Author Topic: Still got your 1st model ? (Read 9287 times)

PJ Rowland · « **on:** January 04, 2011, 04:58:47 AM »

Hi All..

I was reading another thread about if control line is still fun for you. - Got me thinking, about how good it was when I was a little tacker and I would go out with dad on a Sunday and throw a little .15cc model around the sky.

I started flying very early - went solo at 4 attended my 1st Nats at 8 - nothing was better in those days we seemed to have an endless supply of models - albeit they were not full stunt ships with 20 point finishes, but they were fun to fly - and they taught me the fundamentals of flying.. Like ground = bits..

Alot of water has passed under that bridge from when I was 5 or 6 and basically all of those models we used to fly have since been destroyed - once again due to the ground. - Sure ive still got my Nats models from around 1994 Not ALL of them but most.. - Nothing like Billys collection, but some of them were'nt worth keeping in flying condition.

So it got me thinking about Billy's collection, about others on here whom have been flying for ALONG time - Do you still have your 1st Model ?
I dont have my VERY first model but I do still have my all time favorite model .
Its an aeroflight Kit - Hurricane - I didnt actually know that until tonight when I spoke to Dad to ask him some information about it - I always called it me " ding HO " I just thought thats what it was called because that was the sticked that came on the side of the model - Looking today you can just BEARLY make it out.. - The only reference I can find is a Bomber squadron called DING HOW, maybe thats what it was meant to read and the W fell off over time.. Weird..

We dont know what engine it originally was designed for but when I flew it Is had an OS .15. According to dad, it was the very 1st model he ever built for me to fly , when I was 5 yrs old.
We think it was crashed 10 + times mostly just ground shaves nothing major but the wing has been recovered - rebuilt and repainted.
I took it out about 5 years ago for a laugh and it still flew just like I remembered !!

The Photo below is of me holding it when I was about 5 or 6 - I also thought it would be funny to snap a photo of me holding it today - just to compare.

Fast Forward 25 Years...

So let me ask others out there - do you still OWN or possess your 1st model ? If not what happened to it - Do you remember it, and what is the oldest model you still own - lets see some photos ??

JamieHolford · « **Reply #1 on:** January 04, 2011, 06:44:47 AM »

lol that is too cool.

My first was a Cox PT-19. Got it when I was around 10 or so ( 16 yrs back ) when they were still selling them at Walmart for around 30 bucks. When we could get that lil sucker running I had a blast with it. But over time the rubber bands ended up exploding and the wing is located in parts unknown. Still have the fuselage and rudder and elevator. I pulled the engine off and scratched built a profile ME-109 from Guillows plans. And thats the exent of it. Need to paint it up and try to run it.

My second model is a Sterling 1/2a Mustang that has a Black widow that barely pulls it off the ground lol.

I would like to get that PT-19 flying again. Just them PT-19 parts are quite a shinny penny these days on Ebay.

Serge_Krauss · « **Reply #2 on:** January 04, 2011, 08:39:53 AM »

PJ-

Thanks for the reminiscence and photos!

This is my second try, since I lost the first post here after a try at duplicating your picture insertion technique. I think I know how - Edit: I guess not! -, but if no pictures appear in the body of this text, you'll know that I don't - yet. I'll leave them as attachments, just in case. Anyway...

My first "flying" models were "Jig-Time", "Cleveland Quickie", and other rubber-powered balsa free flights. None lasted long in the early-mid 1950's. Like so many others here, I also had an early period in CL, followed by a long absence - in my case 40 years - before returning. During that first period, as posted elsewhere, I first built a "Dil-Bod" team racer, which my recalcitrant Wen-Mac .049 mercifully failed to fly. Use of lots of Ambroid on the firewall and substitution of many coats of dope for use of sandpaper were probably not sufficient to keep that gold-numeraled, red "beauty" airborne anyway.

I do have the first and last CL models I actually flew. I had apparently discovered the use of sandpaper and steel wool by then. Since both are posted in similar threads, I'll just post my first flyer, my Scientific "Atomic" and the last CL plane I built before life got in the way. Here's the "Atomic", which I built to fly with my friend J.B., who had a "Stuntmaster" that I admired. We flew in his back yard.

