Flying for Fun D.B. Mathews | [email protected]
Thoughts about, and remembrances of, early CL activity
FOR THOSE WHO prefer to correspond
by mail, my address is 909 N. Maize Rd.,
Wichita KS 67212. Please include an SASE
using a #10 envelope for a reply.
Strange Discovery: As I was searching
through my magazine collection for the
photos I’ve used to embellish the Clair
Sieverling letter that will follow, I stumbled
onto an ad for a ready-to-fly CL model. I’ve
had these magazines since they were new,
and in those many intervening years I have
often made nostalgic journeys through their
pages.
I remember nothing about this product,
and this was the only ad for it I can find.
This leads me to a couple conclusions, the
first of which is that in 1947 neither my
modeling acquaintances nor I were
interested in paying someone to do for us
what we so greatly enjoyed doing
ourselves. Second, the concept didn’t sell
well.
I have no need to make further
comments on this subject.
Happy Days: I had intended to write a CL
past, present, and future sort of a column
this month when I started, but after
rereading the following letter I decided to
concentrate on a long-ago era. I hope I can
somehow recapture the excitement,
This 1947 CL model was sold as an ARF, completely built with a Cannon engine and spark
ignition preinstalled, but it sold poorly. From April 1947 MAN.
One of the many weird alternative control systems developed to avoid paying Jim Walker
a royalty. Consider the drag built into this. From June 1947 MAN.
The timeless A-J Interceptor folding-wing
glider is available again, from Frank Macy.
From February 1947 MAN.
enthusiasm, and incredible thrills CL flying
brought me in my youth.
I fully recognize that most who read this
column are much too young to have any
comprehension of what I experienced, but I
hope all of you can catch the “fever” that
gripped many of us back then. I can only
wish for you the same sort of experiences
in your contemporary modeling.
I also realize that the technology of the
period I will write about was terribly
primitive by today’s standards; conversely,
in 1947 this was cutting edge compared to
the immediate past. If the next steps have
yet to be invented, what one is using is the
latest technology, right?
For most of my modeling life I’ve used
the terms “U-Control” and “Control Line”
interchangeably, and that is technically
incorrect. Jim Walker patented and
copyrighted the “U-Control” name and
system in the 1940s.
The first models we saw advertised in
those old Berkeley catalogs, Air Trails
magazines, Model Airplane News (MAN)
76 MODEL AVIATION
March 2006 77
An all-wood trainer as mentioned in text, but Clair Sieverling’s
was likely a Comet Rookie. From May 1948 Air Trails.
Jim Walker “Whip Power U-Control.”
Rather than an engine, a bamboo pole
supplied the power. From May 1948 Air
Trails.
Carl Goldberg’s Zing was produced when
he and Sid Axelrod were partners in
American Hobby Specialties, which split
into Goldberg Models and Top Flite. From
July 1947 MAN.
K&B Torpedo .29 spark-ignition engine was a quality product, but
not the later “Green Head” series. From July 1947 MAN.
magazines, etc. were Walker Fireballs. For
many years any kits built included a control
horn produced under Jim Walker’s patents,
and a royalty was paid to him.
Well, that isn’t quite correct. Several
kitters used some system from way out in
left field of converting line motion into
elevator movement to avoid paying
royalties. We immediately converted them
to the Walker system using license-built
horns from Veco, Perfect, Davis, Dick
Ealy, etc. I never saw a model flown
successfully using any of the weird systems
of Cleveland, Eagle, Master Models,
Custom, and others.
Some kits left the control system a blank
on the drawings with a note to “use your
favorite control system,” to avoid paying a
royalty. An exception and a subject that is
well worth an entire column is the various
control systems, including the “Mono-Line”
developed by the Stanzel brothers.
When Jim Walker lost the infamous
patent suit to L.M. Cox, models could be
manufactured without paying him UControl
royalties. Regardless of that, those
of us who were modeling in the days before
the suit will always refer to the technique as
“U-Control.”
As I have mentioned previously, Jim
Walker demonstrated his system at most
larger modeling events countrywide
throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, for
the newsreels, and even at major athletic
events. According to the courts, he did not
invent this form of flying, but he certainly
was the only one to introduce, demonstrate,
and market it.
A long-misplaced letter from Clair
Sieverling of Phoenix, Arizona, captures
those early days of modeling that so closely
parallel my experiences. He wrote:
“I was born and raised on a farm near
Burdett, Kansas, and was nearly 8 years old
when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It
seemed that most boys in the fourth grade
and up were building or at least trying to
build model airplanes, all rubber models or
solid scale models.
“I think I was in about the fourth grade
when I got an Ace Whitman kit of a
Japanese Zero, printwood and all. It was
still balsa at that time. I hacked it out with
dad’s used razor blades and used Le Page’s
cement on it and my jeans.
