Radio Control: Old-Timers
Jack Bolton
THE THOUGHT of soft summer breezes with puffy Cu's identifying latent thermals is enough to inspire the most procrastinating modeler to turn to and get cracking. Now is the time to lay in that supply of good balsa, get the desired plans from Pond, and start creating that masterpiece of yesteryear. The very thought of sunlight filtering through the structure of a big and beautiful time machine floating overhead is enough to cause a flurry of activity, with accompanying balsa dust and pungent odors, to issue forth from the workbench.
Most of your monthly modeling magazines are now carrying dedicated Old-Timer columns and are a good source of up-to-date information on procedures, methods of building, supply procurement and activity info. Many other magazines carry Old-Timer information contained in their other columns. All periodically publish construction articles on various Old-Timers.
Two organizations that are dedicated to furthering Old-Timer activities are: The Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) and the Model Engine Collectors Associations (MECA). SAM fosters the building and flying of the old classics and MECA serves as a vehicle for collectors. Addresses are listed at the end of this column.
Materials required for constructing the models are the standard balsa strips, some plywood, silk or synthetic covering, dopes and glues, and piano wire landing gears. Most models are box construction with a few rounded formers and parts. The models should be constructed with medium to hard main stringers and spars, since they bear most of the stress and are, additionally, subject to forces imposed by the covering material. Control surfaces must be constructed in a fashion similar to the original; no sheet-balsa surface permitted unless in the original construction. Wings should be carefully built with beefed-up spars and stringers. Additional planking is not permitted. Please remember to build light but sturdy. RC control gives the ham-handed pilot the opportunity to impose aerodynamic loads on the structure that were never intended for the original. But also please be advised that the foregoing information applies to contest capable machines. If you never intend to compete with your craft, and only want to sport fly, then do whatever you desire to the structures.
Note of caution: When building wings and stabs off the plans, be sure and measure each side to insure they are the same. Occasionally they will be a different length and that sure gives a super trimming exercise. Now this is not John's doing, but the vagaries of the original draftsmen. Just check to be sure.
As previously stated, magazines have also published a number of Old-Timer plans. Write for their plan lists.
The following is a list of suppliers of Old-Timer kits, plans, accessories and engines:
Plans—Old-Time Plan Service, P.O. Box 3215, San Jose, CA 95156. Golden Age Reproductions, P.O. Box 13, Braintree, MA 02184.
Kits—4K Models, 4202 West 172nd St., Torrance, CA 90504. Tyro Model and Supply, P.O. Box 11511, Palo Alto, CA 94306. Chuck Gill Models, 420 N. Vosseller Ave., Bound Brook, NJ 08805. Micro Models, P.O. Box 1273, Covina, CA 91722. Cal Aero Models, 7142 Bluesails Dr., Huntington Beach, CA 92647. Buzzer Model Airplane Co., 52 Newbury Rd., Howell, NJ 07731. P&W Model Service (rib and former kits), P.O. Box 925, Monrovia, CA 91016.
Engines—Herbs Model Motors, P.O. Box 31, Crum Lynne, PA 19022. Remco Mfg. Co., P.O. Box 22414, Denver, CO 80222. Replica Engines, 14600 Ramstad Dr., San Jose, CA 95127. M&G Engines, P.O. Box 6026, Denver, CO 80206.
Engine Conversions and Parts—Otto Bernhardt, 17119 S. Harvard Blvd., Gardena, CA 90247. Bruce Chandler, 7858 Farralone Ave., Canoga Park, CA 91304. Marks Model Engines, 112 Clinton Ave., Salt Lake City, UT 84103.
Supplies—Old-Timer Models, P.O. Box 18002, Milwaukee, WI 53218. Bert Pond, 128 Warren Terrace, Longmeadow, MA 01106. CPM Products, 11504 Leolang Ave., Sunland, CA 91040.
