Rodger Pettichord Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Hi all. This week's topic is supplied by KEN Q. Have fun! Most of us on this forum were kids in a time long before computer flight simulation came about. Our "flight simulator" consisted of a few props--maybe a plane made from cardboard boxes or wooden crates--and a fertile imagination. So this week's topic. THIS WEEK'S MEANINGLESS TOPIC: As a kid, did you make a "flight simulator?" What did you make it from? What was it like? BONUS: What kind of flights did you take in it? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted January 12, 2023 Author Share Posted January 12, 2023 Two instances. (1) As a kid, I made an airplane by leaning several lawn chairs against a clothesline pole. I got into the enclosure and was flying my airplane when a small earthquake hit. I honestly thought I had taken off and was flying. (2) We boys used to go to the local school playground and play fighter pilot with our bikes, trying to get on each others' tail and shoot each other down. Much fun! 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Heaton Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 Probably not quite what Ken had in mind - but my early flight simming aircraft were made from folded Paper - and bore a remarkable resemblance to the CONCORD Also - for my 7th birthday - I was given a model glider that was cut from a sheet of balsa - and clumsy me - cut a large gash in my palm with a razor blade. - it is still vivid in my memory--------- because I see the scar every day 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 32 minutes ago, John Heaton said: Probably not quite what Ken had in mind - but my early flight simming aircraft were made from folded Paper - and bore a remarkable resemblance to the CONCORD Also - for my 7th birthday - I was given a model glider that was cut from a sheet of balsa - and clumsy me - cut a large gash in my palm with a razor blade. - it is still vivid in my memory--------- because I see the scar every day I wasn't thinking in terms of flying "models" and toys, but, yeah, that counts too. Thank you John. You've opened another path to explore my theme, which is, how did we simulate flying before our wonderful, accurate and detailed computer flight simulators. I did much of the same, making paper airplanes, and experimenting with various modifications. Then there were the great rubber band powered balsa planes. Very simple, but provided hours of fun. Growing up, we lived in an area that still had very large back yards (subdivided decades ago). My rubber band powered airplane could take off in my yard and end up two or three yards over. Then there was the unsuccessful experiment with a "jet" balsa airplane advertised in a comic book. Blew out on the first try, and the solid fuel was so dangerous. Not something that should have been marketed to kids, if at all. Now of course there are R/C airplanes and drones that are very sophisticated. How even that world has changed. Ken 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gumbypickett Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 Nothing apart from paper planes and making planes out of lego. Complete fails all round. Sorry that's all I have. That's a tough question Ken. l Look forward to reading reply's. cheers Gumby 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wain71 Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 only paper planes for me to, I was to busy riding a bike or kicking a ball about......I do remember running around the playground with our arms out making gun fire noises...I didn't discover flight simming until 1996, been hooked ever since.... 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bvdboomen Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 I made paper model kits which could be assembled. The Piper Cub for instance, of which I made even two. (Pretending) flying with them, was not an option since the build quality was... well... 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 23 hours ago, Rodger Pettichord said: Two instances. (1) As a kid, I made an airplane by leaning several lawn chairs against a clothesline pole. I got into the enclosure and was flying my airplane when a small earthquake hit. I honestly thought I had taken off and was flying. (2) We boys used to go to the local school playground and play fighter pilot with our bikes, trying to get on each others' tail and shoot each other down. Much fun! Rodger's first example is along the lines of my thought when suggesting this topic, but I also appreciate the comment about making a bike into an airplane (in our imagination). It's actually not much of a leap. The wind on our faces, the feeling of speed, and "banking" into a turn can feel much like flying an airplane. As a kid I lived on a side street that had a gentle down slope from the main road. Riding down this slope was much like a left base to land, then bank left to a short final and land on runway 01 (the driveway). It never grew old, at least not until I did (age 15 or so). But I built my first airplane simulator down in the basement in fourth grade. I was inspired by an assigned reading about Amelia Earhart, and just had to have a plane like hers! I started with two chairs, about six or so feet apart. Bridged the gap between them with some scrap lumber. Put a couple of cardboard boxes on this construction. One was the "cockpit." In that I set a kiddie chair, too small for me except it was the right height for the pilot's seat. Another, smaller box became the empenage, another, up front was the nose and engine cowling . Now I got out my Erector Set. From these parts I made a propeller and attached it to the Erector Set motor. Then cut some cardboard to make a wing, half the stabilizer and tail. It was built against a wall, so only had the right side. The Erector Set provided parts for the stick and rudder pedals. A train transformer served for the throttle, and a old volt meter wired to it served for that ASI. I was ready to fly and join Amelia Earhart on her adventures! Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 Balsa wood plane with a gum band to turn the prop. Paper airplanes of course, who didn't make those. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMBIII Posted January 15, 2023 Share Posted January 15, 2023 Circa 1953 - A large cardboard box with the top and bottom cut out to fit over me. On the inside was drawn "flight instruments, switches and radar screens". A circular steering wheel from an old toy car was some how affixed also. I would sit in the back seat of the family car (a '52 Nash Rambler) and "fly" whenever and wherever we went. As I grew older, I graduated to making plastic model aircraft. I remember the first plastic model I found in a trash pile - a Lockheed XF-90. I "restored" it and as far as I remember still had it when I joined the USN in 1961. Finally got to really fly as a helicopter aircrewman. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John York Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 I was very destructive. I made simple balsa aeroplanes powered by rubber bands. They flew quite well but didn't take much to get shot down full of holes from using my airgun! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 I was too busy being Roy Rogers to worry about airplanes. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 3 hours ago, W2DR said: I was too busy being Roy Rogers to worry about airplanes. Yes, but what about Sky King? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 I didn't listen to Sky King very much. It just didn't seem right letting a girl (Penny) fly the Songbird. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 (edited) From this view point (in my "mature" years) Penny is hot and sexy, but from a pre teen POV something of a distraction. By the end of the series I began to see things (ilke girls) differently. But the flying cowboy, his Cessna 310, his "get the bad guy" missions, and, yes, Penny were compelling. But you seem to be referring to the radio program. I'm recalling the TV series. Ken Edited January 18, 2023 by Ken Q 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 I started with Dinky toys I guess. For Christmas I was given three Hawker Hunters and three Gloster Javelins. I just used to run around the room with one in each hand making 'jet roar' sounds 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 (edited) 13 hours ago, Ken Q said: But you seem to be referring to the radio program. I'm recalling the TV series. Yes, I'm recalling the radio series. TV came to my house rather late in the game. But never forget, when the little boy was asked which he liked better, radio or TV, he replied "I like radio more because you can see the story much better". Sometimes the old times are the best times..... Edited January 18, 2023 by W2DR kant spel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Q Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 (edited) 29 minutes ago, W2DR said: Yes, I'm recalling the radio series. TV came to my house rather late in the game. But never forget, when the little boy was asked which he liked better, radio or TV, he replied "I like radio more because you can see the story much better". Sometimes the old times are the best times..... We had a TV early on. It was very temperamental, always losing horizontal or vertical hold, which resulted in cries of anguish: " Mommy, please fix the television". As a kid I was NEVER allowed to touch the thing, even to turn it on or off. Some of my friends at the time (early 1950s) had sets, but other I didn't until much later. Of course what was available on television (the short form "TV" didn't come along until later) was limited. We also had a radio set, which was a large tube affair, a piece of furniture. Grandpa was a boxing fan, and I remember him listening to the fights on this thing. I guess they weren't televised. Ken Edited January 18, 2023 by Ken Q 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 How well I remember our big Zenith console radio. Like yours, it was, indeed, a piece of furniture, I wish I had that radio today...sigh. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted January 18, 2023 Share Posted January 18, 2023 3 hours ago, Ken Q said: Grandpa was a boxing fan, and I remember him listening to the fights on this thing. I guess they weren't televised. My Dad was also a big boxing fan. The only reason he gave in and finally bought a TV was so he could watch the Gillette Friday Night Fights (How are you fixed for blades? You better check. Please make sure you have enough. 'Cause a worn-out blade makes shaving mighty tough). And how well I remember so many of these bouts: Boxing in the 1950s - Wikipedia . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TuFun Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 My father was into U-control aircraft in the '60's so I was too! My first little Piper flown in the '60's when Dad's friend gave me this U-control model. Then came the Stuka in the ''60 and 70's. One each in the those periods. The Cosmic Wind by Cox... indestructible! Guillow's P-40 rubber band model I converted to U-control and skinned the fuselage with balsa sheets running a Cox Pee Wee .020 engine. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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