Friday, April 1, 2005

As a kid, one of my first R/C models was a Tipsy Nipper, so it was the narural place to start when I was thinking of building my own real one. I can’t remember now where the kit came from, but I had a 2-channel control system so I remember it being rudder/elevator.

I bought my first OS engine for it, an OS20, so that got me into making further models for that engine - a string of Club 20 pylon racers such as the Tarka, which I have fond memories of flying in the back field at home and at school over the Kent estuary.

Anywway, I obviously wanted to build a real Nipper and at that time (2006) I seem to remember being told we couldn’t, as it was a factory built aircraft. The only option was to find one for sale and probably find some parts. Nipper Kits and Components Ltd provided me with a comprehensive list of components and I waited for one to come to the market. In the meantime, NK&C seemed to run into trouble, eventually being taken over by Airweld in 2009, but I’d started to look at other aircraft.