PREZ SEZ

Vintage
Flier

November~December 2008 - Issue #106

The Official voice of the Vintage Radio Control Society
A Special Interest Group of the AMA

Web Site - www.vintagercsociety.org

Looking for something?

Have something to sell, trade or
give away?
Check out the VRCS ad section on
the web at
http://vrcsforsale.homestead.com/
This service is maintained by
Norman Berger

Editors Note - Bob Noll won Class I pattern with

this 1957 Lancer. This Dick Allen design won the
Rudder Only Nats in 1957. Photo from the Spirit
of Selinsgrove event. More event photos on pages 5 and 6
THANK YOU EVENT DIRECTORS Now
that our 2008 season is coming to a close and all of
our scheduled events have been held, I would like to
send a very big Thank You to our event directors.
Heres the list of those people that headed our events
in 2008:
deBolt Reunion Rich LaFontaine
Springfest Ron Morgan
Mid South Fly-In Bob Harris
VR/CS and OT Reunion Travis McGinnis
Spirit of Selinsgrove Reunion Bob Noll
Muncie Fly-In Jack Hiner
Octoberfest Mike Denest
Pioneers of RC Dave Platt
How about someone stepping up out there in
California and getting a new event on our 2009
schedule.
WHAT AN INTERESTING ARTICLE!
The article by John Worth in the last issue was great!
I had seen John fly a Cement Mixer at an earlier reunion but I didnt know its background. Great job
John, you are certainly one of our great RC pioneers.

WRAMs CONFIRMATION VR/CS will

again be at the WRAMs show in February. Stop by
the booth and see the Kazmirski Taurus as well as
many other vintage planes. We owe a great Thank
You to the WRAM club for donating a booth to us so
we can showcase our society to the many modelers
who attend this famous show.
CELEBRATION OF RC Thanks to Walt
Throne, our sponsor coordinator for the Celebration of
RC, a letter was sent out in October to many manufacturer and suppliers in our industry. The letter outlines
our plans for this first of a kind event and requests
their support. Walt also made personal contacts at the
recent trade show in Chicago.
Walt Throne is known by many in the industry
since he was the President of the Hobby Industry Association for many years. He founded Walts Hobbies
in Syracuse, NY thirty five years ago which is now
operated by his son Bruce.
If you have any contacts for potential sponsors, please let me know and I will double check with
Walt so we dont duplicate our requests.
A NOTE FROM DON LOWE Heres a note
I received from Don Lowe in response to the request
by John Worth to find those people who flew RC in
the early days.
Bob, I was reading the Sept.- Oct issue of Vintage flyer and read John Worths bit on his early
years. Yep I flew an r/c model in 1942; it was Walt
Goods Guff which appeared as a series of articles in
MAN. I built the model from scratch, tried to build the
control system and before I went to the AF in 1943 I

flew it once--free flight!! After the war I resurrected

it, equipped it with Aerotrol receiver and home built
transmitter and flew it. It was a THRILLING EXPERIENCE. After being recalled as a reservist in 1950 I
entered the AIR FORCE WORLD WIDE model contest and won R/C with that model in a contest held in
Texas. I gave that model to a friend (now deceased).
I have been flying ever since. I sure hope to be at
your big event next Sept.
Don Lowe
SIG BIOGRAPHIES - Norm Rosenstock,
AMA Historian, is doing a biography of AMA Special Interest Groups. I have provided Norm with
much of our history and our Hall of Fame members
which he requested.
I need your help in establishing the list of our
members who have received our Spirit of Selinsgrove Award or our Dr. Walter Good Technical
Achievement Award.
If you received either of these two awards,
please contact me at 607-754-5279 or
BOBRC@aol.com and let me know which award
you received and when you received the award.
VISIT THE TRI COUNTY RC CLUB WEB
SITE - As mentioned last issue, this years Spirit of
Selinsgrove Award was given to the Tri County RC
Club for rescuing the deBolt Reunion for us. Visit
their web site at
www.tricountyrcclub.homestead.com and you can
see the award as well as look at the letter they received from me.

