Radio Control: Old-Timers
A BALTIMORE ORIOLE? Danny Sheelds (Mr. Personality of the Old-Timer movement) has done it again! Given to calling folks after midnight to save on phone rates, the affable radio and TV personality has somehow acquired the original prototype of the Avion Oriole. Not content to relegate this extraordinary piece of model aviation history to the display shelf, Danny is in the process of restoring it competely, powering it with an equally rare Avion Mercury, and flying it for all the world to see at the SAM Champs, 1982! If any reader happens to have one 6-in. M&M airwheel they would like to see become part of this rather historic restoration, please contact Danny at 3 Cinnamon Circle, Apt. 1-C, Randallstown, MD 21133.
Radio Control: Old-Timer
FOR ENJOYMENT ONLY! We chose to feature Joe Weathers' Winged Victory and the Fred Campos story this month as a way to lead into what we see as a rather alarming trend in Old-Timer modeling. We seem to be splitting into two groups: those who enjoy competition and those who don't. We fail to understand why this rather natural difference should be the source of unhappiness within the Old-Timer movement. We would suggest that there is plenty of room for everyone; that understanding and good will should prevail; and that the whole concept is predicated on having fun!
Radio Control: Old-Timer
THE "OTHER" SNOW WHITE. To a layman, Snow White was a dark-haired chick that lived with seven little fat guys in an old Walt Disney movie. To modelers given to leafing through old MANs, Snow White is one of the prettiest FF designs of the 1930s. Many of us have drooled over those pictures for years and wondered why plans were not available from John Pond. The reason for that omission is simple, really. According to Berkeley Bill Effinger, the model Snow White was designed by him in a rough-penciled form and built by Joe Raspante, at which point the plans were filed away and forgotten. Only one was built, and it was rarely flown. Never published or kitted, the Snow White design has languished in our collective memories as a very pretty but unavailable Old-Timer design.
Radio Control: Old-Timer
Ugly but Pretty. This month's Old-Timer was designed by George Austermann in 1935. First flown at Logan Field in Baltimore with a Baby Cyclone A, the all-white, uncolored ship was damaged upon landing. George and the Kramer Brothers (a large hobby distributor at that time) returned the King Burd to the car and flew it no more. It was repaired and final-painted with the classic scallops seen in the old ads. Kramer Bros., through their subsidiary, Burd Models, sold the kit for $3.00. Though advertised rather extensively, a total of only about 75 kits were sold. Though there were very few gas-powered kits on the market in 1936, there obviously were even fewer engines in the hands of modelers. As a matter of fact, the ads even suggested building a King Burd and powering it with rubber until the builder could afford an engine!
Radio Control: Old-Timer
WE ARE REACHING the point of needing new subjects for the Old-Timer of the Month! If any reader has photos of any suitable model that we have not previously used (or any photos, period, for that matter), we would appreciate them. Therefore, this month we thought we'd feature the engine-prop-rpm table as published in Model Craftsman, August and September 1946. While the prop sizes given for these ignition engines may not be optimal for a particular model, they certainly provide a starting point for those of us whose memories have faded or who are running some of these antique sparkers for the first time.
