42 MODEL AVIATION
FStatrer ofe thee Sp ortF: l i g h t by Don DeLoach
Part 1
Sarah Campbell holds FF Hall-of-Famer Bill Gieskieng’s Sandy
Hogan: a classic 1950s FF Gas design. Tens of thousands of Gas FF
kits were sold in the 1950s. They are still common, thanks to the
Nostalgia Gas rules sponsored by the NFFS.
Herb Kothe sends his 1930s-vintage Korda C Rubber model skyward. Notice the tall,
oversized vertical fin, which was typical of Rubber designs of the era.
The author’s 2004 rendition of Dick Korda’s
famous winning 1939 Wakefield. It is
perhaps the best-loved FF design of all time.
The Comet Clipper was one of the bestloved
FF Gas designs of the late 1930s.
Raising the wing onto a pylon was a major
design refinement of the time, enabling
much more consistent power patterns.
THE GREATEST DAY in Free Flight history took place on a
golf course. It was August 6, 1939, and the location was the
appropriately named Aviation Golf Course in Bendix, New
Jersey. The event was the Wakefield International Cup contest:
the world championship for FF model airplanes.
The US team included three champion modelers competing
against 26 other of the world’s best. The weather was sweltering
hot but windless until approximately noon, with thermals
aplenty—perfect weather for Free Flight.
In those days modelers were made to fly one at a time, and that
morning Richard Korda of Cleveland, Ohio, drew the first
position in Round One. He wound his large, red cabin monoplane
tightly to 1,200 turns and then released it from the requisite riseoff-
ground takeoff board. From that moment, Korda’s place in
modeling history—and the future of aeromodeling—would be
changed forever.
Korda’s epic flight could best be described as a dreamlike
dance of a seemingly possessed model. It powered up perfectly to
several hundred feet and began gliding gracefully, gently
bouncing from one thermal to another.
The flight seemed routine up to that point. But as timed ticked
past, spectators, timers, and (especially) fellow competitors began
watching in increasing amazement. FF models are usually carried
far enough downwind to fly out of the timers’ sight in a few
minutes—roughly 10 at the most—in which case the timers’
watches stop and the official portion of the flights will end.
The birth of a hobby: 1871-1970
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:14 AM Page 42October 2006 43
A typical A-frame twin pusher design from
1924. This was the most common
planform for rubber-powered FF models
until the late 1920s. Twin propellers
contrarotated, thus canceling out torque.
Terry Ellington holds his great-flying Ramrod: a Gas FF design from the mid-1950s.
Thousands of Ramrod kits and plans have been sold throughout the years, making it one
of the most popular FF designs of all time.
The rubber-powered Planophore was the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine.
Stunned spectators watched designer Alphonse Penaud fly the model for 11 seconds in
1871.
Free Flight
Be it so long ago, none of us can forget the wonder of our first Free Flight.—Be it only
a minute ago, all of us look forward to the next flight.
How clean the mind; how weary the body after a day of thermal hunting.—How much
more exciting life can be for us because of Free Flight.
Some would have us believe that the price is not worth Free Flight. Could it be that it
takes a special kind of man to do the things that need to be done before Free Flight can
become a reality?
Yet who else but those who are willing to pay the price will know in their hearts the
glory of the skies; watching their own creation Fly Free.
—Frank Zaic (from his 1955-56 Model Aeronautic Year Book)
March 1956, New York City
However, Korda’s model stayed close,
drifting from one end of the field to the
other and back again, several times, in
plain view of everyone present. By the
time the model finally landed just a short
walk from the launch point, most people
knew the contest was really already over.
The time on the watch was a worldrecord-
setting 43:29. Korda’s other two
flights that day were gravy. His threeflight
average was high enough for him to
win the Wakefield Cup by a threefold
margin over his nearest competitor.
Aeromodeling has not been the same
Photos courtesy the author
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:16 AM Page 43The author, on the left, and Jerry Murphy hold versions of another
mid-1950s Gas FF design: Toshi Matsuda’s Zero.
Dave Wineland with his Satellite 1000 at a Denver CO contest. It
was designed in 1957 and remains one of the all-time classic FF
designs. 1957 marked the beginning of the modern era of gaspowered
FF, with rapidly improving engines, airfoils, and flighttrimming
refinements.
FF legends Sal Taibi (L) and Bud Romak. Sal designed such classics
as the Brooklyn Dodger and Starduster. Bud—the 1976 Indoor
World Champ—holds a 1955 Nostalgia Wakefield Rubber design.
The Wakefield rules changed drastically in the 1950s, first
eliminating the fuselage cross-section rule, then limiting rubber
weight, then eliminating the ROG requirement in 1959. Today
Wakefields are javelin-launched and can clock up to six minutes in
neutral air on a scant 30 grams of rubber.
Jackson Ivey holds a pristine classic 1950s FF engine: a Johnson
.19. Such originals are still used in Nostalgia FF contests.
44 MODEL AVIATION
since that hot August day in 1939. Just as Charles Lindbergh’s
1927 transatlantic flight transformed ours into a nation in love
with flight, Korda’s flight solidified model aviation as the most
important hobby for America’s youth.
As did Lindbergh, Korda instantly became a heroic figure.
Magazines and newspapers told the story of his historic flight,
ensuring his icon status—although Korda admitted humbly, “I got
lucky.” Kit manufacturers scrambled to get the rights to his
Wakefield design, and the Megow and Burd companies sold tens
of thousands of Korda kits to eager youngsters.
Even though World War II put a damper on large-scale contest
activity during the period from 1942 to 1945, kids still built
models hand over fist, emulating the iconic Korda. In the
meantime, the hero reigned as world champion for nine years. The
Wakefield Cup was not contested again until 1948, when Korda
would finish 16th.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:34 AM Page 44October 2006 45
Willard Smitz (Phoenix AZ) holds his 35-year-old Nordic A-2
Towline Glider. From before WW II to roughly the early 1970s,
Towline Gliders were mostly balsa and tissue and were towed
straight off the line into thermals picked from the ground. “Classic”
Towline Gliders are still flown under NFFS special-event rules.
Art Hillis (Aurora CO) holds another classic Rubber design from
the early 1940s: the Stickler by Dick Korda.
The evolution of the FF Gas model is seen in Bill Gieskieng’s (L)
1950s Sandy Hogan and Ken Kullman’s 1970s Lunar-Tic, which
shows typical design refinements of a smaller stabilizer, higher
wing aspect ratio, and longer tail moment.
Bud Romak (L) holds his great-flying Gollywock; Herb Kothe holds
his Korda C Stick. Both are Old-Timer Rubber designs from pre-
WW II. The Gollywock has been kitted for more than 60 years
and is one of the most popular FF designs of all time.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:19 AM Page 45In the years since Korda’s win, it is
hard to find a modeler—and virtually
impossible to find an FF modeler—who
doesn’t emphatically answer “of course!”
when asked if they’ve heard of Dick
Korda. But in truth, FF modeling has a
longer history before 1939 than since.
Penaud: Alphonse Penaud was an
inquisitive young Frenchman who was
only 21 when he designed, built, and
publicly flew the first successful heavierthan-
air flying machine. The historic flight
took place August 18, 1871.
The rubber-powered model was the
remarkably modern-looking pusher
monoplane Penaud named the
“Planophore.” Members of the French
Academy of Sciences at the Tuileries
Gardens in Paris were stunned when
Penaud flew the model 131 feet in 11
seconds.
The Planophore was conventional in
size and appearance (20 inches long and
weighing approximately 15 grams). Its
wingspan was roughly equal to its length,
and it displayed remarkable flight
stability—the result of Penaud’s
methodical flight-testing. For the 11-
second flight Penaud used only 240 turns
on the rubber motor. In hindsight, surely
many more turns thus a more impressive
flight would have been possible.
Penaud also experimented successfully
with small rubber-powered ornithopters
and helicopters. He successfully marketed
the latter to the general public as toys.
In 1874 a bishop from Dayton, Ohio,
bought one of the Penaud flying toys and
took it home to his 8- and 12-year-old sons
for them to play with. The boys’ names
were Wilbur and Orville Wright.
Birth of a Hobby: Thanks to the flying
toys of Penaud and a few others, the world
was in love with flight long before the
Wright brothers’ aviation achievements at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The concept
of FF model airplanes as an enjoyable
pastime—not just scientific means to an
end—was already well established before
man-carrying aviation even existed.
Shortly after the Wrights’ success in
1903, model-aircraft books and magazines
began to appear, capitalizing on the
aviation fervor that was sweeping the
world. Model clubs began springing up in
the world’s largest cities, and before long
contests were being held and records were
being kept.
The models of the day were built
mostly from hardwoods or bamboo, wire,
and paper, and flights were measured in
straight-line distance rather than duration.
Despite these handicaps, by 1916 the
world-record distance for a rubberpowered
model had surpassed one mile.
Rapid Progress: The “A”-frame twin
pusher dominated FF until roughly 1925.
By the late 1920s tractor monoplanes
became FF’s standard planform, and balsa
had replaced all others as the primary
construction material. By the 1930s
towline gliders, hand-launched gliders,
indoor microfilm models, and outdoor gasengine-
powered models came into being,
further diversifying FF.
In roughly 1936 the first folding
propeller for rubber-powered models was
originated, and it was a revolution. Models
could be made to power up to great
altitudes and glide gracefully without the
drag of those big blades. This development
gave way to the need for another
invention: the dethermalizer (DT).
In the 1930s it was common for FF
models to fly out of sight in thermals; it
was rare for modelers to even give it a
second thought. According to Model
Aviation Hall of Famer Chet Lanzo, “We
just became fast builders.” Lanzo once
wrote that a typical contest weekend meant
arriving with twice as many models as he
left with. Ouch!
The time for DTs had come. The first
DTs were pop-out rudder tabs which spun
models out of thermals. They sometimes
worked too well, resulting in a crunched
nose upon landing.
The pop-up stabilizer DT soon followed
and has continued to be the most common
DT arrangement to this day. The stabilizer
is held down on the front and rear by
rubber bands in tension. When a stubbyfuse burns through the rear band, the
stabilizer raises to a negative 40°-50°
angle, putting the model in a deep stall and
parachuting it out of the thermal.
The Max: Dick Korda’s 43:29 worldrecord
Wakefield flight soon prompted
major rules changes for how flights were
scored in competitions. Instead of hoping
for one lucky flight and an eagle-eyed
timer, FFers would shoot for a target
maximum time on each flight—similar to a
par in golf.
The “max,” as it became known, along
with the widespread use of the DT,
changed FF drastically for the better at
48 MODEL AVIATION
roughly the end of World War II. Then the
best modelers were the ones who could
consistently put their models in lift, score
the max, DT the models, and return to the
line for the next flight.
With that, models were no longer
disposable. Because of that, flight testing
and design refinements rapidly improved
the airplanes’ performance level.
The Peak of Popularity: In the 1940s
model aviation’s popularity was nearing
its zenith. Model engines were being
perfected and advancements were taking
place every month.
Giant contests were held in city parks
across America. These meets had huge
exposure through newspaper coverage and
corporate sponsors such as Plymouth
automobiles. My father recalls one meet
he entered in San Antonio, Texas, in
approximately 1949, when he was 11
years old.
“There were probably a hundred kids
entered,” he said. “You had to stand in
line to wait your turn to fly.”
