Author Topic: CL Flying, when did you start? (Read 10734 times)

Avaiojet · « **on:** January 06, 2012, 08:16:59 AM »

CL Flying, when did you start?

This will be a great Thread for those that tell lies.

I started in 1958. Here's my Flite Streak, photo was probably taken in 59 or 60 could have been 61.

Half ribs, flaps, shortened tail, silk n dope. Green silk clear dope, black with white trin. We flew fast back then. Johnson or Fox?

CB

Greg L Bahrman · « **Reply #1 on:** January 06, 2012, 10:13:04 AM »

Airplane name was "Puddle Jumper" with a .045 Spitfire engine. My parents lived on a corner so our front yard was bigger than most, just the right size for 1/2 A. I was nine.......ahhhh.......those were the days. Flew every weekend until we ran out of props or fuel, then grabbed the lawnmower and went knocking on doors until we earned enough for more fuel and props. Walked three miles to the hobby shop one way and then back and flew until dark. great memories ! ! !

Avaiojet · « **Reply #2 on:** January 06, 2012, 10:27:13 AM »

Quote from: Greg L Bahrman on January 06, 2012, 10:13:04 AM

Airplane name was "Puddle Jumper" with a .045 Spitfire engine. My parents lived on a corner so our front yard was bigger than most, just the right size for 1/2 A. I was nine.......ahhhh.......those were the days. Flew every weekend until we ran out of props or fuel, then grabbed the lawnmower and went knocking on doors until we earned enough for more fuel and props. Walked three miles to the hobby shop one way and then back and flew until dark. great memories ! ! !

Greg,

Did you make a mess of the lawn?

Yea, we would walk to the hobby shop also. 3 or 4 miles. Big hill walking back.

I had a paper route besides the Hobby Shop.

I actually would build the model in the HS for customers to see. Great Promo.

They would give me the kit.

CB

Greg L Bahrman · « **Reply #3 on:** January 06, 2012, 10:38:51 AM »

<Did you make a mess of the lawn?>

No, we had cement sidewalks about 3 feet wide and the corner was much larger and all concrete. It made for great take offs. Yeah we did make a mess of the sidewalk with oil stains etc.

keith varley · « **Reply #4 on:** January 06, 2012, 11:20:42 AM »

I flew my first control line flights in 1947 or 1948.There was a big interest in model airplanes then. As soon as WW2 was over model engines started being available , and there was almost a new make of hobby equipment being announced every month in the magazines. Even the big chain stores sold stuff.I bought my first engine from Eatons in Toronto. Shortly after that Irving Ohlson brought out the first glow plug and we never looked back.For a while it was a competition between diesel and glow , just which would prevail.It was popular to have a penpal in England to exchange our glow engines with their diesels.Soon there was an American diesel marketed by Leon Shulman called the Drone 15 .
Keith Varley
ps It's funny how old guys like to reminisce .

Marvin Denny · « **Reply #5 on:** January 06, 2012, 12:15:43 PM »

Started building and flying models in 1936. Rubber power, Megow I think

Bigiron

Lester Nicholson · « **Reply #6 on:** January 06, 2012, 12:19:12 PM »

1956/57 The motor was a Veco 19. Don't remember the airplane but it was a profile w/hardwood crutch for upright motor. The wing was solid balsa, 36 in. span w/flat bottom airfoil. My first airplane I got used and the one I learned to crash with. There was a lot of broken balsa before I ever got to learn to land. Nick

Bill Morell · « **Reply #7 on:** January 06, 2012, 02:08:52 PM »

What a great idea for a thread! Never seen this on SSW or here!

Avaiojet · « **Reply #8 on:** January 06, 2012, 02:20:50 PM »

Quote from: Bill Morell on January 06, 2012, 02:08:52 PM

What a great idea for a thread! Never seen this on SSW or here!

This Thread is supposed to be the honest one.

CB

Mark Scarborough · « **Reply #9 on:** January 06, 2012, 02:39:20 PM »

Quote from: Bill Morell on January 06, 2012, 02:08:52 PM

What a great idea for a thread! Never seen this on SSW or here!

