Author Topic: what WAS our best flying 1/2A kit. (Read 13154 times)

jim gilmore · « **on:** September 28, 2009, 05:51:12 PM »

You may notice that I used caps on the WAS. The reason is that Im wondering what you all considered the best flying 1/2A kits prior to these newer larger models. I found it strange when somebody refered to the 1/2A pathfinder as little. Model wise the 1/2A pathfinder is a giant by the standards of yesteryear. My best flying 1/2A's were the topflight mustang ,hawker hurricane and cosmic wind. I even had flaps on them. I believe they were 144 sq" and 24 " span.
So which kits did you think were the best back then?

Larry Renger · « **Reply #1 on:** September 29, 2009, 11:34:56 AM »

I suspect the best two were the 1/2 A Snapper with a Wasp engine, and the Top Flite Baby Flite Streak with an Atwood Shriek and bladder. I did have one of the P-51s, and as I recall, the airfoil was pretty thin with a sharp leading edge.

Alan Hahn · « **Reply #2 on:** September 29, 2009, 12:57:02 PM »

Well I really don't know if it would be called the "best", but my favorite was the Baby Ringmaster. Probably with a Baby Bee on it (mid 60's).

ray copeland · « **Reply #3 on:** September 29, 2009, 02:21:42 PM »

My two favorites were the Lil' Jumpin Bean and the Lil' Satan.

Clancy Arnold · « **Reply #4 on:** September 29, 2009, 02:42:02 PM »

I would have to say the Baby Barnstormer. I have them hanging on the wall in .049, .020 and .010 sizes.

Clancy

kenneth cook · « **Reply #5 on:** September 29, 2009, 02:47:35 PM »

I always thought the Little or Baby Tomahawk was the best flying 1/2 a plane I ever owned and flew. My second favorite and more modern model was Brodak's f-82 twin. Ken

Mike Keville · « **Reply #6 on:** September 29, 2009, 02:53:55 PM »

1/2A Snapper...

Robert McHam · « **Reply #7 on:** September 29, 2009, 03:34:21 PM »

My first was the Scientific Zig Zag and it lasted a long long time, probably had over two hundred flights on it and I have to say I had more fun with it than any other but the one that flew best for me was the Dumas Little Tomahawk.

Robert

Dave Holtsclaw · « **Reply #8 on:** September 29, 2009, 07:02:30 PM »

I had a great time with a 1/2A flite streak but my favorite was my lil Satin

minnesotamodeler · « **Reply #9 on:** September 29, 2009, 07:13:56 PM »

My own SkyWriter (yes, kitted).

Paul Smith · « **Reply #10 on:** September 29, 2009, 07:17:31 PM »

No doubt about it !!

The Scientific Cadet.

Built up wing and 1/16" BOX balsa fuslage. Better than any hollow log.

George · « **Reply #11 on:** September 29, 2009, 10:04:27 PM »

WOWee!

George

Larry Renger · « **Reply #12 on:** September 29, 2009, 10:19:03 PM »

I forgot about the Lil' Omega! Beautiful die cutting, big wing, easy to build. Wonder if the plans are still around.....

jim gilmore · « **Reply #13 on:** September 29, 2009, 10:48:09 PM »

(My own SkyWriter (yes, kitted))
uhm maybe I should have provided a cutoff date to the question

?

Hey MM the lightning doesn't qualify. I said "what was Your best flying 1/2A" I know that that plane never flew in the 1980'S.
..You arent that young to say you just started since 2000 are you ?
Matter fact from what I remember if you were interested in flying 1/2A stunt the engine of choice was a tee dee or an exotic nthat was quite expensive. It wasnt till the norvell came out that I think there was a real choice that was something anybody could get.

minnesotamodeler · « **Reply #14 on:** September 30, 2009, 12:56:58 PM »

OK, I admit to being older than, probably, you...SkyWriter kit has only been out 2 years, never even flew in the 20th century!

I first flew in the 1950s--from 'way back then, my favorite had to be the Snapper. Used an Atwood.

