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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: De Hill on May 16, 2023, 10:18:09 PM
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People had been telling Duke Fox that his engines had ugly finishes. So Duke decided to make the .35 stunt's pretty.
General Electric had a plant in Fort Smith at that time, and were making a run of dishwashers. The dishwashers had some aluminum trim on them that GE was anodizing a gold color.
Duke cut a deal with GE and had a run of Fox crankcases, backplates, and heads anodized Gold, assembled the engines and put them out to sell. Bob Gieske's favorite engine back in those days was a Fox .35 stunt engine. His favorite engine was the Gold Fox.
The gold color was funny; on some engines it would come off quickly, and on others the gold would last.
Duke tried to make another run of gold foxes the next year, but GE was no longer anodizing aluminum pieces a gold color, so Duke was out of luck.
The Fox factory and all the machine tools and miscellaneous equipment was sold several years ago.
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I was asked by a friend to help him disassemble and clean up a Fox .35 Stunt that he had rescued from somewhere. Pretty normal looking "pre-Anniversary" Fox--but it had gold-plated screws. Added some bling to it....
Don't know if the screw set was part of Duke's special gold edition...?
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Some of the Gold Foxes had Gold screws.
Some had silver screws.
I have had both.
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I still have mine, which has somewhat of an interesting history (at least to me) and sentimental value. Back around 1970 I temporarily left the hobby and sold most of my "stuff" because of financial challenges of starting a new marriage & family. I sold it to a club member who subsequently left the hobby for personal reasons (university, career etc.). I never heard from this person for many decades, when he suddenly appeared and showed an interest in the hobby once again. Unfortunately, he became ill with cancer and died at too young an age. Before he passed he gave the gold Fox back to be. Originally it powered one of my Veco T-Bird IIs. It is a reminder to me how fragile life can sometimes be.
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Unfortunately none of my 15th Anniversary ‘golds’ have gold screws. I’ve always been under the impression these were of better fit and generally a tad better quality than the rest.
Dave
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... maybe better picture
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Did not run many Foxes, but the best one I ever had was a Gold one. Found another one on eBay - runs well on the bench but have not flown it. I also had a gold Fox 40 Rat Race; not competitive with the Tigre's & K&B's but the Fox looked positively bad ass!
Wasn't the gold finish timed for the 25th anniversary of the 35?
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The first Fox .35 Stunt was manufactured in 1948. The 15th anniversary gold Fox .35 stunt was manufactured in 1963.
I once had a 1963 Fox .35x gold engine. I believe Duke had it made for a special contest award. I traded it away to a collector who died soon thereafter. I have no idea who has it now.
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The first Fox .35 Stunt was manufactured in 1948. The 15th anniversary gold Fox .35 stunt was manufactured in 1963.
I once had a 1963 Fox .35x gold engine. I believe Duke had it made for a special contest award. I traded it away to a collector who died soon thereafter. I have no idea who has it now.
The 40 was in a 35X (36x?) case with a sticker over the 35 casting. Of course the sticker usually fell of in short order. Could tell it was a 40 because the the upper skirt of the sleeve stood up higher, created roughly a 1/8" gap between the case and the head.
You MIGHT have had a 40!
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No, I didn't have a .40; there was no gap between the crankcase and head.
However, if you pulled the P&L out of a .40, and installed a .35x P&L, you would have what I had.
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No, I didn't have a .40; there was no gap between the crankcase and head.
However, if you pulled the P&L out of a .40, and installed a .35x P&L, you would have what I had.
Never saw a Gold 35x. Did he give the gold treatment to everything else like 29X, 15x, & 59?
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Never saw a Gold 35x.
Did he give the gold treatment to everything else like 29X, 15x, & 59?
Not to my knowledge.
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My 63 gold anniversary engine is still in pretty good shape. Usually the plating is oxidized and peeling. I can see where it's going to start but for now it's intact. I really enjoy this one and I keep it in the cabinet and run it every now and then to exercise the piston. I received mine used and someone cut the stack a little which is disheartening but no abuse otherwise.
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Currently there is a gold fox .40 on ebay.
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Never saw a Gold 35x. Did he give the gold treatment to everything else like 29X, 15x, & 59?
There is also a gold fox 29
https://www.ebay.com/itm/134484060507?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=i5tbvUihR7u&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=nKDcgMxXQC2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
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That .29 is Not listed as a gold fox. The seller does not accept returns.
Let the buyer beware.
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I don't believe anything other than the 1963 year/run ever got the gold plate. This .29 is from the failed combat engine using up parts. The coloration I believe is due to whatever light is there when this photo was taken. Look at the final photo in the box.
Dave
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De and Dave,
I’ve had a total of Five Gold Case Fox 35’s over the years and I think they are some of the better 35’s made by Duke Fox. Three of the the Gold case Fox 35’s had the Ranger head you could see the R stamped in the combustion chamber it was an R surrounded by a diamond. These motors had the best 4-2-4 break of all the 35’s I’ve had over the years.
SI still wish I still had them but they were fun to run. The only reason I sold them was the didn’t have muffler mounting lugs. The other two gold Case Fox 35’s different heads, I think they were higher compression heads (not really sure) they did have a slightly stronger 4-2-4 break.
Later,
Mike Pratt