maxpower1954

Well, after 40 years I finally got the Christmas present I wanted back in 1968! It was then 100 dollars retail, but typically you could get it from AHC for around 75 - in 2009 dollars, that's over 400 bucks! This one, never started or flown cost me 173.00 on Ebay. I've bid on several over the years and I saw one go for 300 a while back.

As far as I know, this was the first fully-assembled, RTF R/C model, at least in the United States. The single-channel Testors Simpulse radio was available first starting in January 1966, according to an AHC ad in M.A.N. The complete RTF Skyhawk was finally introduced in late 1966/early 1967. It remained in production until around 1972 or 73. The first generation had a Cox Golden Bee and a nice swept fin. Mine, which has a July 1969 inspection date has the McCoy .049 and a different vertical tail with less sweep and ugly hinges with a huge gap between the rudder and fin. (see pictures) . It was widely available at hobby shops, toy stores and I remember seeing them at Lafeyette Electronics or Radio Shack.

The instruction manual is VERY complete and detailed, with little cartoon drawings that remind me of Army Air Corps flight manuals I've seen for airplanes like the C-47. According to the book, it's a "semi-scale model of a popular lightplane" which does leave much to the imagination. It's closest to the Piper Comanche, but it also seems to be a loose copy of the Veco Pinto in planform and style.

There is some hangar rash after 40 years of storage, mostly gouges and dents in the wing and stab. Some vinyl spackling will take care of that. The fuselage and cowl have a few stress marks, but the engine and model have absolutely no oil or fuel residue. I took everything apart for inspection and battery replacement.

As you might imagine, the ni-cads are history, but they did hold enough charge to confirm the radio worked. I wired up a couple of AA akalines for testing purposes; I'll pick up two Sanyo ni-cads soon. The acuator clacked happily away, and after a centering adjustment on the stick pot, I did a range check. It was about 120 feet with the TX antenna down, the book said 75 to 150 feet is acceptable. Still, I might have Jay Mendoza or Ron Ellis re-cap the system, just to be safe.

I've heard stories that the McCoy powered Skyhawk is a marginal machine, so I'm thinking a Cox Black Widow might be a good choice...more powerful than the Golden Bee because of better porting. The firewall has provisions for mounting engines of two different widths (see photos again) and I think the Black Widow has the same bolt pattern as a Golden Bee.

If anyone has a good Black Widow they want to sell, I'm interested! And I'd love to hear stories about any R/C Skyhawk experiences... Russ Farris

Duke58

Wow Russ , another winner at ebay!! Hope you had a Happy Birthday and a Merry Christmas . You are right to have the old radio looked after if you are going to try and use it.

Earl

pd1

Look at what I was just reading.

Deadstik

My Feedback: (8)

Russ,

Congratulations on getting your Skyhawk!! My first experience with one was at Duke Athletic field in around 1970-71. I was flying my trusty Jr. Falcon w/Controlaire Mule and OS servo when this kid and his dad showed up at the field. I had seen the Skyhawk in ads but this was the first one I had seen in person. Neither the father or the son had any R/C experience and as I was just 16 I just kept quiet. They were following the instruction book and didn't seem to want any help so I went back to refuel my Falcon. Suddently, they got the engine started and as I looked up the father was running with the plane and gave it a huge throw. The Skyhawk zoomed up and there was just enough wind to keep it from stalling and the plane seem to be going straight and was ok... then the PILOT took over. I had never seen a single channel plane go from one spiral dive to another and the plane was getting closer to death each time. The father was yelling at the kid, and vice versa...I walked up and just made a comment that the son was overcontrolling the plane... immediately the father yanked the transmitter from the son and threw it at me and yelled "SAVE THE PLANE"....I just made a few corrections so the plane would quit trying to loop and got the plane trimmed out and flying straight. About this time the motor quit and I made a beautiful landing not 20 feet from us. I was amazed at just how well the darn thing flew. Compared to my Falcon w/the OS servo this thing was the Space SHuttle!! Both guys were very happy that the plane wasn't trashed and I offered to teach the kid how to fly it and we proceeded to burn every bit of fuel in that pint can. One thing about the plane is that the power is marginal and you have to do the rudder wig/wag after the hand launch to get the nose up.

I'm envious Russ, and wish I could find one as I have great memories of that day and that plane. I wish you the best of luck with yours.

Dan
Carolina Custom Aircraft

BobHH

My Feedback: (18)

OK Russ, you made me dig mine out of the rafters. Nowhere near as clean as yours but she does fly quite well. It’s been last year since I flew her and the batteries charged right up and seem to be holding up well. Mine has the Golden Bee on her and as you can see use the inner holes. I actually had 2 of these but the last one was destroyed when the fuselage separated at the seam. I only have the wing left. I’m not sure how yours has weathered but I brushed some epoxy in the seals and especially inside the firewall area as mine too has gotten a bit brittle.

