Campy, I was aware of this aircraft, but I wasn't aware that it left the factory in these colors. Here's a picture of the real bird. Did you already have this picture? Did you have others as well?

Nigel

Yes. When I was doing the Rearwin I purchased the photo docuuments from Bob's. I had never seen the paint or trim scheme on a Rearwin, so I contacted Eric Rearwin an U/L one of the photos to him. He confirmed the plane, the color, trim and number.

Hello Campy. I must say the yellow color scheme is not indicative of planes from that era. Where does Eric Rearwin fit into the Rearwin family? I do not believe he had anything to do with the airplane business. Even so , I would expect his access to info to be correct but i would like to know how his info comes to be. Some of us following these great looking airplanes certainly have been told a different version also from supposedly reliable sources. I have my personal doubts about the yellow aircraft being authentic because they are using a different windscreen. If they where trying to restore it to the original aircraft this would not have been done.

Ken

This is the site. http://www.rearwin.com/index.asp

At the site is a color photo of #311.

Eric Rearwin is from this site. BTW, if you search through the messages, you find some one posted the (I think) Randolph original colors of one of the Rearwins.

BTW, Eric Rearwin's grandfather was one of the original Rearwins.

Guys,I was watching Wings Channel yesterday,1/18 and saw aprogram on the 30s plane races.Seems a fellow entered a Rearwin in a race in I believe Cleveland, and beat all the regular racers with the Rearwin.He beat GEE BEES and Wedel Williams
racer. They interviewed a couple of old racers who were telling stories of the ole days,it was very interesting.
Just my two cents. The Butchman

To Campy and others who have posted. I have talked with more people and own more books with info about this aircraft and it is said to be one of the most modeled airplanes ever. How come their is so little mentioned in publications about color? Just a thought. Campy , since you have been in contact with Eric, it would seem he could provide us with exact colors of all airplanes maybe even some factory documentation? Some of my info has come second hand but his grandfather was supposed to be the source along with a test pilot.

Ken

If you go to the Rearwin site, there is a lot of info there. It also has a link to email Eric. I recall a message that did give some of the colors. What I remember of the message was that most of the Rearwins were a dark red (similar to a Stearman Red) or a dark blue with a silver trim stripe. #311 is the only exception that I have found or that Eric knows of, especially for the trim stripe design and color.

I have been to the Rearwin site many times over the past year. I actually have seen more info in my books. Campy, what message are you talking about? A message posted at RC Universe or the Rearwin site? If it was RC Universe it was my own message posted awhile back. It was between monocoupe and myself most likely.

Ken

I am pretty certain it was on the Rearwin site. The message stated that a person who was restoring a Rearwin found some original, unfaded paint under a weatherstrip. They were able to match it to the correct Randolph numbers (I believe Randolph has since been bought by Dupont).

Ted

There is a new 1/4 scale Rearwin Speedster ARF from Super Kraft. I don't know anything about it, except that that the color of the model in the magazine ad is not authentic (cream & red)...it is an ARF, so that's no surprise! Otherwise I'd say it looks pretty good from the one picture I have seen. The model is not shown on their web site yet, but the ad I saw is on page 91 of Feb 2003 RCM. They also have a Monocoupe 90 that looks nice. At $399.77 each, I won't be buying one anytime soon. By the time I had one here in my hands in Canada, I'd be into it for over $750!
Anyone else see this model yet?

There is another Speedster ARF out there that claims to be 1/4 scale that has a 100" span? and looks like they used the wing and tail surfaces from a Piper Cub. It's even Cub yellow with black trim! It also has a narrow aluminum landing gear like a Lanier Stinger. The fuselage and cowl loosely resemble a Speedster.
I forget who makes it, but I saw it while doing a google search on the Rearwin Speedster.

Nigel

Campy I must be missing something 'cause I can't find any messages at the Rearwin site at all.

Not sure why the company that makes the ARF chose those colors. Wish they where an American company so we could ask them. Their is a white and red full scale currently out there but it was done that color after it left the factory. Sure wish there was way to track down some of those that went overseas from the factory. I did find a European website once while doing some searching but can't remember which county it was. I want to the Netherlands or France.

Ken

As far as I am concerned, I'm content to use the color information that we have right now, and while I would welcome any new information, I'm not going to actively pursue any more information on the Speedster colors. When I build my Speedster, It will be from my own plans which I will draw using the combined references that I have put together, just as I have in the past with other aircraft. The scheme is a no-brainer as there are enough photographs to get that right. As for color, the paint #'s are known, and described by more than one source, and quoted in more than one publication from reliable sources, and that's good enough for me. After all, the factory records burned up in the museum fire, never to be seen again, so it's all hearsay now anyway.
I may not be able to prove that my model is perfectly accurate to a scale judge, but then if I wanted to win a scale contest, I'd enter an airplane that can be well documented.
I'm sure that my model will be a good representation of the type, and as accurate as the information that exists will allow me to make it....and I can live with that.

Cheers, Nigel

Hi folks. Actually the SuperKraft Rearwin Speedster ARF is yellow with red stripes. Not sure how true to scale it is, but it is certainly more so than the RC-Dymond version, whch is the other ARF Nigel mentioned. I came close to buying the Dymond version, but the trim color scheme just don't stomach well with me. I asked Helmut Goestl at RC-Dymond if an ARC version is in the plans. He said no. Very nice and polite fellow, though.

Here's the prototype I saw at last year's RCHTA Show. The color is cream and red trim. The colors in the advertisement are not even close.

Their Monocoupe will be out very soon and the Rearwin will follow.

Some of the newer ads actually have the plane's name spelled correctly. It's not REALWIN!

Dick,
Thanks for clearing that up. It certainly did look cream to me in the RCM ad, and it still looked cream in the link supplied by Volfy!
Yes, the name "Realwin" hadn't escaped me either! :

A couple of years ago, I drew up plans for the Rearwin Cloudster, at 1/4 scale using Vern Clements wonderful drawings as a reference. I've also been collecting documentation for the Sportster, and I have the late Sid Morgan 1/4 scale plans for the Skyranger.....Yes, I like Rearwins!

Cheers, Nigel

Does anyone know what happened to the rearwin site? seems to be down. The reason I ask is my dad owned NC19412 back when he was 16 and still talks about all the Great hours of flying that plane. He still has a picture of it in his wallet. I'm sure it was a red of some sort, but all the picture were black and white so it's hard to tell, but I'm sure he could and would talk about it for hours.
Is there any way I can get a hold of Eric rearwin to find out any info on his old plane? and now being 79 years old he would be thrilled to hear anything at all.
Thanks,
Jack

He's at [email protected]. He is the grandson of Ken Rearwin, one of the two son's of founder Rae Rearwin. He still flys the yellow with green trim Speedster, and is a wonderful person to chat with. He still has a few of the Rearwin book available, so hurry.

> Jim

Thanks for the heads up. Since my last post to this thread and subject in 2003, there appears to have been a lot more info available now on the Rearwin Speedster - especially colour schemes. I am stimulated to consider recovering my 60" Speedster - or even better, make a new 1/4 scale version. Keep the info flowing Guys. Thanks. MalcolmL - now in Chiangmai Thailand.

My Great Great Uncle, Noel, was one of the designers of this aircraft and it is hard to believe at the lack of information there is available on the Speedster. What are the best sources for original color schemes at this time?