By the 1950s, many FF modelers saw
CL as an improvement over their interest
and moved to that discipline. RC was also
starting to develop as yet another
alternative to FF.
But FF still ruled in the meantime. The
contest scene across the country was still
at least 50% FF. Even CL and RC
modelers built and flew FF in those days
because it was the cheapest and easiest
way to start. (Actually, it still is.)
Everyone built his or her own models
back then, which is a huge departure from
today.
The 1960s: By this time FF was still quite
popular, but RC had taken the modeling
world by storm. With the advent of
proportional radios and better battery and
engine technology, RC was just too
evolved for most modelers to resist. Yet
FF continued to thrive behind the scenes
on a lesser scale.
In an age when the three modeling
disciplines were fiercely proud and
independent, the time was right for FF
modelers to band together. Therefore, in
1967 the National Free Flight Society
(NFFS) was born.
The NFFS exists to this day as an
organization that is dedicated to
“preserving, promoting, and enhancing the
art, sport, and science of Free Flight
Model Aviation in all its forms.” Starting
with three founding members, the NFFS
has grown to more than 1,600 members in
every US state and several dozen foreign
countries.
The organization’s award-winning
Free Flight magazine is lovingly
published 10 times a year—as it has been
since 1967—by FF volunteer writers and
editors, and it contains 100% FF content.
NFFS volunteers have also produced and
published a Symposium book every year
since 1968. It features the latest in FF
technology and theory and includes an
honors list of the best FF model designs.
A Modeling Rebirth: The mid-1960s saw
the emergence of two other important
national FF movements: the Flying Aces
Club (FAC) and the Society of Antique
Modelers (SAM). SAM was founded by
old-time modelers who were interested in
nonscale designs and engines of the 1930s
and 1940s. They resurrected classic
designs such as Kordas, Gollywocks,
Comet Sailplanes, and Playboys.
The SAM movement started in Denver,
Colorado, in the early 1960s. John Pond
simultaneously spurred the movement
along further west in California, and it
struck a chord. Denver’s Model Museum
Flying Club eventually became SAM
Chapter 1: the first of hundreds of
chapters that have sprung up since.
As does the FAC, SAM holds a
national-championship meet every year,
and it is hugely popular. SAM Speaks is
one of the best newsletters in the FF
world, and it is published six times per
year.
The Flying Aces Club (FAC) was
founded by Dave Stott and Bob
Thompson—two modeling friends from
Connecticut who viewed the modeling
world as generally too serious. They
opined that it had evolved past the gradeschool
innocence of the 1930s and 1940s,
as illustrated in the pages of the whimsical
Flying Aces magazine of that era.
The FAC picked up where the
magazine left off, resurrecting an off-thecuff,
childlike aura. Bob Thompson
occasionally donned a leather flying
helmet, silk scarf, and goggles on contest
days, calling himself “Captain
Downthrust.”
The FAC steadily gained strength
through the years to the point where a
national contest was established and
approximately 60 FAC Squadrons rose up
in major cities across the country and even
overseas.
The FAC is showing no signs of
slowing down. Most of its events are for
rubber-powered flying scale models, and
FAC participants are undoubtedly the
world’s best at FF Scale.
Hundreds of FAC-only meets are held
throughout the year from coast to coast,
including a major meet at the AMA field
in Muncie, Indiana, and the annual FAC
Nats (which takes place in even-numbered
years) and “Non-Nats” (which takes place
in odd-numbered years) at the Geneseo
airport in western New York.
The FAC has an official rule book but
no elected leaders—an anachronism, one
would think. Yet this organization is a
truly great success story. It has a younger
membership base than most FF groups,
and its popularity continues to grow
steadily. All AMA clubs could benefit
from studying the FAC’s success. MA
Don DeLoach
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/11
Page Numbers: 42,43,44,45,46,48
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/11
Page Numbers: 42,43,44,45,46,48
42 MODEL AVIATION
FStatrer ofe thee Sp ortF: l i g h t by Don DeLoach
Part 1
Sarah Campbell holds FF Hall-of-Famer Bill Gieskieng’s Sandy
Hogan: a classic 1950s FF Gas design. Tens of thousands of Gas FF
kits were sold in the 1950s. They are still common, thanks to the
Nostalgia Gas rules sponsored by the NFFS.
Herb Kothe sends his 1930s-vintage Korda C Rubber model skyward. Notice the tall,
oversized vertical fin, which was typical of Rubber designs of the era.
The author’s 2004 rendition of Dick Korda’s
famous winning 1939 Wakefield. It is
perhaps the best-loved FF design of all time.
The Comet Clipper was one of the bestloved
FF Gas designs of the late 1930s.
Raising the wing onto a pylon was a major
design refinement of the time, enabling
much more consistent power patterns.
THE GREATEST DAY in Free Flight history took place on a
golf course. It was August 6, 1939, and the location was the
appropriately named Aviation Golf Course in Bendix, New
Jersey. The event was the Wakefield International Cup contest:
the world championship for FF model airplanes.
The US team included three champion modelers competing
against 26 other of the world’s best. The weather was sweltering
hot but windless until approximately noon, with thermals
aplenty—perfect weather for Free Flight.
In those days modelers were made to fly one at a time, and that
morning Richard Korda of Cleveland, Ohio, drew the first
position in Round One. He wound his large, red cabin monoplane
tightly to 1,200 turns and then released it from the requisite riseoff-
ground takeoff board. From that moment, Korda’s place in
modeling history—and the future of aeromodeling—would be
changed forever.
Korda’s epic flight could best be described as a dreamlike
dance of a seemingly possessed model. It powered up perfectly to
several hundred feet and began gliding gracefully, gently
bouncing from one thermal to another.
The flight seemed routine up to that point. But as timed ticked
past, spectators, timers, and (especially) fellow competitors began
watching in increasing amazement. FF models are usually carried
far enough downwind to fly out of the timers’ sight in a few
minutes—roughly 10 at the most—in which case the timers’
watches stop and the official portion of the flights will end.
The birth of a hobby: 1871-1970
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:14 AM Page 42October 2006 43
A typical A-frame twin pusher design from
1924. This was the most common
planform for rubber-powered FF models
until the late 1920s. Twin propellers
contrarotated, thus canceling out torque.
Terry Ellington holds his great-flying Ramrod: a Gas FF design from the mid-1950s.
Thousands of Ramrod kits and plans have been sold throughout the years, making it one
of the most popular FF designs of all time.
The rubber-powered Planophore was the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine.
Stunned spectators watched designer Alphonse Penaud fly the model for 11 seconds in
1871.
Free Flight
Be it so long ago, none of us can forget the wonder of our first Free Flight.—Be it only
a minute ago, all of us look forward to the next flight.
How clean the mind; how weary the body after a day of thermal hunting.—How much
more exciting life can be for us because of Free Flight.
Some would have us believe that the price is not worth Free Flight. Could it be that it
takes a special kind of man to do the things that need to be done before Free Flight can
become a reality?
Yet who else but those who are willing to pay the price will know in their hearts the
glory of the skies; watching their own creation Fly Free.
—Frank Zaic (from his 1955-56 Model Aeronautic Year Book)
March 1956, New York City
However, Korda’s model stayed close,
drifting from one end of the field to the
other and back again, several times, in
plain view of everyone present. By the
time the model finally landed just a short
walk from the launch point, most people
knew the contest was really already over.
The time on the watch was a worldrecord-
setting 43:29. Korda’s other two
flights that day were gravy. His threeflight
average was high enough for him to
win the Wakefield Cup by a threefold
margin over his nearest competitor.
Aeromodeling has not been the same
Photos courtesy the author
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:16 AM Page 43The author, on the left, and Jerry Murphy hold versions of another
mid-1950s Gas FF design: Toshi Matsuda’s Zero.
Dave Wineland with his Satellite 1000 at a Denver CO contest. It
was designed in 1957 and remains one of the all-time classic FF
designs. 1957 marked the beginning of the modern era of gaspowered
FF, with rapidly improving engines, airfoils, and flighttrimming
refinements.
FF legends Sal Taibi (L) and Bud Romak. Sal designed such classics
as the Brooklyn Dodger and Starduster. Bud—the 1976 Indoor
World Champ—holds a 1955 Nostalgia Wakefield Rubber design.
The Wakefield rules changed drastically in the 1950s, first
eliminating the fuselage cross-section rule, then limiting rubber
weight, then eliminating the ROG requirement in 1959. Today
Wakefields are javelin-launched and can clock up to six minutes in
neutral air on a scant 30 grams of rubber.
Jackson Ivey holds a pristine classic 1950s FF engine: a Johnson
.19. Such originals are still used in Nostalgia FF contests.
44 MODEL AVIATION
since that hot August day in 1939. Just as Charles Lindbergh’s
1927 transatlantic flight transformed ours into a nation in love
with flight, Korda’s flight solidified model aviation as the most
important hobby for America’s youth.
As did Lindbergh, Korda instantly became a heroic figure.
Magazines and newspapers told the story of his historic flight,
ensuring his icon status—although Korda admitted humbly, “I got
lucky.” Kit manufacturers scrambled to get the rights to his
Wakefield design, and the Megow and Burd companies sold tens
of thousands of Korda kits to eager youngsters.
Even though World War II put a damper on large-scale contest
activity during the period from 1942 to 1945, kids still built
models hand over fist, emulating the iconic Korda. In the
meantime, the hero reigned as world champion for nine years. The
Wakefield Cup was not contested again until 1948, when Korda
would finish 16th.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:34 AM Page 44October 2006 45
Willard Smitz (Phoenix AZ) holds his 35-year-old Nordic A-2
Towline Glider. From before WW II to roughly the early 1970s,
Towline Gliders were mostly balsa and tissue and were towed
straight off the line into thermals picked from the ground. “Classic”
Towline Gliders are still flown under NFFS special-event rules.
Art Hillis (Aurora CO) holds another classic Rubber design from
the early 1940s: the Stickler by Dick Korda.
The evolution of the FF Gas model is seen in Bill Gieskieng’s (L)
1950s Sandy Hogan and Ken Kullman’s 1970s Lunar-Tic, which
shows typical design refinements of a smaller stabilizer, higher
wing aspect ratio, and longer tail moment.
Bud Romak (L) holds his great-flying Gollywock; Herb Kothe holds
his Korda C Stick. Both are Old-Timer Rubber designs from pre-
WW II. The Gollywock has been kitted for more than 60 years
and is one of the most popular FF designs of all time.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:19 AM Page 45In the years since Korda’s win, it is
hard to find a modeler—and virtually
impossible to find an FF modeler—who
doesn’t emphatically answer “of course!”
when asked if they’ve heard of Dick
Korda. But in truth, FF modeling has a
longer history before 1939 than since.
Penaud: Alphonse Penaud was an
inquisitive young Frenchman who was
only 21 when he designed, built, and
publicly flew the first successful heavierthan-
air flying machine. The historic flight
took place August 18, 1871.
The rubber-powered model was the
remarkably modern-looking pusher
monoplane Penaud named the
“Planophore.” Members of the French
Academy of Sciences at the Tuileries
Gardens in Paris were stunned when
Penaud flew the model 131 feet in 11
seconds.