Last flight was at the SWAMPS and she took off after about a 40 foot run. Yep rudder is a bit sensitive but flies great. Jay went through this system as I lost range a few years ago on it and could not find the problem. Mine is setup for 3.6 volt NiCad receiver pack.

As you can see in the pictures the transmitter came in 2 different colors. Black and tan. There also was a Mattel Mustang car that used the same system but it also had a push button on the trans. I can’t find that transmitter box but it is somewhere packed up.

Deadstik, I’ll bring her up to the 1/2A flyin in April and let you have another go at the Skyhawk again!!! Enjoy!!!

Check out the video:: Please excuse the commentary!![:@]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILASdBVIgg8

Bob Harris

Deadstik

My Feedback: (8)

Bob,

I'll look forward to that in April. Lots of stuff to do in the coming year but I'm really looking forward to the April fly in...Thanks for bringing the Skyhawk....

Dan

maxpower1954

Progress report...Jay Mendoza has graciously offered to go through the Simpulse radio for me. Like big Earl says, good for peace of mind!

Bob, is the main advantage going to a 3.6 volt pack a little more powerful acuator? I picked up three Sanyo AAs with solder tabs today at the hobby shop to send along with the radio to Jay. BTW, the original
vertical whip antenna came with the model.

Work continues on filling the holes and gouges in the wing and stab. The light weight spackling stuff is working out great, and I plan on painting the wings and stab white when I'm done. It will look better and be easier to keep clean.. I've used Tamiya spray paint for years on foam with excellent results. Not hot fuel proof, but it shouldn't really matter.

My Skyhawk came with solid rubber HEAVY streamline Veco wheels. I'd like to replace them with some light weight modern foam ones, saving over two ounces total...but having a lighter nose wheel will move the CG back. The third cell in the battery pack would help some, I'll have to experiment and see. I don't want to change what seems to be a stable factory force set-up, from Bob HH's and other reports.

Hey Bob, are you happy with the Golden Bee for power? I was considering a Black Widow; both seem readily available on Ebay. What prop do you use? I'd rather not fool with the McCoy, since Dead Stik and others indicate it is marginal. And where is the April 1/2A meet at???

PD1 (Paul), thanks for posting the full-house article I remember reading back in 1967! Frank Schwartz still posts here on occasion; I'm suprised he hasn't chimed in yet...

This will be a fun project for me - over forty years of R/C flying and I've never had a single channel .049 powered model! Russ Farris

BobHH

My Feedback: (18)

Russ, mine came with the wire whip and I changed it to the regular soft antenna. Either will work great just the whip seemed to hook everything in the shop. One of mine came with the big Veco wheels and the other with the smaller wheels. I’ve only flew the smaller wheels but the others may be good flying off grass.

The Golden Bee with a 6-3 flies it well with no problem but the Black Widow would be OK too. Funny there was a guy last year at the BARKS swap meet selling Black Widows for $25.00 new. Wonder if he will be back this year?

I went to 3 cells as the actuator seems to pulse a bit better and they last longer. I believe the Testors actuator eats powers. Jay has worked on 2 of these systems for me and they work great!! Somehow I have acquired a few more transmitters if he needs any additional parts.

Russ, Jim Katz and myself are having a 1/2A flying at the “Old Julian Airport Raceway� in Julian NC April 17. Anything 1/2A is welcome both electric and glow. We also will be flying some 1/2A controline too!! Just a fun general flying event with a little 1/2A Reedie racing added in. We’ve had these in Burlington for the last few years and have had a blast doing them. Mark your calendar.

Bob Harris

Frank Schwartz

My Feedback: (1)

Holy Smokes!!! There is my article! Back when I was slimmer and my hair wasn't white! I still have one of the testors systems lying about...but need a diagram of it...anyone out there who can give me a copy??
Regards to all...and Happy New Year
Frank Schwartz AMA123 (That's right...123)

JMP_blackfoot

Here is another colour (brown), probably an early one?
Also the diagram for the transmitter, if it may help.

maxpower1954

Funny you should post that picture JMP, because I was discussing this color variation with Jay Mendoza the other day before I sent him my Simpulse for service. He had seen pictures (the AHC ad shows it) and thought it was probably just a prototype, never actually put into production! How did you get yours? Russ Farris

Frank Schwartz

My Feedback: (1)

Gentlemen:
Can anyone tell me about Jay Mendoza and where he can be found? My Testors Skyhawk radio does not work and I'd like him to have a look at it...perhaps even to fix it??
Thanks
Frank Schwartz

