VintageViews A
look at my PC files revealed that I have not mentioned several in- puts I have received from readers over that past several months. I forgot to check my Vintage Views e-mail file and apologize to those who took the time to write me. So here are a few e-mails that I re- ceived. I always enjoy and appreciate these inputs.
Readers Write From Bruce Tharpe, Rogue River, Oregon: “Hi Bob, thought you might be able to use one or two of the attached pics and some of the text below for your FMcolumn some day... The Quickie was designed by the late Fred Reese and appeared as a construction article in the December 1972 issue of R/C Modeler. It was also kitted for several years, along with a Quickie Bipe, by Michigan Hobby Hangar.
“I was lucky enough to cross paths with Fred a couple of times and remember him as friendly and encouraging. He was always one of my favorite model designers because he kept things simple, but also used his ‘de- signer’s eye’ to give them a touch of person- ality. The Quickie is a good example of this. In essence, it’s a box with straight wings. But Fred infused it with character by adding the sloping windshield, up-turned nose, beveled wing tips, and wheel pants. The fi- nal aesthetic touch was the big, loopy side windows which I duplicated on mine. “My Quickie weighs 2 pounds, 1 ounce and is powered by an Enya .15-V. Enyas have a reputation for taking a long time to break in and then lasting forever. I can confirm the long time to break in part. After running about a half gallon of fuel through it on a test stand, it went from being incredibly
by bob noll You can reach Bob Nollvia e-mail at
bobrc@aol.com
PHOTO: BRUCE THARPE
This 1972 design Quickieby Fred Reese was built by VRCS member Bruce Tharpe. Bruce flies the Quickie at the VRCS event in Medford, Oregon. See text for details of this great design.
tight to just plain tight. It seems to be im- proving with every flight now.
“The covering is white and transparent red MonoKote along with a clear mylar lam- inating film for the rest of it. The wheel pants are from a Flyzone Switch. They need- ed some filling on the seams and re-paint- ing, but they suit the model well.
“It flies faster than it looks; Fred envi- sioned it as a quarter-midget trainer. Flight controls are rudder and elevator. Early on, takeoffs were a challenge because I had to remember to use the right-hand transmitter stick for ground steering. Now I have the left-hand
stick programmed to provide
about half the rudder throw (and steering) as the right-hand stick, so I can use the left stick on the ground and right stick in the air —no thinking! It does surprisingly smooth rolls with just rudder, and snap rolls like crazy when you add elevator. It was a fun, easy project.”
PHOTOGRAPHY: BOB NOLL
Phil Kraft asked Dan Lutz to build a scale model of Phil’s Super Flifull-size plane. Phil won trophies in both Pattern and Scale with this beauty in 1976.
50
From Ray Armstrong, Carson, New Mexico: “Hi Bob, I don’t know if you found the answer as to who manufactured the blue box controller or not, so I may be telling you something you already know. I was reading the February, 1957 issue of MAN and saw an advertisement for Ectron Products Co. in Smyrna, GA on page 45. They call it Rapitrol Stick-Box for only $13.95. The picture is black and white so you can’t tell the color but it sure looks like your unit to me. “You mentioned that you converted an F&M Echo single-channel to 2.4 GHz. I have the same Echo transmitter and receiver from 1959. It was a Christmas present from my grandmother. I was an Air Force brat at the time and tried to hook it up with limited success. We moved from Biloxi, MS to Math- er AFB in Rancho Cordova, CA where I met a guy named Jim Simpson and he wired the receiver and battery box up to an escape- ment for me. He showed me how to use a surplus parachute nylon for covering in-
JUNE 2013
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