Im so old...........!

[Bill Gibson]

After reading the thread on the 3pv Futaba radio, which was a great thread, i just had to chuckle.........
I remember when boat radios were 2 sticks and 2 ratchet trims!
Or a wheel on an aluminum box with a spring loaded throttle on the side of the box!
If i wanted to reverse the servos i had to desolder the leads to the pot and switch 'em!
LOONNGG antennas!
No electronic assists with travel throws from the servo to the rudder or throttle other than the trim, it was done with the length of the servo arm or carb/rudder arm!
WOW! we've come such a long way, but in the very end of it all we're still just twisting a wheel and pulling a trigger! Gotta LOVE this hobby LOL!!

 

[Mark Anderson]

And back in the days before electronic bandaids paople understood linkage geometry, because they had to. Today people just throw linkages together with no thought of geometry and "fix" it with the transmitter. Then can't figure out why stuff fails and boats drive like crap.

 

[BruceHartmann]

Or a wheel on an aluminum box with a spring loaded throttle on the side of the box!
If i wanted to reverse the servos i had to desolder the leads to the pot and switch 'em!
LOONNGG antennas!

I had one of those!

 

[John Beardslee]

When I started flying rc it was with one of the earliest reed systems my dad an uncle had. The last I flew for years was in the late 50’s or early 60’s with a galloping ghost system. I started rc boating with a state of the art Kraft 2 channel brick. It was at Kraft more than in my boat, looking back it amazes my I stayed with it. Fortunately I met the right people and bought a Min-X rc 4 channel and had a good system to grow and learn with. Switched from stick to wheel as soon as Futaba came out with a pistol grip wheel. Greatmemories, some good and some not so much!

 

[Bill Gibson]

And back in the days before electronic bandaids paople understood linkage geometry, because they had to. Today people just throw linkages together with no thought of geometry and "fix" it with the transmitter. Then can't figure out why stuff fails and boats drive like crap.

Great reply Mark!

 

[Bill Gibson]

I had one of those!

Bruce i still have one......and it still WORKS!!

 

[Bill Gibson]

When I started flying rc it was with one of the earliest reed systems my dad an uncle had. The last I flew for years was in the late 50’s or early 60’s with a galloping ghost system. I started rc boating with a state of the art Kraft 2 channel brick. It was at Kraft more than in my boat, looking back it amazes my I stayed with it. Fortunately I met the right people and bought a Min-X rc 4 channel and had a good system to grow and learn with. Switched from stick to wheel as soon as Futaba came out with a pistol grip wheel. Greatmemories, some good and some not so much!

John, I also had a GG radio, but i was too young to get it to work correctly!! I remember Kraft brick systems! I also remember full house systems costing over 400.00$ back in the day which is why i flew Control line as a kid LOL! Had a blast doing that too!

 

[Mike Hughes]

Bruce i still have one......and it still WORKS!!

Me too

 

[John Beardslee]

John, I also had a GG radio, but i was too young to get it to work correctly!! I remember Kraft brick systems! I also remember full house systems costing over 400.00$ back in the day which is why i flew Control line as a kid LOL! Had a blast doing that too!

We flew c-line a lot, contact combat with my brother, we tore lots of stuff up. We had no accounts payable and enough family support to keep us having fun. My GG was in a Falcon 56, the reed planes were glorified free flights with rudder only.

 

[Tom Foley]

I had one of those!

I still have a new one !

 

[Bill Gibson]

I still have a new one !

Thats cool! The good old days!

 

[Bill Gibson]

We flew c-line a lot, contact combat with my brother, we tore lots of stuff up. We had no accounts payable and enough family support to keep us having fun. My GG was in a Falcon 56, the reed planes were glorified free flights with rudder only.

The Falcon is a great and popular plane! Always liked the looks of it!

 

[Anthony Asaro]

Back in 1970 when I started flying the trainer took my plane up, handed me the transmitter and walked away. Needless to say that was the end of the plane and my flying career. The boats were a safer venture, unless the radio got wet. That's when we learned how to make a waterproof radio box. Technology has left us older folks in the catch up category. And now that the Parks Dept. took away our pond, nearest one is about 100 miles away in NJ or PA and full of tolls to get there.

 

[BruceHartmann]

I learned to fly with an old beat up 40 size Ugly Stik somebody gave me spray painted with Rust-Oleum, a borrowed motor and a borrowed AM gold box playing "pitch the transmitter" with my instructor. I was 19, in college & broke.

30+ years later I'm still feeding the addiction like a junkie! Those guys knew what they where doing to me!

 

[Bill Gibson]

Back in 1970 when I started flying the trainer took my plane up, handed me the transmitter and walked away. Needless to say that was the end of the plane and my flying career. The boats were a safer venture, unless the radio got wet. That's when we learned how to make a waterproof radio box. Technology has left us older folks in the catch up category. And now that the Parks Dept. took away our pond, nearest one is about 100 miles away in NJ or PA and full of tolls to get there.

That seems to be a common story all over............I hope you find a new location to run your boats! Its a great hobby!

 

[Bill Gibson]

I learned to fly with an old beat up 40 size Ugly Stik somebody gave me spray painted with Rust-Oleum, a borrowed motor and a borrowed AM gold box playing "pitch the transmitter" with my instructor. I was 19, in college & broke.

30+ years later I'm still feeding the addiction like a junkie! Those guys knew what they where doing to me!

Bruce, i started with a Carl Goldberg Eaglet and an AM radio as well! I did start out with boats in RC, and im an RC junkie too! LOL!

 

[Hydro Junkie]

You guys are a bit "longer in the tooth" than I am. I built my first R/C boat, a Dumas 20 sized Pak, in 1982. I used the Dumas hardware(big mistake), an HB20 water cooled engine and a cheap AM twin stick Futaba radio. The boat never ran well, being overweight(at over 8 lbs) and underpowered(the HB 20 only hit 17K). I may have been fortunate that it didn't run well since, not knowing about servo torque ratings, I used the two S-19s that came with the radio. Had the boat actually run at a decent speed, the weak S-19 on the rudder wouldn't have been able to turn it.
Since some are talking about aircraft, my first was a Sig Kadet Jr with an OS 25 and AM Futaba Conquest four channel with S-48 servos back in 1986. Unfortunately, it never got in the air as it was destroyed during a move before I could cover it

 

[Tom Foley]

Y

You guys are a bit "longer in the tooth" than I am. I built my first R/C boat, a Dumas 20 sized Pak, in 1982. I used the Dumas hardware(big mistake), an HB20 water cooled engine and a cheap AM twin stick Futaba radio. The boat never ran well, being overweight(at over 8 lbs) and underpowered(the HB 20 only hit 17K). I may have been fortunate that it didn't run well since, not knowing about servo torque ratings, I used the two S-19s that came with the radio. Had the boat actually run at a decent speed, the weak S-19 on the rudder wouldn't have been able to turn it.
Since some are talking about aircraft, my first was a Sig Kadet Jr with an OS 25 and AM Futaba Conquest four channel with S-48 servos back in 1986. Unfortunately, it never got in the air as it was destroyed during a move before I could cover it

My first boat in 1981 Dragn Fly 40 with HB 61
Thing ripped good ! I put an OS 61 FSR in it and ran much faster . Made most of my hardware .