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Note from the Editor:
This article was kindly written for the SDC by member @Doctor Alan.

In these days of dumbing down almost every aspect of creativity (I know – I’m a dinosaur!) I mind a time when our hobbies – or interests – were simple but required creativity. My parents had quite a fair way of treating my older brother, John, and I. We were both brought up with the same interests – at least, initially – so when it came to birthdays and Christmases, John always got the ‘slightly more expensive’ or ‘slightly larger’ item for a present. I never resented it at all. I was quite happy with what I got and never questioned their wisdom. For instance, we both had Meccano sets – he got set 6, and I got set 5. When we both had model trains, he would get a carriage, and I’d get a guard’s van.

My introduction to model aircraft – Jetex:
This same philosophy of fostering a joint interest carried over to model planes. (Looking back, I wonder if I really did share these interests, or was I just trying to be like my older brother!). We were both given Jetex engines – he had a Jetex 50, and I had the Atom 35.

Jetex Atom 35. Image Credit: Jetex

It used a solid fuel propellant made from guanidine nitrate, and you had to coil some fuse wire and place it next to the fuel pellet, then cover the coil with a piece of metal gauze. Then you’d feed the fuse wire out through a small hole and use the spring clip to hold it all together. After you’d lit the fuse, there’d be a ‘pfft’ from the solid fuel pellet as it ignited, and you’d have a couple of seconds to pull the now burnt fuse wire out through the jet hole. Dangerous as it seems, we never ever got burnt! The pellet would only burn for about seven seconds of flight, but it was quite enough for the little aircraft to which it was attached to achieve quite a respectable height! I think my brother’s Jetex 50 had about 10 seconds of flying time. When you’d retrieved the little balsa plane and allowed the engine to cool sufficiently, you’d un-clip it from the aircraft and start all over again.
Jetex fell out of favour with the general public after only a few short years, probably because the flight duration was so short.

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[BWP]

you just took me back to the mid 60's, first time I flew my .49cc powered plane that I built, with the control lines I was so dizzy ended up crashing...

 

[Dotty33]

My son loves aero modelling and has now developed his love for large aircraft Yes he started with control lines. His father was also an avid flyer too.

 

[Kinchar]

Gee, memories for me also.

 

[Sean2325]

Great story. I only ever had control wire models that my Dad and I built. The engines were either glow plugs or diesel fueled. I remember you had to wind the screw on top of the diesel motors to increase the compression to start them. The glow plugs were much easier. Dad was quite the craftsman and we spent months building different models. He always had the 1st flight and there was rarely a second flight as the inevitable crash on the maiden flight meant we had to rebuild often. Great memories for sure. And like the author, I still have the scars from failed starts and very hard propellers. Still have some of the old engines and parts of the crashed planes we built over fifty years ago. Mementos of a great child hood and previous memories of time with dad.