Alan Hahn · « **Reply #15 on:** September 30, 2009, 02:39:28 PM »

What did the Snapper look like? I don't recall it from those days of my "youth"

.

I just remember the Ringmasters, Flite Streaks, and the Scientific Logs (note logs, not hollow logs---I don't remember hollowing them out! Could explain some gliding angles though!) like the Red Devil and Zig Zag.

Maybe I lead a sheltered life!

jim gilmore · « **Reply #16 on:** September 30, 2009, 02:56:21 PM »

Whaats a lil omega ?
1/2A flitestreak may have been better than I remember but I thin k the one I flew was overly tail heavy which would definatly detract from flying performance.

Bill Adair · « **Reply #17 on:** September 30, 2009, 03:10:08 PM »

Alan,

Here is a link to photos of the Snapper. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page.

http://www.freewebs.com/minnesotamodeler/halfastunt.htm

Ray produces a great kit of the Snapper, and mine is one of the best kits I've ever owned!

Bill

John Crocker · « **Reply #18 on:** September 30, 2009, 04:02:35 PM »

My longest lasting plane was a Goldberg Shoestring trainer, had it for probably 7 yrs till a buddy pile drived it into oblivion

Best flying was probably a Sterling Baby Ringmaster.

Michael Boucher · « **Reply #19 on:** October 01, 2009, 07:54:38 AM »

I second the Top Flite 1/2A Hawker Hurricane as my best 1/2 A model. Didn't have the other two in the series but am sure they would be right up there with the Hurricane. Mine was powered by a McCoy .049. Even made a larger Hurricane ws 36" based on the 1/2 A model. Take Care, Mike

LARRY RICE · « **Reply #20 on:** October 01, 2009, 09:19:49 AM »

An American Junior Firebrand
Larry

Larry Renger · « **Reply #21 on:** October 01, 2009, 09:59:38 AM »

Was that the one with the hollow foam wing? If so, I can second that nomination!

LARRY RICE · « **Reply #22 on:** October 01, 2009, 11:31:36 AM »

Yes they were, they made two one with a fuselage (my favorite) and a combat wing.
Larry

Robert McHam · « **Reply #23 on:** October 01, 2009, 12:41:08 PM »

Not a great picture but here is what the Walker ad looked like for the foamies.

Robert

LARRY RICE · « **Reply #24 on:** October 02, 2009, 08:00:33 PM »

I WOULD LIKE TO GET A SET OF PLANS FOR EITHER THE FIREBIRD OR THE FIREBRAND
EDITH! HOW DO YOU GET THIS THING OFF CAPS? That is better.
larry

Robert McHam · « **Reply #25 on:** October 02, 2009, 08:43:07 PM »

A lot of the Walker stuff has been preserved but I have not seen anything more except this ad in one of my old magazines.
Hopefully someone out there has one of these and can trace or scan the parts because I bet there are no full size plans still around showing all parts full size. I don't mind if someone can prove me wrong on this point.

Robert

Larry Renger · « **Reply #26 on:** October 02, 2009, 10:10:51 PM »

I beleive that John Wright has an actual model, and you know him!

In addition, as an alternative, Dale Kirn has plans for a balsa version of the Spook! That flew in the same league as the Walker planes.

Michael Boucher · « **Reply #27 on:** October 03, 2009, 06:29:10 AM »

What does the Spook look like?

Bill Heher · « **Reply #28 on:** October 04, 2009, 10:49:53 PM »

Carl Golberg Jumpin Bean with a Dual Port cylinder on a Cox Golden Bee
Sterling Baby Ringmaster -
Dumas ( or Scientific?) P-40 with the same Golden Bee
CG Little Toot- cute and a hoot to fly- but dropped like a rock when the engine quit! usually in the middle of a loop!

john e. holliday · « **Reply #29 on:** October 05, 2009, 09:13:58 AM »

To me it was the Scientific Sport Racer. It was the first successful plane for me. When I get ready for another one they were no longer in production. Then it was the 1/2A Snapper and the little Omega combat wing for 1/2A. Too bad I don't have the little catalog that America's Hobby Center used to send out. Pictures of each and every plane they carried. Have fun, DOC Holliday

Jim Thomerson · « **Reply #30 on:** October 05, 2009, 04:19:03 PM »

Sterling Space Kaydet, OTS legal, later renamed the Space Master with no change except the name. I built two of them back in the 50's. Barry Baxter has a very nice set of plans. Also liked the Snapper, but I flew mostly my own designs.

