Giant Scale at Toledo
By Col. John A. de Vries
The Weak Signals RC Expo has evolved into the granddaddy of RC trade shows and a premier display contest. Modelers bring their best efforts to be judged against others, all with the highest standards of excellence.
Walking into the Toledo Sports Arena when the Weak Signals RC Club holds its annual RC Expo is like coming downstairs on Christmas morning and seeing the tree all lit up. The colors, the lights, and, of course, the models—it's like every Christmas you've ever experienced. There's one major difference, however. Santa Claus stays around well after the arena is trimmed! He's there in the form of all the people you've read about in the model magazines—a pantheon of RC heroes and their manufacturing "helpers." Many of those Santas come to Toledo to display their new and current wares, answer your questions, and, if you're lucky, sell you the stuff that RC dreams are made of.
To drop a few names, we're talking about:
- Lowe
- Underwood
- Banka
- Pepino
- Gretz
- Byron
- Worth
- Rosenstock
- Haffke
- Brown
- Lind
- Bennett
- Messer
- Shulman
- Hunt
- Kidd
- Smith (Jerry)
- Wallace
- Northrop
- Farkas
- Banks
- Zingali
- Nowak
- Moulton
- Wischer
- Polk
- Uravitch
- Brodbeck
- Moucha
- and many others
There were representatives manning booths from the U.S., Japan, France, Britain, Germany, and Korea. With over 140 booths at the three-day Ohio RC celebration, it's impossible to name every participant and worker.
Scale Classes and Giant Scale Dominance
Giant Scale being my forte, my primary purpose in attending this year's festivities was to note the state of that particular art. In addition to being the granddaddy of U.S. RC trade shows, Toledo is also a premier static display contest. Modelers bring their best efforts to be judged against others—and the standards of excellence are high.
Judging categories included:
- Sport Biplane
- Glider/Sailplane
- Helicopter
- Sport Airplane
- Pattern
- Best Finish
- Best Mono-Kote
- Precision Scale Model
- Military Standoff Scale
- Civilian Standoff Scale
I'm very pleased to report that Giant Scale models literally dominated the Scale classes at Toledo. All of the Precision entries were large (within the AMA/IMAA definition). With three or four exceptions, the entries in the Standoff Scale classes were Giants as well. Many of the commercial booths also featured Giant models as displays.
Notable Civilian Models
An interesting mix of scale models representing both classic and modern eras was on exhibit. Although there weren't any Pioneer or World War I birds, the '30s and '40s were well covered by civilian transport and racing aircraft plus a preponderance of warbirds.
Highlights included:
- Ed Izzo's (Florida) quarter-scale rendition of Art Chester's Jeep, scratch-built from Wendell Hostetler's drawings.
- A Stinson SR-8 by Ford of Glencoe, IL, constructed from late Dick Barron's plans representing an American Airlines route-check craft. Entered in Standoff, the SR-8 gullwing was magnificent in dark blue with red and white pin-striping.
- George Miomara's Waco YMF-3 (from a Pica kit).
- David Shardt's and Dennis Karpanty's J-3 clipped-wing Cub (Sig kit).
- Dean Wern (Bryan, OH) powered his Krier-Kraft biplane with a big Supertiger—outstanding work.
- John S. Hodgson's Curtiss A-1 Shrike (Massillon, OH) in between-the-wars olive drab and chrome yellow Army Air Corps colors.
Precision Scale Highlights
Metal master Orest Drobey (Winnipeg, Manitoba) entered his '30s Bellanca Air Cruiser on floats. The model was breathtaking—absolute perfection.
Warbirds and Military Standoff Highlights
Two Precision Scale models especially represented the era:
- R. S. Marcel's Fw-190, displayed with its gun bay and cockpit open—truly a complete miniature airplane.
- Frank S. Mizer's (Olmstead, OH) Westland Lysander Mk.3, with functioning slats, flaps, sliding canopies, and a complete scale interior—superlative work.
On the Military Standoff table and elsewhere, notable Giants included:
- Ed Izzo's modified Byron kit Grumman F6F Hellcat in a scale yellow-and-red scheme.
- William Carper's (Jackson, OH) Giant Scale P-47D, duplicating a restored Jug in California—built from Bert Baker plans with a shiny, well-documented camouflage finish.
- Andy Smith (Rockford, Ontario) with a spectacular Hawker Tempest Mk V in dull wartime camouflage.
- Roy De Frain (Toledo, OH) with a Byron kit P-40E.
- Al Masters (Rocky River, OH) with a scratch-built Nieuport 28—truly beautiful.
- James Leblanc's giant Grumman F-14 Tomcat with functioning swing wings, flaps, dive brakes, upper wing spoilers, retracts, and a complete interior—a work of art.
- Mike Barbee's DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter in white and orange.
- Wendell Hostetler's (Orrville, OH) cream, white, and blue Skybolt biplane.
- Al White's (Mikado, MI) Flybaby biplane.
World Champs Scale team member Steve Sauger (Troy, MI) joined other Giants on the Precision table with his 1/5-scale Aeronca 15-AC Sedan—a beautiful, understated design. One puzzler was an entry by Harry C. Roberts Jr. identified as a Boeing AT-3, powered by two O.S. .46DF engines—well executed but hard to place by prototype and era.
Other Highlights
As at major shows, the AMA established a transmitter check booth at Toledo. Tables groaned under the weight of hundreds of RC radios whose owners sought the coveted gold and silver stickers. The AMA Frequency Committee staffed the booth, making it first-class. When people like Bill Hershberger, Chuck Ahern, Dave Hilsenhoff, George Steiner, Lance Halle, Larry Dungan, Fred Marks, and Warren Piotr check your transmitter, you know you've been treated royally.
RC flying machines at Toledo weren't limited to static displays. Five lighter-than-air craft dominated the airspace above the exhibits in the main hall. Although Sig's balloon was tethered, four others buzzed around under perfect control. Colorful helium-filled bubbles advertised Airtronics, MACS Products, KMI, and the AMA. Twin electric motors in positional pods moved the balloons under radio direction.
With many industry and club figures on site, there were meetings, reunions, parties, and conferences throughout the show. The arena's public address system was almost constantly in use, directing people to official and unofficial get-togethers. Of special interest to Big Bird builders and fliers was IMAA's ninth birthday party, held off-site at the Royal Toledo Inn. Born at the 1980 show, the IMAA came into the limelight with sandwiches, potables, birthday cake, and hangar flying.
The surging crowds of model builders, the color, the demonstrations of new products, and the outstanding models—no question about it, the Weak Signals' 35th annual RC Expo lived up to expectations and the high standards of previous Toledo shows. They really know how to do it!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