JMP_blackfoot

I bought it on "the" auction site from "Beppedapisa", who had two on offer, the second one tan colored (item #270502678326).
This one has a number 0025080 on the label inside.
I had to correct a misplaced battery positive wire (connected to the wrong side of the 100 Ohm resistor) which caused the transmitter to have a low RF output (current drain was only 30 mA) and redo the stick centering and throw adjustment. I also replaced the RF output transistor with a better suited one (2N3866 instead of 2N3854). The RF output transistors in both of Beppedapisa's are not soldered but on a socket; are they all like that?
Now this Simpulse 1 has the same output power as my Controlaire GG and ACE Pulse Commander transmitters and the current drain is a more normal 95 mA. I noticed it came with an 8 AA cell battery box (also the tan one). Does this mean it was intended for 12V operation, instead of the 9V of the Controlaire and ACE ones? I did the adjustment and checks with 8 Eneloop NimH cells (10V).
With 12V, it would be really powerful

maxpower1954

Hi Frank! He's Jaymen on the forum, I hate to post some one's phone number without their knowledge, so just send him a PM about fixing your Testor's Simpulse. He's going through mine as we speak. Jay is very knowledgable and is our reigning pulse/GG authority. Russ Farris

maxpower1954

Wow, Beppe actually SOLD a transmitter! That's rare for him...Russ Farris

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

I just saw this airplane, albeit very briefly, in the movie "Sweet November"
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=19263
1968 with Anthony Newley and Sandy Dennis...they were on the Brooklyn Bridge.

build light

Yes, I saw that too today!
It was described as a four dollar airplane.

Robert

maxpower1954

I saw that was going to be on TCM, so I recorded it - the Skyhawk is on about three seconds, plus a bogus looking (by today's CGI standards) rear screen projection sequence of it flying off the Brooklyn Bridge. How did it get it back???[sm=drowning.gif]

Here's a thread discussing M.A.N. publisher Walt Schroder assisting in the filming, scroll on down about half-way. Russ Farris

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_17...tm.htm#2944716

jaymen

Both radios were returned after service to their owners. Fortunately Russ sent me his wire whip antenna so I could make a copy for Frank. It is interesting to note that some of the Testors receivers will handle 3.6 volts, while others like Russ's needed the bias resistors increased to stop it from going into self oscillation due to the increased voltage. Bob H's receiver did not need this. Franks system performed quite well on 2.4-volts, and in talking with others who owned these Skyhawks I found out something interesting:

The Testors McCoy .049 version was infamouse for not having enough power, many went and swapped it out for a Cox .049. But, one modeler told me that if you carefully broke in the Testor/McCoy engines by running a small 4.5 inch dia. prop, and at a rich setting for about an hour or so, they begin to really bed in and produce power. The problem was that if you ran them lean, with the full sized prop before they were broken in, it ruined the piston cylinder fit and then they would never make any power.....interesting huh?

2doggies

Do you have a schematic for the Skyhawk receiver? I have one that won't work. Thanks

JMP_blackfoot

I understand it is the same as the ACE Pulse Commander receiver.
Here is the ACE Rx schematics and tuning instructions, if it may help.

2doggies

Thanks for the schematic and the tuning notes. I am on my way to a repair of this oldie rcvr. (the tx works, but I haven't done a range check yet) I have an old Tri Squire to put it in with a .051 TD for power. Think I'll go out to our small airport to test it. We have a site that we fly other planes at and it is on the top of a hill with a big flat spot for the landing strip. Thanks again.

JMP_blackfoot

They are a compilation of several posts by J. Mendoza (aka "jaymen").
If you don't succeed with your repair, contact him, he is the man to get it working[8D]
Also see this thread:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_77...tm.htm#7721368

JMP_blackfoot

Hello Jaymen,

In one of your posts on the Ace Pulse Commander History:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_91...tm.htm#9153844
you write that these receivers "work optimally with a 1400-2000 Hz audio tone".
I have several Pulse Commander transmitters, all around 1250 Hz tone, two Controlaire GG Tx, both around 700 Hz, and the Testors Simpulse1 around 850 Hz.
Since I have a number of Ace receivers, would you say it is a good idea to modify the transmitters to 1700 Hz tone? What sort of range improvement could I expect?

maxpower1954

I finally got all the job-related training behind me, so work has started again on the Testors Skyhawk!

Jaymen has gone through the radio at a very reasonable price...thanks Jay! He converted it to three cells in the airborne pack and tuned it up for over 150 feet of ground range with the TX antenna down. He said it was in the best condition he had ever seen for one of these, not suprising since it is NOS.

I made a new vertical fin and rudder in the style of the early version and painted it with Krylon H20 latex spray red, which is a dead on match for the original. I have a NOS Cox Golden Bee to replace the anemic McCoy .049 supplied. It's almost ready to fly and I'll post some more pictures in a few days when I get back in town. Russ Farris