50+AirYears · « **Reply #31 on:** October 05, 2009, 10:20:15 PM »

Actually learned to fly on an Enterprise P-51. Used an O.K. Cub .099, which isn't technically a 1/2 A, but I still have the engine, which I bough back about 1949 or 50. Last time I used it, felt it had less power than any of my Black Widow .049s. Got a lot of flying on it. I still have the very deteriorated magazine in my files, and I think I also have a copy. All sheet, buildable in a couple hours.

Actualy, a 1/2A I had a lot of fun flying was the Li'l PT, from a full size plan in the 1962 MAN Annual..

BTW, I believe I have a NIB Walker Firebird or Firebat buried somewhere in my attic. 2 piece molded foam wing, profile fuse.

Sometimes I wish I had purchased the Walker .065 engine when I had a chance. Thought it was a littl hoakey at the tme, with its latex tube and squeeze bulb for operating a clapper on the engine to give a variable speed.

dave siegler · « **Reply #32 on:** October 06, 2009, 06:06:03 PM »

1973 baby flight streak, TeeDee 049 that I got from a farmer that lived near bong. He found a flyaway and did not save the airplane, could not give it back.

Best sheet wing was a stuntman23 or a ambush, but it think that was from plans.

John Miller · « **Reply #33 on:** October 07, 2009, 11:10:08 AM »

Best performing sheetwood scientific was hands down, the "All American Boy". I used it to learn to loop, figure eights, inverted flight, and standard wing overs, before I got my first "big" model, a Sterling P-51.

It was light enough that it generally bounced when it had a meeting with "terra firma".

50+AirYears · « **Reply #34 on:** October 07, 2009, 08:59:41 PM »

Hopefully, sometime in the next year or two, I will be building up my Sterling Viper, to be powered with an AME .049 I bought some years ago. Almost all my previous 1/2As were sheet balsa winged logs or profiles usually powered with reedies. Even the really maneuverable ones I've had were limited by my using Babe Bees and Golden Bees with the two vents sticking out the top of the backplates. Any attempt I ever made to do an outside turn ended up with a dead stick from an apparent empty tank.

dennis lipsett · « **Reply #35 on:** October 11, 2009, 12:11:52 AM »

The best 2 were made believe it or not by Sterling and neither of them were the Space kaydet or the baby Ringmaster. About 1961/2? they came out with a P-47 and a Grumman Hellcat. Both were profile with a 20 inch built up wing. Probably the most fun I ever had with a 1/2A model. My opinion of course.
Dennis

Dave Nyce · « **Reply #36 on:** October 20, 2009, 07:45:35 AM »

My first plane was an F4F Wildcat with profile fuselage and built-up wing. It flew well, with loops, wingovers, etc. But my favorites were Lil Satan and Baby Flite Streak, all with Babe Bee or Golden Bee engines (and all bought from the local Penney's store at the mall).

George Waters · « **Reply #37 on:** October 20, 2009, 02:46:35 PM »

My favorite was a veco scout with my buddy's rr 1 on it. Looked like small chief. George

Michael Boucher · « **Reply #38 on:** October 20, 2009, 02:53:37 PM »

Hi George, Was the Veco Scout smaller than the Veco Brave do you know? Thanks, Mike

Victor Jeffreys · « **Reply #39 on:** October 20, 2009, 07:01:49 PM »

I had a Lil' Jumpin' Bean with a hot azz Wen-Mac Mk. XI on Fox Missle Mist that was my favorite, but I suspect that a Guillow's Baby Barnstormer w/ a Holland Hornet was really the ticket for the skilled builders/fliers of the day.

