Mystery Model St Ives circa 1950's

LAST EDITED ON Jun-13-06 AT 05:38 AM (CST)
 
This ones a real mystery. Someone turned up with it many years ago, on a saturday morning at the KMAC flying field at St Ives in Sydney (OZ). It was presented as a gift to the club as an alternative to throwing it out. The Engine was included.

It's powered by a very nice early model plain bearing Tiapan 2.5cc diesel. It doesn't even have scratches on the head from re-tightning it with the standard rag/pliers combination universally used during the Tiapan era.

The chap holding the model is Ian Smith, who rebuilt it completely. Previous to the rebuild it hung from the ceiling of the club house for years. It probably was built from a kit because the ribs were numbered. The lines went over the inboard wing and there were guides for them on the IB tip. They now go through the ribs. No one at St Ives has any notion of what it might be.

Possibly a British or Oz design from the early '50s?

regards Ray

edited several times to correct bad spelling

A second pic of the same model.

It looks like a 50's era Frog kit. Anyone with a back log of British model mags should be able to id it.
For a moment there, I thought it was Bill Little with a beard holding it.

That model looks very much like a modified VERON Mini-Buster. If you
have a look at item #6065077197 on UK e**y,you can compare the two.
If the number of ribs,wing thickness & span are similar,the planforms appear to be near identical apart from the fin being made smaller on the photographed model to allow for the use of a 1 piece elevator. What do you think? BOB.

Been watching this, and only guesses so far. So, my guess is since it's in Oz, it's probably an Oz design, or even kit. There's a lot of Aussie kit makers we in Britain are not really aware of. If it's British, I reckon someone would have identified it by now.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-13-06 AT 05:34 AM (CST)
 
Ok, the model has a span of about 32-33". Obviously designed for a 2.5cc engine. Bellcrank is (was) mounted over the wing with leadout guides on the end (inside) rib. Engine is mounted sidewards. It's obviously a stunter not a teamracer. It had printed numbers on the ribs so it's probably built from a kit. It's unlikely that it's a Frog, Veron or KeilKraft kit because it would be recognised as such. It's not a common Australian kit from the 1950-60 era for the same reason.

It could be a hybrid, i.e. Wing from a kit and the rest home designed.

Or it could be a small run UK/OZ or even US kit, from a low volume manufacturer that everyone's missed!

When all's said and done it's a really cute design.

Does it have a hint of Miles about it?

>Does it have a hint of Miles about it?

I think Rustler may have fingered this one ....... their is a distinct resemblence to the "Miles Eight Gun Fighter" or Miles M20 developed just prior the Battle of Britain. It makes a very good semi-scale stunt project.