“I didn’t know you were [supposed] to
build the wings over the plans, so I simply
spaced out the ribs over the stick lengths,
which increased the span by a fair amount.
To my surprise, the finished airplane would
glide fairly well. Our barn hayloft had an
excellent hardwood floor, since my parents
had hosted barn dances in the early years in
Western Kansas, and this made a wind-free
model test site.
“Since I was in a rather remote area with
no larger towns nearby, I didn’t know of
anyone who had a model airplane engine
until after the war; in fact I didn’t know
such a thing even existed. Nor did I know
there was such a thing as Air Trails or other
modeling magazines until I latched onto
one right after the war. I nearly wore it out.
“I remember that the Whitman kits
became unavailable, and I did get a Joe Ott
kit which was light card stock and some
really poor pine strip. I never did finish the
airplane.
“I got a Walker Interceptor one year for
Christmas—the glider with the fold-back
wings that you shot aloft with a rubber
band. I couldn’t believe how well it flew,
and when it finally couldn’t be patched
anymore I saved every square inch of balsa
that wasn’t damaged. Wartime shortages
had made balsa of any kind like gold.
“When balsa became a little more
available, I had the revelation that you
could hinge the elevators on an airplane
and control it in a circle. I would build
profile fighters with a bellcrank made of
tin-can stock and a movable elevator, and
using dad’s cane fishing pole with an eyelet
on the tip I would tuck the pole under my
right arm and whip the airplane using my
left hand to control it.
“When the war finally ended I could
buy model magazines, and model aviation
went wild everywhere with the returning
vets and a country that was aviation
minded indeed. You no doubt recall all of
the kit and engine manufacturers that
sprang up.
“Larned was about 25 miles away and
had a bunch of really active U-Control
fliers using city-prepared circles in a park. I
was able to get my folks to stop and watch
a little when we made our Saturday
shopping trips down there.
“Eventually I was able to round up
enough money to buy a K&B .29 and a
supposed ‘trainer’ that was all solid wood,
with the wings already airfoiled. With
ignition it weighed a ton. I took it to
Burdette (a tiny village close by), where
enough adults were ‘hooked’ that they had
graded a pasture on the edge of town for a
U-Control circle.
“I had previously run the engine on a
homemade test stand (which now amazes
me, with the ignition system to wire and
little or no help to a sixth grader with a
huge amount of desire). The flight was
straight up and straight down. This
damaged the engine and it was returned to
K&B for repair.
“I then ignored the expert’s advice and
built a Carl Goldberg Zing. The airplane
was again solid balsa. I again installed the
.29, and this time took it out in our own
cow pasture beside the farm buildings,
recruited a younger brother to hold it for
me, and lo and behold soloed my first UControl.
It was fast, but it stayed out on the
lines, and the elevator movement was so
small I really couldn’t get into any trouble.
“My only problem was from the farm
bull, which would hear the engine and come
from the far end of the pasture nearly a half
mile away. However, I had time to start up,
fly the tank out, which was maybe good for
seven or eight laps, and then scoot under the
fence, dragging the airplane behind me. I
did my best to get dad to butcher the bull
instead of the annual steer for meat, but it
didn’t work!
“I have been in and out of the hobby
several times since those early days,
including having a number of CL designs
published in the late 1950s and early
1960s. I have been in RC the past 28 yearsand have enjoyed it greatly. But no current
thrill can quite duplicate those early
adventures.”
I experienced the same sort of rural
American background Clair did, with all the
same joys and disappointments. I grew up
in the little town of La Crosse, Kansas; it
was roughly 35 miles north of Clair, but we
didn’t meet until 40 years later.
However, I did have the advantage of an
older modeler to help me get through the
rough spots. MA Aeromodeling Editor Bob
Hunt was stunned when I recently told him
that the first CL model I ever saw in the air
was on the end of the handle I was holding,
but it’s true.
The Walker A-J Interceptor Clair
mentioned is available as a reproduction
from Frank Macy’s A-J Classics. Some of
the neighborhood boys and I conceived of
the idea to use a stick driven into the
ground, stretched rubber bands, and a string
behind it to release the Interceptors. I guess
we were using what is now called “Catapult
Glider,” but little did we know. I also
distinctly remember how trees loved to eat
Interceptors.
The models Clair flew using a cane pole
were another product of Jim Walker’s
genius; he called them “Whip Power UControl.”
I tried one, but with less success
than Clair had. Even though one of the
accompanying ads claims that the models
could be flown anywhere, I tried flying
mine between two school buildings on a
day when the wind was blowing roughly 30
mph. I had no idea how turbulent the air
could be but learned quickly when the lines
went sla
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 76,77,78,79
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 76,77,78,79
Flying for Fun D.B. Mathews | [email protected]
Thoughts about, and remembrances of, early CL activity
FOR THOSE WHO prefer to correspond
by mail, my address is 909 N. Maize Rd.,
Wichita KS 67212. Please include an SASE
using a #10 envelope for a reply.
