Old-Timers
Mike Keville | [email protected]
Peck-Polymers' J-3 Kitten isn't really an Old-Timer but captures the essence
Since roughly 1952 I have had a perhaps irrational desire to build three designs from that era: a 1/2A Zeek and Crowbar 56 A-B Payloadner for FF and a Super Duper Zilch for CL. Thanks to a recent building spurt, I now have the Zeek and the Zilch. Both are providing much long-awaited pleasure, while the Crowbar 56—a Ray Matthews design—remains a “someday” project.
I’m not sure where I’ll fly the Crowbar since there are no A-B Payload events these days, thus the question arises: Why? The design could hardly be considered a contender in today’s Nostalgia Gas events.
I would wager that a good number of readers might reply that these models are cherished simply because of the memories associated with each and the pure pleasure we get from building and flying designs that have lingered in our memories for a half century.
However, every so often something catches our fancy that is not an Old-Timer (OT) or a Nostalgia design. Last July Peck-Polymers released its 24-inch-span kit of the ultralight J-3 Kitten. Designed by Thayer Syme, it should appeal to the Flying Aces crowd and other OT devotees who enjoy FF Rubber and/or Electric Scale. Jessie Anglin designed the full-scale Kitten as a 3/4-scale ultralight version of the Piper J-3 Cub, and it was first flown in 1984.
The Peck kit comes with instructions for FF Rubber and Electric RC. It includes laser-cut balsa, vacuum-formed main wheels, domestic tissue, and clear acetate for the windshield. The Kitten’s wing area is 74.25 square inches, and its all-up weight is 62 grams with Li-Poly batteries (76 grams with Ni-Cd and 36.8 grams sans motor).
Although this model is not an OT, it has that certain panache and is certainly worth a look. See Peck-Polymers’ ads or contact Sandy Peck via E-mail at [email protected].
As a lad I lived in southern New Jersey. In roughly 1954 my friend Victor Pugarelli became the first in our group to learn how to fly CL. Well, not exactly the first, but the first with anything larger than the Scientific “hollow log” 1/2As like the one I’d flown earlier that year.
We all wanted to learn how to fly “a big model,” and Vic was the first among us to do so, using a profile Sterling Mustang and a Fox .35 engine. I followed approximately a month later, but with just a Ringmaster Junior and an OK Cub .14. We didn’t know it at the time, but those were the days many of us would recall with much fondness more than 50 years later.
Also included in this column:
- An invitation to attend the next Vintage Stunt Championships
- A nostalgic letter from Roger Carney
- Dallaire plans that are available from Joe Dallaire himself!
- The Charles Shultz plans service
- The John Pond Plans Collection, now available from AMA
- Authentic company logo decals from Bill Calkins
Old-Timers
Mike Keville
Owing in large part to such memories, AMA's only Control Line Gold Leader Club—the Cholla Choppers of Tucson, Arizona, assisted by the Central Arizona Control Line Club—hosted the 17th annual Vintage Stunt Championships (VSC) in March.
I won't go into much detail here since only a small percentage of AMA members fly CL, but I will mention the performance of the Old Time (pre-1953) ignition entries. This event, directed by De Hill of Tulsa, Oklahoma, featured several outstanding flights. Especially notable was the winning pattern flown by Jim Kraft of Salina, Kansas. His entry was a 68-inch-span Taurus—a 1949 British design powered by a smooth-running Anderson Spitfire.
The VSC is a Class C sanctioned contest (actually more of a reunion and love-in) and a must-see for anyone who is interested in OT nostalgia CL. The 18th annual event is scheduled for March 15-18, 2006. The meet includes a Classic Stunt event for designs from the Nostalgia era—1953-1970—and a gala banquet and awards ceremony Saturday evening.
The contest runs Wednesday through Saturday, allowing Sunday as a travel day. Come join in the fun. Tucson in March is (with one memorable exception) a haven for those who by that time of the year have had it with snow, ice, and subzero temperatures. For more information contact Robin Sizemore at [email protected] or Jim Hoffman at [email protected].