OFFICERS
President
Bob Noll
2317 Acorn Drive
Vestal, NY 13850
(607) 754-5279
BobRC@AOL.com

Vice President
Don Patterson
3508 Tothill Road
Troy, MI 48084
(248)-642-2917
rarebear4@comcast.net

CONTACTS

Treasurer
Terry Terrenoire
101 Smithfield Drive
Endicott, NY 13760
(607) 748-8146
amad2terry@juno.com

Editor/Secretary
Roland Friestad
2211 155th Street
Cameron, IL 61423
(309) 342-7474
Info@fullsizeplans.com

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Central Region
Eastern Region
Jack Hiner
Bob Bingaman
2213 Prentiss Drive Apt 104
3 Arcola Lane,
Downers Grove, IL 60516
Durham, NC 27705.
(630) 852-0154
919-403-1483
jackhiner@msn.com
bettyphillips17@msn.com.
IL,MO,IA,MN,WI,AR,LA,
ME,
MA,RI,NH,CT,VT,NJ,NY,PA,W OK,TX, ND,SD,NE,KS
V,OH,DE,DC,MD,NC,VA,AL,FL
,GA,MS,SC,TN,IN,KY, MI

Western Region
Travis McGinnis
8027 W. 81 Circle
Arvada, CO 80005
(303) 422-5720
travismcgnn@comcast.net
NM,CO,WY,AZ,CA,HI,
NV,UT,AK,ID,MT,OR,
WA

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 2 - Nov-Dec 2008

Web Master
Tommy Gray
966 Coulee Creek Road
Jonesboro, LA 71251
(318) 267-2040
tg@btsg.com

Historian
Beppe Fascione
9811 Cresence Way
Fairfax, VA22032
gfascione@aeriegroup.com

Publicity
Mike Denest
145 Irwin Drive
Lincoln University, PA 19352
mjd12k@yahoo.com

Membership
John Castronover
2912 NW 62 Avenue
Gainsville, FL 85636
jfcgnv@msn.com

Advertising Chairman
Bill Northrop
2019 Doral Court
Henderson, NV
Northroplans@earthlink.net

Canadian Contact
Bob Gardner
Boberos@Lycos.com

I have volunteered to manage and update the

eligible planes list. Since we have modified the plane
eligibility date to increase each year, that means hundreds of new designs are eligible every year. Researching and updating the eligible planes list would
be an impossible task for just one person. So to keep
the list manageable, only planes submitted by the
membership-at-large with documenting evidence will
be added to the list.
The documentation must include as much of
the following as possible: Type of aircraft,(sport,
trainer, competition, scale, pylon, etc.); Wing span;
Engine size range; Controls, (R.O., REM, REMA+);
Kit or Plans or both; Designer and/or manufacturer;
Source of documentation; Plans or kit number or
both. As documentation is received I will up-date the
list on a quarterly basis and send the revisions to the
webmaster for inclusion on the web site. Please don't
just send me the name of the airplane, I will not be
able to research it.
Thanks to all. With a cooperative effort, we
should have one heck of an eligible planes list. I will
also work with the webmaster to try to come up with
a user friendly list search method.
Send the documentation to:

From Jack Hiner comes this photo of Dan

Thompson and his Jr. Falcon for Class I. Dan's
transmitter was a homebuilt 2.4 gHz based on
an old Ace Pulse system. Dan used the Ace
Pulse transmitter case and stick assembly but
new electronics for the transmitter. Proportional rudder and motor with the 2.4 gHz and
Norvel .061 for power. Class I award at the
Muncie VR/CS 2008 event.

johnh@dmv.com
John Haffner
5170 Cooper Road
Eden, MD 21822

Mystery Model
Can any of you sharp eyed pattern fliers identify this
model? 1970 Design. Answer in next Vintage Flier
Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 3 - Nov-Dec 2008

started with a social half hour at 6:30 followed by a

delicious dinner at 7 PM.