The Planophore was conventional in
size and appearance (20 inches long and
weighing approximately 15 grams). Its
wingspan was roughly equal to its length,
and it displayed remarkable flight
stability—the result of Penaud’s
methodical flight-testing. For the 11-
second flight Penaud used only 240 turns
on the rubber motor. In hindsight, surely
many more turns thus a more impressive
flight would have been possible.
Penaud also experimented successfully
with small rubber-powered ornithopters
and helicopters. He successfully marketed
the latter to the general public as toys.
In 1874 a bishop from Dayton, Ohio,
bought one of the Penaud flying toys and
took it home to his 8- and 12-year-old sons
for them to play with. The boys’ names
were Wilbur and Orville Wright.
Birth of a Hobby: Thanks to the flying
toys of Penaud and a few others, the world
was in love with flight long before the
Wright brothers’ aviation achievements at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The concept
of FF model airplanes as an enjoyable
pastime—not just scientific means to an
end—was already well established before
man-carrying aviation even existed.
Shortly after the Wrights’ success in
1903, model-aircraft books and magazines
began to appear, capitalizing on the
aviation fervor that was sweeping the
world. Model clubs began springing up in
the world’s largest cities, and before long
contests were being held and records were
being kept.
The models of the day were built
mostly from hardwoods or bamboo, wire,
and paper, and flights were measured in
straight-line distance rather than duration.
Despite these handicaps, by 1916 the
world-record distance for a rubberpowered
model had surpassed one mile.
Rapid Progress: The “A”-frame twin
pusher dominated FF until roughly 1925.
By the late 1920s tractor monoplanes
became FF’s standard planform, and balsa
had replaced all others as the primary
construction material. By the 1930s
towline gliders, hand-launched gliders,
indoor microfilm models, and outdoor gasengine-
powered models came into being,
further diversifying FF.
In roughly 1936 the first folding
propeller for rubber-powered models was
originated, and it was a revolution. Models
could be made to power up to great
altitudes and glide gracefully without the
drag of those big blades. This development
gave way to the need for another
invention: the dethermalizer (DT).
In the 1930s it was common for FF
models to fly out of sight in thermals; it
was rare for modelers to even give it a
second thought. According to Model
Aviation Hall of Famer Chet Lanzo, “We
just became fast builders.” Lanzo once
wrote that a typical contest weekend meant
arriving with twice as many models as he
left with. Ouch!
The time for DTs had come. The first
DTs were pop-out rudder tabs which spun
models out of thermals. They sometimes
worked too well, resulting in a crunched
nose upon landing.
The pop-up stabilizer DT soon followed
and has continued to be the most common
DT arrangement to this day. The stabilizer
is held down on the front and rear by
rubber bands in tension. When a stubbyfuse burns through the rear band, the
stabilizer raises to a negative 40°-50°
angle, putting the model in a deep stall and
parachuting it out of the thermal.
The Max: Dick Korda’s 43:29 worldrecord
Wakefield flight soon prompted
major rules changes for how flights were
scored in competitions. Instead of hoping
for one lucky flight and an eagle-eyed
timer, FFers would shoot for a target
maximum time on each flight—similar to a
par in golf.
The “max,” as it became known, along
with the widespread use of the DT,
changed FF drastically for the better at
48 MODEL AVIATION
roughly the end of World War II. Then the
best modelers were the ones who could
consistently put their models in lift, score
the max, DT the models, and return to the
line for the next flight.
With that, models were no longer
disposable. Because of that, flight testing
and design refinements rapidly improved
the airplanes’ performance level.
The Peak of Popularity: In the 1940s
model aviation’s popularity was nearing
its zenith. Model engines were being
perfected and advancements were taking
place every month.
Giant contests were held in city parks
across America. These meets had huge
exposure through newspaper coverage and
corporate sponsors such as Plymouth
automobiles. My father recalls one meet
he entered in San Antonio, Texas, in
approximately 1949, when he was 11
years old.
“There were probably a hundred kids
entered,” he said. “You had to stand in
line to wait your turn to fly.”
By the 1950s, many FF modelers saw
CL as an improvement over their interest
and moved to that discipline. RC was also
starting to develop as yet another
alternative to FF.
But FF still ruled in the meantime. The
contest scene across the country was still
at least 50% FF. Even CL and RC
modelers built and flew FF in those days
because it was the cheapest and easiest
way to start. (Actually, it still is.)
Everyone built his or her own models
back then, which is a huge departure from
today.
The 1960s: By this time FF was still quite
popular, but RC had taken the modeling
world by storm. With the advent of
proportional radios and better battery and
engine technology, RC was just too
evolved for most modelers to resist. Yet
FF continued to thrive behind the scenes
on a lesser scale.
In an age when the three modeling
disciplines were fiercely proud and
independent, the time was right for FF
modelers to band together. Therefore, in
1967 the National Free Flight Society
(NFFS) was born.
The NFFS exists to this day as an
organization that is dedicated to
“preserving, promoting, and enhancing the
art, sport, and science of Free Flight
Model Aviation in all its forms.” Starting
with three founding members, the NFFS
has grown to more than 1,600 members in
every US state and several dozen foreign
countries.
The organization’s award-winning
Free Flight magazine is lovingly
published 10 times a year—as it has been
since 1967—by FF volunteer writers and
editors, and it contains 100% FF content.
NFFS volunteers have also produced and
published a Symposium book every year
since 1968. It features the latest in FF
technology and theory and includes an
honors list of the best FF model designs.
A Modeling Rebirth: The mid-1960s saw
the emergence of two other important
national FF movements: the Flying Aces
Club (FAC) and the Society of Antique
Modelers (SAM). SAM was founded by
old-time modelers who were interested in
nonscale designs and engines of the 1930s
and 1940s. They resurrected classic
designs such as Kordas, Gollywocks,
Comet Sailplanes, and Playboys.
The SAM movement started in Denver,
Colorado, in the early 1960s. John Pond
simultaneously spurred the movement
along further west in California, and it
struck a chord. Denver’s Model Museum
Flying Club eventually became SAM
Chapter 1: the first of hundreds of
chapters that have sprung up since.
As does the FAC, SAM holds a
national-championship meet every year,
and it is hugely popular. SAM Speaks is
one of the best newsletters in the FF
world, and it is published six times per
year.
The Flying Aces Club (FAC) was
founded by Dave Stott and Bob
Thompson—two modeling friends from
Connecticut who viewed the modeling
world as generally too serious. They
opined that it had evolved past the gradeschool
innocence of the 1930s and 1940s,
as illustrated in the pages of the whimsical
Flying Aces magazine of that era.
The FAC picked up where the
magazine left off, resurrecting an off-thecuff,
childlike aura. Bob Thompson
occasionally donned a leather flying
helmet, silk scarf, and goggles on contest
days, calling himself “Captain
Downthrust.”
The FAC steadily gained strength
through the years to the point where a
national contest was established and
approximately 60 FAC Squadrons rose up
in major cities across the country and even
overseas.
The FAC is showing no signs of
slowing down. Most of its events are for
rubber-powered flying scale models, and
FAC participants are undoubtedly the
world’s best at FF Scale.
Hundreds of FAC-only meets are held
throughout the year from coast to coast,
including a major meet at the AMA field
in Muncie, Indiana, and the annual FAC
Nats (which takes place in even-numbered
years) and “Non-Nats” (which takes place
in odd-numbered years) at the Geneseo
airport in western New York.
The FAC has an official rule book but
no elected leaders—an anachronism, one
would think. Yet this organization is a
truly great success story. It has a younger
membership base than most FF groups,
and its popularity continues to grow
steadily. All AMA clubs could benefit
from studying the FAC’s success. MA
Don DeLoach
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/11
Page Numbers: 42,43,44,45,46,48
42 MODEL AVIATION
FStatrer ofe thee Sp ortF: l i g h t by Don DeLoach
Part 1
Sarah Campbell holds FF Hall-of-Famer Bill Gieskieng’s Sandy
Hogan: a classic 1950s FF Gas design. Tens of thousands of Gas FF
kits were sold in the 1950s. They are still common, thanks to the
Nostalgia Gas rules sponsored by the NFFS.
Herb Kothe sends his 1930s-vintage Korda C Rubber model skyward. Notice the tall,
oversized vertical fin, which was typical of Rubber designs of the era.
The author’s 2004 rendition of Dick Korda’s
famous winning 1939 Wakefield. It is
perhaps the best-loved FF design of all time.
The Comet Clipper was one of the bestloved
FF Gas designs of the late 1930s.
Raising the wing onto a pylon was a major
design refinement of the time, enabling
much more consistent power patterns.
THE GREATEST DAY in Free Flight history took place on a
golf course. It was August 6, 1939, and the location was the
appropriately named Aviation Golf Course in Bendix, New
Jersey. The event was the Wakefield International Cup contest:
the world championship for FF model airplanes.
The US team included three champion modelers competing
against 26 other of the world’s best. The weather was sweltering
hot but windless until approximately noon, with thermals
aplenty—perfect weather for Free Flight.
In those days modelers were made to fly one at a time, and that
morning Richard Korda of Cleveland, Ohio, drew the first
position in Round One. He wound his large, red cabin monoplane
tightly to 1,200 turns and then released it from the requisite riseoff-
ground takeoff board. From that moment, Korda’s place in
modeling history—and the future of aeromodeling—would be
changed forever.
Korda’s epic flight could best be described as a dreamlike
dance of a seemingly possessed model. It powered up perfectly to
several hundred feet and began gliding gracefully, gently
bouncing from one thermal to another.
The flight seemed routine up to that point. But as timed ticked
past, spectators, timers, and (especially) fellow competitors began
watching in increasing amazement. FF models are usually carried
far enough downwind to fly out of the timers’ sight in a few
minutes—roughly 10 at the most—in which case the timers’
watches stop and the official portion of the flights will end.
The birth of a hobby: 1871-1970
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:14 AM Page 42October 2006 43
A typical A-frame twin pusher design from
1924. This was the most common
planform for rubber-powered FF models
until the late 1920s. Twin propellers
contrarotated, thus canceling out torque.
Terry Ellington holds his great-flying Ramrod: a Gas FF design from the mid-1950s.
Thousands of Ramrod kits and plans have been sold throughout the years, making it one
of the most popular FF designs of all time.
The rubber-powered Planophore was the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine.
Stunned spectators watched designer Alphonse Penaud fly the model for 11 seconds in
1871.
Free Flight
Be it so long ago, none of us can forget the wonder of our first Free Flight.—Be it only
a minute ago, all of us look forward to the next flight.
How clean the mind; how weary the body after a day of thermal hunting.—How much
more exciting life can be for us because of Free Flight.
Some would have us believe that the price is not worth Free Flight. Could it be that it
takes a special kind of man to do the things that need to be done before Free Flight can
become a reality?
Yet who else but those who are willing to pay the price will know in their hearts the
glory of the skies; watching their own creation Fly Free.
—Frank Zaic (from his 1955-56 Model Aeronautic Year Book)
March 1956, New York City
However, Korda’s model stayed close,
drifting from one end of the field to the
other and back again, several times, in
plain view of everyone present. By the
time the model finally landed just a short
walk from the launch point, most people
knew the contest was really already over.
The time on the watch was a worldrecord-
setting 43:29. Korda’s other two
flights that day were gravy. His threeflight
average was high enough for him to
win the Wakefield Cup by a threefold
margin over his nearest competitor.
