Powered Gliders

 Powered gliders seemed to be the way to go, so I built a couple. I can't remember what they were called or who manufactured these kits. But they looked good.

This one turned out really well. It got flown once, it was enjoyable and easy to fly. Next time I tried to fly it the darned .049 would not crank up. I never flew it again and gave it away. 

This wall hanger was just something to build. Never put a motor on it or installed radio gear. Eventually it was given away. And that was it, until 2011. 

After I crashed my first RC plane, a Goldberg high wing trainer, my friend felt so bad about it he gave me some of his old planes. 

 This one really flew well but it was hard to start the McCoy .40. I flew it once, I think. 

This three channel job flew better and I had a new O.S. .10 in it but I didn't fly it much either. I was tired of prop-flipping, buying fuel, storing fuel, and driving something like ten miles to get to the flying field. I really never wanted my flying to be a social event. I never wanted to deal with the presence of other planes in the air, observing club rules, or messing with frequency boards, to see who else might be using your frequency. But I built a few planes of my own, thinking that maybe someday I would discover a place to fly them far from any club field. I never did. I'll show those planes later. 

I had my cataract surgery yesterday, one eye only, the worst, and I might be able to fly again when it stabilizes and I have a new prescription, but my flying since 2010 has been all electric, all foamies, and in a park flyer mode. I belong to no club and refuse to drive to any modern "FRIA". This forces me now to stay sub-250 gram. But that's OK! I have a lot of good sub-250 gram planes that fly very well, and I look forward to flying them again. 

So Many Memories!

 This blog is a real nostalgia trip for me. I had a lot of adventures trying to get back into RC after a long lapse, from about 1982 to 2011. And the hobby had changed a lot. The major incentive for me was the advent of electric flight and the gigahertz band. I hated prop flipping. I lost my first plane to interference.

This was my first plane, purchased along with a 72 mhz transmitter package from Riley Wootan's Fliteline products on 34th street. I wanted something much more elaborate, a scale warbird, but he talked me into the beginner route, and that was a good thing, I'm sure. This plane made a good starter, and it was fun to build. I powered it with an OS .15, also purchased from Riley Wootan. 

This is what I salvaged after the second flight. It fell victim to frequency interference. For all I know, somebody shot it down deliberately by activating their own transmitter. The group at the flying field was not the friendliest. I had one friend out there, who had encouraged me to get into the hobby. But a lot of the others seemed somewhat hostile to newcomers. 

It's hard to pick up the thread...

 ... of a blog that has been inactive so long. I think I'll put a lot of nostalgia trip type stuff in here. I won't be including any pics of, or stories about, my current crop of planes for several months, probably. But I really do want to bring this thing back from years of neglect. 

I FORGOT!

 I forgot I had this blog! I need to do more with it! I still have a lot of RC planes, but so many things have changed. I never did become a confidant flyer. I have not flown anything in over a year, due to cataract issues that should be resolved soon, and then I hope to fly again, and post more pics of my current planes, and talk about drones and the FAA regulations that didn't even exist back in the day, when I started this blog. I'm going to enjoy working on this again!

More Pics Of The New Plane

Finished test flying it yesterday with "wing 2" for windy conditions. It did great. Very slow and stable. Easy to land. It glides in nicely and only a little flair is required before touchdown.

This plane is long gone. It never flew very well. I tried this and I tried that but it was hard to control, and the foam I used fractured easily, and it wasn't ventilated well enough. I actually melted the wiring on the motor controller. And I've actually forgotten what those things are called. Wow, I've really gotten out of touch with the hobby!

A New Scratchbuild

So I mentioned that I got some good foam out of a dumpster. These are some pics of the first plane I made from this stuff. It is styled like an Olde Timer, a vintage free flight. It spans about 3 feet, depending on the wing I use with it. In its final form, it flies great! It is slow and stable and docile.

 I'll have some more pics of this plane in the future. The foam was easy to cut and sands something like balsa. I used acrylic paint. The foam is also quite tough. I've flown this plane several times now, and it is nice.