ExpandEd CovEragE: “Old-Timer”
is a relative term. To Free Flighters, it
means models designed no later than
1942; the year is 1952 in Control Line
Stunt.
In a previous column, I mentioned the
intent to seek editorial approval to include
Nostalgia-era designs here. That request
was granted.
This will probably cause grumbling in
certain quarters, but the reasoning is sound.
When I was approached about writing
this column, it was with the understanding
that it would encompass not only Free
Flight (FF), but Control Line (CL) and
Radio Control (RC). As most are aware,
the last two categories began significantly
later than the first, so they have different
guidelines for what constitutes “Old-
Time.”
Moreover, the majority of AMA
members have been in the hobby a
relatively short time compared to those of
us who have been involved since the 1940s
and earlier. A previous request asking me
to feature the 1950s Payload designs is a
case in point.
That modeler recalled those designs from his childhood as
among the earliest flying models he’d seen. To him, they are
surely “Old-Time” in every sense of the term. I can understand
how others might feel the same about a deBolt Live Wire
Cruiser or a Veco Smoothie.
Mike Keville, 6218 E. Evergreen St., Mesa AZ 85205; E-mail: [email protected]
OLD-TIMERS
Ron Prentice launches Vansteed Wakefield at contest. Stick-andtissue
designs climb like rockets on old-rule rubber weights.
Norm Rosenstock with diesel-powered RC model controlled by
the first “Hand-Held, Self-Contained Transmitter.”
June 1946 ad for kit of Jerry Brofman-designed Super Sunduster. The 88-inch-span
design had 1,027 sq. in. of area, and placed first in C-Gas at 1941 Nationals.
March 2001 129
With that in mind, I’m going to expand
this column to include models and
activities through the mid-1950s. (Pause
here for gnashing of teeth among selected
readers.)
Feel free to send your opinions on
this decision. Contact me directly or via
“Letters to the Editor.” If the change in
format meets overwhelming disapproval,
I’ll change it. After all, this is your
magazine.
By the same token, let me hear if you
do approve. Then go dig out the photos
of those old Zeeks, Civy Boys, Veco
Chiefs, Rudder Bugs, etc., and send
them to me, along with anything else of
a vintage nature.
To help illustrate the “Old-Timer”
concept as applied to RC, look at the
1950 photo of AMA Historian Norm
Rosenstock, taken at Curtis Field, Long
Island NY.
In 1949-50, Norm was the manager
of the TAMBE hobby shop in Brooklyn
NY. He began with RC in 1949. Many
have read Norm’s account of his 50
years of RC in his book, Tales of an
Ancient Modeler. Norm was kind
enough to send me several original
photos for use in the column.
Other photos this month come from
my good friend Ron Prentice of
England. Ron flies Old-Timers
exclusively, and he lives with his family
in a restored, converted 13th-century
mill in Taunton, Somerset—the
Southwestern area of the United
Kingdom.
Ron flies all categories, and he does so
with pure enjoyment in mind rather than
trophy-hunting. Once he attended the
Vintage Stunt Championships in Tucson
AZ flying an O&R .23 ignition-powered
Big Fry. (I’ll have to get a photo of that
one; it’s an old Old-Timer.)
The mention of “enjoyment in mind
rather than trophy-hunting” might appeal
to newcomers to the hobby. I’m aware that
most AMA members today fly for sport
rather than for competition.
If you’re new to the hobby, check out
the Old-Timer activities in your area,
whether they’re FF, RC, or CL. These
events are associated with a laid-back,
easygoing atmosphere. Participants are
often more interested in seeing the other
guys’ models fly. “Oh, wow—I
remember seeing the ads for those when
I was a kid,” and things like that.
The ambience at an Old-Timer meet is
similar to that at a Flying Aces Club
(FAC) FF Scale gathering, wherein half
the fun is walking around looking at all
the different models.
There is competition to be sure, but
it’s secondary to fun and enjoyment.
Some will no doubt take exception to
that remark, but they’re having fun in
their own way.
Please know that I enjoy winning as
much as anyone. No one I’m aware of,
myself included, has gone to a contest
planning to finish somewhere in the
middle of the pack, although that has been
the outcome on numerous occasions.
Ideally, we’d post the best time, score,
or speed, but the real fun is seeing these
grand old designs perform.
With few exceptions, the skills used
when building Old-Timers aren’t taught or
publicized, nor are most of the materials
(other than balsa) readily available.
There are those among us—myself
included—who still delight in using
Ambroid cement to assemble frameworks;
who enjoy covering with tissue or silk,
laboriously applying coat after coat of
delightfully aromatic (to us) dope; and who
generally enjoy doing things much the way
we did several decades ago.
Conversely, there are those in the Old-
Timer movement who use cyanoacrylate
(CyA) glue, carbon fiber, Mylar™
coverings, etc., exclusively. So don’t be
dismayed if your building preference
includes these newer materials; there’s
room here for everyone.
Many in this niche of the hobby also
enjoy browsing through old model
magazines, often paying big bucks at
swap meets for early issues of Air Trails
and Model Airplane News (MAN).
(Save this issue; people will pay your
heirs dearly for it 50 years from now.)
I recently obtained several early-1940s
issues of MAN, and I spent hours gazing at
the articles and ads.
A prominent feature in the old
magazines was the inclusion of fullscale
aviation—especially during the
World War II years. If nothing else,
some of the photo captions lend a few
chuckles.
A 1943 MAN shows a photo of the
then-new Vought F4U Corsair; the caption
read, “It has no equal in speed, climb or
altitude”—a claim that might get some
argument from Mustang fans.
Another in-flight photo shows the huge
Douglas B-19, and the caption stated, “A
fleet is at the mercy of planes like this.”
As we know now, that statement was
better-suited to the same firm’s SBD
Dauntless.
This was a time when aviation had a
certain romance. Nearly all children in
the country wanted to be pilots, and they
could identify various airplanes with
surprising ease—much the way they
rattle off that “computer talk” today.
I don’t remember much of the war
years; I was five years old when things
ended. However, I do recall standing in
the backyard and loudly identifying
various wartime aircraft, and the
ubiquitous J-3 Cubs and Aeroncas
droning overhead.
In those days, one got started in
modeling with a love of aircraft. Pine or
balsa solid Scale models was a natural
step, followed by—well, you know the
drill. There’s just something about old
airplanes and old models.
Immediately postwar, manufacturers
began placing mouthwatering ads for
products; some were successful and
some weren’t.
Leafing through a few issues, I saw
the reintroduced Comet Zipper kit for
$5.95; Megow’s kit of Leon Shulman’s
Banshee at $6.95; and a CL Scale
Beechcraft Staggerwing/Morton M-5
radial engine combo deal from the
Morton factory in Omaha NE (the ad
didn’t quote a price).
An outfit named Vet Aero Co. in
Ozone Park NY offered an $8.95 kit of
Jerry Brofman’s 88-inch-span Super
Sunduster—“the ultimate in gas model
achievement,” according to the ad. As
was often the norm in those days, the kit
included cement and dope.
An Atwood Super Champion was
$23.50—probably a week’s wages for
many in those days.
Then there were the pipe dreams, such
as the famous (or infamous) GHQ engine.
The less said about that, the better—and
no, I never owned one.
There was also the spring-powered
Spinit starter (remember those?), and the
Class B (1⁄6-horsepower!) Thor for only
$9.95, including coil and condenser.
Zandl Model Products in Seattle WA
advertised a 371⁄2-inch-span CL Ryan ST
for $8.50, featuring “ready-cut body
blocks” and all hardware. I don’t recall
seeing a CL Ryan until Sterling introduced
its very appealing 36-inch version in the
early 1950s.
And there were those wonderful twopage
Cleveland ads, depicting various
aircraft that set us to dreaming—until
we kids opened the box and saw the
massive collection sticks and printwood,
and had absolutely no clue what to do
with them.
However, that wasn’t true for
everyone; many of today’s newer
modelers would be amazed at what some
12-year-olds were capable of building in
those days.
I urge anyone interested in this phase of
the hobby to join the Society of Antique
Modelers (SAM).
The bimonthly SAM Speaks publication
(“The Voice of Vintage Aeromodeling”)
features many activities—some of which
may be happening in your area—and ads
for Old-Timer suppliers.
I’ve received several inquiries, such as
“Where can I find nitrate dope?” and
“Who sells ignition engines?” Those were
easy to answer when I hauled out an issue
of SAM Speaks.
Dues are $18 per year for residents of
the US and Canada, and $30 for those in
other nations (airmail only). Send to
Larry Clark, Box 528, Lucerne Valley
CA 92356.
Your contributions to this column are always
welcome. Please include a self-addressed
stamped envelope for a quick reply. MA
130 M ODEL AVIATION