Associations—Society of Antique Modcontinued on page 92
RC Old-Timers/Bolton
Tim Banaszals, Sec./Treas., 1947 Superior Ave., Whiting, IN 46394. Model Engine Collectors Assn., P.O. Box 725, Indianapolis, IN 46206.
Letters: We received a fine letter from Mr. Ray Heit of Los Alamitos, Calif., concerning the January column. Ray originally designed the "Scram" that Doc Mathews had recently built, captured in a photo, and sent in to us. Ray writes, "...I built the original Scram for Flying Aces magazine and it was published in July, 1938, Vol. 29. Scram was one of several models that were designed by myself for the magazine.... when I was 17.... Scram had a 7-foot wing and was powered by the eternal Brown Jr. ... Interestingly and quite coincidental, I just recently finished an almost exact duplicate of Scram.... the model has taken nearly eight months to complete. This I mention by way of comparison to the several days it took to finish a model back in the good old days.... then it was an all consuming hobby.... now I sneak out to my shop and bury myself in balsa and glue .... Scram is outfitted with radio control for throttle, rudder and elevator plus reinforcing of wings and empennage. Other than that, it's an authentic original, even to the color, red and cream."
Ray goes on to talk about growing up in Brooklyn and as a member of the Brooklyn Skyscrapers. He says most of the contests of the time were held in Brunswick, N.J. with guys like Kovel, Bassett, Zaic, Shershaw and somebody called Ehling, to fly against. Ray made the Nationals at Akron, Detroit and St. Louis.
He goes on, "...Building model airplanes was and still is one of my favorite hobbies .... the solid enjoyment and therapeutic relaxation is all there." Thank you, Ray, for a most enjoyable letter.
And from Keith Williams out of Bartlesville, Okla. we received a great treatise on his exposure to early gas modeling and the many rewards gathered. He was lucky enough to be the proud owner of a Bantam 19 for his first engine. Keith dwells on the early activity in his area and some of the pros like Jack Cordell winning everything in sight. He recalls Cordell using folding props on a Comet Mercury and similar "A" stuff. Keith states he hasn't heard of one since. Well Keith, head on down to Pensacola and watch Tom McLaughlan turn up his Rossi .15 to 26,000 using folding props. Tom's a master machinist and believe me, you need to be just that to be able to construct something capable of handling 26,000 rpm. By the way, Tom is number one man on this forthcoming FAI power team. He also builds Old-Timers and has a Zipper that is something else. He also has a big original "C" job (his own design) that he can document back to '40. We have been bugging him to come up with a set of plans for the ship. Anyway, back to Keith. He writes that he got re-involved with the Old-Timers and has a stable of ships you wouldn't believe! He has a Playboy Sr. (and Jr.), Powerhouse, Struck Super Cloud, Flying Cloud, Korda Wakefield, .020 Sailplane and Request, Gollywock, Sparky, and a 21" Buzzard Bombshell with an .010. He is building a Comet Sailplane and is just about out of room. Keith flies his Powerhouse RC assist. A great letter from a highly motivated guy! Keith says this summer he's going over and win all of Doc Mathews' hardware at the forthcoming contests.
This and That: Out on the west coast SAM 21 is revving up to full bore for the 1977 season. This is a dedicated RC assist group out of the San Jose area, led by President Don Bekins and VP Hank Scally. Ted Kafer is Sec./Treas. and Editor of their very fine newsletter.
And from New Jersey comes word of projected contest activities — Central Jersey Old-Timer Contest, June 12; Somerset Signal Senders, July 31; Soc. for the Preservation of Old-Timers contest, August 28.
Received a flyer from Joe Beshar on his 2nd Annual Old-Timer bash featuring unassisted flight except for the climb segment and motor shutoff. Hosted by the Old-Time Eagles, the event will be held at NAS Lakehurst, NJ on May 15.
That's it for now. Please forward info and photos to: Jack Bolton, 8007 Ferncliff Ct., Springfield, VA 22153. Phone (703) 455-3809.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
