I think I have a problem...

Ron,
I think there is a dead cat under the outside shed. I hope that doesn't count...because if he is there, it's HIS fault-not mine!

Thanks for the support.

Hummmm Hoarder sounds alittle harsh but collector prestige , Sounds like IF your waiting for retirement to start those builds'ssss Ya mite want to retire early ? You are NOT alone in here anyway

Nah Jim, your just one of the crowd. If you read between the lines every poster here has the same problem. One is never enough. Variety IS the spice of life. Most here buy/fly/collect several different models and engines.

Jim, you've mentioned time and time again that your goal is to fly maneuvers. One thing I see is the directions you've mentioned. If that truly is your goal, you need to concentrate on that goal. Personally, I would stay away from vintage engines. Beating your head on the wall might just be more relaxing. You now have two Fox .35's. The important thing is insuring they're broken in and my guess is that they're not. In addition, purchasing the proper items to continue they're use. If you want to fly maneuvers, your going to break stuff. This means props, plugs, needle valves. If it were me, I  would concentrate on the smalls and not so much the desired planes you would like to build. I did a needle valve mod on here to avoid the broken needles on Fox .35's. If you leave the needle stock, take a close look at it right now and then kiss it goodbye because it will snap off. Broken needle means fun is over until you get another. This means refinancing your home to buy from MECOA or go another route and source a better needle such as the Enya which will land you two for one when compared to the MECOA bandits.


           Having a lot of stuff is neat I suppose, it doesn't do any good if it's not being used and certainly doesn't improve your flying skills. Learn to throw out what's broken. Repairing is a total waste of time unless minor. Creaming a plane and putting it back together does very little to learn. It burns up valuable time and it will never fly the same afterwards. I have 40 + years of evidence to support my statement.

I can vouch for owning a lot of stuff. Years back I parted with the majority of my kits. They were sold and I earned enough to take a family vacation to Disney which was nice. Do I miss them? NO!!! I have enough engines to last a lifetime and I will never use them. The nice thing about engines is the size as they can be neatly stored. Planes are a royal pain in the !@#$. They can't be sold as no one wants them, they take up tons of room and when they sit, they go to pot and are useless . I've given so many planes away and never see them back at the field. Control line mentality I suppose.

Ken's words of wisdom:

Jim, you've mentioned time and time again that your goal is to fly maneuvers. One thing I see is the directions you've mentioned. If that truly is your goal, you need to concentrate on that goal.

Having a lot of stuff is neat I suppose, it doesn't do any good if it's not being used and certainly doesn't improve your flying skills.

True.  If you want to be good at anything. Practice! Ken, Kim, and Rusty (RIP) and maybe others here are out there most every week flying - something - keeping their hand in.  Twice in my life - teens/middle I was flying  -something- every week and got quite good.  Now not so!

Ken's words of contention:

Personally, I would stay away from vintage engines.  - Ha!  My life's blood.

Learn to throw out what's broken  - Yeah, my way!

Creaming a plane and putting it back together does very little to learn. - Ha again!  I'm an Einstein.

Do I miss them? NO!!! - YES!!!!!!!

Planes are a royal pain in the !@#$. They can't be sold as no one wants them, -  WHAT!  I still have a pulse!

[quote="944_Jim  The garage is gridlocked...
The Hobby Closet is gridlocked...
Am I a hoarder? I'm starting to think so....
Anyone else have this disease! Please don't let me suffer alone.[/quote]


You Are NOT Alone! !     I moved from the City where we parked one car on the street and one car in one stall of a two stall garage, to a house with a 2 stall attached garage and a separate 3 stall garage. All are full of STuff and projects that I'm gonna "get to" one of these days!! Three different worktables in the basement with 4 different balsa kits in progress. My wife only complains a little about not being able to park her car in either of the garages.

While my post may sound negative in regards to this stuff, I've been around long enough to know what works. I always found many magazine articles to be subjective to the positive side when in reality the bad outweighs the good. Take Scepter flight tests as an example. Just because Peter Chinn tested and says great things about it, it doesn't really mean it is. He was getting paid to exemplify what he was testing.