Bill, you weren't by any chance being sarcastic were you?
nah I am sure not,,

FLOYD CARTER · « **Reply #10 on:** January 06, 2012, 03:04:07 PM »

This topic pops up from time to time. I usually respond, so I'll repeat what I've written on other posts:

First "flying" model plane, 1942. I won a rubber-model kit at my Cub Scout meeting. Age 9

First "gas" model. 1945. Age 11. Using my new Ohlsson 23 installed in a converted free flight to C/L

Floyd

Bill Little · « **Reply #11 on:** January 06, 2012, 03:53:29 PM »

I started in earnest in the summer of 1963. By the end of the summer I had a Goldberg Shoestring with a McCoy .19RH. Not overpowered by any means but I could fly inverted, do lazy 8s and all the loops. Before then there had been a few tries with Cox .049 powered models.

BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM

Mark Scarborough · « **Reply #12 on:** January 06, 2012, 03:55:18 PM »

Bill,
I KNEW I was ahead of the game, I had an overpowered Goldberg shoestring with a McCoy 35!!! LOL

ChrisSarnowski · « **Reply #13 on:** January 06, 2012, 04:21:05 PM »

My first ever control line flight was in the mid seventies on a friend's Cox Super Sport Trainer. It was pinkish-purple and white, looking something like a Cosmic Wind. The yard was too small and I had to fly over the BBQ and a flower trellis. I think I got maybe 2 laps in before hitting the trellis.

Didn't try control line again until 2007 or so. First got started with some old slow combat ships in Neil Simpson's back yard. Then I put more time in with the NEST stunt guys. So now I am splitting my time between combat and stunt, having fun with both.

-Chris

Terrence Durrill · « **Reply #14 on:** January 06, 2012, 04:27:28 PM »

It was in Green Ridge, Missouri ..... that I flew my first control line flights in the summer of 1953.....I was 13 years old. The plane was a Scientific LITTLE ACE team racer, typical hollow log, solid wing model. It was painted Testor's white with metalic blue trim and was powered by an O.K. Cub .049 engine. I actually flew the first flights by myself, no help in center circle, without crashing. Actually, I don't remember crashing much as learning control line flying came easy for me. The next summer, I was flying a Guillows TRIXTER B-C PROFILE powered by a K&B .29 greenhead and I went from there to a Ringmaster/Fox .29 combo, etc, etc., etc.

PJ Rowland · « **Reply #15 on:** January 06, 2012, 04:51:26 PM »

I started flying with my dad when I was 3 yrs old.
Went to my first Nats to fly aerobatics when I was 8.

john e. holliday · « **Reply #16 on:** January 07, 2012, 09:02:37 AM »

All I can say is my posts about this is on the other threads, like "As Time Goes Bye". Lets not start on first hobby shop again.

jim ivey · « **Reply #17 on:** January 07, 2012, 08:41:56 PM »

It was the trips up 45 deg hills both ways that made it so tough, the mowing lawns in 3 feet of snow to get money for props, in sunny so cal. my DAD bought me a wen-mac "aero-mite for my 10th birthday. didnt fly that thing till 5 years after i had learned to fly. won my first contest @ 12... gee dennis alford won his first nats at 6

with a super duper zilch <----60 size jim

Randy Powell · « **Reply #18 on:** January 07, 2012, 09:21:09 PM »

Randy Ryan · « **Reply #19 on:** January 07, 2012, 09:48:55 PM »

Matt Colan · « **Reply #20 on:** January 07, 2012, 10:05:41 PM »

September 2005 as an 11 year old

Randy Powell · « **Reply #21 on:** January 07, 2012, 10:20:42 PM »

>>1956<<

Wow, Randy, you're old.

Mike Griffin · « **Reply #22 on:** January 07, 2012, 10:34:37 PM »

Mike Keville · « **Reply #23 on:** January 07, 2012, 10:41:50 PM »

1951.

Okay, lock it down.

John Stiles · « **Reply #24 on:** January 08, 2012, 07:42:46 AM »

If my memory is accurate, in '61' but before that I was given a lightly crashed combat plane, and that's when my obsession actually began. That was prolly around '56'. Nobody could get the idea that plastic models wasn't gettin it. Mom finally got the point it had to fly, after I started jumping off the eave with an umbrella.