This plane actually flew a short distance with my "expertly" modified Wen-Mac and later, after I'd flown "large" models (e.g. my Yak-9), more successfully and much faster, with my great little O&R "Midget" .049.

Finally, this is the last CL model I built as life intervened, an unflown and impractical little "mouse racer" that in late 2010 acquired greater stature as a symbolic piece of auto racing memorabilia.

Well, if my guess didn't work on insertions, you can look below to see what I meant.

The "Atomic" was not a great flyer, but the O&R really whisked it around the grass circle in the field by Dean Trindle's house (now a Wal Mart lot) on County Rd. 6, north of Elkhart. The little red one was designed before I knew much, but it was a good topic of conversation on our table and at our 1/2-A flying circle at Cleveland's indoor "Piston Power Show" last November. It also spent a bit of time there under the much larger wing of Norm Skuderin's most recent masterpiece, a P-39 racer. So sometimes it's good to keep our nostalgic pieces around. It's sometimes surprising how many old CL flyers there are out in the crowd. Once in a while onle will join our club and restart his youthful CL journey. Except for the often fruitless and annoying political ramblings, CL is a good way to stay young at heart, and the past is a nice place to visit!

SK

john e. holliday · « **Reply #3 on:** January 04, 2011, 09:01:41 AM »

My first model control line plane was the A-J Firebaby. Had my Cox Space Bug engine on it. Lasted all of 9 laps on about 15 foot of dacron line or what ever it was that came with the set. I was so dizzy I couldn't stand up. Needless to say it didn't stay around long as I didn't know the replacement parts.

Dalton Hammett · « **Reply #4 on:** January 04, 2011, 09:59:20 AM »

Neat pictures !!!

My first was a Papoose with an old McCoy .19. The plane was rebuilt so many times I couldn't guess a number but I still have the engine and another Veco Kit.
Someday..............

Dalton H.

Terrence Durrill · « **Reply #5 on:** January 04, 2011, 12:52:45 PM »

My first plane was a Scientific Little Ace team racer with an early model cub .049 engine. It was white, trimmed in metallic blue just like the picture on the box. The prop was a plastic 6/3 and the fuel was Nitro X. My starting battery was one that had been discarded by the local telephone office as being run down and useless (it had a little fire left and was good for a few flying sessions). The year was 1954 and I was 13 years old. I have no idea what happened to that plane, but we did have fun with it. The Cub .049 was stolen out of my garage in 1967. I was able to buy an exact copy of that engine on ebay a couple of years ago and who knows....I might get around to putting iton a plane some day. The Scientific Little Ace is an extremely rare kit and I have never seen one on Ebay. I am sure that if one appeared, it would sell for big bucks....more than I would want to lay out, I am afraid. Any one who still has their first plane after 46 years is truly a remarkable person indeed, but it ain't me.........TDurrill

Andrew Tinsley · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2011, 02:21:53 PM »

My first plane was a rubber driven Kiel Kraft Competitor, my father built it for me when I was 4! It lasted about 15 seconds, before it disintegrated on hitting the ground.
My second was a Keil Kraft Chief an old Nordic A2 design. This time I helped my father build it. I still have the blood stained plan to prove it! My father was not quick enough to stop me wielding a half Blue Gilette razor blade!
I am now 65 and I was 5 at the time. I still have the Chief and it still gets flown on very special days. It is on its 4th recovering (coloured tissue and dope). Apart from keeping on top of the wing and tail warps, it is a real pussy cat!

Regards,

Andrew.

Bill Sawyer · « **Reply #7 on:** January 04, 2011, 03:01:28 PM »

My oldest existing plane is a 45 inch span Pt-17 Cadet Trainer that I built in 1972 when I was working at North Island California. A Clorox bottle salvaged from a laundromat served as the mold for the fiberglass cowl. It was brush painted yellow and the diamond pattern was done with masking tape. The engine is a Fox 59 and the blue eyed pilot was painted by my wife.

