Introduction
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1/2ASKYLANE
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 02 Apr 2024, 16:03
Introduction
Hello all. A bit about myself. My first experience in radio control was as a young man living in Anchorage Alaska having been asked what I wanted as a gift I asked for a "friction toy Jet plane" instead my baby sitters boy friend presents me 54" Berkeley C-3 complete with an OK Cub 074! Upon opening the box I was utterly fascinated as I examined the illustrated single channel tube installation complete with three excapment control of rudder,elevator and two speed throttle control !! WOW. Fast forward to July 4 1967 when my r/c mentor test flew my single channel C/G Jr. Falcon controlled using Controlaire GG TX using just the top throttle control button to operate my Controlaire single channel rx which operated a Bonner "Sn" excapment for rudder only control. The works was motivated by a strong running Cox Goldenbee .049. It was a long beautiful flight. At last I was in radio control. Well today I ordered a set of plan's for the 54" Berkeley Aeronca C-3 from AMAs plan's services and shall begin a search for a suitable single channel tube type receiver with the help of YOU folks.
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iflylilplanes
- Posts: 183
- Joined: 13 Mar 2018, 03:26
- Location: Sydney Australia
- Contact:
Re: Introduction
You could have saved your money, you can download the full-size plans here https://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=14032 have a good look at Outerzone, it's the first go to when looking for plans.
Cheers,
Dave
Dave
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Shaun
- Posts: 1063
- Joined: 15 Feb 2018, 21:49
- Location: West Yorkshire
Re: Introduction
Hi there and welcome.
If you are wanting to relive your youth (like every other member on the forum,
) I would suggest having a look at Phil Greens work on here using a modern 2.4g RF module and receiver with his single channel encoder design ( available as a ready to go and tested module). Many hundreds have been assembled and used world wide with effectively 100% reliability. Like all model a/c the weak link is usually the person on the Tx. Re the valve (tube) set up you are wanting to find, the problem with 60 plus year old electronics is exactly that ; they are relying on 60 year old components that have degraded with time and could seriously compromise the units reliability.
It would be nice to know your forename name; most of us use them on this forum rather than a nickname.
I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures of how your project develops.
Regards,
Shaun.
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Mike_K
- Posts: 677
- Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 06:35
- Location: Hertfordshire
Re: Introduction
I think your idea to fly with the same type of gear you originally started R/C with is ambitious but achievable. However, it probably is not achievable unless you do it in small steps and build up to it.
The first issue you will have (besides actually locating the R/C gear) is that a valve receiver (or tube Rx, depending on which side of the Atlantic pond you live) is probably going to be a 27MHz super-regen Rx that is +50 years old. Super-regen Tube/valve Rx were not too stable in their day, but unless some components are changed (such as capacitors) it may not work at all or at best will not work as intended. Same with the escapement, unless you find a “new old stock”, it will probably be worn and not work as well as original. I have a large collection of old R/C sets including sets from the 1940s through to the 80s and I have tested some of the sets from the late 50s and the valve Rx drifts out of tune within a few minutes. I assumed there was a fault, but I am assured by older modellers that this is what they had to contend with, a successful flight was one where they managed to do a few controlled turns and hopefully land in the same field undamaged… There may have been some superhet valve receivers, but I can’t think of any off-hand, if there were any it would probably be something like an Orbit, F&M/CG or CitizenShip.
The next issue is safety, you will need a large isolated field as the flight could finish as a free flight model or with the escapement locked over and finish in a spiral dive. It is certainly not the thing to try at a busy club field. The 27MHz band is shared with many other users in the UK such as CB radio, pagers, rf welding/sealing machines and low-end R/C toys. I assume it is the same in the USA as well? Having said that, I have a 27MHz monitor and I never hear any interference on it nowadays, so maybe the band is less used than it used to be?
As a start, I would follow Shaun's suggestion and start with a Phil_G encoder, so you get familiar with flying S/C aircraft again using modern gear. This way you get back up to speed with very reliable gear, rather than trying with a valve set and not knowing if it is you or the radio having problems.
Then there are the technical issues to decide on such as do you use batteries as original (three needed, HT, heater and escapement) or to use a modern step-up inverter for the HT and regulators for the others, it would certainly save weight and keep the correct voltages and probably be more reliable and cheaper in the long run. Then you will need other support gear, a milliamp meter in addition to a good multi-meter and some electronic know how. Getting the gear working will be a project in itself.
There is another member on the forum (Wavemeter) who has spoken of trying to fly an original valve/tube set with escapement, I don’t know if he has made any further progress. It will be interesting to follow both your progress!
Mike
The first issue you will have (besides actually locating the R/C gear) is that a valve receiver (or tube Rx, depending on which side of the Atlantic pond you live) is probably going to be a 27MHz super-regen Rx that is +50 years old. Super-regen Tube/valve Rx were not too stable in their day, but unless some components are changed (such as capacitors) it may not work at all or at best will not work as intended. Same with the escapement, unless you find a “new old stock”, it will probably be worn and not work as well as original. I have a large collection of old R/C sets including sets from the 1940s through to the 80s and I have tested some of the sets from the late 50s and the valve Rx drifts out of tune within a few minutes. I assumed there was a fault, but I am assured by older modellers that this is what they had to contend with, a successful flight was one where they managed to do a few controlled turns and hopefully land in the same field undamaged… There may have been some superhet valve receivers, but I can’t think of any off-hand, if there were any it would probably be something like an Orbit, F&M/CG or CitizenShip.
The next issue is safety, you will need a large isolated field as the flight could finish as a free flight model or with the escapement locked over and finish in a spiral dive. It is certainly not the thing to try at a busy club field. The 27MHz band is shared with many other users in the UK such as CB radio, pagers, rf welding/sealing machines and low-end R/C toys. I assume it is the same in the USA as well? Having said that, I have a 27MHz monitor and I never hear any interference on it nowadays, so maybe the band is less used than it used to be?
As a start, I would follow Shaun's suggestion and start with a Phil_G encoder, so you get familiar with flying S/C aircraft again using modern gear. This way you get back up to speed with very reliable gear, rather than trying with a valve set and not knowing if it is you or the radio having problems.
Then there are the technical issues to decide on such as do you use batteries as original (three needed, HT, heater and escapement) or to use a modern step-up inverter for the HT and regulators for the others, it would certainly save weight and keep the correct voltages and probably be more reliable and cheaper in the long run. Then you will need other support gear, a milliamp meter in addition to a good multi-meter and some electronic know how. Getting the gear working will be a project in itself.
There is another member on the forum (Wavemeter) who has spoken of trying to fly an original valve/tube set with escapement, I don’t know if he has made any further progress. It will be interesting to follow both your progress!
Mike