Greetings!
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 6:48 pm
Hello everyone! I've been out of the hobby but recently retired and have the urge to build and fly again.
Like so many people I started out years ago with a .40 size, glow-engined trainer. Not too long after I soloed I transitioned to building and flying small Cox 1/2A sized planes. I loved the smaller-sized planes but hated cleaning off all the goo at the end of the day.
In May of 1995 (Yeah, I'm a geezer) Model Airplane News published a Randy Randolph electric motor glider design called a Minnwatt. It was a 51" WS, 330 sq. inch motor glider with rudder/elevator/throttle control. With the advice and assistance of a few people I corresponded with on Usenet and the Compuserve ModelNet forum, I got it geared up and flying. It was on the heavy side based on my limited knowledge of batteries, etc. but it FLEW! Best of all, other than the occasional grass stains from landing, it required zero cleanup. I was sold on electric power.
Over the years I built quite a few Speed 400-sized electric models and for a few years, I even kitted a plane called the Ministreak that sort of looked like a called down ElectroStreak that I believe Tower Hobbies sold. I also made and sold laser-cut motor mounts for scratch builders and a few companies incorporated them into their kits.
Life intervened. I had a young son who I liked spending time with, my job got busier and busier, and hobbies took a back seat for quite a few years. I recently got together with some old friends at the MidAmerica E-Fly in Wixom, MI. By the end of the weekend, I decided I'd like to get back into flying and my research and some recommendations by friends brought me to the Willie Nillies website. I had saved back a few key pieces I needed like my Spektrum DX7 TX and I have one of the Wee Series Duster kits on order along with the bits and pieces to finish it and get it ready to fly. Sadly, the town where I live has no hobby shop.
Tim
Like so many people I started out years ago with a .40 size, glow-engined trainer. Not too long after I soloed I transitioned to building and flying small Cox 1/2A sized planes. I loved the smaller-sized planes but hated cleaning off all the goo at the end of the day.
In May of 1995 (Yeah, I'm a geezer) Model Airplane News published a Randy Randolph electric motor glider design called a Minnwatt. It was a 51" WS, 330 sq. inch motor glider with rudder/elevator/throttle control. With the advice and assistance of a few people I corresponded with on Usenet and the Compuserve ModelNet forum, I got it geared up and flying. It was on the heavy side based on my limited knowledge of batteries, etc. but it FLEW! Best of all, other than the occasional grass stains from landing, it required zero cleanup. I was sold on electric power.
Over the years I built quite a few Speed 400-sized electric models and for a few years, I even kitted a plane called the Ministreak that sort of looked like a called down ElectroStreak that I believe Tower Hobbies sold. I also made and sold laser-cut motor mounts for scratch builders and a few companies incorporated them into their kits.
Life intervened. I had a young son who I liked spending time with, my job got busier and busier, and hobbies took a back seat for quite a few years. I recently got together with some old friends at the MidAmerica E-Fly in Wixom, MI. By the end of the weekend, I decided I'd like to get back into flying and my research and some recommendations by friends brought me to the Willie Nillies website. I had saved back a few key pieces I needed like my Spektrum DX7 TX and I have one of the Wee Series Duster kits on order along with the bits and pieces to finish it and get it ready to fly. Sadly, the town where I live has no hobby shop.
Tim