Bill Mohrbacher · « **Reply #25 on:** January 08, 2012, 08:49:06 AM »

Christmas 1953 I got a Wasp Powered Aeromite. I don't think I flew it until spring 1954.

Louis Keller, Jr. · « **Reply #26 on:** January 08, 2012, 09:12:57 AM »

The seed was planted Christmas 1962 when I received a monoline plane. The handle/power supply was a modified flashlight with two "D" cell batteries that lasted all of ten minutes. I never forgot that childhood experience.

John Fitzgerald · « **Reply #27 on:** January 08, 2012, 10:12:10 AM »

Christmas 1964 when I received a Wen-Mac P-63. It would barely fly, but it inspired me to build a Cox. 049 powered solid balsa Lil Wizard the next spring. A .049 powered built-up wing P-40 was next. That summer (1965), I got to fly a family friend's .35 powered stunt/sport model, and I was hooked, off and on, for life.

bob werle · « **Reply #28 on:** January 08, 2012, 06:16:05 PM »

I started flying anything in 1948. Small gliders and rubber stick models from the 5 and 10 cents store. on the Speede built. My first c/l ship was an AJ Firecat in 1961. It had a McCoy .35 rh (still have that motor) The rest is an endless series of PDQ kits trying to fly inverted. Still cann't

Randy Ryan · « **Reply #29 on:** January 08, 2012, 08:18:00 PM »

Quote from: Randy Powell on January 07, 2012, 10:20:42 PM

>>1956<<

Wow, Randy, you're old.

HAHAHA I am!!! I was 6 then!!!

Randy Powell · « **Reply #30 on:** January 08, 2012, 08:41:43 PM »

John,

Wow, my first plane was also a WenMac P-63! I was about 7. Flew it in a vacant lot next to my house after getting it for Christmas.

PJ Rowland · « **Reply #31 on:** January 08, 2012, 08:47:11 PM »

1956 : HAHA my DAD was only 5...

Randy Powell · « **Reply #32 on:** January 08, 2012, 08:51:18 PM »

Sorry PJ, you've fallen in with a bunch of old guys.

jim ivey · « **Reply #33 on:** January 08, 2012, 09:33:22 PM »

hmmmm 10th birthday 1951 I couldnt fly the aeromite so dad built a "strato-cat powered by an O n R 29. that i could fly right off. learned to loop it consecutively by myself. well well dad gave me a lot of encouragement. damn I miss that guy still after all these years

Roger Vizioli · « **Reply #34 on:** January 08, 2012, 09:34:33 PM »

Started w/Thermic/Jasco gliders in late 40's, then to stick/tissue rubber powered models then to CL in 51/52? with Firebaby's.
CLiner

John Leidle · « **Reply #35 on:** January 09, 2012, 07:44:01 AM »

Christmas 1962 Cox Stuka.

Joseph Patterson · « **Reply #36 on:** January 09, 2012, 08:52:45 AM »

1957
Doug P

Randy Powell · « **Reply #37 on:** January 09, 2012, 10:50:42 AM »

Roger,

I built a lot of Thermic 18s. I loved putting the rockets on them.

Roger Vizioli · « **Reply #38 on:** January 09, 2012, 11:20:20 AM »

Quote from: Randy Powell on January 09, 2012, 10:50:42 AM

Roger,

I built a lot of Thermic 18s. I loved putting the rockets on them.

Randy,
You "tweaked the old brain", I did something like that also. Dont remember the airframe but believe we used the Jetex 50's.

?
Hmmm, might have to pursue doing it again, "maybe I'll get younger!"

Roger

Clayton Berry · « **Reply #39 on:** January 12, 2012, 11:39:51 AM »

1964. I was four. Dad built 5 'American Boys'. One with a beam mount. Space Hopper powered. Cub orange, all of them. Cox radial mounted on the rest. Never screwed with Wen Macs or OK Cubs. We had standards.

