Children flying glow engine powered free flight airplanes!

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[@robertcovell2787]

When I was a kid we flew control liners with 35's and 40's no mufflers, no ear muffs. We rode out bikes with no helmets. We jumped off the bridge into the river. We went out in the canoe without life jackets. I never expected to live to 77 years old and I can still fly models!

[@joshuawfinn]

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!

[@rayray8687]

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

[@ToyKingWonder]

Here is the golden rule. If any sound makes you wince and turn, or it hurts or is uncomfortable in any way, WEAR EAR PROTECTION. There is no "when I was a kid" BS about this. I have flown Cox and Testors and other engines all my life and never wore ear protection, because the noise is not that severe. When I go to the shooting range, not only so I wear "muffs" but I wear earplugs too, because with just the muffs I could feel the pressure after each shot, and that was unacceptable. You will not be aware that you are losing your hearing to some extent before it is too late. If there is discomfort, it is too loud not to wear protection, period.

[@electricboyo]

I did all of these too, yet somehow survived it all with only a couple of medium-sized injuries. My control line aircraft was made of large plastic pieces held together by strong rubber bands. IIRC it was powered by a Cox .049 glow plug engine. The crash-proof design was valuable because it took me a long time to learn to avoid stalls.

[@jamesrobertson9597]

I'm a 60 year-old man, but I'm definitely available for adoption! Seriously, this is awesome. Those kids will remember doing this stuff with you forever.

[@joshuawfinn]

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

[@RRED2]

Lovely seeing you with your children having fun and making good memories 😊

[@1027sterling]

Dad of the Year award!

[@ToyKingWonder]

My mom helped my uncle build his free flight planes--in 1949! Unbelievable if you think about it. They did have a spring loaded fuel timer, but nothing else. You set a little rudder and let it go. What was so shocking, seeing as they lived in the city of Chicago, I asked my mom where they went to fly the planes. She told me at the local park! Can you imagine doing this in 1949 Chicago in a city park with buildings all around? I get anxious with a single tree in the distance, with RC! All wood and paper, and alot of time to build them according to my mom.

[@jumpingjacks5558]

Your kids are great. They will carry on the legacy to their children. Awesome.

[@skateboardingjesus4006]

That looks fun. Your kid is a very attentive young man and you can see the resemblance very strongly. I've always loved tinkering with balsa and have built all sorts of contraptions over the years and many planes. From Ireland, have a great one and keep instilling that fascination.

[@joshuawfinn]

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

[@StephenFauble]

Glad to see the engines run well. Keep teaching the boys well.

[@joshuawfinn]

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.

[@lasersbee]

That's how I started Flying.... Free Flight with Cox .049 almost 60 years ago. No timer. Waited for Nitro to run out (about 1 minute). Then running across multiple farmer's fields to retrieve... Ah... The good old days. Glad my dad (he had no interest) was not there to yell at me....😂😉

[@joshuawfinn]

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!

[@generessler6282]

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."

[@lasersbee]

@@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.

[@lasersbee]

@@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.

[@user-pu7iu3qo5g]

What a wonderful legacy for these kids. Bless them and you

[@triskellian]

I love seeing you and Hope working with your boys in the hobby! Those young men are learning the craft quite well !

[@chipwright6193]

That looks like a lot of fun! I never knew they made a timer like that for those little engines.

[@larryfisher7056]

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.

[@steventortora4487]

Making memories for the kid's and teaching, what a good father ❤🎉 .

[@carloscollomps1552]

O flew a similar one model "Origone plane" in a competition and that thing flew great and didn't stop, it got lost in the horizon, then a few minutes later it somehow turned back and flew past overhead us, then when we tought it was going to fly away it crashed in a tall tribune of a nearby rugby stadium. They gave me 2 gold medals for that, and i still have them.

[@Tom-wl9sx]

My first engine was a Cox 049, still love them. Great flying, and a beautiful plane.🙂

[@garymcmullin2292]

back in the 60's I did freeflight out on the dry lake beds of Mojave desert. We flew control line at the middle school playing fields. Had a lot of fun, our freeflights used dethermalizer of a burning wick through the rubber band on the tail piece. We used mostly full tanks and those planes would spiral upward to nearly out of sight then we would have to give chase in a jeep over the dry lake bed. We never ever had the idea of electric starters or hearing protection, none of that stuff was on the radar. We sure got some nasty kick backs to the finger especially with the .35 and .40 class engines, but we sucked it up and continued on, just preteens to early teens kids with one adult mentor that made beautiful model planes to which we aspired.

