100 M ODEL AVIATION
i was asleep that late-summer evening.
The upstairs hall light came on and I heard
people talking. Someone opened my
bedroom door and my mother came in.
“Jack! Jack! wake up!” she said.
“What’s all the noise about?” I asked
sleepily.
“Jack, Allan Paine is here and he’s on
his way to the National Air Races. He wants
to know if you’d like to go along.”
I’d picked strawberries at the Paine’s
farm earlier that summer. Allan was the
grown family son.
“Yes,” I said heartily, and soon we were
in Allan’s convertible on our way to
Cleveland OH. I slept most of the way.
The 1938 National Air Races was
pure heaven for a 13-year-old modelairplane
builder.
Harold Johnson did aerobatics in, of all
things, a Ford Tri-motor! Radio Control
Modeler has Giant Scale plans for the Ford.
Alex Papana put his Bücker Jungmeister
through its paces, which included picking
up a handkerchief from the ground with its
wingtip. Great Giant Scale plans for the
Bücker are available from a variety of
sources.
The Army and Navy flew over the
assembled throng; the Army’s 27th
Fighter Squadron showed off its new
Seversky P-35s and the Navy flew a
squadron of Grumman F3F-2s—stubby
radial-powered biplanes with colorful
John A. de Vries, 4610 Moffat Ln., Colorado Springs CO 80915
RADIO CONTROL GIANTS
This photo from England shows Mick and Sandie Reeves standing with Mick’s Giant
Scale Javelin. The model is powered by a Simjet turbo engine.
Another photo from England. Phil Kent designed this 1⁄5-scale Polish RWD-14. It has a
96-inch wingspan, and power is provided by a Laser 180 V-twin engine.
paint jobs. I don’t know of any Giant
Scale plans for either of these 1930s
military aircraft.
Frank Fuller flew in, winning the Bendix
Trophy for 1938, then continued on to set a
coast-to-coast speed record. He was flying a
civilian version of the P-35, which is
modeled as a Williams Bros. plastic kit—
complete with great instruction drawings by
old friend Bill Hannan.
There was an exhibition of the Short
Takeoff & Landing (STOL) capabilities
of the German Fieseler Storch, but I can’t
recall the pilot’s name. There are several
plans for the stalky observation and
liaison airplane.
We were there for the Greve Trophy
Race, limited to speed demons with 550-
cubic-inch-displacement engines (or less).
The race was pure pleasure, with Tony Le
Vier emerging victorious in the Schoenfeldt
Firecracker. Plans for the yellow super-racer
may be available in Giant form from Lewis
Panacoast, 7878 N. Wilding Dr. #7,
Spokane WA 99208.
The 1938 Greve was essentially a twoairplane
race; Tony was pressed throughout
by Art Chester, flying his newly completed
Goon. Vern Clements (308 Palo Alto Dr.,
Caldwell ID 83605) has a variety of scaled
plans for the Goon.
Art Chester had purchased a racing
propeller from the French. It was the same
kind of twirler Michael Detroyat had used to
win the 1936 Thompson Trophy (quarterscale
plans for his Caudron C.460 are
available from Al Masters, 20026 Frazier
Dr., Rocky River OH 44116).
Since the propeller on Detroyat’s
Caudron racer turned the opposite
direction of US practice, Art had reversed
the rotation of his Menasco Super
Buccaneer engine in anticipation.
The French crossed Art up, and had
sent a propeller prepared for US rotation!
He had one heck of a scramble to reverse
his engine. The French propeller was a
two-position device—flat pitch for takeoff
and coarse pitch for all-out speed.
All that, plus parachute competition with
the contestants shooting for a ground target,
and it was a full day of things in the air.
As we were leaving the grandstand, there
was a very small aircraft—only slightly
larger than today’s Radio Control (RC)
models—parked next to the fence. It was the
Tilbury-Fundy Flash, which was little more
than a man-carrying model airplane.
I had a heck of a time getting to sleep
that night at the tourist house.
We had to leave Cleveland the next
day, and didn’t get to see the Thompson.
Roscoe Turner won it in his new Laird-
Turner racer (Giant Scale plans are
available from Wendell Hostetler, 545
Jerome Dr., Orrville OH 44667).
I got to see the silver monoplane when
Roscoe visited the Rochester (NY)
Municipal Airport later that year.
my absolute fascination with Golden Age
racing aircraft was probably generated when
Benny Howard brought his Ike to the Leroy
(NY) airport. It was before the white aircraft
flew in any formal races and was still riding
on the four-wheeled landing gear.
That version and the two-wheeler are
available in great Giant Scale plans from
Bert Thompson, 219 White City Blvd.,
Springfield IL 62703.
If you are fascinated by the Golden Age
racers, the Cleveland plans service offers
International Miniature Aircraft Association
(IMAA)-legal versions of the Thompson
Trophy winners through 1939.
The address of the Cleveland Model &
Supply Company is Box 55962A,
Indianapolis IN 46205-0962.
The great photographs that accompany
this month’s column were sent in by old
buddies Jerry Smartt and Phil Kent.
Jerry is looking for 14-inch-diameter
scale wheels for his super Giant Sopwith,
and Phil keeps designing and building
some of the finest Scale models to come
out of England.
although you might not give a rat’s
patootie, this month’s effort amounts to
May 2001 101
Jerry Smartt’s (Warsaw MO) latest Giant. His friend Boyd O’Brien is at the wingtip; Ken
Cashion is in the background, waiting to record the flight on video.
Phil Kent and friend Fred Keegan built this 16-pound Top Flite® gull-wing Stinson in
WW II warbird colors (which makes it an AT-19). Power is a Laser 150.
my 158th foray into the wilds of Model
Aviation. It totals 14+ years of monthly
efforts amongst the RC Giant Scale
model airplanes.
I’ve burned out on the subject in
spades, and will only have enough left to
compose/write one more column. My
swan song, which is already on disk for
next month’s issue, will be my last
“visit” with those of you who read my
musings.
At the tender age of 76, I figure there
must be a younger and more “with-it”
author/model-builder who can carry on and
keep you up to date on Giant Scale matters.
My sincere thanks to all of you for
furnishing photographs of your
outstanding models throughout the years,
and to the staff of Model Aviation for
tolerating my columns.
So, good friends, see you next month for
one last time. It’s been fun! MA
