World's Oldest Flyable CL Model??

LAST EDITED ON Nov-02-04 AT 00:19 AM (CDT)
 
Well, maybe it's not the oldest flyable control line model, but I'll bet it's close. This is an original Debolt SportWing from about 1951. I got it as a basket case five years ago and restored it as a project for my web site. Since the restoration it has made the tour of club meetings and displays, and will now be let go to make room for more projects. I replaced the oil-drenched fuselage, but the wing, controls and tail are original. The fuel tank, wheels and engine(a restored first-year Torp .19)are all correct for the early fifties. Covered with silk and dope, I did however apply one coat of clear epoxy to make the finish last longer. The spinner is an original Froom, and the prop is a restored Top Flite.

So...does anyone have a flyable model that predates 1951? I'd love to see photos if you do!

Bill Groman

Too cool!

53 years old and still boss.

[photo not recovered: 3e69bb3870f12ad5.jpg]

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."
-Horace

>Well, maybe it's not the oldest flyable control line model,
>but I'll bet it's close. This is an original Debolt
>SportWing from about 1951. I got it as a basket case five
>years ago and restored it as a project for my web site.
>Since the restoration it has made the tour of club meetings
>and displays, and will now be let go to make room for more
>projects. I replaced the oil-drenched fuselage, but the
>wing, controls and tail are original. The fuel tank, wheels
>and engine(a restored first-year Torp .19)are all correct
>for the early fifties. Covered with silk and dope, I did
>however apply one coat of clear epoxy to make the finish
>last longer. The spinner is an original Froom, and the prop
>is a restored Top Flite.
>
>So...does anyone have a flyable model that predates 1951?
>I'd love to see photos if you do!

Nice job! 1st class.

Beautiful job, but what is this with the little tiny motor? We dumped the landing gear, put in a Torp 35, and punched a hole in the rudder for the streamer string. Lots of memories, but none of them good about how well it turned. Oh well, it sure was fast!
Steve
The older I get, the better I used to fly!

My flying buddy has an early Stanzel-like model (huge fuselage, small wing, clunky LG, dihedral) that surely dates back to the late 40s. The Shark?

Does it still fly? Any pictures? I'd love to see them. Sounds like a Shark, but Stanzel had several designs with that description. Shark, Sharkadet and Shark G-5 all had big fuselages and little wings with dihedral. I have parts of an original Sharkadet for a future project using an O&R .60.

Bill Groman

I am recovering the wing on a Sky Vahl, an aluminum free flight kit converted to U/C. I won it in a contest in 1946. Originally powered by a Thunderbird 65 (also won in the same contest). Now powered by an Anderson Spitfire (60), ignition. It flies and moves slow but has loads of tension on 70' lines, extremely stable. It has been used as a trainer by many people. I am planning to use it as a trainer to teach some of our RC club members to fly U/C. It has been in my garage for years and years. That and a Buzzard Bomshell are the only remainders left from my teenage years. I just started back this year and am having a great time. It is not as pretty as yours but is well used, not well kept.
Jim

I have a Ringmaster Jr from about 1955 with a Hope 19. My dad taught our whole family how to fly C/L with it.
Also an aluminum/cherry wood Lockheed F-90 Dyna jet scale model from 1951 and an A speed ship with a McCoy 19RR. They are all needing resto but complete.
Speaking of Hal DeBolt kits, dads old DeBolt Continental with a twin stack OS 29 is flyable and as pretty as new. It was finished in 1964.
Chris...

Jim is it possible for ypu tp post a picture of the Sky Vahl?

I really enjoyed reading/watching the restoration on your website!

How's the Cobra going?

I reached the size limit for my site due to older editing technology and large photo file sizes (I started the site using an ancient digital camera and jurassic software), so I have been waiting to buy more space, or find time to go back and redo the old stuff to smaller sizes. Also, this year my oldest son took up cars as a hobby and I have spent all my modeling time helping him hot-rod his Honda.

I'm due to be off work soon for six weeks recovering from surgery, so I may just get the Cobra finished and posted to the site over the holidays. Thanks for the interest.

Bill Groman

My old Ringmaster built in 1954 hung around in my garage for a long time and I decided to fix it back up. Very time consuming. I could have built 3 scratch built ones in the time it took to redo this old bird. I will say it was worth every minute it took. I updated the engine to a McCoy 35 RH from a McCoy 36 Super Stunt, added a Firecat landing gear, and Monokoted the whole plane. Weights in at 28 oz. My other Ringmaster was built in 1964 and hasn't been touched and I fly it on a regular basis. Aero Gloss finished silkspan getting a little fragile and still has K&B GH 35 still mounted on it and runs great. Both Ringmasters fly extremely well.

In the center of the top picture, one can see what may be the world's longest unfinished but still progressing CL aircraft, a Super Ringmaster.

The fuel tank, wheels
>and engine(a restored first-year Torp .19)are all correct
>for the early fifties.

