Wildfire

On the matter of Classic/Vintage 49 planes, I saw in an Australian mag. a pic. of a model called Wildfire, with a 49 installed. It looks a bit like a Chief.
Does anyone know if this is an Australian design, and if any plans are available?

Ian,

The Wildfire is an Australian design from the early 50's by Don McClaren. As far as I know there were two versions... a large version around 60" span, and a smaller one around 53" span. The smaller model appeared in Aircraft Magazine May 53, I should have the article, and can send you a copy if you like. It's probably the smaller version you saw in the Magazine.

There is also a different Wildfire, a 2.5 cc airplane by Stowers and Taylor in the May 1950 Aeromodeller. It is a rather nice looking stunter airplane of 27.5 in wingspan and a very sharp leading edge airfoil. Are the Australian Wildfire plans available anywhere?

"The Wildfire is an Australian design from the early 50's by Don McClaren."

That is correct. It was published in 1953, but I no longer have the article. The correct span is 58".
I built a Wildfire in 1958 and powered it with an Enya Typhoon 63 glow. At the time it seemed a good idea to use plastic flyscreen mesh as a live hinge. Not! The mesh failed after about a year and the Wildfire was pranged.
I was never happy with the big Enya and rebuilt the model for a McCord Anderson on ignition. There were still a few of us playing around with .60 stunters in those days in Wollongong. We found that 80 and 90' lines were the way to go, but 3-strand only. 7-strand Laystrate was too heavy on anything over 70' length. I never broke a line on the Wildfire.
The Wildfire was last flown some 15 years ago. It was very overcast and a violent electrical storm blew up about halfway through the flight. I wasn't worried, because I knew that the rain would quickly short the ignition. Wrong again!
Water had absolutely no effect on the Anderson and left me hanging on to 80' of conductor in the middle of the field! In hindsight I should have put the model in, but of course I didn't.
I have seen a plan for a .49 size Wildfire, but can't add any more than that.
My Wildfire is still hanging in the workshop, but controls and glue joints would need attention if it were to fly again. I took a shot of it this morning.
regards
Dave Owen

Peter White (now resident in Western Australia) has a listed plan of the Wildfire in his collection. It is a 52" version. details of all the plans that he has and contact information can be found on the Vicstunt website at http://www.vicstunt.com/

Charlie

Peter White (now resident in Western Australia) has a listed plan of the Wildfire in his collection. It is a 52" version.

Charlie,
I note this is called Widfire II and must be the smaller .49 version.

Dave

Just dug out my copy of the "Widfire 11" article and plan which was published in May 53 "Aircraft" magazine...plan shows all the dimensions so you could build from the magazine or draw your own plans. Span is 56.5" and area about 660", so I'm not sure which version this is, the article says the model was powered by an Anderson Spitfire. Ian, if the model you saw in the magazine was built by Les Organ it was probably built from this article. I think the plan that Peter White has is a copy of the same article.

David...nice looking "Wildfire", was your model built from the magazine article..??

Just dug out my copy of the "Widfire 11" article and plan which was published in May 53 "Aircraft" magazine...

Hi Peter,
My model was built from plans Ray Brown and I scaled up from the "Aircraft" drawings. I have probably still got them.
I might be wrong about the exact span (58 v 56 1/2) but I can't recall the model being referred to as a 'Wildfire 11'.
May I have a scan of the original article please?
I'm sure Don McClaren is still alive and living in Qld. I met him within the last 10 years. I'll see if anyone can find him and we'll clear this thing up.
I would certainly like to build a .49 size Wildfire for a Sabre .49 glow. Would also be nice with a Madewell or a Triumph on ignition.
rgds
Dave

Hi David,

I don't have a scanner at the moment so I'm sending you a copy of the article and plan. A Sabre 49 would be perfect for the Wildfire.

Thanks, Peter
Dave

Thanks to Peter R., Dave Owen, Charlie Stone, et al. I have been inerested in this model for a long time now. Peter has offered to send copy of article, which I gratefully accept. I look forward to seeing this and finding out more about this interesting design. So far, points of interest seem to be :- It comes in two sizes. The smaller size may be the 49'er, - a surprise. I think with modern approach to stunt, one might be tempted to put a 49 in the larger size! One point of note, I see it's published in '53. Any provenance for it existing in '52? e.g. '52 contest results? This could mean the difference between Classic and Vintage.

Ian,

Don McLaren won the 52 Australian Nats with the "Wildfire" powered by an Anderson Spitfire...looks like you're ok for vintage..!!

List and details of Nats winners can be found here..

http://www.dkd.net/clstunt/natswin.html

>Ian,
>Don McLaren won the 52 Australian Nats with the "Wildfire"
>powered by an Anderson Spitfire...looks like you're ok for
>vintage..!!
>Peter.

Hi Peter,
I knew I had some more information somewhere on the Wildfire and here it is on p29, Australian Model Hobbies, Dec 1951.
A photo of 'a diminutive' Don Mclaren standing behind his Anderson powered Wildfire, which he flew to 1st Place in Junior Stunt at the VMAA Champs on Nov 3&4 of that year. So the Wildfire is definitely a 1951, possibly earlier, design.
Thank you very much for the copy of the Aircraft, May '53 article and dwg for Wildfire 11 (sic). I cannot detect any difference between this and the earlier 1951 model. My Wildfire was built to this dwg.
I climbed up into the roof this morning and checked the span, which I had previously quoted as 58". It is actually 56 1/2", the correct span.
I note the Aircraft article, by Jim Fullarton, mentions an overall reduction of the original dwg to suit the Sabre .49, resulting in a 52" model. I'm sure I have seen a complete dwg of this smaller Wildfire. It would be a very nice model, for sure.
with best regards
Dave Owen, VH2198

David,

No worries about the Wildfire article, glad I could help. Any chance of getting a scan or copy of page 29 of Australian Model Hobbies showing the date, would be handy if I get around to building one..!!

If you care to go to http://www.dkd.net/clmodels/jw4050.html You can see a photo of Don McLaren taken about 1951 with that famous `Wildfire'