Aeromodeling has not been the same
Photos courtesy the author
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:16 AM Page 43The author, on the left, and Jerry Murphy hold versions of another
mid-1950s Gas FF design: Toshi Matsuda’s Zero.
Dave Wineland with his Satellite 1000 at a Denver CO contest. It
was designed in 1957 and remains one of the all-time classic FF
designs. 1957 marked the beginning of the modern era of gaspowered
FF, with rapidly improving engines, airfoils, and flighttrimming
refinements.
FF legends Sal Taibi (L) and Bud Romak. Sal designed such classics
as the Brooklyn Dodger and Starduster. Bud—the 1976 Indoor
World Champ—holds a 1955 Nostalgia Wakefield Rubber design.
The Wakefield rules changed drastically in the 1950s, first
eliminating the fuselage cross-section rule, then limiting rubber
weight, then eliminating the ROG requirement in 1959. Today
Wakefields are javelin-launched and can clock up to six minutes in
neutral air on a scant 30 grams of rubber.
Jackson Ivey holds a pristine classic 1950s FF engine: a Johnson
.19. Such originals are still used in Nostalgia FF contests.
44 MODEL AVIATION
since that hot August day in 1939. Just as Charles Lindbergh’s
1927 transatlantic flight transformed ours into a nation in love
with flight, Korda’s flight solidified model aviation as the most
important hobby for America’s youth.
As did Lindbergh, Korda instantly became a heroic figure.
Magazines and newspapers told the story of his historic flight,
ensuring his icon status—although Korda admitted humbly, “I got
lucky.” Kit manufacturers scrambled to get the rights to his
Wakefield design, and the Megow and Burd companies sold tens
of thousands of Korda kits to eager youngsters.
Even though World War II put a damper on large-scale contest
activity during the period from 1942 to 1945, kids still built
models hand over fist, emulating the iconic Korda. In the
meantime, the hero reigned as world champion for nine years. The
Wakefield Cup was not contested again until 1948, when Korda
would finish 16th.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:34 AM Page 44October 2006 45
Willard Smitz (Phoenix AZ) holds his 35-year-old Nordic A-2
Towline Glider. From before WW II to roughly the early 1970s,
Towline Gliders were mostly balsa and tissue and were towed
straight off the line into thermals picked from the ground. “Classic”
Towline Gliders are still flown under NFFS special-event rules.
Art Hillis (Aurora CO) holds another classic Rubber design from
the early 1940s: the Stickler by Dick Korda.
The evolution of the FF Gas model is seen in Bill Gieskieng’s (L)
1950s Sandy Hogan and Ken Kullman’s 1970s Lunar-Tic, which
shows typical design refinements of a smaller stabilizer, higher
wing aspect ratio, and longer tail moment.
Bud Romak (L) holds his great-flying Gollywock; Herb Kothe holds
his Korda C Stick. Both are Old-Timer Rubber designs from pre-
WW II. The Gollywock has been kitted for more than 60 years
and is one of the most popular FF designs of all time.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:19 AM Page 45In the years since Korda’s win, it is
hard to find a modeler—and virtually
impossible to find an FF modeler—who
doesn’t emphatically answer “of course!”
when asked if they’ve heard of Dick
Korda. But in truth, FF modeling has a
longer history before 1939 than since.
Penaud: Alphonse Penaud was an
inquisitive young Frenchman who was
only 21 when he designed, built, and
publicly flew the first successful heavierthan-
air flying machine. The historic flight
took place August 18, 1871.
The rubber-powered model was the
remarkably modern-looking pusher
monoplane Penaud named the
“Planophore.” Members of the French
Academy of Sciences at the Tuileries
Gardens in Paris were stunned when
Penaud flew the model 131 feet in 11
seconds.
The Planophore was conventional in
size and appearance (20 inches long and
weighing approximately 15 grams). Its
wingspan was roughly equal to its length,
and it displayed remarkable flight
stability—the result of Penaud’s
methodical flight-testing. For the 11-
second flight Penaud used only 240 turns
on the rubber motor. In hindsight, surely
many more turns thus a more impressive
flight would have been possible.
Penaud also experimented successfully
with small rubber-powered ornithopters
and helicopters. He successfully marketed
the latter to the general public as toys.
In 1874 a bishop from Dayton, Ohio,
bought one of the Penaud flying toys and
took it home to his 8- and 12-year-old sons
for them to play with. The boys’ names
were Wilbur and Orville Wright.
Birth of a Hobby: Thanks to the flying
toys of Penaud and a few others, the world
was in love with flight long before the
Wright brothers’ aviation achievements at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The concept
of FF model airplanes as an enjoyable
pastime—not just scientific means to an
end—was already well established before
man-carrying aviation even existed.
Shortly after the Wrights’ success in
1903, model-aircraft books and magazines
began to appear, capitalizing on the
aviation fervor that was sweeping the
world. Model clubs began springing up in
the world’s largest cities, and before long
contests were being held and records were
being kept.
The models of the day were built
mostly from hardwoods or bamboo, wire,
and paper, and flights were measured in
straight-line distance rather than duration.
Despite these handicaps, by 1916 the
world-record distance for a rubberpowered
model had surpassed one mile.
Rapid Progress: The “A”-frame twin
pusher dominated FF until roughly 1925.
By the late 1920s tractor monoplanes
became FF’s standard planform, and balsa
had replaced all others as the primary
construction material. By the 1930s
towline gliders, hand-launched gliders,
indoor microfilm models, and outdoor gasengine-
powered models came into being,
further diversifying FF.
In roughly 1936 the first folding
propeller for rubber-powered models was
originated, and it was a revolution. Models
could be made to power up to great
altitudes and glide gracefully without the
drag of those big blades. This development
gave way to the need for another
invention: the dethermalizer (DT).
In the 1930s it was common for FF
models to fly out of sight in thermals; it
was rare for modelers to even give it a
second thought. According to Model
Aviation Hall of Famer Chet Lanzo, “We
just became fast builders.” Lanzo once
wrote that a typical contest weekend meant
arriving with twice as many models as he
left with. Ouch!
The time for DTs had come. The first
DTs were pop-out rudder tabs which spun
models out of thermals. They sometimes
worked too well, resulting in a crunched
nose upon landing.
The pop-up stabilizer DT soon followed
and has continued to be the most common
DT arrangement to this day. The stabilizer
is held down on the front and rear by
rubber bands in tension. When a stubbyfuse burns through the rear band, the
stabilizer raises to a negative 40°-50°
angle, putting the model in a deep stall and
parachuting it out of the thermal.
The Max: Dick Korda’s 43:29 worldrecord
Wakefield flight soon prompted
major rules changes for how flights were
scored in competitions. Instead of hoping
for one lucky flight and an eagle-eyed
timer, FFers would shoot for a target
maximum time on each flight—similar to a
par in golf.
The “max,” as it became known, along
with the widespread use of the DT,
changed FF drastically for the better at
48 MODEL AVIATION
roughly the end of World War II. Then the
best modelers were the ones who could
consistently put their models in lift, score
the max, DT the models, and return to the
line for the next flight.
With that, models were no longer
disposable. Because of that, flight testing
and design refinements rapidly improved
the airplanes’ performance level.
The Peak of Popularity: In the 1940s
model aviation’s popularity was nearing
its zenith. Model engines were being
perfected and advancements were taking
place every month.
Giant contests were held in city parks
across America. These meets had huge
exposure through newspaper coverage and
corporate sponsors such as Plymouth
automobiles. My father recalls one meet
he entered in San Antonio, Texas, in
approximately 1949, when he was 11
years old.
“There were probably a hundred kids
entered,” he said. “You had to stand in
line to wait your turn to fly.”
By the 1950s, many FF modelers saw
CL as an improvement over their interest
and moved to that discipline. RC was also
starting to develop as yet another
alternative to FF.
But FF still ruled in the meantime. The
contest scene across the country was still
at least 50% FF. Even CL and RC
modelers built and flew FF in those days
because it was the cheapest and easiest
way to start. (Actually, it still is.)
Everyone built his or her own models
back then, which is a huge departure from
today.
The 1960s: By this time FF was still quite
popular, but RC had taken the modeling
world by storm. With the advent of
proportional radios and better battery and
engine technology, RC was just too
evolved for most modelers to resist. Yet
FF continued to thrive behind the scenes
on a lesser scale.
In an age when the three modeling
disciplines were fiercely proud and
independent, the time was right for FF
modelers to band together. Therefore, in
1967 the National Free Flight Society
(NFFS) was born.
The NFFS exists to this day as an
organization that is dedicated to
“preserving, promoting, and enhancing the
art, sport, and science of Free Flight
Model Aviation in all its forms.” Starting
with three founding members, the NFFS
has grown to more than 1,600 members in
every US state and several dozen foreign
countries.
The organization’s award-winning
Free Flight magazine is lovingly
published 10 times a year—as it has been
since 1967—by FF volunteer writers and
editors, and it contains 100% FF content.
NFFS volunteers have also produced and
published a Symposium book every year
since 1968. It features the latest in FF
technology and theory and includes an
honors list of the best FF model designs.
A Modeling Rebirth: The mid-1960s saw
the emergence of two other important
national FF movements: the Flying Aces
Club (FAC) and the Society of Antique
Modelers (SAM). SAM was founded by
old-time modelers who were interested in
nonscale designs and engines of the 1930s
and 1940s. They resurrected classic
designs such as Kordas, Gollywocks,
Comet Sailplanes, and Playboys.
The SAM movement started in Denver,
Colorado, in the early 1960s. John Pond
simultaneously spurred the movement
along further west in California, and it
struck a chord. Denver’s Model Museum
Flying Club eventually became SAM
Chapter 1: the first of hundreds of
chapters that have sprung up since.
As does the FAC, SAM holds a
national-championship meet every year,
and it is hugely popular. SAM Speaks is
one of the best newsletters in the FF
world, and it is published six times per
year.
The Flying Aces Club (FAC) was
founded by Dave Stott and Bob
Thompson—two modeling friends from
Connecticut who viewed the modeling
world as generally too serious. They
opined that it had evolved past the gradeschool
innocence of the 1930s and 1940s,
as illustrated in the pages of the whimsical
Flying Aces magazine of that era.
The FAC picked up where the
magazine left off, resurrecting an off-thecuff,
childlike aura. Bob Thompson
occasionally donned a leather flying
helmet, silk scarf, and goggles on contest
days, calling himself “Captain
Downthrust.”
The FAC steadily gained strength
through the years to the point where a
national contest was established and
approximately 60 FAC Squadrons rose up
in major cities across the country and even
overseas.
The FAC is showing no signs of
slowing down. Most of its events are for
rubber-powered flying scale models, and
FAC participants are undoubtedly the
world’s best at FF Scale.
Hundreds of FAC-only meets are held
throughout the year from coast to coast,
including a major meet at the AMA field
in Muncie, Indiana, and the annual FAC
Nats (which takes place in even-numbered
years) and “Non-Nats” (which takes place
in odd-numbered years) at the Geneseo
airport in western New York.
