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Allen W. Brickhaus
A Life-Long Love Affair with Model Aviation
Like many aeromodelers, Allen Brickhaus can trace his love of building, flying and designing to a chance encounter when
he was a teenager. In Allen’s case, it was hearing the sound of a buzzing bee coming from the St. Vincent’s high school in
Allen’s hometown of Perryville, MO, in the summer of 1963. Walking to the parking lot, Allen saw Ron Roush, a new town
resident, flying a 1/2A powered control line model. Although the model was hastily built, it flew very well. Ron put up a few
more flights, and then asked Allen if he would like to try flying.
Allen hesitated, but Ron explained that he had built the model the previous night and included only a couple of coats of
paint/dope to fuel proof it. He further encouraged Allen, saying that if Allen wrecked the plane, it would take only one day to
replace it. Ron gave Allen some simple coaching, explaining that Allen needed to hold his arm and hand calmly and only raise
or lower his arm slowly to control the plane. Allen managed to keep it all together, and flew his first solo flight successfully.
The thrill of that first flight led Allen to begin buying Model Airplane News, Flying Models and American Modeler from the
magazine racks at the local pharmacy.
One magazine had a 2” x 2” drawing on a cross-hatch background that detailed an easy-to-build 1/2A model. Allen’s dad
Walter, a carpenter, showed him how to draw larger cross-hatches and enlarge the plans to full scale. The airfoil was a simple
diamond shape, and the new drawing was a snap to make bigger. Jim Huber’s House of Color and Hobby Shop, in Perryville,
had the right size balsa and plywood available for sale. As a teenager, Allen mowed lawns and saved his money to purchase
the wood and paint/dope. He changed the model’s shape, but kept the important dimensions and ended up with his first
successful flying model.
Allen, Ron and several others began flying in the Immanuel Lutheran Elementary/Junior High School playground. They
all graduated to Combat Kittens, Lil’ Satans, 1/2A Omegas, Baby Ringmasters, Baby Flite Streaks and the like for their flying
sessions. Soon they were moving up to .19 sized Junior Flite Streaks, Tomahawks and Voodoos, although Allen’s first larger
engine was a Fox .35X bolted to a Sterling T-Square. That led to Allen’s first flapped model, the Cougar kit by Midwest. It
took Allen four lawn mowing sessions to purchase the Fox .35X, and the same number of lawn deals to buy the Cougar.
The Cougar was a success, but Allen had a lot to learn on procedure as he lost the model on its sixth flight by trying a wing
over with not enough fuel in the tank. The young pilots often attempted to fly two in a circle and made modest attempts at
combat with 1/2A planes. Allen remained active in modeling during his high school days but did not do much more than level
flight and a few inside loops in the stunt realm. He also did some building and flying during his college years, but his first
teaching job, in 1969, allowed some moments in the building room, and flying on the ball diamonds of Woodland R-4 high
school in Marble Hill, Missouri.
As Vietnam and the draft escalated in the early 1970s, Allen auditioned for and was accepted as a trombone player, 02E20
MOS in the 399th Army Band at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri in February of 1971. He was assigned to the unit after Basic
Training as an OTJ (On the Job) recruit and given a year’s guarantee at the 399th. During his time at Leonard Wood, he picked
up flying and organized a group of modelers on the post that flew on the main parade grounds. He and a couple of others
traveled once to a flying site at Battlefield Mall in Springfield, MO, where Allen brought home a racing and stunt trophy, his
first-ever gleaming statues of gold.
Allen and his fellow Army modelers held a small contest for local pilots and the Springfield bunch came up to attend.
Allen’s main supply of models included Combat Flite Streaks, Ringmasters and a design he put together for the Springfield
contest using a diamond shaped airfoil and a Red Head McCoy .35. Allen was able to accomplish inverted flight and more
outside maneuvers by this time.
Transferred to the 82nd Army Band at Stuttgart, Moeringen, in February 1972, he organized the Nelligen Barracks Control
Line Club. Most – but not all – of the members were Army aviation officers. Within months Allen was elected Club
President. Most of the flying was held at Nelligen Barracks but some also occurred on the parade field at Patch Barracks.
