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Wind Flying

Website visitor Lars B. wrote from Sweden requesting that I scan this "Wind Flying" article from the September 1972 edition of American Aircraft Modeler. It describes a method for replacing engines and motors with human power for preforming some pretty impressive C/L aerobatics on windy days. I can remember doing this as a teenager, only I did it with the engine in place but not running.

Third Line Theme

I'm not sure how long the 3rd-line for throttle control has been around, but this article from the August 1957 edition of American Modeler seems to suggest that it was introduced formally around the time of the 1957 model hobby industry trade show in Chicago - maybe a few years before. There in an exhibitors' booth was a special bellcrank featuring a three-wire control line system offered by the J. Roberts Model Manufacturing Company, of Baker, OR.

Eveready Battery Ads

Here is a fairly low-tech example of how much things have changed in five decades. 1-1/2-volt batteries have been the de facto standard for model engine glow plugs probably since their inception (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). In those early days, there was not the plethora of specialty companies providing niche hobby needs, but Eveready stepped up to the plate and offered 1-1/2-volt batteries specially designed for modelers' needs.

My NIB Cox Babe Bee Model 350

This Cox Babe Bee .049 has never been run and was purchased with the original package and the instructions on eBay. It is one of the later model Babe Bee .049 engines that was sold just before Estes, who bought the Cox model line, stopped producing and sell them altogether. Note the black fiber fuel tank rather than the turned aluminum fuel tank. It looks kind of like a Black Widow .049, but it is not. The package is marked as being the "350" model.

Babe Bee: New Member of the Cox Family

How can it possibly be that it was in 1957 that Cox introduced the Babe Bee .049 engine? That pre-dates me by a year, and man, I'm feeling old. Cox must have sold 10s of millions of the beauties. I know my paper route earnings were responsible for at least half a dozen of them. Today, a new-in-box (NIB) version will easily cost you $100 on eBay. Alas, what was music to our ears was annoyance to the neighbors, so now electric motors have replaced the little screamers on toy store shelves. Read the public unveiling of the Cox Babe Bee from the April 1957 American Modeler.

Dozens of New Model Aviation Comics

As mentioned earlier, I acquired a bunch of new Model Aviation editions. After a few hours of scanning and cleaning them up with graphics software, about three dozen new comics have been added to the collection. I broken them down to ten on a page, so there are five pages of them now. Enjoy!

Sketchbook Additions Posted

Most building tips are timeless. Even in this era of ready-to-fly (RTF), almost-ready-to-fly (ARF), bind-and-fly (BAF), etc., there are still many modelers who build their own aircraft. Take a look through all of them - you'll be glad you did.

Many New Additions of American Modeler Added

You might have noticed that a lot of the articles posted here are done at the request of website visitors. I have managed to collect the entire set of American Aircraft Modeler magazines, and offer to scan construction articles or 3-view drawings, or just about anything else within reason - at no charge. Recently, I have begun doing the same for AAM's precede, American Modeler. So far, I only have a couple dozen issues.

Northrop SM-62 Snark 4-View

This 4-view drawing of the Northrop SM-62 Snark, which was the first U.S guided missile with intercontinental range, tailless turbojet powered weapon cruises at high sub-sonic speeds.

Aquila Spirit 2-Meter Sailplane

I decided to buy a Great Planes Spirit 2-meter sailplane kit and "bash" is a bit to resemble the vintage Airtronics Aquila. The result is what you see in the photos on this page. It's not an exact likeness, but the lines are definitely more graceful that the somewhat square Spirit. I have dubbed my new sailplane the Aquila Spirit, both to recognize the contributions of both models as well as to suggest the intention to build a model in the spirit of the original Aquila. Photos are included.
- NEW Video! -

Stiletto Article & Plans

Website visitor Gordon W. requested a copy of this article for the Stiletto that appeared in the December 1970 American Aircraft Modeler. This unique 1/2A racer uses a 2-1/2" slot car axel as a prop extension to create the long nose moment with a center-mounted engine. A boat universal joint provides the interface.