The FAC has an official rule book but
no elected leaders—an anachronism, one
would think. Yet this organization is a
truly great success story. It has a younger
membership base than most FF groups,
and its popularity continues to grow
steadily. All AMA clubs could benefit
from studying the FAC’s success. MA
Don DeLoach
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/11
Page Numbers: 42,43,44,45,46,48
42 MODEL AVIATION
FStatrer ofe thee Sp ortF: l i g h t by Don DeLoach
Part 1
Sarah Campbell holds FF Hall-of-Famer Bill Gieskieng’s Sandy
Hogan: a classic 1950s FF Gas design. Tens of thousands of Gas FF
kits were sold in the 1950s. They are still common, thanks to the
Nostalgia Gas rules sponsored by the NFFS.
Herb Kothe sends his 1930s-vintage Korda C Rubber model skyward. Notice the tall,
oversized vertical fin, which was typical of Rubber designs of the era.
The author’s 2004 rendition of Dick Korda’s
famous winning 1939 Wakefield. It is
perhaps the best-loved FF design of all time.
The Comet Clipper was one of the bestloved
FF Gas designs of the late 1930s.
Raising the wing onto a pylon was a major
design refinement of the time, enabling
much more consistent power patterns.
THE GREATEST DAY in Free Flight history took place on a
golf course. It was August 6, 1939, and the location was the
appropriately named Aviation Golf Course in Bendix, New
Jersey. The event was the Wakefield International Cup contest:
the world championship for FF model airplanes.
The US team included three champion modelers competing
against 26 other of the world’s best. The weather was sweltering
hot but windless until approximately noon, with thermals
aplenty—perfect weather for Free Flight.
In those days modelers were made to fly one at a time, and that
morning Richard Korda of Cleveland, Ohio, drew the first
position in Round One. He wound his large, red cabin monoplane
tightly to 1,200 turns and then released it from the requisite riseoff-
ground takeoff board. From that moment, Korda’s place in
modeling history—and the future of aeromodeling—would be
changed forever.
Korda’s epic flight could best be described as a dreamlike
dance of a seemingly possessed model. It powered up perfectly to
several hundred feet and began gliding gracefully, gently
bouncing from one thermal to another.
The flight seemed routine up to that point. But as timed ticked
past, spectators, timers, and (especially) fellow competitors began
watching in increasing amazement. FF models are usually carried
far enough downwind to fly out of the timers’ sight in a few
minutes—roughly 10 at the most—in which case the timers’
watches stop and the official portion of the flights will end.
The birth of a hobby: 1871-1970
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:14 AM Page 42October 2006 43
A typical A-frame twin pusher design from
1924. This was the most common
planform for rubber-powered FF models
until the late 1920s. Twin propellers
contrarotated, thus canceling out torque.
Terry Ellington holds his great-flying Ramrod: a Gas FF design from the mid-1950s.
Thousands of Ramrod kits and plans have been sold throughout the years, making it one
of the most popular FF designs of all time.
The rubber-powered Planophore was the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine.
Stunned spectators watched designer Alphonse Penaud fly the model for 11 seconds in
1871.
Free Flight
Be it so long ago, none of us can forget the wonder of our first Free Flight.—Be it only
a minute ago, all of us look forward to the next flight.
How clean the mind; how weary the body after a day of thermal hunting.—How much
more exciting life can be for us because of Free Flight.
Some would have us believe that the price is not worth Free Flight. Could it be that it
takes a special kind of man to do the things that need to be done before Free Flight can
become a reality?
Yet who else but those who are willing to pay the price will know in their hearts the
glory of the skies; watching their own creation Fly Free.
—Frank Zaic (from his 1955-56 Model Aeronautic Year Book)
March 1956, New York City
However, Korda’s model stayed close,
drifting from one end of the field to the
other and back again, several times, in
plain view of everyone present. By the
time the model finally landed just a short
walk from the launch point, most people
knew the contest was really already over.
The time on the watch was a worldrecord-
setting 43:29. Korda’s other two
flights that day were gravy. His threeflight
average was high enough for him to
win the Wakefield Cup by a threefold
margin over his nearest competitor.
Aeromodeling has not been the same
Photos courtesy the author
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:16 AM Page 43The author, on the left, and Jerry Murphy hold versions of another
mid-1950s Gas FF design: Toshi Matsuda’s Zero.
Dave Wineland with his Satellite 1000 at a Denver CO contest. It
was designed in 1957 and remains one of the all-time classic FF
designs. 1957 marked the beginning of the modern era of gaspowered
FF, with rapidly improving engines, airfoils, and flighttrimming
refinements.
FF legends Sal Taibi (L) and Bud Romak. Sal designed such classics
as the Brooklyn Dodger and Starduster. Bud—the 1976 Indoor
World Champ—holds a 1955 Nostalgia Wakefield Rubber design.
The Wakefield rules changed drastically in the 1950s, first
eliminating the fuselage cross-section rule, then limiting rubber
weight, then eliminating the ROG requirement in 1959. Today
Wakefields are javelin-launched and can clock up to six minutes in
neutral air on a scant 30 grams of rubber.
Jackson Ivey holds a pristine classic 1950s FF engine: a Johnson
.19. Such originals are still used in Nostalgia FF contests.
44 MODEL AVIATION
since that hot August day in 1939. Just as Charles Lindbergh’s
1927 transatlantic flight transformed ours into a nation in love
with flight, Korda’s flight solidified model aviation as the most
important hobby for America’s youth.
As did Lindbergh, Korda instantly became a heroic figure.
Magazines and newspapers told the story of his historic flight,
ensuring his icon status—although Korda admitted humbly, “I got
lucky.” Kit manufacturers scrambled to get the rights to his
Wakefield design, and the Megow and Burd companies sold tens
of thousands of Korda kits to eager youngsters.
Even though World War II put a damper on large-scale contest
activity during the period from 1942 to 1945, kids still built
models hand over fist, emulating the iconic Korda. In the
meantime, the hero reigned as world champion for nine years. The
Wakefield Cup was not contested again until 1948, when Korda
would finish 16th.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:34 AM Page 44October 2006 45
Willard Smitz (Phoenix AZ) holds his 35-year-old Nordic A-2
Towline Glider. From before WW II to roughly the early 1970s,
Towline Gliders were mostly balsa and tissue and were towed
straight off the line into thermals picked from the ground. “Classic”
Towline Gliders are still flown under NFFS special-event rules.
Art Hillis (Aurora CO) holds another classic Rubber design from
the early 1940s: the Stickler by Dick Korda.
The evolution of the FF Gas model is seen in Bill Gieskieng’s (L)
1950s Sandy Hogan and Ken Kullman’s 1970s Lunar-Tic, which
shows typical design refinements of a smaller stabilizer, higher
wing aspect ratio, and longer tail moment.
Bud Romak (L) holds his great-flying Gollywock; Herb Kothe holds
his Korda C Stick. Both are Old-Timer Rubber designs from pre-
WW II. The Gollywock has been kitted for more than 60 years
and is one of the most popular FF designs of all time.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:19 AM Page 45In the years since Korda’s win, it is
hard to find a modeler—and virtually
impossible to find an FF modeler—who
doesn’t emphatically answer “of course!”
when asked if they’ve heard of Dick
Korda. But in truth, FF modeling has a
longer history before 1939 than since.
Penaud: Alphonse Penaud was an
inquisitive young Frenchman who was
only 21 when he designed, built, and
publicly flew the first successful heavierthan-
air flying machine. The historic flight
took place August 18, 1871.
The rubber-powered model was the
remarkably modern-looking pusher
monoplane Penaud named the
“Planophore.” Members of the French
Academy of Sciences at the Tuileries
Gardens in Paris were stunned when
Penaud flew the model 131 feet in 11
seconds.
The Planophore was conventional in
size and appearance (20 inches long and
weighing approximately 15 grams). Its
wingspan was roughly equal to its length,
and it displayed remarkable flight
stability—the result of Penaud’s
methodical flight-testing. For the 11-
second flight Penaud used only 240 turns
on the rubber motor. In hindsight, surely
many more turns thus a more impressive
flight would have been possible.
Penaud also experimented successfully
with small rubber-powered ornithopters
and helicopters. He successfully marketed
the latter to the general public as toys.
In 1874 a bishop from Dayton, Ohio,
bought one of the Penaud flying toys and
took it home to his 8- and 12-year-old sons
for them to play with. The boys’ names
were Wilbur and Orville Wright.
Birth of a Hobby: Thanks to the flying
toys of Penaud and a few others, the world
was in love with flight long before the
Wright brothers’ aviation achievements at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The concept
of FF model airplanes as an enjoyable
pastime—not just scientific means to an
end—was already well established before
man-carrying aviation even existed.
Shortly after the Wrights’ success in
1903, model-aircraft books and magazines
began to appear, capitalizing on the
aviation fervor that was sweeping the
world. Model clubs began springing up in
the world’s largest cities, and before long
contests were being held and records were
being kept.
The models of the day were built
mostly from hardwoods or bamboo, wire,
and paper, and flights were measured in
straight-line distance rather than duration.
Despite these handicaps, by 1916 the
world-record distance for a rubberpowered
model had surpassed one mile.
Rapid Progress: The “A”-frame twin
pusher dominated FF until roughly 1925.
By the late 1920s tractor monoplanes
became FF’s standard planform, and balsa
had replaced all others as the primary
construction material. By the 1930s
towline gliders, hand-launched gliders,
indoor microfilm models, and outdoor gasengine-
powered models came into being,
further diversifying FF.
In roughly 1936 the first folding
propeller for rubber-powered models was
originated, and it was a revolution. Models
could be made to power up to great
altitudes and glide gracefully without the
drag of those big blades. This development
gave way to the need for another
invention: the dethermalizer (DT).
In the 1930s it was common for FF
models to fly out of sight in thermals; it
was rare for modelers to even give it a
second thought. According to Model
Aviation Hall of Famer Chet Lanzo, “We
just became fast builders.” Lanzo once
wrote that a typical contest weekend meant
arriving with twice as many models as he
left with. Ouch!
The time for DTs had come. The first
DTs were pop-out rudder tabs which spun
models out of thermals. They sometimes
worked too well, resulting in a crunched
nose upon landing.
The pop-up stabilizer DT soon followed
and has continued to be the most common
DT arrangement to this day. The stabilizer
is held down on the front and rear by
rubber bands in tension. When a stubbyfuse burns through the rear band, the
stabilizer raises to a negative 40°-50°
angle, putting the model in a deep stall and
parachuting it out of the thermal.
The Max: Dick Korda’s 43:29 worldrecord
Wakefield flight soon prompted
major rules changes for how flights were
scored in competitions. Instead of hoping
for one lucky flight and an eagle-eyed
timer, FFers would shoot for a target
maximum time on each flight—similar to a
par in golf.
The “max,” as it became known, along
with the widespread use of the DT,
changed FF drastically for the better at
48 MODEL AVIATION
roughly the end of World War II. Then the
best modelers were the ones who could
consistently put their models in lift, score
the max, DT the models, and return to the
line for the next flight.
With that, models were no longer
disposable. Because of that, flight testing
and design refinements rapidly improved
the airplanes’ performance level.
The Peak of Popularity: In the 1940s
model aviation’s popularity was nearing
its zenith. Model engines were being
perfected and advancements were taking
place every month.
Giant contests were held in city parks
across America. These meets had huge
exposure through newspaper coverage and
corporate sponsors such as Plymouth
automobiles. My father recalls one meet
he entered in San Antonio, Texas, in
approximately 1949, when he was 11
years old.
“There were probably a hundred kids
entered,” he said. “You had to stand in
line to wait your turn to fly.”