Warrant Officer 2 Larry L. Snyder was his mentor at this two-year stretch as an E-4, and then E-5 in the 82nd Army Band.
Snyder and his family lived in US housing at Nelligen Barracks. Capt. Anton Jones, Lorraine and his family also lived in the
same set of buildings. Snyder often gave Allen power of attorney over the Snyder children, and Allen would live in the Snyder
apartment while Larry toured Germany with visiting family members from the states. Allen was honored to have helped him.
Larry would have Allen over many evenings and they would work out building problems and find time to fly what they
were assembling. Capt. Jones had a storage room in the basement of their building and gave Allen a key to that room to use for
a building workshop. Although he was stationed within an hour’s drive of Claus Maikis’ house, Allen never knew he existed
while assigned to Germany.
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Returning home in February 1974, Allen began work on a master’s degree in Music Education, working at a Shakey’s
Pizza Parlor to supplement his GI Bill benefits. All of Allen’s models, stereo equipment and personal items were transferred
from Germany to Cape Girardeau, MO, with absolutely no damage or theft and he continued to build and fly. Allen helped
begin the Southeast Missouri Modeling Association, designed its first patch and became the President in 1974. Allen also
found some new friends at a June 1974 control line contest at Buder Park, St. Louis, MO. His new found modelers were
Charles Reeves and Jim Lynch. These two excellent builders and flyers took up the yoke where W-2 Larry Snyder and Capt.
Anton Jones left off in Germany.
By this time, Charlie and Jim taught Allen how to paint a model better and finally accomplish the full pattern. He traveled
to Memphis to enter his first contests back in the U.S., taking a third in Profile Stunt at Audubon Park, not far from downtown
Memphis. He did it with a borrowed model, and was very happy to have flown everything as listed on the AMA Pattern.
His interest in Charlie Reeves’ P-63C Flying Red Horse (Classis Legal model), a full-fuselage stunter, led him to re-vamp
the Midwest P-63 kit for his own profile version of the FRH (pictured below). This led to Harry Higley and Model Airplane
News publishing his first article in the June, 1978, issue. The money from that venture actually paid for the closing costs on the
house where he and his wife Kathy now reside, in Golconda.
Sharing His Insights
That first article was the start of an impressive group of articles Allen has published covering original designs and
documentation of other designs. He has published more than 50 articles to date and has many more “in the works”. They are:
