[Hutnicks]

Oh yeah, I took apart every toy that had any kind of electric motor in it. I learned very quickly that if you took a motor intended to run on one or two 1.5v batteries, and instead you hooked it to a 9v batter (or *two* 9v batteries), you could have MUCH more fun - for a short time...

Ever graduate to lantern batteries

 

[Magick Man]

Yup, I replaced all the batteries in my 3-6v toys with 9v batteries, with varied degrees of success. RC cars were the best! (But they usually died in ~ a week.)

 

[billybob_jcv]

No lantern batteries - my family werent campers. However, we did have jumper cables...

 

[billybob_jcv]

Guess where I am (again) this week...

 

[Hutnicks]

Guess where I am (again) this week...

Filming the sequel to "Deliverance" ?

 

[Hutnicks]

No lantern batteries - my family werent campers. However, we did have jumper cables...

Those and a couple of the old Strombecker 1/32 cars made for a fine summer holidays entertainment. If you weren't out flying wire control aircraft, that is

 

[SP Wild]

What about them RC Jet planes you see on you tube...just amazing.  I seen some even got the vectored thrust thing happening.

 

[Hutnicks]

  What about them RC Jet planes you see on you tube...just amazing.  I seen some even got the vectored thrust thing happening.

Back in the day. RC was prohibitively expensive. The new stuff and particularly the electrics have come down so far in price it's scary cheap to get into that hobby now.

 

[SP Wild]

Yeah, I first bought an electric RC in anticipation for the up coming Hybrid cars.  Brushless motors with built in position sensors and Lithium technology...a computer to translate human inputs to the electric motors and steering servo.  I was inspired to check out the latest electric RC after a former work colleague who went over to Tesla Motors, drove  into the workshop with their sports car.  He launched the thing from one end of the workshop to the other and the ferocity it exhibited....in near silence, I know I saw the future that day.  Quiet machines are the vision of the future whilst noisy ones remain primitive....as much as I love the howl of a V12.
 
Yes, that first RC foray before going into nitro motors was an electric one, not full race, but could pop wheelies all day long and launched harder than Nitro counterparts...it had bucketloads more torque.

 

[billybob_jcv]

I *loved* my Cox wire-control plane. The smell of the Cox fuel gave me my first high...

Kids today are too darn lazy - you had to *work* at getting one of those old .049 Cox engines to run. The glow plug had to be good, the batteries had to be good, the motor couldn't be full of dirt (that was the hardest part) and there was absolutely *no way* to start the motor without having your knuckles slashed by the prop.

 

[Hutnicks]

I *loved* my Cox wire-control plane. The smell of the Cox fuel gave me my first high...

Kids today are too darn lazy - you had to *work* at getting one of those old .049 Cox engines to run. The glow plug had to be good, the batteries had to be good, the motor couldn't be full of dirt (that was the hardest part) and there was absolutely *no way* to start the motor without having your knuckles slashed by the prop.

 
And after you ground looped it a few times you took that .049 and built a Chigaco Model Club Cub trainer around it. Then moved up to the .051 and built a few more of those cheap profile trainers cause you went through 2 or 3 a week

 

[billybob_jcv]

However, *this* was one of the absolutely best toys I ever owned - I played with this for HOURS. I actually had to repair it with my Dad's soldering iron when I was about 12 - the main spring that provided the torsion broke at the motor box and I somehow managed to glob enough solder on it to get it to hold.





[VIDEO]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhkRnjLxQBc[/VIDEO]

 

[SP Wild]

I *loved* my Cox wire-control plane. The smell of the Cox fuel gave me my first high...

Kids today are too darn lazy - you had to *work* at getting one of those old .049 Cox engines to run. The glow plug had to be good, the batteries had to be good, the motor couldn't be full of dirt (that was the hardest part) and there was absolutely *no way* to start the motor without having your knuckles slashed by the prop.

 
I wanted to buy an RC plane...2 actually to race with someone else...the rules of engagement were kamikaze in nature and the realisation that the cost of repairs will be consistently hi ruled that out.  I would get one now to fly by myself...and if no one was looking, I'd race a bird.  It seems I never got over my home made slingshot when I was a kid...LOL!

 

[billybob_jcv]

And after you ground looped it a few times you took that .049 and built a Chigaco Model Club Cub trainer around it. Then moved up to the .051 and built a few more of those cheap profile trainers cause you went through 2 or 3 a week

Well... not quite...

I strapped the .049 and prop to a toy boat and then took it out to the big water trough we had in the sheep pasture. Shortly afterwards is when I learned that the prop was spinning the wrong way, and I also learned the difference between the density of air and the density of water...

 

[Hutnicks]

Well... not quite...

I strapped the .049 and prop to a toy boat and then took it out to the big water trough we had in the sheep pasture. Shortly afterwards is when I learned that the prop was spinning the wrong way, and I also learned the difference between the density of air and the density of water...

Ah, introduction to the prop strike. If it was wood you had reall problems. If it was one of the 2 blade nylon Top Flite's  you got some real entertaining effects