Mary and Red Phillips at their booth (above left) during the 1954 Model Industry Association show. Model Industry Association banquet in 1954 (above
“The kids taught me all that I knew about model airplanes,” Phillips laughed. “But I had a secret weapon—Mary Phillips!” After school ended in June, Phillips spent the ensuing two months working the night shift at the local electric generation station. While he was at work, Mary read the next chapter in Charles Grant’s book, Model Airplane Design and Theory of Flight. Later that day, the couple dis- cussed the technical merit of the new infor- mation and how it could be applied to Red’s burgeoning interest in gas-powered freeflight models.
His first construction, a Quaker Flash, was powered by a Bunch Tiger Aero .45 igni- tion engine, a combination that was flown and crashed often that summer. While Red was at work, Mary diligently patched holes in the model’s covering so it would be ready to fly when her husband returned home. For the remainder of 1938, and through 1939, Phillips feverishly built and tested a fleet of gas-powered freeflight models that he com- peted with at contests throughout Ohio. Enticed by an offer from the Curtiss-
right). Clockwise from left/front: Carl Goldberg, Red Phillips, John Clements, unknown, Keith Story (AMA president), Harold deBolt, unknown, Mattie Sullivan.
Wright Company, Phillips reluctantly left teaching after the ’38–’39 school year for a supervisory position at their aircraft manu- facturing plant in Buffalo, New York. In the fall of ’39, Red joined the Aeronuts, where he became acquainted with other enthusiastic members who flew freeflight, including de- Bolt.
1940 was a big year of competition for Phillips, winning numerous freeflight con- tests throughout the Northeast. At the Chicago Nationals, he narrowly missed win- ning Class A, ultimately finishing third. That same year, Mary bought Red a Walker Fireball kit for Christmas. Called U-Con- trol, the new category of model flying was becoming all the rage with gas engine mod- elers. Touted as a kit that could be built in only six hours, Red put the claim to the test. On New Year’s Day of 1941, Phillips made a “successful but clumsy flight” that soon led young deBolt to seek his “expertise” the fol- lowing spring.
With the winds of war blowing, Phillips learned that he was high on the draft list. Not wanting to lose a key employee, Curtiss-
Wright management applied for a defer- ment on his behalf. The manufacturer had argued successfully that Phillips would be more valuable to America by training future plant foremen rather than carrying a rifle. One of the few Curtiss employees that met all of the qualifications for a teaching super- visor, Phillips had a degree in teaching, was a superb craftsman, was knowledgeable in science and technology, and as it turned out, was a natural leader.
After his wartime stint with Curtiss had
ended, Phillips said he “goofed off” for a cou- ple of months before taking a job with the Kittinger Furniture Company. It was dur- ing this time of transition that fellow Aeronut member, Roland Reigle, brought Red a six-foot length of stranded cable. “Roland asked if I could make him a U- Control handle for a model he was going to fly at the Best Street Armory [New York Army National Guard building].” Wintertime indoor control-line flying had become popular in many northern cities.
“I didn’t like that first handle very much,”
Evolution of the E-Z-JUST U-Control handle (above left): top row, left to right—square corner 5-inch wooden handle, rounded corner 5-inch wooden handle, first iteration 5-inch plastic handle, final iteration 5-inch plastic handle. Lower row, left to right—first 4-inch wooden “Hot Rock” handle, first iteration
FLYING MODELS
“Hot Rock” plastic handle (red), second iteration 4-inch “Hot Rock” plastic speed handle (gray), final iteration 4-inch “Hot Rock” plastic handle (red). Mary and Red Phillips (above right) outside their Cheektowaga, New York home in 1989.
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