Old-Timers - 2010/12

148 MODEL AVIATION
SAM (Society of Antique Modelers) Champs week begins
immediately following the September deadline for this column. The
contest is held at the AMA International Aeromodeling Center in
Muncie, Indiana.
A new and different type of add-on event will debut this year: the
Small Old Timers Nationals. Tommy Gray and others are
spearheading this class. Tommy is a member and officeholder in both
the SAM and the Vintage Radio Control Society (VR/CS).
Small Old Timers is dedicated to small/micro Old-Timer models.
It’s composed of SAM and VR/CS members and has generated lots of
interest in the few months since its inception.
Any SAM- or VR/CS-eligible model can participate. That includes
Scale, sport, RC, FF, rubber power, or glider aircraft. The only
requirement is that they have
wingspans no longer than 24
inches for monoplanes and 18
inches for biplanes.
Electric power will probably
dominate, but Small Old
Timers gives participants the
opportunity to take some of
those cute little Cox .010
engines out of mothballs.
Competition details are sketchy
at this time, because they will
be evolving for a while. But
only 2.4 GHz will be used for
RC, because organizers expect
to do many mass launches.
A Web site has been
established for this event, and
pictures and construction
articles will be posted there.
See “Sources” for the address.
Small Old Timers is ideal
for any newcomer who wants
to learn some of the building
skills that were once required of
all modelers. If you’re spatially
challenged, you could build one
of these models on a card table.
Watch for more complete
coverage in Park Pilot
magazine and columns devoted
to small aircraft.
the big Quaker in the photo
belongs to Evan Doughty. It
has a 16-foot wingspan and
weighs close to 30 pounds.
The model was originally
powered by a US 41 gas
engine but has been converted
to electric. Now it uses a large
brushless motor, which has
approximately 20% more
power than the engine.
The model is roughly 9
years old. It has been flown,
admired, and photographed at
many events, so it’s no
stranger to magazine coverage
both in the US and abroad.
Small Old Timers Nationals
Old-Timers Bob Angel | [email protected]
Also included in this column:
• Quakers galore
• Tire tips
• McCoy .29 overhaul
• Forster .99 engines
Above: Earl Fortner submitted this shot of
his Super Buccaneer turning on final and
setting up for landing on a foggy day.
Left: Evan Doughty with his 16-foot-span
Quaker. A large brushless motor has
replaced a US 41 gas engine for power.
Rick Sanford photo.
Below: Bud Mitchel l shows of f his
conventional-size Quaker, named the
“Southern Baptist.” Richard Behrens
photo.
12sig5x.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 10/22/10 8:48 AM Page 148
Evan sells his plans for a “little” 105-inchspan
version. See “Sources” for his contact
information.
Megow originally kitted the Quaker in
approximately 1936, and it spanned 84
inches. It remains a popular design for Old-
Timer (OT) sport-flying and SAM
competition in the Antique category.
Today you can obtain conventional-size
plans and kits for Quakers from Bob
Holman Plans and other vendors listed on
the SAM Web site.
Bud Mitchell of Omaha, Nebraska, artfully
decorated the “Southern Baptist” Quaker.
The Omahawks club, of which Bud is a
member, is active with sport-flying OT
models and is also big on Quakers; two
members have built 54 of them throughout
the years.
Frank Vanecek of Omaha has made 12
Quakers and John Andersen of Grand Island
has produced 42. Most of those were for
other members. Richard Behrens keeps us
informed of the Omahawks’ activities.
Trexler inflatable wheels are often
preferred for OT FF models for a couple of
reasons. They were the original tires used on
many OT models and are often shown on
plans, and those big balloons make good
shock absorbers and can save a repair job
after a rough landing.
But Trexlers do require care and
maintenance for a useful life. Don’t inflate
them by mouth, because dampness inside
will rot the rubber. Trexler sells inflators, but
there are workable emergency substitutes.
You can use a large fuel bulb or syringe
with the proper-size brass tube on the end.
And I found a nice little rubber dust blower
at Harbor Freight Tools for a couple of
bucks that was perfect for the job. Deflate
the tires each time you finish flying.
OT RC fliers usually prefer more
conventional RC-type wheels. In the August
2009 column I mentioned applying Plasti-
Dip to reshaped foam tires to seal them and
give a more scale appearance. I didn’t
describe the shaping process at the time, so
I’ll do it now.
Reshaping the popular lightweight,
square-edged foam tires, such as those that
Dave Brown Products sells, makes them
more streamlined, a tad lighter, a bit more
shock-absorbent, and more in character with
the models.
Since the process can be messy, I moved
my drill press outside and wore a shop coat,
dust mask, and goggles. I slipped each wheel
onto a length of music wire with a wheel
collar on each side.
I cut rubber washers (bike inner tube) to
fit under the wheel collars and compressed
and tightened the collars against the wheel.
This allowed the drill press to spin the wheel
while I went from coarse to progressively
finer sanding blocks, to shape the tires to my
liking.
