I feel honored that I was able to meet Ed at VSC, before he passed on. What a nice person!

I met Larry Maltman, a Canadian flyer and incredible builder, three years ago at the NATs. He is a wealth of Ed Southwick lore. (I'll be sure to bring the Skylark ribset I owe him this time). Larry has built a lot of Skylarks, some of them the Sterling kit. Ed apparently was a very friendly person, but did get a little upset with how the Sterling kit of his plane turned out. There's a "glitch" in the wing of the Sterling kit, apparently two ribs are the same, or one is left out, maybe it had to do with making the parts fit in the box. I thought it was just me, but others, like Larry, have noticed it, too. The plane I've been flying for a few years is a Ken Smith kit and I really enjoyed putting it together. No problems. When I first saw the Skylark in Ed's hands, I surmised it was sort of a Thunderbird look-alike. I've had T-Birds, but none flew like the Skylark does. Then I noticed Paul W flying a Skylark at the VSC, too. He may have won, I don't remember, but I tend fly what Paul flies, sort'a hedging my bets,  so I got one, too.

The plane comes out of a corner flat, and seems to be saying. "OK, I got that one done for ya', what's next, Boss?" I recieved the best scores I ever have at the VSC with Ed's plane, and did well in Classic at the NATs (for me, anyway) with it. Bob G, tongue in cheek, says it doesn't look enough like a Nobler to suit him, but added it brings out the best in me.  It doesn't fly as well as when it was new, a couple of accidents and clumsy repairs have added weight, but I really enjoy flying a plane that talks to me like this one does, and I have Ed Southwick to thank....dg 

I have built two Skylarks, both were the kits.  Met Ed and his lovely wife at VSC.  Need to include her here too as I don't remember ever seeing one with out the other.  Fantastic couple and great to talk to.  May have to break down and build th Ken Smith I have of the Skylark as I beleive it is bigger than the kit.  I remember him telling me one time his was not satisfied with the kit and the published plans.  

I only met Ed Southwick once.  It was at a Golden State contest in Clovis a few years ago.  What a pleasure.  He still had the enthusiasm we all had as kids, a property he shared with Larry Scarinzi and Bob Hunt.  He is a Hero of the Jive Combat Team.  

Thanks Howard...(I will never forget those beautiful paint schemes of Ed's.
Here are a few scans of that old magazine...that I have kept for about a thousand years...since the first day I picked this copy up my old Tacoma's 12th Ave. Hobby shop.
This old ashes to ashes...dust to dust magazine smells almost as it looks? Humm? Kinda like me Howard since just turning over the 70year old hump the other day.

I built a Skylark for VSC in '92 from the Bill Byles' drawn plans of the original series of Ed's Skylarks. The model flew great, the first year I used a lot of original equipment stuff, like a Veco spinner, and Veco wheels, but the next time to VSC in '94 I lightened it up in the nose and was able to remove most of the tail weight so it only weighed 44 oz and flew like the wind with a Tigre 46.
I flew a Sterling Skylark for a buddy and trimmed it out a bit, and found it flew very well with a McCoy 40. It was bone stock. I have never seen one built from the MAN plans that I know of.
The design was very modern in it's configuration and the Byles plans are the ones to get for the best flying version.

I was lucky enough to meet Ed in the 60's and he and I were reacquainted in the 80's when I started flying stunt and he was regaining his eyesight. When the VSC experience started, he was always a "go to" guy for me when needing knowledge of the old models. A very gentle and patient man, he and his wife seemed to be at every contest in the southwest through the 90's.
 
Chris... 

How great it is to see this tribute to a quiet man. Ed was so unassuming, that's what I remember most about him. I thought it so telling that his wife always launched for him.

I took this picture some years ago. I hope those who remember them both will enjoy viewing it.

John!
AMEN! This shot of yours is truly outstanding....A HUGE THANK YOU!

(uhhh? Got any more  classic shots like these to share? )

YEEEEEEEEEGAAAAAAAAAAAAAADSLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
I haven't heard about that Stunt News article about your HIGH WIRE ACT?
How bout' sharing that story with us here on SH!

Les! Great looking model of yours...OUTSTANDING WORKMANSHIP AND QUALITY......(but what's with the new rudder profile
Just razzin' n jazzin you Brotha'Lester!!!

Mr Don,
I could never leave well enough alone so I added my own tail shapes to the Skylark for one simple reason. No way could I have blended the top block into the fin as on the plans. The tail had kind of an ugly British WWII fighter look. Also please notice I named it "Galaxy" in honor of the rounded tail.
I am going to post the "Highwire Fiasco" in the "Amazing Model Stories" section.

                                                                                                       Les McDonald

 THANKS LES!
LOOKING FORWARD TO READING YOUR STORY!!! Your expertise, clpa experience,  artistic skills  humor is really missed on this board.

Neville,
My mistake-----I was thinking not of British fighters but small bombers-----the Mosquito and the Fairey Battle along with our F4U Corsair I feel all share ugly tail profiles. I am an expert at ugly tail------ ergo my "Skylark" and several lady friends from my distant past -------I'll go away now!



  H^^Speaking of Ugly Tails???

                                                                                  
                          

Shultzie, I think you need to see someone for some treatment,
The tail of the Skylark is set quite high compared to most models? I assume from all your comments, this design flies extremely well?

Cheers     R. Send !!!

It's taken my a week to figure how to do this...trying for a picture of Ed Southwick and his "Skylark" on the label of the Ken Smith kit. I've got the wing finished for a second "Skylark", and will try to emulate the box label paint scheme much better. Bill Byles was mentored considerably by Ed, and drew the plans for this ship, and helped my a lot in building it. When it comes ot 'Skylark" knowledge, Bill hs it firsthand......dg

I have built two Skylarks, both were the kits.  Met Ed and his lovely wife at VSC.  Need to include her here too as I don't remember ever seeing one with out the other.  Fantastic couple and great to talk to.  May have to break down and build th Ken Smith I have of the Skylark as I beleive it is bigger than the kit.  I remember him telling me one time his was not satisfied with the kit and the published plans.  

I have the airplane in the photo printed on the plans hanging on my wall.  Ed built that airplane in 1959, covering it in silk with a beautiful finish.  It finished out its flying days as a test bed for some of Dick McCoy's newer engine designs.  It still looks beautiful, although it had a few mods to the cowl/exhaust/needle valve openings in order to accommodate various engines.

WOW!
I can't imagine just how much that beautiful model of Ed's means to you and how fortunate you are to have such a memorial piece of CLPA history hanging on your hanger wall.
Any chance of taking a close up photo of that work of CLPA art of Ed's.

Hey Shultzie,

I'll work on getting a decent photo of it and posting it here.  I just had to install a new hard drive in this computer so I am still (finding and) installing the software.  When I was over at Ed's house in Kingman about ten years before he and Helen passed we were in his model building shop.  Just before we went in for our nightly tea at 9:00pm Ed looked at me and said that all of this model stuff of his would be mine one of these days.  I told him that I couldn't imagine that day - and then there it was, all too soon.  I said to myself many times that I'd rather have Ed and Helen here so I could give all that back to him and go flying with them again.  Ed was a huge part of my growing up years. 

This is the Skylark I always remember.

Yeah, I think that was a beautiful airplane.  I'm not sure but I think that was shot at Dallas...  Bob Palmer once told me that he thought Ed's finishes were the best around back in the fifties and sixties.  Also, Ed was a stickler for building very accurately built and aligned airplanes with very free controls.