1. Flying Red Horse P-63C with help from Charles Reeves in June, 78 MAN
2. Dick Mathis Stiletto kit review in May 79, MAN
3. Folkert’s SK-4 profile stunter in August 79, MAN
4. Buccaneer 46 in December 81, MAN
5. Pirata 40 in December 82, MAN
6. Miss Dara 40 in May 83, FM
7. Scimitar 40 in January 84, MAN
8. Envoy 46 in June 86, MA
9. Grassroots with Byron Barker/Ken Grasser in July 89, FM
10. Envoy III in February 90, FM
11. EZ-1 in October 90, FM
12. Tornado 40 in November 91, FM
13. Arcturus 40 pipe in March 92, FM
14. P-51 Petie 2nd, profile in April 93, FM
15. Impala-Banshee in December 93, MA
16. Ambush 15 in May 94, Model Builder
17. Savoy in December 96, MA
18. Scepter in August 98, MA
19. Mirada in July 00, FM
20. ½ A Fierce Arrow with Jerry Ruschke in September 01, FM
21. P-51B Beguine kit bashing in May 02, FM
22. Mr. Brickhaus’s OPUS in June 02, Aviation Modeler International
23. Legacy review in Sept 02, Aviation Modeler International
24. Privateer with Bill Hummel in Sept 02, FM
25. Buccaneer 746 with Brian Skees in April 03, FM
26. Legacy 40 in Jul/Aug 03, SN
27. Hallmark with Bill Hummel in Jul/Aug 03, SN
28. Legacy Part I in Oct 03, Aviation Modeler International
29. Legacy Part II in Nov 03, Aviation Modeler International
30. ½ A Grassroots in Apr 04, FM
31. Laird Super Solution with Rich Raftery in Jul 04, FM
32. Highjacker Stunter with Roy Trantham (designer) in Sep 04, FM
33. Gypsy 40 of Jim Silhavy with Keith Bryant in Feb 05, FM
34. Trianic by Bert Metkemeyer in Jul 05 issue, FM
35. Scimitar 520 in May 06 FM issue, with help from Keith Bryant.
36. Encore 50 in October ’07 FM with help from Michael Schmitt.
37. Adams’ Special in the Sep/Oct and Jan/Feb issues of S. N. 06/07.
38. Gypsy 35 of Jim Silhavy with Joe Reinhard in the Nov ’06 FM.
39. Foxy with Fox 59 from Odell Reynolds/Charlie Bruce in Sep ’07 FM.
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40. Excalibur by Dick Mathis as part of several columns in 2006 FM
41. Rayette, by Bob Gialdini as part of Jan and Feb and May ’07 FM
42. Speed King by John Havel with forward by me, turned in Dec ‘07
43. AMA Special/Grondal Nobler with help by Leroy Black Aug ’08 FM
44. ’98 Nats in C/L Stunt column in Nov ’98 FM
45. Removable tail gear in C/L Stunt column in Oct ’88 FM
46. Encore 40 Twins with the help of Michael Schmitt April ‘09 FM
47. Brodak ARF Electric Clown as review in April/May 2009 FM
48. Olympus by Louis van den Hout published in April 2010 FM
49. Olympus finishing portion of the Olympus article May 2010 FM
50. TEOSAWKI/British Fairey Barracuda/Jim Lynch in June 2010 FM
51. Vintage Stunt Championships feature in July 2010 FM
52. Scepter 500 with Gerry Ruschke published to FM in Nov 2010
53. DO-335 1/2A profile twin scale for Tucson or St. Louis in CLW July 2011
54. Plano for VSC with help from Joe Reinhard in August 2011 FM
55. Bob Gialdini’s Eclipse, 1965 Nats winner with Michael Schmitt for MA in August of 2011
56. Present, future and Publishing Projects for CLW in 2012
57. Flying Drill Instructor’s Hat in CLW 2012
58. Envoy VI with Geo-Bolt wing, To CLW 1st issue of 2013
59. 2012 Brodak Fly In for Model Aviation in Feb 2013
A Competitive Spirit
Allen’s love of flying and his competitive spirit led him to the Nats, where he first volunteered to judge at the 1982 Nats in
Lincoln, NE, and where he judged on Friday at the 1986 Nats in Lake Charles, LA. He has flown in every Nats since 1986 and
his record reflects excellence in multiple categories over several years. It includes:
A Lifetime of Contributions
Elected in 2012 to the Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association Control Line Precision Aerobatics Hall of Fame,
Allen contributes to model aviation in many ways beyond writing and flying. Always interested in sharing his love of
aeromodeling with others, Allen leads by example and generously volunteers his time and talents. Among his contributions:
Helped or judged PAMPA Beginner Stunt at the Nationals 1990, 1991
Event Director for PAMPA Beginner at the Nationals 1993 – 2008
Hosted the Western Kentucky/Southern Illinois Stunt Championships 1986 - 2008
Invited to write C.L.P.A. Nats News for 2006 – 2009 Nats by Michael Ramsey
AMA Leader Member since 1990s
AMA Contest Board Committee member since 2001
AMA Instructor Pilot as of January 2007
AMA Contest Director since 1986
Member of the PAMPA Precision Aerobatics rules committee since 2001
District VI PAMPA rep. (MO, IL, IN, KY) since July 1988
Six Plus News contributor from April 1987 until January 1990
Flying Models Control Line Stunt columnist since April 1997 (twelve a year)
Paducah Aero Modelers Editor from January 1986 until August 1994 (twelve a year)
Co-Contest Director for the Brodak Fly-In from 2001 - 2012
President Paducah Aero Modelers for about fifteen of the last twenty years and initiated and was the CD for the
Paducah Aero Modelers Demo 2005 - 2010
Helped to initiate and receive $2500 of TAG equipment in 2007 for Paducah Aero Modelers
Initiated TAG Day for the Paducah Aero Modelers on August 2, 2008
Helped to initiate the Paducah Aero Modelers Fly-In 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Recipient of the 2008 “Carolina Spirit Award” in October at Huntersville, NC.
