My First RC Car
My dream of having a radio controlled race car probably started in the mid ’50’s. I had been flying a control line Wing Ding airplane made for engines up to .o49 cubic inch. I, of course, bought a Herkimer OK Cub .099 to double the power.
More power meant bigger crashes so I had to do some rebuilds after spectacular wing overs. When I finally bent the crank, I began to contemplate sticking closer to the ground with a gas powered car. Shirt cardboards from Dad’s laundry made great art boards:
Above – The tether cars of the day had an inline engine and bevel gear set, so I based my plans on that concept initially.
Below – Keeping to my ‘more is better’ idea, I sketched a 2 cylinder engine and chassis. Full Ackermann steering and a very sturdy front end, probably because of the damage I saw from my plane crashes. No radio but a shift lever for the transmission!? I always fanaticized that a gas powered car could lay down rubber.
Above – Refueling tubes representing carb stack in the hood.
Above – Two engines and four wheel drive – now it is getting serious!
Above – Tether cars didn’t have clutches, they were pushed off to launch. I didn’t know about centrifugal clutches yet. Clutch details above are a bit sketchy!
Finally, about 12 years later, all the pieces were available and I built a 1:8 scale, gas powered, radio controlled car. The Monogram 1965 Corvette kit was the first body:
Above – I still have the body, but long since sold the chassis.