Old-Timers

WE TEND TO consider this a male-oriented hobby. Okay, "sport" if you insist. That's true in terms of numbers, but it seems that women who participate—especially in competition events—do rather well. Long before it was fashionable, gender equality was present at the 1954 Nationals when 19-year-old Shirley Ann Austin won Senior Control Line (CL) Combat. She flew a Half-Fast III designed by "Wild Bill" Netzeband, who at the time was a St. Louis. Missouri neighbor. Shirley's present location is unknown. If anyone knows her whereabouts, I'd like to hear from you. The same goes for anyone who flew against her that year and had his hat handed to him. Come on, guys, it's been 48 years; it won't hurt to admit it. The 1940s through 1960s saw a number of excellent female competitors: Dawn Cosmillo, Theresa Grish, Betty Bell, Sue Wiesenbach, Virginia Randall, and Bev Wisniewski (she built and flew Free Flight), to name but a few. That trend continues today. Just ask anyone who's flown against Krystal King. Patty Violett, or Monika Wakkerman. One thing is for sure: most administrative chores in this hobby are done by women. If not for the volunteer registrars, tabulators, score-posters, etc., we'd probably have to flip a coin to see who took home the loot. Also consider who brings you this magazine each month; check the names on the masthead. And, of course, there is AMA's Executive Director (our CEO, so to speak). Shirley Ann Austin, Netzeband's original who won Senior CL Combat at the 1954 Nationals, launches Bill Hesperus. ("As in, 'Wreck of the ...'" he says.) Equality? We've had it for years—and we didn't need any of that politically-correct nonsense to force it upon us. The lure of Nostalgia Free Flight (FF) proved too strong to resist. I ordered a rule book and a few plans in hopes of competing next year. It was time for a change of pace. The support from several top fliers has been outstanding, so I knew it was time to put up or shut up. And since shutting up has never been one of my finer qualities ... Let's say you have the same urge to build a Nostalgia FF—gas-or rubber-powered. Hank Sperzel runs the NFFS (National Free Flight Society) plans service. An extensive list of Nostalgia plans is available by E-mailing [email protected]. Rules for these unofficial events are available from Bob McLinden. Box 7967, Baltimore MD 21221. The cost is $5. Ask for rule book #8. Please note that this information is four months Don Hutchinson, circa 1951, with FUBAR 36 built in the barracks at Santa Maria CA. Text has details. Dick Olwin photo. Bill Wheeler (Portland OR) enlarged and converted the 1944 CL Tethered Trainer to RC. See text for details. old. I assume it is current, but I can't guarantee that. Don Hutchinson is one of those rare types who excels in more than one category. At one time he held the Open AMA national record in F1 A. then known as A/2 Nordic Towline Glider. Today he's an accomplished CL Stunt competitor, with frequent wins in the Old-Time event using spark-ignition engines. You may recall his near-scale Stearman CL Stunt model in a construction article that was published in Flying Models. In 1951, while a member of the Minnesota Air National Guard. Don was called to active duty and was shipped to an aircraft-mechanic school in Santa Maria. California. He soon discovered a newsstand in town that carried a few model supplies. As he recalls: "I bought a Firebaby/Wasp .049 which I flew between the barracks. When I got tired of that I bought a Free Flight kit. a FUBAR 36. |For the uninitiated, FUBAR is an unofficial military acronym meaning Fouled-Up Beyond All Recognition —sort of.] "Since the school had no facilities for model building, I did that while sitting on my bunk in the barracks. I removed the drawer from my small dresser, turned it over in my lap and pinned the surfaces to it. The model was covered with Japanese tissue and doped in the barracks. No one complained; probably because the dope fumes smelled better than the cigars smoked by the guy in the top bunk. "The school was located on a small, little-used airport so I flew the model on Sundays. One of my barracks mates wanted to see it fly, suggesting that we launch it off the top of a hangar 'so it would fly better.' 1 replied that I didn't think that would be necessary, and as it turned out 1 was correct. A terrific climber, it hooked a thermal and was last seen heading southeast and very high. No dethermalizer of course, so it went AWOL. "Today that school is known as Hancock College and of course the airfield is long gone. The photo was taken by Dick Olwin, who stopped by to visit while en route to Korea." Retired from TRW, Don moved from California to Texas a few years back and is now a leading sparkplug (pun intended) in Dallas-Fort Worth area CL activities. If any of Don's former Minneapolis club members would like to contact him, he's at 4 Mistywood Ct., Mansfield TX 76063, or E-mail [email protected]. (We'll go to any lengths, won't we? I once built a Cleveland Nieuport 17 on the lid of an Army footlocker at Fort Senning, Georgia. It pains me to admit that it was rudely dumped in a trashcan when I was shipping out for Vietnam in 1965.) I really started something with that photo of Floyd Carter's CL Tethered Trainer in the November 2001 column. An Earl Cayton design originally published in the 1944 Air Trails Annual, the response has been incredible. Floyd says he's been swamped with plans requests (at $4 postage-paid from 2029 Crist Dr., Los Altos CA 94024; E-mail: AeroPlyCo@ aol .com). Now comes word of a Radio Control (RC) version. Bill Wheeler of Portland, Oregon, writes: "That picture really got my attention. Here is a photo of one I built in 1946 when I was 16. It has a long history as a hangar queen, maybe a world record. A few months ago I took it out of the attic intending to throw it out, but I like the design so much that I couldn't bring myself to trash it, even though it was in really sad shape. I decided to see if it could be restored to fly RC—sort of 'un-tether' it, so to speak. "Its flying history as a CL model is not pretty. As a teenager I tried to fly it twice, with both attempts ending in a crash after about half a lap. It was repaired both times, so re-building is nothing new to it. "The wing was cut in half and a new, 10 inch center section was added. Strip ailerons were installed, the rudder made operable and the landing gear relocated to the wing. Other than that, it's about the same as the original. The old, brittle, doped silkspan was replaced with heat shrink film. Powered by an O.S. .15, the weight is around three pounds. "Given its flight history, my expectations were not too high when I took it out to the field. Figured it might as well go out in a blaze of glory rather than in a trashcan. To my great surprise, it took off easily and is very steady in the air. It's easy to fly for such a small model, and I'm now considering building a larger one for a .40 size engine." Bill's RC conversion sports a black fuselage with yellow wings and stabilizer trimmed in orange and red, separated by white pinstripes. It's very attractive. I'd bet designer Cayton never envisioned this. I had a chance to examine a kit of the Jimmie Allen Skokie by Easy Built Models, now under the care of Dave Niedzielski. This is a 24-inch-span cabin model that includes laser-cut parts from choice balsa, strip wood, colored tissue, and an 83/4-inch plastic propeller. It's nicely done and a welcome addition to the several sources for Jimmie Allen kits and plans. Sec the complete product line at www.EasyBuiltModels.com. Southwest Regionals: The 53rd annual will be held January 18-20 at Eloy AZ. Old-Time and Nostalgia FF, SAM (Society of Antique Modelers) RC, and FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) events will be offered. Contact Al Lidberg at 1030 E. Baseline, Suite 105-1074. Tempe AZ 85283, or E-mail [email protected]. M4