought that Fox .40 for $34.99. Then the owner tried to sell me a Kraft K-line radio that only had 3 servos and was way overpriced. I had been looking at the prices of radios in the magazines and he was asking much more than its advertised price plus I needed 4 servos. Kraft radios were top tier but the K-line series were cheapo plastic versions with a bad reputation. I realize at that point he was just trying to take advantage of my naivete and I passed on the radio but did buy some Hot Stuff which was one of the original hobby grade super glues and went home to build my plane.
The Build
I am still amazed to this day how well that plane turned out. Opening that box I found a lot of wood! There were balsa sheets that held the ribs and fuselage parts, lite-ply, square sticks and thick balsa sheets for the tail pieces. There was no instruction manual just notes on the side of the plans. I didn't know about building boards or any of the things you should do to build a straight wing and fuselage. I built that plane on the patio. I truly mean on the patio. Right on the concrete! Nothing pinned down! Nothing used to insure 90° on the ribs, formers or anywhere else. I built it really fast with that Hot Stuff. It took only a few days and I had a bare airframe ready to cover. The only issues I encountered were a missing center rib and trying to figure out how you put the main spars into the wing. It was a one piece wing but the plans showed left and right halves so I built them separately. I didn't now they were shown separately to fit on the plans. I should have built the wing in one piece and the main spars should have been added then. The main spars were angled and after some time I was able to slide them into place and glue both wing halves together. The kit provided none of the additional items like hinges, control rods, bell cranks, motor mount, tires,covering material etc. needed to complete the plane so another trip to a hobby shop was necessary. I went back to Kelly's as it was close by my house armed with a list of items I needed. I wanted specific brands recommended in the magazines. The owner didn't have those items and again tried to sell me what he had on hand not what I wanted or needed. I did purchase some blue MonoKote (which is used to cover the plane) but left to go somewhere else.
Nirvana Found
This time I went to Hobby Shack in Fountain Valley. That place had everything. There was aisles of R/C plane kits and cars and boats. They had trains and Saito steam engines. The front counter cases held many different brands and sizes of engines with other cases full of R/C radios. The place was busy but the staff was very helpful and after wandering around in awe for a long time I left with a bag full of everything needed to complete the construction of my plane, except for the radio gear. That would have to wait as the cheapest 4 channel system was about $140.00! I was working full time for PacBell taking home only about $200.00 a week (which wasn't too bad for 1980) so the radio gear purchase was put on hold.
Finishing the Build
I went home and started installing all those parts. The plans showed the location and gave some tips on what to do but no step by step instructions. It wasn't that hard to figure out and I went about cutting slots for the hinges on the flying surfaces, installing the bell cranks and linkage for the ailerons, bolting on the motor mount and the landing gear. The magazines said to wait to install the control horns until after covering the airframe so that's what I did.
Covering
It was now time to cover up all that bare wood. The instructions said to paint the fuselage and cover the wing. The blue MonoKote I had bought would be used to cover the wing. This is a plastic type covering material that when heated will adhere to wood and then with more heat can be shrunk tight. It actually went pretty easy. I used a regular iron and went to work. Hobby irons made specifically for this were available. The were much smaller and not as unwieldy as a full size iron but cost about $15.00! The MonoKote did come with instructions on how to apply it and after a quick learning curve the wing was done. It looked good with no sags, wrinkles or bubbles. On to the fuselage. Even though the plans said to use paint I chose again to use MonoKote but in bright red this time. With my newfound covering skills I completed that task very fast. I finished up with the remaining bits and mounted the engine. The magazines explained how to check your plane for warps and how to align everything. I followed those procedures and astonishingly that plane was dead on. Somehow I had managed to build a perfectly square, straight, warp free airframe on a concrete patio! I had a complete R/C plane except for the R/C part.