By the 1950s, many FF modelers saw
CL as an improvement over their interest
and moved to that discipline. RC was also
starting to develop as yet another
alternative to FF.
But FF still ruled in the meantime. The
contest scene across the country was still
at least 50% FF. Even CL and RC
modelers built and flew FF in those days
because it was the cheapest and easiest
way to start. (Actually, it still is.)
Everyone built his or her own models
back then, which is a huge departure from
today.
The 1960s: By this time FF was still quite
popular, but RC had taken the modeling
world by storm. With the advent of
proportional radios and better battery and
engine technology, RC was just too
evolved for most modelers to resist. Yet
FF continued to thrive behind the scenes
on a lesser scale.
In an age when the three modeling
disciplines were fiercely proud and
independent, the time was right for FF
modelers to band together. Therefore, in
1967 the National Free Flight Society
(NFFS) was born.
The NFFS exists to this day as an
organization that is dedicated to
“preserving, promoting, and enhancing the
art, sport, and science of Free Flight
Model Aviation in all its forms.” Starting
with three founding members, the NFFS
has grown to more than 1,600 members in
every US state and several dozen foreign
countries.
The organization’s award-winning
Free Flight magazine is lovingly
published 10 times a year—as it has been
since 1967—by FF volunteer writers and
editors, and it contains 100% FF content.
NFFS volunteers have also produced and
published a Symposium book every year
since 1968. It features the latest in FF
technology and theory and includes an
honors list of the best FF model designs.
A Modeling Rebirth: The mid-1960s saw
the emergence of two other important
national FF movements: the Flying Aces
Club (FAC) and the Society of Antique
Modelers (SAM). SAM was founded by
old-time modelers who were interested in
nonscale designs and engines of the 1930s
and 1940s. They resurrected classic
designs such as Kordas, Gollywocks,
Comet Sailplanes, and Playboys.
The SAM movement started in Denver,
Colorado, in the early 1960s. John Pond
simultaneously spurred the movement
along further west in California, and it
struck a chord. Denver’s Model Museum
Flying Club eventually became SAM
Chapter 1: the first of hundreds of
chapters that have sprung up since.
As does the FAC, SAM holds a
national-championship meet every year,
and it is hugely popular. SAM Speaks is
one of the best newsletters in the FF
world, and it is published six times per
year.
The Flying Aces Club (FAC) was
founded by Dave Stott and Bob
Thompson—two modeling friends from
Connecticut who viewed the modeling
world as generally too serious. They
opined that it had evolved past the gradeschool
innocence of the 1930s and 1940s,
as illustrated in the pages of the whimsical
Flying Aces magazine of that era.
The FAC picked up where the
magazine left off, resurrecting an off-thecuff,
childlike aura. Bob Thompson
occasionally donned a leather flying
helmet, silk scarf, and goggles on contest
days, calling himself “Captain
Downthrust.”
The FAC steadily gained strength
through the years to the point where a
national contest was established and
approximately 60 FAC Squadrons rose up
in major cities across the country and even
overseas.
The FAC is showing no signs of
slowing down. Most of its events are for
rubber-powered flying scale models, and
FAC participants are undoubtedly the
world’s best at FF Scale.
Hundreds of FAC-only meets are held
throughout the year from coast to coast,
including a major meet at the AMA field
in Muncie, Indiana, and the annual FAC
Nats (which takes place in even-numbered
years) and “Non-Nats” (which takes place
in odd-numbered years) at the Geneseo
airport in western New York.
The FAC has an official rule book but
no elected leaders—an anachronism, one
would think. Yet this organization is a
truly great success story. It has a younger
membership base than most FF groups,
and its popularity continues to grow
steadily. All AMA clubs could benefit
from studying the FAC’s success. MA
Don DeLoach
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/11
Page Numbers: 42,43,44,45,46,48
42 MODEL AVIATION
FStatrer ofe thee Sp ortF: l i g h t by Don DeLoach
Part 1
Sarah Campbell holds FF Hall-of-Famer Bill Gieskieng’s Sandy
Hogan: a classic 1950s FF Gas design. Tens of thousands of Gas FF
kits were sold in the 1950s. They are still common, thanks to the
Nostalgia Gas rules sponsored by the NFFS.
Herb Kothe sends his 1930s-vintage Korda C Rubber model skyward. Notice the tall,
oversized vertical fin, which was typical of Rubber designs of the era.
The author’s 2004 rendition of Dick Korda’s
famous winning 1939 Wakefield. It is
perhaps the best-loved FF design of all time.
The Comet Clipper was one of the bestloved
FF Gas designs of the late 1930s.
Raising the wing onto a pylon was a major
design refinement of the time, enabling
much more consistent power patterns.
THE GREATEST DAY in Free Flight history took place on a
golf course. It was August 6, 1939, and the location was the
appropriately named Aviation Golf Course in Bendix, New
Jersey. The event was the Wakefield International Cup contest:
the world championship for FF model airplanes.
The US team included three champion modelers competing
against 26 other of the world’s best. The weather was sweltering
hot but windless until approximately noon, with thermals
aplenty—perfect weather for Free Flight.
In those days modelers were made to fly one at a time, and that
morning Richard Korda of Cleveland, Ohio, drew the first
position in Round One. He wound his large, red cabin monoplane
tightly to 1,200 turns and then released it from the requisite riseoff-
ground takeoff board. From that moment, Korda’s place in
modeling history—and the future of aeromodeling—would be
changed forever.
Korda’s epic flight could best be described as a dreamlike
dance of a seemingly possessed model. It powered up perfectly to
several hundred feet and began gliding gracefully, gently
bouncing from one thermal to another.
The flight seemed routine up to that point. But as timed ticked
past, spectators, timers, and (especially) fellow competitors began
watching in increasing amazement. FF models are usually carried
far enough downwind to fly out of the timers’ sight in a few
minutes—roughly 10 at the most—in which case the timers’
watches stop and the official portion of the flights will end.
The birth of a hobby: 1871-1970
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:14 AM Page 42October 2006 43
A typical A-frame twin pusher design from
1924. This was the most common
planform for rubber-powered FF models
until the late 1920s. Twin propellers
contrarotated, thus canceling out torque.
Terry Ellington holds his great-flying Ramrod: a Gas FF design from the mid-1950s.
Thousands of Ramrod kits and plans have been sold throughout the years, making it one
of the most popular FF designs of all time.
The rubber-powered Planophore was the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine.
Stunned spectators watched designer Alphonse Penaud fly the model for 11 seconds in
1871.
Free Flight
Be it so long ago, none of us can forget the wonder of our first Free Flight.—Be it only
a minute ago, all of us look forward to the next flight.
How clean the mind; how weary the body after a day of thermal hunting.—How much
more exciting life can be for us because of Free Flight.
Some would have us believe that the price is not worth Free Flight. Could it be that it
takes a special kind of man to do the things that need to be done before Free Flight can
become a reality?
Yet who else but those who are willing to pay the price will know in their hearts the
glory of the skies; watching their own creation Fly Free.
—Frank Zaic (from his 1955-56 Model Aeronautic Year Book)
March 1956, New York City
However, Korda’s model stayed close,
drifting from one end of the field to the
other and back again, several times, in
plain view of everyone present. By the
time the model finally landed just a short
walk from the launch point, most people
knew the contest was really already over.
The time on the watch was a worldrecord-
setting 43:29. Korda’s other two
flights that day were gravy. His threeflight
average was high enough for him to
win the Wakefield Cup by a threefold
margin over his nearest competitor.
Aeromodeling has not been the same
Photos courtesy the author
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:16 AM Page 43The author, on the left, and Jerry Murphy hold versions of another
mid-1950s Gas FF design: Toshi Matsuda’s Zero.
Dave Wineland with his Satellite 1000 at a Denver CO contest. It
was designed in 1957 and remains one of the all-time classic FF
designs. 1957 marked the beginning of the modern era of gaspowered
FF, with rapidly improving engines, airfoils, and flighttrimming
refinements.
FF legends Sal Taibi (L) and Bud Romak. Sal designed such classics
as the Brooklyn Dodger and Starduster. Bud—the 1976 Indoor
World Champ—holds a 1955 Nostalgia Wakefield Rubber design.
The Wakefield rules changed drastically in the 1950s, first
eliminating the fuselage cross-section rule, then limiting rubber
weight, then eliminating the ROG requirement in 1959. Today
Wakefields are javelin-launched and can clock up to six minutes in
neutral air on a scant 30 grams of rubber.
Jackson Ivey holds a pristine classic 1950s FF engine: a Johnson
.19. Such originals are still used in Nostalgia FF contests.
44 MODEL AVIATION
since that hot August day in 1939. Just as Charles Lindbergh’s
1927 transatlantic flight transformed ours into a nation in love
with flight, Korda’s flight solidified model aviation as the most
important hobby for America’s youth.
As did Lindbergh, Korda instantly became a heroic figure.
Magazines and newspapers told the story of his historic flight,
ensuring his icon status—although Korda admitted humbly, “I got
lucky.” Kit manufacturers scrambled to get the rights to his
Wakefield design, and the Megow and Burd companies sold tens
of thousands of Korda kits to eager youngsters.
Even though World War II put a damper on large-scale contest
activity during the period from 1942 to 1945, kids still built
models hand over fist, emulating the iconic Korda. In the
meantime, the hero reigned as world champion for nine years. The
Wakefield Cup was not contested again until 1948, when Korda
would finish 16th.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:34 AM Page 44October 2006 45
Willard Smitz (Phoenix AZ) holds his 35-year-old Nordic A-2
Towline Glider. From before WW II to roughly the early 1970s,
Towline Gliders were mostly balsa and tissue and were towed
straight off the line into thermals picked from the ground. “Classic”
Towline Gliders are still flown under NFFS special-event rules.
Art Hillis (Aurora CO) holds another classic Rubber design from
the early 1940s: the Stickler by Dick Korda.
The evolution of the FF Gas model is seen in Bill Gieskieng’s (L)
1950s Sandy Hogan and Ken Kullman’s 1970s Lunar-Tic, which
shows typical design refinements of a smaller stabilizer, higher
wing aspect ratio, and longer tail moment.
Bud Romak (L) holds his great-flying Gollywock; Herb Kothe holds
his Korda C Stick. Both are Old-Timer Rubber designs from pre-
WW II. The Gollywock has been kitted for more than 60 years
and is one of the most popular FF designs of all time.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:19 AM Page 45In the years since Korda’s win, it is
hard to find a modeler—and virtually
impossible to find an FF modeler—who
doesn’t emphatically answer “of course!”
when asked if they’ve heard of Dick
Korda. But in truth, FF modeling has a
longer history before 1939 than since.
Penaud: Alphonse Penaud was an
inquisitive young Frenchman who was
only 21 when he designed, built, and
publicly flew the first successful heavierthan-
air flying machine. The historic flight
took place August 18, 1871.
The rubber-powered model was the
remarkably modern-looking pusher
monoplane Penaud named the
“Planophore.” Members of the French
Academy of Sciences at the Tuileries
Gardens in Paris were stunned when
Penaud flew the model 131 feet in 11
seconds.
