Jack Sheeks Designs

[Joseph Lijoi]

Anybody out there know what Jack considered his best flying designs?  How about anybody out there who built them or flew some of Jacks designs or airplanes?.  I just found a bunch of plans that I had stashed away.  The Heinkel HE100 in MA looks interesting. I also have several others.  Thanks. 

[builditright]

Anybody out there know what Jack considered his best flying designs?  How about anybody out there who built them or flew some of Jacks designs or airplanes?.  I just found a bunch of plans that I had stashed away.  The Heinkel HE100 in MA looks interesting. I also have several others.  Thanks.  

Here are two of my kit prototypes

the first two pictures are of Jacks Spacewalker profile
the other is his LaDonna

[Dick Pacini]

Jack liked his Scottsman design very much.  It was a swept wing with a D-tube wing, I recall, instead of an I-beam.  Jack had designed many swept wings and he was very good at it.  He also took his Fly Baby to the NATS, so that would indicate he had confidence in it.  The Ryan SC was another good airplane.

[Airacobra]

In conversations with Jack that I have had, he has always mentioned the Scottsman as one of his best flying designs.

[Balsa Butcher]

I built a Sheeks Ryan SC - it flew quite well. 

[John Hammonds]

I have never seen one in the flesh neither do I have any knowledge of how it flew but I just love his Stuntliner.  "Kewl" does not even come close.....

TTFN
John.

[Dennis Holler]

I don't know which one he thought flew the best, but I do know which ones I like, my top three are the FW 190, Stuka, and the Mosquito.  I've used the Stuka as a starting point to do an ME110, but I've been stalled for a while....Darn everyday life

I do know this, he's a pretty nice dude, happy to give you the time of day whether he know's you or not.

[Dick Pacini]

I have never seen one in the flesh neither do I have any knowledge of how it flew but I just love his Stuntliner.  "Kewl" does not even come close.....

TTFN
John.

I owned the Stuntliner for a few years after I swapped a small outboard motor to Jack for it.  It was powered by an upright Fox 40.  I flew it in one Detroit area contest, but was not up to its potential.  Later, I sold it to a friend who died.  I lost track of it after that.

[Randy Powell]

I've built a lot of Jack's planes over the years. I would say, for my own part, the three that flew the best for me were the Knight, the Bishop and Bewitched.

[Garf]

Just how many did Jack design?

[Dick Pacini]

Just how many did Jack design?

62 under his name.

[Randy Powell]

I've built maybe 10 or them. So, still 52 out there.

[Will Hinton]

So get with it, Randy!

[Clancy Arnold]

As Jack and I have been flying together for just under 30 years I will try to answer some of the questions.

Jack claims design rights to 69 Model designs that have been published. BUT, Not all were CL Stunters! Included in the list are CL Scale and RC models.

While talking to Jack this evening on the telephone I read the above posts to him and he said they all were competitive models.  Look at how many he took to the NATS.  Also the Bishop that Panic replaced.

Jack named three models that he thought were, in his opinion, great fliers.  The Panic, FockWolfe and Spitfire.  

I mentioned his Stuntliner and he said he got the original back and has donated it to the Control Line Museum at Brodak Mfg.  John Brodak might kit it but the original has an upright engine and a straight wing leading edge.  I have seen it and it looks good even today.  The row of windows back along the sides of the fuselage gives it it's name.

The Panic was built in a panic!  He had the Bishop ready for the NATS, but broke a line during a flight a week before the NATS.  Design, Build, Finish and test fly in one week!
Clancy

[Dick Pacini]

Clancy, I want to clarify my statement of owning the Stuntliner.  There may have been others that I was not aware of.  Mine was blue and red with the rows of painted windows on each side.  The Fox 40 was upright and the cockpit windows were the openings for fresh air to the engine.  I bought it from Jack after I saw it hanging up in Mike's Hobby Shop in Indianapolis.  I swapped him for a small outboard motor I had.

The contest I flew it in was in Michigan.  Big Art was there, perhaps judging.  He saw it and immediately identified it as Jack's airplane, a fact I never refuted.

I sold it to a guy named Ron Graham who was in our flying club in Saginaw, Michigan.  He never flew it.  Sometime later, he died of a hot shot in a gas station rest room.  I don't know what became of the Stuntliner.

How many Stuntliners Jack built, I have no idea.  As far as I knew at the time, it was a one-off, like most of his models.  In fact, I never saw him repeat a design as long as I lived there, although I can't say for sure.  I moved to MI in 1968 and still kept in touch with Jack over the next few years.  Every time I went back to visit my folks, I stopped in to see Jack.

You are welcome to check with Jack to see if he remembers the Stuntliner I got from him.  Perhaps he could identify where it stood among any others he built.

BTW, the number of planes he designed I got the number 62 from his biography elsewhere on this site.

[john e. holliday]

I would say it would be hard to pick out one particular design of Jack's.  He is a true gentleman and has helped me at VSC several times.  His Staggerwing Beech was the one that got me the most attention.  Elwyn Aud has it as I thought he deserved it with all the pics he took.  Jack's Spitfire got me the high point award when Mike Haverly demolished his entry.   But I guess I didn't do a good job on the bellcrank as the Spitfire is no more.  Kept the patch of covering Jack autographed for me when the plane was new.  Have several more of his designs I hope to get built.