Doug Dahlke sent a note informing me that
Bill Schmidt restores early McCoy CL
December 2010 149
Precision Aerobatics (Stunt) engines. Doug
had read about the Foxacoy event in the
August 2010 OT column, in which I
mentioned that McCoy .35 piston/cylinder
combinations could easily be worn out with
a few lean runs.
It seemed as if Bill was using Fox .35
pistons in the worn McCoy cylinders. I
checked with him and that isn’t the case, but
what he does is worth mentioning. He emailed
me a copy of an article he wrote
about restoring the earlier McCoy White
Head sport/Stunt engines into better-running
engines that are suitable for OT Stunt,
Nostalgia, etc.
Bill rebuilds the McCoy .29s into what
I’d call a “McFox .34,” using a Fox piston
and cylinder. His rebuilt engines wouldn’t
qualify for the Foxacoy event, which
specifies either a stock Fox .35 Stunt or a
stock McCoy .35 Red Head.
If you’re interested, contact Bill. But be
aware that you need to be an accomplished
machinist to perform the job.
For the Foxacoy event, those cheap
series McCoy Red Head .19, .29, and .35
engines are still available at collectos, but
not in the numbers you might expect. They
were probably the fastest-selling engines of
the era, but percentagewise fewer than the
average number of those engines has been
preserved.
That is probably because the Red Heads
were so inexpensive; they were discarded as
just another toy. On the other hand, few
Morton M-5 radials went to the dump.
A Forster .99 spark-ignition engine powers
Earl Fortner’s 1939 Super Buccaneer that is
shown. Most spark-ignition-powered models
would land dead-stick because they rarely
have throttle capability, but Earl’s Forster
has been equipped with a Webra .60 RC
carburetor.
The Forsters have a bolt-on intake tube
in back. That allows a carburetor conversion
to be fabricated, which doesn’t involve
permanent modifications that would destroy
the originality of most old power plants.
The Forster brothers seemed to recognize
that their larger engines might be used in
models that needed some form of speed
control. Probably roughly half of the Forster
.99s came equipped with two speed ignition
points for high- and low-speed operation.
Today you can get Forsters and parts
from MECOA. See “Sources” for contact
information.
Dave Seale of Bridgewater, Massachusetts,
sent me an interesting letter that describes
some of the differences between now and
“the good old days,” when businesses were
smaller. Bill Northrop sells plans, and he
sent Dave a story along with a set.
Dave wrote:
“I’m scratch-building a 1/4-scale
DeHavilland Gipsy Moth from Bill
Northrop’s 1958 plans. As an aside, part
of Bill’s motivation to draw the plans was
the fact that the Forster 99 was in
production at the time.”
I need to interrupt Dave’s letter to give
you a lead-in to Bill’s Forster story.
He had the model mostly built before
ordering the engine. Forster had been
advertising a trade-in deal in which any
old engine and $26 bought a new .99.
But when Bill ordered the engine in
1959, Forster sent word that the last of the
power plants had been sold. Following is
the conclusion of Bill’s letter.
“After a fruitless search for a new or
used one, we again wrote to Forster
Brothers, explaining that we had this
plane well on its way, designed around the
.99, and now, no engine. Could something
be done?
“We received an answering letter that
is still in our possession. In it, one of the
brothers said our letter was so plaintive
that they couldn’t turn it down, and they
were assembling one last engine from
available parts, to accommodate our
drastic situation!
“Perhaps we can claim, with written
proof, to own the last Forster factory
produced .99.”
Following is the rest of Dave’s letter:
“Unlike kit building, scratch-building plans never tell you everything and
besides, I like to incorporate my own
innovations. That’s where the fun begins.
“The general feeling in our club is that
building is becoming a lost art. All the best
to you and thank you for your column.”
Upcoming OT Events: Because of
publishing lead times, if you would like to
see your event listed here, you need to get
the information to me at least four months
before the event takes place.
The 61st annual Southwest Regionals
will be held January 15-17, 2011, in Eloy,
Arizona. It combines AMA, SAM,
National FF Society, and Flying Aces Club
FF events and SAM RC events flown
across the expansive field.
For more information, check the AMA
contest schedule or contact Contest
Manager Al Lidberg.
Old-time and modern model race cars
are scheduled for a fun run in the Los
Angeles area at one of the few remaining
cable car tracks in the country. A swap
meet of cars, parts, engines, and airplanes
will be part of the action.
This event will take place January 8,
2011, at the Whittier Narrows car track.
See the “Sources” list for contact
information. MA
Sources:
Small Old Timers Nationals
www.smalloldtimers.com
Society of Antique Modelers
www.antiquemodeler.org
Vintage Radio Control Society
www.vintagercsociety.org
Evan Doughty
[email protected]
Bob Holman Plans
(909) 885-3959
www.bhplans.com
MECOA
(626) 359-0016
www.mecoa.com
Bill Schmidt
[email protected]
Al Lidberg
[email protected]
Los Angeles swap meet:
[email protected]