A LONG HISTORY OF MODEL AVIATION
My Dad was a Vintage Airplane Pilot in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He built one plane and later, his Dad bought him a Golden Eagle Chief to fly throughout the Southeast advertising for his company. His flying days ended around 1932 when he had a survivable crashed at an airshow in Miami. After WWII, Dad kept me informed about all the wonderful aircraft of WWII – especially the P-51 and the B-17. Being an ex-pilot, he loved aircraft and he taught me a lot about airplanes. I imagine my first airplane was a Guillow's Glider, as I remember playing for hours outside with my planes.
In 1949, we moved to Montgomery, Alabama, and right behind the house we lived in was a small, private airport named Allenport. After WWII ended, retired airplanes from Maxwell AFB and Gunter AFB were being sold off. There were several BT-13s on his field. One of those BT-13s had been abandoned, and I was allowed play in it. Day after day, I would go to Allenport, climb into my BT-13, and fight off hundreds of Japanese aircraft. I believe I may have been the first triple Ace at the age of 7 years old! During that time, my Dad built a model plane that looked a lot like a Hughes Racer and was powered with a 65 cubic inch Super Cyclone gas engine. Watching him flip the prop and bring Cyclone to life was absolutely thrilling!
The years went by, and I continued to fly my gliders, later graduating to stick and paper rubber powered model warbirds. Cleveland Models, who advertised in Model Airplane News, made WWII airplane kits. As I remember, my two favorite kits were the F4U Corsair and the Hellcat. By the time I was about 10 years old, I worked at a local hobby shop that was a short bike ride away from our new home in Montgomery. I would help the lady with airplane kits and parts while she focused upon doll houses, dolls, and mini kitchens for children. While the owner paid me a small amount, she mostly rewarded me with airplane kits and parts. It was at that hobby shop I got my first glow engine model - a Jim Walker Firebaby. I quickly learned to fly the ½ A Control Line model and soon thereafter built a smaller version of the Firebaby powered by the newly introduced Cox Pee Wee .020 glow engine. Designing it based upon the Firebaby, it was about ¾ of its size, it was a successful flyer. I used sewing thread as control lines and would fly it in a circle about 20 to 25 feet in diameter.
By the time I was about 12 or 13 years old, I was flying Control Line planes like the famous Ringmaster, powered by a McCoy Stunt 29 engine. Flying several days a week, I honed my flying skills. I progressed into models with a built-up fuselage, and my most prized plane was a Smoothie with a Fox 35 engine. One day, I saw two people flying around in a circle with streamers behind the planes. Boom – it was combat flying, and I needed to do that!
After flying some combat with friends using the typical profile models of the day, I discovered the Riley Wooten plans for a flying wing called a Quicker.
I purchased a K & B Torpedo 29 engine for the Quicker and built my first one and using 10 cent faux silk scarfs from the 5 & 10 store to cover it. I flew combat with my friends and my Quicker. It was thrilling, to say the least. I flew combat in a few local contests and did OK, but I was still learning about things like more engine offset to help maintain control line tension when making tight circles overhead. Later that year, there was a sanctioned Model Airplane Contest being held in Birmingham, Alabama. After reading the rules and entry information, I convinced my Mom and Dad that I needed to fly in that contest. As I recall, there were three rounds of combat in the contest.
Points were given for inches of streamer cut from the opponent’s plane. I did OK in the first couple of rounds, and I crashed one of my planes. I had brought extra Quicker airframes with me, so I flew in the third round. I made a vertical dive on my opponent and cut the streamer at the knot – leaving no streamer on his plane. The vertical dive was too steep to pull out of so I crashed my 2nd quicker. I was unaware that the knot cut was worth 500 points, and that crashes did not cause a penalty, so long as you did not damage the opponent’s plane, and I did not know that a complete cut awarded 500 points. I thought I had lost. My Dad came to get me and told me I had won the combat contest because my 500-point cut.
I flew some Free Flight models, but I did not find it to be much fun having no control over the flight. One day while doing Free Flight, I saw a man with a big box, a battery, and an antenna. He held another box in his hand. I looked up and realized that he was controlling the airplane and watched as he completed the flight and landed near us. I had just witnessed Radio Controlled flying! It was a quite large plane and was powered by an Olson engine. The man taught me about the control system using escapements and pulses from the radio to control flight. The transmitter was big and looked to be expensive, and I needed a lower cost system. With the help of my friend I found a system, I believe Babcock, for about $30 to $40 – a fortune in 1953 or '54. I built my first and only RC plane and prepared it for flight.
There was a lot of tinkering and tuning to get the TX and RX to connect reliably for any distance, as well as getting the escapement to function properly. After many frustrating attempts and a couple of semi-successful flights, I gave up RC flying.