Strange Discovery: As I was searching
through my magazine collection for the
photos I’ve used to embellish the Clair
Sieverling letter that will follow, I stumbled
onto an ad for a ready-to-fly CL model. I’ve
had these magazines since they were new,
and in those many intervening years I have
often made nostalgic journeys through their
pages.
I remember nothing about this product,
and this was the only ad for it I can find.
This leads me to a couple conclusions, the
first of which is that in 1947 neither my
modeling acquaintances nor I were
interested in paying someone to do for us
what we so greatly enjoyed doing
ourselves. Second, the concept didn’t sell
well.
I have no need to make further
comments on this subject.
Happy Days: I had intended to write a CL
past, present, and future sort of a column
this month when I started, but after
rereading the following letter I decided to
concentrate on a long-ago era. I hope I can
somehow recapture the excitement,
This 1947 CL model was sold as an ARF, completely built with a Cannon engine and spark
ignition preinstalled, but it sold poorly. From April 1947 MAN.
One of the many weird alternative control systems developed to avoid paying Jim Walker
a royalty. Consider the drag built into this. From June 1947 MAN.
The timeless A-J Interceptor folding-wing
glider is available again, from Frank Macy.
From February 1947 MAN.
enthusiasm, and incredible thrills CL flying
brought me in my youth.
I fully recognize that most who read this
column are much too young to have any
comprehension of what I experienced, but I
hope all of you can catch the “fever” that
gripped many of us back then. I can only
wish for you the same sort of experiences
in your contemporary modeling.
I also realize that the technology of the
period I will write about was terribly
primitive by today’s standards; conversely,
in 1947 this was cutting edge compared to
the immediate past. If the next steps have
yet to be invented, what one is using is the
latest technology, right?
For most of my modeling life I’ve used
the terms “U-Control” and “Control Line”
interchangeably, and that is technically
incorrect. Jim Walker patented and
copyrighted the “U-Control” name and
system in the 1940s.
The first models we saw advertised in
those old Berkeley catalogs, Air Trails
magazines, Model Airplane News (MAN)
76 MODEL AVIATION
March 2006 77
An all-wood trainer as mentioned in text, but Clair Sieverling’s
was likely a Comet Rookie. From May 1948 Air Trails.
Jim Walker “Whip Power U-Control.”
Rather than an engine, a bamboo pole
supplied the power. From May 1948 Air
Trails.
Carl Goldberg’s Zing was produced when
he and Sid Axelrod were partners in
American Hobby Specialties, which split
into Goldberg Models and Top Flite. From
July 1947 MAN.
K&B Torpedo .29 spark-ignition engine was a quality product, but
not the later “Green Head” series. From July 1947 MAN.
magazines, etc. were Walker Fireballs. For
many years any kits built included a control
horn produced under Jim Walker’s patents,
and a royalty was paid to him.
Well, that isn’t quite correct. Several
kitters used some system from way out in
left field of converting line motion into
elevator movement to avoid paying
royalties. We immediately converted them
to the Walker system using license-built
horns from Veco, Perfect, Davis, Dick
Ealy, etc. I never saw a model flown
successfully using any of the weird systems
of Cleveland, Eagle, Master Models,
Custom, and others.
Some kits left the control system a blank
on the drawings with a note to “use your
favorite control system,” to avoid paying a
royalty. An exception and a subject that is
well worth an entire column is the various
control systems, including the “Mono-Line”
developed by the Stanzel brothers.
When Jim Walker lost the infamous
patent suit to L.M. Cox, models could be
manufactured without paying him UControl
royalties. Regardless of that, those
of us who were modeling in the days before
the suit will always refer to the technique as
“U-Control.”
As I have mentioned previously, Jim
Walker demonstrated his system at most
larger modeling events countrywide
throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, for
the newsreels, and even at major athletic
events. According to the courts, he did not
invent this form of flying, but he certainly
was the only one to introduce, demonstrate,
and market it.
A long-misplaced letter from Clair
Sieverling of Phoenix, Arizona, captures
those early days of modeling that so closely
parallel my experiences. He wrote:
“I was born and raised on a farm near
Burdett, Kansas, and was nearly 8 years old
when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It
seemed that most boys in the fourth grade
and up were building or at least trying to
build model airplanes, all rubber models or
solid scale models.
“I think I was in about the fourth grade
when I got an Ace Whitman kit of a
Japanese Zero, printwood and all. It was
still balsa at that time. I hacked it out with
dad’s used razor blades and used Le Page’s
cement on it and my jeans.
