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Author Topic: 1958 in Independence MO  (Read 1526 times)

Offline steve betts

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1958 in Independence MO
« on: November 24, 2019, 08:19:58 PM »
In 1958, our family moved into a new home in Independence, MO.  I met a guy that lived on our block that was into modeling.  We chummed around and started scratch building some old Comet stickbuilds and build your owns for .047 Cox motors.  This followed a Christmas gift of a huge old plastic P-51 Mustang powered by a WenMac .049 that had barely enough power to get airborne.  My brother got a P-40 Warhawk w/Cox .049.  those models did not really fly well but launched us in the new flying model hobby pretty quickly.  There was a local hobby shop by the name of Cooper's Hobby Shop.  It was several miles from the house but readily accessible by bike.  We spent summers mowing yards and spent every dime at Coopers.  I met a man at the school yard when I was flying my old WenMac P-51 who was flying a home built stunt plane with a .35 McCoy Red Head.  He was really good but a gust of wind and slack lines resulted in a pile of busted balsa wood and tissue.  He took the motor off and said I could have the remains and suggested how it might be repaired.  He was the one who first steered me to Coopers Hobby.  I bought some Ambroid glue, a few sticks and sheets of balsa and some tissue and dope and plunked down $6 for my very own McCoy .35 Red Head and some fuel and steel lines.  I rebuilt the plane, built a tool box kit and headed back to the school playground where I had met Howard.  He was there most every Saturday.  He was impressed at my rebuild of the old plane he himself had rebuilt about a hundred times and proceeded to show me how to safely rig it, start it and fly it.  The rest is history.  I have owned, built and rebuilt several classic U-Control kits including but not limited to : PDQ Flying Clown with a K&B .29, PDQ Lion Tamer with the McCoy, 35, PDQ Super Clown, Ringmaster, Jr. Flite Streak w/.049 Cox Super Bee, Several scratch built planes for .049 and .35 motors, then a Nobler, a SIG Banshee, a Flying Fool double winger, and so many more.  I continued to fly until I was old enough to drive and start working on my own cars.  The flying bug never left me but waned and went dormant for several years.  In about 1978, I had married and now had 3 kids.  I was recovering from surgery at home and found myself with some Idle time on my hands.  I went to the hobby shop and bought a Flying Fool kit for an old Johnson BB .36 motor I still had and a couple of 1/2 A flat wing kits for my boys.  We built them up and went with my brother and a neighbor to fly.  His neighbor built a SIG Banshee and my brother built another Nobler.  We all went flying and on the maiden voyage of the Banshee it went into a wingover without recovery by the novice neighbor piot.  He ripped the engine off and threw the remainder in the 55 gal trashcan nearby.  I retrieved it and had it rebuilt in a few days to his surprise and it even looked better than before.  I loved that old plane and drug it all over the country as I moved following my career.  I finally gave it to an interested youth when I moved to Birmingham in about 2001.  I still had my old flying box with a half a dozen .049 Cox motors of all varieties including a Black Widow, and I still had the old BB .36 Johnson mentioned above.  My buddy that lived up the street in 1958 never truly left the hobby but graduated to R/C and eventually Giant R/C modeling and is recognized as a top builder.  I reunited with him on a recent visit to Missouri and his basement is a walk in hobby shop with models in all stages of build.  He has bought entire collections from closeouts of hobby shops all over the Midwest.  He gave me a kit and a motor and suggested I find some time and build it.  I just finished a project building a scale 1:12 dollhouse for my granddaughter and now find I have rekindled a desire to build that plane.  I am also trying to replicate the old SIG Banshee and have scrounged up enough info to build it from scratch I think.  I hope that old Johnson will fire up as it was still running well the last time I flew.  I will let you know how it turns out.  If anyone has a plan set for the Banshee and is willing to share some info that would be much appreciated.  My email is skbetts47@yahoo.com.

Offline Fredvon4

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Re: 1958 in Independence MO
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2019, 09:46:44 AM »
Steve...update your forum information with a general location..   no need to do street level...in fact I discourage that....but town state ballpark.....you never know who is near you

there are more and more aging members (like me) with a lot of hobby stuff to sell cheap or outright give away



"A good scare teaches more than good advice"

Fred von Gortler IV

Offline Terrence Durrill

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Re: 1958 in Independence MO
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2019, 09:57:03 AM »
Great story.......thanks for sharing.....I started flying c/l down in central Missouri (Green Ridge / Sedalia area) in the mid-1950's.  Your story could have been my story  .... but of course, with different characters.   Retired and living in Platte City, Missouri today.   Might relate my story some time.  ................  It does does strike me that a JBB .36 would be an awful lot of power for a Banshee type aircraft to handle.  ....   D>K     H^^


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