RADIO CONTROL GIANTS
Byline
John A. de Vries 4610 Moffat Ln., Colorado Springs, CO 80915
I was asleep that late-summer evening. The upstairs hall light came on and I heard people talking. Someone opened my bedroom door and my mother came in.
"Jack! Jack! wake up!" she said.
"What's all the noise about?" I asked sleepily.
"Jack, Allan Paine is here and he's on his way to the National Air Races. He wants to know if you'd like to go along."
I'd picked strawberries at the Paine's farm earlier that summer. Allan was the grown family son.
"Yes," I said heartily, and soon we were in Allan's convertible on our way to Cleveland, OH. I slept most of the way.
The 1938 National Air Races was pure heaven for a 13-year-old model-airplane builder.
Harold Johnson did aerobatics in, of all things, a Ford Tri-motor! Radio Control Modeler has Giant Scale plans for the Ford.
Alex Papana put his Bücker Jungmeister through its paces, which included picking up a handkerchief from the ground with its wingtip. Great Giant Scale plans for the Bücker are available from a variety of sources.
The Army and Navy flew over the assembled throng; the Army's 27th Fighter Squadron showed off its new Seversky P-35s and the Navy flew a squadron of Grumman F3F-2s—stubby radial-powered biplanes with colorful paint jobs. I don't know of any Giant Scale plans for either of these 1930s military aircraft.
Frank Fuller flew in, winning the Bendix Trophy for 1938, then continued on to set a coast-to-coast speed record. He was flying a civilian version of the P-35, which is modeled as a Williams Bros. plastic kit—complete with great instruction drawings by old friend Bill Hannan.
There was an exhibition of the Short Takeoff & Landing (STOL) capabilities of the German Fieseler Storch, but I can't recall the pilot's name. There are several plans for the stalky observation and liaison airplane.
We were there for the Greve Trophy Race, limited to speed demons with 550-cubic-inch-displacement engines (or less). The race was pure pleasure, with Tony LeVier emerging victorious in the Schoenfeldt Firecracker. Plans for the yellow super-racer may be available in Giant form from Lewis Panacoast, 7878 N. Wilding Dr. #7, Spokane, WA 99208.
The 1938 Greve was essentially a two-airplane race; Tony was pressed throughout by Art Chester, flying his newly completed Goon. Vern Clements (308 Palo Alto Dr., Caldwell, ID 83605) has a variety of scaled plans for the Goon.
Art Chester had purchased a racing propeller from the French. It was the same kind of twirler Michael Detroyat had used to win the 1936 Thompson Trophy (quarter-scale plans for his Caudron C.460 are available from Al Masters, 20026 Frazier Dr., Rocky River, OH 44116).
Since the propeller on Detroyat's Caudron racer turned the opposite direction of U.S. practice, Art had reversed the rotation of his Menasco Super Buccaneer engine in anticipation. The French crossed Art up, and had sent a propeller prepared for U.S. rotation! He had one heck of a scramble to reverse his engine. The French propeller was a two-position device—flat pitch for takeoff and coarse pitch for all-out speed. All that, plus parachute competition with the contestants shooting for a ground target, and it was a full day of things in the air.
As we were leaving the grandstand, there was a very small aircraft—only slightly larger than today's radio-control (RC) models—parked next to the fence. It was the Tilbury-Fundy Flash, which was little more than a man-carrying model airplane. I had a heck of a time getting to sleep that night at the tourist house. We had to leave Cleveland the next day, and didn't get to see the Thompson. Roscoe Turner won it in his new Laird-Turner racer.
I got to see the silver monoplane when Roscoe visited the Rochester (NY) Municipal Airport later that year.
My absolute fascination with Golden Age racing aircraft was probably generated when Benny Howard brought his [racer] to the Leroy (NY) airport. It was before the white aircraft flew in any formal races and was still hissing on the four-wheeled landing gear.
That version and the two-wheeler are available in great Giant Scale plans from Bert Thompson, 219 White City Blvd., Springfield, IL 62703.
If you are fascinated by the Golden Age racers, the Cleveland plans service offers International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA)-legal versions of the Thompson Trophy winners through 1939.
The address of the Cleveland Model & Supply Company is Box 55962A, Indianapolis, IN 46205-0962.
The great photographs that accompany this month's column were sent in by old buddies Jerry Smartt and Phil Kent.
Jerry is looking for 14-inch-diameter scale wheels for his super Giant Sopwith, and Phil keeps designing and building some of the finest scale models to come out of England.
Although you might not give a rat's patootie, this month's effort amounts to my 158th foray into the wilds of Model Aviation. It totals 14+ years of monthly efforts amongst the RC Giant Scale model airplanes.
I've burned out on the subject in spades, and will only have enough left to compose/write one more column. My swan song, which is already on disk for next month's issue, will be my last "visit" with those of you who read my musings.
At the tender age of 76, I figure there must be a younger and more "with-it" author/model-builder who can carry on and keep you up to date on Giant Scale matters.
My sincere thanks to all of you for furnishing photographs of your outstanding models throughout the years, and to the staff of Model Aviation for tolerating my columns.
So, good friends, see you next month for one last time. It's been fun!
MA
Plan and resource contacts
- Lewis Panacoast, 7878 N. Wilding Dr. #7, Spokane, WA 99208 (Firecracker plans)
- Vern Clements, 308 Palo Alto Dr., Caldwell, ID 83605 (Goon scaled plans)
- Al Masters, 20026 Frazier Dr., Rocky River, OH 44116 (Caudron C.460 quarter-scale plans)
- Wendell Hostetler, 545 Jerome Dr., Orrville, OH 44667 (Laird-Turner racer plans)
- Bert Thompson, 219 White City Blvd., Springfield, IL 62703 (Benny Howard racer plans)
- Cleveland Model & Supply Company, Box 55962A, Indianapolis, IN 46205-0962 (IMAA-legal Thompson Trophy plans through 1939)
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
