Advertisement for the OS Digital 3-channel radio control system
I bought second-hand from a man down the street from where I lived as a teenager.
I paid him $100 for it sometime around 1974 or so. That is the equivalent of $532
in 2020 dollars according to the BLS's
Inflation Calculator.
The Andrews Aircraft Model Company (AAMCo) produced a radio control airplane,
the H-Ray, that was my first successful RC model. A neighborhood man had given me
a crashed MiniMaster he wasn't using
anymore, but I never was able to get it flying. An advertisement from a 1964 edition
of RC Modeler is shown to the left. It includes both the H-Ray (high wing)
and the S-Ray (shoulder wing). I'm pretty sure that I put
an OS .20 R/C engine in it - probably the only one I had at the time.
My second-hand OS Digital 3-channel radio control system was installed in it,
which is why I can still vividly remember running after it with the transmitter
held high above my head trying to regain control after it ran out of range. My H-Ray
spent a night in a corn field out at the original
PGRC (Prince Georges Radio
Control) club in along Route 301 in southern Maryland because of it. The range with
that OS digital system was about 600 feet under ideal conditions.
After years of watching eBay for an H-Ray kit that would sell within my budgetary
range, I finally won an auction. The kit is in excellent condition and appears to
include all the material. It is a later version that has the steerable nose gear,
which my 1974 H-Ray had. My original kit was purchased at
Kay Cee drug store in District Heights, Maryland, where lawyer / aeromodeler
John something-or-other ran a hobby shop in one corner of the store. If anyone out
there knew John and/or has any photos of his hobby shop, please contact me.
Wingspan = 50", Length = 38", Flying Weight = 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 lbs., Wing Area
= 435 sq.in.
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Andrews (AAMCo) H-Ray Kit Box Top
Andrews (AAMCo) H-Ray Kit Box Top (End)
Andrews (AAMCo) H-Ray Assembly Photos
Andrews (AAMCo) H-Ray Assembly Instructions
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Andrews (AAMCo) H-Ray Kit Box Contents
Andrews (AAMCo) H-Ray Kit Box Contents
Andrews (AAMCo) H-Ray Fuselage Plans
Andrews (AAMCo) H-Ray Wing Plans
Download
AAMCO Andrews H-Ray Plans (FreeRCPlans.com)
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Read the AMA's published biography of
Louis J. Andrews.
Posted April 4, 2020
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