The 19th running of this first VR/CS reunion

took place as usual on Labor Day weekend. The location was the Aeroguidance Society airport between
Endicott and Owego, NY.
Actually, an important element of this event
began on Friday evening at 7 PM. That is when over
twenty members and guests gathered at Marios Restaurant in Owego for the annual pre-reunion socializing. Hugs, kisses, handshakes, food and drink were
the bill of fare that evening as the regulars were glad
to see their VR/CS friends.
Saturday morning started out poorly as a mild
rain had crept in overnight accompanied by a heavy
fog that covered the area, even the AGS airport which
is at a fairly high elevation. It was not until mid morning when the rain stopped and not until 1 PM until the
fog cleared enough to fly. The fog kept teasing the
anxious pilots as it would begin to clear only to roll in
again and again.
The wives and spouses didnt find the weather
to be a problem as they gathered that morning at the
headquarters motel and made their annual pilgrimage
to Owego for browsing and shopping in the quaint
gift shops and enjoying lunch together.
Once the flying got started, the sky was full of
beautiful vintage planes, some just open flying while
others tried their hand at the pattern events. The variety of planes was the usual from rudder only planes to
full house.
About 5 PM pilots began to pack up and head
to the Owego Treadway Inn to clean up and find out
how much their credit cards had been charged by
their spouses who are always on the look for great
bargains or something novel. The evening banquet

The Ed Kazmirski Taurus made its first public

appearance since the 1960s at the banquet and everyone was impressed with the quality and appearance of
the plane. The usual awards for Pattern and Concours
were presented. The 2008 VR/CS Hall of Fame inductees were announced.
Pattern Class I - 1st place - Bob Noll 1957 Lancer
2nd place John Haffner 1963 Rudderbird
Pattern Class II - 1st place Terry Terrenoire 1962
Falcon 56
2nd place Bob Noll 1962 Falcon 56
Pattern Class III - 1st place Terry Terrenoire
Whiplash
2nd place Ken Kuehner 1962 Taurus
3rd place Bob Noll 1966 Aeromaster
Theme Plane Concours (Andrews Aircraft) Scott
Wallace 1964 S-Ray
Concours (general) Scott Wallace 1964 S-Ray
Hall of Fame
Ron Chidgey, E. Paul Johnson
(deceased), Jim Larson (deceased)
Scale
No Entries
Sundays weather was magnificent with clear
and sunny skies and a mild breeze so flying started
shortly after 9 AM. Some pilots had some catching up
to do before packing for the trip home. Two couples
left mid-morning to make a trip to Watkins Glen to
have lunch and to visit a few winery. The Glenn, as
we locals call it, is only slightly over an hour drive
from the AGS airport and is a lovely place to visit.
And so the 19th edition of this original VR/CS
reunion is now in the past ans its time to get ready for
Octoberfest in Oxford, PA. I hope to see many of you
there.
Photos on next two pages

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 4 - Nov~Dec 2008

Most everyone attended the Saturday evening banquet

at the Treadway Inn.

How many people does it take to change props on Jim

Quinns Jr Skylark? Seven. One to do the work and
six to provide technical support.

The three planes entered at Concours are deBolt Custom Bipe by Ron Ogren, Trixter Beam by Fred Koval
and S-Ray by Scott Wallace.

Ron Morgan, regular attendee at many reunions, flew

this deBolt Encore.

Bob Gardner, John Haffner and AMA District II VP

Gary Fitch examine the Ed Kazmirski Taurus.

Jim Quinn arrived with this Jr Skylark twin powered

by electric motors.

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 5 - Nov-Dec 2008

John Haffner came with a new Kwik Fli III but radio problems kept it out of the sky.

