to that stream, a Convair L-13, which was done by several designers and kit manufac- turers including Sidney Struhl in this mag- azine in 1949, and Megow’s, among others. I believe Bill told me his ship was from a Megow plan. The Convair L-13 was a contemporary of
the better known Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, and was Convair’s shot at a liaison plane to re- place the Piper L-4 Grasshopper as the Ko- rean Conflict was heating up. The L-13 end- ed up in the “too little, too late” category and unfortunately had little or no impact on mil- itary liaison aircraft needs. One of the more curious features of the
PHOTOS: RICH WEBER
Rich Weber is making great strides in constructing one of the first kits of the T-50/UC-78 (above) from Thomas Designs. This kit is one of the most complex, complete, and expensive rubber powered kits ever offered by a kit manufacturer. Here Rich is just starting to install the sheet fill in the nose of the plane. The twin engines of Rich Weber’s T-50/UC-78 project (below) feature laminated nose rings, built-up engine cylinders, and laminated crankcases with individual ports for the Jacobs engine cylinders. The expectation is that the building sequence will take the better part of a year. Details on keeping track of the build are in the text.
plane is that the wings could be folded back against the fuselage for storage/transport purposes. While the designer of Bill’s plane exercised a certain amount of license with the tail boom, the plane is nonetheless an out-of-the-rut subject and has enough oddi- ties about it to make it a continuing worth- while building project.
Jimmie Allen Postal Challenge for 2012 More than several years ago, the Society
of Antique Modelers began an annual postal team challenge for Jimmie Allen designs, with bragging rights and the obligation to host the contest for the next year if your team won. For those who may not be familiar with Jimmie Allen designs, they originated back in the 1930s in the aftermath of Lind- bergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic, and during the time that aviation experienced what is now called its “Golden Age”. Many oil companies sponsored radio shows with the hero, Jimmie Allen, caught up in avia- tion adventures that appealed to the youth of the time. From those radio shows came model kits
for the Jimmie Allen airplanes named and featured on the radio shows. Names like the Bluebird, the Blue Flash, the Yellow Jacket, and the Monsoon Clipper were some of the fancifully named planes that ranged in de- sign and type and were offered as kits of the time.
While at least a dozen Jimmie Allen
dresses one more time after finishing a col- umn. The complete address is rather lengthy, but worth your time to enter at
http://freeflight.org/DigestOnline/Hodes%2 7RubberMotorExcelWorksheet.xls. My understanding is that for those who subscribe to FM through an electronic app, the address is complete, but not so for read- ers of the printed page. For the record, the address for Rich Weber’s build thread in the previous section has been double-checked to make sure it is complete and correct in both mediums!
Timeless nature of models A group of photos showed up in my “in
box” almost simultaneously recently, and as I looked at them it occurred to me that they were joined in a commonality we don’t nec- essarily think about very often. Once a mod- el design is kitted or published in some oth- er way, it begins a timeless existence that transcends and connects generations of modelers. This month we have two models that do just that—one from the 1940s and one from the 1970s—both still viable and in-
FLYING MODELS
teresting subjects, and both still worthy of consideration as projects for any work bench. The first is Mark Troutman’s 1⁄2A Shocer,
a Mel Schmidt design from the 1970s, kitted by AJ Aircraft. The Shocer came out of the California freeflight influence and tore up the skies in several sizes, ranging from 1⁄2A all the way through C/D biggies. It retains its ability to compete with any traditionally constructed design, and can be found in some form at most meets today, almost five decades after its original publication. As evidence of its versatility and longevi-
ty, while the original 1⁄2A size was intended for Cox TD engines and longer motor runs, Mark’s plane has a Profi up front, a consid- erably more powerful engine than a TD, which will still get it to competitive alti- tudes, even with today’s short motor runs. The second plane is a real cutie from Bill Schmidt, who apparently has a secret goal of building every model ever kitted by every manufacturer, judging from the volume of work he turns out in a continuous stream. We are the beneficiaries of the latest rivulet
planes come to mind, some are potentially good flyers and others are questionable at best. All, however, are candidates for the 2012 Jimmie Allen Postal Contest, hosted this year for the umpteenth time by last year’s victorious SAM 27 team in Napa, California. Kits for the Jimmie Allen Special, BA Parasol, Blue Flash, and Skokie/BA Cabin designs are available from Easy-Built Mod- els on the web
www.easybuiltmodels.com/ or check their ad in this issue of the magazine. Plans for some of the larger designs like the Bluebird, Thunderbolt, and Sky Chief can be found on the web site of Jim O’Reilly Plans at
www.jimoreillymodelplans.com/, and oth- ers can be located by doing a web search. Those individuals and clubs interested in fielding a team this year can get all of the necessary information by sending a large stamped, self-addressed envelope to Jerry Rocha, SAM 27, 3583 Ruston Lane, Napa, CA 94558. That brings us to the inevitable out of
time and out of space juncture for this month. Next time around, we’ll have more outstanding modeling projects from readers and some downloadable plans and scale ref- erence sites you won’t want to miss!
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