Free Flight: Old-Timers
Bill Baker
1902 Peter Pan Norman, OK 73072
Lawrenceville site
LAWRENCEVILLE looks good to me! I attended the Mid‑America Free Flight Champs at Lawrenceville, IL, October 17–18, 1987, and had a great time visiting, taking pictures, and scouting ahead. This is the planned site for the 1988 SAM (Society of Antique Modelers — Ed.) Champs. I think it will do fine. How fine depends greatly on the crop situation. The cultivated land (downwind of the prevailing wind directions, of course) is usually planted in corn, so this great annual contest is held in the fall. For next year, it happens that potatoes will be planted, and they should be harvested before the July 18–22 SAM Champs.
The first day of last year's Mid‑America meet had strong winds (about 15–20 mph), but they were out of the west, and there was a mile of runway and another mile of corn stubble downwind. The second day the wind was very light from the south. Retrieval was not a problem either day. There are some scattered trees, but no forest, no swamp, no ditches, and no tall vegetation for models to hide behind.
Accommodations
I stayed at the Executive Inn, and I liked it, especially the good buffet food. The inn is five stories; the dining room is in the center and the rooms form a doughnut around this huge space. Some of the trees decorating the dining area reached the fourth floor. (Now, if the trees could be moved to one side and the air conditioning turned off — what an indoor site that would make!)
Across the street is a Holiday Inn, and just down the road a bit is Vincennes University, where dormitory rooms will be available to house SAM Champs participants.
The contest
Bud Brown and Rey Mazzacco were the Contest Directors for the 1987 Mid‑America FF Champs, and they had 98 happy contestants — a large meet! I saw people there from Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana (as you might expect), but they also came from Georgia, Alabama, Virginia, Minnesota, and Michigan (and other places, too, I am sure). Those are just the home states of people that I knew. So, if you are deciding between traveling to the AMA Nationals or the SAM Champs to fly Free Flight this year, there really is no choice. And, if you are looking for a happy contest to end your season for '88, I will see you at Lawrenceville, too!
Like many large contests, this one has AMA events, FAI events, and some Old‑Timer events. I got quite a kick out of watching Zygfryd Sulisz max his world‑class FAI Power ship on a five‑second engine run and then seeing Joe Konefes max his Buzzard Bombshell on a 10‑sec. run. Oops!
Buzzard Bombshell plans and kits
In my January column I mentioned that a Buzzard Bombshell scaled to five‑foot span was "SAM‑legal" for O‑T Free Flight. What I failed to do, however, was to give you the designer's address so that you could order a plan! The five‑foot‑span plan is $5 (folded) or $7 shipped rolled in a tube. He also has a neat little CO2‑powered version you might like — I imagine $4 would buy a copy.
Order from:
- Joe Konefes
1025 Shari Lane Libertyville, IL 60048
I also should have mentioned that the four‑foot‑span version is also legal. There was even a kit available a few years back, put out by 4‑Ks. There may still be a few around; you might try FAI Model Supply or Hobby Horn to see if they have them.
Engines, plugs, and supplies
Need spark plugs? I have just received some new X‑32 plugs from Bert Striegler, 5831 McKnight, Houston, TX 77035. They are made by the Stitt Spark Plug Company, Conroe, TX. They can be ordered from Bert for $7.50 each; they appear to be very well made ($7.50? Gasp! Back in the Good Old Days a brand‑new Champion plug cost about 69¢! — RMcM).
Bert is also a distributor for the Dunham line of British‑made replica ignition engines, the most popular of which are the Orwicks, which have been very well accepted by Old‑Timer fliers. The Dunham line is also distributed by Argo‑U.S.A.:
- Argo‑U.S.A.
3229 Dianora Dr. Palos Verdes, CA 90274
It would be of great help to me if makers and distributors of engines and other products would keep me informed of their current availability situation, and I will tell the troops.
Glow engine conversions
In spite of the availability of replica engines, there continues to be a need for the conversion of glow engines to ignition, as allowed by SAM rules. Phil Bernhard informs me that he will continue to provide his service in the fine tradition established by his late father, Otto Bernhard.
He has converted OS Max engines in .30, .35, and .40 sizes, but if you want a .15, .20, or .25 you will have to furnish the engine. This could be a problem, as the loop‑scavenged engines are no longer made; however, Tower Hobbies has some of the .15s, and they should be easy to find used.
Phil says that they will continue to sell ignition accessories and other supplies important to the Old‑Timer fliers, and he is working on an updated catalog.
- Phil Bernhard
1719 South Harvard Blvd. Gardena, CA 90247 Phone: (213) 329‑0273
Conversion services
One of the only conversion services that I know of that is still active is Les Payne:
- Les Payne
881 South Josephine Street Denver, CO 80209
He can put timers on plain‑bearing engines that have a shaft size between 1/8 and 7/16 in. and which also have 1/8 in. between the intake stack and the front of the crankcase casting. This would include McCoy reed heads and blue‑head Stunt engines, K&B green‑heads (1.0 and larger), and OS Max and Veco plain‑bearing engines. I recently sent him a K&B .23 and got it back in about three weeks with the timer and fuel tank installed. Send him an SASE for price details.
I have a K&B .35 that he converted for me years ago which is a great runner. It pulls a Buzzard Bombshell about as well as Joe Konefes' with a Brown Jr. .60!
Parts sources
Maybe you need parts for old engines? OK, there are three major sources I know about:
- Victor Didelot
4410 Loma Lane Erie, PA 16506 Victor has long been a reliable source of O&R parts, such as fuel tanks, needle valves, and cowl plates. An SASE should get you his current list.
- Micro Model Engineering
1301 West Lafayette Sturgis, MI 49091 An extensive catalog is available; the catalog is $2.
- Chris Rossbach
RD 1 Gloversville, NY 12078 Chris has a catalog for $4, and it's worth the price just for the illustrations and lists of parts.
These latter two catalogs contain astounding things. It seems that if they do not have a part in stock they can make one for you. While these custom‑made parts are not inexpensive, the quality of the parts I've seen is very high. There is no excuse for not having the integral fuel tank on that Super Cyclone or a timer for that Phantom P‑30!
Closing
That's about all the space they allow me. Write and let me know good stuff I can tell others about.
Did you know that Bartles and James wine coolers are very popular in Mexico? They call them "Dos Okies." Buy me a beer, and I will explain to you.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
