WASSIT??

LAST EDITED ON Nov-29-04 AT 08:31 PM (CST)
 
Gary "Rainman" Tultz Knows I like to restore old things. So he gave me this to work on. My first question was "Wassit?" More like "what the Xell is that?" You wont believe his answer. The Rainman said "I don't know" I couldn't believe it! He said the gentleman that had owned it went to that big circle in the sky and couldn't be reached. His wife said that he referred to it as his "ATWOOD STUNTER". So I would like to know if any of you recognize this rascal. It has that side mounted engine setup and trike gear, really different from any thing that I remember. If it is a known plane, I'd like to keep it correct. If not,,,, who knows ??

OH YEA 60" W.S. 39" lg. 26" stab

LAST EDITED ON Nov-29-04 AT 11:10 PM (CST)
 
I got one from a little old lady who's husband had passed away. It was a Ringmaster wing with a box fuselage, plain jane stab and rudder not unlike yours. I think there were a lot of them in the late 50's. Rollin Kessler and I were flying mine at the high school in Athens, AL. When it landed , it just fell apart, it was that old, oil soaked, and dried out!!! Had I known how bad the controls had been done, I would have never flown it.

The wing on yours is definetly not a Ringmaster wing, but looks like it could have come from a Veco kit. What is the span?

Well, it helps to reread. 60". I'll bet is was just a wild and crazy thing to do. Not untypical of the good old days. Fun flyer and a half.

LAST EDITED ON Nov-30-04 AT 08:54 AM (CST)
 
OK "Sagameister"... lets apply some forensic science here.

Judging from the OB wing not having the same leadout holes as the IB wing would lead me to believe this is a scratch built model.

The wing shape and tail feathers would suggest that the builder was influenced by the Ringmaster. This put's the date of this model sometime after 1952 (I believe this is the release date of the first Sterling kits) It's also highly probable that due to lack of resources for plans that the builder wouldn't have know about this model prior to that date.

The light green color is a Sig color (Dopey Metallic Green) that contained cadmium which was discontinued around 1977 due to EPA edicts. So from this we can rule out models produced after 1977.

The silkspan used is a very unusual type. If you look very closely at the picture the fiber characteristics clearly shows it was produced by a small cottage industry producer in Osaka who tragically was killed by an irate water buffalo in 1954. We are closing in on this.

The main landing gear wheels were produced by Boing Mfg.. The history is of some importance here. The company was a small producer of rubber balls and in the mid 40's suffered from a rapid decline in sales due to the returning GI's having other things on their minds. The company struggled for a number of years and in an attempt to salvage the company, they expand their product line to include model airplane tires. Records seem to indicate that initial production reached the marketplace around Aug. 1950. Tragically the company ceased operations Jan. 1953, in a very ugly bankruptcy. One of the creditors seized the consigned inventory in an attempt to recover funds, leading the CEO to complain "How can I do business when this guy has my balls?". Only 21 sets of this particular size tire were produced. An aside comment, all of their tires were metric, very unusual for the time. It was a really a poorly conceived marketing strategy in an attempt to find markets in Asia. Well, we all know that food was a higher priority so the planned failed miserably. Add to that the fact that American modelers weren't adept at convert metric sizes to inches and were afraid the wheel diameters wouldn't work for them.

So at this point, it’s logical to assume that if it is a copy of a kit then it was designed and built sometime between Jan. 1952 and Jan 1953. If we could get a small sample of the glue, then we might be able to carbon date it and pinpoint exact date.

From the above evidence I conclude the following:

The model is scratch built

The design was produce sometime after 1952.

The model was built sometime in 1952

That I am able to ramble on even longer than you do Roger.

And I need to spend less time on this computer.

This is an inside joke but unlike others I’ll share. Roger has the nickname “Long story short” He usually say this right in the middle of a story and you can guess what happens.

I think “Sagameister” is a better name. What ya think Rog?

PS – We love ya

LAST EDITED ON Nov-30-04 AT 09:53 AM (CST)
 
Looks to me like a "Lion Tamer", a sort of big, tricycle gear ringmaster looking thing that was designed by Matt Kania for PDQ.

You will see a kit for them very occasionally on the bay.

LION TAMER, ($13.00) PDQ's answer to the Super Ringmaster, loosely based on the Circus King. 45" Span, 414 sq.in. This is the original version. CAD Plans. 1954

That was from Control line plans dot com.

This might have been a home made blow up of the design for an Atwood 60 as the dimensions you give are larger than the specs for the Lion Tamer.

Here is another clue:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34054&item=5938515097&rd=1

The photo shows the Circus King profile and the pitch on the box says "A lion tamer in combat". Note the similarity in the vertical fin, eppenage and wing.

Cy

Definitely a scratch. There was nothing remotely similar kitted (or available as plans, as far as I know) with a 60" span like this. It does have a wing planform similar to a Ringmaster. Disagree that there is any real similarity to the Lion Tamer or Circus Prince tailfeathers, however. The rudder and stab/el on the model in question look rather generic to me.

The flat fuselage design reminds me a little of a Veco Renegade "combat" ship. But this one probably came earlier.

Good observation, Dick, re the rib leadout holes on the IB wing only.

If he referred to it as his "Atwood Stunter", he probably had an ignition Atwood .603 or .624 on this 60" ship. These engines were produced between 1940 and 1947. A "Glo-Devil" .624 came out in '48 as their first glow plug motor. In the same year, there also was a .491 and .503 (no typo; the displacements were that close together) "Triumph", with the latter marketed as a ".51". It could have been one these glows, too.

Looks like y'all came to the same conclusion that I did. Sure looks like a one of a kind, home made original. It does look like it oughta fly decent, so maybe I'll give it a good physical and ready it for spring. Got a nice ST .56 that should pull it around nicely.

Thanks to all for your comments.

Oh, one other thing.

"That I am able to ramble on even longer than you do Roger."

"And I need to spend less time on this computer."

Maybe ole "Divot" Dick Fowler should spend less time on the 'puter and more time behind the handle. Then maybe we would change his name too.... NAH!! (but he did do a good job deducing, didn't he..)

I'd still get a set of Lion Tamer plans and blow them up to 60 inch wingspan and see if the results don't match fairly closely.

Cy.

Your wing is shaped like a Ringmaster but you have only 8 ribs on each wing a Ringmaster has 10 ribs on each wing.

Hi Rog,
Seems like there are several of us around that like to restore old planes!
One of my favorite things to do, but a lot less time now to do it.
Bill <><

Is there any way you can document the age of this airplane? If it is pre Dec 31, 1952 it is a PAMPA OTS legal design. One of the things the PAMPA OTS rules are designed to do is to rescue airplanes like this from obscurity. If you look through pictures in the OTS period magazines, there are dozens of interesting airplanes which we'll never be able to find and replicate.

Did ya get that old "spitfire 60" too? Watch out them things bite!! I got 50 yearold battle scars from one. ok,super cyc's and atwood 60s all converted ignition engines,darn hard on th digits.