The back of the controller (above left) had a “winder” for winding the clock spring that provided the energy for its operation. The inside (above right) of the
which in turn drives a contact arm across a printed circuit board. The stick, which is mounted on a “Lord Shock Mount”, moves a plate that releases the escapement. The stick also controls several interposers that interrupt the escapement motion at the ap- propriate time depending on which control
controller had many gears, a clock spring, movable plates, contacts and a pc board. The unit does not require battery power.
is requested by the stick position. There is also a button on this unit for quick blip throttle control.
I have wired both units to a cord and plug which I can plug into my F&M transmitter. After some restoration, I have been able to get both units working although the “blue
box” seems to be more reliable as long as you remember to wind up the clock spring. Nei- ther unit depends on battery power for its operation. I have not used these controllers for a flight at this time but do plan to do so. Do any of you remember how we obtained different engine rpm in those older days? I can remember my first attempt at this when I purchased a Webra .15 diesel that had two needle valves. I had been flying my Berkeley Royal Rudderbug with a Webra .15 diesel without any speed control. Remember when you trimmed the plane to climb under power and held rudder for a spiral to lose altitude. We were basically just trying to keep the planes from flying away.
Well, the two needle valve Webra was just the answer to allow me to “throttle back” rather than have to spiral dive when the plane got too high. The idea was to set one needle for maximum rpm and the second needle at a rich setting for a lower rpm. Of course the rich needle setting was a bit tricky in order to be sure the engine kept running when this needle was selected. Selecting the needle valve that you want- ed could be done several ways. One was to use a special escapement that had three fuel line connections, one from the fuel tank and the other two for each needle valve. The es- capement would move a “rubber flapper” from one fuel line to the other. I did use this escapement with some success and later bought an Annco Motor Control which was operated from an escapement. This unit mounted directly to the engine intake ven- turi and provided high speed, low speed and even fuel shut-off. It worked better than the “rubber flapper” and had the advantage of fuel shut-off.
While writing my columns I am always re- minded what we went through back in the ’50s just to get in a flight or two if we were lucky. Coming home with the plane was a real success even if you had a few hours of repair work before returning to the flying field. Today’s pilots don’t know how good they have it and they don’t really have the appreciation for what our R/C pioneers did for them.
Keep flying the old plane designs as pro-
The Annco Motor Control provided high speed, low speed and fuel shut-off for any single needle valve engine. It was escapement operated and sold for $3.95 in 1959.
FLYING MODELS
moted by the Vintage RC Society and let me know about your experiences in the past.
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