[@KevinFreedman-jl2bv]

Sounds like me . Did you happen to live in ridgcrest California? I flew free flights on dry lake beds and flew control line at an elementary school . I tried the salt Peter soaked string fuse on a rubber band closed dethermalizer. It didn’t stay lit. The plane went up almost out of sight. My father well that’s it we won’t get that plane back. But I didn’t want to leave cause I could still see it. After about an hour it seemed it starting getting bigger and it did finally come down. We had a little bit of weight on the right wing so it would spiral up and down . I miss those days very much. I’m 62 now . I did know a family with the last name of McMullen in town too, so who knows

[@PeterScholl621]

Beautiful flight 😊

[@bigboy9693]

It is great to see the whole family involved.

[@smacfe]

So awesome! Yeah, that was me, with a Ramrod 250 with an Atwood Shriek. Coming home with a huge smile and shredded legs from running through the weeds all day long.

[@joshuawfinn]

Oh yeah!!!

[@douglasslayback3441]

Pretty airframe…boys doing it! I think the whole family will be in the AMA record book soon! 👍

[@joshuawfinn]

They've got a couple of indoor records. 😀

[@peterveen3819]

Super daddy, great video. So nice!!!

[@lewisauer6205]

Great that mom is part of the program!

[@WilliamCChapin]

Awesome parenting, Josh and Hope! Your family is awesome. 🥰

[@joshuawfinn]

Thanks!

[@WilliamCChapin]

@@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!

[@andymodeller965]

Great dad and great kids. Nicely done. 👍

[@osmw]

Just per chance, this video popped up on my feed - and I loved all of it. As a fellow kit manufacturer (albeit on the R/C side of things), being able to share the joy of aeromodeling as a family affair is an amazing thing. Keep up the great work and I look forward to seeing you all in action in future videos.

[@joshuawfinn]

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!

[@free_flight_field]

Nice flight! I'm looking forward to the future of these kids.

[@kouroshdavoudi7828]

Nice Dad and lovely kids ❤ enjoy.

[@alanspring8462]

Happy I subscribed. I love to see when it's family time.❤❤❤

[@richceglinski7543]

I recall about age 11 starting my .049 by finger flipping the prop. I remember being amazed at how many nice uniform slices it made in my finger in such a short time.

[@stearman52]

What a beautiful video!

[@edsherrod5216]

Good for you! I didn't get a glow fuel model until I received (after nagging for years) a Cox PT-19 control line trainer when 12 years old. I had no help getting it into the air and it didn't last long...

[@vady64]

Когда-то я тоже занимался в авиамодельном кружке по этому классу моделей, спасибо за видео, удачи. 👍👍👍🤝

[@ememeable]

WOW Exactly now i want to make one love it

[@user-fm1ci8lk8h]

I agree !

[@ozmazone]

Geodesic structures are the most beautiful things ever, I think. Well done the Finn family!

[@johnkamm386]

Family time with Dad

[@DulalAlauddin]

The superb predictability of drones is nothing compared to this. Nostalgy..

[@robertgregory8936]

Good teaching! I also brought my 3 sons up with model planes, indoor peanut scale rubber power and some R C. Keep it going.

[@jaredpeterson380]

I had an uncle back in the 50s that flew big gliders with rocket engines. We used to chase them in the car.

[@robh9079]

EPIC!! Personally i would add a rudder to save on the tree climbing though if you are competing......

[@joshuawfinn]

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.

[@joelaichner3025]

Impressive Design , congratulations ! Hard to impress me

[@desert-walker]

Man as a kid I just had one of those small paper planes. This would’ve been great 55 years ago.

[@tedmoss]

Pretty nice, when I was 6 my father and I flew FF rubber and .049 powered models, when I was 9-10 years old I built my first R/C model, a Ken-Hi Buzzard. I am going to finish my replica of my first model soon and fly it with electric power and three channels.

[@joshuawfinn]

Wonderful memories!

[@joelaichner3025]

Doesn’t get you Dizzy , like flying a little plane connected to 2 strings and a handle , round & round & round & round , until it runs out of fuel , and Water filled air pump rockets were cool too !

[@Burnersforvanlife]

Loved it, from the u.k.

