Hi Bob. I think this is what you're after. I remember them well. It was considered a bit of a weird arrangement by my aeromodelling mate as he seemed to think it implied a pilot with 3 hands 🤔. The later ones were of course more conventional.

That would be a MacGregor 27Mhz 1+1 for me in a disheartening and ill-fated model of the Turbinia in about 1973. The design specified 3 Orbit motors which were so electrically noisy they completely swamped the control signals making the equipment unusable. I still have however, my original R/C license.

Next was a Space Commander 27Mhz 4 Channel set installed in a Veron Titan Tug. This was much more successful and I used to share a pegboard at New Brighton with the Wallasey Model Boat Club in the late 70s/early 80s, though as a Liverpudlian I wasn’t a member. ESC was a home built ‘Pompey’ unit from the RCM&E design if anyone recalls it.

My inspiration however was a guy who used to sail scale model liners also at New Brighton in around 1970 with a MacGregor single channel set using a Graupner Kinematic escapement for motor and rudder control.

The 90s saw a Fleet 40 Mhz set in the Titan and many happy hours at Clapham Common and The Round Pond in Kensington Gardens.

And now I’ve regressed: This very afternoon saw me out at Eastbourne with a 27 Mhz MacGregor Digimac IV installed in a Graupner Condor 2. What more could a 70s teenager wish for? 🙄 🤭.

CB radio seems to be a thing of the past and the local sailing guys are all quite sensibly on 2.4 GHz so I remain unmolested, no pegboard needed, though I do still prominently display my frequency pennant as required.

It’s difficult to comprehend now how expensive this stuff was back in the day. 4 channel multi channel proportional gear would be over a thousand in today’s money. We have much to be thankful for.

I'm sure some will disagree, but I sometimes wish modern R/C gear looked a bit less toylike.

Hi Robbob,

Thanks for your kind comments re the old Titan Tug. Of great sentimental value so willing to put the work in. I wish I’d seen Ed’s post earlier, as I got the original plan scanned and printed out professionally and they provided a PDF which you could just take to a printers to get a hard copy.

My intention was to produce a ‘remastered’ version of my original rather than attempt anything approaching accurate scale. The kit is very much of its time, the die-cut parts being somewhat inaccurate in many places and I re-made a few so they match the plan. These days it would probably be all laser cut.

From experience sailing the original over 50 years ago in quite rough water: there are no freeing ports shown. Although it’s very seaworthy (almost unsinkable due to the solid balsa) it’s a good idea to add them as there is a danger of flooding the central well if water comes over the bulwarks and can’t escape. It’s also the reason for the bulkhead separating the radio from the ‘engine room’.

I’ve just spotted your post about the Veron Titan Tug and couldn’t resist commenting. My late dad and I also built one in the early 70s to which I rather crudely fitted radio in ’79. Foolishly thinking I’d done with model boats (one never is 😊) I sold it some years later.

A couple of years ago I decided to see if I could re-visit my misspent youth. This is the result together with a 'split screen' of the original 70s and current models.

Radio and motor are 70s period correct: MacGregor III still on 27MHz and Monoperm Pile (3:1) but with modern ESC (the original had a Pompey RCM&E design) and NiMh batteries.

It could be I'm just hamfisted but I think this isn’t an easy kit to build despite Veron’s claims at the time. There are a number of significant challenges. Apart from the one my dad and I built, I’ve only ever seen one other working example.

The main issue for R/C is connecting the tiller to the rudder servo as the stern is solid balsa. I adapted the Dacron fishing line method as detailed on the EzeeBilt website.

Good luck 👍.