FREE FLIGHT: SPORT and SCALE
Bill Warner 1370 Monache Avenue, Porterville CA 93257
Getting into Free Flight Scale ain't as easy as it once was. Build-on plans, articles, ads for great kits, and tons of supplies of use to free flight (FF) modelers once filled the model magazines. Every small town used to have a store that stocked things like Japanese tissue, rubber strip, dime kits, and other things kids needed. No more. Nowadays, finding a multipage "build-on" rubber-scale plan in a major magazine would be like finding a Sarah Vaughan track on a Snoop Doggy-Dog compact disc.
So how does a newcomer break into this exciting, challenging, and rewarding discipline? One way is to become acquainted with the wealth of resources that are available.
I have tried to bring together the best of what is available concerning this branch (or should I say, "root") of the hobby. The Cottage Wings Resource Guide is a project that I have been working on for the past few years; I've tried to help make people aware of the rich and varied world of Free Flight Scale.
It's a list of essential sources for the FF Scale modeler: suppliers, plan sources, clubs and newsletters, information and documentation, et cetera. Most of these are not big-bucks operations, and so you never hear much about many of them in the current model press. There are more than 200 listings at present; updates are made almost daily. It is a non-profit undertaking, with the sole purpose of steering modelers on the road to modeling satisfaction.
I have had many fans of the list write to me with corrections, but I have never had anyone say that it wasn't worth its weight in four-pound C-grain balsa. Send me a dollar bill to cover the printing cost, and a legal-size self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with postage for two ounces (55 cents) to Bill Warner, 1370 Monache Ave., Porterville CA 93257.
Start with a Newsletter
Flying Aces Club newsletter
3301 Cindy Lane Erie, PA 16506
This bimonthly newsletter has it all! They also put out plan packs of great rubber-scale models by some of the greatest modelers in the hobby, drawn from their 1,200-plus membership, mostly retirement-age enthusiasts. Annual membership is $15.
Max-Fax, journal of the D.C. Maxecutors
c/o Frank Rowsome 10904 Bellehaven Road Damascus, MD 20872
One of the country's top clubs, the D.C. Maxecutors have a "class" newsletter with a separate, build-on scale plan in each issue! The bimonthly newsletter is $15 per year.
Flightmasters newsletter
Byron Calomiris 3406 Fela Ave. Long Beach, CA 90808
Flightmasters is celebrating its fiftieth birthday, and has been all-scale since, as Tom Arnold puts it, "The Wright Brothers were building bicycles." Always three-views, plans, and things of use to FF scalers. Bimonthly; $15 per year.
Hangar Pilot
Dr. John B. Martin 2180 Tigertail Miami, FL 33133
"Doc" Martin puts out this long-running newsletter with lots of character for indoor modelers. The MIAMA club is an international leader on the indoor scene. Subscriptions are $12.50 per year.
Where to get kits, materials, and more
Aerodyne
1924 Edinger Santa Ana, CA 92705 Tel.: (714) 258-0805
Al Heinrich carries good colored nitrate that covers in white! He also has other colors, plus butyrate dopes. Diesel and glow fuel, silk, electrics, CO2s, lots of old-time rubber and gas kits, books, and plans. Send $2 and a large SASE for a catalog. Al recently bought out Old Timer Model Supply, formerly owned by the late, great Ken Sykora.
Sams
The Chapel, Sandon Herts, SG9 0QJ England
George Wallbridge's incredible mail-order house in England. His 58-page catalog, with lots of pictures and drawings, is an inspiration, and is free, except that you need to send a US five-dollar bill (no checks or stamps) to cover postage. He has over 1,600 goodies in stock, including about everything that's available in the US, plus plenty of stuff that's not. Pay for your orders with Visa or MasterCard; they work internationally.
Peck-Polymers
Box 710399 Santee, CA 92072 Tel.: (619) 448-1818 Fax: (619) 448-1833
Model-for-model, Peck has a history of more winners than any other manufacturer I know. Sandy's line of really great kits, supplies, engines, motors, small RC equipment, books, and plans is second to none. She carries a full line of CO2 and electric stuff, too, including Gasparin (Czech) and Brown CO2 engines. Her extensive and fascinating catalog is $4.
