then was then...remote control (part 4)

see parts 1-3 at my blog
from time to time, model airplane magazines published articles on sort of science fiction by mad scientists that were performing experiments with remote controlled airplanes.
these were as rudimentary as they could be. free flight planes controlling just the rudder, and that happened erratically. it was sort of lottery to be able to change the direction of the plane now and then.
but, as i said, it was just trying the boundaries of the then fantasy of controlling something at a distance.
this took years and the contribution of countless (and nameless) folks to reach the point of being able to control also elevator, then throttle.
the gear consisted on a car battery placed on the ground that provided the power, connected to a control box that the modeler held in his hands.
those who were present were in awe, and talked about this for a long time to whoever were around.
then came reeds, that improved efficiency. there was 1 channel for left turn, and another for right turn.
when elevator was added, same thing: 1 channel for up, another for down.
then servos. nicads. years later, some1 released the 1st commercial radio control (kraft, i think). and expensive. heavy.
and they were flying on frequencies (72, 27), so you would not have interference.
i recall at los angeles, there was at a place called mile square, that was an emergency airstrip (dont know of still exists), that had large areas designated for each frequency where the ones that were willing to fly formed and awaited for their turn to fly.
it was until, on 2006 that horizon released the 2.4 with which apparently any number of planes could fly without interference.
now we also have cellulars, laptops, gps and whatnot.
boy, the world has come a long way...
pics: https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&s...TkwASYQ4dUDCAw