I attend the New Jersey Vintage Combat annually, the old Fox's, Super Tiger's and Johnson engines are real cool. WHEN THEY WORK!!!!!!!!! Some of the veteran pilots won't touch the old stuff, because they know better. It was a pain in the rear to start the stuff in the 60's and nothing has changed. They fly modern engines so they can enjoy themselves. This is terrific advice for someone trying to learn maneuvers. You build simple planes that fly well, not examples that look neat.

Fred for example made mention many times of the Phil Cartier RST ( Rugged Stunt Trainer) Stunt Plane. This is a good example. Phil's instructions leave a lot to be desired and contacting him might be easier to walk to his residence but no one is more pleasant to talk to. A plane like Phil's RST withstands serious gravity surges. If the wing breaks, slide it out and install another. Phil sells wings in quantity which is nice. You can tape the wing in which allows it to pop out and when your confidence level excells, glue the wing in. A proven design that works with simple engines and nothing complicated. Probably won't win any beauty contests but it works which is important.

I appreciate what you say, Ken. I have two PC Rugged Stunt Trainers (thank you, Fred). Now I have two Foxes. That means I have two similarly built models, so I will have a consistent platform to learn on. I seriously doubt I will ever go to a contest, let alone get to fly with others. There is another large trainer, but the name escapes me...I know who gifted it, and what I am to do with it. This is the summer for for using all three as intended. And I'll have the appropriate stooge, so no more hoping/ looking to comscript others. I pictured it here a couple years ago.

As far as playing with old engines goes, these little engines are a microcosm of the larger toys...the TR6 my oldest son totalled would have gone to the scrap yard had I not already had the spare panels and frame for the retirement restoration. The 944 is a family heirloom I promised to keep running (and failing at that). My two antique motorcycles are rolling resto-wrecks, but the youngest son wants to play with the little one.

I have to allow my needs to come after the boys' needs. While I still have time to influence them in their endeavours, I bite my tongue waiting for the significantly smaller slices of "me time." Sometimes that influence comes at the expense of doing what they want. This is one of the side effects of marrying late, and having children even later.

But I still like my flying.toys, as they make me feel young again! That last part is the required, no, desired outcome! Fly happy when I can fly!

Me, who collect a little of everything, I must say that sometimes the planes take too much space, a chance that some have wings that come off Or can return in a box it is very practical I believe . And for all the next model that I will build will be equipped with a similar system I would even take the remains of balsa from a crashed rekited plane For me, everything is good, almost nothing goes in the trash An old burnt glow plug becomes an adapter wit me A dead engine find new life with a whole new character somtime For me, repairing and modifying is just as fun as using them. Others like to look at them in a decorative way, I also like this type of vintage ar deco I can't resist using them But above all I am a recycler I sometimes find things in the trash like old printers can donate celicone tubes screw-gear câble litle motor also scavenge Old lawnmowers with just a faulty carburetor Sometimes just metals I found a very long and thin brass bar In the mechanism of a large vertical blind ..... If you have too much stuf you can share with me if you want

By far most of my fleet, collection is at last second hand and some can be traced back several owners.
Rebuild a few balsa arf rc planes that where abandoned after a crash. That allows me to change them to suit my flying style and taste at verry little cost.

Over the years have been given several glow helicopters that where stored in a shed and looked like they had been burried. Took them apart and washed (yes warm water and soap) all parts. Polished all round metal parts like pushrods, spindles and axles in a battery drill with some sanding paper folowed by copper polish. There is this guy in the states who runs a company "rcscrewz" selling ball bearing kits and i get stainless steel socket head screws from a local hardware store. Engines get a bath in glycol and new bearrings and if they have it, a new ring.
Few shims to pre-load the bearings/ remove play and some thread lock to glue the races to the shafts/ axles.
Once done you end up with a heli that looks new and flies as good as new or even better with current servo's and flight controllers.
Right now i have 21 helies that are either in flying state or can be with less then an hour mainenance.


All thanks to people who do not repair