[John Hammonds]

[SNIP]I mentioned his Stuntliner and he said he got the original back and has donated it to the Control Line Museum at Brodak Mfg.  John Brodak might kit it but the original has an upright engine and a straight wing leading edge.  I have seen it and it looks good even today.  The row of windows back along the sides of the fuselage gives it it's name.
Clancy[/SNIP]

Interesting..... I did not realise there was more than 1 Stuntliner, I have only ever seen the swept wing version. Are there any pictures of the straight wing version?

TTFN
John.

[Will Hinton]

Did Jack ever really look that young?! (Loveya, Jack.)

[Joseph Lijoi]

The Knight is one pretty ship.  I also liked that inverted gull (?) twin rudder ship.  I don't remember the name.  Was it the Shiek?

[Joseph Lijoi]

Here is an email that I got from Clancy Arnold.  I don't think he minds me sharing it.

SIG Banshee Mods per Jack Sheeks
Mods I made to Mr. Ugly

Mods recommended by Jack Sheeks
1.   Shorten the nose 3/4 inch. This will require cutting the ½ inch body plank and both 1/8 Ply doublers and moving the Motor Mounts back the same amount.

2.   Replace Stab and Elevator. New sizes are each 22 by 3 inches tapered to 2 inches at the tips. Retain the 14 inch hinge line to hinge line spacing.

3.   Modify the Outboard Flap to clear the Pushrod by removing a 1/2 x 1 inch piece from the inboard rear corner.

4.   Set up the controls for a maximum of +/- 30 degrees of travel on the Flaps and Elevator.

Additional Mods I incorporated in Mr. Ugly:

1.   Replace original Motor Mounts with new Mounts 3/8 x 1/2 x 11 7/8 inches. This extends the Motor Mounts all the way to the 1/4 x 1/4 Wing Spars. Notch the Wing Sheeting to clear the new Motor Mounts. This requires assembling the body with the Wing installed! Use very slow set epoxy. This Mod greatly stiffens the nose.

2.   Space Motor Mounts for Engine. Fox 35 requires 1 1/4 inch spacing. If your engine requires a different Motor Mount spacing try to maintain the original thrust line.

3.   The kit as cut fits a Fox 35, extend the cutout in the 1/2 body plank to 4 3/4 inches behind the engine. This will then allow for a 3/4 inch space between the engine and the Fuel Tank and allow the tank to be recessed into the body for better fuel feed. Note: Mine had a standard 1 x 2 x 4 inch Square Wedge Uniflow Tank.

4.   Modify the outboard 1/8 Ply Doubler to clear the engine. Move back 3/ 4 inch and then cut out the area between Motor Mounts for the 1 x 2 x 4 Fuel Tank leaving a little clearance for installing the tank. When ready to assemble the body, insert a 3/4 x 1/2 In. balsa block to fill in between the engine cutout and the Fuel Tank cutout between the Motor Mounts.

How did Mr. Ugly get it's name?
I wanted to learn how to fly the stunt pattern. My flying friend Jack Sheeks said that if I built a good stunt model he would coach me through the learning process. In the spring of 1988 I bought a SIG Banshee kit from Jack Sheeks Hobby Shop and Jack marked up the plans with the changes he recommended. I built the model with Jack's recommendations and some personal ideas. So that I would know any problems I had flying the pattern would be me and not the model I asked Jack to test fly it first. Jack took it off and did a couple of easy maneuvers and then flew it level for 6 laps. At this point I assumed it was way off! Not so! Jack proceeded to fly a full pattern that even I could identify each maneuver.

When the fuel ran out Jack landed it and told me I could NOT fly my model until he said so. Back to the Nobler. Later that summer Jack took my model to the SIG CL contest and entered it in stunt. Remember this was only to be a stunt trainer for me so I used available material I had on hand to finish the model. Orange iron on covering for the wing, tail feathers and to mark out the canopy. The rest of the body was painted with flat camouflage tan dope left over from a scale military model. Yes, Bright Orange wing and tail with a flat Tan body. The other contestants started teasing Jack about his UGLY model. Jack said they would be calling it Mr. Ugly before the weekend was over and took a black marker and wrote Mr. Ugly on the wing. After he won they called it Mr. Ugly! Jack took it back the next year and two of the three judges had him in first place again. He asked the third judge what was wrong with his flight and the answer was “A profile body model cannot turn like a full body stunt model can,” Jacks reply was “That one can.” In 1990 Jack took it back for the third time and got some bad air and crashed. I never got to fly my Banshee(k). The members of our local CL Club call a Banshee with Jack's mods a "Bansheek".
Clancy

Here is one from Jack:


Joe 

When we finished with the Banshee it was one of the best flying profiles I ever had. But the ones I liked to fly the most was the Panic, Fw 190 and the Spitfire. They were small and flew very well . I qualified with the Flybaby at the Nats. It flew real well.  Well I must sign off now as my grand daughters just came in from New Jersey. Good luck with the models  Jack

[Clancy Arnold]

There  seems to be some confusion about Jack's Stuntliner.  I just checked with Jack and received this information.  Hope this clears the air.

 Jack Sheeks built two versions of the Stuntliner.  The original had a straight leading edge and was smaller.  The Second version was the one that was published and had swept back wings and was larger than the original.  Both had upright engines.  Both flew good per Jack.

Clancy

[Dick Pacini]

Then I owned the original.  Did he remember swapping it for an outboard motor?