One of the kindest reactions to a previously published article came from my friend Jaromir P. Our friendship lasts at least ten years and he still surprises me even in case I least expect it. I know Jaromir as a “gas-powered” modeler, which means he adores everything that is powered by a combustion engine and propeller.
Surprisingly he sent me two photos and some facts about one of his first radio-controlled models. This model is nothing else than Saturn which I am going to build during the upcoming weekends. Back in the early 70’s Jaromir has bought his first proportional RC system. At that time the situation around RC in former Czechoslovakia was different from what was available in the West and far different from today. Poor material resources, lack of information, equipment, and accessories pushed modelers to produce most of the necessary stuff on their own. The chance to buy a professional RC system was close to zero (and if so, then for a high price) and there were many radios produced by modelers.
Jaromir has bought what that time was known as a “Fajtoprop” RC system. Proportional transmitter and receiver which I assume was a Varioprop clone. Servos were directly soldered to the receiver and the overall weight of the “flying part” was quite high and suitable only for a bigger model having a spacy fuselage. Saturn is not a large model, but not even a small one, and this “Fajtoprop” RC system fit in quite well. As I mentioned above, Jaromir is an “engine-driven” modeler, but Saturn is a glider. And the Galaxie (Galaxy) was born. Motorized glider, powered by MVVS 2,5D engine. And why was the name changed to Galaxy? Simply because it was at that time Jaromir’s largest model in his hangar.
How did this model fly? By Jaromir’s words, very good, stable, and accurate. He noticed one story. Once he lost control, and the model was flying on its own. This has happened quite often because of the low reliability of the RC system. Galaxie simply flew away and landed in the grainfield. Everybody who has experienced such a landing would agree on finding the model is challenging and is more or less a matter of fortune.
Jaromir drove his motorbike to the local aeroclub and asked one pilot for help to find the model with a real Zlin Z-226 airplane. The pilot has found the glider in the grainfield and performed a couple of low passes to indicate its position. The model was found intact and I can only imagine how happy Jaromir had to be. We do not have to forget that every model was much more valuable than today.
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