Also included in this column:
• Results of the 2006 Jimmie
Allen postal contest
• Special events and contest
announcements
• Veco .19 hop-up
SNAKEBIT! At roughly the time I
submitted October’s column containing
news of Larry Davidson’s new lightweight
ignition coils, his E-mail address changed.
An AMA and Society of Antique Modelers
(SAM) Hall of Fame member, Larry is one
of the nicer guys I get to work with and I
want to be sure you can contact him.
His current (I hope!) E-address is
[email protected]. For the snailmail
crowd, write to him at 66 Casa Mia
Cir., Moneta VA 24121.
Going back another month, the September 2006 issue featured a
Free Flight construction article by Dick (Fast Richard) Mathis for
the Bounty Hunter. No, it isn’t an Old-Timer, but bear with me.
Despite an absence of approximately 30 years, Dick hasn’t lost
his touch with the written word. Nor has he lost his touch on the
field, apparently; he is on the 2007 US FAI FF team that is
scheduled to compete in Ukraine in June.
Dick will be flying in the ultraexotic F1C (Power) event,
which is almost as far from Old-Timers as one can get. I was
fortunate to meet him recently, and Dick (Richard Mathis, Ph.D.
in real life) is a quiet, modest, down-to-earth gentleman.
Whenever he adopts the “Fast Richard from Snider Swamp”
persona, however, it’s a different story—as you may have noticed
if you read that “Bounty Hunter” article. Man, if I could write like
that I’d hire an agent and look for a publisher!
While offering words of praise I want to thank Bob Hunt, Rob
Kurek, and the entire MA staff for continuing to publish the
articles and photos of our annual Vintage Stunt Championships
(VSC). My fellow CL fliers and I recognize that CL is a small
percentage of the overall AMA membership, thus we deeply
appreciate the exposure.
The next VSC will be held March 14-17 in Tucson, Arizona.
This contest is for Old-Time (pre-1953) and Classic (pre-1970)
CL Stunt models, along with many of their designers and other
well-known competitors from those eras. Contact me if you’d like
more information or log onto www.ccmaconline.org and click on
the VSC XIX link.
Seven teams entered the 2006 Jimmie Allen postal contest, with
the winning total of 1,056 seconds posted by SAM 27 (Napa,
California). Team members were Jerry Rocha (who is usually
known as a CL Speed flier!), Mike Palrang, and Ding Zarate.
Jerry sent some nice photos that I received after I had already
mailed the ones published this month.
One consequence of being the winning team is that they get to
sponsor the 2007 postal meet. For details send a large SASE to
Jerry Rocha, 3583 Ruston Ln., Napa CA 94558.
From what we see in these pages, many of today’s modelers are
attracted to small-field designs powered by rubber or electric
motors. For that reason I’d like to recommend the delightful array
of offerings available from 2006 SAM Hall of Fame member Al
Lidberg.
He sells a tempting selection of scaled-down Old-Time FF
designs and several FF Scale choices such as the asymmetric Bv
141, the Focke-Wulf Ta 152H, the Cessna Airmaster, and the
Pilatus Turbo-Porter. These are not ARFs; they must be built
using good ol’ stick-and-tissue construction.
Al also offers a nice selection of
larger designs for gas, rubber, and
electric power. At deadline time for this
issue he was hoping to produce kits of
the GE Cabinette: a design that, in his
words, “ … went over well at Muncie,
with people asking for plans.”
In addition to producing his fine plans
and kits, Al is also a nice guy who replies
to correspondence with minimal delay.
View his offerings at www.aalmps.com,
or write to him at 1030 E. Baseline, Suite
105-1074, Tempe AZ 85283. You can
also call (480) 839-8154 in the evenings and on weekends.
Are you planning to attend the SAM Championships in
Henderson, Nevada, later this year? Among the unofficial fun
activities will be the Tomboy event. This is for the classic
British beginners’ design that was often powered by a Mills
.75cc/.045 cu. in. diesel. Plans were published in the November
1950 Aeromodeller.
Either the 36- or 44-inch-span version of the Tomboy is
allowed. As shown on the plans, the 44-inch version is
essentially the same design as the smaller version, with two rib
bays added at each wingtip and one rib bay added to each tip of
the horizontal stabilizer.
You can obtain complete rules from Al Lidberg. A check or
PayPal payment for $6 will bring you a postpaid, full-size copy
of the plans and a copy of the original magazine article.