Hobby Supply South
5060 Glade Road Acworth, GA 30101 Tel.: (404) 974-0843
Denny Atkins and Ray Abadie stock lots of useful stuff like Trexler wheels, Japanese silk, Peck products, Golden Age, Veron, KeilKraft, and Mercury kits, dopes, tissues, and Jet-X. Their super catalog (with lots of pictures and drawings) sells for $4—less than their cost to produce it! Their catalog is also on the Internet (in installments) at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hss.
A Few Plans Sources
A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service
1008 E. Baseline Road, Suite 1074 Tempe, AZ 85283 Tel.: (602) 730-9180
Al Lidberg has a large range of fine plans. These range from small profile-scale models to more advanced built-up rubber-powered scale airplanes with knock-off wings. The detailed instructions are well laid out in print for you. Send $1.50 for 16 pages of listings.
Allen Hunt Plan Service
Box 726 Dunbar, WV 25064-0726
Allen has more than 2,000 plans in his catalog; many are illustrated with line drawings so you can see what they look like. Many of the old-time model plans have been redone with rib and former outlines and both wings—a nice feature, considering that many were originally done with only one. Some have three-view scale drawings with them. The catalog is $4, refundable with order.
Bag of Peanuts
Doug Mooney Box 231192 San Diego, CA 92194
Packs of plans for Peanut Scale (13-inch maximum span) models by the legendary Walt Mooney. There are six different sets (or "bags") of plans. Sets 1–5 have approximately 13 plans each, and are $6 (postage paid) per set — that's almost 50 cents each! Set 6 has 36 plans reduced to 8-inch span for Pistachio Scale.
John Pond Plans Service
Box 90310 San Jose, CA 95109-3310
John Pond has what is probably the largest selection of plans in the world! He has four different catalogs: Gas-Powered Free Flight; Rubber and Towline; Scale Models A–K; Scale Models L–Z. The catalogs are $2 each.
Special Resources
Hannam's Runway
Box 210 Magalia, CA 95954
Bill Hannam is one of the few suppliers with a "fan club"; he is a noted columnist with Model Builder magazine, a respected designer, and the author of a number of books on aero history and small-scale rubber models. He and his charming wife Joan carry a line of books (including many of his own) of interest to FF scalers. They also carry three-views, model accessories, whimsy, and lots more. Ask about their beginning-modeler book section. Their catalog is $1 ($2 foreign); for a brochure send a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE).
T and A Hobby Lobby
3512 W. Victory Blvd. Burbank, CA 91505 Tel.: (818) 842-5062
Tony and Addie Naccarato run one of the finest family-run hobby shops in the world. They are an institution. They are experts in all phases of the hobby, from indoor microfilm models to RC giants; they stock stuff you'll find nowhere else. They're at the center of the Black Sheep Exhibition Squadron, running junior programs and helping new modelers any way they can. How many hobby shops do you know that have tour buses stop by?
Aircraft Data
Wm. McCombs Box 763576 Dallas, TX 75224
Bill McCombs' recently updated book Making Scale Models Fly is something that every FF scaler should have in his (or her) library. It is extensive and intensive, and should answer most questions that beginners in this branch of the hobby might have. Bill's book is $14.95 (postage paid). Anyone can build an FF scale model, but getting it to fly is something else!
Some recommended kits for getting started
- Rank Beginner: L-TEC Hawk, Falcon, and Eagle ready-to-fly plastic foam sport models. They're well-engineered, guaranteed fliers for people who have never been able to get a free flight model to fly. They're available from T and A Hobby Lobby.
- Novice: Two stick-fuselage models that will help you learn basic FF building and adjusting techniques are the Peck-Polymers Peck R.O.G. and Sky Bunny.
- Intermediate: Built-up fuselage non-scale models such as the Peck-Polymers Prairie Bird or the Flying Aces Moth.
- Transition-to-Scale models: the high-wing Lacey M-10 or Nesmith Cougar; the low-wing Miles M-10 or MacDonald Madcap; the Andreason BA-4 biplane (all from Peck-Polymers).
I hope that you will be tempted to join the wonderful world of Free Flight Scale modelers. The first time you have a small WACO cabin rubber model make a minute in a low-ceiling gym, or watch your Marcoux-Bromberg circle lazily upward in a thermal, you'll be convinced that this is the plus ultra of modeldom!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
