No one is into rc

Just noticed this forum. I'm into RC fixed wing. Not much machining involved in planes but I do make muffler adaptors and motor mounts occasionally.



Ed and Aeromaster - Copy.JPG
 
That is until one starts to make his own engines :D !!
HA! Even if I had the capability (which I don't) I would never fly a plane with the kind of investment that a shop built engine would entail. My motto is never fly a plane you can't afford to crash. There's a lot of electronics in a plane (transmitter, receiver, half dozen servos) any one of which can make your plane do a figure 9. I have a biplane that I've been flying 20 times a season for 5 years without incident and I have another plane that has had 3 crashes do to various equipment failures in one season. Chinese electronics are a crap shoot.
 
I am into RC anything that will fly. My smallest RC plane has a 9 inch wingspan and weighs less than one ounce flying weight,. My smallest heli is a 6 inch rotor dia that I have flown in the house many times. at the other end of the spectrum I have a big plane with a 62cc gas engine, another that has a real jet turbine engine, and another that I am still building that should have a top speed in level flight of around 250 MPH, faster coming out of a dive.
If it flies I am interested.

Making custom pats for all these flying contraptions is what originally got me into machining. Why buy a part off the shelf for a buck when you can spend a week making it yourself for $20?????
 
Making custom pats for all these flying contraptions is what originally got me into machining. Why buy a part off the shelf for a buck when you can spend a week making it yourself for $20?????
Aint dat da troof!
 
Another 'RC led me down this path...' story.
 

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I originally got into machining because I was a gearhead. Having some one else make my driveshafts, motormounts, suspension bushings, ect off site proved to be too expensive and prone to producing parts that had to be redone. I also make a lot of specialty tools like the set I needed to rebuild my outboard motor lower unit. Yamaha wanted $800 and I built them after a $50 trip to the scrap yard. And, of course, I love building rifles.
 
I fly small (<1200mm) foam planes and, 5" quadcopters, but less often. At least once a week I head out to a nearby lot and bash my buggies. RC is good therapy.
 
My first RC plane was a Junior Falcon, which was a Goldberg balsa kit model. I powered it with a Cox Thimble Drome 0.049 Baby Bee engine. My controls were a single channel Controlaire transmitter paired with a single channel receiver and rubber-band powered escapement which drove the rudder-only control.

After numerous crashes, I finally got the plane to fly. But several successful flights later, the thing got caught in a thermal, yet to be seen again. I had my contact information on the plane and am still waiting for someone to call me and return it. But I am starting to lose hope --- after 59 years.

Before RC, I played around with U-Control planes and tether cars. At least, the tether car never took off on me - it's still around, but needs an engine re-build.

1957 Thimble Drome Champion
DSC_0065.JPG
 
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