We're those the radios that if you yelled at just the right frequency you could make the service move? I started rc about 82, when everything had moved to 72 mhz.
How about c/l, what was your first plane?

I had an Orbit 10 channel reed set around 1970.  Was getting into RC for something different, while building combat planes for fun.
I actually flew a plane with it.  There were still some very helpful guys in the Twin City club.  Some were still flying reeds, digital proportional was just getting affordable.
I remember one time watching one of the better flyers flying with a reed setup, and somebody else had the back of the transmitter off, re-tuning the reeds so it could be landed.

Later on I built a MAN outfit and learned to land.  Initially though it was exciting.  One kind of windy day I was having problems keeping the plane pointed upwind back to the field.  It finally got so far away I could barely see.  The best all around flyer in the club grabbed the transmitter and another guy had binoculars and was telling him which way to turn to keep it coming back.  The controls are reversed, so it's tricky.  They did manage to get it back in one piece to a nice landing, than God.  More money than I could afford to lose.

Phil.  A 1970 Orbit 10 channel reed outfit might have been a later revision of my original circuit.  I'm not sure who helped Bob Dunham with later electronic design.  Bob was not capable of electronic design.

For those who might have known Bob Dunham, he died of lung cancer.  He smoked almost constantly.

One of my own early home brew R/C outfits was a 10 channel reed system with a very large transmitter.  It was often necessary to weekly re-tune the audio generators in the transmitter because they would drift slightly, and the reed bank in the receiver was very narrow-band.  Just a few cycles off frequency and the reed would not vibrate!  It was common to double 1 batteries labolose one or more channels while flying due to circuit drifting.  Crashing in those days was common due to radio problems.

In 1967 I was at the far east nationals in  Tachakawa AFB Japan. It was an armed service  contest with a chance to go to the nationals in the USA. Bob Dunham and Zell Ritchie were the C.D.'S of the Meet. I was still flying single channel R.C with an upgrade to Royal servos and combined with a receiver and 3 servos and 11double A batteries soldered in the appropriate voltages for each function made for an interesting heavy set up. Transmitter was a Hinode which had a system that beeped every time time you keyed the button. Made it easy to count out the pulses to get the right control movement
   To the point I had 2 really informative chats with both Bob and Zell and they were gracious enough to spend time answering my inquisitive questions. Mr Dunham asked why I did not have an Orbit outfit and I had to answer that I would love to have one but at $435.Dollars plus an additional $35.00 for the 4th servo precluded my owning one of his radios until I left the service and got a good paying job as the service was starvation wages. That was when Orbit made the 3+1 analog radio
I never did get one as I built a few World Engine radios, Heath and Royal  also when I got out.
But I fondly remember the 2 of them and their enthusiasm  for the hobby.

For about $120, now, you can buy a park flyer that would blow any of that stuff away....in spades! We have come a long way.

I started flying RC with Controlaire 6 channel, it was outdated at the time but my father purchased used equipment for me to start on. It was reliable until it failed and flew away but plane was returned. Moved to World Engines Blue Max proportional. I still have the reeds.

Bill Kuhl