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OldtimerTopics I


n my last column I talked about Rich Minnick’s Snow White—a rare bird in- deed. Well the hits just keep on coming from up there in SAM 27 land in the


Napa Valley. Ed Solenberger, one of Rich’s clubmates, sent me a long and funny story. He said he was having a rough night’s sleep when he had a dream that a little elf with a Noo Yawk accent from the late great Gotham hobby store in the sky had deliv- ered a Deezil engine that actually worked. I read that and figured that Ed ought to lay off the late night anchovy pizza. He’d sleep better. But Ed woke up from his dream holding an original Deezil. It was not a reproduction, but rather a well made and fitted original Deezil, one of the very first ones produced. Now Deezils had a deserved reputation for being “non starters”. Many a kid who sent his two bucks or so to New York City for a “real diesel engine” got something that could only be used as a paperweight. Ed was so ex- cited about getting a running original Deezil that he promptly put it in his ½ size Lanzo RC-1. I’ve included a photo of the airplane in this column. Several modelers commented the flying shots of Ed’s RC-1 must have been, “photoshopped since no one has ever seen a running original Deezil”. Well I believe Solenberger—because one of the photos sent was a picture of SAM President, Ed Hamler, hand launching the RC-1 for Ed—and the model had climbed to 75 feet or so in the sky at the moment the picture was taken. SAM Treasurer, Ron Boots, tipped me off


to a book about old time diesels available on e-Bay and on the Internet. You can buy a copy of Vintage Model Diesels Running for download for just $2.49. You get a pdf file with pictures and information about more than a dozen old time diesels. The pdf also contains You Tube videos showing the en- gines being run! The author and publisher


PHOTOGRAPHY: MIKE MYERS


Ed Solenberger’s Deezil powered RC-1waits in the takeoff area at SAM 27’s field in Petaluma, California. Yes, Virginia, this Deezil does run, and pulls the RC-1up nicely.


is David Crocker up in Canada. You can con- tact him at david.davideo@gmail.com. Crocker’s people agreed with the “Deezil skeptics” who chided Solenberger. Their ex- ample of the Deezil engine would not run be- cause it had a flat spot on the side of the piston! Jim Coffin, of Virginia, is the 2012 SAM Champs Manager. He recently sent out an e-mail confirming that the 2012 SAM Champs will be held at Muncie the week of September 10 through 14. Go to the SAM Website www.antiquemodeler.org for more details and announcements as Jim’s Champs plan develops. My old friend “Alabama Al” Pardue sent


along a picture of Bob Holman’s most recent improvement in his laser-cut building jigs. This latest model has a slot that fits over the top of a stick built fuselage side and holds it perfectly upright. From Alabama, we head to Albuquerque


where Steve Moskal and his buddies have just created a new potential SAM electric R/C event. They call it “Electric Replica”. The event will be flown at the 2012 South- west Regionals in Eloy, Arizona in January. The basic rules are that you fly a scaled old timer with a maximum of 36-inch wing span. You can use any electric motor, and a 2-cell Li-Po battery. Motor run time is 2 minutes. I’m not certain what the max flight duration will be. There are a large number of 020 Replica kits and plans out there orig- inally intended for a F/F event powered by a Tee Dee 020. Those planes would be a nat- ural for this event, and a dandy sport park flyer as well. The idea of putting a small electric motor


in a small old time airplane is of course not new. The folks up in SAM 8 in the Seattle area have been flying a similar event for years using a brushed 280 geared motor. The Albuquerque boys have simply modern-


by mike myers You can reach Mike Myersat 911 Kilmary Lane, Glendale, CA 91207, or via e-mail at mikemyersgln@charter.net


Robb Cob holds his CO2 powered Playboyreplica (above left). It makes a nice small field model, and if you fill the tank up all the way, a great sport flyer at Taft or Lost Hills. Zack Pettit holds his own design Compressed Air event model (above right). Zack’s a creative guy and this airplane has an unusual shape. But it’s a great performer.


26 MARCH 2012


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