Bob, just read your PM about Monarch.  Can't really tell you too much about the company, except I don't think they survived into the 1960s.  If I recall, they only had a few smaller models, maybe their biggest took a .19.  The 1/2A Vitamin I have is from an old kit someone actually gave me.  I am hoping the photos attach.  The Cub .074 on it has the original tank.  I think I bought this engine for $3.95 back about 1952.  Has a lot of flights on it.  The plane hasn't been flown yet.  Color is Diana Cream and Black.

Hot dog! I found another picture of one of these guys. I don't remember if it went for cheap or a lot but this is one that sold a little while back.

This one is a cool Spitfire.
Shows the two piece carved fuselage quite well. A clamshell like the Jim Walker Fireball. Kit looks pretty much complete but can't see all parts. This was the only picture. Looks like they may have included a spinner but again, not visible in box.

I still don't know where these were made. Due to the few around I'm thinking these may be European but no other info has come in.

Robert

A quick note, I just got my first Monarch kit today. It is not complete but nearly so.
 Box is marked  "Made in U.S.A. MONARCH MODEL AIRCRAFT CO. INC. BROOKLYN 33 N.Y."

Some broken parts and missing rudder, fin, elevator, bell crank mounting hardware. Instructions are in very poor condition and missing a good deal of important text.

More later, Robert

Not much to report new today except that I did rejoin the broken block pieces. Looks a lot better now.

I think that if I went to buy a slab of ribs to grill, I would want them to be like this kit. Meaty. I think that is the best way to describe it. A hollow log it is but there sure is a lot of meat on dem bones. Box says .045-.99 engines. I am sure this was intentionally designed this way because the box also includes a length of 1\4" hardwood for engine bearers.
The wing panels are half inch thick at the roots and taper to 1/4" at the tips. Did I say this was meaty? Yeah I think I did. The wings were meant to have dihedral as the roots have the intended angles done for you and slots to accept the ply dihedral brace. I have seen some early C/L plans that had wing dihedral and the Jim Walker Fire Baby (third pic) also had dihedral. In this case the dihedral, may have been there for a more scale appearance although many scale items are not shown or discussed in the text.

I really have been digging and have only been able to come up with a couple of notes regarding this company (see pics below). These are dated to 1936 so these models may be a little older than we think they are. Still I see no mention of ignition placement, so who knows for sure when this kit was first offered.

Robert

Thanks for your input Larry. That makes good sense to me.

Actually I did consider the transformation from free flight to be a possibility but didn't grasp tightly to this is because most free flight planes had a good deal more dihedral than a scale plane may have in comparison so I was not sure.

I failed to mention in my last post that the tail feathers are also meaty! While I only have the stabilizer on hand the instruction drawings show the fin, rudder and elevator to be the same thickness. And the thickness is...(drum roll please) Quarter inch thick! For myself it is hard to imagine these pieces to be so substantial for a model this small.

I think this is a good time to talk about quality in the kit.
The wood is nice straight blemish free medium weight balsa stock. I expected heavier.
The die cutting is clean as I have ever seen. The blades sure were sharp! This could partly be true because of low production numbers.
I only have the main gear to talk about here but it is pre bent and in perfect condition with not a speck of visible rust.

I am trying to do my best here to provide whatever documentation for these planes. Apparently they are pretty rare again possibly from low production numbers.  Because it was a company that was incorporated, it has the airs of being something larger and with wide distribution, not a mom N pop  cottage industry. Still, so few are there examples that I have seen.
The limited amount of feedback from others also leads me to think that these are actually quite rare. In spite of the possible rarity of these, I feel that there might not be a lot of interest for these. This is an opinion that could change  of course.

Again I invite any and all comments regarding these kits in the hope to gain any information for these kits.

Robert

Hi Robert,
Oops, I just realized that the Robert on the other site just might be you, am I correct in this assumption?

Orv.

Whoops, didn't mean to take so long to get back to this site.  ( I forgot to check the notify me block, I guess.)  In response to a question about my Monarch Vitamin, the fuse is in fact a 2-piece hollow log.  I did not install the piece of fiber type material they gave for a cowl.  My guess is that it is a piece of an asbestos gasket material.

Also, as in the pics of the P-40F, the upper block was broken throught the cockpit.