Keithhs

I just registered and this is my first posting. A little information about me. I flew my first control line airplane in 1959. In about 1970 I drifted away from model airplanes and got in to car restorations. I have 5 collector cars. I started buying metal working equipment a few years ago such as metal lathe, mills, shapers and that type of thing. I built three stationary steam engines from scrap metal along with a lot of tools. Last fall I stopped by an RC meet and in the course of a conversation with one of the RC'ers I said I used to fly control line models. He said that he would like to try that again and we now have a group of control line fliers. There of course had been many changes in modeling in the past 40 years and it has been a learning process again. Probably the biggest change was that electric flight was now a practical possibility. In the early fifties I had built a lot of scale models from the old Comet kits and others of that time. It said flying model and I always thought how great it would be if they really would fly for me. I now see the possibility of building similar planes and with electric power and RC they really would fly. Knowledge wise I am starting from zero and I will probably be asking lots of very elementary questions. Looking forward to enjoying two great things model airplanes and learning.
Keith Spriggs, right in the southeast corner of Kansas

firemanbill

Hey Keith welcome to Wattflyer!

You will find a bunch opf great folks here who are more than willing to lend a hand. Fire away and let's get the ball rolling!

smokejohnson

Welcome to Wattflyer Keith.

Elfwreck

Hey now,
From one old ukie pilot to another, welcome aboard!
On the old Comet kits and the old dream of flying them; I had that too and later on the Guillows warbirds. I even tried, back in the seventies, to do just that. With at the time "micro servos" the size of "standards" today and the good old Cox .049 Tee Dees. They flew, sort of...

These days, I have an old Comet Taylorcraft (54" span) with a home built CD-ROM motor, aileron, elevator, rudder, and throttle control.
It's so light it'll float around all day long *and* I can fly it in a very small space. Um, if I did it again, I wouldn't bother with ailerons though, don't need them.

I also have a friend who is flying their old Aeronca(sp?) only his is a fifty year old gumbander conversion...

It's very cool to see the dreams of our youth come to life...
RobII

CitaFly

There's a number of Beginner Articles on http://www.ampaviators.com/ that might help with your learning curve - I also started eons ago with control line and I was stunned at how far electrics and remote control electronics have come - that's what got me back in it.

Murocflyer

Welcome aboard Keith!

When/if you desire, you are welcomed to add yourself on our unofficial roll call thread.

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18318

Frank

Keithhs

Wow, What a nice welcome for a new member and an RC wannabe. I think I have picked the right place.

Thanks everyone

Rabbitcreekok

Keith, do you live near the Spring River. If so, consider a float plane. Every time I cross the river, it looks smooth as glass. Guess you might need a boat also.

You are not too far from Grasshopper in Joplin.

Tinman

Welcome Keith!

Keithhs

About 30 miles from Joplin

Grasshopper

Welcome Keith! Where are you in the land of Ahhhs? I was actually born in Hutchinson, KS. Way out in the middle of nowhere.

USAPatriot

Greetings! Welcome to the forum. Here's a link for you. This thread has almost everything you'd want to know in one form or another. There will be a quiz on it tomorrow -Rod-

http://www.wattflyer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14117

Keithhs

Actually I live in Cherokee, Kansas ,which I am sure that none of you ever heard of. It is 5 miles south and 7 west of Pittsburg, which a few of you may have heard of. We are 11 miles from Missouri and 24 miles from Oklahoma.

EpoweredRc

Welcome to Wattflyer, Never big on Control line, Had one when I was about 10 or so, RC was always more fun for me. great site here and you should enjoy it.

USAPatriot

Did you have the same experience I did? It went up and then came back down in splinters? I liked watching others do it though. -Rod-

W4STP

Welcome Keith you will find the people on here will help you any way they can and again we all welcome you!
Stephen

PapaMike64

Hello Friends,

I found this site today and joined. It seems to be just what I need. I have been flying RC since the 1960s. I started out on an Orbit 12 ch. reed set and moved up to proportional radios just after they were available. (They were all on Mode 1 then.) After a break for a few years I started back up a little over 3 years ago flying just electrics. I'm still on Mode 1!
Club members look at my radio and wonder what is wrong with it but I don't mind being the only one. (Pardon the pun.)

I had a lot to learn and now I am flying a Ripmax Spitfire with a AXI 2820/12 motor and it flys great. I built a catapult because I am not able to hand launch it and I have to sit on a stool to fly but I can still fly for now and love it. I am getting ready to Madien a Electric Jet Factory "Sport Jet 70" ducted fan with a HET 2W450 motor. I have landing gear on mine so I dont have to modify my launcher because of the fan location.

Best wishes to all,

Mike

Rabbitcreekok

Hello Mike and welcome to WattFlyer. Sounds like you have it all under control. It is amazing what a fella can do when he puts his mind to it, right?

Keithhs

Welcome, Mike. This is a very good site. I am mostly a looker, but there is a lot here to look at.

Sir Raleigh

Hi, Mike, and welcome to WattFlyer.

That launcher sounds great! Are you able to post a picture of it and tell us how it works?

PapaMike64

Hello,
I will try again. This is the 4th or 5th time I have tried to get this done. Every time I try I loose everything and have to start over. I ordered the launcher plans from TDM Models http://[email protected] .
Basic launcher details: The model is held in a launch cart that is pulled by bungee cords up a rail and by the time it reaches the end I have full power on my Spitfire and it flys right out just like the best hand launch you ever saw.
I will try to include some photos of my launcher: I don't think the photos are coming through but if they do I have since added extensions to the sides of the cart to support the entire wing and keep the plane from pitching down at the end of the rail. This also lets me run the power up to about 1/3 befor steping of the launch rail release.







Good luck,
Mike

Sir Raleigh

An aircraft carrier catapult for the ground... What a fantastic device.

Thank you for the description and photo.

PapaMike64

Dear Friends,
I gave the wrong link for the plans for my catapult. The correct link is: http://www.tdmsoftware.com/tdmmodels....html#launcher
This will take you to the correct site where you will find much more than just catapult plans.

Good luck,

Mike

Grasshopper

Hey Keiths,

Where in SE Kansas are you? I'm in SW Missouri. We're probably not too far apart.

Keithhs

I am about 11 miles from Pittsburg...I fly mostly indoor..