Control Line: Aerobatics
Wynn Paul
REMEMBER the guy with the beer-barrel airplane? You know, the fellow who preached, "Horsepower conquers everything, including a Nobler and Genesis." Well, listen to what he is trying now: how about a semi-scale (shucks, it's almost full-scale, at least in the fuselage) Mark 24 Spitfire that is all fiberglass! Yes—the one and only Al Rabe, runner-up in the 1978 World Championships and three-time National Champion, is attempting to build a Stunt plane using fiberglass cloth construction for all parts: fuselage, wing, stabilizer, elevators, rudder, etc.
Al Rabe’s fiberglass Mark 24 Spitfire project
He is making molds for all component parts in hopes of being able to mass-produce, for himself, a full Stunt plane in about 150 hours of building. The molds would feature detailed work such as flush rivets and raised panel lines, in three colors, no less. The plane will have a removable wing and tail. Al is trying two different types of retracts for the Mark 24: electric and pneumatic—one type in each of two prototype wings.
Al started out using conventional fiberglass cloth, then quickly moved to Kevlar, which is about 35% lighter than conventional cloth and also about 35% stiffer. He was using an epoxy-type resin to bond the cloth. He is now experimenting with a graphite-type cloth which is even lighter, about ten times as stiff, and, unfortunately, costs about $185.00 a yard.
What is he going to use for an engine? Al hopes to use his own customized Comer .40 case, altered to end up at .60 cu. in. displacement. This engine burns about seven ounces of fuel per pattern. Incidentally, Al has also been experimenting with an auxiliary tank tucked in behind this .60 engine. The tank is made of fiberglass cloth and resin to fit around tubing, engine bearers, etc. Al reports no problem with surging or fuel starvation; the only problem seems to be that the fuel eventually eats up the tank after about 15–20 runs. He is trying to find a more suitable material for the auxiliary tank.
Of course, this whole project depends on the plane’s weight being within acceptable limits. If the wings prove too heavy, Al says he will probably scrap the whole project. More on this at a later date. He is also trying to finish up his twin-engine Hornet semi-scale British World War II fighter for Stunt that will use two .35-size engines and will also have retracts.
Engines in current use
We have seen the OS Max .40 and .45 being used for stunt, and the Enya .45 by some of the Northeast stunters; add to this group the Supertigre X-45 Schnuerle rear-exhaust. According to sunshine-land stunters Bob (sunglasses) Whitely and John (foam) Poynter, they have been running the X-45 lately in their planes, and it has more power than the Max .40 FSR or the ST .46. Bob stated recently, "The engine runs a good four cycle all the time, sounds like the typical Schnuerle engine, and pulls well."
Gene Martine made a muffler for the rear-exhaust engine which exits down and out the bottom of the fuselage. This certainly keeps the plane clean. Bob said that Martine did not perform any big modifications; he cleaned up the inside of the engine, made a venturi and a muffler. Bob runs a 13x5 prop, reports that the engine uses about 6.75 oz. of fuel, and consistently runs 55-second laps on 63 feet of .018 lines. Bob says the engine takes a long time to break in—about three hours on the block; after 50–60 flights, the engine sounds better and better. The only drawback is that with a muffler the engine weighs about 12.5 oz. So, for those looking for another engine to try, you might investigate the Supertigre X-45 rear-exhaust.
Reader responses — Old-time Stunt airplanes
The two articles that elicited the most mail were the ones on fuel tanks and the names of old stunt airplanes. Readers wrote in to add the following stunters I had left off my list:
- Super Zilch
- Flying Circus
- Flying Clown
- Brave
- deBolt Bipe series
- All-American Senior
- Lil' Duper Zilch
- Stuntwagon
- Goldberg's Glow Bug
- Shulman's Secret Weapon
- Zilch-X
- Veco Panther
- Tefft's Terror (1946–47)
- Barnstormer
- Reactor flying wing (a kit)
- Galaxy (Guillow's kit)
- Berkley Zilch series
- Leon Shulman Dronette
- Other deBolt bipes and Stuntwagons
Many thanks to Ross McMullen, Jim "Crash" Baker (Poughkeepsie, NY), Bill Lindemann, Clair Sieverling (now in Phoenix, AZ), R. J. Tucker (now in Tulsa, OK), and others who supplied names and old snapshots. Nick Rankin (Burlington, WA) enclosed very old photos of a Stanzel Shark built in the early '40s with a Torp .25 and another with an O&R .23 engine; those shots were taken in Cynthiana, KY, near Lexington. I hope Nick will send the negatives so the photos can be used in the magazine.
Requests for plans and kits
Speaking of Old-Time Stunt, readers are looking for specific plans and kits:
- Plans requested:
- Bob Palmer Smoothie (John Sharpe, Lakeview, OH)
- Galloping Comedian (Olin Brown)
- Old kits requested:
- Veco Thunderbird
- Sturd-I-Built Corsair
- Aristo-Craft Curtiss C-46 twin-engine Japanese kit
- Veco semi-scale Hawker Hurricane
If you can help with any of the above items, let the writer know. John Miske, 415 Clifton Blvd., Clifton, NJ 07013, will likely have plans for most Old-Timer stunters. As for old kits, the last one I saw was an Ambroid Arko kit that sold for $30.00 at the 1976 Nats.
Request for information on past champions
Since we are on a nostalgia trip, I again request any information, locations, or pictures of:
- Bob Dailey (from Michigan), who won Open Stunt in the 1949 Nats
- W. Howard Thombs (Warren, OH), who won Open Stunt in the 1949 Nats
I would like to contact them and get pictures of their airplanes. I have seen pictures of Thombs’s plane, the Di-Dee, which appeared in Air Trails (December 1949), but I would like to contact the man and obtain more material.
Same old story — specialty suppliers
I received a letter of complaint recently concerning late delivery of an item ordered from one of the small, specialty suppliers I’ve mentioned in this column. I’m sorry to hear it, but just remember that anytime I run plugs for products manufactured by individuals, you are assuming a certain amount of risk when ordering from these folks.
Contact
For information on Stunt or PAMPA, contact: Wynn Paul 1640 Maywick Dr. Lexington, KY 40504
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
