I hear you on the plans. Still sitting on a set for a Grumman F5 twin radial WW2 shipboard fighter that never saw service.
My Dad and my uncles used to do the u-control planes. Always sounded so cool to me, just never concentrated long enough in that particular direction. My uncle Mark tells me of one my Dad built (before I came along) that my younger uncle tried to fly, the plane was so damn big and powerful, my uncle was slowly, but surely being pulled in bigger and bigger arcs, HAHAHA, I would've loved to have seen that! 20 years later, my uncle and I got into playing with RC sprint cars that the uncle built outta br*** tube. 3 link front suspensions, foam tires, pretty neat while they lasted, really took a set if wrecked! Dad and my uncles were into all the cool stuff in the mid 60's. My Dad built a crazy Rube Goldberg style slot car motor winder.....my uncle's friend, to this day, keeps one of the "hot" motors in a felt, satin lined jewelery box. Great stuff, cool thread C9.
I cut my teeth as a kid flying control line. I got into R/C later but the got out of it. My dad who was into planes since WW2 started in C/L before R/C became practical. He won the team racing event (1st year they had it) in 1950. He and his friend drove from Jersey to Texas in a 47 Dodge with a huge box mouted to the roof with all their planes in it.
Yep, those were the days. I can remember my dad taking me and my two brothers out to Los Alamitos horse race track (So Cal) on Saturdays and watch the guys with the R/C airplanes fly them from the big parking lot. Pretty cool, think I was around 7 or 8 at the time. Times were good back then! Would be fun to go back in time and take a computer with me. BACK TO THE PAST!
Hey Mikes51, Yes it was a "mean" ship to handle. It would over 120 mph on 60' lines. Or I should say "line" since it was mono-line. The Dooling would turn 22,000 rpms on mixture of mostly nitro and castor oil. Back in those days we kids could buy nitro methane (if we knew the right people of course). The car was my brothers. It was a '49 Merc with Lincoln tail lights. My ride was a black '51 Ford pickup with '48 Ford fender skirts and a hard cover over the bed so I could haul my models to contests. This pic is of my Veco Cougar. It was painted cream with maroon trim. Note my low 4-digit AMA number of 6059. That's telling my age.
Christmas, early 70's, I wanted a U-control VW bug bad. Santa in his infinate wisdom left me a u-control airplane under the Christmas tree. After I opened it, my disppointment must have shown but Dad said "Trust me, an airplane will be more fun then a car" Well later that morning after snapping on the wings and a few other things (Don't rememebr exactly) we headed off to fly it. Gased it up and Dad says "I'll show you how it's done." He made a couple of circles around and promply did a nosedive and smashed it right into the ground. My Mom was so pissed and of course I was too. Mom made Dad go to the store to get my the VW but they didn't have any left so I ended up with a telescope. It was a very tramatic Christmas. After thinking about it, it must have be a pretty good lesson for my Dad cuz after that "Santa" pretty much stuck to the list that we wrote out for him each year....and still does.
I flew U.C. from grade school up through Jr. High, then surfing and girls took over and model planes seemed too geeky. Still have a Super Tiger .35 in the box in the garage. Best combat engine of the time, though I never got to fly real combat. Can't imagine I'll ever use it now... Still have a couple of slope soaring planes...
You and I have something in common besides owning a '36 3-window. Finally I got old enough to have a drivers license. Then I started busting all that stuff up .
Gee whiz, you hot rod guys flew Ukie? Hah! I did when young, then met a high school friend who was nuts about my channeled 'A' roadster...He was embarr***ed when I saw his Ringmaster with McCoy .35. I said, "Cool! I have got to get back into this!" I did a streamlined, racy version of a $3.98 Ringmaster...it looked like a Long Midget, with clipped wing, cheek cowls, reshaped tail feathers, wheel pants, and faired-in gear. Canopy was "chopped", everybody at the field loved it! A control rod dropped in the bellcrank from the top (should have been installed upside down) caught on the bellcrank platform in the first loop. ****! 21 loops, (counted 'em) I must have backed up the entire width of the Wilson field, keeping it up...When it pancaked, it did some big damage to the wing and landing gear, but I was back the following week. The 'racer' wasn't as pretty without pants, but I was building a new one: The new Flite Streak! Years turned into a 'life style', still do it whenever I can...my hobby shop is 12' X 24', is built in right behind my garage. I turn off my welder, walk thru the door, and sit down and get ready for the next pieces to glue. I got a roadster AND a Gee Bee! (and lotsa other cars & airplanes) I have a cl***ic pic of me in my brother's modified '29 Roadster Pickup with some U-Control planes in the shortened bed...It's a hoot!
always had a blast with my U-contol planes..Built a few from kits, and even bought a few of the Cox .049 powered ones..Still have the Tri Folker (sp) Red Barrons plane.. fun as hell..I moved up to the Remote contolled ones , than on to Ultralights than on to owner of a cessna 172 with the 195 HP continental with constant speed prop.. still love flying to this day
Wow! I never saw this thread before. Of course I fly U-control! Still have all my gear from when I was a kid and some other stuff I picked up over the years. Never was very good at R/C so I just went out and got a Private lisence, it's easier when you sit in the thing. My 172 was just the 145hp kind though. Best picture I could find on short notice, you can see "the Flying Fool" on the shelf, with a "Red head McCoy" also out in my garage is a Ringmaster Jr., Twister and Acromaster.
I caught the U-control bug from my dad who flew combat in New Jersey in the 60's. He would tell stories of the streamers tied to the tail and 2 guys in the same circle. One that comes down with the shortest streamer is the looser. He gave me his Cox .049 with the gold crank case. He said it was a higher compression jug or something like that. Was the hot setup in the 60's. He helped me build my first kit in like 1982 or something when all my buddies were getting into the RC stuff. We were poor and was the best I could afford. Flew it a dozen times and got bored with it. Got a go cart and never touched it again. I bought an old fabric winged 'liner at a yard sale a few months before my 5 year old son was born. Hung it in his room for decoration. Its nostalgia now!
My first U cotrol plane was a Fire Baby for which you could buy all the replacement parts which was a good thing. The tail was metal so at least that never needed to be replaced. Flew just 1/2A powered stuff. Don't have any planes left but an Anderson .045, OK Cub .049 and a Cox Golden Bee .049. The Golden Bee had a larger tank and supposedly would run better inverted than with the usual tank.
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