Connecticut's Roger Carney replied to the April column in which I mentioned the Scientific Company's "Gas Type" rubber models from the 1940s. He wrote:
"When I was a kid back in the 1930s, I used to beg my parents to take me to a Free Flight venue on summer evenings not far from my home in Flushing, Queens, N.Y. Creedmore was an open prairie in the northwestern corner of Nassau County, Long Island, just outside the city limits.
In the fading daylight it was romance and high adventure to see the huge 'gassie floaters' rise into the sky (after never-ending prop flipping and tinkering with the balky ignition systems). I couldn't wait to get into building model airplanes.
"At Christmas in 1939 I bugged my parents into buying a Miss America kit, the 40-inch-span rubber version ($1.95 postpaid—wow!). They bought mine in the toy department at Macy's. As you described, it came with pneumatic tires that I thought were especially cool. It even had a wooden cylinder head to simulate an engine. I had no clue how to build it, nor did my dad.
"My favorite aunt came to the rescue. Her neighbors were recent refugees from England, and the old gentleman offered to build the airplane for me. Two months later he presented me with a beautifully done red-and-blue airplane. My folks deemed it too nice to submit it to my attempts to fly it, so it was hung from the ceiling of my playroom for the duration of World War II. It kind of disintegrated eventually, but I loved that airplane.
"I started building during the war: 10-cent kits from pine, cardboard, and tissue (balsa had gone to war). My first effort was a Hawker Hurricane; it made a nice hand-launched glider.
"I stayed with the hobby until age 15 in 1948, then got back into it later in life for short periods in the early 1970s—1/2A Free Flights mostly, including a Brooklyn Dodger that flew out of sight in the desert north of Albuquerque.
"This past year I retired, joined a local RC club, the Yankee Flyers of Connecticut, and am learning the ropes with an ARF trainer. But more to the point, I never forgot that Miss America.
"I've purchased copies of the original plans of the 8-foot-wingspan 'gassie' version, and I am scratch-building another, modifying it for RC. I hope to have it in the air soon, to close the loop down Memory Lane."
Do you remember the Dallaire designs? How would you like to receive genuine plans from Joe Dallaire himself?
He offers original plans or copies from originals for everything from the 9-foot Dallaire Sportster and Cabin Monoplane, to Rubber Scale designs in 12-, 16-, and 24-inch spans, to several solid-scale models.
For a full list of offerings and prices, write to or call Joe Dallaire at 6263 Charlesworth, Dearborn Heights MI 48127; Tel.: (313) 278-1734. I thank Joe Roose, editor/publisher of SAM (Society of Antique Modelers) Chapter 40's newsletter, for this information.
If Rubber Scale is your thing, check out the superb collection of plans that Charles Shultz offers. He carries hundreds of plans from the 1930s and 1940s—mostly Scale, with a nice selection of gliders and other types. A business-size SASE and one dollar will bring you the list. Send it to 910 Broadfields Dr., Louisville KY 40207.
The service from our AMA with the John Pond Plans Collection has been excellent. Awhile back I placed an order for an old favorite: the Berkeley Brigadier. The "several weeks" delivery, as noted on the order form, turned out to be only one week.
A great deal of work went into organizing and cataloging this massive collection. I hope the majority of true modelers take advantage of it.
How about some authentic company-logo decals for that Texaco model you're building? Or maybe you'd rather have the Phillips 66 logo and perhaps some genuine O&R decals.
Bill Calkins began a service last summer whereby he restores old kit decals to like-new condition. He has expanded the selection to include replicas of McCoy, Veco, and others, in addition to popular 1930s and 1940s markings.
His products are just the ticket to dress up that OT replica. If you have an old faded or cracked decal you'd like to see in like-new condition, Bill can take care of that too. You'll be in for quite a treat when you see all he has to offer. You can contact Bill at 317 Snow St., Sugar Grove IL 60554; Tel.: (630) 466-1531; Web site: http://billsdecals.com.
Keep those letters and E-mails coming. It's nice to know there are still people out there who build their own models. MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
