RE: Does anyone know what this is?
The Sterling Ringmaster was my first airplane. If I remember right, the kit came with everything but wheels, tank, fuel line and bellcrank. It even had the silkspan tissue for covering. I think the kit cost $3.95. In 1958, it took me a long time to save up the money for it. While I was building the plane, I was saving to get an engine. $8.95 got me a McCoy Redhead .35. After I got it built and ready to fly, my grand father bought the rest of the flight gear. He was as proud of my plane as I was. I was 8 years old and had bought everything with my money and built it myself. The plane looked like crap. We didn't have the internet back then to get help or ask questions. But I built it and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
And yes, I crashed it on the first flight. But I saved and built another, and another. That next Christmas, to my surprise, I got a new OS Max 35 and a Sterling Shoestring.
Those were the days.
Frank