The Planophore was conventional in
size and appearance (20 inches long and
weighing approximately 15 grams). Its
wingspan was roughly equal to its length,
and it displayed remarkable flight
stability—the result of Penaud’s
methodical flight-testing. For the 11-
second flight Penaud used only 240 turns
on the rubber motor. In hindsight, surely
many more turns thus a more impressive
flight would have been possible.
Penaud also experimented successfully
with small rubber-powered ornithopters
and helicopters. He successfully marketed
the latter to the general public as toys.
In 1874 a bishop from Dayton, Ohio,
bought one of the Penaud flying toys and
took it home to his 8- and 12-year-old sons
for them to play with. The boys’ names
were Wilbur and Orville Wright.
Birth of a Hobby: Thanks to the flying
toys of Penaud and a few others, the world
was in love with flight long before the
Wright brothers’ aviation achievements at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The concept
of FF model airplanes as an enjoyable
pastime—not just scientific means to an
end—was already well established before
man-carrying aviation even existed.
Shortly after the Wrights’ success in
1903, model-aircraft books and magazines
began to appear, capitalizing on the
aviation fervor that was sweeping the
world. Model clubs began springing up in
the world’s largest cities, and before long
contests were being held and records were
being kept.
The models of the day were built
mostly from hardwoods or bamboo, wire,
and paper, and flights were measured in
straight-line distance rather than duration.
Despite these handicaps, by 1916 the
world-record distance for a rubberpowered
model had surpassed one mile.
Rapid Progress: The “A”-frame twin
pusher dominated FF until roughly 1925.
By the late 1920s tractor monoplanes
became FF’s standard planform, and balsa
had replaced all others as the primary
construction material. By the 1930s
towline gliders, hand-launched gliders,
indoor microfilm models, and outdoor gasengine-
powered models came into being,
further diversifying FF.
In roughly 1936 the first folding
propeller for rubber-powered models was
originated, and it was a revolution. Models
could be made to power up to great
altitudes and glide gracefully without the
drag of those big blades. This development
gave way to the need for another
invention: the dethermalizer (DT).
In the 1930s it was common for FF
models to fly out of sight in thermals; it
was rare for modelers to even give it a
second thought. According to Model
Aviation Hall of Famer Chet Lanzo, “We
just became fast builders.” Lanzo once
wrote that a typical contest weekend meant
arriving with twice as many models as he
left with. Ouch!
The time for DTs had come. The first
DTs were pop-out rudder tabs which spun
models out of thermals. They sometimes
worked too well, resulting in a crunched
nose upon landing.
The pop-up stabilizer DT soon followed
and has continued to be the most common
DT arrangement to this day. The stabilizer
is held down on the front and rear by
rubber bands in tension. When a stubbyfuse burns through the rear band, the
stabilizer raises to a negative 40°-50°
angle, putting the model in a deep stall and
parachuting it out of the thermal.
The Max: Dick Korda’s 43:29 worldrecord
Wakefield flight soon prompted
major rules changes for how flights were
scored in competitions. Instead of hoping
for one lucky flight and an eagle-eyed
timer, FFers would shoot for a target
maximum time on each flight—similar to a
par in golf.
The “max,” as it became known, along
with the widespread use of the DT,
changed FF drastically for the better at
48 MODEL AVIATION
roughly the end of World War II. Then the
best modelers were the ones who could
consistently put their models in lift, score
the max, DT the models, and return to the
line for the next flight.
With that, models were no longer
disposable. Because of that, flight testing
and design refinements rapidly improved
the airplanes’ performance level.
The Peak of Popularity: In the 1940s
model aviation’s popularity was nearing
its zenith. Model engines were being
perfected and advancements were taking
place every month.
Giant contests were held in city parks
across America. These meets had huge
exposure through newspaper coverage and
corporate sponsors such as Plymouth
automobiles. My father recalls one meet
he entered in San Antonio, Texas, in
approximately 1949, when he was 11
years old.
“There were probably a hundred kids
entered,” he said. “You had to stand in
line to wait your turn to fly.”
By the 1950s, many FF modelers saw
CL as an improvement over their interest
and moved to that discipline. RC was also
starting to develop as yet another
alternative to FF.
But FF still ruled in the meantime. The
contest scene across the country was still
at least 50% FF. Even CL and RC
modelers built and flew FF in those days
because it was the cheapest and easiest
way to start. (Actually, it still is.)
Everyone built his or her own models
back then, which is a huge departure from
today.
The 1960s: By this time FF was still quite
popular, but RC had taken the modeling
world by storm. With the advent of
proportional radios and better battery and
engine technology, RC was just too
evolved for most modelers to resist. Yet
FF continued to thrive behind the scenes
on a lesser scale.
In an age when the three modeling
disciplines were fiercely proud and
independent, the time was right for FF
modelers to band together. Therefore, in
1967 the National Free Flight Society
(NFFS) was born.
The NFFS exists to this day as an
organization that is dedicated to
“preserving, promoting, and enhancing the
art, sport, and science of Free Flight
Model Aviation in all its forms.” Starting
with three founding members, the NFFS
has grown to more than 1,600 members in
every US state and several dozen foreign
countries.
The organization’s award-winning
Free Flight magazine is lovingly
published 10 times a year—as it has been
since 1967—by FF volunteer writers and
editors, and it contains 100% FF content.
NFFS volunteers have also produced and
published a Symposium book every year
since 1968. It features the latest in FF
technology and theory and includes an
honors list of the best FF model designs.
A Modeling Rebirth: The mid-1960s saw
the emergence of two other important
national FF movements: the Flying Aces
Club (FAC) and the Society of Antique
Modelers (SAM). SAM was founded by
old-time modelers who were interested in
nonscale designs and engines of the 1930s
and 1940s. They resurrected classic
designs such as Kordas, Gollywocks,
Comet Sailplanes, and Playboys.
The SAM movement started in Denver,
Colorado, in the early 1960s. John Pond
simultaneously spurred the movement
along further west in California, and it
struck a chord. Denver’s Model Museum
Flying Club eventually became SAM
Chapter 1: the first of hundreds of
chapters that have sprung up since.
As does the FAC, SAM holds a
national-championship meet every year,
and it is hugely popular. SAM Speaks is
one of the best newsletters in the FF
world, and it is published six times per
year.
The Flying Aces Club (FAC) was
founded by Dave Stott and Bob
Thompson—two modeling friends from
Connecticut who viewed the modeling
world as generally too serious. They
opined that it had evolved past the gradeschool
innocence of the 1930s and 1940s,
as illustrated in the pages of the whimsical
Flying Aces magazine of that era.
The FAC picked up where the
magazine left off, resurrecting an off-thecuff,
childlike aura. Bob Thompson
occasionally donned a leather flying
helmet, silk scarf, and goggles on contest
days, calling himself “Captain
Downthrust.”
The FAC steadily gained strength
through the years to the point where a
national contest was established and
approximately 60 FAC Squadrons rose up
in major cities across the country and even
overseas.
The FAC is showing no signs of
slowing down. Most of its events are for
rubber-powered flying scale models, and
FAC participants are undoubtedly the
world’s best at FF Scale.
Hundreds of FAC-only meets are held
throughout the year from coast to coast,
including a major meet at the AMA field
in Muncie, Indiana, and the annual FAC
Nats (which takes place in even-numbered
years) and “Non-Nats” (which takes place
in odd-numbered years) at the Geneseo
airport in western New York.
The FAC has an official rule book but
no elected leaders—an anachronism, one
would think. Yet this organization is a
truly great success story. It has a younger
membership base than most FF groups,
and its popularity continues to grow
steadily. All AMA clubs could benefit
from studying the FAC’s success. MA
Don DeLoach
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/11
Page Numbers: 42,43,44,45,46,48
42 MODEL AVIATION
FStatrer ofe thee Sp ortF: l i g h t by Don DeLoach
Part 1
Sarah Campbell holds FF Hall-of-Famer Bill Gieskieng’s Sandy
Hogan: a classic 1950s FF Gas design. Tens of thousands of Gas FF
kits were sold in the 1950s. They are still common, thanks to the
Nostalgia Gas rules sponsored by the NFFS.
Herb Kothe sends his 1930s-vintage Korda C Rubber model skyward. Notice the tall,
oversized vertical fin, which was typical of Rubber designs of the era.
The author’s 2004 rendition of Dick Korda’s
famous winning 1939 Wakefield. It is
perhaps the best-loved FF design of all time.
The Comet Clipper was one of the bestloved
FF Gas designs of the late 1930s.
Raising the wing onto a pylon was a major
design refinement of the time, enabling
much more consistent power patterns.
THE GREATEST DAY in Free Flight history took place on a
golf course. It was August 6, 1939, and the location was the
appropriately named Aviation Golf Course in Bendix, New
Jersey. The event was the Wakefield International Cup contest:
the world championship for FF model airplanes.
The US team included three champion modelers competing
against 26 other of the world’s best. The weather was sweltering
hot but windless until approximately noon, with thermals
aplenty—perfect weather for Free Flight.
In those days modelers were made to fly one at a time, and that
morning Richard Korda of Cleveland, Ohio, drew the first
position in Round One. He wound his large, red cabin monoplane
tightly to 1,200 turns and then released it from the requisite riseoff-
ground takeoff board. From that moment, Korda’s place in
modeling history—and the future of aeromodeling—would be
changed forever.
Korda’s epic flight could best be described as a dreamlike
dance of a seemingly possessed model. It powered up perfectly to
several hundred feet and began gliding gracefully, gently
bouncing from one thermal to another.
The flight seemed routine up to that point. But as timed ticked
past, spectators, timers, and (especially) fellow competitors began
watching in increasing amazement. FF models are usually carried
far enough downwind to fly out of the timers’ sight in a few
minutes—roughly 10 at the most—in which case the timers’
watches stop and the official portion of the flights will end.
The birth of a hobby: 1871-1970
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:14 AM Page 42October 2006 43
A typical A-frame twin pusher design from
1924. This was the most common
planform for rubber-powered FF models
until the late 1920s. Twin propellers
contrarotated, thus canceling out torque.
Terry Ellington holds his great-flying Ramrod: a Gas FF design from the mid-1950s.
Thousands of Ramrod kits and plans have been sold throughout the years, making it one
of the most popular FF designs of all time.
The rubber-powered Planophore was the first successful heavier-than-air flying machine.
Stunned spectators watched designer Alphonse Penaud fly the model for 11 seconds in
1871.
Free Flight
Be it so long ago, none of us can forget the wonder of our first Free Flight.—Be it only
a minute ago, all of us look forward to the next flight.
How clean the mind; how weary the body after a day of thermal hunting.—How much
more exciting life can be for us because of Free Flight.
Some would have us believe that the price is not worth Free Flight. Could it be that it
takes a special kind of man to do the things that need to be done before Free Flight can
become a reality?
Yet who else but those who are willing to pay the price will know in their hearts the
glory of the skies; watching their own creation Fly Free.
—Frank Zaic (from his 1955-56 Model Aeronautic Year Book)
March 1956, New York City
However, Korda’s model stayed close,
drifting from one end of the field to the
other and back again, several times, in
plain view of everyone present. By the
time the model finally landed just a short
walk from the launch point, most people
knew the contest was really already over.
The time on the watch was a worldrecord-
setting 43:29. Korda’s other two
flights that day were gravy. His threeflight
average was high enough for him to
win the Wakefield Cup by a threefold
margin over his nearest competitor.