Jim Quinns Andrews Trixter Beam. This plane was

purchased at Spring Fest for a bargain price and received new covering and paint.

Scott Wallace and

his Concours winning Andrews SRay. This plane
was built from an
early RC Models
kit.

The two pattern judges wait patiently for the fog to

leave on Saturday morning.

This 1972 Whiplash design by Dick Sarpolis made

the eligible planes list this year. Flown with electric
power, Terry Terrenoire guided it to first place in
Class III pattern

This Taurus was flown by Tom McNicholas, (right)

from Laguna, CA. Tom visits his friend Ken Kuehner, helping, and brings his Taurus so they both can
Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 6 - Nov-Dec 2008
fly at the reunion.

Vintage Flier - Issue 105 - Page 7 - Sep-Oct 2008

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 7 - Nov-Dec 2008

Reservation Information for VRCS Fly-In

Hotel Rooms-Courtyard by Marriott, Ocala, FL
Located just west of I -75 and State road 200, approximately 1/2 hour from the flying field.
Room Rates are $109.00 which includes a full breakfast. There is a restaurant, lounge,
and fitness center on site plus complimentary high speed internet. A limited number of
rooms are available at this rate, they must have 2 weeks notice prior to event. Tell them it
is for the VRCS fly-in in Dunnellon. Phone 352.237.8000.

Banquet at Courtyard Hotel, Ocala. FL

Reservations must be made for the banquet by February 15th .
Call Richard Lafontaine 352.746.7425

Choice of two dinner entrees

Chicken Cordon Bleu: Boneless breast of chicken filled with ham and cheese hand
breaded, deep fried, topped with mild white sauce. $19.95
Prime Rib Au Jus: Tender slow roasted 10 oz. Prime rib of beef char broiled to
perfection and served with au jus. $24.95
Entrees include a mixed green salad, choice of potato, choice of vegetable, warm rolls
and butter, choice of cake, pie, or cobbler, iced tea brewed regular and decaffeinated
coffee. Cash bar will be available. Add 18% service charge, and 6.5% tax to total.

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 8 - Nov-Dec 2008

Please check your entry and EMAIL address in

the VR/CS roster on our WEB page and send an
update to Terry Terrinore
amad2terry@stny.rr.com if it is not current.
Thanks to those who have done so.
I have also noticed very little recent activity in the
VR/CS Wanted/For Sale page on our WEB site.
Many of us who collect old kits and radios should
use this. It is free and certainly hits the best audience for such transactions.
Please help this noble effort. Ron Baddorf is
teaching some young boys to build and fly models and wonders if any VR/CS members have
any old Cox 049's laying around not being used.
He is going the full route of scratch building free
flight, R/C and control line models. They started
off with some 1950 designs in ff and are now in
CL and two of them have soloed some models
contributed by Ted Strader. Rons address is:
Ron Baddorf, 11522 Old Carrollton Ct., Richmond, VA 23236.
Since the last column I was able to attend two
VR/CS events. In April, Karen and I attended
the 4th SpringFest. On Saturday we went to the
Chambersburg Modelairs Flea Market with static
displays of vintage VR/CS members planes and
radios. On Saturday there was flying at the Modelairs Flying Field. Weather was good Saturday,
but it rained on Sunday. The wives made their
usual shopping pilgrimage to local shops in
search of treasures not found at home. Karen
and I went to the new public Civil War museum
at Gettysburg which was only about 25 miles
away. This museum is a must-see for anyone
traveling in the area and it is FREE. Many
thanks to Ron Morgan and the Chambersburg
Modelairs for a very enjoyable event.

