FAC NEWSLETTER JAN FEB 2018
THIS IS REALLY A GREAT NEWSLETTER !! Great articles and plans !!
The big news in the Jan/Feb 2018 Flying Aces Club Newsletter, is that "GOLDEN AGE REPRODUCTIONS" (GAR) - old time sport and scale models in the 15 - 30" range , picking up where Peanuts Scale size kits leaves off - GAR was owned by ol' Jim Fiorello since 1990, and he has been trying to find a home for it for a few years - GAR has now been bought by Chuck Imbergamo, and it is listed on the Peck Polymers website here
http://www.peck-polymers.com/golden-age-reproductions .
I spoke to ol' Jim several times a few years ago in 2014 - really nice guy - and I ended up buying 14 PRINTWOOD kits, several plans, tissue, two Don Ross books, and I bought his last classic book
"The Best of The Golden Age Of Flying Models" Golden Press 1975. This precious "booklet", 8 1/2" X 11" , contains, in reduced size, about one hundred and fifty plans of models that were representative, in size and type, of the most popular models of the 30's. This book was put together by original owneres Joe Fitagibbon and Harry Keshishian, who were reminiscing about the beautiful old models that were gradually being forgotten in the advance of time. These are really
EXTREMELY DETAILED "redrawn" plans of the very finest models and were not chosen haphazardly. You can still buy these books on Amazon for $14 here
https://www.amazon.com/Best-Golden-Age-Flying-Models/dp/B001E3L9AM Ol' Jim Fiorello tried to sell ME his business four years ago. He told me he was getting too old to go chasing after them (Free Flight models) - I think he said he was 90 yrs old - told me he was building wooden boats instead now. Good luck Jim - hope you are having fun with the wooden boats, and thank you for keeping the "Golden Age" of flying models alive.
New plane plans are as follows:
HEINKEL HE280
DH-4 MAILPLANE 16.4" wing
HALBERSTADT D3 16"
BELLANCA YO-50
JAMAICA PLANE
These are light, small, planes obviously designed for contest flying. There was obvious large positive incidence built into the wings of both bipes - so of course, I drew some lines and got out the high school protractor - the DH4 had 2 degrees on both wings, and the Halberstadt had (I may be off here) 4 degrees on the bottom wing, and 3 degrees on the top wing, positive incidence.
What really amazed me, though, was the strut attachment methods used that I had never seen before - small thin cardboard tabs glued into slots sawed into the ends of the struts and ribs -
VERY NIFTY ! Well , that is my report on my first FAC newsletter.
LWM
Richard