Children flying glow engine powered free flight airplanes! 

For what it's worth, we don't use hearing protection with cox engines, and I can't wear a helmet and chase on my dirt bike because, well, it gets seriously in the way. The reason we wear muffs with these is they are easily twice as loud as a really hot cox engine, and it's just painful to run them without muffs. Anyway, we still know how to have fun here!

We did that too, and some of us even lived!

They're great, and those tuned propellers seem to make a big difference. I expect an additional power boost when they get proficient with bladder feed.

They both do an amazing job. If you can't tell, glow is their favorite power source!

Caleb's first model had a Peewee on an eyedropper tank, but there aren't many classes today where you can get in flights without a timer, hence their usage. Those 7 second run limits don't allow room for error!

Haha. Yeah my brother and I flew Cox .020 free flight for a while. Some epic losses to trees finally led me to build a pulse rudder-only rig. All this started me on a lifelong path of engineering: military, civil, facilities, teaching, electronics, software. What a terrific hobby and way of life... "Simple service, simply given, to their own kind, in their common need."

@@generessler6282 I hear you. I own and operate my own Electronics Research Company since I was 19. Never lookked back. Now I fly RC and FPV Models from 400mm to 8 foot spans.

@@joshuawfinn Safety Restrictions are Great for the younger Pilots. Once you get to be an adult with RC experience, Restricting RC Toys seem to be Government Overreach.

Im 74 and I still have one of those Tick-off timers floatig around in my flight box from when I used to fly 049 about 60 years ago.

If you're ever able to meet up with us at a flying event, you're welcome to join in the fun!

Thanks so much for your kind words! I've been following Joshua Orchards OSMW builds and y'all make some cool stuff. Keep up the good work!

They've got a couple of indoor records. 😀

Oh yeah!!!

Thanks!

@@joshuawfinn You’re welcome! Your free flight stuff amazes me - I’ve done plenty of R/C (sport, pattern and Q500 at the local level) and some control line stunt competition. I’ve only fooled around a little with small free flight gliders like the Merlin and Sweepette. A control line stunt guy named Dan Banjock had my Golden Retriever fetching them after hours at the Nats in Muncie 20 years ago!

They're fun aren't they?

These are for freeflight competition. Part of the challenge (and the learning outcome) is to create a stability scheme that results in a steady flight pattern without outside inputs.

Wonderful memories!

I still run planes on Seeligs, and have several ST .15 engines. They are excellent runners. Ron Young of Cox fame still does tuning on them and also does ground-up builds and rebuilds of Rossis and Conquests. His Conquests will keep up with anything out there.

Yeah red hot screaming things. Very fun!

Yeah we still do that on open AMA gas planes, and the next F1P models the boys build will have both auto rudder and auto stab as allowed by the rules.

@@joshuawfinn I build a 1/2 A class Free flight from a kit called a starduster. This was in the early 60s. The only engine I had was a Cox 049. It flew ok but then the new Cox TeeDee series came out. They were screamers. It would do a full vertical and then fall over into a flat glide. I couldn't afford mechanical timers so we all used glass eye drop tubes for fuel and the old fuse type and rubberband DT system. LOL Pretty crude.

@@sawtooth4615 nothing wrong with that! I've flown a bunch of 1/2A 'Dusters (and larger ones) and loved all of them. TD is a great engine on that plane, although with a good stiff wing you can use newer stuff.

@@joshuawfinn I only went to one contest with it and got three max's with it and it was the only contest free flight I ever had. I've actually looked to see if the kit or the plane still exists.

De -Thermaliser. This limits the flight time - the tailplane pops up and the model descends quickly but gently to the ground as you see. You would lose these models easily otherwise. The old school DT's are the clockwork mech that they have(possibly necessary for the comp rules) - looks as though they have a radio back-up. If it were radio controlled you could steer it those these guys are comping in free-flight events.

@@robh9079 Ok, I see. Thank you much for the reply

I was thinking that too. A hook on a string might do it

We tried that a few times and it went...poorly. The three main issues are the payload capacity of the drone, instability from wind whipping the retrieval line around, and the very real danger of getting the line wrapped around a tree branch, crashing the drone (I've seen that happen a few times).

That's an interesting idea and worth investigating.

The De-Thermailser (or 'DT'). The tailplane pops up into a steep angle - traditionally a clockwork timer mech releasing an elastic band activator.

@robh9079 thanks , I don't recall seeing that before. Ive been rc flying over 50 yrs. Very interesting .

@@JamesPontious Strictly a free flight device - I'm an RC flyer though I saw those as a child when RC was super expensive (c.10x) and was restricted to control line and free flight. These guys are are showing us how it's done properly - the trimming aspect is fascinating and quite involved. I am UK therefore in BMFA, and their magazine has a regular on free flight - RC is what it's about for me though!

For the ears.

The engines are very loud it seems

These aren't Cox engines...They're quite a bit noisier than a regular 049 engine.

@@joshuawfinn on such a tiny plane ?

@@KennethLWagner-yw9ko 25-27k rpm. They don't have mufflers, and they're true open exhaust, so it's loud enough to be uncomfortable. The ones running pressure feed turn anywhere between 30 and 35k rpm which is extra painful (these will be configured that way in the next year as the boys get more comfortable with fuel bladders).

what radio or transmitter did you have were the jr crystal radios out yet

Looks like they are into the free-flight competition thing, which is a world of it's own.

@@robh9079 yea it is i did lots of free flight ama nats 1/2A gas A2s discus messed with controll line stuff

@mrmbmp09, anyone can fly RC. Free Flight requires the builder/operator to actually understand what's going on. This is why Neil Armstrong, Jimmy Stewart, etc, flew FF even when they had the funds an opportunity to fly RC, and why Armstrong always focused his youth mentoring on Control Line and Free Flight instead of RC.

Ooookaaaayyy...