It’s not a K&B
Greenhead, but a highly
modified Veco .19 by
Bob Beecroft that is
used in FF Nostalgia
Gas. See text.
Nostalgia FF classes continue to grow in
popularity, nicely augmenting the pure
Old-Time designs. Bob Beecroft
(Fallbrook, California) is a proponent of
the Series 100 Veco .19 as the ideal power
plant for Class A. He works his magic
with those engines, gaining significantly
more power and reliability.
Bob sent a photo of a Veco .19 he
assembled with a green cylinder head,
reminiscent of K&B Torpedos. At first
glance I thought it was, in fact, an early
K&B with the exhaust port on the “wrong”
side. Bob assured me that wasn’t the case,
offering the following explanation.
“The engine is a Series 100 Veco .19,
slightly modified—what I’m calling
‘Stage I.’ There is also a Stage II and
Stage III coming along.
“This one is done up in K&B ‘colors’
just for fun, and was [made] for fellow
[San Diego] Orbiteer Dick Zachman. No
Greenhead K&B ever ran as strong as
even a weak Veco like these … and stayed
together for more than a minute.
“The Veco is an excellent choice for
NFFS [National Free Flight Society]
Nostalgia A Gas competition, as is the
O.S. Max Mk. II and Mk. III. The O.S. is
also very strong and has an especially
excellent crankshaft design, well-designed
combustion chamber (the Veco is flat),
and a very good rod and bushing
arrangement. Both engines are very fine,
but the Veco needs more work to be a
really good runner.
“I chose to work with the Veco because
I like the thicker drop-in sleeve it has, and
at the risk of not being politically correct,
I like the idea that it’s American made.
It’s a pretty stout little engine and
responds well to even some basic
modifications.
“More important than any
modifications, though, Veco or any other
engine, is to first have a properly fit piston
and sleeve; correct clearances on the crank,
bushing, crank-pin and rod, piston pin, and
rod top end; some proper oiling holes added
where they belong (if the engine didn’t
come with them); and a well-fit head.
“All these things are the places one has
to start in order to make a really good
runner. If these things are right, the engine
is already going to be better than most any
of its kind on the field.
“I’ve done a number of things with the
Veco, and have enjoyed a very long life
from one using the best flying prop that I
found for the model, the APC C-2 8 x 4
running at 20,000 rpm.
“As an interesting side note, my old FAI
Lucky Lindy, when I was still running (and
breaking) K&B Greenheads regularly at
13.6 to 14.K [rpm] on Rev-Up 8.5 x 4s, the
model actually flew much better on the
APC C-2 8.4. It just broke more engines.
“Both the K&B Greenhead used earlier
and the Veco to date have used fuel
containing 30% nitro, 25% oil (half Klotz
KL200 and half AAA castor) and the
remainder alcohol. The difference between
an engine running 14K and one running
20K is nothing short of astonishing. After
breaking 12 stone-stock K&B Greenheads,
having an engine that pulls an additional
6,000 rpm and doesn’t break after hundreds
of flights, I’m sold.
“Those interested in seeing some of my
engine work and related airplane things can
go to www.theaerosmith.com. Another
great place to go for custom engine work is
Bob Mattes: [email protected]. Bob
is making an excellent replacement head
using the fine and long-lasting Nelson
screw-in plugs for a bonus of even better
performance. Bob can do most anything on
an engine, and do it well.”
The Southern California Antique Model
Plane Society has a couple Old-Time
meets coming up soon. The third annual
Taibi contest will be at Perris on March
25, and the Texaco meet (combined
with the San Valeers Annual) will be at
the Lost Hills site April 14-15. For
details contact Kevin Sherman at
[email protected] or 1521 S.
Normandy Terr., Corona CA 92882.
I’ll close with the frequent reminder
that columns such as this one depend on
contributions from readers. The West
Coast modelers are on it, but we could
use some items from other regions and
countries. I favor CL and FF but would
like to hear from Old-Time RC fliers—
and suspect that many readers would
too. MA
John Delevoryas (San Jose CA) gave this red-and-yellow Taibi Perris Special electric
power and RC guidance. It performs best at half power and has a super glide.