Radio Quest
For several weeks that plane sat on display in my living room while I was putting away money for the radio gear. During that time I took several trips to the Mile Square Park R/C field to see what R/C gear was popular. Back then there were many different brands of equipment on the market. The serious flyers used the top shelf Kraft equipment. Circus Hobbies Century radios, which were actually a JR Propo radio were also used by those top flyers. Circus Hobbies was actually part of Circus Circus Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. Airtronics, World Engines, ACE and others were popular brands. Futaba was the most used of this second tier of R/C equipment. None of these radios were cheap. All were well over $200.00 and the top stuff was $600.00 and up! I asked several of the flyers for recommendations and found out that the Hobby Shack house brands (Cirrus, Aero Sport) were made by Futaba. They looked and performed well for the novice and were much cheaper. With this new information I went back to Hobby Shack to have a look. The Aero Sport 4 channel was on sale for $139.00 but the 6 channel was only $10.00 more. The Cirrus 7 channel was about $40 or $50 higher than that, way more than I could afford so I became the proud owner of an Aero Sport 6 channel R/C system.
A personal note
In retrospect the Futaba would have been a better choice not because it was a better radio but because that showed to others you were a "serious R/Cer". Silly, but some of those guys at the field loved to trash talk about what equipment people used. If you used an Aero Sport radio, even though it was made by Futaba and was almost identical except for the color of the case to the radio they were using, they would make lots of unkind remarks. Just a few of the guys at the field did this but weekdays they were always there! Being the butt of someone's joke is never fun. As a novice you needed a flight instructor and since weekdays they were always at the field they were the ones available to teach you how to fly. So you just had to grin and bear there boorish behavior. Weekends there were many more, much nicer flyers available to give instruction.
Radio Installation
Installing the radio equipment was not that difficult. The plans showed the suggested locations for the different components (servos, receiver, pushrods, battery and switch) and in no time at all I had it all installed. I was almost ready to make that first flight.
More Power
On one of my visits to the R/C field I had asked if my Fox .40 engine was going to have enough power for a Ugly Stik. The consensus among those I asked was that while a Fox .40 would get me in the air it was not the best choice. They all felt that a .40 size engine would not have enough reserve power and that the difference between full speed and stall speed would be small. They asked why I bought that engine. I replied that was what was recommended by the owner of a hobby shop. They asked "what hobby shop?" And when I said "Kelly's" someone said he was well known for pushing stuff he had in stock. I told them about the K-line radio he wanted me to buy and someone else said "I bet that was the only radio and engine he had." He was right, that was the only radio and it was biggest engine he had. I never bought anything else from that hobby shop. I did stop in a few years ago and the place was more cluttered and packed with merchandise that was so old the box art on the plastic model kits had faded away to almost nothing. It looked like he hadn't put anything new on the shelves in thirty years. He did have some plane accessories still in the case but this was really old stuff. The bags had yellowed but you could see where he had put new price stickers on the packages numerous times. It looked like a hobby shop museum from the 70's with 2014 prices!!
Engine search
Since I decided I would need a new larger engine I started my search at, where else, Hobby Shack and quickly saw that I would once again have to wait as new .60 size engines carried a hefty price tag. I had also started going to "Frank's Hobby Shop" in Orange. They had a large train section but also carried a lot of R/C cars, planes, parts, most anything you needed. They also carried all the R/C magazines. I was buying every issue of every magazine available. Those magazines were filled with how to's, engine tips and building information. One day while in the store looking around I saw in the case an engine with a tag that said "used $35.00". It was dirty, I asked "Tony" what it was. He said it was an "Enya .60" I asked to look at it and he pulled it out and I gave it the once over. From my magazine reading I knew how to feel for compression and rusty bearings and look into the exhaust port for signs of cylinder scoring. Everything looked OK. Well worn,but not worn out. Tony knew I was interested but I handed it back and said that "$35.00 was just too much for me to spend". He started to put it back into the case and I started to leave. After walking a few steps away he called out for me to stop. I turned around and he was holding that engine up and said "twenty bucks". Luckily I had exactly one $20 bill in my pocket! I laid down that $20, he bagged up the engine and I was out the door and on the way home to finish up my plane.
Final Steps
All I had to do was mount the engine and install the fuel tank. I removed the Fox .40 and bolted down that Enya. For the fuel tank I had to bend some copper pipes (one for fuel, one as a vent or pressure line ), add fuel line with a Klunk (that lets the fuel line swing freely in the tank) and fit them through a stopper that goes into the neck of the fuel tank. Make sure to tighten down the stopper! Then I had to connect the pipe with the klunk, using more fuel line, to the carb and the other to the vent or the muffler pressure tap. When that was done I was ready to take the first steps to becoming an R/C Pilot.
Time to Fly!
To be continued,,,
 |
| This is what it looked like but with blue wings and red fuselage! |
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