AMA Chartered Clubs in February 1971

Occasionally, the AMA would publish a current list of chartered clubs in the American Aircraft Modeler magazine. Here is that list from the February 1971 edition. Check out some of the club logos - notice the vacuum tube in the Chicagoland RC Modelers logo? Was your club in existence then, or did you belong to one that no longer exists?

Honest John Rocket

Both Estes and Centuri made versions of the Honest John. Intentionally or not, there was an advertisement for the Centuri Honest John model on the page opposite of the past part of the article in this September 1968 edition of American Aircraft Modeler, from which this page was scanned.

AAM Glider Winch Article & Plans

A long time ago I bought a used glider winch at an auction held by the PGRC, in MD. It cost me somewhere around $25, which was a lot for me in the mid 1970s. The motor and control circuitry was contained in a plywood box, with a jack for the foot switch and terminals to clamp jumper cable to from a car. In looking at these plans for the AAM Glider Winch shown here from the April 1973 American Aircraft Modeler, it looks a lot like mine, only in a box.

Fokker F-10 Trimotor "America" 4-View

Yet another request for a scan from an old edition of American Aircraft Modeler. Ian G. wanted the 4-view drawing of the Fokker F-10 Trimotor "America," from the February 1970 edition of AAM. It was drawn by the incredibly talented Björn Karlström.

Cessna L-27A 4-View

This 4-view for the USAF's Cessna L-27A (military version of the Cessna 310A) was scanned from page 14 of my purchased copy of the December 1957 American Modeler magazine. The 4-view for this fine model was drawn by Mr. Walter M. Jefferies, Jr.

Cessna Airmaster

Website visitor Neil wrote to request that I scan and publish this this article for the Cessna Airmaster, by Patricia T. Groves, was scanned from my purchased copy of the May 1974 American Aircraft Modeler magazine. Line drawing for this fine aircraft were drawn by Björn Karlström.

Astro-Jeff Open Class Sailplane

Here is another sailplane that, like the Aquila, really appealed to me back when I first saw it in the August 1974 edition of American Aircraft Modeler. The Astro-Jeff's 12'-7" wingspan with 1370 sq. in. of wing area, was too much for my 16-year-old wallet. The cost to built and cover it, and then the launch system needed was way more than what I was accustomed to compared to my Standard Hi-Start and 72" and 99" gliders (the 2-meter class hadn't been created yet). Here is the complete scanned article with photos. Full and short kits are now available.

Saab J21-A WWII Fighter/Attack Aircraft

At the request of UK website visitor Colin, these plans and article for the unique Saab J21-A, WWII pusher prop airplane, by Fred Angel, were scanned from my purchased copy of the August 1974 American Aircraft Modeler magazine.

Satellite 1000 Class C Free Flight Airplane

At the rest of website visitor Mark, these plans and article for the Satellite 1000 Class C free flight airplane, by Bill Hunter, were scanned from my purchased copy of the May 1972 American Aircraft Modeler magazine (page 22). Plans for this fine model were drawn by Bill Hunter.

Kudos to Dare Hobby!

Dare Hobby just earned an honored spot in my great hobby shops list. Back in April, I placed an order for a bunch of Brodak dope for use on my Sopwith Camel. They were chose because of having the best price I could find. After finally getting around to using the dope, I notice the Cessna White was missing, so I wrote asking them to see if it was ever shipped. Their records confirmed it had not been included in the order, so they are sending it now. That is the kind of honesty that deserves recognition!

Ole Tiger Quarter Midget Racer

This article and plans for the Ole Tiger quarter midget racer were scanned from my purchased copy of the August 1973 American Aircraft Modeler magazine at the request of an Airplanes and Rockets website visitor. Plans for this fine model were drawn by Mr. Don Panek.