Time moved on and I went to college, got married, and had two boys. When one was about 5 and the other 12, I gave them foam, primitive 3-channel radio, glow engine RC P-51 Mustangs. We went out to fly one at the school and the flight lasted about 30 seconds. The next day, we flew the 2nd one and ended with the same results. (I did teach both boys, as grown men, to fly RC – and they were quite good at it).
I did not have anything to do with model planes again until around 1984. My close friend and work associate, James, asked me to come out and watch him fly his new RC plane. It was the first time I had seen an RC model with sophisticated proportional radio systems. He held a box in his hand - the logo said Kraft. I was really taken by the advances that had been made in RC flying, and it reignited my interest in the sport. I built a Carl Goldberg Eaglet and powered it with an OS Max 15. I soon had it ready to fly and James put one of his receivers in it and we went out to fly. The Eaglet flew beautifully. James then handed me the Kraft TX and said it was my turn to fly, to which I said, “No way.” I took the plane home, removed the RX, and hung the plane in the ceiling as a decoration.
The years rolled on, and the Eaglet made many moves with us. In 1990, I saw a Great Planes Piper Cub that was an electric-powered plane. I thought that was very unique so I bought one. I began to build it and about the time I got the fuselage, wings, and tail feathers built (not covered), I was transferred to Sandusky, Ohio. We packed up and the new Great Planes Cub and the Carl Goldberg Eaglet took them with us. I did nothing with model airplanes again until 2001, when I retired. The Cub and Eaglet retired with me. It was 2007 or 2008 that I joined AMA, and the membership and association with so many other modelers and new friends has been one the most rewarding experiences in my life! Mentoring kids in AMA’s drone project was also very rewarding.
During 2007, I purchased a small 32” electric Cub with TX and Rx – ready to fly for about $50 from Banana Hobby, and once again I had stepped back into RC airplanes. While at a local hobby shop, looking for a battery for my Cub, the owner sold me a Horizon Hobby Apprentice with TX and RX. Even before I tried to fly the Cub, I put the Apprentice together and set out to fly. I had intended to only taxi around to get the feel for the controls, but I went a bit too fast into the wind the bird took flight. I calmly added power and made a wide circle around the area and brought it home for a perfect landing. (I might point out that I may had never made a better landing since). I made many successful flights with the Apprentice and quite a few hit-and-miss flights with the cub – the cub needed quite a bit of glue and tape after many of the flights.
Two and one half years later, we moved to Greensboro, Georgia, to a home on Lake Oconee. The Cub and Apprentice made the journey. I found an article in one of the airplane news magazines about building foam floats – so I built some for the Apprentice. I had never flown off the water before. I took the Apprentice out on the lake and took off – I think it flew better than it did without floats, and landings were smooth and graceful.
By 2009, I had found Hobby King, World Models, Tower Hobbies, Horizon Hobby, Graves RC, VQ Warbirds, and several others. I bought and flew many small to intermediate sized foam planes. I was having fun but got the itch to hear the sound of a combustion engine. I found a PT-17 ARF that was for 30 to 40 sized glow engines. I bought the plane, but instead of buying a 30 sized engine, I bought a Magnum 70 - 4 stroke that was on sale. I figured that being overpowered was no big deal. It flew well ---- and fast!
The thrill of flying a combustion engine plane was contagious. From that point on, I focused upon glow and gas engines. The scope of the planes were:
Giant Scales: JU-87, PT-i7 , F4U Corsair, Ultra Stick, Piper Pawnee, P-47, Stinson Reliant, T-28 Mentor, a Scratch Built Golden Eagle Chief, and my favorite 27% Gee Bee.
Mid-size planes: P-51s, T-34A, 50” Ultimate Bi-Plane, S-Bach, Mini-Stik, Pitts Special, Focke Wulfe, and many more.
At one time I had over 30 Planes in my Hangar. The Gee Bee has the longest history for continued flying – built in 2011 and still flyable today.
I am now 83 years old and have stopped flying RC. After being a member of numerous RC Clubs since 2001, I hung up the flight jacket and have been selling off and giving away my fleet and gear. Hardest to let go of is the Gee Bee. It has been a joy to fly for many, many years.
Although I no longer go to the field to fly, I took some the funds from the sell off and bought a Cockpit seat and frame, an Xbox-x, Turtle Beach Yoke, Quad and Rudder set, Microsoft Flight Simulator software, and a 55” display.
I now fly from the comfort of my home to any place in the world – the joy is still there.
Ed French, AMA# 925859
Cumming, Georgia 30041
PS: I still have the Foam Cub, the Eaglet (which I eventually flew), the Great Planes Electric Cub, and My AMA Membership!