“I didn’t know you were [supposed] to
build the wings over the plans, so I simply
spaced out the ribs over the stick lengths,
which increased the span by a fair amount.
To my surprise, the finished airplane would
glide fairly well. Our barn hayloft had an
excellent hardwood floor, since my parents
had hosted barn dances in the early years in
Western Kansas, and this made a wind-free
model test site.
“Since I was in a rather remote area with
no larger towns nearby, I didn’t know of
anyone who had a model airplane engine
until after the war; in fact I didn’t know
such a thing even existed. Nor did I know
there was such a thing as Air Trails or other
modeling magazines until I latched onto
one right after the war. I nearly wore it out.
“I remember that the Whitman kits
became unavailable, and I did get a Joe Ott
kit which was light card stock and some
really poor pine strip. I never did finish the
airplane.
“I got a Walker Interceptor one year for
Christmas—the glider with the fold-back
wings that you shot aloft with a rubber
band. I couldn’t believe how well it flew,
and when it finally couldn’t be patched
anymore I saved every square inch of balsa
that wasn’t damaged. Wartime shortages
had made balsa of any kind like gold.
“When balsa became a little more
available, I had the revelation that you
could hinge the elevators on an airplane
and control it in a circle. I would build
profile fighters with a bellcrank made of
tin-can stock and a movable elevator, and
using dad’s cane fishing pole with an eyelet
on the tip I would tuck the pole under my
right arm and whip the airplane using my
left hand to control it.
“When the war finally ended I could
buy model magazines, and model aviation
went wild everywhere with the returning
vets and a country that was aviation
minded indeed. You no doubt recall all of
the kit and engine manufacturers that
sprang up.
“Larned was about 25 miles away and
had a bunch of really active U-Control
fliers using city-prepared circles in a park. I
was able to get my folks to stop and watch
a little when we made our Saturday
shopping trips down there.
“Eventually I was able to round up
enough money to buy a K&B .29 and a
supposed ‘trainer’ that was all solid wood,
with the wings already airfoiled. With
ignition it weighed a ton. I took it to
Burdette (a tiny village close by), where
enough adults were ‘hooked’ that they had
graded a pasture on the edge of town for a
U-Control circle.
“I had previously run the engine on a
homemade test stand (which now amazes
me, with the ignition system to wire and
little or no help to a sixth grader with a
huge amount of desire). The flight was
straight up and straight down. This
damaged the engine and it was returned to
K&B for repair.
“I then ignored the expert’s advice and
built a Carl Goldberg Zing. The airplane
was again solid balsa. I again installed the
.29, and this time took it out in our own
cow pasture beside the farm buildings,
recruited a younger brother to hold it for
me, and lo and behold soloed my first UControl.
It was fast, but it stayed out on the
lines, and the elevator movement was so
small I really couldn’t get into any trouble.
“My only problem was from the farm
bull, which would hear the engine and come
from the far end of the pasture nearly a half
mile away. However, I had time to start up,
fly the tank out, which was maybe good for
seven or eight laps, and then scoot under the
fence, dragging the airplane behind me. I
did my best to get dad to butcher the bull
instead of the annual steer for meat, but it
didn’t work!
“I have been in and out of the hobby
several times since those early days,
including having a number of CL designs
published in the late 1950s and early
1960s. I have been in RC the past 28 yearsand have enjoyed it greatly. But no current
thrill can quite duplicate those early
adventures.”
I experienced the same sort of rural
American background Clair did, with all the
same joys and disappointments. I grew up
in the little town of La Crosse, Kansas; it
was roughly 35 miles north of Clair, but we
didn’t meet until 40 years later.
However, I did have the advantage of an
older modeler to help me get through the
rough spots. MA Aeromodeling Editor Bob
Hunt was stunned when I recently told him
that the first CL model I ever saw in the air
was on the end of the handle I was holding,
but it’s true.
The Walker A-J Interceptor Clair
mentioned is available as a reproduction
from Frank Macy’s A-J Classics. Some of
the neighborhood boys and I conceived of
the idea to use a stick driven into the
ground, stretched rubber bands, and a string
behind it to release the Interceptors. I guess
we were using what is now called “Catapult
Glider,” but little did we know. I also
distinctly remember how trees loved to eat
Interceptors.
The models Clair flew using a cane pole
were another product of Jim Walker’s
genius; he called them “Whip Power UControl.”
