Tucker Special - first design date

[Ian Hewitt]

Hi Stunt Hanger,

Thanks for adding me to the group.

I am hoping to establish when the Tucker Special was first designed to sed whether it might comply with our revised vintage rules  - we are in the process of revising our OTS/vintage rules to consolidate them - as a result the new final date for designs will be December 1957.

I have seen accounts that the early versions with fuselarge mounted gear achieved competition success in 1958 and would expect that the design will have been put together some time before then. I have seen Alan Resinger's drawing of the early design but have not been able to turn up his article in Stunt News (Jan/Feb 2007).

Any advice appreciated. I am intending to use a Brodak 40 when I get around to starting on the model - hopefully soon after my cellar workspace returns to some sort of normality after building repair work is completed.

Thanks in advance.

Ian
Nottingham, England

[RC Storick]

Bob Tucker designed it in 1958. Ron O'Toole flew it (and won) in 1959 and 1960 Air Youth championships. Ron also placed 6th with his Tucker Special at the 1959 California Nationals.

[Ian Hewitt]

Thanks for the reply.

On the Barton site Tug Wilson has unearthed a 1995 Flying Models article by Bob Hunt  which shows a photograph of the Ron O'Toole model taken at the 1958 Nats in Illinois taken by Bob Galdini. This model has the large subfin and fuselage mounted gear as drawn by Alan Resinger.

I am hoping that this points to the original design being drawn up in 1957?

Ian

[Ian Hewitt]

I failed to spot the date on Alan Resinger's drawing..  ..1958  ..sorry folks!

On the Barton site there is a quote from a 1962 article by Bob Tucker (I think) which states that flight testing began in the fall of 58 which fits with Alan's drawing.

I'm working on the basis that the design was first drawn up in 1958 and that it falls outside the UK vintage stunt cut off date - that's the way it is.. Nice model though in any event.

Ian

[Alan Resinger]

I lived just South of St. Louis until 1965 when I went into the service.  I hung around Schaefer's hobby shop when it was originall located on Virginia Ave. in South St. Louis. In the early sixties I recall meeting Ron, his brother and his dad at the hobby sbop on several occasions.  I was just learning at the time but have vivid memories of their airplanes.  Ron O'Toole's brother, Denny I believe was his name, had a particulaly stunning version tbat was colored brown as I remember it.  I remember seeing Ron's red a d cream colored model that was a early version with fuselage mounted gear.  The published version in American Modeler was the first one I saw with the wing mounted gear.  It was also the first one I saw with tbe 2" wing asymmetry.   Earlier ones had only 3/4" I believe.  I talked to Ron about the time I drew those plans to verify that. 
In the mid 80's Bob Tucker tracked me dowm as I had built a large ST 60 powered version that he had seen picfures of on Windy Urtnowski's Stont News newsletter.  For several weks he called every evening to talk stunt in general and the different versions of the Tucker Special in particular.  I actually have the first version of the Tucker 4 that Gary Zeller had used in competition in the later 60's. 
I believe the mid 1958 design date is correct.  I remember one of the early version Tuckers to be hanging in Schaefers hobby shop the last time I was in tbe St. Louis area in the mid to late 2000's.  I think it was Art Schaefer's model and was all black with white trim.  This model was one of the early versions with the fuse mounted gear but I don't think it had the very deep sub rudder.  I only remember seeing 2 or 3 of the deep sub rudders.

[Dan McEntee]

     You are pretty much on the money with names and dates and such Alan, from what I know and have read and been told. Ron O'Toole is still around and lives near me in north St. Louis County. I knew a truck driver for a printing company years ago that was a nephew of Gary Zeller. Art Schaefer Sr. closed the Virginia Ave when he retired and has since passed away. his son, Art Jr., opened another store not far from Buder Park on Gravois Ave. about the same time they closed the other store. They sold off a lot of the models that hung in there ( I managed to buy a Guillow's Fokker D-7 that I had admired since I was a child!) but also kept a lot of the significant models, including that black Tucker Special, and Jim Kostecky's original Formula S. Several old record setting speed models in there also. I always check them out when I go it there.
   Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee