Tell about your first RC Plane

[notorious_benny]

I didnt start flying till I was about 23 years old.
First model was a Seagull Boomarang trainer with an OS 46FX motor and a JR 5 channel radio, the situations I put that poor model in! It did wicked multiple snaps, you could almost hear the rubber bands stretching! Suprisingly it lasted long enough for me to sell it on!
I was definitely hooked on flying from the beginning, by the end of that year I had a little Magic Extra with a 46 upfront and a 72inch katana with an OS 160 upfront (man I thought that Katana was a BIG plane!)

[Canardman]

Avistar RTF. Ended up in a tree at the end of my runway. The tree was covered by poison oak, so I grabbed a short chain and rope. The plane suffered. Flew it, crashed it until the glue on it doubled the weight. After I got better, I rebuilt the whole plane and made it into a canard. Having no idea where the cg was, it was a hit and miss thing. I ended up with about a 2 foot piece of piano wire sticking out the front with two rc wheels at the end. It finally flew. Climbed out, made a left turn and then the wheels on the front started to oscillate. This caused my poor airplane to get out of control, and then the wire fell off. The airplane got REALLY tail heavy, and did a tail dive into the dirt. That was the end of my first plane.

[Rolling Thunder]

Ace Wizard, loaded with Cox Golden Bee .049, ace pulse control radio it was 1975. We have come a long way.
I wish everyone had a shot at the old fluttering rudder radio systems.

[whirlyspud]

Andrew's H-Ray with an enya 29 was my first "real" plane. Great to learn on. Lasted a couple years. Second plane was a falcon 56. It lasted about 3/4 of a flight. :-( I don't even remember for sure what number 3 was, but I think it was a .25 ugly stick.
I saw someone above mentioned an EZ lazer. I had the EZ extra 230 with a ys 45. One of my alltime favorites. I had a few of the EZ kits. Extra 230,Mustang,yellow reno racer. They were all a blast.

Mike

[Dangerous Dan]

I suprised nobody has talked about escapments

[GMoney]

My first was a Goldberg glider! took weeks to build. My dad and I destroyed my moms Iron putting the covering on! We had been flying control line almost every weekend. amazing how things change when the strings are gone. I took it out everyday to the golf course where I lived. 18th hose nice smooth slope and would spend countless hours just seeing how long each toss I could keep her in the air. I never actually flew it more thatn ten of twelve seconds. Years later I bought Ace Hobbies 40 sized trainer (warped wing) flew the crap out of it. the wheels wore down t o the plastic hubs.. GOOD TIMES!!!!! I still have not learned to fly a glider, I'm looking at two of them right now in the kitchen, No flight box sitting on the tail gate flying for hours

[pitviper51]

	Quote: Originally Posted by GMoney
	My first was a Goldberg glider! took weeks to build. My dad and I destroyed my moms Iron putting the covering on! We had been flying control line almost every weekend. amazing how things change when the strings are gone. I took it out everyday to the golf course where I lived. 18th hose nice smooth slope and would spend countless hours just seeing how long each toss I could keep her in the air. I never actually flew it more thatn ten of twelve seconds. Years later I bought Ace Hobbies 40 sized trainer (warped wing) flew the crap out of it. the wheels wore down t o the plastic hubs.. GOOD TIMES!!!!! I still have not learned to fly a glider, I'm looking at two of them right now in the kitchen, No flight box sitting on the tail gate flying for hours

you need an alula.. funnest lil glider iv ever messed with,, pure 4.5 oz of fun! see the dream-flight link in my signature.. and avatar haha
mike

[whirlyspud]

I did'nt start flying till 79 or so. Escapments were long gone by then...ThankGod

Mike

[pcsol]

TopFlite Schoolmaster.
Rudder only w/ a Cox .049 , Kraft sport series radio (1976).
Covered with the original Monokote sheets . That thing was a B$#@h to fly for a first plane but taught me a lot moving from Control line to RC.
My next plane was a kraft Kwikfli with a fox .40 which was a real first plane. Not a great trainer but easy to repair/rebuild and had three whole channels!

[Aerotech]

Hello,

It was a Goldberg Falcon56 with a OS 40FP. I later strapped a Como40 with a pipe on it and put it through the trees..

Later

John

[toprudder]

Well, I flew control line planes before I got into RC. I did not know anyone that knew anything about model planes, so I taught myself how to fly Ukies (about the only way, really). What else -- a Cox PT 19, Baby Bee .049. I graduated to a Ringmaster Junior, Fox 15. I even made my own stunt tank out of a tin can and solder.

I was 13 when I built my first RC plane. Goldberg Skylane 62, OS 35. I saved up my summer money (cutting grass, working in tobacco). Covered the wing and stab with Monokote, using my Mom's iron, painted the fuselage with Pactra dope. I had mostly built the plane in the basement when my Dad discovered it. He asked how I was going to afford to the buy the radio, and I said I would save my money until I could. A decent radio back then (1973) cost about $275. Dad ended up chipping in half towards the radio, a Kraft 5ch Sport series, KPS 11 servos - HUGE. I did solo with that plane, even though it only lasted 6 flights. The first midair in the club's history! My instructor was taking off when it happened. That was in 1973, the other guy that midaired with me is still a member of that club (Wilson, NC). I still tease him about that whenever I see him. One of the other club members felt sorry for me (I did cry when it crashed!) and loaned me an Andrews H-Ray, with an OS 15, so I could continue flying. The next plane was a Goldberg Falcon 56 with OS 20.

Even though you can spend a fortune in this hobby, it cost a lot less to get a trainer flying today if you adjust for inflation. That $275 radio in 1973 would be the equivalent of $1200 or more today, just for a basic radio. If someone showed up with two planes, ready to fly, they were rich! There were no decent ARFs back then, either, so it took more time to build. But, those were great times. The sense of accomplishment was much greater back then, IMHO.

The modelers, though, have not changed. There is always going to be the club mentor(s), the guys that help out, and the ones that you look forward to traveling with to the flyins.

Bob R.

[warren cross]

I sarted while I was in Istanbul Turkey. NO hobby shops at all,had to order from USA or somtimes catch a plane to Germany. Had a fulscale pilot friend,so we figured it cant be that hard to learn to fly. I had a goldberg cessna skylane (got from Germany). I had lots of building exp from many years of ukie fling. (we did that in Istanbul also),but that another funny story. Any way we finished it and was lucky enough to get a OS 40 pylon engine. Got somefuel from Germany. 1 gal was all we could get. We had a 12000x200 ft runway at our disposle,so we used that. Finally got motor running, and taxied around to get the FEEL of the plane,well a little too fast,turned into the wind and it took off. Well it flew!! Now how the hell was we gonna get it down ? My friend was on the sticks (fullscale pilot),shaking like leaf, so we just kept it up kinda hi and let it run out of gas,after a hair rasing approach, he just kept it straight and landed several 100 ft dow that great big runway! By then we ahd several Turks watching us, they clapped and cheered. Then out of the bunch come the POLZI, they took our radio gear! Seems as a citizen of Turkey you arent allowed any transmitting device ! So after a few weeks of diplomatic dicussions (deputy ambassater) I got my stuff back,and a letter saying we could fly r/c. That was the FIRST r/c flying in Turkey !! That was 1968. Radio was Heath kit that I built. I was stationed at the Amerciam Embassy. I was a crypto tech. It was a real challange to build and fly thare. Finally got some alcahol for the doc at the phamacy,got some castor oil from down town,no nitro. Been building and flying since 1942 and loved every minuet of it. I tried to get my sons into fling. One didnt like it, the other is a f18e jock,as a matter of fact he is director of naval aviation at Coronado NAS,nad will be up for Admiral in Nov. Thats my story of modeling,hope u enjoyed it.