The SIG version was the first big airplane I ever flew. It was one my cousin Joe Paul started as some therapy for a hand injury he got at work. He was a member of the Yellow Jackets out of Art Schaefer's Hobby Shop and lived in Afton. He got about half way through it, screwed up the wing, and tried replacing it with one built up in layers from solid balsa. My little brother Jim and I finished it up with the custom planking that has been described and slapped on what ever dope we had. There was a McCoy of some flavor that we got from some where and it was fitted, along with a tank. No landing gear, and I don't think we even put the canopy on. There was a large grass field at a nearby church and that was where the first flights happened. I don't remember anything about the lines but they were steel and longer than the 1/2A lines that we had been flying. The engine was fired up, Jimmy launched it and I was airborne!! I still remember the pull, was not expecting it, and I remember that it was just so positive and solid. I get that feeling just about every time I fly a model today!! I flew it a couple of times, probably 4 or 5 minute flights. Then let my brother have a turn. he could fly, and I really don't remember what happened, but his flight only lasted about a lap or two. Something might have broken in the controls, who knows. We were greener than a pool table felt!! But that is when the bug of the big models bit me!! I still have the plans that came with the model when my cousin gave it to us, and have spent the better part of my adult life looking for another one before I found it. Then I found a Berkeley version. The TopFlite kit was acquired along the way also and I have the Musciano plans with a canopy for it. I think Musciano did a couple different scales but not real sure. Hey Dennis!! When I was a kid, we didn't have much money, and my Mom raised 9 of us by herself, so I spent a lot of time looking for things. Soda bottles, quarters laying in the parking lot of the IGA, , any piece of junk that I thought would be useful to me. When I started out on my own I kept on looking for anything that I wanted as a kid, and have been doing that for almost 50 years!! And I started back when a lot of this stuff really didn't mean anything to any one. Working at the hobby shop for 35 years or so helped a lot because some stuff found me!! Everywhere I went I was looking during this time. Newspaper adds, toy shows, swap meets, garage sales. Then eBay came along and I got a lot of good deals on there when it had just started. I belonged to a lot of clubs and had a lot of friends along the way to clue me in if something came up. All this time I was reading anything I could find and buy, listening to the old timers stories and learning as much history as I could along the way. To me, having the stuff doesn't mean much with out knowing the history behind it. When Dave Thornburgh came out with his book, "Do You Speak Model Airplane ?" , that filled in some gaps and stoked the fire even more. The magazine and book collection really took off and I am as proud of that as I am anything else that I have. I learned to never pass up a good deal, and the time to by something is when you see it, and just tried to be prepared for that at all times!!
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee