Planes that never flew

Hi

Here are some old photos of models I built as a teen but never flew.

The Aeroflight Husky I carved a closely fitting cowl with the engine protruding upright. The wing was damaged while building. I repaired it or so I thought and finished the model much later but when I started th OS pet, vibration shed the outboard wing. I'v never used C17 or similar glue since.

Then there was the typhoon which was real good at roaring into the sky and straight back down SMACK. I didn't know about CG on CL models then and ballanced it like a freeflight model. Oh well you live and learn.

The typhoon pictured is a redesign of my earlier aeroflight typhoon. This one had a fully cowled 2.5 cc tiapan plane bearing engine.
the fuselage was fully planked around an eliptical frame with alloy bearers and frames up front. I sold it. Didn't want to sell but the guy was pushy, I was young and unemployed. The plane got cremated in his house fire soon after. Neither model ever flew.

Any other similar none flying experiences?

LAST EDITED ON Jun-09-06 AT 01:51 AM (CST)
 
And I bet you aren't going to fly them this weekend if the weather forcast is true Ken! Can you keep most of it west of the mountains and don't send it over our way. Doesn't look very good for the NSW State Champs at present with rain forcast for the whole weekend so the "classic" Skyscraper can stay hanging on the wall.

C17 Aeroflyte glue? Can remember it well as a good general purpose balsa glue as long as the normal "pre-gluing" was used. I still use the later C23 and couldn't wish for a better glue for general framework.

Regards from the Eastern Slopes

Yes, I've had a few:

Built a Wee Duper Zilch kit, powered by a OS Pet .09. Along came a friend with a Flite Streak Jr. kit. He wanted to learn to fly but did not know how to build...so I built it. Joined the Navy. Asked my parents to give the friend his completed Flite Streak Jr. They gave him my WDZ plus engine. He was satisfied. I never got to fly it.

Shoe-horned a newly broken-in FROG .21 diesel in the FS Jr...which was WAY too much weight and power for that plane. Went like a bat...level only. Sold the engine to a friend who was foaming at the mouth over that FROG, gave him the plane too, I think (~1961). Flown a couple of times.

Built another FS Jr. at the base Hobby Shop in San Diego. When I got my orders I gave it to the guy who ran the hobby shop. Never flown.

Perhaps we all have similar stories of the ones that got away.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-14-06 AT 03:01 PM (CST) by LNeumann (admin)
 
(Edited by the Forum host to replace the following text that was removed for some unexplained reason by Ty)

Naw, all mine flew perfectly. Yeah, right. My first attempt at building something using kit parts was waaaay back in 1952. I had a 2 for 1 kit by Scientific of the 1/2A profile Mustang and F86 Saber Jet. The Korean War was still hot, so I did the Saber first. It flew, well, it got in the air for several laps. OK Cub .049B on it. Real power house that one. ha.

Hmmm. Look at all these neat models with the pylons. I wonder how they fly. So, with the wing on a balsa pylon, glued to a long paper roll from a paper towel roll, a tail from the Mustang, a blasa plug to glue the plywood so I could mount the engine, and off to an alfalfa field next to 14th street. The end of town then!! It flew tail low for 10 feet. It kept doing this until we were at the other end of the field. One mile! Cured me for many years until I really understood, or thought I did, aerodynamics.

>Naw, all mine flew perfectly. Yeah, right. My first attempt
>at building something using kit parts was waaaay back in
>1952. I had a 2 for 1 kit by Scientific of the 1/2A profile
>Mustang and F86 Saber Jet. The Korean War was still hot, so
>I did the Saber first. It flew, well, it got in the air for
>several laps. OK Cub .049B on it. Real power house that
>one. ha.
>
>Hmmm. Look at all these neat models with the pylons. I
>wonder how they fly. So, with the wing on a balsa pylon,
>glued to a long paper roll from a paper towel roll, a tail
>from the Mustang, a blasa plug to glue the plywood so I
>could mount the engine, and off to an alfalfa field next to
>14th street. The end of town then!! It flew tail low for
>10 feet. It kept doing this until we were at the other end
>of the field. One mile! Cured me for many years until I
>really understood, or thought I did, aerodynamics.
>

Thanks, Ty

I had completely forgotten about the 2 for 1 kit. I think I used a "brand new" McCoy .049 diesel. One of the guys I flew with in that small SEMO farm town was the son of a local pharmacist. That gave us an steady source of ether. I seem to recall that the Mustang flew the best. Nice memory!

Bill

Wow, brings back many memories of planes I built, but never flew.

There are many, but since this is a C/L discussion, I'll limit my tall tails to those models in particular.

Early on was one of a hollow block fuselage 1/2A model from AHC (Puddle Jumper?), along with my first engine (an OK Cub .049) that I nearly wore out just flipping the prop a million times. Never did get the Puddle Jumper to fly, but the Cub .049 powered a Walker FireBaby, for my very first C/L flying experience. I taught several friends to fly with the FireBaby, before upgrading to a McCoy .049 diesel that was way too powerful, but so exciting (between O-ring changes). Mixed my own diesel fuel back then, which was very mild (equal parts of ether, kerosene, and Castor oil).

Next was a green box Nobler that was ready for covering when I got AF orders to transfer, and the movers managed to crush in transit. Never built another.

Followed by a Flight Streak that a friend offered to hand launch on it's maiden, and promptly threw against the ends of the lines with enough force to reverse it's direction, with the expected sad consequences. My last ever C/L flight.

Next was my third Fox 35 powered Ringmaster that was finished, covered, painted, and then sold to the fellow who hand launched my Flight Streak (I never learn). The Ringmaster taught his wife to fly, which was the only upside to that long ended friendship. I heard his wife left him some time later, so that was two of us who were disappointed.

Last, was my previous attempt to re-enter the C/L hobby with another 1/2A kit, the Sig Skyray. The completed airframe fell off the closet shelf, or was dropped by one of the grandkids who would never confess, and then scrapped.

Still have a Veco Tom Tom, and Sig Twister kit, and several suitable engines, but doubt I have the fortitude to finish either.

In between these disasters, were a Veco Tom Tom (flown with Mild Bill Dahlgren at Sembach Air Base Germany in the fifties), a couple of Ringmasters, a Shoestring or two, a Buster, and several others. Also flew a bunch of R/C airplanes later on, and still have several in the garage, that are only hours away from flight worthy.

Bill Dahlgren was flying a beautiful Half Fast, with the first OS engine I ever saw, and it was a spectacular flyer! The OS was a sign of things to come, and a worthy competitor to the Webras favored in Germany at the time.

Started serious stunt with a Fox 35 (Veco Tom Tom), but tried several McCoy and K&B stunt engines along the way. None of them ran, or lasted as long as the Fox 35, so I kept returning to my roots.

Bill Adair

This would be around 1958/9, back in the days when aeromodellers wore ties. The model was an own design and the radio gear was built from a kit - Terrytone by McGregor The model was never flown I think that it had an ED Hornet (1.5cc Diesel) the transmitter was a single valve unit and the 135V high tension battery for it cost too much for my limited pocket money

Regards

Mike

>This would be around 1958/9, back in the days when
>aeromodellers wore ties.

Mike,

I always wondered why the people we would see with their models in pics published in the 1950's "Aeromodeller" wore ties, and what seemed to be good clothes. This must have been a very British practice. Here in oz we always wore very old clothes or very often overalls. The pic should give the general idea!