HAHAHAHA, Those days the closest thing to a PC was a slide rule or an abacus....hahahahaha
Proportional was still a measure of relativity...

Originally Posted by gpw

HAHAHAHA, Those days the closest thing to a PC was a slide rule or an abacus....hahahahaha
Proportional was still a measure of relativity...

Yes, slide rules were used for, well, imprecise calculations, augmented by 5-place log tables. Real engineers used Friden or Marchant calculators. Fun-seekers devised calculations that would play an amusing beat on the calculators.

By 1962, we were using the Univac I for analysis of complex structures. A typical computer "run" would be about 40 hours, which we had to divide up so it could run overnight -- accounting dept. had priority during the day so people could get paid on Fridays. Every Univac I user was a systems programmer, as our code was written in machine language.

Proportional was the Space Control "brick" receiver from the LHC (Dick Francis in West Philadelphia (pronounced (sounded like) "Fluffia" in South Fluffia). Engineers couldn't afford a Space Control Brick, so many of us designed and built our own. I still have some analog proportional servos, designed by "moi", with internal parts manufactured in the Franklin Institute machine shop during lunch hours.

Nowadays, you can buy a whole receiver and servo for the price of one set of brass gear and pinion to go on a potentiometer inside the proportional servo.

The "kids" in R/C today don't know how lucky they are, especially with old-timers like GPW to provide simple-to-build-and-fly designs.

Thanks, Glen.

Quote:"The "kids" in R/C today don't know how lucky they are" How TRUE!!!

Guess we won't tell them about "banana oil"...hahahahahaha

Originally Posted by gpw

Quote:"The "kids" in R/C today don't know how lucky they are" How TRUE!!!

Guess we won't tell them about "banana oil"...hahahahahaha

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoamyl_acetate

So that's why I had to wear protective clothing while using it. ;-)

I built an old comet ff kit a few years back and the plans called for sealing the floats with banana oil. Thought I'd try and find the stuff and have a retro experience. I guess they still use the stuff only for they use it for testing gas masks and respirators. An 8oz. bottle of the stuff cost $105.00. I stuck with a couple of coats of dope instead.

Last bottle we bought was 75 cents , but that was some time ago ...

yeah, I wonder if the Sumo price will ever relent !

Not to mention a little bottle upgrade !

Originally Posted by gpw

Gosh , remember that old stuff ... push the button once for left , twice for right ...I think the planes flew better than we did...hahahahaha

I think mine was push once for left, push again for neutral, push again for right, push again for neutral. But I could be wrong, been a lot of years. By the way, I am one of those who still pours his own microfilm for my indoor rubber models.

Originally Posted by Jerry Combs

I think mine was push once for left, push again for neutral, push again for right, push again for neutral. But I could be wrong, been a lot of years. By the way, I am one of those who still pours his own microfilm for my indoor rubber models.

And the guys with the REALLY high tech equipment had a wind up box on the side of the tx to drive and count pulses

Our first proportional was an ACE Pulse commander...Really high tech for me was replacing that wallet grabbing dry cell 9v with the new rechargeable batteries for the Tx...flew many a stick-built Old Timer with an overpropped slobbering Golden Bee on the nose ...rudder flapping back and forth wildly , but they sure flew great ... for then Remember glide testing before the flight...shimming the wing for windy days ... range checks ...The planes basically flew themselves , with occasional interruptions to prevent fly aways High tech...
I like to watch the new guys , just take the plane out of the car , turn on the radio and toss it into the great wide open ...