[@user-vw1rs3mb8c]

Great video, great setting. My luck, first flight would be straight into a tree.

[@MrBoehol]

Very nice video. It reminds me of my first try with aeromodels nearly 60 yers ago. Nice to see that you protect your ears. Very important. Keep up the good work. Regards Bjorn in Sweden.

[@duskintheforest584]

I had a Cox Flying Tiger with that little glow plug kerosene motor. Control line. The longer the line, the better. Less dizzy that way. Never crashed it. Few rough landings, but i walked away...lol!

[@joshuawfinn]

They're fun aren't they?

[@garymucher4082]

Next step is RC. If they love this, they will go crazy when they can control the entire flight...

[@m1kalD]

A Beautiful video thank you

[@robmitchell3633]

That’s awesome. Nobody knows anything about these models nowadays. Kids have no idea

[@afrog2666]

Wow, those little engines are louder than Cox 0.8`s, very cool though 👍

[@joshuawfinn]

Yeah red hot screaming things. Very fun!

[@ememeable]

How to get your model plane down from a Tree Where's your Drone Fokes I am thinking of attaching something else other than a camera to a Drone That something else maybe a robotic arm that can stretch out and hook unto things or pick things up etc Whats your take on that ? Sincerely Ejike

[@jack002tuber]

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

[@joshuawfinn]

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).

[@user-jx8xo1rd8c]

This is a very Nice Video, My Father an I have got a Lot of Modellplanes from my Fathers Cousin Ernst who is Dead .

[@losebjughashvili8465]

Terrific fun! Maybe a drone with a hook to retrieve treed airplanes?

[@67hr74]

Great video, teaching your kids. bring them up with all the "learn too" models. I see your other son had a HLG too. I used to fly FAI power, Super tigre G15, 4 function seelig timer. Still have the engine and timer as well as a fuel cut off timer like the one you have on the model. I've not seen the Servo assist DT, thats beaut.

[@joshuawfinn]

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.

[@richardvallonjr.6716]

DT- the de-thermalizer- this pops up the tail to stall the airplane to keep it from being taken by a thermal updraft.

[@joelaichner3025]

The neighbor when I was a child , was the hobby shop , his home , we bought little wooden gliders from him , if you saved enough ? You could buy the bigger plane with the wind up rubber band propeller , stylin , rubber band drive

[@joelaichner3025]

I’m going to look that up later , some people are immune to certain plants , good to know

[@Gary-lz5eb]

Good dad❤

[@sawtooth4615]

I remember some contest free flighters rigged up a rudder trim tab that was spring loaded to a natural slow circular turn when the mechanical timer shut off. They rigged up a cable system that held the trim tab neutral under power and when the timer tripped, the cable would release and the spring loaded trim tab would put the plane in a nice slow circle.

[@joshuawfinn]

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.

[@sawtooth4615]

@@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.

[@joshuawfinn]

@@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.

[@sawtooth4615]

@@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.

[@hsparent]

When I was a kid I flew these bad we didn’t have a timer on them and we fill the tank up and let it go out in the country and it flew until it ran out of fuel. I lost it a few times but always found it later out in the woods. I had an 020 engine. They were so much fun. Also we didn’t have an electric start at four then we had to start them by hand. We also did not have the ability to shut the engine down or anything or to stop at scribe path we just have to wait till it came back down on its own. But the weather was set up some thing and just live in a circle until I came down on his own.

[@Off-The-X]

Always wondered what is must have been like to have a dad

[@gwheyduke]

If you come in contact with poison ivy or think you might have, just scrub very thoroughly with soap and water and a washcloth. The resin that causes the itchy rash is like grease, but it can be washed off within a couple of hours of contact.

[@joshuawfinn]

That's what I do with the boys. Apparently Dawn dish soap works the best. Anyway I don't react to the oils so I'm the designated retriever in these situations.

[@chris-adams-tas]

Magic.

[@nigel900]

Always “DT” the “MA” before you “KJ” the “ML”… but not before you “RX” the “TP” half down the “VU”.

[@oo-oh3wy]

So cute❤

[@kaasmeester5903]

Such a wholesome afternoon. Did you get your kids involved in building these planes as well?

