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.
 

A Great Find!

I sell stuff on eBay from time to time, and I find packing material and cardboard boxes for shipment in dumpsters. There's one place in particular, behind a coffee shop where I have good luck getting what I need. Last weekend I found a LOT of epp type foam, in long rectangular pieces and flat sheets. This stuff is incredible! It is tough, light, easy to shape, sandable (you can sand it like balsa). I've started a small Old Timer style rc model, using this material. I got so much, I can build models for years! My rectangular pieces are about 48" long and measure about 2" by 4" in cross section. The flat sheets are about 1" by 12" by 36". There were not as many of those, unfortunately. But I sure have a lot of really good fuselage material. I find that a variety of knives and saws cut this stuff well. You can hollow it out easily. It sands surprisingly smooth and shapes nicely with course grit sandpaper. You can even use a file! But now I've got to get a little vacuum to control the dust. No prob. I'll find one at an estate sale. Never be too proud to do a little dumpster diving.

August 2026-- the foam scrap I was so enthusiastic about turned out to be not very durable. I doubt that I will ever do any building again. I still have a stable of sub-250 gram powered gliders and I hope to fly them again someday. Always someday. The last plane I flew, over a year ago, was an 800mm FMS Fox. And I almost crashed it. 

A Progress Report On The New Plane

I've got a lot done, and the pics tell the story.

The fuselage was built on a pink foam "crutch".

The wing is complete, except for aileron servo installation.