Cooper-Travers Hawk

DEDICATED SCALE enthusiasts often go to great lengths to find obscure full-scale
aircraft to model. They delight in finding something that few fliers have ever heard of,
much less modeled. They spend hours in libraries or on the Internet looking for that
obscure subject that will be the envy of their peers.

Build the U.S. Navy's Martin MO-1 in Pistachio Scale Size

CONTROL Line fliers who enjoy the Navy Carrier event are well acquainted with the Martin MO-1-even though some say it is ugly. Considering that the "stand-off-a-mile" CL scale versions aren't nearly as accurate as this rubber-powered Pistachio Scale model, perhaps they are right! The MO-1 is the product of World War I technology applied to a two-place shipboard observation plane for the fleet. The first true carrier-based Navy aircraft, it was flown off the deck of the Langley from 1922 to 1924.

S.A.I. = 207

THE ORIGINAL inspiration for this model came from my MIAMA clubmate Doc Martin's 13-inch-span Peanut Scale version published in his Hangar Pilot newsletter. The one I built flew great, until someone stole it along with other Peanuts. Looking for a classy design to build as a 16-inch No-Cal profile Scale, I came across the old Ambrosini S.A.I. 207 plans. All I had to do was enlarge them on a copy machine and start building. The full-scale Italian prototype was finished in red overall with black-and-white markings-just the thing for red Japanese tissue covering and photocopy bond insignia. The plan is the artwork.

VTO Nostalgia

AEROMODELING time travelers don't need a Delorean time machine to travel into the history of free flight or to turn those dreams of times past into reality by building a new rendition of an old model. All they need is nostalgic reverie. Members of the Old-Timers Free Flight movement have been building prewar designs since John Pond suffered his middle-age crisis. John was one of the founders of SAM-the Society of Antique Modelers-and continues to support and promote the organization internationally as well as in this country. He is also keeper of the world's largest Old-Timer plans collections. You can read of his exploits in his "Plug Sparks" column in Model Builder. But what of those modelers of the following generation whose dreams of their youth are not filled with Playboys, Zippers, and Comet Clippers, much less Lanzo or Korda rubber jobs? For them, the names that conjure nostalgic memories are Zeek, Lucky Lindy, Civy Boy, Ramrod, Spacer, Wild Goose, and others. Their personal time machines are created from balsa and glue, ready to ride the thermals again, powered by engines that no longer appear in the magazine ads.

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