Cessna OE-2 Bird Dog 4-View

This 4-view drawing of the Cessna OE-2 Bird Dog was scanned from page 21 of my purchased edition of the February 1957 American Modeler. It is another example of Walter Jefferies' fine scale drawings.

Curtiss JN-4D Jenny Biplane

These plans and article for the Curtiss JN-4D Jenny biplane, by Dick Hansen, were scanned from my purchased copy of the September 1968 American Aircraft Modeler magazine (page 18). Plans for this fine model were drawn by Dick Hansen.

1933 Boeing P-26A Peashooter 3-View

This 3-view for the 1933 Boeing P-26A Peashooter were scanned from my purchased copy of the June 1968 American Aircraft Modeler magazine. 3-view for this fine model was drawn by Mr. Björn Karlström.

Rubber Motor Testing

Here is a short article on rubber motor testing written by free flight master Jim Horton. It appeared in the August 1968 edition of American Aircraft Modeler. As with all articles reprinted on this website, they have been OCRed to extract the text in searchable format, rather than simply scanning and publishing an image of the page.

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6
Silkspan & Dope Covering Tutorial Video

    Part 6 added 8/5/2010
This video series is a demonstration showing a Sopwith Camel biplane being covered using silkspan and dope. These 10-minute videos introduce some basic concepts, materials, and methods of successfully applying a silkspan and dope finish to an open-frame model airplane. Tools of the trade are introduced, followed by a discussion of dope and covering types, methods for determining silkspan grain and cutting out panels, then preparing the wood surfaces and actually attaching the silkspan are reviewed. Wetting and application of the silkspan is shown, as is trimming and joint overlapping. Finally full coats of clear nitrate dope (thinned 50%) are brushed over the entire open bay and solid wood surfaces in preparation for the base color coat and final trim colors done in butyrate dope. This is the method I have used with success for a few decades. It has never won me any outstanding finish awards, but the results are good enough for discriminating modelers. Presented by Kirt Blattenberger.

Beechcraft D-17S Staggerwing 3-View

This 3-view for the 1937 Beechcraft D-17S Staggerwing were scanned from my purchased copy of the August 1968 American Aircraft Modeler magazine. 3-view for this fine model was drawn by Mr. Björn Karlström.

1917 Sopwith Triplane Plans / 3-View

These plans / 3-view for the 1917 Sopwith Triplane were scanned from my purchased copy of the August 1968 American Aircraft Modeler magazine. There was no construction article, just the very detailed plans. Plans for this fine model were drawn by Mr. Björn Karlström.

Lockheed Sirius History & R/C Model

Website visitor John M., requested that I scan these two articles about the Lockheed Sirius from the April 1974 edition of American Aircraft Modeler. One article covered the history of the airplane, and the other is a construction article with plans for a scale R/C model version.

Senior Aero Sport R/C Biplane

Here is the article and plans for the Senior Aero Sport that I electronically scanned from my purchased copy of the March 1975 American Aircraft Modeler magazine. You might be able to scale up the image below if you cannot find suitable plans for sale. Plans for this fine model were drawn by Mr. Mark Frankel.

Flexi-Flier R/C Rogallo Wing

At the request of website visitor Guillermo A ., here is the article for Dick Eipper's Flexi-Flier Rogallo wing for R/C. I electronically scanned the article, including images, from my purchased copy of the April 1974 American Aircraft Modeler magazine, beginning on page 21. It is a 1/6-scale version of the original that uses a GI Joe as the functional pilot.

Extensive Article on the Wright Brothers

Long-time friend of Wilbur and Orville Wright, Douglas J. Ingells, wrote an extensive, two-part article in the April and May 1968 editions of the American Aircraft Modeler magazine. Orville was still alive at the time; Wilbur had died of typhoid fever in 1912. "Four Keys to the Sky," and "The First Practical Flying Machine," includes first-hand experiences with the brothers and their experiments, and some great photos.