tinsink

Hey CurtD,

I still have the transmitter from my W.E. Blue Max in the basement.
I lost the rest of it in a flood. It didn't get too much use.
Was it that bad?

Rich

linclogs

The model in the photo sorta reminds me of a M.E.N. (Model Engineering of Norwalk) Trainer.

By the way, something I've been doing for at least 30 years is to always replace the balsa spars in a built up wing with the exact same size spruce spars. I can honestly say I've never had a wing failure no matter how violently the model is flown. I folded quite a few (steep dives at full throttle with hard pull-up) before someone told me that, "Spruce is 10 times the strength of balsa but only 4 times the weight". I feel the weight difference is of little consequence when dealing with the small size spars that are used in most built up wings.

Carolina Raptor

My Feedback: (1)

I had one too, since it was all I knew I thought it was great compared to a rubber band escapement that was given to me.
I was not till I got in touch with others and saw EK Logictrol, Kraft and others did I find out that there was something just a bit better. But it was not bad bang for the buck. I even built one of the semi-kit radios at the time. I still think the best radio I ever had and most reliable I ever saw was the Hobby Lobby 5/6, made by EK. Maybe it had more to do with my switch from 27 mhz band to 72???? This was during the big CB craze of the mid 70s (OK, who keyed their mic?).

CurtD

My Feedback: (1)

As far as the Blue Max was concerned, lets just say its reliability was less than satisfactory. It made three trips back to WE for repairs after dying in flight and after the third I relegated it to gliders. After it spun a glider in (or more correctly, a spiral death dive from a locked rudder servo) I put it in the trash compactor!

aerostar55

I would guess, from the shapeof therudder and horizontal stabthat this is an original SIG Kadet, the fuselage might be home built, or perhaps it was built from the Kadet plans. The OriginalKadet had a flat bottom wing and was designed as a 3 channel trainer fo r.19 to .40 engines.

The original Headmaster was designed by the lateKen Willard. It has a simi symmertical airfoil of 48 inch span. The plans show ailerons as
an option, and a Veco .19 engine in the drawing.

Iflew one of these a long time ago on 3 channels with an ST. 21 (no muffler) it could fly inverted all day longusing therudder only!

A great flying airplane.

jjscott

Headmaster plan. RCM plans service should have it.

Jim

ecarfar

I bought one of these in the late 80's, the .40 ARF version. Built it up, rigged it properly,put inthe servos, put in an OS .40 engine, broke it in, tested it, balanced it....never got to fly it. Put it away in various places over the years. Got married,had three kids, got a "profession" and had three moves. It ended up on the ceiling of my sons' room since the mid 90's. I just never thought there was a flying field anywhere near where I live. Low and behold, a couiple of weeks ago, I was google mapping my house and noticed, about a 1/2 mile from my house, across a major highway, was a model RC field! The plane is off the ceiling, completely cleaned, motor has been cleaned and run, new batteries, new radio....the plane will fly this weekend!

aerostar55

Good to hear that you are building (or flying?) a headmaster. You can still get plans for the Headmaster, try googling "RCM plans" onlineit was originally an article by Ken Willard in Model Aviation magazine, I think 1974. The article doesn't have much in the way of building information.

Top Flite had a kit of it also! The original version was designed for 3 channel operation without ailerons. The wing was simi symetrical in airfoil. I am building one with strip ailerons. Iplan on using a FOX .19 on it to start out. Iincreased the size & lengthof the dihedral brace shown on the plan.

The plans state .09 for light builders, .19 for normal weights, and .35 for real hot dogs!

Bob Ruether of "Bob's HobbyWorld" in Nashville TN, used to fly one for fun with a Super Tiger .21 and no muffler at the Middle Tennessee flying site in Brentwood Tenn. Back in 1982.

That thing was a real speedster, of course Bob was a champion pylon racer back in the day.

The Headmaster also was kitted in a .40 version called the Headmaster 40 !

geezeraviation

My Feedback: (3)

A Headmaster was the first airplane I landed successfully, it was a Top Flight kit in 1970 or 71. A friend of mine and I taught each other to fly. We built and repaired a lot of models before we got it right. The wing for the Headmaster was a survivor , I think I built three fuselages for it from scratch using the plans that came with it. I had a Super Tiger 23 on it, ball bearings and no muffler. Some one in a previous post mentioned an Andrews Hray, that was my second success, yes very thick fuse sides in the front. Both airplanes were three channel, a Royal that I built from a kit.
Doc

attorlaw

Hi
Im sure it is a Headmaster
I spend many hours flying that plane it use to resist to come down

i have small plans

aerostar55

Found some old RCM magazine plans for the original Headmaster in the attic so Icut some balsa and built it. Added the "optional" ailerons shown on the plans.

Haven't covered the wing yet, because Iam adding Fly Lites inside the wings. The covering will be translucent orange Monokote.

I have an old Fox .19 that should be just about right power. Ran it on the test stand the other day and it runs fine.

electricdan

aerostar 55

Thanks for pictures of your progress- I will refer to them often.
I haven't learned how to take pictures to post to internet, but maybe someday.
This whole blogging thng will be a new experience.
electricdan

hattend

My Feedback: (20)

My first plane was a Top Flight Headmaster. It had an enya .29 up front and flew with 3 channels...no ailerons. The .29 was just right, sizewise.