On Memorial Day weekend we attended the 5th

Annual Mid-South Fly-In co-sponsored by the
SWAMPS Model Club and VR/CS. The event
was held at the SWAMPS Model Club in
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. This is a very
enjoyable and relaxing event that has had excellent weather the three times we have attended
and the field must be seen to be appreciated. It
makes a golf green look rough in comparison
and would allow ROGs with even half-A models.
I was able to fly my 7 Cents with synthetic
reeds and my Falcon 56 with an OS 35 FP. I
am very pleased that the new engine both idles
and does not quit in mid-flight. Beppe Fascionne
brought his Ron Elllis designed synthetic single
channel transmitter that gave a faithful replication of single channel rudder with quick blip
three position throttle. Many thanks to Bob Harris
and the SWAMPS Model Club for a top-notch
event.
In future columns I intend to provide a tour
through some of my facsimile vintage radio systems that give a very good replication of early
RC flying with the same level of signal integrity
as current radios. My Galloping Ghost system
was inspired by Bob Kopskis re-encoder article
in issue #10. I have a model that uses a Rand
LR-3 servo and one with an original bird cage
GG linkage for the rudder and elevator. The other system is Ron Ellis synthetic reed transmitter that makes a modern digital airborne system
faithfully mimic a 10 channel reed system. I
have flown it quite a bit in a high wing trainer and
a Falcon 56 with a .35 for power. It took a while
to re-learn reed flying but it is habit forming.
I invite anyone who would like to submit an account of their early days or an interesting special
moment to me to share with the membership. I
would also like to publish accounts anyone
would like to share about restoring vintage gear
or building facsimile systems from modern components.
Don Patterson
Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 9 - Nov-Dec 2008

feet, 4 inches high from the bottom of the step on the

fuselage to the top of the tail fin. Now that's what I
call a large airplane!

Bob Bingaman
Executive Council - Eastern Region

Ever since the end of World War II, I have had a

great desire to see two historical airplanes of that
time. One of these planes was the Enola Gay, the B29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. My main reason for wanting
to see it was because I feel it may have saved my life
by bringing World War II to an end more quickly. My
second reason was because the navigator, Dutch
VanKirk, was from my hometown, of Northumberland, PA. In the spring of 1988 I was able to visit the
Smithsonian's Paul E. Garber facility in Silver Hills,
Maryland where she was in storage. She was disassembled and the only section of her that we were able
to see was the forward section of the fuselage and the
bomb bay area. What a sad state for a grand lady.
Two years ago I was able to see the Enola Gay completely assembled and looking like the grand old lady
that she is. She is on display in the Steven F. UdvarHazy Center in northern Virginia near the Dulles International Airport.
The second airplane that I had hoped to see was the
Spruce Goose. Last April Betty and I had the opportunity to visit The Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, south of Portland. The museum
itself was built especially to house this enormous
plane. Inside the museum was the Howard Hughes
Flying Boat, also known as the Spruce Goose. They
say that Howard Hughes did not like to have his Flying Boat called the Spruce Goose. I have never seen
such a hugh airplane. It made the other airplanes in
the museum look like toys. The wing span is 319
feet,11 inches The fuselage on this flying boat is 218
feet, 8 inches long. The tail, (fin and rudder), is 79

While I was walking around the museum with my

mouth wide open looking at the Spruce Goose in
amazement, Betty was talking to the tour guide. She
came back to me and handed me a ticket and said it
was for a special private tour of the inside of the
Spruce Goose. Boy, they don't come any better than
Betty! I was able to get my mouth closed and a very
nice gentleman proceeded to give me a complete tour
of the inside of the Spruce Goose. He took a complimentary picture of me sitting on the seat that Howard
Hughes sat on when he flew the plane for the first and
only time. Howard Hughes claimed that he was not
going to fly the plane that day, but the tour guide
pointed to a sticker that was on the windshield that
would show Howard the horizon location from his
seat. The guide thinks that Howard intended to fly the
plane that day. Another indication that he intended to
fly that day was that he had his acting co-pilot set the
wing flaps down 15 degrees which was necessary for
take off. After two taxi runs down the bay Howard
prepared for a third run. On this run it was very noisy
in the cabin as he advanced the throttles forward. As
the plane picked up speed and it reached 70 miles per
hour, it got real quiet in the cabin. The plane was off
the water and flying!
When my guided tour was over the guide asked me if
I was a pilot. I told him, "No, not on real airplanes but
I do fly radio-controlled model airplanes." He said,
"Boy, have I something to show you!" He took me to
the workshop in the back of the museum and showed
me two models of the Spruce Goose that he and other
club members were building. One was being built as a
display model for the museum and the other was being built to fly with eight electric motors on it.
It just goes to show you that if you live long enough
and you take the time to do it, your dreams can come
true. If you do find yourself in Portland, Oregon, take
the time to go south to McMinnville and visit The Evergreen Aviation Museum. You will be so glad that
you did.
Bob Bingaman