I tried one, but with less success
than Clair had. Even though one of the
accompanying ads claims that the models
could be flown anywhere, I tried flying
mine between two school buildings on a
day when the wind was blowing roughly 30
mph. I had no idea how turbulent the air
could be but learned quickly when the lines
went sla
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 76,77,78,79
Flying for Fun D.B. Mathews | [email protected]
Thoughts about, and remembrances of, early CL activity
FOR THOSE WHO prefer to correspond
by mail, my address is 909 N. Maize Rd.,
Wichita KS 67212. Please include an SASE
using a #10 envelope for a reply.
Strange Discovery: As I was searching
through my magazine collection for the
photos I’ve used to embellish the Clair
Sieverling letter that will follow, I stumbled
onto an ad for a ready-to-fly CL model. I’ve
had these magazines since they were new,
and in those many intervening years I have
often made nostalgic journeys through their
pages.
I remember nothing about this product,
and this was the only ad for it I can find.
This leads me to a couple conclusions, the
first of which is that in 1947 neither my
modeling acquaintances nor I were
interested in paying someone to do for us
what we so greatly enjoyed doing
ourselves. Second, the concept didn’t sell
well.
I have no need to make further
comments on this subject.
Happy Days: I had intended to write a CL
past, present, and future sort of a column
this month when I started, but after
rereading the following letter I decided to
concentrate on a long-ago era. I hope I can
somehow recapture the excitement,
This 1947 CL model was sold as an ARF, completely built with a Cannon engine and spark
ignition preinstalled, but it sold poorly. From April 1947 MAN.
One of the many weird alternative control systems developed to avoid paying Jim Walker
a royalty. Consider the drag built into this. From June 1947 MAN.
The timeless A-J Interceptor folding-wing
glider is available again, from Frank Macy.
From February 1947 MAN.
enthusiasm, and incredible thrills CL flying
brought me in my youth.
I fully recognize that most who read this
column are much too young to have any
comprehension of what I experienced, but I
hope all of you can catch the “fever” that
gripped many of us back then. I can only
wish for you the same sort of experiences
in your contemporary modeling.
I also realize that the technology of the
period I will write about was terribly
primitive by today’s standards; conversely,
in 1947 this was cutting edge compared to
the immediate past. If the next steps have
yet to be invented, what one is using is the
latest technology, right?
For most of my modeling life I’ve used
the terms “U-Control” and “Control Line”
interchangeably, and that is technically
incorrect. Jim Walker patented and
copyrighted the “U-Control” name and
system in the 1940s.
The first models we saw advertised in
those old Berkeley catalogs, Air Trails
magazines, Model Airplane News (MAN)
76 MODEL AVIATION
March 2006 77
An all-wood trainer as mentioned in text, but Clair Sieverling’s
was likely a Comet Rookie. From May 1948 Air Trails.
Jim Walker “Whip Power U-Control.”
Rather than an engine, a bamboo pole
supplied the power. From May 1948 Air
Trails.
Carl Goldberg’s Zing was produced when
he and Sid Axelrod were partners in
American Hobby Specialties, which split
into Goldberg Models and Top Flite. From
July 1947 MAN.
K&B Torpedo .29 spark-ignition engine was a quality product, but
not the later “Green Head” series. From July 1947 MAN.
magazines, etc. were Walker Fireballs. For
many years any kits built included a control
horn produced under Jim Walker’s patents,
and a royalty was paid to him.
Well, that isn’t quite correct. Several
kitters used some system from way out in
left field of converting line motion into
elevator movement to avoid paying
royalties. We immediately converted them
to the Walker system using license-built
horns from Veco, Perfect, Davis, Dick
Ealy, etc. I never saw a model flown
successfully using any of the weird systems
of Cleveland, Eagle, Master Models,
Custom, and others.
Some kits left the control system a blank
on the drawings with a note to “use your
favorite control system,” to avoid paying a
royalty. An exception and a subject that is
well worth an entire column is the various
control systems, including the “Mono-Line”
developed by the Stanzel brothers.
When Jim Walker lost the infamous
patent suit to L.M. Cox, models could be
manufactured without paying him UControl
royalties. Regardless of that, those
of us who were modeling in the days before
the suit will always refer to the technique as
“U-Control.”
As I have mentioned previously, Jim
Walker demonstrated his system at most
larger modeling events countrywide
throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, for
the newsreels, and even at major athletic
events. According to the courts, he did not
invent this form of flying, but he certainly
was the only one to introduce, demonstrate,
and market it.
A long-misplaced letter from Clair
Sieverling of Phoenix, Arizona, captures
those early days of modeling that so closely
parallel my experiences. He wrote:
“I was born and raised on a farm near
Burdett, Kansas, and was nearly 8 years old
when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It
seemed that most boys in the fourth grade
and up were building or at least trying to
build model airplanes, all rubber models or
solid scale models.
“I think I was in about the fourth grade
when I got an Ace Whitman kit of a
Japanese Zero, printwood and all. It was
still balsa at that time. I hacked it out with
dad’s used razor blades and used Le Page’s
cement on it and my jeans.
