hkusp45

My Feedback: (9)

Anyone know much about the so called F-15 model made by Model Merchant Inc. and is it worth building and flying. Apparently the person selling it has the whole kit. Here's a pic of one of the pages.

TFF

You might post this in the classic pattern section.

tinman2

I bought one back in the early 1980s. I was a long distance truck driver out of North Carolina. I had read about this F-15 and Model Merchants and I had the address in Harlingen, Texas. Once when I was in southern Texas, I found the location. I was really surprised that there were unmarked old looking shack like buildings. I finally found the Model Merchant name on a small card tacked on a door, so in I went. I walked around in there for a while looking at various rc related parts and work tables. Finally the owner came walking in from another part of the building. He said he was getting a shower in his apartment that was set up in this same building.
I told him why I was there and he said it would take him a couple of hours to put a kit together for me. The plane was a fiberglass skin, upper and lower pieces, that were epoxied to a frame of formers cut from thin plywood. In the kit you would get the plywood with these bulkhead shapes traced on it with pencil.
Then he said he already had a kit boxed up and ready to ship to a well known RC flyer. I'm not sure but I believe his name was Johnson... not sure. Anyway, he sold me that kit saying he would just box up another one for his customer. I also bought two of his ducted fan assemblies. As well as I can remember, the fans were individual blades that were clamped in between two aluminum discs. Then there was an aluminum ring that attached to the ends of the blade with a tiny screw threaded into the end of each blade.
I tried cutting out the formers on a scroll saw but the plywood pieces were too large so I took it to my local rc builder and left it. He built quite a few planes for people but it took him a while on each plane. By that time, there were Byron Originals kits, which he bought and flew. Later, when I had some spare time in Los Angeles, I visited Larry Wolfe at Jet Hangar Hobbies. I bought 2 of his F-86 kits.
Years went by and our flying club membership changed directions in a way that did not interest me so I quit going. As far as I know, none of my kits were ever completed, and I had not been in touch with the builder. I saw his obituary a while back. I have no idea what became of my kits.
In the pictures posted above, the paper may have been an advertising insert but the F-15 model was a scale, twin ducted fan model.

tinman2

I found more info pertaining to my experience with the Duane Johnson designed Model Merchant kit and Eagle Jet Pump ducted fan units. Unfortunately, being a new member, I am not allowed to post "pictures" at this time. As I am no longer involved in radio control, I don't see that I will achieve the required 10 posts to get to that point. Too bad for anyone interested. I was hoping to add to the vintage memories.