As cool as the Cox plastic ready to fly models are, and I have a large collection of them and fly some at every opportunity, it's today's society that keeps them from the market. Today's parents would be shouting of the dangers of the volatile fuel required and razor sharp propeller that is sure to lop off the fingers of their precious child!! It's amazing that a toy airplane that was featured in several prime time televisions series when we were kids would be considered such a danger in this day and age. I'm really surprised that Estes Rockets are still available, but they have managed to navigate their way through ridiculous restrictions. The last competition that Cox had in that area was the Bratco Skybaby. It was an eggshell fragile model that while it flew well, would not survive it's first serious crash, and was priced at $130 or $140. That was about 20 years ago now I think, and Cox had just re-released the last version of the PT-19 and the newer J-3 Cub trainers at about half that price. The only saving grace about the Bratco model was the Norvel engine. I was one of the group that test flew the Skybaby and the flying wing Hexdrone when factory reps were at the SIG control line contest one year. Several of us test flew both airplanes and gave honest reviews and recommendations. SIG was to be the lone distributor for them. After the flying session, we talked it over with the Bratco crew. They thought they had a unique and great idea with their vacu-formed shell air frame, but were surprised when they were told it wasn't new or unique. Cox had tried virtually the same process with their TD-3 model back in the 1950s and it suffered from the same problem and was not a great success. We crashed a model, just to illustrate what punishment a typical beginner would subject the airframe to, and the results were not pretty. The Hexdone was a terrible airplane, even for experienced pilots. It was incredibly sensitive and not well balanced on top of being the same kind of construction as the Skybaby and is fragile as hell!! They did not listen to one suggestion or recommendation from us. The models just did not sell. We stocked a few at the hobby shop I was working at and they sat there for months. The owner finally offered them to me at cost to avoid the expense of shipping them back. Eventually, SIG withdrew them from the market, and donated the remaining stock to the KidVenture operation at Oshkosh. The late great Art Johnson came up with some fixes and re-enforcements that helped make them last a while longer than stock. The models were a good size and weight for the kinds we deal with there, and the engine gave great power and were almost indestructible. As each model became unrepairable, we saved the engines and as stock got low, we came up with a replacement model made from coreplast and yard sticks, powered them with the left over stock of Norvels and dubbed them TuffBaby's. It wasn't long after that when Cox/Estes discontinued the plastic RTF line and no one has done one since that I am aware of. Something like a Cox PT-19 that would be ready to fly would probably have a street price over $100 today and would have to be completely idiot proof. Anything mechanical will have a problem now and then, and solving the problem is what teaches you how to use your brain, and that is a trait that is sorely lacking in younger people today. We did it! We were able to read the instruction and figure out what we were doing wrong and get the engines to run, but a lot of people back in our day couldn't and that was where the reputation of the plastic RTF models being junk came from. At the hobby shop I worked at, I was the one in charge of handling the returns of any of these that were brought back as "defective" because they would not run. I encountered the entire universe of excuses and such from the Dad's and Mom's that brought them in. I had an unbroken string of of success in getting them to start on the first flip of the spring starter that wen back farther than I can remember, and I always used their fuel and batter and glow clips. We never had to take one back as defective, and once they were opened and tampered with, we referred them to Cox to exchange under Warranty. Can you imagine what that would be like today? Product liability insurance itself would be prohibitive. We all love what we do and have gotten a great amount of satisfaction from participating in the hobby. But when people stop at the fence at Buder Park, interested in what we are doing and ask questions, as soon as most find out that there is some work involved, trouble shooting to do, and skills to acquire, their faces turn sour. Then they go home, turn on the computer or video game and get their grins that way. With today's technology and newer materials, I think some sort of foamy control line model could be developed to mass market. It would probably have to be electric because you would never get the powers that be to approve the use of glow plugs, fuel and engines again. Even electric models would have their issues, as the batteries involved have their own inherent dangers of catching fire if not treated properly. Look at the number of fires that have been caused by these Hover Boards and electric scooters and other higher powered toys on the market catch fire because the batteries were abused contrary to their instructions. The long and short of it is, today people are just not smart enough to be able to handle the challenges that a ready to fly control line model airplane would present to them, if the agencies involved in approving them would allow one to get to market!! Any that are just are too far and few in between.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
Topic: Does anyone still make Cox type plastic CL models? (Read 2233 times)