F-89 Driver
Posts: 27
Joined: 11/5/2002
From: Port Charlotte,
FL, USA
Status: offline
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I don’t want to make a novel out of this particular bulletin board, but I thought modeler/pilots might find the following to be of some interest.
As a kid, I messed around building model airplanes. Hey, didn’t we all? One day I went to the barbershop with my dad. It was busy, and we obviously had a bit of a wait on our hands. The model shop was right next door. I explained to Dad that I needed a nickel tube of Testor’s glue. So we asked the barber to save our place in line while I went next door for a minute. The barber agreed, and Dad followed me into the model shop. As usual, I just had to peruse the boxed contents of several Comet or Guillows models to determine the complexity and the skill that would be required to build a successful example of same.
In those days, there was no such thing as “laser cut.” The necessary pieces were stamped in ink onto a balsa sheet (usually of poor grade) and it was necessary to cut the pieces by hand. X-Acto knives hadn’t hit the scene yet, so a razor blade was the tool of choice - - preferably a single-edge blade. Double-edged blades would do in a pinch, but that usually resulted in also using-up several band-aids.
By the way, Cleveland kits were nice to examine and ogle, but they were WAY too difficult for me or my buddies. I recall looking, longingly, at the Stinson Reliant and the twin-engine Hudson Bomber. Maybe someday - - -
As I selected my tube of glue, Dad also looked at a U-Control kit (R/C was still in the future) and asked the store owner several questions. Eventually, I made my nickel purchase and we returned to the barber shop where I “got my ears lowered.”
Two days later, I came home for lunch from grammar school. When I walked into the house it was full of smoke! I hurried to the basement to see if the coal furnace or the manually-fired water heater had gone haywire. As I went down the stairs into the basement, I could see Dad through all the blue smoke.
He had a Brown Jr. engine in a vise and was “breaking it in with a rich mixture.” Hence, lotsa blue smoke enveloping the interior of the house. Mom had decided to “visit a neighbor lady” while Dad was engaged in this particular activity. She didn’t reappear until the smoke had cleared - - literally.
On a bench he had plans laid out for a U-control “Shark” and had pieces pinned down waiting for the glue to dry. (No “Hot Stuff” or cyanoacrylic wonder stuff back then.) Dad had gotten the bug, and he became an avid U-Control modeler!
Well, one thing led to another, and whaddaya know? He then made an offer and bought the whole model shop! Since he was an airline captain, he could plow the profits back into the store. Eventually, it was necessary to move into a bigger store across the street. Perhaps somebody out there remembers the C&I Hobby Center on 63rd Street near Kedzie Avenue, two miles east of Midway Airport. I got hands-on experience with all of the models and ignition engines that were around in the mid-to-late 1940’s. I remember having fun with a Morton M-5, and the first Dyna-Jet (sounded like a bassoon), and all of the Ohlsson-Rice offerings. Some fun! But eventually the store was sold.
Anyway, it just shows what can happen when a kid is in dire need of a tube of glue.
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Printable Version
All Forums >> Radios, Batteries, Clubhouse and more >> Full Scale planes, cars, helis, boats >> Airplanes - Full Scale >> RE: Full scale flyers....roll call. 
RE: Full scale flyers....roll call. - 
Flew DC-3's, DC-4's, DC-6's, DC-7's Vickers Viscounts, B-727's, B-737's and retired while flying DC-8s on Hawaii layovers. (Best flying on the airline!) 28,000 hours. Got into R/C in 1961, same year that Capital merged with United Airlines. Now, at age 75 I still have powered R/C birds, but mostly enjoy the solitude of model sailplanes. Despite several other models, I still have an ongoing romance with my Olympic 650 - - still in one piece after 20 years or more of faithrful service. I won my first contest with that bird. 