“I didn’t know you were [supposed] to
build the wings over the plans, so I simply
spaced out the ribs over the stick lengths,
which increased the span by a fair amount.
To my surprise, the finished airplane would
glide fairly well. Our barn hayloft had an
excellent hardwood floor, since my parents
had hosted barn dances in the early years in
Western Kansas, and this made a wind-free
model test site.
“Since I was in a rather remote area with
no larger towns nearby, I didn’t know of
anyone who had a model airplane engine
until after the war; in fact I didn’t know
such a thing even existed. Nor did I know
there was such a thing as Air Trails or other
modeling magazines until I latched onto
one right after the war. I nearly wore it out.
“I remember that the Whitman kits
became unavailable, and I did get a Joe Ott
kit which was light card stock and some
really poor pine strip. I never did finish the
airplane.
“I got a Walker Interceptor one year for
Christmas—the glider with the fold-back
wings that you shot aloft with a rubber
band. I couldn’t believe how well it flew,
and when it finally couldn’t be patched
anymore I saved every square inch of balsa
that wasn’t damaged. Wartime shortages
had made balsa of any kind like gold.
“When balsa became a little more
available, I had the revelation that you
could hinge the elevators on an airplane
and control it in a circle. I would build
profile fighters with a bellcrank made of
tin-can stock and a movable elevator, and
using dad’s cane fishing pole with an eyelet
on the tip I would tuck the pole under my
right arm and whip the airplane using my
left hand to control it.
“When the war finally ended I could
buy model magazines, and model aviation
went wild everywhere with the returning
vets and a country that was aviation
minded indeed. You no doubt recall all of
the kit and engine manufacturers that
sprang up.
“Larned was about 25 miles away and
had a bunch of really active U-Control
fliers using city-prepared circles in a park. I
was able to get my folks to stop and watch
a little when we made our Saturday
shopping trips down there.
“Eventually I was able to round up
enough money to buy a K&B .29 and a
supposed ‘trainer’ that was all solid wood,
with the wings already airfoiled. With
ignition it weighed a ton. I took it to
Burdette (a tiny village close by), where
enough adults were ‘hooked’ that they had
graded a pasture on the edge of town for a
U-Control circle.
“I had previously run the engine on a
homemade test stand (which now amazes
me, with the ignition system to wire and
little or no help to a sixth grader with a
huge amount of desire). The flight was
straight up and straight down. This
damaged the engine and it was returned to
K&B for repair.
“I then ignored the expert’s advice and
built a Carl Goldberg Zing. The airplane
was again solid balsa. I again installed the
.29, and this time took it out in our own
cow pasture beside the farm buildings,
recruited a younger brother to hold it for
me, and lo and behold soloed my first UControl.
It was fast, but it stayed out on the
lines, and the elevator movement was so
small I really couldn’t get into any trouble.
“My only problem was from the farm
bull, which would hear the engine and come
from the far end of the pasture nearly a half
mile away. However, I had time to start up,
fly the tank out, which was maybe good for
seven or eight laps, and then scoot under the
fence, dragging the airplane behind me. I
did my best to get dad to butcher the bull
instead of the annual steer for meat, but it
didn’t work!
“I have been in and out of the hobby
several times since those early days,
including having a number of CL designs
published in the late 1950s and early
1960s. I have been in RC the past 28 yearsand have enjoyed it greatly. But no current
thrill can quite duplicate those early
adventures.”
I experienced the same sort of rural
American background Clair did, with all the
same joys and disappointments. I grew up
in the little town of La Crosse, Kansas; it
was roughly 35 miles north of Clair, but we
didn’t meet until 40 years later.
However, I did have the advantage of an
older modeler to help me get through the
rough spots. MA Aeromodeling Editor Bob
Hunt was stunned when I recently told him
that the first CL model I ever saw in the air
was on the end of the handle I was holding,
but it’s true.
The Walker A-J Interceptor Clair
mentioned is available as a reproduction
from Frank Macy’s A-J Classics. Some of
the neighborhood boys and I conceived of
the idea to use a stick driven into the
ground, stretched rubber bands, and a string
behind it to release the Interceptors. I guess
we were using what is now called “Catapult
Glider,” but little did we know. I also
distinctly remember how trees loved to eat
Interceptors.
The models Clair flew using a cane pole
were another product of Jim Walker’s
genius; he called them “Whip Power UControl.”
