Quigleywins

Wornboots The Kit is Marks Model With no mention of dynaflite I will post a photo later,when I work out how to do it.The box is in good shape Still with the Australian price tag. The instructions are missing but I have found the dynaflite ones on line. I have other questions I will post later. I love these old kits it reminds you of when you were young and never had the cash for this type of kit.
Yours Paul T.

Just looked on ebay USA and theres one there but the lable on the box is different the glider is facing the oppisite way on mine.

TFF

I always wanted a Bushwacker; maybe I will find one sometime. I am wondering if all the designs are owned now by hobbyco. With so many designs in the end, I bet the production facilities were pretty extensive. Thanks Mark for all the planes.

Quigleywins

As promised, here are the photo's of the box and contents: Mark's Models bird of Time and also one other photo of interest.
yours
Paul T

WORNBOOTS

My Feedback: (33)

What is the specs... 116 /118" and 1273?? Loading, weight ?? can't make it out.

2 Guards alert and on watch, while the others rest from a long day...............

Quigleywins

Hi Bird of Time The wing span118 in
Wing area1070sq.in
Weight49oz
Hope that fills the bill ok.

Did you like the pups.

marksmodels

TFF asked if all the designes were owned by hobbico. And there were questions about the bushwacker muffler.

The designs that hobbico own are the ones they purchased in 95. These are the ones that were currently in production. Some of the kits were given to folks that wanted to reproduce kits such as the windfree and the mini bird. Many of the kits we discontinued, due to the sales falling and were simply dumpstered. Over the years that was a lot of designs, considering it included marks,jemco, high flight, southwest sailplanes and craft air.

The bird of time was produced from the time that marks aquired South west sailplanes until the sale to hobbico. It always sold steady.
Aside from the wanerer that sold 145,000 in its life, the next best line was the redesigned Fun scale line that did real well and then the high start line that you would be shocked at the numbers. Tom Williams, who started Craft Air, would be proud.

Oh the wood muffler. To say it was a success would be a streach but it sure had some folks taking note. The original muffler worded but it was used on a rear intake K&B 15. Most of the others not so good. Oh well history.

WORNBOOTS

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Yep they are good looking toe-getters , I mean puppies

Thanks for the specs, I did not want to use the modern versions specs in case they may be different.

WORNBOOTS

My Feedback: (33)

Hi Mark,
Was Mark's the original to release the Fun-Scale or was it Jemco ? then you re-designed the series ??

The Jemco and Mark's P-51 Fun Scale was a blast to fly, it was light and quick with a K&B .40 and Enya also.
Here is some pics of the most recent one I built in 2002 ? I think, Due to the box art being a sketch, I chose the Dynaflite color scheme.

optech

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There were 3 Marks Models kits that I've always wanted to build. A Bushwacker, A Scorpion MarkIV, and a Fun Scale P-39.

The Bushwacker has already been mentioned.

The Fun Scale P-39 in .40 size was a companion to the Fun Scale P-51. I've seen a couple of them fly over the years and they were just as fun as the P-51 (at least in my memory). Too bad they were not as popular of a subject as I've never seen another kit anywhere since the days of my youth.

The Scorpion MarkIV was a Goldberg Falcon56 looking shoulder wing. Never saw one built or flown though. I managed to score a kit on Ebay a couple of years ago but it was stolen out of my storage facility before I could build it.

Back in the early 80's, when I was starting my teen years, I was learning to fly R/C on a consistent basis but it was all still out of my own pocket so progress was slow. I would go to the hobby shop and the owner would let me open the boxes and smell the balsa and read the plans. I went around and around in my head on what my next plane would be. The Scorpion or the Bushwacker, the Bushwacker or the Scorpion. And when the day came after all that Bushwacker and Scorpion flying, I'd build a Fun Scale P-39.......

Alas......[&o] none of that came to pass. Other interests (i.e. girls, cars, and dirt bikes) and eventually college interrupted those plans so that when the time came that I was able to build those planes they were long gone. I did manage over the years to build a couple of Wanderers and a Fun Scale "Dawn Patrol" SE-5A.

I've also got a .60 size Fun Scale P-51 under the bed that I'll try to dig out and get some pics of for this thread. However, I think its a Dynaflite era product. Speaking of Dynaflite I've also got a Fun Scale .40 size P-40B Tomahawk squirreled away.

Later,
Mike

tri-pacer

I had a couple of Mark's models, or should I say I still do: The Honker, the Honker Bipe and the Wanderer. The Wanderer has an interesting story behind it: It got away from me one day and flew 23 miles away and landed in a farmers field. Yup, learned long ago to put your address in anything that can thermal. Anyway, if you ever in the neighborhood of a little town called Gustine, in central CA, its proudly handing there in a bar called the Pastime; 20 years and counting. I figured it was the safest place for it after that flight. Don't live in the area anymore, but the bartender told me it's still there!

chuck

Joe Nagy

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I wanna hear more about da Pups, what are they, and how are they doin'; best regards from Glendale,AZ,

Joe Nagy.

WORNBOOTS

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Hi Mike,
on the Fun Scale p-39 was that one actually called the Cobra ? I sold one a short while back but it was missing the canopy and maybe a spar piece. Think I have a pic of it still...... Yep found it but not too good

The SE-5A, I just found the Plans and original box with templates only, still waiting on the nice mail man to come thru...
How was the SE-5A in regard to building and flying ? any tips or set-up issues you can share ??

Thank's

TFF

I have never built the SE5a, but I worked with a guy that could not stop talking about it being his favorite flying plane. He keeps looking for templates and plans for one and I keep an eye out for him.