Spark-ignition Super Cyclone .60 ticks over in a CL Guided Whistle: a late 1940s Stunt
design by Walton Hughes. Marvin Denny (Wichita KS) is the builder/flier.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/02
Page Numbers: 148,149
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/02
Page Numbers: 148,149
Also included in this column:
• Results of the 2006 Jimmie
Allen postal contest
• Special events and contest
announcements
• Veco .19 hop-up
SNAKEBIT! At roughly the time I
submitted October’s column containing
news of Larry Davidson’s new lightweight
ignition coils, his E-mail address changed.
An AMA and Society of Antique Modelers
(SAM) Hall of Fame member, Larry is one
of the nicer guys I get to work with and I
want to be sure you can contact him.
His current (I hope!) E-address is
[email protected]. For the snailmail
crowd, write to him at 66 Casa Mia
Cir., Moneta VA 24121.
Going back another month, the September 2006 issue featured a
Free Flight construction article by Dick (Fast Richard) Mathis for
the Bounty Hunter. No, it isn’t an Old-Timer, but bear with me.
Despite an absence of approximately 30 years, Dick hasn’t lost
his touch with the written word. Nor has he lost his touch on the
field, apparently; he is on the 2007 US FAI FF team that is
scheduled to compete in Ukraine in June.
Dick will be flying in the ultraexotic F1C (Power) event,
which is almost as far from Old-Timers as one can get. I was
fortunate to meet him recently, and Dick (Richard Mathis, Ph.D.
in real life) is a quiet, modest, down-to-earth gentleman.
Whenever he adopts the “Fast Richard from Snider Swamp”
persona, however, it’s a different story—as you may have noticed
if you read that “Bounty Hunter” article. Man, if I could write like
that I’d hire an agent and look for a publisher!
While offering words of praise I want to thank Bob Hunt, Rob
Kurek, and the entire MA staff for continuing to publish the
articles and photos of our annual Vintage Stunt Championships
(VSC). My fellow CL fliers and I recognize that CL is a small
percentage of the overall AMA membership, thus we deeply
appreciate the exposure.
The next VSC will be held March 14-17 in Tucson, Arizona.
This contest is for Old-Time (pre-1953) and Classic (pre-1970)
CL Stunt models, along with many of their designers and other
well-known competitors from those eras. Contact me if you’d like
more information or log onto www.ccmaconline.org and click on
the VSC XIX link.
Seven teams entered the 2006 Jimmie Allen postal contest, with
the winning total of 1,056 seconds posted by SAM 27 (Napa,
California). Team members were Jerry Rocha (who is usually
known as a CL Speed flier!), Mike Palrang, and Ding Zarate.
Jerry sent some nice photos that I received after I had already
mailed the ones published this month.
One consequence of being the winning team is that they get to
sponsor the 2007 postal meet. For details send a large SASE to
Jerry Rocha, 3583 Ruston Ln., Napa CA 94558.
From what we see in these pages, many of today’s modelers are
attracted to small-field designs powered by rubber or electric
motors. For that reason I’d like to recommend the delightful array
of offerings available from 2006 SAM Hall of Fame member Al
Lidberg.
He sells a tempting selection of scaled-down Old-Time FF
designs and several FF Scale choices such as the asymmetric Bv
141, the Focke-Wulf Ta 152H, the Cessna Airmaster, and the
Pilatus Turbo-Porter. These are not ARFs; they must be built
using good ol’ stick-and-tissue construction.
Al also offers a nice selection of
larger designs for gas, rubber, and
electric power. At deadline time for this
issue he was hoping to produce kits of
the GE Cabinette: a design that, in his
words, “ … went over well at Muncie,
with people asking for plans.”
In addition to producing his fine plans
and kits, Al is also a nice guy who replies
to correspondence with minimal delay.
View his offerings at www.aalmps.com,
or write to him at 1030 E. Baseline, Suite
105-1074, Tempe AZ 85283. You can
also call (480) 839-8154 in the evenings and on weekends.
Are you planning to attend the SAM Championships in
Henderson, Nevada, later this year? Among the unofficial fun
activities will be the Tomboy event. This is for the classic
British beginners’ design that was often powered by a Mills
.75cc/.045 cu. in. diesel. Plans were published in the November
1950 Aeromodeller.
Either the 36- or 44-inch-span version of the Tomboy is
allowed. As shown on the plans, the 44-inch version is
essentially the same design as the smaller version, with two rib
bays added at each wingtip and one rib bay added to each tip of
the horizontal stabilizer.
You can obtain complete rules from Al Lidberg. A check or
PayPal payment for $6 will bring you a postpaid, full-size copy
of the plans and a copy of the original magazine article.
