Kenny's Old Time Model Airplane Magazine:
June 2002
Editorial
This month's cover needs no introduction. There is not one of us interested in this period of aviation who is not familiar with the eliptical planform of R.J. Mitchell's Supermarine Spitfire. This ship is an icon not only of design, but also of spirit, pride, and honour for more than a generation of Commonwealth citizens. This ship transends it's original use to become all of this, a thing of beauty and purpose admired by so many.
With the competition of at least three modelling magazines, many odd-balls and unique designs would grace the pages. This month; however, we'll spotlight the opposite, the stars, the great designs, designers, and authors of the period. Names like Korda, Stahl, and Struck, aircraft by Hawker, Avro, Douglas and Vultee, and characters like Barnes, Keen, and Strange spur the imagination, excite and inspire us to be great. One month soon I'll have a ball highlighting some of the oddities, but today, lets take a look at some of the icons of our hobby.
So come pack your bags, bring plenty of balsa, glue and tissue, and for as long as you can afford, join me with the rest of the gang in Vol. 3 No.1.
The Story
This month's story fits into the icon status for both its author and protagonist. Donald E. Keyhoe's World War ace "Philip Strange" was the lead story in Flying Aces magazine for most of its run.Though it is Phineas Pinkham that the model builders of today most fondly remember, for the pulp fiction crowd, the G-2 flying spy, Captain Philip Strange, is the star of Flying Aces.
This month's story, Stolen - A Sqadron, brings the Intelligence Agent up against the sinister Monsieur le Diable! Can the G-2 ace clear his own name, and solve the mystery of the missing pilots? All will be answered within.
Enjoy, Stolen - A Squadron.
Stolen - A Sqadron - to print & read with glorious illustrations
Stolen - A Sqadron - to read off web (sorry no illustrations)
The Rubber Powered Model Airplane Plans
Arguably the greatest icon of model design during the golden age was Henry Struck. The Flying Aces' Trailblazer of the Air created great models of every type. Among the best were his scale models for which he won many awards. From the February, 1939 Model Airplane News, his 1938 Nationals winning scale model of the 1911 Caudron Monoplane Racer is a beautiful example of his work. Though sadly Henry passed away this spring, his legacy will be preserved and reborn with every model that is built and flown by any one of us, his fans.
The most recognized model design in the world of Free Flight has to be Dick Korda's famous 1939 Wakefield winner. Reproduced in some form or another by so many of us, up here in the Great White North as the Easy Built Miss Canada Sr., and as ¾ Kordas the world over, it seems hard to believe that the shape didn't always exist.The general form, though credited to Korda, seems rather to be the result of a collaboration within a group of Ohio modelers which also included Chet Lanzo and Leo Bailey.
This month's sport model, taken from the pages of the May, 1939 issue of Air Trails, is Bailey's variation of this winning design. John Pond lists the model as the Nationals Senior Fuselage Winner, but I think I'll call it by its description in the article lead-in,
"The Old Stand-by."
Thermals.
Bailey's Old Stand-by
Struck's 1911 Caudron Monoplane Racer
Article -/- Plan
The Solid Model Airplane Plan
This month's solid model depicts the great American primary trainer of the period. The Boeing-Stearman P.T. 17 Kaydet was where it all started for so many pilots. A definite icon of the period. Straight from the September, 1944 issue of Model Airplane News. Sharpen your blade and carve out your own ...
Boeing-Stearman P.T. 17 Kaydet
They Had What It Takes
Could there have been a greater hero of American flight than Jimmy Doolittle? Winner of the Schnieder, Bendix, and Thompson races, Doctor of Aeronautical Engineering from MIT, and recipient of the Medal of Honor highlight an amazing life that will never be matched. A small man; a great icon.
They Had What It Takes - Jimmy Doolittle
The Advertisement
Yet again we look at an ad for the Comet Model Airplane & Supply Co. of Chicago, Illinois, this time off the back cover of the February, 1933 issue of Universay Model Airplane News. I certainly have a soft spot for their advertising team. I'm much too young to have been around to know how the rest of the guys thought of these ads, so icon status? I don't know. What I do know is that I'd love to see some of these plans. Anyone up for a trade? :-)
Comet 4-Planes Ad
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