Letters to the Editor
5151 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie, IN 47302
Cover Identification Correction
The cover description for the January 2001 Model Aviation was incorrect.
The Extra 300S was built from a Great Planes kit and painted by Joe Avina of Newhall, CA. The model belongs to Marty Vagts, who took the photo. The .40-size Extra has custom-made graphics by Joe Waters and a fiberglass cowl and wheel pants by Stan's Fibre Tech. Powered by a Saito 80 engine, it weighs 6¼ pounds.
Our apologies for the error. — MA Staff
Aeronca Champ Memories
I have read with interest the article by Stan Alexander in the Jan. 2001 issue of Model Aviation.
He, however, states that the Aeronca Champ was first produced in 1944. I soloed in the Champ in the spring of 1942. At the time, I was a senior in high school and age 17. Incidentally, when I soloed I did not know how to drive an automobile, and walked to high school!
Everything he said about the Champ I totally agree with.
Don Cameron Tucson, Arizona
The short article about the Aeronca Champ in the January 2001 issue brought back fond memories.
With the assistance of a full-scale Champ at a local airport and Paul Matt plans, I built a scale model of this for the 1968 Nationals. Placed 3rd in [static] judging, but with the marginal flying skill, placed 12th or 13th. My model sprayed water through the booms, and was verified by one judge. It had a 77-inch wingspan, and was powered by a Fox .74.
The windshield was a challenge. I wanted to make the windshield with the "pregnant" look, not the flat fold-over that is commonly used. I used a piece of clear material, heated in the kitchen oven and gently formed over a male mold that I sculpted from wood, plaster, and body putty. It was entered in a couple meets after that, and retired. It now gathers dust and time warps in the tail feathers, hanging in my garage, contemplating the glory days of flying 32 years ago. This article resurrected fond memories.
Richard Hansen Cozad, Nebraska
Paper Airplane Nostalgia
What memories came back to me of the "paper airplanes" during World War II (featured in D.B. Mathews' December 2000 "Flying for Fun" column). I would rush home after school to listen to the "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy" radio program sponsored by Wheaties®. And I ordered many of the fold-up paper planes with Wheaties® box tops. I remember the Heinkel and P-40 fighter planes, which flew well in calm summer evenings using a penny for nose weight. They were my first hand-launched gliders, and I later graduated to Zaic Thermic 20s made of balsa. Thank you, Mr. Mathews, for the pleasant respite from the past.
P.S. I still have the old Majestic cabinet, circa 1933, radio of my boyhood, though it no longer "works."
Max K. Burkhead Fairmont, West Virginia
Swastika Debate
Well, well, well! Political correctness has finally raised its ugly head in the ranks of the AMA! C. Thomas Van Vechten's letter proposes to change the rules to accommodate some individuals who may be offended by the presence of a swastika insignia on scale models of German aircraft. Now, while his proposal doesn't go so far as to ban such insignia, it does infringe on the rights of those who strive for authenticity.
Should we use this rule change to affect the use of the Israeli star because it may offend some Arab modelers or spectators? I have some friends who were POWs in North Korea, and they would certainly be offended by seeing the communist red star on those MiG models, because that represents and reminds them of the people who tortured them! The same can be said of Zero models, because the red ball would offend WWII veterans of the Bataan Death March and the kamikaze attacks on the ships of Navy vets. German citizens who were subjected to bombing during WWII could certainly be justified in objecting to B-17 models sporting the U.S. star or Lancaster models with the RAF roundel. Just how far must we take this silliness? The insignia on aircraft are historical realities and we can't change history. There is altogether too much of this reinventing history to promote some political agenda going on, and we certainly don't need it in our hobby.
To C. Thomas Van Vechten I say, if the swastika offends you, don't model German aircraft of the WWII era. And there are more important things than the decorations on model aircraft.
Bob Veazey Wilmington, Delaware
I tend to agree with Mr. C. Thomas Van Vechten regarding the appearance of national designation on models of military aircraft of opposing military forces of WWII. He, of course, specified German insignia while others may feel that way about other Axis nations.
I have built model aircraft commercially for more than fifteen years and have repeatedly refused contracts to build Japanese aircraft models.
During WWII, I flew A-24s in the Central Pacific during the Gilbert and Marshall campaigns for more than thirty missions. During this tenure two of our squadron's aircraft were shot down and the pilots and gunners were captured. They were executed the next day, Tokyo Rose told us so, giving names and dates.
To this day, I hate to see the word Mitsubishi on the rear or side of a car. I would much prefer to shoot at them! The airplanes, that is!
May I suggest that if a person building a military model of a foreign adversary feels as Mr. Van Vechten and I do, they are permitted to "paint out" the original insignia used and paint with the "Stars and Bars," as we did on captured operational aircraft. There should be no penalty for doing so because it was a way of the times.
John W. Rawlings Lake Saint Louis, Missouri
I am truly sorry that Mr. Van Vechten's memories of Nazi Germany are so painful that the mere sight of a swastika is enough to cause him distress.
However, his suggestion that the AMA rules for judging scale be amended so that he and others like him may leave that symbol off a model without loss of scale points is not an acceptable method of dealing with the problem.
The Nazi swastika is a historical fact, and any attempt to censor its appropriate display in that context is the worst kind of revisionism. The sight of it should offend all of us and serve as a reminder to never allow the situation that it symbolizes to happen again. It represents unpleasant facts that some of us would rather not face.
However, hiding it or eliminating it will not change what happened; it will not banish the memory or make it any less likely to result in history repeating itself.
If Mr. Van Vechten's suggestion should be adopted, it would create an elite class of scale modelers—those who are permitted to leave correct markings at shows—and others who have moral objections to them. What about people who are offended by Japanese aircraft markings, or the sexist nose art on WWII bombers? One solution to his problem seems self-evident. If putting a Nazi swastika on a scale model is repulsive to him, then he should build a different model. Being given special consideration is not a practical solution to his problem.
Bill Darkow Olympia, Washington
(Continued on page 173)
Letters to the Editor
Seeking Information
In an attempt to obtain information about an old modeling friend of mine I am writing your publication for assistance.
I am trying to find information about a Dan DeLuca. Dan and I became friends in the 1970s when we lived in Elmwood Park, New Jersey. Dan and I were members of the Riverview R/C Flyers club.
I understand that Dan and his wife moved to Central Florida around the Ocala area perhaps in the later ’70s or early ’80s. An inquiry to the membership department at AMA informed me that Mr. DeLuca had passed away about three or four years ago.
I am hoping to find any information about Dan from anyone who knew him. I would also like to get in touch with anyone who might have any planes that Dan might have built. I would love to own one of Dan’s aircraft. Dan was a master builder.
In the ’70s he designed a series of pattern models called the Pathfinder and also the XL-1. He also designed a simple and solid trainer he called the Tenderfoot. Dan was also an artist with MonoKote®. He won the Toledo show in MonoKote® in the ’70s and also published a how-to booklet with his covering technique during that same period.
Anyone with any type of information regarding Dan can contact me at the following address:
1321 Wagon Wheel Rd. Lawrence, KS 66049 E-mail: bconradi@cjnetworks.com
Bill Conradi Lawrence, Kansas
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