The plane was left in 1973 in a shopping center hobby shop as I was moving and could not take it with me. This shop was sold and went bankrupt and my plane was sold. When I went back to get it the original owner had regained control of the old hobby shop but did not know where my plane was. I left a notice on their message board asking where it could be. Sometime later I received a letter from someone telling me he knew where my plane was and had replaced the wing wires and arranged to return it to the shop. The plane disappeared again and I have been told it was once in storage in the back of yet another hobby shop. Somehow it ended up hanging in Control Line Central in Albuquerque. I finally got to see it again when I went to their contest a couple years ago.

Bill Sawyer

Dennis Adamisin · « **Reply #8 on:** January 04, 2011, 03:41:06 PM »

My Dad still has my first full stunt machine - a Jetco Dolphin finished in 1966 and flown at the NATs that year. Later it was sold to a hobby Shop and it hung there for a long time. When the shop closed my Dad got it and one of by brother's birds (from 1964) back. Those two are hanging in Dad's basement.

Dad also has a Edco (?) Autogyro from about 1960 and a plans-built "Bouncing Bertie" triplane that was framed up in the late 50's.

Pix from the '66 NATs attached. It has aged quite a bit but not as badly as me..!

Bill Heher · « **Reply #9 on:** January 04, 2011, 10:20:12 PM »

1st C/l plane I owned was a Cox P-51 - plane long gone but still have the engine from it. Ditto the 2nd - a testors Cosmic Wind- plane long gone- still have the engine.

Lots of 1/2A profiles for a couple years then my 1st big plane- S1 Ringmaster and a K&B Stallion .35- engine disapeared but still have the fuselage- it's 35 years old! and I keep lugging it around the country like a family heirloom!

GGeezer · « **Reply #10 on:** January 05, 2011, 12:06:16 AM »

My first C/L model was a Scientific "Lil Saber", also a rare model on Ebay these days but I have the plans and may build it again. The model had my first "gas" engine in the nose, an Atwood Cadet .049 which was mounted inverted.
The engine was tight and would not start, I flooded it, got a hydraulic lock and promptly bent the con rod. I never did fly the model and I'm not sure why because I though it sure looked pretty.
When I left home after high school, I couldn't take my stuff and my mom gave all my models and engines to my cousins who made quick work of trashing everything.

Orv.

Bill Little · « **Reply #11 on:** January 05, 2011, 12:32:55 AM »

Quote from: Serge_Krauss on January 04, 2011, 08:39:53 AM

PJ-

Thanks for the reminiscence and photos!
(snip)

(snip)
SK

Hi Serge,

The Atomic was one of my favorite looking Scientifics! Never had one, though.

And I know Hershel! LOL!!!

Bill

Bill Little · « **Reply #12 on:** January 05, 2011, 12:40:53 AM »

I Still have my first "full blown Stunter", a Veco kit Smoothie. It was done in 1963. I rebuilt/repaired/recovered it maybe 10 years ago, and flew it once afterwards. it's hanging in the basement. I also found a few kits of some of the other planes I had while in Jr. High and High School. Had to wait until I could trade for them or get them cheap! LOL!! All will be built and flown, Good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise.

One was a buddy's Enterprise "Sure Thing, all wood, symmetrical wing, McCoy .19RH. Got it almost ready to paint for my Grandson to learn on, heck, he's already 6!! (gonna use a OS 10FP or LA this time.

)

Big Bear

PJ Rowland · « **Reply #13 on:** January 05, 2011, 01:28:15 AM »

Great stories guys.. It seems 1st aircraft is like your first kiss - it was either really good and you remember it, and kept you coming back for more - or it was really bad and you remember and thought I gotta get better at this !