WORNBOOTS

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Well.......... when I get it I may could might be willing persuaded arm-twisted into helping with that"
I will keep you posted TFF

Seventies Flyer

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Here are acouple of pictures of my Bushwacker kit.I also have a built P-51 that I will have to dig out and take a picture.

optech

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Worn,

Thanks for the recall. I'd forgot it was called a "Cobra". probably why all my searches ended in nil.

From what I remember the SE-5a was pretty docile. No bad habits that I could remember other than make sure you have enough exit area for engine cooling. Unfortunately i didn't get to fly it for very long. I took off with the screw missing from the aileron horn and it popped off the servo. I could not recover and it crashed pretty bad. As soon as I got home I stripped out the gear and chucked it in the trash in the alley. After I had calmed down I decided to give it another look as it was not that bad but somebody had already liberated it.

Mike

Joe Nagy

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Hi Everyone;

Greetings from the very warm 'Valley of the Sun'.

In response to 'optech' above, re the 'SCORPION'; I also scored a kit on ebay called the Scorpion a way back in Y2K. It was designed by Ted Strader, I believe, and published in Flying Models Magazine, [still published, and my favourite model mag], a way back when; and the kit was manufactured by Special Edition Plans, who kitted many of the FM designs. My Scorp is away in storage, but I do not think that it was marked as a Mk IV, just plain old Scorpion, and did resemble the Falcon 56, as a shoulder wing design, but had a interesting bent upward fuse, aft of the trailing edge, just like a banana, so I do not know if we are talking the same Scorpion design or not. I just thought I would add my 2 cents worth. Will close for now, best regards from Glendale, AZ,

Joe Nagy.

PS: The Irish Setter Pups are beautiful, and thanx to Paul T for feedback on them.

vintagemxr

As I mentioned a few days back I saw Mark at the John J. Montgomery Hang Glider meet in San Diego long ago. I rummaged through my old home movies and found the 8mm footage and did a screen capture of Mark flying. Hard to see in the movies but he took a crazy dip when the elevator was a little slow to respond. I recollect someone saying the wing on the glider was scaled up from a Windward.

Mark, if you're still following this thread would you care to comment. Is my memory faulty? (would not be the first time...) []

Doug

optech

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Joe,
Your thinking of a completely different model. It was most definitely a Marks Models kit, the rear was not arched up and it was definitely called the "Mark IV". I don't remember the instructions all that well but I seem to recall something mentioned about the "Mark IV" in the name.

Mike

marksmodels

Doug ,vintagemxr, wornboots,
Those pictures of a fool hanging out the front of flying contractption bring back lots of memorys. How I survived I dont know. Thanks.
To the questions on some of the other models. The Scorpion 4 was in fact a type of knock off of the Falcon 56. Carl Goldgerg would stop by the factory almost every year and see what was going on. One year when he showed up we were prepairing shipments and staging them for the truck lines when he walked in. You could see the suprise in his eyes as there were about 36 cases of 12 of just the wanderer. So at the show in Pasadena we introduced the Scorpion 4 and again he had that look in his eye, soon after the gentle lady was introduced and our volume slowly went down.
The SE 5 and Foker D-7 were created because the sales of the honker and honker bipe were almost at 0. Since we were tooled for the wings we wraped a diferent fusalege arround them. They flew pretty well but had a high take off and landing speed due to the thin airfoil and slightly high loading.
The fun scale kits with the line drawings on the lable were desigined by Jim Miester,Jemco. The kits were always produced by Marks but sold under the Jemco by Jim. When we purchased Jemco I flew the mustang and wanted to change some of the flying characteristics and structure. So the fun scale kits with the photo type lable were the new designs. My favorite models were the 60 size mustang and the 80 in Spitfire the were great to fly.

Again thanks to all this is fun.
Mark

RFJ

Mark,

Thanks for all the interesting information you are posting - bit I'm still intrigued by those pesky JLS seagulls as shown in post 17 Do plans/drawings/information exist for them. It would be great fun to fly at the coast in the company of the real ones.

Ray

vintagemxr

Mark,

A few more hang gliding memories here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmhmdo2TEs8

Also, a Honker Bipe from long ago. Yes, high take off and landing speed would sum it up. LOL




Doug

WORNBOOTS

My Feedback: (33)

Hey Doug (vintagemxr)
Thanks for the great Clip, almost looks like Marks legs and feet are trying to stretch out and grab the ground Awesome !!

vintagemxr

Mark,

Interesting to read your comments about Carl Goldberg. The little bit that I was around the model kit business taught me that it's a pretty cut throat business with little that is sacred in terms of design rights.

What are you doing these days, Mark? Retired? Still flying R/C? Refining that hang glider design from 1972?

Doug

marksmodels

Doug
Carl was great and interesting. His factory in chacago was a shock to me when I first saw it when I was 20. Unlike the west coast where things were clean the chicago factory was an old warehouse cold, dark and with giant steel doors that had multiple lock it was very strange. Inside Carl would show you how things were make and share most of his procedures. This was also true of Sid Axelrod of Top Flite the inventer of monocote. When again at 20 Sid showed me how they made propelers I was overwhelmed, how did he come up with this.
These guys were great and its why I wanted to get into the business.
As time went on the industry changed and got large enough that there was money to be made. This was when guys like Paul Bender, who worked for hobby people in 1967ish Hobby and then went on to start hobby shack, and Bruce Holecheck who statred tower hobbies started changing the face of the hobby.
Each of these places both started manufacturing and so if any product was selling well, and they would know because they were our bigest customers, they would eventuly knock it off. One simple Example the dynaflight exhaust diverter. Seems harmless. Sales were running at about a 1000 per week for several years, but when your bigest customer, hobbico sees these sales it is only a matter of time before they have one. So if you are in the hobby bus you better control the retail end or your size will be caped.
Mark