Radio Control: Old-Timers
Dr. D.B. Mathews 909 N. Maize Rd., Townhouse 734 Wichita, KS 67212
I'm writing this column on a Sunday afternoon in August. It is currently 102°F outside with 25-mph winds and a humidity of 54%. Having been placed in the Christmas mood by the weather, I want to wish all of you a joyous holiday season! (Talk about mind warp!)
Joe Weathers and the Mystery Man
For some reason, out of the nearly 100 designs produced by Joe Weathers, his name has been most directly associated with the Mystery Man. Perhaps the unusual (but certainly not exclusive) gull-wing is the reason—or perhaps the drop-off landing gear. The design is undeniably beautiful—as were most of Joe's designs, but then so is the Westerner, the Winged Victory (this column, April 1982), and several others. Nonetheless, the Mystery Man remains one of those designs that linger in one's memory with a Lorelei song of "Build me sometime."
As one can see on our three-view drawing, answering that song can be challenging, as the model is not an easily built Old-Timer. Perhaps that complexity explains Barney Snyder's much-simplified Spook, which was mentioned in the last column as an antidote to the Mystery Man.
I won't go into suggested modifications or reasons for the design, since I figure that anyone capable of building that wing is every bit as competent as I am. I would suggest, however, using the rudder and elevator areas shown and keeping the wing loading in the neighborhood of 8 to 10 oz. per sq. ft. The Mystery Man full-size plan is available as No. 347 from Old Time Plan Service, 253 No. 4th St., P.O. Box 90310, San Jose, CA 95109-3310.
Joe Weathers and the Aeroneers
Joe Weathers was a founding member of the San Diego Aeroneers in 1933. He remained an active member until his death 49 years later. He was nominated for the AMA Hall of Fame by his club and, particularly through the efforts of Jim Alaback, was inducted in August of 1988.
Jim has been able to obtain the vast collection of Joe's materials and has now cataloged and restored all the drawings and photos for preservation in the San Diego Aerospace Museum. Joe's family and friends have been most helpful to Jim's efforts, insofar as they sensed the importance of preserving this material for the future.
Alaback has arranged for all of Joe's unpublished designs (mostly drawn on shelf paper) to be traced onto vellum, and reproducible copies have been provided to the AMA Museum and to Old Time Plan Service. He is also making copies of Joe's original photos, negatives of those photos, and other newspaper clippings.
The total documented design list has now exceeded 100 published and unpublished plans. Among the drawings was the three-view that inspired the Mystery Man model; Joe's full-size design was of interest because it was developed from sketches and measured photographs for a full-scale aircraft. Obviously nothing came of it, but the full-size version would have had an aesthetic appeal vastly greater than that of the Aeroneer C-3, which it does resemble.
The Aeroneers publish a newsletter (one of the best), and you can subscribe for $7.50 a year by writing to Jim Alaback, 16634 Daz Dr., San Diego, CA 92128.
RC Old-Timers/Mathews
A view of Joe Weathers is certainly intended to be another salute to his genius. We can't pass up the chance to also express gratitude to Jim Alaback for his efforts in preserving this important moment of our history. In any event, if you can help, drop him a line.
One of the vice-presidents of the AMA recently expressed his scorn for those who are preoccupied with modeling's past, and while some of his comments are valid and well taken, we'd certainly be poorer if it were not for the Jim Alabacks in our hobby. Consider, if you will, how many enriching artifacts of our past would be in landfills were it not for museums both large and small. Isn't it instructive for most of us to want to know who our ancestors were, how they lived, and what they did? It's been said—and most all agree—"We are what we were."
Many states also support an aviation historical society—to provide a potential treasure trove of scale documentation. It will take a bit of digging to locate the proper people in states other than your own, but it'll be well worth the effort. The local public or university library will be a good place to start your search for the appropriate historical society.
While you're at it, you might consider checking out the archives and files of newspapers in cities and towns with an aviation connection. A while back I wanted to duplicate, in model form, the first airplane I ever flew in. It was a Stinson SR-7 gull-wing and was owned by a newspaper. A letter, with a couple of first-class stamps to the newspaper, was all that it took to get an 8 x 10 glossy of that particular Stinson. A negative was still stored in their morgue!
Aircraft manufacturers have always been publicity-conscious, and news releases about their products have traditionally been printed in the local paper. So, if you're very specific about what you need, are willing to pay for microfilm reproduction, and know where and when a particular historic aircraft was manufactured or flown, you stand a good chance of coming up with some really authentic documentation.
Building season's started. What are you building this year? Hope it's a Giant Scale bird.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