Comeon Bill - make with some photos !

charlie · « **Reply #14 on:** January 05, 2011, 02:45:50 AM »

My first model was a plank winged Sabre trainer powered by a Max II .15. The plane is long gone, but I still have that first engine. The oldest Model still in my possession is a modified Mk 2 Thunderbird that I started building in 1966. It was half finished and put aside while I did lots of other stuff (Kart racing, cars, full size gliding, family etc.) Then when my boy was big enough for C/L I got enthused again and finished it just 21 years after I started it. That was 1987 when it first flew. The Veco .35 still sounds good.
Charlie

George · « **Reply #15 on:** January 05, 2011, 08:00:51 AM »

Don't have the plane, a Scientific "Little Bipe", but I still have the engine, an OK Cub (.049). Both used from a friend. Cost? My Daisy "Defender" BB gun.

It's the one on the left. The other is from an auction site.

George

Will Hinton · « **Reply #16 on:** January 05, 2011, 01:41:55 PM »

Denny A. - shame on you, you haven't aged badly at all, you're still fairly well preserved! No where near as cute as you were as the kid in that picture, but.....

My first c/l ship was a Scientific carved balsa Stinson Voyager that I put a tri-gear on. It's loooooooooong since gone, but I have a Cox Thimbledrome Space Bug Junior .049 screwed to the door of my balsa cabinet - that was the power.

Paul Taylor · « **Reply #17 on:** January 05, 2011, 02:03:31 PM »

Well mine was a plastic P-51. Not sure if it was Cox or Testor, back in the early 70's. A few years later me and my friend bought some balsa 1/2a kits at a LHS. And there again I don't remember what they were other then solid wing profiles, but I got bit by the CL model bug. I then started saving my money and tried to buy all the Carl Goldburg 1/2a kits. Lil Wizard, Jumping Bean, and a little solid wing combat plane. Maybe a Little Satan? I think it was my early years in shop class I took some pine wood and ran it thru the planner until it was about 1/8 inch thick. I scratched built the plane in the picture below. I did not have anyone to show me how to build and fly model planes. I know a little more now but not much. I never understood what the CG symbol was on any of my planes. I am sure that is why my Jumping Bean plane flew like a jumping bean. I thought the name explained it. I would say my Lil Wizard was my best flying plane. My scratch built flew, barley. It is very heavy. I later graduated to a Testor/McCoy .19 and I think it was a Sig Akromaster, but there again I do not recall the name of the model. I just new I had a very big plane to build and one of the biggest engines I had every seen.
I still have the McCoy engine along with a few of the 1/2a's I had as a kid. I think I took a few of my old engines and made one good flying 1/2a when Propbust (aka Ryan) and I started doing this about six years ago. We quickly graduated up to a Flite Streak Trainer and I tried again to bring the Testor / McCoy back to life. Still did not know much of what I was doing, but learned quickly and the rest is history on SSW and here.

Bill Little · « **Reply #18 on:** January 05, 2011, 02:06:36 PM »

Quote from: Will Hinton on January 05, 2011, 01:41:55 PM

Denny A. - shame on you, you haven't aged badly at all, you're still fairly well preserved! No where near as cute as you were as the kid in that picture, but.....
My first c/l ship was a Scientific carved balsa Stinson Voyager that I put a tri-gear on. It's loooooooooong since gone, but I have a Cox Thimbledrome Space Bug Junior .049 screwed to the door of my balsa cabinet - that was the power.

Hi Will,

For some reason I still have the very first engine I ever had! LOL!! A Wen Mac .049.

Big Bear

Ed Keller · « **Reply #19 on:** January 05, 2011, 02:49:55 PM »

P J - You mention "Billy's collection". I don't have my first plane-a Scientific Little Devil with an OK cub .039 - but I have an interesting plane that I happened upon about 12-15 yrs ago. It was hanging in the ceiling of a Hobby Shop here in town. At the time, I did not have so many planes, & thought I could stick an engine it & go fly, so I talked the owner of the shop into selling it to me. It has "Probe" on the wings, & looks just like the USA one planes. I was told by a couple of flyers that this was one of Billys planes from the 70's. It is in pretty good condition for its age, missing only the lower cowl. It certainly shows tremendous workmanship. Wonder if anyone remembers Billy flying this plane? Good thing I bought it, because the HS burned to the ground a few years later. Regards, Ed

Allen Brickhaus · « **Reply #20 on:** January 05, 2011, 05:40:24 PM »

My Do-335 was originally began in 1963 my first year of flying. I am submitting the model to Control Line World for possible publication in 2011. Long time eh?

