No one is into rc

[Wheat47]

I am very interested in making something like this! Do you have any suggestions on where to start and resources? For a long time I have wanted to make a semi-functional battleship, not just a static model. I have no boat modeling experience, I have been making mechanical mechanisms and years ago I messed around with gas powered RC planes.

Electric propulsion and RC gear in general is now light years ahead of where it was in the early 80's - so if feels like my desire would be a lot more achievable.
Anyhow, great model! thanks for bringing back to the front of my mind.

Somewhere, in an ancient Popular Mechanics magazine, I think, some guy made a battleship that you would like. I don't know how it was powered, battery, I think, but it was large enough that he could sit in it and guide/steer/control it. It seems like, as I remember, a couple of the gun turrets could actually shoot 22 caliber bullets.

 

[Wheat47]

Then there is also the world of 1:14 trucks and construction equipment. Everything from kits, to converted toys, to scratch built. This photo is from a meet in Indiana a couple of years ago and gives an idea of all the kinds of equipment being operated by rc.

Every once in a while, I run across a you tube clip of a bunch of R/C controlled equipment. Mostly European, I think.
Some of the things they make are fabulous!!! I've seen where they made Cat 627 motor scrapers, actually moving some
dirt in a BIG sandbox. pretty impressive!!

 

[pontiac428]

Your foamies and quad-copters would be very welcome at my club and other clubs around here. The new FAA regulations are not difficult to satisfy if you fly at an AMA chartered club field. Maybe you could search around for a better club. Sounds like yours is too fussy.

The "good" airfield that has the cooperative agreement with the county here are a bunch of role players. They won't let me fly a foamy park plane because without landing gear I cannot use it to demonstrate my ability to taxi and make runups before actually being allowed to give the stick some up elevator. If I can't prove those skills, I can't fly at any AMA field. These goons pretend to radio the tower before takeoff and on approach. Me, I just like to fly a fun toy. It's just a toy for entertainment, I'm not seeking to relive my glory days in 1:25 scale like Maverick and Goose after forced retirement. I don't want to add PITA full-scale aviation details to my leisure time. Just give me an open field, an empty school yard, or a park... Oh yeah, the FAA outlawed that because of the fear of terrorists. Seriously.

 

[Chris Hamel]

I fly rc planes. I machined a few electric motor mounts but otherwise not much machining involved in rc planes.

 

[Winegrower]

When my kids were the right age, we built a number of RC planes and gliders. Eventually the crash dramas took a toll on the kids, and I realized it was costing me about $400 per minute…that’s two 30 second flights at $200 each. So we quit.

 

[pontiac428]

I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you, I swear. I have had $300 flights last a lot less than 30 seconds. I grew up on balsa, now I prefer tough, repairable foam. I'm too brave of a pilot, I suppose. There are probably other words than brave to use, but I think it fits. It takes a sack full of cojones to total a plane for a poorly thought out stunt!

 

[dbb-the-bruce]

. I grew up on balsa, now I prefer tough, repairable foam.

I keep telling myself that I should get back into RC planes.
Other than smashing up control-line planes on the first lap around with my dad... I did make a serious attempt at RC planes as a young adult. I really enjoyed building the balsa kits. Did actually get my SIG-Kadet into the air, the guy that was teaching me to fly landed it.

Between my lack of time to learn how to actually fly them and the PIA (for me at the time) of getting the gas engines running it was just too much. I also had a thing for wanting to make highly detailed scale models so I spent much more time on a Stinson Gullwing than I ever did learning/trying to fly.

The advance of electric battery powered fly seem like a REALLY big win for me, not a lot of fuss just keep your batteries charged and go fly. That along with all of the foam ready or almost ready to fly kits might actually get me into the "flying" part of RC (ha!).

Like I need to add one more hobby to the list.
At the end of the day, I like making / building stuff.

 

[JPMacG]

RC flying is wonderful and addictive. I have been in the hobby for 25 years and made many good friends. I don't crash so often anymore, but the first few years were rough. I "re-kitted" my first 3 models. I had to dig one engine out of the mud. At the crash site I could not even see the engine - it was entirely underground.

The best way to get into the hobby is through a local club. They will help you choose equipment and provide flight instruction, if you want it. This website has a club locator: https://www.modelaircraft.org/ You may need to visit a few club fields to find one you like. As Pontiac428 mentioned, some clubs have an attitude. Ours is small and very laid back with few rules other than what is required by the FAA and AMA. But our most important rule is whatever you do, don't PO the landlord. A few years ago we crashed a 60-sized model into our landlord's wife's clothesline and took out a shirt or two. We came close to losing the field but we paid for damages and she eventually forgave us.

 

[epanzella]

The "good" airfield that has the cooperative agreement with the county here are a bunch of role players. They won't let me fly a foamy park plane because without landing gear I cannot use it to demonstrate my ability to taxi and make runups before actually being allowed to give the stick some up elevator. If I can't prove those skills, I can't fly at any AMA field.

John,
Those requirements are *******t and the problems you're having with hand launching is just a matter of an oddball interpretation of the AMA rules. We have lotsa guys that fly smaller planes without landing gear and a third of my planes have no LG. We do have a requirement that new members demonstrate their flying prowess before being allowed to fly unescorted. We just have an experienced pilot launch the plane and then pass the box to the new guy. I belong to two clubs (both AMA sanctioned) and I never heard of any AMA requirement for landing gear.

 

[pontiac428]

You might be right. There are two other clubs to my north, one is very small and has a nice location, the other is virtually offline and has an agreement with a private piece of wetland. The last possibility is down south an hour's drive, they seem like a great club with a welcoming presence. You have to understand that I'm a combat veteran and I isolate from other people, I don't like socializing and I'm short of buddies, and that's my problem alone. I like to do my hobbies alone, too, that's just me. It's never been a legal issue like it is now.

150g was the max all up weight that the FAA decided on when banning RC flight (well, without transponders and club sites). I fly exclusively planes under 500g with spans under one meter- only one plane is 39", the rest are in the twenties. I also fly first person fixed wing and rotary wing, which is now a mandatory buddy box flight. Seems like so much for so little. I just miss the parks. The signs are posted and the cops are wise.

I never get anything but curiosity and conversation out of people bombing around the same park with a RC buggy or truck that has more power to weight ratio than a Bugatti. But if I fly an underpowered plane or a racing quadcopter (FPV) in the corner of a school field, I get Karen shaking her fists at me screaming about her privacy, or some jerk says I'm arousing his dog. I even thought about control line again, but same issues, you need helpers and a field to pull that off. It makes me sad that so many people don't know the smell of glow fuel and the throwback to childhood that it brings, or the pleasure of building a model and flying it (and crashing and repairing, repeat).