OK, here's one for all of you vintage/classic experts! I hope that someone can confirm my thoughts and findings.

I recently took delivery of a NIB Top Flite Orion kit. Been looking for a while and the right deal finally came along. Now, with this kit came a surprise, a set of sheeted wing and stab cores. I don't think that this was something that an individual modeler cooked up. Rather, I believe that the parts were from a small company named 5 Star that was based somewhere around Orlando, FL. Here's why. The cores are very nicely sheeted and in excellent condition. They were packed in boxes that had a postmark of Oct 1966. I can't make out the complete date as there's a black scribble on it. Next, the parts were very carefully packed/wrapped and you could tell that they haven't been disturbed for many, many years. They were packed with a lot of newspapers and they are also from the Orlando area and dated 9/11/1966. Included are strip ailerons, balsa wing tip blocks, balsa wing joiners, bushed torque rods and heavy cloth (period correct for the mid 60's) for reinforcing the center section. There is also a small instruction sheet that was typed on what appears to be rice paper. The stab is a one-piece affair with elevator blanks, reinforcment cloth and a music wire joiner that needs to be bent to shape.

Some observations: First the stab. When laid on the Orion kit plan, it's a perfect match for span and chord. The tips are semi-shaped, and are a little larger than necessary for final shaping. The airfoil isn't quite a diamond shape, but the high point of the airfoil does match the diamond stab high point. The elevator blanks are a perfect match and just need to be tapered.

The wing: I compared the wing panels against the kit plans, and they are also a perfect match spanwise and chord wise. The airfoil is also a perfect match when compared to the root and tip ribs. There's also 2 spars imbedded in the foam near the trailing edge from the root to the tip. The balsa sheeting wraps around the leading edge, and is very nicely done. There is also a large cutout in the center section for the aileron servo. So far, so good. Now, these cores came with strip ailerons and we know that the Orion has barn door ailerons. The landing gear blocks are already in the cores and sheeted over. The gear blocks however are placed too far back in the wing for a tail dragger (the Orion's original configuration). This leads me to believe that ths wing was marketed as an updated version for a tri-geared Orion as outlined in the old Grig Leaks magazine. Any thoughts on this guys? See pics below!

My game plan for this Orion is to build it stock (someday ), but include a nose gear mount in the fuselage. This way I could easily use the modified wing and change the model from a tail dragger to the tri-gear configuration without having to build another model. I think it would be very interesting to see how the model flies with just a different wing. For now though, I'd just like to find out more info about the company that made these cores. I hope someone can shed some light on this!

RFJ: Any chance you could look through your magazine stash and perhaps find an ad for 5 Star? TIA!

FB

And here's some pics of the paperwork.

FB

Very interesting stuff, could this be one of the first kits with pre-covered foam cores? I'm surprised at this, I don't recall hearing about a kit with covered foam cores in the mid 60's, not that I know everything, I'm just surprised to see it. Perhaps someone can provide more info.

That is interesting. The Grid Leaks mods show strip ailerons and how to modify the TF built-up wing, it looks like someone saw an opening in the market...I have seen ads in the English mags for Taurus foam cores around 1965, so it is not impossible. Very nice workmanship too, you don't often see spars under foam cores, now, do you?
Evan, WB #12.

Evan, have you ever seen any ads for an foam Orion wing and stab? I don't recall any. I would tend to agree with you about someone trying to fill a niche in the market. It probably never took off as the Taurus was in the spotlight at that time. These cores for their age are in excellent shape. All of the sheeting is firmly attached, no lifting anywhere. When I build this wing, I'm going to change the dihedral braces from balsa to ply. They'll probably be OK as is, but I'll want some piece of mind. When I came across this find, I had no idea what I was getting. I guess you never know what you'll find these days.

I'm hoping that somebody can shed some light on this.

FB

FB,

Had a quick search but can't find any ads for the 5 Star company you mention.

Foam wings have been around since the early 1960s and although Ed Izzo is usually credited with their invention I have my doubts. His famous article appeared in the June 1964 issue of MAN. Expanded polystyrene foam was first produced in the USA in 1959.

Fritz Bosch used foam wings on his FB37 design at the 1963 F3A World Champs so I suspect some early development took place in Germany which Ed may or may not have been aware off.

Ray

Thanks for checking Ray. If anyone could find an ad, it would be you!

FB

Ed Izzo was from around these parts...central N.Y...and we were always told that he was the one who started the foam wing thing in the early 60's...I'm not 100% on that, but that's what I recall hearing, many times.

Matty Sullivan also worked with foam (wings, etc. ) in the early 60's as well IIRC...

Chuck Winter built an all foam (I think it was a ) Dart, didn't he?
Chuck...are ya out there somewhere?

Mike Stott and his dad made foamers in the mid 60's for C/L and R/C. I don't think it was rare. Neat old kit, very nicely preserved box.
Chris...

FB,

After a more careful search I found the following. I think you have a "5 Star Series" wing made by Meinke Model Engineering. The first ad is from March-April 1965 Grid Leaks and the second from March-April 1966 Grid Leaks. Not sure how well these scans of scans will reproduce but the Orion wing/stab is specifically mentioned.

Ray

Ray, you found it! The 2nd pic in the lower left corner is it! The description of the product is what I have. So it's the "5 Star Series" by Meinke Model Engineering. The ad also shows the company is out of Orlando, Florida, which matches the postmark on the shipping box and newspaper packing inside. It's interesting to note that the "5 Star Series" also lists cores for most of the popular models of the day.

What I can conclude then, is that who ever owned the Top Flite Orion kit I have, bought a set of aftermarket wing and stab cores for the kit intending to use them instead of the kit built-up structures. Sounds logical to me.
Ray, thanks so much for the detective work! This forum is just awesome with the amount of built-in knowledge!

FB

Neat, amazing what you all come up with!

Boy, you guys are going to hate me. A couple of years ago I got a Hartman Zeus fuselage. Included with the fuselage was a complete Meinke Taurus wing kit. Here's some photos. The first five photos are the wing kit which is the stardard Taurus wing. The last is a Marvelite Swept Taurus wing. The Marvelite was wrapped with a thin veneer birch plywood. The panels are butt glued together and wrapped with glass while the Meinke wing has spars installed before the sheeting is applied.

Mad?? Heck, I'm glad to see that somebody has another wing set from Meinke! Very awesome stuff you've got! After a very long search, earlier this year I finally found a Hartman Zeus fuselage (a MK IV I believe) with a set of drawings. While the quality of the fuselage leaves a lot to be desired, it's still a gem in my eyes and another classic project. Thanks for adding to the thread Mike!

FB

FB - Thought you might be interested in this from July 1965 RCM.

Ray

Wow! That's a great article Ray! Thanks for posting it and I'll add it to the paperwork with the other ad.

FB