Mike Keville, 6218 E. Evergreen St., Mesa AZ 85205; E-mail: [email protected]
OLD-TIMERS
In early 2003 my wife and I will move from Arizona to Maine.
As of this writing our exact location isn’t decided, but it will be
somewhere in the Brunswick area. I’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile,
continue to write, telephone, or E-mail me here, probably until
sometime in April. I answer E-mail within 24 hours; reply
immediately to letters enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope;
and will publish the new address as soon as it’s known. I do plan to
continue writing this column for as long as people are interested in
reading it.
The planned move affects a subject near and dear to our hearts.
For 14 years my wife JoAnn and I have hosted the annual Vintage
Stunt Championships (VSC) for Control Line (CL). Actually, “we”
is not quite correct since JoAnn put together and was contest
director for 12 of those while I was off running around in the Middle
East.
We are pleased to announce that the VSC will continue, thanks to
Tucson’s Gold Leader Club the Cholla Choppers. (Say choy-uh, not
chahl-la.) The 2003 gathering will be March 20-23. Pre-entry is
required by March 10. The contest director will be Lou Wolgast, and
the point of contact for entries and other information is Jim
Hoffman, 2658 W. Montgomery Dr., Chandler AZ 85224; E-mail:
[email protected].
Correction: In the November column, when naming a few of the
remaining old-fashioned neighborhood hobby shops I mentioned
Miami’s Orange Blossom. Just after deadline for that column I
received a call from Les McDonald—three-time CL Precision
Aerobatics World Champion and former Orange Blossom employee.
This shop bit the dust more than a year ago.
(Further comment on the demise of neighborhood hobby shops
would not be suitable for publication.)
In an earlier column I mentioned an attractive little Class A-B Free
Flight (FF) model named Porkey (yes, with an “e”): a small Pylon
gas model featured in the April 1943 Air Trails. Designed by Eldred
Hoopengarner, it somewhat resembles the Megow Ranger but with a
polyhedral rather than a three-panel wing. Unfortunately the only
photo I have is the one on that old, yellowed magazine page which
probably would not reproduce well here.
As did many magazine construction articles of that era, this one
included full-size patterns for ribs, formers, wingtips, and other
curved parts. A grid pattern on part of the plan enabled you to easily
enlarge the straight-line dimensions. You could then draw your own
plan, which was done quite often in the days when building was
considered an enjoyable part of the hobby rather than a necessary
evil.
According to Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) rules, to be
classified as an Old-Timer FF a model must have been designed,
kitted, or have had plans published before December 31, 1942. Since
the Porkey was most likely designed in 1942 (or earlier), is it
eligible despite the 1943 magazine date? Perhaps the answer is the
SAM category for post-1942 designs that show a spark-ignition
Warren Tiahrt’s 1949 Di-Doe CL Stunter spans 28 inches. Design
won ’49 Nats Novelty Stunt event for designer Howard Thombs.
Robert Smith built his Cleveland-design Stinson SR-9 from John
Pond plans. It has a Futaba radio and a K&B .65 for power.
A Foo-2-U-Too climbs out against the early-morning sunrise. No
information about the builder or location is available.
January 2003 133
134 M ODEL AVIATION
engine on the plans.
The Porkey’s three-spar wing features an
undercambered airfoil, balsa-covered oval
fuselage, and a pylon with carved balsa
fairings for strength and streamlining. This
model is on my “someday” list—along with
Ray Mathews’ Crowbar 56 PAA-Loader,
Jim Saftig’s Super Duper Zilch CL
Stunter, and approximately a dozen others.
I wonder if they’ll have a model workshop
at the “Sunshine Rest Home.”
Many years ago I flew models at a city
park near a municipal airport in southern
New Jersey. Every few minutes a full-scale
J-3 Cub or Aeronca Champ would pass low
overhead on final approach to the main
runway. Sometimes it was an Ercoupe or a
Bellanca, but it was mostly those
ubiquitous yellow J-3s. It seems hard to
believe now, but we hardly glanced up:
“just another Cub.” We thought they’d be
around forever—just like the kits on the
shelves at our local dealer.