Allen Brickhaus · « **Reply #21 on:** January 05, 2011, 05:43:17 PM »

Further along.

Bill Little · « **Reply #22 on:** January 05, 2011, 05:48:22 PM »

HI Allen,

Better late than never! Glad you still have it. Hmmmm... a "Captured" push/pull 1/2A profile! That qualifies for Tuscon's multi Engine 1/2A contest! I really like the "captured" theme, something different.

Bill

Jim Kraft · « **Reply #23 on:** January 05, 2011, 05:57:18 PM »

I don't have any of my first planes, but I have all of my old engines. OK Cub .049 on a Half Pint race car, then the engine went on several Scientific hollow logs. Next was a Fox 15 on a Jr. Ringmaster. Next was a Fox 35 on a Sterling Mustang. And they all still run good. The Fox is on one of my Bi-Slobs now.

Will Hinton · « **Reply #24 on:** January 05, 2011, 07:02:16 PM »

Hi Bill,
This Cox isn't my original, but when I had the chance to pick up an identical I just had to do it.

Have you guys noticed how many of our first planes were Scientific?

Bill Little · « **Reply #25 on:** January 05, 2011, 07:17:53 PM »

Quote from: Will Hinton on January 05, 2011, 07:02:16 PM

Hi Bill,
This Cox isn't my original, but when I had the chance to pick up an identical I just had to do it.

Have you guys noticed how many of our first planes were Scientific?

Brother Will,

Scientific was the BOMB for a kid back in the day! LOL!! The first "Balsa" C/L kit i built and flew was a Scientific King Cobra. Even though I don't have it, I do have a kit I stole, opps, "found". I will fly one again. LOL!!

Jim Kraft · « **Reply #26 on:** January 05, 2011, 08:41:34 PM »

I can still remember the aroma from those Scientific kits when you opened the box. Ooh! It got your juices flowing.

Phil Coopy · « **Reply #27 on:** January 05, 2011, 09:08:34 PM »

My first C/L model was a 1/2A cub I think from Sicentific I ordered from AHC about 1950. It had a O.K. Cub .049B that I financed by mowing lawns. That model is long gone, but I still have the O.K. Cub.

My actual first engine never got put on an airplane. It was a DEEZIL that was advertized in Mechanic's Illustrated. My brother an I got it to run pretty well on a mixture of kerosene, ether, 70wt oil but after a while we couldn't get it started very well. We were trying to get it going one day, and as my father passed he commented, "Ya know if you guys leave the top off that mason jar like that all your ether is going to evapoate". Problem solved.

Phil

Mike Scholtes · « **Reply #28 on:** January 05, 2011, 10:32:31 PM »

Hi PJ:

In answer to your specific question, I may win the award for actually STILL HAVING my first-ever CL model, plus engine to boot. Not sure of the maker, but a half-A "Wing Ding" was the model. Milled hollow balsa fuse, milled symmetrical airfoil wing, spoked yellow plastic wheels (my own innovation). Cox Space Bug Jr .049. I built this in about 1955 when I was 8, and it looks it. But it flew, and not too badly. Both are still in decent shape but engine is frozen since about 1965. Not my first model, but I still have the Firebaby that was also powered by that Space Bug Jr. All the parts were replaceable and available at the local hardware/hobby shop.

Serge_Krauss · « **Reply #29 on:** January 06, 2011, 09:36:02 AM »

Phil-

Now THAT is really cool! I may have that first WenMac I used, but due to lack of success, I guess I'm not particularly attached to it. It came on a blue plastic "Night Fighter" that was, I guess, my real first CL model, but it didn't fly either - same reason. Ha! Anyway, your display is priceless, and the engine looks great.

