Toledo: A Different Slant
THE WEAK SIGNALS
Toledo RC Expo #33 was splitting at the seams—as expected. Even with the long trek from the parking lot, people loved it. With wall-to-wall exhibits and wall-to-wall visitors this is one expo that has to be experienced. As one enthusiastic modeler put it, "Toledo is model heaven!" To those more down-to-earth, Toledo is like a candy store for grown-up kids. And there's one enormous spinoff: Toledo brings some 40,000 modelers together at one show, and they quickly discover that the old adage "strangers are just friends who've never met" is true after all.
A bit of history, as told to us by Joe Vislay, the genial president of the Weak Signals club: the club has about 90 members, comparable in size to many clubs around the country. Under the guidance of Rick Lederman and Wayne Yeager, the expo directors, members turn out for the myriad jobs necessary to keep the huge show running smoothly. The show grew from a small auction into a major event — the site moved several times as it expanded:
- Club quarters
- A motel
- An aircraft hangar
- The Lucas County Recreational Center
- A country club
- The Sports Arena (the largest facility in Toledo), where the show has been for the past seven years
For many thousands it is the year's number-one priority. More than that, it's the reunion of the modeling fraternity. Over and over we heard, "It's not so much the show itself as it is getting together with cronies we haven't seen for a year." Dinner parties spring up all over town as acquaintances are made and renewed. It's just too bad the visitor crowd has grown too large for a giant Saturday-night banquet.
With an eye toward the people this time, we set out to introduce some of the modelers you may have brushed past in the good-natured Toledo crowd. You most certainly would have enjoyed sampling popcorn and pretzels with every one of them.
Take Tim Herberton — on his first-time visit with his lovely wife and baby daughter, Jennifer Marie. Jennifer watched Dad fly when she was but two weeks old. That's true family dedication. The Herberts traveled nearly 700 miles from Hinsdale, N.H. Air Force bred and a railroad machinist by trade, Tim was a full-scale pilot before getting into modeling. He particularly enjoyed seeing some smaller manufacturers who don't advertise widely and expects he'll be back.
— Fred Berman
"Grandma" Koeppel is not a female. We have Ken's permission to use his nickname, and since it's personalities we're interested in, that's what we'll stick with. A 78-year-old youngster and a member and booster of STARS (Southern Tier Aero Radio Society of southwest New York and northwest Pennsylvania), Grandma — who is also one of District 2's AVPs — can count 50 years of modeling involvement. While Grandma's too young to be called a legend, he might have a bit of trouble chasing his own Free Flight models like he used to.
You have to meet the people he came to the show with. Leading the pack were:
- Mother Superior Privateer (STARS president)
- Lonesome Polecat Karn
- Can't-Find-The-Airstrip Cicerillo
- Grouch (always smiling) Fairbanks
- Cartwheel Zino
- Their sedate and patient wives
STARS have a specialty act they perform at air shows that involves a quintet of identical scratch-built Quadra-powered 1/4-scale Bristol Scouts. Do the STARS models ever crash? Of course not! So why do they give out "crash" awards at their annual banquet? To keep the Toledo exhibitors in business, of course. Grandma and his associates are proud of their activities — as you can tell from the gorgeous $50 club jackets of their own design. They even buy them for their wives.
Elite modelers bring their creations to Toledo for trophies and for others to admire. Clayton Thoms superbly fits this category. Clay, another "spring chicken," is a retired patternmaker from the "Earthworm" plant in Columbus (that's Caterpillar Tractor Co.). Clayton has been a gifted modeler since childhood, and his training on an arts scholarship shows in the execution of his craft.
We were privileged to listen to Clay as he tenderly used a telescoping feather-duster to flick specks from the wings of his shining Skyhawk plane. "This is my hobby, and Toledo is my Mecca," he said. "And ours is a family affair. My two boys and one grandson are just as eager in this hobby as I am." This plane won second place overall three years ago, and some non-Audubon types can't distinguish the hawk design on the fuselage side from an eagle. Clayton makes his own fiberglass molds. He eventually sold the plane — someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse — and Clay can surely design and build another masterpiece.
Charles and Cindy Smieska live practically at Toledo's back door in Lansing, Michigan, but they would gladly have traveled many times the distance. Charles (Chuck), a member of CARDS (Capital Area Radio Drones), is seriously hobby-afflicted — so much so that Cindy feared a problem early on. During their courtship Chuck often disappeared into the basement with Cindy's dad, who was also an avid model builder. It all worked out. Their two boys are still a bit young to finalize their hobby decision. For Cindy and Charles, Toledo represents a glamour weekend away from their offspring.
Bob and Dolly Wisher write a column elsewhere in this magazine about their professional activities on behalf of Scale modeling — like Bob's work as our Scale representative to the FAI. It may not be so well known that Dolly is a Scale builder in her own right. Dolly literally builds bear bodies — the cutest, most lifelike little teddy bears often mistaken for the genuine article. One teacher eventually bought 11 of her creations. The proceeds from the sale of Dolly's bears are donated to the AMA mortgage fund, netting more than $3,000 so far. Dolly, effervescent and ever-cheerful, could be found at the AMA booth surrounded by a group of her bears.
We met glamorous Gail South, one-half of the George-and-Gail Scale modeler and full-scale hot-air balloonists team. The beautifully embroidered B-17 on the back of Gail's jacket caught our eye. Gail, from Mt. Clemens, Mich., said she and George might not have passed on the patience necessary for modeling to their 13-year-old son.
Akronites Earl Bush and Don Mallory were ready to "do" the Toledo show for the first time. Neighbors and friends for years, Don is radio-smart while Earl is the senior builder. Both are members of the Goodyear Model Airplane Club. Earl is a second-time rounder, back into modeling after a 25-year layoff, and he thinks today's RC is utterly exciting. During his earlier involvement he recalls owning a Falcon powered by an O&R .29 engine — radio-controlled single channel, push-button, with a rubber-powered escapement. On one of its majestic flights it simply flew away. Twelve months and two miles downrange from the launch site, an old lady picking blackberries was nearly clobbered as the tattered remains of the Falcon pounced out of a tree. Fortunately for Earl, his name tag was still legible, and he now has the O&R capable of running again.
Modelers come to Toledo singly and in bunches. Typical of the bunches is the Murrysville Area RC Club from Pittsburgh. Each year the club charters a bus so members can sleep or palaver the 250 miles each way and leave the driving to a pro. Club president John Chesnekowsky arranged for the bus, and club member Tim Rogers organized the troop, which included members from four area clubs.
A top-drawer, fun-to-meet modeler has to be young, perennial Toledo visitor Al Greer from Miamisburg, Ohio. Al began modeling at age 11, building both gas- and rubber-powered Free Flight models as well as solid Scale kits. He lost his first gas engine in the middle of the Ohio River at Cairo, Ill. — a .65 2.5 Brown Jr.
New products and new techniques are only some of the reasons for showing up at America's premier modeling expo. Underneath the hardware and the lights, socializing is what stands out the most for many attendees. Until next year.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