It’s not a K&B
Greenhead, but a highly
modified Veco .19 by
Bob Beecroft that is
used in FF Nostalgia
Gas. See text.
Nostalgia FF classes continue to grow in
popularity, nicely augmenting the pure
Old-Time designs. Bob Beecroft
(Fallbrook, California) is a proponent of
the Series 100 Veco .19 as the ideal power
plant for Class A. He works his magic
with those engines, gaining significantly
more power and reliability.
Bob sent a photo of a Veco .19 he
assembled with a green cylinder head,
reminiscent of K&B Torpedos. At first
glance I thought it was, in fact, an early
K&B with the exhaust port on the “wrong”
side. Bob assured me that wasn’t the case,
offering the following explanation.
“The engine is a Series 100 Veco .19,
slightly modified—what I’m calling
‘Stage I.’ There is also a Stage II and
Stage III coming along.
“This one is done up in K&B ‘colors’
just for fun, and was [made] for fellow
[San Diego] Orbiteer Dick Zachman. No
Greenhead K&B ever ran as strong as
even a weak Veco like these … and stayed
together for more than a minute.
“The Veco is an excellent choice for
NFFS [National Free Flight Society]
Nostalgia A Gas competition, as is the
O.S. Max Mk. II and Mk. III. The O.S. is
also very strong and has an especially
excellent crankshaft design, well-designed
combustion chamber (the Veco is flat),
and a very good rod and bushing
arrangement. Both engines are very fine,
but the Veco needs more work to be a
really good runner.
“I chose to work with the Veco because
I like the thicker drop-in sleeve it has, and
at the risk of not being politically correct,
I like the idea that it’s American made.
It’s a pretty stout little engine and
responds well to even some basic
modifications.
“More important than any
modifications, though, Veco or any other
engine, is to first have a properly fit piston
and sleeve; correct clearances on the crank,
bushing, crank-pin and rod, piston pin, and
rod top end; some proper oiling holes added
where they belong (if the engine didn’t
come with them); and a well-fit head.
“All these things are the places one has
to start in order to make a really good
runner. If these things are right, the engine
is already going to be better than most any
of its kind on the field.
“I’ve done a number of things with the
Veco, and have enjoyed a very long life
from one using the best flying prop that I
found for the model, the APC C-2 8 x 4
running at 20,000 rpm.
“As an interesting side note, my old FAI
Lucky Lindy, when I was still running (and
breaking) K&B Greenheads regularly at
13.6 to 14.K [rpm] on Rev-Up 8.5 x 4s, the
model actually flew much better on the
APC C-2 8.4. It just broke more engines.
“Both the K&B Greenhead used earlier
and the Veco to date have used fuel
containing 30% nitro, 25% oil (half Klotz
KL200 and half AAA castor) and the
remainder alcohol. The difference between
an engine running 14K and one running
20K is nothing short of astonishing. After
breaking 12 stone-stock K&B Greenheads,
having an engine that pulls an additional
6,000 rpm and doesn’t break after hundreds
of flights, I’m sold.
“Those interested in seeing some of my
engine work and related airplane things can
go to www.theaerosmith.com. Another
great place to go for custom engine work is
Bob Mattes: [email protected]. Bob
is making an excellent replacement head
using the fine and long-lasting Nelson
screw-in plugs for a bonus of even better
performance. Bob can do most anything on
an engine, and do it well.”
The Southern California Antique Model
Plane Society has a couple Old-Time
meets coming up soon. The third annual
Taibi contest will be at Perris on March
25, and the Texaco meet (combined
with the San Valeers Annual) will be at
the Lost Hills site April 14-15. For
details contact Kevin Sherman at
[email protected] or 1521 S.
Normandy Terr., Corona CA 92882.
I’ll close with the frequent reminder
that columns such as this one depend on
contributions from readers. The West
Coast modelers are on it, but we could
use some items from other regions and
countries. I favor CL and FF but would
like to hear from Old-Time RC fliers—
and suspect that many readers would
too. MA
John Delevoryas (San Jose CA) gave this red-and-yellow Taibi Perris Special electric
power and RC guidance. It performs best at half power and has a super glide.
Spark-ignition Super Cyclone .60 ticks over in a CL Guided Whistle: a late 1940s Stunt
design by Walton Hughes. Marvin Denny (Wichita KS) is the builder/flier.