I tried one, but with less success
than Clair had. Even though one of the
accompanying ads claims that the models
could be flown anywhere, I tried flying
mine between two school buildings on a
day when the wind was blowing roughly 30
mph. I had no idea how turbulent the air
could be but learned quickly when the lines
went sla
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/03
Page Numbers: 76,77,78,79
Flying for Fun D.B. Mathews | [email protected]
Thoughts about, and remembrances of, early CL activity
FOR THOSE WHO prefer to correspond
by mail, my address is 909 N. Maize Rd.,
Wichita KS 67212. Please include an SASE
using a #10 envelope for a reply.
Strange Discovery: As I was searching
through my magazine collection for the
photos I’ve used to embellish the Clair
Sieverling letter that will follow, I stumbled
onto an ad for a ready-to-fly CL model. I’ve
had these magazines since they were new,
and in those many intervening years I have
often made nostalgic journeys through their
pages.
I remember nothing about this product,
and this was the only ad for it I can find.
This leads me to a couple conclusions, the
first of which is that in 1947 neither my
modeling acquaintances nor I were
interested in paying someone to do for us
what we so greatly enjoyed doing
ourselves. Second, the concept didn’t sell
well.
I have no need to make further
comments on this subject.
Happy Days: I had intended to write a CL
past, present, and future sort of a column
this month when I started, but after
rereading the following letter I decided to
concentrate on a long-ago era. I hope I can
somehow recapture the excitement,
This 1947 CL model was sold as an ARF, completely built with a Cannon engine and spark
ignition preinstalled, but it sold poorly. From April 1947 MAN.
One of the many weird alternative control systems developed to avoid paying Jim Walker
a royalty. Consider the drag built into this. From June 1947 MAN.
The timeless A-J Interceptor folding-wing
glider is available again, from Frank Macy.
From February 1947 MAN.
enthusiasm, and incredible thrills CL flying
brought me in my youth.
I fully recognize that most who read this
column are much too young to have any
comprehension of what I experienced, but I
hope all of you can catch the “fever” that
gripped many of us back then. I can only
wish for you the same sort of experiences
in your contemporary modeling.
I also realize that the technology of the
period I will write about was terribly
primitive by today’s standards; conversely,
in 1947 this was cutting edge compared to
the immediate past. If the next steps have
yet to be invented, what one is using is the
latest technology, right?
For most of my modeling life I’ve used
the terms “U-Control” and “Control Line”
interchangeably, and that is technically
incorrect. Jim Walker patented and
copyrighted the “U-Control” name and
system in the 1940s.
The first models we saw advertised in
those old Berkeley catalogs, Air Trails
magazines, Model Airplane News (MAN)
76 MODEL AVIATION
March 2006 77
An all-wood trainer as mentioned in text, but Clair Sieverling’s
was likely a Comet Rookie. From May 1948 Air Trails.
Jim Walker “Whip Power U-Control.”
Rather than an engine, a bamboo pole
supplied the power. From May 1948 Air
Trails.
Carl Goldberg’s Zing was produced when
he and Sid Axelrod were partners in
American Hobby Specialties, which split
into Goldberg Models and Top Flite. From
July 1947 MAN.
K&B Torpedo .29 spark-ignition engine was a quality product, but
not the later “Green Head” series. From July 1947 MAN.
magazines, etc. were Walker Fireballs. For
many years any kits built included a control
horn produced under Jim Walker’s patents,
and a royalty was paid to him.
Well, that isn’t quite correct. Several
kitters used some system from way out in
left field of converting line motion into
elevator movement to avoid paying
royalties. We immediately converted them
to the Walker system using license-built
horns from Veco, Perfect, Davis, Dick
Ealy, etc. I never saw a model flown
successfully using any of the weird systems
of Cleveland, Eagle, Master Models,
Custom, and others.
Some kits left the control system a blank
on the drawings with a note to “use your
favorite control system,” to avoid paying a
royalty. An exception and a subject that is
well worth an entire column is the various
control systems, including the “Mono-Line”
developed by the Stanzel brothers.
When Jim Walker lost the infamous
patent suit to L.M. Cox, models could be
manufactured without paying him UControl
royalties. Regardless of that, those
of us who were modeling in the days before
the suit will always refer to the technique as
“U-Control.”
As I have mentioned previously, Jim
Walker demonstrated his system at most
larger modeling events countrywide
throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, for
the newsreels, and even at major athletic
events. According to the courts, he did not
invent this form of flying, but he certainly
was the only one to introduce, demonstrate,
and market it.
A long-misplaced letter from Clair
Sieverling of Phoenix, Arizona, captures
those early days of modeling that so closely
parallel my experiences. He wrote:
“I was born and raised on a farm near
Burdett, Kansas, and was nearly 8 years old
when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It
seemed that most boys in the fourth grade
and up were building or at least trying to
build model airplanes, all rubber models or
solid scale models.
“I think I was in about the fourth grade
when I got an Ace Whitman kit of a
Japanese Zero, printwood and all. It was
still balsa at that time. I hacked it out with
dad’s used razor blades and used Le Page’s
cement on it and my jeans.
