Free Flight: Old-Timers
Bill Baker 1902 Peter Pan Norman, OK 73072
Oversight and the Thermic 100
Oversight was what it was. In my most recent column (February 1990) I told you about some of the fine Old-Timer kits available from Hobby Horn (you'll find their ad elsewhere in this issue, if you want the address). I forgot to mention the Thermic 100 partial kit that is listed in the Hobby Horn catalog but not yet in the ads.
As with the other partial kits, this one consists basically of ribs and plans—and in the case of the Thermic 100 there are lots of both. The wing spars have been strengthened enough for RC purposes, and the fuselage is shown in both the pre‑WWII pod‑and‑boom version and the built‑up fuselage version which appeared after the war.
I know that there were many of you who, like me, in your youth stared longingly at the photos and ads for the 100 and then bought the Thermic 50. Now is your chance to really do it!
Memories of early contests
The first contest I ever flew in was one of the meets sponsored by Plymouth about 1947 or so, and I placed in the Towline Glider event with a Thermic 50‑X. I also flew in a Rubber event but couldn't make the 40 seconds needed to record an official flight. Anyway, I never lost my love for gliders, and when I won first at the AMA Nats in A‑1 many years later (1982), I could hardly wait to tell Frank Zaic (the designer and manufacturer of the Thermic kits). His response was, "What's a big boy like you doing flying a little A‑1?" Respect hard to come by ... maybe if I build a 100?
Old‑Timer events at SAM Champs
At the SAM Champs (annual championships organized by the Society of Antique Modelers—Ed.), Old‑Time Free Flight Towline is sometimes offered. It is not considered a "basic event" in the SAM rule book, which by definition means that it does not have to be offered at each of the annual SAM Champs, but may be offered by the host SAM chapter as a special event. (Special events do not count toward the high‑point championship award, and awards generally go only to third place, as opposed to fifth place for the basic events.)
Anyway, the Towline Glider event is fun when it is offered. In 1989, for the first time to my knowledge, SAM also offered an OT RC Glider event.
Towline free flight — tips and modifications
For OT Towline Free Flight the main points are:
- Beef up the spars—make them much stronger than shown on most OT towline plans.
- Make the tow hook stronger and make it adjustable.
- Figure out a dethermalizer installation.
- No autorudder is allowed unless it is shown on the plans.
Most of the pre‑WWII designs just used a tow hook set to one side of the centerline and offset the rudder against this. You pretty much had to tow it up and get it off in one motion. You did not keep it on the line, as is modern practice.
I don't know what it is like to tow a Thermic 100, but I can testify that it is much harder to tow a modern A‑1 than a larger A‑2, and I rather suspect the same is true of the Old‑Timers: the smaller planes probably are harder to tow, as the wing loading, and therefore the climbing speed, is higher.
Why the wing structures were so inadequate in most of the kits and published OT towline designs I don't know. Maybe they only flew on calm days. When it is calm here (which doesn't happen very often, and when it does trees and houses fall down), I find my old legs won't get me going fast enough to tow a glider anyway. I'm trying to tell you to make the spars much stronger than shown on the plans of most every OT towliner.
Asides and ideas
My wife, being a journalist, used to write up my contest wins for the local paper, and the proofreader nearly always "corrected" the term "Towline Glider" to "towline glider." (No, my wife doesn't help me with my model writing.) Two‑line gliders might be a good idea. Maybe you could steer them with a bellcrank? Combat with streamers—or knives? They do it with kites.
Suppliers and contacts
A reliable source for quality parts for Ohlsson & Rice engines for many years has been Victor G. Didelet. Tanks, needle valves, timers, gaskets, drive washers—you name it. He also has parts for other engines (Atom, Bunch, Forster, Hurricane, Bantam, Denny, etc.), but these are mainly spares, not complete replacements. If you need parts or other help with an O&R engine, I think he is your man. He can, for example, replace the intake on a sideport engine for only $7.50. He has a few major parts like crankshafts, rods, etc. Send him a SASE for an updated list—updates are done several times a year:
- Victor G. Didelet
4410 Lorna Lane Erie, PA 16506 Tel. 1‑814/838‑3263
The AMA has awards for various kinds of service to the cause, and I think that they should recognize the cottage industries that hang in there and keep on with the integrity and quality exemplified by Victor.
How have I written this column for so long without giving a major plug to Jim Walton Retrieval Systems? I have a file folder of things to include in the column, and Jim's flyer has been carried forward for "next time" for a long time.
He makes a very sophisticated system, with airborne radio transmitters as light as four grams (including battery) which broadcast signals detectable by a hand‑held receiver equipped with a directional antenna. You can find models in a cornfield with this thing.
You could equip each model with a transmitter, but what Jim does himself is to transfer the tiny radios from model to model as needed. The system is not cheap, but after it has saved a couple of models that otherwise would have been lost, it will have paid for itself. A SASE to Jim Walton Retrieval Systems will fetch the info by return mail:
- Jim Walton Retrieval Systems
723 Cooper Lake Rd., S.E. Smyrna, GA 30080 Tel. 1‑404/434‑4905
Another source for free‑flight supplies is Airman's Supply Co. Send a stamp for a four‑page flyer, which lists colored silkspan, Japanese tissue, and model‑line offerings:
- Airman's Supply Co.
P.O. Box 1593 Norfolk, NE 68702‑1593
Publications, catalogs, and swap sheets
R.N. Zaic yearbooks ... stuff you need which the hobby shop in the mall never heard of. If these brand names are unfamiliar to you because your local hobby shop does not stock them, you have got the point that most quality stick‑and‑tissue kits are manufactured by cottage industries and distributed by small mail order houses such as Airman's Supply.
A couple of issues back I ran something of the history of Air Trails magazine as compiled by Associate Editor Ross McMullen. I got a letter from Bruce Thompson (Toronto, Canada) saying:
"The Air Trails history is not complete ... it first started in 1928 (Vol. 1, No. 1 was dated October), was a pulp size, and had only aviation stories in it. It was published by Street and Smith. Bill Barnes started with Vol. 1, No. 1 (February 1934) and continued until September 1935 as a pulp size."
I recently got my copy of the new AMA Supply and Service catalog. I strongly recommend the books Rubber Powered Model Airplanes authored by Don Ross and The World of Model Airplanes by Bill Meier, as having much useful "how‑to‑do‑it" information. I cannot recommend the books by Charles Hampson Grant (Aero Science of Free Flight and Gateway to Aeronautics) except for their historical interest. They are of interest for that but do not have the kind of practical "here is how to do it" information of the Ross and Meier works.
The most recent edition of the MECCA Swap Sheet (Model Engine Collectors Association) has an ad for gaskets for a number of engines. If you have a need, contact John Zandecki:
- John Zandecki
267 Lincoln Creek Rd. Centralia, WA 98531
Include the usual SASE. In the same issue is a fellow saying the Anderson Spitfire .65 is back in production using the original dies and tooling! Send a SASE for details to:
- Marvin Miller
250 Bronco Rd. Soquel, CA 95073 Tel. 1‑408/475‑6858
Tell you what. Send a SASE to MECA, 3007 Travis, West Lake, LA 70669 and request an application blank, join up, and then I won't have to read the Swap Sheet to you like this.
Closing
Keep those cards, letters, pictures, old Ardens you don't want, etc., coming my way!
Bill Baker 1902 Peter Pan Norman, OK 73072
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