Ever had the top of a can of dope come off and spew all over your crotch in the shop? Ever given a bottle of thinner to clean up the mess? Ever gotten thinner on your rectal orifice? Don't ever do that. A five year old comes screaming out of the back of the house (naked, with a lot of orangeness to him) to head for the garden hose. While the neighbors are having a pool party.

I flew until I discovered they made Triumph Tiger 750's and that girls liked to go for rides. $1495, 1978. Got back into flying after clocking a pickup on my Guzzi in 93. No more motorcycles. Have a paralyzed arm now (among other maladies). Phil Coopy helped teach me to fly RC, as a matter of fact. With a six channel Futaba converted to single stick by Ed Gerber of Warrenton area of Virginia. Back to CL in 96 or so. Still have the transmitter. Probably needs batteries by now.

Used to do lots of inside loops with a Ringmaster/McCoy 35 at the school yard across the street. Dad would come out and unwind the lines with outsides. Then I discovered Missile Mist and we wore everything out.

And BTW? Never see how fast you can retrieve the cylinder of a Johnson that just threw a rod on a rat racer. They're hot. Still have the pieces somewhere. Only took a second or so to examine that thing the first time.

Russ Danneman · « **Reply #40 on:** January 12, 2012, 12:04:58 PM »

clayton, you have made my day!!!

rd

Marvin Denny · « **Reply #41 on:** January 12, 2012, 12:30:24 PM »

Hey Clayton!!1 Did that Johnson come with instructions to " put it down after a quick scan?
Been there ---done that.

bigiron

Jim Thomerson · « **Reply #42 on:** January 12, 2012, 12:38:20 PM »

During high school I buit a number of towline gliders and flew them out in the pasture. My first really successful airplane was a Jasco Thermic 50 build around 1950. in 1953, I learned to fly CL after many crashes with a much repaired Berkley Senor Puddlejumper and Cameron 19. I have Puddlejumper plans and a couple of Cameron 19s and may make another some day.

Larry Fernandez · « **Reply #43 on:** January 12, 2012, 12:38:41 PM »

Seven years old, 1965. A Top Flite, Flite Streak Trainer with a McCoy .19.
About a year later my father built me a Top Flite Combat Streak with a canopy and conventional wire landing gear. Powered with a Webra .15 diesel.
Oh, the smell of ether sure brings back memories.

Larry, Buttafucco Stunt Team

Clayton Berry · « **Reply #44 on:** January 12, 2012, 12:39:18 PM »

I'm not sure I could read at that point.

But, I knew hot. For years.

Now I know sex. For years, I hope.

Ask me about the folding chair some day.

FLOYD CARTER · « **Reply #45 on:** January 12, 2012, 01:06:53 PM »

Quote from: Randy Powell on January 09, 2012, 10:50:42 AM

Roger,

I built a lot of Thermic 18s. I loved putting the rockets on them.

So, in case you are wondering just what is a "Thermic 18". A neat hand launch glider of the '40s designed and kitted by Frank Zaic. Its companion was the Thermic 20.

The "18" is shown in the upper right. The "20" is just below it. Thew others are kit models, but can't remember the names.

Floyd

Andrew Borgogna · « **Reply #46 on:** January 12, 2012, 01:14:36 PM »

Around 1957 the plane was a Jimmy Walker Firebaby with a OK Cub .049. To say that I had limited success would be a mild understatement, but that was my first attempt at control line. If you consider all model airplanes, I was fly wind ups and gliders as far back as I can remember, early 1950's.
Andy

Randy Ryan · « **Reply #47 on:** January 12, 2012, 04:00:32 PM »

Quote from: Randy Powell on January 08, 2012, 08:51:18 PM

Sorry PJ, you've fallen in with a bunch of old guys.

Curmugeons all!

Randy Ryan · « **Reply #48 on:** January 12, 2012, 04:03:54 PM »

Quote from: FLOYD CARTER on January 12, 2012, 01:06:53 PM

Lessee; clockwise from left, Thermic B, Thermic 18, Thermic 20 and in the foreground....... no frikkin idea.

John Eyer · « **Reply #49 on:** January 13, 2012, 10:17:49 AM »

Author Topic: CL Flying, when did you start? (Read 10734 times)

ChrisSarnowski

Mike Griffin

John Leidle