Recipient of the 2010 “Keeper of the Flame” award at the VSC in Tucson 2010
Recipient of the PAMPA Hall of Fame in the late fall of 2012
Bringing His Designs to Life
Like most enthusiasts Allen has always tinkered with the designs of the airplanes he built. He has taken that desire to
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improve existing kits to the next level, creating original designs that have been kitted by various manufacturers. The kits,
available through hobby shops, include:
1. 515 Scimitar kit by Custom Models of Dallas
2. 740 Buccaneer kit by Custom Models of Dallas
3. 746 Buccaneer kit by Custom Models of Dallas
4. 740 Buccaneer kit by Ultra Products of Dallas
5. 746 Buccaneer kit by Ultra Products of Dallas
6. Legacy kit by John Brodak of Carmichael, Pennsylvania
7. P-51 kit by Scott Smith of Aerosmith in New York
8. Privateer kit by John Lowry of Bearproducts of Oklahoma
9. Legacy 40 kit by John Lowry of Bearproducts of Oklahoma
10. Adams’ Special OTS model by Eric Rule of RSM (Frank Adams model)
11. Buccaneer II, Nostalgia-79 legal kit (in its final review prior to kitting) by RSM
Top Twenty finishes at the Nationals
1994 14th Intrepid in Lubbock
1995 18th Intrepid in Pasco
1996 17th Scepter in Muncie
1998 18th Mr. Brickhaus’s OPUS in Muncie
1999 18th Mr. Brickhaus’s OPUS in Muncie
Old Time Stunt finishes at the Nationals
1990 3rd Stuntwagon (Blue & White) in Lawrenceville
1991 4th All American Senior (Red, Orange, Yellow)
in Lawrenceville
1992 1st Stuntwagon (Orange, Blue, White) in
Chicopee
2001 5th Barnstormer (Orange, Red & Yellow) in
Muncie
2002 1st Barnstormer (same) in Muncie
2003 4th Stuntwagon (Red & White) in Muncie
2004 3rd Barnstormer (Yellow) in Muncie
2005 7th Barnstormer (Yellow) in Muncie
2006 4th Adams’ Special (Yellow) in Muncie
2007 3rd Humongous with DS 50 in Muncie
2008 7th Barnstormer (Yellow) in Muncie
2009 2nd Humongous with ST 46 (Randy Smith)
2010 6th Humongous with ST 46 (Randy Smith)
2011 6th Adams’ Special (white, red, green, black)
2012 5th Adams’ Special (same as 2011)
Classic Stunt finishes at the Nationals
2008 8th Rayette of Bob Gialdini in Muncie
2009 5th Olympus with PA .61
2010 4th Olympus with PA .61
2011 4th Olympus with PA .61
2012 8th Olympus with PA .61
Old Time Stunt finishes in the VSC in Tucson Arizona
1993 2nd All American Senior (Blue & Yellow) at
Tucson (62 flyers)
2004 6th Barnstormer (Yellow) at Tucson (74 flyers)
2005 10th Barnstormer (Yellow) at Tucson (67 flyers)
2006 10th Barnstormer (Yellow) at Tucson (81 flyers)
2007 17th Adams’ Special at Tucson (88 flyers)
2008 12th Barnstormer (Yellow) at Tucson (91 flyers)
2009 10th Adams’ Special at Tucson (52 flyers)
2010 4th Yellow tissue Humongous/Aloise .51 (67
flyers
Classic Stunt finishes in the VSC
2005 9th Trianic (Red) at Tucson of 87 flyers
2006 High winds negated my second flight
2007 High winds negated my second flight
2008 13th Rayette with Byron Barker OS Max 40 fp
2009 12th Newly trimmed Olympus with PA 61
2010 16th Olympus of 89 registered flyers
Allen demonstrates a special ability to lead by example in all that he does. His contributions to advancing model
aviation are extensive. I am honored to submit Allen W. Brickhaus as a candidate for the AMA Hall of Fame.
Respectively submitted,
John G. Brodak
Topic: Allen Brickhaus - Nomination to AMA Hall of Fame (Read 5095 times)
