A few years ago Allen Brickhaus asked the Tree Town secretary (me) to generate a history of the club for an article in Allen's column in Flying Models.
Here is that article minus the modern day updates (they have changed somewhat since the article was written).
Fred
The Tree Town Modelaires
Many thanks to Harry Higley (an original member) and Les Otto (who joined in the 2nd year) for the early history of our club.
The Treetown Modelaires was formed in 1953 in Elmhurst, Il., with Herbert Weith the driving force. The first meetings were held in Herb’s basement. Most of the members were teenagers with beginner level skills. Chuck Jensen, an adult scale modeler was the first president and Harry Higley was the secretary. Al’s Hobby Shop, owned by Al Fuschen Sr., was a sponsor of the club. Les Otto joined the club in its 2nd year and about this time they began meeting down the street from Al’s Hobby Shop in the basement of a building at the corner of 1st and Addison. Funds were donated to purchase materials and building benches were constructed. Elmhurst airport authorities allowed them to fence off flying areas. 3 circles were laid out and enclosed. Interest in model aviation was high at the time and it was not unusual to see 30 to 40 cars of spectators at the field on Sundays.
The skill level of the young members grew rapidly with their main interest being combat. The Torp 35 powered Ringmaster was the plane of choice. Within a couple years Ted ‘Uncle Teddy’ Jourasch designed new combat ships based on the Ringmaster airfoil. The first one was a straight-winged variant called the ‘Butterfly’ and the second a swept wing version with upright engine called the ‘Firefly’. Both variants had replaceable tail surfaces.
Harry Higley was primarily a stunt flier. Harry recalls the most common stunt planes were the All American Sr. and the Barnstormer with the Nobler being built from plans. Most stunt fliers used the Fox 35.
A number of the club members went to the 1954 Glenview NATS and Les remembers meeting Admiral Nimitz, which left quite an impression on a 16 yr old. In 1956, Herb Weith took 12 members to the Dallas NATS and they won a fair amount of trophies. Harry was 2nd in 1/2A speed with a Thermal Hopper powered plane.
The Des Plaines Piston Poppers were their arch rival in inter-club competitions. Tree town members began serious team racing and painted all their planes the same pattern with different colors and named them after the planets. Accused of having a ‘sissy’ name the Tree Town boys were ferocious competitors.
Due to the changing location of leader members, the club moved from Elmhurst about 1960. The current club members are only familiar with its present location.
The Tree Town members have never lost the competitive spirit, thus the majority are strong C/L competitors. Most of us also have other model aviation interests, e.g. FF, indoor electric R/C, etc. Many of our members are also active members of other model flying clubs.
The Tree Town Modelaires meet the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month, at VFW Post 503, 5101 Belmont, Downs Grove, IL. Meetings start around 8:00p.m. For more information, contact the club secretary, Fred Krueger, at (630) 849-7298 or fpkpampa9@att.net. Everyone is welcome.
Fred Krueger