George Waters · « **Reply #40 on:** October 21, 2009, 07:10:06 PM »

It was if i remember it was 24 in. the brave was 36 in. George

Dave Nyce · « **Reply #41 on:** October 22, 2009, 05:40:02 PM »

My very first "flight" was with my cousin's Li'l Jumpin' Bean with a Babe-Bee motor. My family from PA was visiting their family in FL for a family vacation. My first flight was on a baseball field, with take-off from the clay area between second and third. I managed to get the plane around about three or four laps, while going up and down wildly. Culminating with a one-point landing into the hard clay. The plane was badly damaged (but later repaired), so the look on my cousin's face at impact was a stark opposite to my big smile. That one flight got me hooked on flying c/l. Later that day, we went to a hobby shop and I bought an F4F Wildcat kit. I started building it right away, while we were staying at my cousin's house. I finished the painting after arriving back home. I bought a Babe-Bee motor at the J.C. Penneys department store, and was lucky to complete the first flight of the Wildcat without a crash. My c/l flying went on happily from there. I later started a flying club called Flying FunLimited. We made membership cards using a printing press that a friend got through the mail with cereal boxtops. We got discounts at the local hobby shops. Sometimes a local dad with a van took some of us over to a flying club in another town, where we would see how many planes we could get up in the circle at the same time. I think the most we had up at once was 14. We had a lot of fun.

Robert McHam · « **Reply #42 on:** October 22, 2009, 07:52:12 PM »

Dave, what a great story! I especially love the bit where membership cards were made using a printing press that your friend got through the mail with cereal boxtops.
Do you remember who made the kit of your Wildcat?

Robert

Dave Nyce · « **Reply #43 on:** October 27, 2009, 01:49:28 PM »

No, I don't remember for sure. It looked like the 1/2A profile that Brodak is selling now. I think it was probably made by Sterling.

Dave

George · « **Reply #44 on:** October 28, 2009, 08:05:40 PM »

Quote from: Michael Boucher on October 20, 2009, 02:53:37 PM

Hi George, Was the Veco Scout smaller than the Veco Brave do you know? Thanks, Mike

Mike,

The Veco Scout was designed by Joe Wagner and was originally powered by an OK Cub (.049). I don't believe anyone makes a kit, but the plans are available directly from Joe. If you have never had any of Joe's plans, they are excellent plans with lots of notes and comments on them. For instance the Scout has both the production wing ribs using the shaped LE and the prototype using a 1/4" square LE. Highly recommended.

George (another one)

Michael Boucher · « **Reply #45 on:** October 28, 2009, 11:07:06 PM »

Hi George, Thanks for the information.

Cale Cooper · « **Reply #46 on:** November 06, 2009, 01:33:33 PM »

The Brodak Baby Clown with a Big Mig.061 sport is my current plane. But a Sig Skyray with a Cox .049 is fun anytime.
Cale

Brian Browning · « **Reply #47 on:** March 16, 2010, 08:53:53 AM »

Yep, a hollow log. Looked great and flew even better. It was my transition from the Cox pt19s, p51s plastics to balsa. Like Guillow's ads said "Balsa flys better".

bob werle · « **Reply #48 on:** March 16, 2010, 10:13:11 AM »

Lil Satan

Mark Scarborough · « **Reply #49 on:** March 16, 2010, 10:21:49 AM »

I had many plastic ARFs, then a Lil'toot, a Little Jumping bean, A ranger( high wing free flight and control line) but the one that I got really pretty decent flights out of was a hand me down Stuntman 23 If I recall the name. Flat wing, with a Golden bee .049. It actually flew decent and made many trips to the field. Then I graduated to REAL models, lol,, my goldberg Shoestring with a Mcoy 35,,

Author Topic: what WAS our best flying 1/2A kit. (Read 13154 times)

Alan Hahn

Alan Hahn