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 10 - Nov-Dec 2008

THE CELEBRATION OF RC IS COMING IN 2009

September 22 thru 26
By Bob Noll
The Vintage RC Society is plannig a major event for 2009. The Celebration of RC will be a five day event at
the AMA International Aeromodeling Center which will draw hundreds of modelers from across the USA and
Canada.
Many activities are planned which will focus on our radio control history through flying events for vintage
planes as well as static displays of planes, radios and engines.
Schedule of events:
Open Flying all days
Day 1 - Concours judging featuring Pioneer planes (pre 1955) and Classic planes (pre 1965)
Day 2 Concours judging featuring Nostalgia planes (1965 thru 1974)
Day 3
o Bus trip to Air Force Museum
o Practice flying
Day 4
o Morning - Rudder Only (Class I) International Championships
o Afternoon - Class II pattern
Day 5
o Morning Class III pattern
o Afternoon Scale
o Evening banquet with speaker and special awards
Pioneer, Classis and Vintage (pre 1974) Concours Awards
Pattern Awards
Scale Awards
Displays:
Vintage RC Systems
Vintage Engines
Vintage Kit Manufacturers

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW FOR THIS CANT MISS EVENT!

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 11 - Nov-Dec 2008

From Model Airplane News - May 1952

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 12 - Nov-Dec 2008

By: Charlie Reich

Legend has it that the Good Brothers invented radio control for
model airplanes. In reality the very first radio control model was
built by Chester (Chet) Lanzo in 1934, his history follows:
Chester Lanzo was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 11,
1914. He was a lifelong resident of Cleveland, Ohio. Lanzo lived
75 years dying August 13, 1989.
Lanzo was one of the earliest members elected to the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) Hall of Fame. His complete
biography can be reviewed on AMAs website at:
http://www.modelaircraft.org/museum/bio/Lanzo.pdf
Lanzo built indoor and outdoor rubber models and gasoline
engine powered models. He was the earliest pioneer in creating a
radio-controlled model and was the first to successfully radio
control a gasoline engine powered model plane. Chet was the
first to win the National (Nats) meet in the first radio-controlled
event in 1937. Lanzo was also a national champion in outdoor
rubber and a record holder in those events. His later years were
spent in RC designs, primarily gliders and scale.

RC-1 was tested and worked OK - as a stationary RC rudder only control model - without the motor running. In a manner of
speaking it was a successful RC model...except...the first problem encountered was the Brown .Jr. motor vibrated badly, plus it
generated such a strong interference from the coil, spark plug
wire and spark plug activity that it blanked out the radio signal
to the receiver. This was before the days of knowing about a radio resistant coil wire to prevent this problem. The second problem was the vibration from the Brown Jr engine shook down the
iron filings off of the metal core rods of the rudder actuator onto
the bottom of the canister, and preventing a contact being made
to activate the solenoid. This model never actually flew under
R/C control, however it flew great as a towline glider and free
flight gas model. Chet learned from his mistakes and went on to
design an improved receiver and a gear driven activator for the
rudder.

Chets original 1934 RC-1, being lunched in the photo

above, is now on permanent display at the AMA museum. Past
SAM President, Tom McCoy, owns the RC-1 displayed in the
photo. Its also Brown Jr powered, as was Chet Lanzos original
1936 RACER.

