Kenny's Old Time Model Airplane Magazine:
December 2003
Editorial
Hi Gang! My Ol' Hometown, Edmonton, has just put on the biggest regular season professional hockey game ever! What they did was to go back to the beginning. They played the game outside. Mind you Edmonton is about 700 miles, 1150 km more northerly than Toronto. Temperature at game time was -20C/-4F. This does not take into account any wind chill! But as cold as it was, hockey fans filled Commonwealth Stadium to watch the game being played by the best, in the open air, as it was when we were kids. Part nostalgia, part celebration, it was a fantastic weekend!
Now no one, least of all the frozen fans, is suggesting that we give up the nice warm arenas that regularly house our hockey heroes. But no one present will ever forget that evening. As modelers, we simply cannot dismiss that much has happened in our hobby over the past 70 years, and honestly, so much is for the better. The Internet connects so many of us to each other, and to an endless supply of plans and ideas. Radios help keep models in the field. Modern glues and coverings are just some of the great new materials available. Lord knows that we all have more money to play with than did those boys in the '30's! That being said, I think that it serves us all well to go back to the beginnings every once in a while.
For those of you stuck in the 21st century, I invite you to take a short journey into the past and from beginning to end, build a model from this website. The experience is so rewarding. Not as hard as you may think: not as easy as you may think. Some of the scale models would probably be best suited as curiosity/display models whereas the sport models are all meant to be flown. I've been most pleasantly surprised with how much fun it is to build a solid. Part nostalgia, part celebration, it will be a fantastic weekend!
So come on in and enjoy Volume 5, Number 1 of
Kenny's Old Time Model Airplane Magazine!
The Story
This Merry Month of December, I thought it appropriate to post another mirthful melodrama starring our hilarious hero Lt. Phineas Pinkam. The longest running of any of the Flying Aces fictional character's Joe Archibald's Boonetown Bam is guaranteed to get a smile, if not out right laughter.
Raised on Robbie Burns, even I had a tough time getting through some of the brogue. It reminded me of a story of my mother's. Mom was born and raised on her father's homestead, in a one room log house, isolated in the Rocky Mountain foothills of western Alberta. Her neighbors/family were a bunch of MacDonalds and Sinclairs. Her first day of school was her introduction to a tiny bit of the rest of the world. Her greatest curiosity of that day was the language the other kids spoke. "I dinna ken the wee bairns."
Published in June, 1938, just before mom's second birthday, in Flying Aces, I dedicate this to my mother. Kick back, pour yourself a Scotch and enjoy Phineas Pinkham in
The Spider and the Flyer to print and read
The Spider and the Flyer to read off the web
The Rubber Powered Model Airplane Plans
Our Scale model this month represents the last of my Henry Struck Trail Blazers of the Air. I've had a great time presenting these models, and have had most vocal approval from you readers. Not one to say quit though, I am going to ask if any of you have any of the following that they would like to send off to me for future inclusion. Full credit, appreciation of thousands, and a free lifetime subscription to this magazine will be your well earned reward! Below is a full list of the series. Normal type means we got-em, bold/* means we need-em. Call me at khorne@ualberta.ca
Trail Blazers of the Air
1. Wright 1903 Flyer
2. Bleriot Channel Crosser
3. Curtiss Tripod Pusher
*4. Deperdussin Racer (1913)
*5. Ryan "Spirit of St. Louis"
*6. Rumpler Taube
*7. Vickers Gun Bus
8. Spad 13
9. Fokker D-7
*10. Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny"
11. Handley Page 0-400 Bomber
*12. Curtiss NC-4 Flying Boat
*13. Douglas World Cruiser
*14. Cierva Autogyro (1924)
From the pages of the August 1938 issue of Flying Aces, enjoy Henry Struck's Curtiss Tripod Pusher
Henry Struck's Curtiss Tripod Pusher
As this is beginning to take on the form of an all Flying Aces issue, we'll present the greatest of all Flying Aces Sport models, Herb Spatz's Flying Aces Moth! Certainly the most famous, most built of all the magazine's models, I'll keep the intro short. This model speaks for itself. If there is one model I've presented on this site that everyone should build, this is it... Hands Down!
Originally from the pages of the August 1937 issue of Flying Aces, and reprinted in August of 1941, enjoy
Herb Spatz's Flying Aces Moth
Thermals.
The Solid Model Airplane Plan
This month two solids are presented. Both Navy bi-planes of the 1930's and both are penned by Nick Limber, designer of this month's gas model. Painted in the lovely Navy colours of the time, I keep imagining that they'd look great displayed together on some small shelf.
From the September and October, 1936 issues of Flying Aces scare up some scraps of balsa and carve out the Curtiss SOC-1 and Stearman 73.
Nick Limber's 1936 Navy Bipes
The Gas Model Airplane Plan
Here is a model that was requested by a couple of readers, our ol' pal Steve in England and also Wayne down in Oz, who kindly provided some pictures of his ship. Wayne comments that "Interesting to note the original power was up to 1/5 hp, I use a OS 26 four stroke at around .41 bhp, (bhp vs hp ?) with a 10x6 prop which is quite adequate!" and that after 12 yeas of flying her he is still pleased. "The aircraft is lovely to fly although it tends to soar at speed and definitely prefers a slower pace. It will float forever!"
Hope this is enough encouragement for others to give this one a shot.
ps. do any of you historians know who Debby was, or for that matter anything else of Mr. Limber?
Enjoy
Nick Limber's "Debby" Gas Job
The Advertisement
Now here is something different. These mags often had ads for non-aircraft items, including a long running ad for shoes on the back of Model Airplane News! This one is at least a model. Planes, boats, trains, cars, you name it the boys of the day carved it out of balsa. This one has a special twist. Two contest winners received a cruise to Europe. Imagine the popularity of modeling back then to have made such a prize worth giving! During the depression, when most North Americans had family "in the old country." --- What a thrill!
From the back cover of the July, 1936 issue of Flying Aces.
the Ideal Model Ship Building Contest
Many of the documents I will be sharing will be in .pdf format
PDF files are to be read using Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is a free download from Adobe and is a simple tool from which these documents can be viewed and printed. To print, under print options select "print as image." This should result in a printed copy equal in size to the original. Please e-mail me at khorne@ualberta.ca if you have any comments or suggestions for my website!
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