Very sweet flying plane. I soloed on about the 4th or 5th flight (One day at the field)

I flew the wings off that plane. I don't remember what caused it's demise but I do remmebr I flew it for 2 or 3 seasons before moving on to a four channel low wing. I may have given it away to somebody else to let them enjoy.

You'll love the Headmaster...guaranteed.

Don

LuvBipes

My Feedback: (4)

Aerostarr, that is so cool. My first RC plane circa 1975 was a TopFlight Headmaster also powered by a Fox 19. Power was sufficient, but I never could get the thing to idle right, so I quickly learned about dead stick landings. I have a set of plans and hope to build a 2nd Headmaster some day. It would be great to see some pictures of your completed plane.

LuvBipes

My Feedback: (4)

I've scanned the original RCM construction article, here it is:

aerostar55

After being laid off for a long time re-hired and trained twice in two different cities, I'm back building. Finally finished up the Plans-built Headmaster! Just in time for Halloween, it has orange blinking "Fly Lites" installed in the wings, Otherwise built strictly according to the plan. Notice that the wing is held on with rubberbands.
In the event of a crash or even just a cartwheel type landing, the wings will easily slide off the top of the fuselage. This keeps damage to a minimum. With most of the newer "trainers" the wing is held on with nylon bolts, these hardly ever break on impact. Instead the entire rear of the fuselage tears out of the plane with the nylon bolts still attached! Rubberbands are messy (with nitro fuel) but they will keep minor crashes minor. The HobbyZone Super Cub from Horizon hobby uses rubber band hold on for the wings and it is a pretty good trainer in calm or very low wind.

LuvBipes

My Feedback: (4)

Aerostar55, congrats on completing the plane and thx for posting the pics - the plane looks great in that trim scheme. The picture with the kids really captures the spirit of things.

In the interim, I've actually built my Headmaster too, but haven't test flown it yet as I only now got an engine. It will be powered by a Thunder Tiger .28 which should move it along quite well

Being an aerobatic pilot, I couldn't resist "hot-roding" mine a little, so I took out the dihedral, increased the control surface area 25% and added ailerons. I also made it into a tail dragger, which will require a castoring tail wheel. As soon as I get back from my current road trip, I post some pix.

gene6029

Nice looking Headmaster! Let us know how she flies....Gene

aerostar55

Thanks for the nice comments !  All we had all day today was rain, so no test flight yet for the Headmaster.  I put ailerons on mine too. Not sure how this old Fox .19 will do , I have an OS .20 sitting in reserve just in case.  Post a picture of your Headmaster when you get a chance. I would love to see it.

Hank

LuvBipes

My Feedback: (4)

Aerostar55, here are some pics of my completed plane. I test flew it today and it flew great despite the blustery conditions! The engine turns out to be a Magnum .28 FSR not a Thunder Tiger, (memory going) and it was more than enough power for the plane. As you can see, I've taken a few liberties with the design since I wanted to make a sport/fun fly plane out of it. I was surprised how well it flew inverted - I guess that semi-symmetrical airfoil is pretty good. I hope old Ken Willard is smiling somewhere up in that big RC field in the sky.

aerostar55

That's a Great looking Headmaster! Very Clean, should be a good flying airplane! Test flew mine twice the other evening. Had to hand launch it due to no runway and high grass. These are good flying planes. Tracks straight. Probably not the best trainer with ailerons.

LuvBipes

My Feedback: (4)

Thanks for the kind words, Aerostar55. These are indeed good flying planes, flew mine again 2 days ago in milder conditions and was better able to evaluate its flight characteristics. With my current setup, it does not a good trainer make; but it sure does fly well, in a goes-where-you-point-it sort of way. I even managed to sustain knife-edge at full throttle!

Here are some pics of my build that show the ply center rid containing a tab that locates the wing in the fuse former. I also modified the dihedral brace to a setup that i hoped would better sustain the type of flying that I do.



I used a traditional "1/4 ply firewall instead of the "1/8 one and used a glass-filled nylon engine mount instead of the ply tray for mounting the engine. To compensate for the loss of the maple engine mounts, I installed a "1/32 ply doubler that goes all the way to behind the wing.







The wing is bolted on and I setup up the ailerons for a Hitec 225 mini servo in each wing.

Chromedome58

My Feedback: (17)

Here are pictures of a Headmaster that I picked up this year at the Perry, GA Swap Meet. I installed an OS Max 25 on the nose and am controlling it with a 1966 PCS transmitter on 27 MHz. The receiver is a more modern Futaba R114H AM receiver and the servos are vintage EK SMS servos (about the same size as the early Kraft KP12 servos). The Headmaster is a great flying plane!

LuvBipes

My Feedback: (4)

Bob, nice find! Vintage plane AND radio, bravo!
That Headmaster appears to be very well built from the pictures. The finish seems to be painted fabric, am I correct?

On another topic: I've been flying my Headmaster more recently and noted that the plane will not snap nor spin. No matter how stalled it gets, full "sticks in the corners" with only get you a spiral, but the plane will not enter a spin. Nice built-in safety feature

aerostar55

For the Headmaster Iwould go with a .20 or .25 , in the old days we didn't use mufflers. They actually do rob quite a bit of power. It depends of course on what type of performance you want. Also if you are flying off of grass you will need a little extra power for take off.

Good luck, post some pics of your Headmaster before you fly it !