Early Skyleaders

[Pchristy]

Gosh! I'd forgotten that they offered F&M Magnevacs as well! That is the servo credited with being responsible for the demise of F&M!

It was an attempt to replace the feedback pot with an inductor, which didn't rely on a physical contact and should therefore have been immune to vibration. It would have been great if it had worked reliably! Kraft tried something similar a few years later, using a variable capacitor. That also proved to be more trouble than it was worth!

I had completely forgotten that Skyleader offered servo options. All my old magazines got turfed out a long time ago, so these days I have to rely on increasingly flaky "little grey cells"!

I do remember those Kraft servos being amazingly quick for the time - especially compared to the Digimite servos - but very prone to dirty pot tracks. The Digimite would often go a complete season without me needing to clean the pot tracks - usually done in the depths of winter, on a rainy Sunday! The only people I knew using Krafts seemed to have to clean them once a month - if not after each flying session!

How we have moved on!

--
Pete

[stuart mackay]

You are still missing the very first one, though! It was a 3+1 system, using Bonner sticks, and remarkably similar to the F&M 3+1 system. I think that (like the F&M), it also used Bonner Digimite servos. The case was also F&M blue!

A quick history lesson!

Around 1967 (give or take a year!), pylon racing started to become popular in the USA again. It had fallen a bit by the wayside, but interest picked up with a new class of "Goodyear" racers, which had to be scale replicas of full size Goodyear racers (Shoestrings, Cosmic Winds, DeNight Specials, etc). They weren't required to be exact replicas, but close enough to fool a knowledgeable spectator. Power had to be supplied by an "off-the-shelf" 40 - no special racing engines allowed!

At the time, most proportional radios were big and bulky, and were a tight squeeze in a 40 size racing model! So, Orbit introduced an analogue 3+1 system, closely followed by F&M with a digital 3+1.

These were basic 3 channel systems, but had 4 servos. The rudder servo only worked when the throttle was not fully open. As soon as full throttle was reached, the rudder servo centered, and stayed that way until the throttle was reduced.

The idea was that as the rudder was only used during take-off and landing - and given that these were racers, they really didn't need 100% throttle on take-off - the rudder would only function during take-off and landing, and during the race, flying would be by "bank and yank"!

It meant that the receivers could be made significantly smaller and lighter than the full blown sets, and would be easier to install in the smaller models.

Within a couple of years, technology had moved on and the gains were no longer significant. 3+1 sets died the death. But for a brief period they were popular, not only for being smaller and lighter, but also cheaper than their "big brother" sets.

Here endeth the lesson!

--
Pete

Does this scratch that itch, Pete!?!

[wookman]

Hi Mike.
"Courier, Courier Special, Courier Special MK2, International and Apex"
Any chance of some pictures of these sets and a bit of description?
I have a Courier Special Mk1 and would love to get hold of a Mk2 with the later sticks, same I think as I have in the Phoenix Model Products Tx.

[Mike_K]

Hi Wookman

Welcome to the forum.

I'm halfway through a house extension at the moment and all my transmitters are in storage boxes in my workshop and barn and most are not easy to get to for a few weeks (or months if things continue how they are going). I'll have a look and see if any of the Skyleaders are near the top in the workshop!

However, there are photo's of all the Skyleaders you ask for on this site and/or on Phil and Shauns website http://www.singlechannel.co.uk/ ... The Skyleader International I have is the same one as on singlechannel.co.uk website, as Shaun kindly gave it to me, I've posted pics of the Apex and there are numerous pics of Courier, Courier Special and Courier Special II on this site, just type Skyleader into the search.

I don't know what descriptions you'd like for them? Manuals/instructions, adverts, what I know about them? I keep threatening to write a bit about Skyleaders and pass it on to Shaun to see if he could massage it into shape for his RCM&E retro ramblings, but modelling seems to have ground to a halt for the moment until our house is back in one piece and my workshop isn't being used for storage.

Cheers

Mike

[Mike_K]

I found a few of my Skyleader in a storage box near the front that I could reach, hopefully, it'll do until I have more time and a clear workshop to get the others out!

Mike

[wookman]

Hi Mike.
Thanks for taking the time to post these pics, much appreciated. If I had known you were in such a state of highjail I would not have asked. Hope everything gets sorted out soon, though I do know how these things can drag on. The idea of getting hold of a Courier 2 with those lovely sticks would be nice.