[@joshuawfinn]

The whole story is they have been tapped to go onto the junior F1P team. I told them they needed to build at least one legal model each before getting into the ready-built stuff, and since they like building anyway, they did it, with close guidance from me to make sure they got them done nice and strong and on time for the Nats. Success was had, as you can tell. Moreover Paul beat placed pretty high overall at the Nats a few weeks ago.

[@kurtfleischmann4237]

Habe auch so begonnen 1960 mit topsy 0,8 cox allerdings ohne gehörschutz man muß es doch hören !

[@joelaichner3025]

Are you an Engineer ? Or are you just building future Engineers ? Advanced Dad

[@jack002tuber]

Very cool. So I know nothing about this, what is "DT it"? You said that a lot.

[@robh9079]

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.

[@jack002tuber]

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

[@engmanukmarsh9585]

Good for you Dad, pity about the do gooders,nimbys and others that are trying to ban this sort of recreation in this country, our children will only be able to read about this soon.

[@siamaklighvani3951]

In my time they use COX engine , something is wrong with this plane . It needs to glides well , while engine stops . This model is not having the right weight balance .

[@consentofthegoverned5145]

How do you "DT" it?

[@jeffhenson1994]

PUT THAT BACK SEE

[@ememeable]

Hi Dad I was just wondering if we can deploy such models For the Boys and Girls Scout It can can be used in cases of emergency to signal for Help It will require a little modification however not much The propellers can spin with a wind-up mechanism rather than a fuel engine It is a great model plane Sincerely Ejike

[@joshuawfinn]

That's an interesting idea and worth investigating.

[@joelaichner3025]

Why so serious ? It was another long walk back and forth ,

[@thomasmeadows256]

❤

[@JamesPontious]

What is that thing called and how does it work . The thing that brings them almost straight down .

[@robh9079]

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

[@JamesPontious]

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

[@robh9079]

@@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!

[@qwerty_____146]

🎉❤

[@RimjobHimself]

Kinda annoying. My nephew runs around with his earmuffs all the time. Even letting go a fart he holds his ears, I tried helping him with his motorized appliances and even pulling a start string on a engine without spark plug to just clear the cylinder and also listening for anything wrong he put on his earmuffs and couldn't hear anything. Made me angry, he is an adult. Over 30 yrs old. Gdmit

[@RimjobHimself]

I swam alone in the river when I was 7, I drank moonshine when I was 11, I started smoking at 11, I drove a moped illegally on the roads while being 11, I knew how to clean a carburetor and tune it when I was 11, I freedive alone to 100 feet, I drive like a madman at high speeds, never any accident, never had a blackout, drove drunk as a skunk from when I was 11, stopped drunk driving when I was 20 because I realized being to drunk removed some of my ability to edit sideways at 160 kph in my car as perfect as when I was sober. I'm almost 50 and never had had any collisions, no dents, nothing. I'm still doing all except smoking and drunk driving.

[@KennethLWagner-yw9ko]

hearing protection ? for what ?

[@leifvejby8023]

For the ears.

[@jack002tuber]

The engines are very loud it seems

[@joshuawfinn]

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

[@KennethLWagner-yw9ko]

@@joshuawfinn on such a tiny plane ?

[@joshuawfinn]

@@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).

[@CASHSEC]

He can't hear you with Stop,Stop???

[@aggabus]

D T = ?

[@GurpreetSingh-eu7mr]

👌🏻👍

[@Iflyanythin]

Doodlebug ww2

[@jeffhenson1994]

TEACHING IS SHOWING NOT TELLING

[@mrbmp09]

I don't get it, you are 90% of the way to a REAL RC plane/ glider. I learned to fly on a 6' wingspan RC monarch butterfly balsa kit with a .049 cox engine over 40 years ago. Those 2 kids would learn to fly very quickly, especially with the Sims available.

[@charlesphilips2920]

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

[@robh9079]

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

[@charlesphilips2920]

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

[@joshuawfinn]

@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.

[@DownsouthMan]

I gave u a thumbs up until you said stab.

[@joshuawfinn]

Ooookaaaayyy...

[@dwpix]

Dad is a bit of a control freak?

[@user-id1bo8zd3f]

The Holy Quran❗..👍👍👍🎧Search❔❔ 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

[@jeffhenson1994]

TOOO MUCH BOSSY DAD LET THE KIDS LEARN U CANT ALWAYS TELL THEM HOW TO WIPE THERE BUTTS

[@user-rt2bw3je8u]

Hi there, if we want to collab with you, how to contact you?