HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT
The history of the first radio-controlled vehicles dates back to 1940. In this article, we tried to take into account the main stages of development of the RC industry and tell how it appeared, evolved and changed over many decades.
One of the interesting facts is that the history of the development of radio-controlled machines is not limited to any particular state or a list of companies. Due to the fact that radio-controlled models are very popular in many countries around the world, all these countries have their own history and their own list of companies, one way or another influenced the overall progress of the industry. Some of them were destined to become the largest RC companies, occupying leading positions in the market to this day, while others disappear.
THE FIRST COMPANIES TO PRODUCE RADIO-CONTROLLED VEHICLES
Perhaps you will be surprised, but the first radio-controlled cars began to appear in the early '40s of XX century and they were with gage engines (and the first gage engine was invented by Bill Brown in the '30s, as we wrote in this article), working on nitromethane-containing fuel, as well as with small gasoline engines. The first models were quite small in size and had very limited capabilities. The first models of cars had no control as such and were started only in a circle by means of a cord (cord models). About any commercial application of radio-controlled machines in those distant times, no one thought about, and the first models were going to be exclusively enthusiasts.
In addition to the corded models of cars were and slot machines. They differed from the first ones by the fact that in order to launch them a special track had to be built in the construction of which there were several lines of rails on which the machine models were installed. The models started at the same time and the one that came to the finish line first won. At first, all these models were with internal combustion engines. Later, they were replaced by cars with electric motors, with further development of slot racing class.
As far as we know, around the same time (the mid-50s) the first cars with real radio control began to appear. However, it was impossible to call it a full-fledged radio control, because, firstly, it was discrete (work on the principle of ON/OFF), and secondly, it allowed to choose only the direction of movement of the model. Proportional control of front-wheel rotation and engine speed appeared only in the mid-60s.
Commercial production of radio-controlled vehicles also began in the mid-1960s, when the Italian company Elettronica Giocattoli (also known as El Gi), based in Reggio Emilia, for the first time began serial production of car models for subsequent sale. The first model from this company was Ferrari 250LM in scale 1/12. It appeared on the market in December 1966, in the UK, and later was introduced the Ferrari P4 model in 1/10 scale. El Gi first showed it at the Milan Toy Fair in early 1968. In fact, these machines were not radio-controlled. These were remote-controlled models with a wired remote control
In the mid-late '60s, the British company Mardave, based in Leicester, also began producing commercially viable radio-controlled machines. The first models were equipped with Genset and gasoline internal combustion engines. They were sold in local shops in the early '70s.
In the early 1970s, several other companies began producing commercial models of RC machines. Some of them started out as slot model companies, but with the growing popularity of radio-controlled cars, they also began to produce such models. These companies included Associated Electrics, Thorp, Dynamic, Heathkit, Taurus, Delta, Scorpion, Ra-Car, Kyosho, Mardave, PB. Many of them produced 1/8 scale road models with gage motors in Pan Car class. At the same time (the late '60s, early '70s) in the U.S. began to actively develop the class of these models and in 1968 the association ROAR held the first national championship in the U.S., and in 1971 the same championship was held in the UK.
In the late '70s, the class of Pan Car highway vehicles with electric motor began to develop actively, on a scale of 1/12. Until then, the 1/8 nitro class was the only popular class. In 1978, the company Associated released an electric chassis RC12E.
"to be continued in the next part" :
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