OLD-TIMERS
Contact
Mike Keville 31 Franklin Pkwy., Brunswick ME 04011 E-mail: [email protected]
Albert J. Ward and the GHQ Engine
In 1938 Albert J. Ward paid $2 for a used GHQ engine. He installed it in a Flying Quaker, where it served as an excellent nose weight. (The GHQ was a low-priced engine whose main feature was that it would not run. A safe product, there was virtually no chance of sticking your fingers in a spinning propeller.)
Thanks to this marvel of engineering, young Mr. Ward's first Quaker never left the ground. However, 57 years later his second one did, powered by—you guessed it—a GHQ. This one initially used four-stroke glow power, but Albert said it was "more fun with the GHQ." (I don't make 'em up; I just report 'em.)
He found that GHQ at a MECA (Model Engine Collectors Association) meet and, using a 6-inch lathe, machined new internal parts. It runs, but, as he reports, "with just barely enough power to fly the Quaker in slow circles."
A retired maintenance instructor for United Airlines, Albert is 78 years old. He is a member of the Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) Chapter 21, a licensed A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) mechanic, and he helps restore full-scale antique aircraft. His goals are to "live to be 100, have a good supply of balsa, and keep on building."
Vintage Stunt Championships
In March I attended the 15th annual Vintage Stunt Championships, now hosted by the Cholla Choppers of Tucson, Arizona, and the Central Arizona Model Airplane Club. SAM's engine guru Charlie Bruce won the award for Most Unusual model with his rendition of Don Yearout's 1947 Flying Star: a Control Line design shaped like a five-pointed star.
On display, although not flown officially, was a superb model of a Stanzel Tiger Shark by Bob English of Vacaville, California.
Bob English and the Stanzel Tiger Shark
As a kid in the early 1940s Bob admired the Stanzel Shark models advertised in the magazines. Back then he was building stick-and-tissue models. Most cost ten cents but if you really wanted to splurge you bought a Joe Ott kit for a dollar.
In 1944 his mother came home from a shopping spree with a Baby Shark kit, but it was too complicated for his limited skills. He didn't even have an engine. The war was on, and they were lucky to get anything at all. Today Bob is a master craftsman whose modeling skills are far from limited.
Fast forward to 1955. Then in the Air Force, he was stationed at Anderson Air Force Base in Guam, which happened to have a base hobby shop. One day a Colonel Beardsley walked in with a Super V Shark kit under his arm. He also had an engine—perhaps a Super Cyclone. His wife had given him the items years earlier as a birthday present. Stating that he didn't know anything about model airplanes, he asked if the club members would help him, which is like asking Tiger Woods if he likes to play golf. They built the Shark but never flew it. Bob wonders if someone still has it, perhaps hanging on a wall somewhere.
Years later Bob met Dale Kirn, who "just happened to have" some old Stanzel kits for sale. Using the parts as patterns, he created his own Shark; it included wooden wheels turned from cherry wood and coated with clear epoxy. Beautifully finished in red-and-black with gold trim, the model was once displayed at a West Coast contest where, in Bob's words, "You should have seen all those guys gathered around it; they weren't paying any attention at all to the pretty (modern) Stunt airplanes." That's no surprise; park a vintage 1949 Mercury next to a row of modern sedans, and see which one draws a crowd.
Newcomers and Stick-and-Tissue
Based on several letters I've received, it seems that a number of this column's readers are newcomers to the hobby. In a pleasantly surprising turn of events, each stated a desire to build models "the old-fashioned way." Apparently there is growing interest in the time when craftsmanship was valued and model airplanes were the product of patience and dedication rather than shrink-wrapped containers of prebuilt components.
The increasing nostalgia theme by other columnists has not gone unnoticed. Some readers have expressed an interest in stick-and-tissue Free Flight Rubber Scale. Often overlooked by today's newcomers, this niche is among the most rewarding forms of modeling. Creating successfully flying replicas of full-scale aircraft involves dedication and a different touch. They must be light, strong, sleek, attractive, tight, detailed, and trimmed to compensate for their natural tendency to turn themselves into piles of scrap. Did I mention that they must be light?
Personal Anecdote: The Speedee-Bilt Era
First attempts often leave much to be desired. Mine was no exception, having been made in Audubon, New Jersey, at age 9. It was a Monogram Speedee-Bilt Aeronca Sedan assembled with an entire tube of "Formula A," thus it weighed a bit less than a bowling ball. Clueless, I used the stubby little plastic propeller that was more suited to display than flight, cranked in a bunch of turns, and let 'er rip. Nose up, of course.
After that came the cold chill and pucker factor that grips us in moments such as that. It went straight up and straight down: the dreaded stall spin in miniature. I was crushed, but did I quit in disgust? Take up stamp collecting? Not a chance. The bug had bitten; a flier was born.
As time went by, I built every Speedee-Bilt in the line. I constructed some of them several times, each one a little nicer than the last, although I never did achieve the level of appearance equal to those that won prizes in Monogram's annual nationwide display contests.
Some of the entries were true works of art. I recall seeing several flawless Spad XIIs and a remarkable Monocoupe that earned first place at our local hobby shop. My pals and I entered every year—no, we didn't win a thing. Compared to the winning entries, ours usually looked like they'd been assembled by chimpanzees and painted with a mop.
Nonetheless, we pressed on. Some of us are still at it, and others dropped out along the way. If I was a betting man (which I am not, having once been employed by a Lake Tahoe casino), I would wager that each of today's AMA officers and most people of a certain age have built their share of Speedee-Bilts.
Collectors and Kit Values
Today those kits are worth a small fortune. Four years ago I saw a P-51 on eBay that went for $125. That's not a typo: $125 for a kit that originally sold for 75¢! Because collectors drive prices up faster than a Patriot missile, there's no telling what it might be worth to some glassy-eyed nostalgia buff today—including me. To revise the well-known Pogo expression, "We have met the glassy-eyed nostalgia buff and he is us."
A 1960s Photo: Craig Cusick
In this issue I am stretching the Old-Timer (OT) parameter a bit by including a 1960s-era photo. I realize that this may not sit well with some readers, but it was more than 40 years ago, easily qualifying as "Old-Time" to many.
The subject is Craig Cusick and his FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) Free Flight Saturn. The photo is believed to be from a Team Trials at Taft or Madera, California. A charter member of the SCAT (Southern California Aero Team) club formed in 1958, Craig is retired, lives in Northern California, and is probably wondering where I got this photo.
Berkeley Profile Powerhouse and Reader Responses
You may recall the photo of the Berkeley Profile Powerhouse in the May column. The builder—Bill Schmidt—stated, "These do not fly." Several readers took exception to that, based on their memories of the little design.
Frank Garon of Iselin, New Jersey, lost his on its first and only flight. It's an amusing tale that will ring up certain memories for many readers, but I'm almost out of space here, so I will include it next time.
SAM Champs (Claremore, Oklahoma)
Because this issue will arrive in late July, there may just be enough time to "plug" the soon-to-occur annual SAM Champs.
- Location: Claremore, Oklahoma
- Dates: August 24–29
- Contact: Contest Manager Tom Jozwiak at (817) 277-8768
Without question the largest gathering of OT Free Flight and Radio Control devotees, it's worth a visit even if you don't plan to fly.
Acknowledgments
Keep those cards and letters coming; I enjoy them all. Special thanks to Bill Hannan for the kind words regarding this column.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