We took it for granted that Megow,
Strombecker, Berkeley, F&B, etc. would be
there forever. There was nothing to suggest
that balsa and tissue would someday be
replaced by foam, plastic, and miniature
electronics, completely transforming the
hobby as we knew it—much the same as
the Cubs and Champs gave way to the
“spam cans” that fill our skies now.
In 1947 Robert S. Smith (there are many
Bob Smiths in this game; this one is from
Grand Rapids, Michigan) built a Cleveland
Stinson Reliant. Powered with an ignition
O&R .60, the 82-inch-span model had a
silk-and-dope finish and was flown CL.
In 1999—52 years later—Bob built
another Reliant from John Pond plans.
“Exactly as the original, with fabricated
wing ribs, etc.,” he wrote. “Current version
has a K&B .65 Sportster, Futaba radio and
(Coverite) 21st Century Fabric. It is quite
light for its size and a very stable flier.”
That’s part of the attraction to the Old-
Timer niche: recreating designs that we
built in our youth and which may, or may
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not, have performed as expected back
then. In the past few years I have built
and flown a Berkeley Brigadier 58, a
Consolidated Guided Star, and numerous
other models simply because of the fond
memories associated with each design.
Sometimes they still didn’t perform as
well as I would have liked, but that’s
probably more because of a lack of skills
than inherent design flaws.
However, some do manage to obtain
excellent performance from old designs.
Living in the outer banks of North
Carolina—Kitty Hawk, to be exact—is a
gentleman I’ve had the privilege of
knowing for several years. Warren Tiahrt
has a foot planted in both modeling
worlds: modern and old-time. He is a
many-time event director for CL Stunt at
the AMA Nationals, yet is an active
enthusiast of the Old-Timer event.
At one of the earlier VSCs he brought
an absolutely gorgeous, all-orange Stunt
Rocket: a Walt Musciano design from a
1951 Air Trails. If memory serves, it won
the “Best Appearing” award. (If not, it
should have.)
Last year Warren built a Di-Doe,
which is the 28-inch-span, profilefuselage
CL biplane design by Howard
Thombs that won the Novelty Stunt event
at the 1949 Nationals. The design was
kitted in the 1950s but never achieved
popularity. Featuring a whopping 10°
engine offset, it is a capable Stunter when
flown, uh, briskly. Warren’s version is
finished with clear dope over white and
orange silkspan and is pulled by an O.S.
.15.
I received a letter from a longtime
modeler who feels that technical
advancements have all but ruined the
hobby—at least from his viewpoint. For
reasons that should become obvious, he
did not want his name revealed. He has
won numerous awards, including some at
past Nationals, and is widely recognized
as being someone who knows what he’s
talking about. Though he wanted to
remain anonymous, he did ask that I share
his thoughts with readers. Following are
the highlights.
“It saddens me to see what has become
of a once fun hobby. Thanks to highpriced
gadgets, expensive engines and
other components, a popular pastime for
many is now dominated by just a few.
Very few in the hobby today honor the
Builder-of-the-Model rule, and it seems
like success is directly proportional to
how much money one can spend. Every
time a new ‘Beginner’ event appears, it
isn’t long before the experts take over,
setting standards unreachable by the
average modeler.
“What ever happened to the days when
a youngster could build a flyable model
for just a few dollars? Even us old duffers
would appreciate a return to a time when
you didn’t need a truckload of cash to
participate. I have become so disillusioned
with the current state of affairs that I am
seriously considering selling everything
and taking up golf.”
That’s pretty extreme, but if my mail is
any indication quite a few others share that
view. Those of us who are attracted to
materials, methods, and performance of the
1930s through the 1950s are in the
minority. As we continue to age, that
situation certainly won’t improve. The
hobby has changed. Many people in today’s
fast-paced society prefer to buy, rather than
build, their models, and there is ample
evidence that sport fliers far outnumber
those of us who enjoy competition.
There is no rule saying that those who
enjoy doing things the old way must
change. No one is forcing us to build or fly
anything we don’t want to. I have friends
who build state-of-the-art CL Stunt models
powered by engines that cost enough to
cover my grocery bill for a month. That’s
how they enjoy the hobby, whereas I prefer
building obsolete designs using traditional
materials. While I think those other people
are quite talented, they think I’m a
reactionary nutcase. The point is that we get
along fine. It’s only a hobby. MA
