Old-Timers
Mike Keville | [email protected]
The author makes MA-related announcements
SNAKEBIT! At roughly the time I submitted October’s column containing news of Larry Davidson’s new lightweight ignition coils, his email address changed. An AMA and Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) Hall of Fame member, Larry is one of the nicer guys I get to work with and I want to be sure you can contact him. His current (I hope!) email is [email protected]. For the snail-mail crowd, write to him at 66 Casa Mia Cir., Moneta VA 24121.
Also included in this column:
- Results of the 2006 Jimmie Allen postal contest
- Special events and contest announcements
- Veco .19 hop-up
Going back another month, the September 2006 issue featured a Free Flight (FF) construction article by Dick (Fast Richard) Mathis for the Bounty Hunter. No, it isn’t an Old-Timer, but bear with me.
Despite an absence of approximately 30 years, Dick hasn’t lost his touch with the written word. Nor has he lost his touch on the field, apparently; he is on the 2007 U.S. FAI Free Flight team that is scheduled to compete in Ukraine in June.
Dick will be flying in the ultraexotic F1C (Power) event, which is almost as far from Old-Timers as one can get. I was fortunate to meet him recently, and Dick (Richard Mathis, Ph.D. in real life) is a quiet, modest, down-to-earth gentleman.
Whenever he adopts the “Fast Richard from Snider Swamp” persona, however, it’s a different story — as you may have noticed if you read that “Bounty Hunter” article. Man, if I could write like that I’d hire an agent and look for a publisher!
While offering words of praise I want to thank Bob Hunt, Rob Kurek, and the entire MA staff for continuing to publish the articles and photos of our annual Vintage Stunt Championships (VSC). My fellow control-line (CL) fliers and I recognize that CL is a small percentage of the overall AMA membership, so we deeply appreciate the exposure.
The next VSC will be held March 14–17 in Tucson, Arizona. This contest is for Old-Time (pre-1953) and Classic (pre-1970) CL Stunt models, along with many of their designers and other well-known competitors from those eras. Contact me if you’d like more information or log onto www.ccmaconline.org and click on the VSC XIX link.
Jimmie Allen postal contest results
Seven teams entered the 2006 Jimmie Allen postal contest, with the winning total of 1,056 seconds posted by SAM 27 (Napa, California). Team members were Jerry Rocha (who is usually known as a CL Speed flier!), Mike Palrang, and Ding Zarate. Jerry sent some nice photos that I received after I had already mailed the ones published this month.
One consequence of being the winning team is that they get to sponsor the 2007 postal meet. For details send a large SASE to Jerry Rocha, 3583 Ruston Ln., Napa CA 94558.
Al Lidberg — small-field and scale offerings
From what we see in these pages, many of today’s modelers are attracted to small-field designs powered by rubber or electric motors. For that reason I’d like to recommend the delightful array of offerings available from 2006 SAM Hall of Fame member Al Lidberg.
He sells a tempting selection of scaled-down Old-Time FF designs and several FF Scale choices such as the asymmetric Bv 141, the Focke-Wulf Ta 152H, the Cessna Airmaster, and the Pilatus Turbo-Porter. These are not ARFs; they must be built using good ol’ stick-and-tissue construction.
Al also offers a nice selection of larger designs for gas, rubber, and electric power. At deadline time for this issue he was hoping to produce kits of the GE Cabinette: a design that, in his words, “... went over well at Muncie, with people asking for plans.”
In addition to producing his fine plans and kits, Al is also a nice guy who replies to correspondence with minimal delay. View his offerings at www.aalmps.com, or write to him at 1030 E. Baseline, Suite 105-1074, Tempe AZ 85283. You can also call (480) 839-8154 in the evenings and on weekends.
Tomboy event (SAM Championships)
Are you planning to attend the SAM Championships in Henderson, Nevada, later this year? Among the unofficial fun activities will be the Tomboy event. This is for the classic British beginners’ design that was often powered by a Mills .75 cc (.045 cu. in.) diesel. Plans were published in the November 1950 Aeromodeller.