Bill,

Another masterpiece. Gorgeous! Can you give a little insight into the subtle differences between the early Torp 19 and the later Green Head versions? From the exterior they look very similar. I only have the later GH version, so I can't compare the two.

Thanks for the great photos!

Andy

Bill: I will try to get you a pic.

By the way, the Sportwing really looks sharp. Currell

Good question. They are identical, as far as I know. K&B was just starting to do the Green Head thing and the .19 was only plain for 1951. This page from my site has an ad for the engine from it's first year:

http://sportwing.homestead.com/SportWing2.html

Bill Groman

When the world was young I built a warped-up Sportwing with Torp 19. It didn't last long. In recent years, I have built two from Barry Baxter plans, both with ST G20-15 diesels. The first was 19 oz and did frightening vertical 8's. The second was 17 oz and less frightening. I flew the second one at the 1998 VSC. I am considering building another, perhaps for a TD 09. I think if I could build one around 14 oz it would fly the OTS pattern very well.

If you get a chance, I recommend the Stanzel Model Museum on Hwy 77, south of I10 In Schulenberg, TX. Most of the Stanzel kits are still available. I think there was an ad in a recent Stunt News.

Beautiful restoration Bill. I enjoy the engine restorations on your site most; please add more.

I have restored an old Halfast from that era (early 50’s). It has a Torp 35 Green Head on it. Even with the smaller green restrictor in the venturi, it goes like a rocket when it starts to two cycle. I’ll try to add some photos later.

One evening at Brodak when most people were gone there were two old combat models flown. One was a Sport wing.
Ed

The trophy for the "first C/L model" has to be in dispute. Here in Eugene Oregon, we have the recorded flights of Obe St. Clair, who was a member of our club. Mr. St. Clair flew C/L in the '30s and long before Jim Walker (in Portland, OR) made C/L flying popular through his advertisements and through his visits around the country in his Chrysler station wagon with dozens of flying exhibits.

I was a witness at one of the Walker flying exhibits. This was in a vacant (with grass about 3' high) lot in south Los Angeles in 1947. (South Gate, CA) Walker launched his Fireball with the O&R 23 with an outstretched hand. His "U-Reely' spooled the plane outward while still under control. After completing some laps and a loop, Jim cranked in his U_Reely and captured the plane in his hand. It never touched the ground. We were impressed, to say the least!

I have a 1949 Sterling "Maverick hanging in my office. This was one of the first control line kits that Sterling offered. Our local club in Upstate NY bought these by the gobbs at $1.00 each and flew them with just about any engine we had. My first Maverick was powered by an O&R .23. The kit was only about 150 square inches and the instructions offered a way of using 1/2A engines instead of the reccomended .19 to .29 of various manufacturer. I have never been able to condense digital camera shots for inclusion on this forumn. If I ever do I will sibmit a picture or two for your purusal.
Joe

The original Oba St. Clair "Miss Shirley" CL model, which had about an 8-foot wingspan, still exists. I photographed it about three years ago. It is in custody of his daughter, Shirley, in Eugene. With a bit of restoration of the covering, it could be flown today. Oba flew it in the 30s and claimed to be the first. There has been a lot written about this and there are some dissenting views on the "first" flight question. An interesting note about Oba: He was a semi-active flier up until his death in the 1980s, and he had every plane he had ever built when he died. The man who invented CL, more or less, never crashed a plane bad enough to destroy it. He was a good flier, too; I saw him fly a throttled plane that had wheels on top and bottom -- he landed it both ways, taxiied, etc.
Also still existing is the plane Oba set up for the Eugene Prop Spinners' 64-hour, 30-some minute record flight in 1957. It hangs in a Eugene hobby shop, minus the engine, needle valve servo and some other hardware.
--jt

John Thompson

How does it fly?

I have plans for that airplane I have looked them over several times its an interesting design.

How does it fly? Well, by today's standards it really is a failure! It has very limited tank spacing, it is WAY WAY to nose heavy with even a small OK Cub .099. It glides with the appearence of a dying duck (nearly straight down) and yet....I love it! In 1949 we were truely joy filled at any engine run. I flew mine as close to the ground as I could, hopefull that when the engine quit it wouldn't drop straight in and break my only prop of the week. At that time I could only afford one or two props a week, and once broken I was through for the weekend.
If I ever build another will make the modifications for a 1/2A something or other, and it will be painted something other than solid black. (the only color dope I hade at the time)

Gee, has it only been 55 years?( and I still can't fly worth a D...!)

regards to all,
Joe

LAST EDITED ON Nov-22-04 AT 05:56 PM (CST)
 
Here is a Reactor originally built in '56. It had been in a fire and was scorched a bit. The plastic bits were all melted, wing tips, etc. I disassembled it as teh Ambroid had let go, drew plans, the rebuilt it. It flies great!
Bare

I call my SportWing the "twenty dollar time machine", becuase that's what I paid for it and that's what it does. When people hold it you can see them going back in time, to simple and happy days. No physics, logic, higher math or politics....just balsa, the smell of Ambroid, dope and castor...and the raspy sound of a Torp. I love old models.

Bill Groman