Aeromodeling has not been the same
Photos courtesy the author
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:16 AM Page 43The author, on the left, and Jerry Murphy hold versions of another
mid-1950s Gas FF design: Toshi Matsuda’s Zero.
Dave Wineland with his Satellite 1000 at a Denver CO contest. It
was designed in 1957 and remains one of the all-time classic FF
designs. 1957 marked the beginning of the modern era of gaspowered
FF, with rapidly improving engines, airfoils, and flighttrimming
refinements.
FF legends Sal Taibi (L) and Bud Romak. Sal designed such classics
as the Brooklyn Dodger and Starduster. Bud—the 1976 Indoor
World Champ—holds a 1955 Nostalgia Wakefield Rubber design.
The Wakefield rules changed drastically in the 1950s, first
eliminating the fuselage cross-section rule, then limiting rubber
weight, then eliminating the ROG requirement in 1959. Today
Wakefields are javelin-launched and can clock up to six minutes in
neutral air on a scant 30 grams of rubber.
Jackson Ivey holds a pristine classic 1950s FF engine: a Johnson
.19. Such originals are still used in Nostalgia FF contests.
44 MODEL AVIATION
since that hot August day in 1939. Just as Charles Lindbergh’s
1927 transatlantic flight transformed ours into a nation in love
with flight, Korda’s flight solidified model aviation as the most
important hobby for America’s youth.
As did Lindbergh, Korda instantly became a heroic figure.
Magazines and newspapers told the story of his historic flight,
ensuring his icon status—although Korda admitted humbly, “I got
lucky.” Kit manufacturers scrambled to get the rights to his
Wakefield design, and the Megow and Burd companies sold tens
of thousands of Korda kits to eager youngsters.
Even though World War II put a damper on large-scale contest
activity during the period from 1942 to 1945, kids still built
models hand over fist, emulating the iconic Korda. In the
meantime, the hero reigned as world champion for nine years. The
Wakefield Cup was not contested again until 1948, when Korda
would finish 16th.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:34 AM Page 44October 2006 45
Willard Smitz (Phoenix AZ) holds his 35-year-old Nordic A-2
Towline Glider. From before WW II to roughly the early 1970s,
Towline Gliders were mostly balsa and tissue and were towed
straight off the line into thermals picked from the ground. “Classic”
Towline Gliders are still flown under NFFS special-event rules.
Art Hillis (Aurora CO) holds another classic Rubber design from
the early 1940s: the Stickler by Dick Korda.
The evolution of the FF Gas model is seen in Bill Gieskieng’s (L)
1950s Sandy Hogan and Ken Kullman’s 1970s Lunar-Tic, which
shows typical design refinements of a smaller stabilizer, higher
wing aspect ratio, and longer tail moment.
Bud Romak (L) holds his great-flying Gollywock; Herb Kothe holds
his Korda C Stick. Both are Old-Timer Rubber designs from pre-
WW II. The Gollywock has been kitted for more than 60 years
and is one of the most popular FF designs of all time.
10sig2.QXD 8/24/06 9:19 AM Page 45In the years since Korda’s win, it is
hard to find a modeler—and virtually
impossible to find an FF modeler—who
doesn’t emphatically answer “of course!”
when asked if they’ve heard of Dick
Korda. But in truth, FF modeling has a
longer history before 1939 than since.
Penaud: Alphonse Penaud was an
inquisitive young Frenchman who was
only 21 when he designed, built, and
publicly flew the first successful heavierthan-
air flying machine. The historic flight
took place August 18, 1871.
The rubber-powered model was the
remarkably modern-looking pusher
monoplane Penaud named the
“Planophore.” Members of the French
Academy of Sciences at the Tuileries
Gardens in Paris were stunned when
Penaud flew the model 131 feet in 11
seconds.
The Planophore was conventional in
size and appearance (20 inches long and
weighing approximately 15 grams). Its
wingspan was roughly equal to its length,
and it displayed remarkable flight
stability—the result of Penaud’s
methodical flight-testing. For the 11-
second flight Penaud used only 240 turns
on the rubber motor. In hindsight, surely
many more turns thus a more impressive
flight would have been possible.
Penaud also experimented successfully
with small rubber-powered ornithopters
and helicopters. He successfully marketed
the latter to the general public as toys.
In 1874 a bishop from Dayton, Ohio,
bought one of the Penaud flying toys and
took it home to his 8- and 12-year-old sons
for them to play with. The boys’ names
were Wilbur and Orville Wright.
Birth of a Hobby: Thanks to the flying
toys of Penaud and a few others, the world
was in love with flight long before the
Wright brothers’ aviation achievements at
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The concept
of FF model airplanes as an enjoyable
pastime—not just scientific means to an
end—was already well established before
man-carrying aviation even existed.
Shortly after the Wrights’ success in
1903, model-aircraft books and magazines
began to appear, capitalizing on the
aviation fervor that was sweeping the
world. Model clubs began springing up in
the world’s largest cities, and before long
contests were being held and records were
being kept.
The models of the day were built
mostly from hardwoods or bamboo, wire,
and paper, and flights were measured in
straight-line distance rather than duration.
Despite these handicaps, by 1916 the
world-record distance for a rubberpowered
model had surpassed one mile.
Rapid Progress: The “A”-frame twin
pusher dominated FF until roughly 1925.
By the late 1920s tractor monoplanes
became FF’s standard planform, and balsa
had replaced all others as the primary
construction material. By the 1930s
towline gliders, hand-launched gliders,
indoor microfilm models, and outdoor gasengine-
powered models came into being,
further diversifying FF.
In roughly 1936 the first folding
propeller for rubber-powered models was
originated, and it was a revolution. Models
could be made to power up to great
altitudes and glide gracefully without the
drag of those big blades. This development
gave way to the need for another
invention: the dethermalizer (DT).
In the 1930s it was common for FF
models to fly out of sight in thermals; it
was rare for modelers to even give it a
second thought. According to Model
Aviation Hall of Famer Chet Lanzo, “We
just became fast builders.” Lanzo once
wrote that a typical contest weekend meant
arriving with twice as many models as he
left with. Ouch!
The time for DTs had come. The first
DTs were pop-out rudder tabs which spun
models out of thermals. They sometimes
worked too well, resulting in a crunched
nose upon landing.
The pop-up stabilizer DT soon followed
and has continued to be the most common
DT arrangement to this day. The stabilizer
is held down on the front and rear by
rubber bands in tension. When a stubbyfuse burns through the rear band, the
stabilizer raises to a negative 40°-50°
angle, putting the model in a deep stall and
parachuting it out of the thermal.
The Max: Dick Korda’s 43:29 worldrecord
Wakefield flight soon prompted
major rules changes for how flights were
scored in competitions. Instead of hoping
for one lucky flight and an eagle-eyed
timer, FFers would shoot for a target
maximum time on each flight—similar to a
par in golf.
The “max,” as it became known, along
with the widespread use of the DT,
changed FF drastically for the better at
48 MODEL AVIATION
roughly the end of World War II. Then the
best modelers were the ones who could
consistently put their models in lift, score
the max, DT the models, and return to the
line for the next flight.
With that, models were no longer
disposable. Because of that, flight testing
and design refinements rapidly improved
the airplanes’ performance level.
The Peak of Popularity: In the 1940s
model aviation’s popularity was nearing
its zenith. Model engines were being
perfected and advancements were taking
place every month.
Giant contests were held in city parks
across America. These meets had huge
exposure through newspaper coverage and
corporate sponsors such as Plymouth
automobiles. My father recalls one meet
he entered in San Antonio, Texas, in
approximately 1949, when he was 11
years old.
“There were probably a hundred kids
entered,” he said. “You had to stand in
line to wait your turn to fly.”
By the 1950s, many FF modelers saw
CL as an improvement over their interest
and moved to that discipline. RC was also
starting to develop as yet another
alternative to FF.
But FF still ruled in the meantime. The
contest scene across the country was still
at least 50% FF. Even CL and RC
modelers built and flew FF in those days
because it was the cheapest and easiest
way to start. (Actually, it still is.)
Everyone built his or her own models
back then, which is a huge departure from
today.
The 1960s: By this time FF was still quite
popular, but RC had taken the modeling
world by storm. With the advent of
proportional radios and better battery and
engine technology, RC was just too
evolved for most modelers to resist. Yet
FF continued to thrive behind the scenes
on a lesser scale.
In an age when the three modeling
disciplines were fiercely proud and
independent, the time was right for FF
modelers to band together. Therefore, in
1967 the National Free Flight Society
(NFFS) was born.
The NFFS exists to this day as an
organization that is dedicated to
“preserving, promoting, and enhancing the
art, sport, and science of Free Flight
Model Aviation in all its forms.” Starting
with three founding members, the NFFS
has grown to more than 1,600 members in
every US state and several dozen foreign
countries.
The organization’s award-winning
Free Flight magazine is lovingly
published 10 times a year—as it has been
since 1967—by FF volunteer writers and
editors, and it contains 100% FF content.
NFFS volunteers have also produced and
published a Symposium book every year
since 1968. It features the latest in FF
technology and theory and includes an
honors list of the best FF model designs.
A Modeling Rebirth: The mid-1960s saw
the emergence of two other important
national FF movements: the Flying Aces
Club (FAC) and the Society of Antique
Modelers (SAM). SAM was founded by
old-time modelers who were interested in
nonscale designs and engines of the 1930s
and 1940s. They resurrected classic
designs such as Kordas, Gollywocks,
Comet Sailplanes, and Playboys.
The SAM movement started in Denver,
Colorado, in the early 1960s. John Pond
simultaneously spurred the movement
along further west in California, and it
struck a chord. Denver’s Model Museum
Flying Club eventually became SAM
Chapter 1: the first of hundreds of
chapters that have sprung up since.
As does the FAC, SAM holds a
national-championship meet every year,
and it is hugely popular. SAM Speaks is
one of the best newsletters in the FF
world, and it is published six times per
year.
The Flying Aces Club (FAC) was
founded by Dave Stott and Bob
Thompson—two modeling friends from
Connecticut who viewed the modeling
world as generally too serious. They
opined that it had evolved past the gradeschool
innocence of the 1930s and 1940s,
as illustrated in the pages of the whimsical
Flying Aces magazine of that era.
The FAC picked up where the
magazine left off, resurrecting an off-thecuff,
childlike aura. Bob Thompson
occasionally donned a leather flying
helmet, silk scarf, and goggles on contest
days, calling himself “Captain
Downthrust.”
The FAC steadily gained strength
through the years to the point where a
national contest was established and
approximately 60 FAC Squadrons rose up
in major cities across the country and even
overseas.
The FAC is showing no signs of
slowing down. Most of its events are for
rubber-powered flying scale models, and
FAC participants are undoubtedly the
world’s best at FF Scale.
Hundreds of FAC-only meets are held
throughout the year from coast to coast,
including a major meet at the AMA field
in Muncie, Indiana, and the annual FAC
Nats (which takes place in even-numbered
years) and “Non-Nats” (which takes place
in odd-numbered years) at the Geneseo
airport in western New York.
The FAC has an official rule book but
no elected leaders—an anachronism, one
would think. Yet this organization is a
truly great success story. It has a younger
membership base than most FF groups,
and its popularity continues to grow
steadily. All AMA clubs could benefit
from studying the FAC’s success. MA
Don DeLoach