“I didn’t know you were [supposed] to
build the wings over the plans, so I simply
spaced out the ribs over the stick lengths,
which increased the span by a fair amount.
To my surprise, the finished airplane would
glide fairly well. Our barn hayloft had an
excellent hardwood floor, since my parents
had hosted barn dances in the early years in
Western Kansas, and this made a wind-free
model test site.
“Since I was in a rather remote area with
no larger towns nearby, I didn’t know of
anyone who had a model airplane engine
until after the war; in fact I didn’t know
such a thing even existed. Nor did I know
there was such a thing as Air Trails or other
modeling magazines until I latched onto
one right after the war. I nearly wore it out.
“I remember that the Whitman kits
became unavailable, and I did get a Joe Ott
kit which was light card stock and some
really poor pine strip. I never did finish the
airplane.
“I got a Walker Interceptor one year for
Christmas—the glider with the fold-back
wings that you shot aloft with a rubber
band. I couldn’t believe how well it flew,
and when it finally couldn’t be patched
anymore I saved every square inch of balsa
that wasn’t damaged. Wartime shortages
had made balsa of any kind like gold.
“When balsa became a little more
available, I had the revelation that you
could hinge the elevators on an airplane
and control it in a circle. I would build
profile fighters with a bellcrank made of
tin-can stock and a movable elevator, and
using dad’s cane fishing pole with an eyelet
on the tip I would tuck the pole under my
right arm and whip the airplane using my
left hand to control it.
“When the war finally ended I could
buy model magazines, and model aviation
went wild everywhere with the returning
vets and a country that was aviation
minded indeed. You no doubt recall all of
the kit and engine manufacturers that
sprang up.
“Larned was about 25 miles away and
had a bunch of really active U-Control
fliers using city-prepared circles in a park. I
was able to get my folks to stop and watch
a little when we made our Saturday
shopping trips down there.
“Eventually I was able to round up
enough money to buy a K&B .29 and a
supposed ‘trainer’ that was all solid wood,
with the wings already airfoiled. With
ignition it weighed a ton. I took it to
Burdette (a tiny village close by), where
enough adults were ‘hooked’ that they had
graded a pasture on the edge of town for a
U-Control circle.
“I had previously run the engine on a
homemade test stand (which now amazes
me, with the ignition system to wire and
little or no help to a sixth grader with a
huge amount of desire). The flight was
straight up and straight down. This
damaged the engine and it was returned to
K&B for repair.
“I then ignored the expert’s advice and
built a Carl Goldberg Zing. The airplane
was again solid balsa. I again installed the
.29, and this time took it out in our own
cow pasture beside the farm buildings,
recruited a younger brother to hold it for
me, and lo and behold soloed my first UControl.
It was fast, but it stayed out on the
lines, and the elevator movement was so
small I really couldn’t get into any trouble.
“My only problem was from the farm
bull, which would hear the engine and come
from the far end of the pasture nearly a half
mile away. However, I had time to start up,
fly the tank out, which was maybe good for
seven or eight laps, and then scoot under the
fence, dragging the airplane behind me. I
did my best to get dad to butcher the bull
instead of the annual steer for meat, but it
didn’t work!
“I have been in and out of the hobby
several times since those early days,
including having a number of CL designs
published in the late 1950s and early
1960s. I have been in RC the past 28 yearsand have enjoyed it greatly. But no current
thrill can quite duplicate those early
adventures.”
I experienced the same sort of rural
American background Clair did, with all the
same joys and disappointments. I grew up
in the little town of La Crosse, Kansas; it
was roughly 35 miles north of Clair, but we
didn’t meet until 40 years later.
However, I did have the advantage of an
older modeler to help me get through the
rough spots. MA Aeromodeling Editor Bob
Hunt was stunned when I recently told him
that the first CL model I ever saw in the air
was on the end of the handle I was holding,
but it’s true.
The Walker A-J Interceptor Clair
mentioned is available as a reproduction
from Frank Macy’s A-J Classics. Some of
the neighborhood boys and I conceived of
the idea to use a stick driven into the
ground, stretched rubber bands, and a string
behind it to release the Interceptors. I guess
we were using what is now called “Catapult
Glider,” but little did we know. I also
distinctly remember how trees loved to eat
Interceptors.
The models Clair flew using a cane pole
were another product of Jim Walker’s
genius; he called them “Whip Power UControl.”
I tried one, but with less success
than Clair had. Even though one of the
accompanying ads claims that the models
could be flown anywhere, I tried flying
mine between two school buildings on a
day when the wind was blowing roughly 30
mph. I had no idea how turbulent the air
could be but learned quickly when the lines
went sla