Either the 36- or 44-inch-span version of the Tomboy is allowed. As shown on the plans, the 44-inch version is essentially the same design as the smaller version, with two rib bays added at each wingtip and one rib bay added to each tip of the horizontal stabilizer.
You can obtain complete rules from Al Lidberg. A check or PayPal payment for $6 will bring you a postpaid, full-size copy of the plans and a copy of the original magazine article.
Veco .19 hop-up (Nostalgia FF / Class A)
Nostalgia FF classes continue to grow in popularity, nicely augmenting the pure Old-Time designs. Bob Beecroft (Fallbrook, California) is a proponent of the Series 100 Veco .19 as the ideal power plant for Class A. He works his magic with those engines, gaining significantly more power and reliability.
Bob sent a photo of a Veco .19 he assembled with a green cylinder head, reminiscent of K&B Torpedos. At first glance I thought it was, in fact, an early K&B with the exhaust port on the "wrong" side. Bob assured me that wasn't the case, offering the following explanation:
"The engine is a Series 100 Veco .19, slightly modified—what I'm calling 'Stage I.' There is also a Stage II and Stage III coming along.
"This one is done up in K&B 'colors' just for fun, and was made for fellow San Diego Orbiteer Dick Zachman. No greenhead K&B ever ran as strong as even a weak Veco like these ... and stayed together for more than a minute.
"The Veco is an excellent choice for National Free Flight Society (NFFS) Nostalgia A Gas competition, as is the O.S. Max Mk. II and Mk. III. The O.S. is also very strong and has an especially excellent crankshaft design, well-designed combustion chamber (the Veco is flat), and a very good rod and bushing arrangement. Both engines are very fine, but the Veco needs more work to be a really good runner.
"I chose to work with the Veco because I like the thicker drop-in sleeve it has, and at the risk of not being politically correct, I like the idea that it's American made. It's a pretty stout little engine and responds well to even some basic modifications.
"More important than any modifications, though—Veco or any other engine—is to first have a properly fit piston and sleeve; correct clearances on the crank, bushing, crank-pin and rod, piston pin, and rod-to-end; some proper oiling holes added where they belong (if the engine didn't come with them); and a well-fit head.
"All these things are the places one has to start in order to make a really good runner. If these things are right, the engine is already going to be better than most any of its kind on the field.
"I've done a number of things with the Veco, and have enjoyed a very long life from one using the best flying prop that I found for the model, the APC C-2 8 x 4 running at 20,000 rpm.
"As an interesting side note, my old FAI Lucky Lindy, when I was still running (and breaking) K&B Greenheads regularly at 13,600 to 14,400 rpm on Rev-Up 8.5 x 4s, the model actually flew much better on the APC C-2 8.4. It just broke more engines.
"Both the K&B Greenhead used earlier and the Veco to date have used fuel containing 30% nitro, 25% oil (half Klotz KL200 and half AAA castor) and the remainder alcohol. The difference between an engine running 14K and one running 20K is nothing short of astonishing. After breaking 12 stone-stock K&B Greenheads, having an engine that pulls an additional 6,000 rpm and doesn't break after hundreds of flights, I'm sold.
"Those interested in seeing some of my engine work and related airplane things can go to www.theaerossmith.com. Another great place to go for custom engine work is Bob Mattes: [email protected]. Bob is making an excellent replacement head using the fine and long-lasting Nelson screw-in plugs for a bonus of even better performance. Bob can do most anything on an engine, and do it well."
Southern California Old-Time meets
The Southern California Antique Model Plane Society has a couple Old-Time meets coming up soon. The third annual Taibi contest will be at Perris on March 25, and the Texaco meet (combined with the San Valera Annual) will be at the Lost Hills site April 14–15. For details contact Kevin Sherman at [email protected] or write to 1521 S. Normandy Terr., Corona CA 92882.
I'll close with the frequent reminder that columns such as this one depend on contributions from readers. The West Coast modelers are on it, but we could use some items from other regions and countries. I favor CL and FF but would like to hear from Old-Time RC fliers—and suspect that many readers would too.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
