Model flying

[chris-h]

Do any other pilots on here fly model aircraft?
I get as much fun from this as i do the real thing at a way smaller price.

If somebody has been forced to retire due to medical or funds etc maybe theres a gift idea in this thread

:ok:

[Unusual Attitude]

Got a few of these ready to fly electric foam ones, good fun but not even close to aeros in the real thing for 'grin factor'.

Quite interesting after a few beers however, wrote off 2 of them last year trying to show them off at boozy BBQ's I'd had. Clipped the roof of my daughters play house with my hawk at about 80mph, bloomin thing exploded into about 50 pieces!
Other occasion just simply ran out of talent due to beer goggles and spiered into the ground at full pelt, lesseons learned there!

Oh yeah, before anyone gets stressed about me putting the public in danger etc I was living on the side of a hill in the middle of nowhere with nowt but fields for miles!

[codemonkey]

flew r/c model planes as a teenager, had no idea back then it was a sign of things to come as i now find myself chasing a PPL. to be honest though, i much prefer being up there in person.

[mr_rodge]

codemonkey,

I was exactly the same. Flew models for a year or two, had five or six glow-engined models. Loved it, and never did I dream of flying the real thing. The taking off and landing feeling of satisfaction does resemble the real thing, albeit without the bumps! Aeros are much more commonplace with models though! The gas turbined models are something to see.

I think with the models it's the satisfaction of spending six months building it from a box of balsa wood before you see it take to the air. Though I haven't flown mine for about ten years, I still have them in the garage. Sentimental value!

I do, however, think as a thirteen year old that it was the perfect thing to satisfy the hunger for aviation and I can't stress enough how much you can learn from building and flying models. (Think Handling, Aircraft General etc.).

Joe.

[Echo Romeo]

Yes I did, built a 1/4 scale tiger moth modelled on G-AHIZ, highly detailed, with a 4 stroke engine, flew beautifully,then one day I was trying to fly in formation with another tiger of the same ilk and we had a mid-air, my pride and joy was badly damaged, I repaired/restored it to its former glory but haven't flown it since, that was 7 or 8 years ago. Ocassionally think about dragging her out but never seem to have time.

[Ringway Flyer]

When I retired the company bought me an RC Spitfire... The instructions reminded me that it is NOT guaranteed against crashing! Having done free flight stuff some 40 odd years ago, I decided to get back into models, a useful back up for when either the money runs out or I fail the medical.

I bought a powered glider first, and eventually wrote it off following a failure of the elevator linkage. I then built an SEP (well electric actually) and am busy trying to get it to do what I want it to. All good fun, but the real thing is a lot easier!!

Needless to say the Spitfire is still in it's box.

I have to say that modern RC stuff is pretty sophisticated, with 2.4Ghz radio gear and models with up to 19' wingspan. And believe it or not, the world speed record for a model glider is over 400mph. (They use a radar speed gun...)

For those who might be interested, there is a large model a/c show at Cosford over the w/e of the 17th & 18th of July. Pity they don't allow ga in at week ends.

RF

[IFMU]

I was big into r/c for many years. Soloed a control line model at 6. Soloed an r/c glider on a high start at 8. Got out of it in my teen years, got back in big time in my 20's in both fixed wing and helicopters. At the same time got my first ratings. As life progressed to career and marriage, I fell short on time. I went inactive on R/C, as I'd rather spend the time I have flying full scale. R/C is great though. I'll be back someday.

-- IFMU

[Fliegenmong]

Used to fly 'em years ago loved it.....more flying shool fees and mortgages these days, so its the models at the moment, though I did keep flying models while I was doing real flying, real flying far easier....allow me to indulge and share a few videos here

Spinning an F4U Corsair, not something you'd see every day
YouTube - Spinning F4u Corsair.MVN_0001.wmv (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9FOT9DXeyU)

You can even land in your street :ok:
YouTube - Ashmore Street Landing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEoRKqS_qUk)

I've some others there I am sure you can find. Thw holy grail was once just to get the weight of a 35mm camera on board and hope that you can shoot off one frame per flight, and you'd have to develop it etc etc, that camera on board that nodel, $37. AUD, 4 hours footage, you couldn't look up so long......

[PPRuNe Dispatcher]

I'm medically grounded so decided to learn to fly RC helicopters. Not the coaxial-rotor toy things from Maplin - the heli I usually fly, a Trex 450, has a carbon fibre frame & blades with a tip speed well in excess of 200mph.

I can't fly it like this guy can though....
YouTube - Bert Kammerer Align T-Rex 450 SPORT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Ac0oPnqSM)

PPD

[johnflying]

great hobby,

Still have a few models in the loft,mostly stick and tissue type, some petrol engined and some of them diesel powered. have finally started my PPL,:) but the models may still be used now that the grand kid are coming along .A summers day model flying at Old Warden still takes some beating;)

[152flyer]

Spent a lot of time at model flying events when I was growing up and that was a big influence in getting my PPL :) Think it's a great hobby had a lot of fun with my dad and enjoyed building my own. Definitely can't beat a days model flying at old warden!

[thing]

Pal of mine is into RC helis big time and he sort of talked me into getting a Twister Coastguard which is great fun. OK for outside on still days but I tend to fly it in the garage otherwise. Amazes me that a three axis chopper with 2.4 gig is sub £100.