The RC-1 was the first radio controlled gas model airplane.
It resembled a full scale-like cabin model from that era. The RC1 was first test flown, minus the radio equipment, in natures
outdoor wind tunnel, first as a kite. When proper balance and
CG was determined, from flying the model as a kite, then further
tests were made as a towline glider before flying under power.
The RC equipment consisted of a large transmitter that sat
on the ground and powered by 110 volts, with a pushbutton attached to the transmitter by a wire. The single pushbutton controlled the rudder action. There was no motor or elevator control,
just rudder only. The receiver was a rather large unit using a
1/16 sheet of plywood for the circuit board. A heavy 45-volt
radio battery powered the receiver.
The rudder actuator required a magnetic switching device.
It consisted of a canister filled with iron shavings and a two metal rods for its core. When an impulse was received from the receiver it would magnetize the core rods and attract the metal
shavings to the gap between the two end-to-end core rods to
complete the circuit. This acted as if turning on a switch, which
then activated the push/pull solenoid that moved the rudder left
or right.
Yes, this was the first model especially designed for radio
control model, even prior to the Good brothers discoveries. The

Chet originally designed the Racer, 144" w/s model as a 1936

Nationals R/C entry. He crashed the model in a test flight just
prior to the Nat's, and it was not flown at the 1936 Nationals.
(Tom Jozwiak from Arlington, Texas at the Muncie SAM
Champs carries the Racer in the photo.)

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 13 - Nov-Dec 2008

Chets original 1934 RC-1 in the photo is now on permanent display at the AMA museum. It was third RC model
design, and 1937 National's winning version. This 108" w/s RC
Gas Model also now known as the Lanzo Stick RC. Originally
there was a cabin type structure attached by rubber bands to the
fuselage to support the wing. The cabin enclosed the radio gear
mounted in the fuselage and was removable to allow access to
the early tube-type radio equipment, as the receiver required
constant tuning and adjustment just prior to a flight.
Chet became annoyed with the inconvenience of the detachable cabin that prevented ready access to the radio tuning.
He modified the original cabin/stick design was just prior to the
1937 Nats and installed wire cabane struts to support the wing
above the stick fuselage. He replaced the cabin with wire cabane
struts in order to allow easy access to the radio for fine-tuning
just prior to launch. The radio was located in the fuselage under
the wing, between the wings cabane struts.
The Nat's winning model used wire cabane struts, not the
not the cabin version that was pictured as the winning design in
the magazine and newspaper articles at that time. A Baby Cyclone .35 ignition engine powered the model. The receiver, rudder actuator and batteries weighed 1-3/4 lb with an overall
model flying weight of 6 lbs.

go over and fly some rubber events while the glue dried and set
up. When I came back later in the afternoon the others had already taken their turn and the officials were antsy for me to complete my flight. I told them about my previous accident and
advised I wanted to take a brief test flight before my official.
They did their preliminary inspections for structural safety, reviewed my radio gear and installation, observed a ground test
and demonstration of my radio gear to insure it was working and
I then mounted my wing and put in a few drops of fuel for my
test flight. The engine started and the plane struggled to get off
the ground, as the Baby Cyclone was rather underpowered pulling all the weight of the radio gear. The plane flew a very short
distance as I wig wagged the rudder to make sure the controls
were working, and then I ran out of fuel, as this was only a test
hop. I landed and the five officials came over and started shaking my hand and offering congratulations as I had won the event.
Come to find out I was the only guy that actually, successfully,
flew his r/c model, even for the short distance.. The Polk brothers advised they would send me a checkbut it never arrived.
(Evidently, because of a no-contest win, the $200 special prize
offer was retracted).
Chets original 1937 winning model and trophy are now on
permanent display at the AMA museum. The original model is
displayed as seen in the photo above. The 1937 Radio controlled
Model is still popular in todays Society of Antique Modelers
(SAM) events and continues to be a winning model in radio controlled Texaco events. Chet Lanzo featured this model as a twopart building article in the December 1937 and January 1938
editions of Air Trails magazine.
The Good Brothers entered their R/C Guff model at the
1937 Nats and won the 4th place award (It was not flown). They
kept perfecting their radio and won 1st place at the 1938 Nats
and again in 1940 and 1946 using the same Guff model design.
As their expertise was electronics they continued their work towards designing and perfecting radio control for future generations.
We offer a belated thanks to Chet Lanzo for his lifelong
interest in model airplane design and especially his pioneering
efforts that gave birth to the introduction of RC modeling.