Bill-

You know him? Wow! He doesn't look 83 years old. The signatures on the little red plane are from active drivers of some repute, whose careers began well over half a century apart, the subject of my letter in NSSN that month on the ironies of public awareness. I greatly admire both drivers, but the icon who won the first Carrera Panamerica (1950) and has the longest ever NASCAR career attracted no crowd. While no autograph hound, I couldn't pass that up and found both gracious, one hot off the walls at St. Louis' Gateway and the other all polished up after a final September NASCAR West race. It was interesting how H.M. pretty well stamped his ID on the big wing, while D. was quite deferential, asking just precisely where I wanted the signature, turning the plane to various angles. You just never know who might find a model airplane intriguing.

SK

john e. holliday · « **Reply #30 on:** January 06, 2011, 09:42:52 AM »

Thanks for the pics of one of the greatest in racing.

Jerry Leuty · « **Reply #31 on:** January 06, 2011, 11:34:05 AM »

When I was 8 years old, probably in the winter of 1955 just before I turned 9 that year, I got my first paper route. Ordinarily a boy had to be the ripe old age of 10 but because my dad was in the news paper business in San Fransisco I got the first paper route in our new neighborhood. We lived in Corte Madera in Marin county just north of SF. Along with the employment came a bonus book that had a treasure trove of prizes if you were industrious worker. With so many new starts I could be a Real Gas Powered Model Airplane. It was a Wen Mac plastic RTF. Dad got it to run but never did get it to fly. I mastered getting it to run as well. Not really flying but it was a start. Later came a Cox P-40 with a Baby Bee .049 They didn't fly all that well either. One of the kids in my Fort Worth, Texas neighborhood got a Cox PT-19 for Christmas and we all learned how to fly on that plane. Next came the Scientific American Boy, Lil Red Devil, and so forth kits. Then I bought a Fox .29 from a kid in the 7 th. grade and then came the first of many Ring Masters, Flight Streaks, Super Clowns, etc. Wow! The feel and tension on those steel lines. It was amazing. Oh the stories that have come out of nearly 60 years of modeling. It has been a great run in life...........has it not? Yes the fun is still in flying for me. And at the RM Round Up I come away with the giggles in my spirit. I enjoy judging, participating in, and competition in contests, but they equate to work by the end of the day. Last June in Dallas the heat took a toll on most of us older folks. Now it is winter in north Texas and I watch everyday for a decent day to go out and put up a few flights.

Bill Little · « **Reply #32 on:** January 06, 2011, 02:44:10 PM »

Quote from: Serge_Krauss on January 06, 2011, 09:36:02 AM

Phil-

Now THAT is really cool! I may have that first WenMac I used, but due to lack of success, I guess I'm not particularly attached to it. It came on a blue plastic "Night Fighter" that was, I guess, my real first CL model, but it didn't fly either - same reason. Ha! Anyway, your display is priceless, and the engine looks great.

Bill-

You know him? Wow! He doesn't look 83 years old. The signatures on the little red plane are from active drivers of some repute, whose careers began well over half a century apart, the subject of my letter in NSSN that month on the ironies of public awareness. I greatly admire both drivers, but the icon who won the first Carrera Panamerica (1950) and has the longest ever NASCAR career attracted no crowd. While no autograph hound, I couldn't pass that up and found both gracious, one hot off the walls at St. Louis' Gateway and the other all polished up after a final September NASCAR West race. It was interesting how H.M. pretty well stamped his ID on the big wing, while D. was quite deferential, asking just precisely where I wanted the signature, turning the plane to various angles. You just never know who might find a model airplane intriguing.

SK

HI Serge,

Been around NASCAR, and racing, since literally before I was born. My Mom was at the track when she was carrying me.

My Granddad that raised me built/owned a '39 Dodge coupe we ran in NASCAR Sportsman. Wish I still had that car! LOL!!

Since I retired, I have had more time to work with James Harvey Hylton. He's 76 now and also still driving. Possibility that we might go Truck racing this season, or Nationwide, and James might make another run at the Daytona 500 in the not too distant future.. Never know exactly what he's going to do.

My "Mongo" nickname came from our crew chief. Long story.......... LOL!!

Big Bear