Chet Lanzos personal report on his 1937 Nats 1st Place

R/C Flight
Because of our sensitive radio gear prone to interference
from ignition engines the officials provided a separate flying area far removed from the others. The large transmitter sat on the
ground and was powered by 110 volts. It took some scrambling
to locate an extension cord long enough to reach the remote flying site.
There were six of us entered and surrounded by cameras,
reporters, newsreel men and five judges. One of the free flight
guys looked over and seen how neat our area was to fly from
and decided to join us. I set up and started the motor, which was
overheard by the crowd who thought the r/c events were starting
so they all rushed over and crowded in to see us fly. During the
crowds rush, and their packing in too close, somebody stepped
on my wing and broke the tip. I decided to make my repairs and
Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 14 - Nov-Dec 2008

Rob Nunes and Bill Jacobsen provided pictures from

their recent Vintage Meet held on Oct.25 out at their
flying field in Madera Ca. It was our first one so turn
out was a little light, but we hope to make this a annual event and are already planning the next one for
2009. We also held a raffle and a BBQ tri-tip lunch
and everyone had a great time. I hope you can use the
pictures, two of them are of the display table that we
had of vintage engines, kits and radios and one is of
the members that made this event happen. The one
with the Taurus is flown by Don Masterson and this
model was built from one of the original Top Flite
kits back in 1967 and he still flys it today.
Rob Nunes VR/CS member 616#
Madera Aero-Modelers Radio Control Society
Website - maderarcclub.org

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 15 - Nov-Dec 2008

VR/CS SHIRT ORDER FORM

By popular demand, VR/CS has a shirt for you!
A yellow, collared shirt with pocket.
The VR/CS logo embroidered on the front.
Shirts will be shipped based on prepaid orders.
Shirt cost is $22 for S-XL and $24 for XXL. This includes mailing cost.

Order your shirt now by sending a check made out to Barbara Moloney at 26 Sterling Place, Southampton, NJ
08088 with the following information;
Name: _______________________________________________ Shirt size (circle one): S, M, L, XL, XXL
Address: ____________________________________________
City: _____________________ State: __________ ZIP: _________
Check for $ ______________ is enclosed. E-mail address ________________

VRCS MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FORM

VR/CS Membership No. __________ AMA No. ____________
_____ $20.00 U.S. Resident

_____ $25.00 Foreign Resident (US Funds)

E-mail address: ____________________________

Telephone number: ______________________

Name: ______________________________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________________
City: _________________________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______________
Signature: __________________________________ Date: ______________
Yes, I would like to order the following merchandise with my renewal
Price
Total Cost

Qty

Item

_____

Embroidered Patch

$3.00 each

Decals 2 mil vinyl

_____ 2 x 2 for fins and fuselages
________
_____ 4 x 4 for wings

$2.00 each
$4.00 each
________ NOTE: - For patch & decals include #10

SASE.
TOTAL FUNDS ENCLOSED:

________

Mail this form and check to: Terry Terrenoire, VR/CS Treasurer, 101 Smithfield Dr., Endicott, NY 13760.

Vintage Flier 18

Vintage Flier - Issue 106 - Page 16 - Nov-Dec 2008