Of all the things my mom could have kept for me....

This Thimble Drome model airplane, complete with fuel, wires, instructions, box, engine and no propeller :( was found in storage, where we had bulk moved the contents of my mom & dad's house, when she went into senior housing. It was part of a lot that was boxed, put on pallets and stored in the warehouse of my brother's electrical business. He's getting ready to sell out to his son and another partner and retire, so he decided we needed to sort through the stuff.

Wow, it was all I wanted for Christmas in about 1960. Times being what they were my brother and I were afraid to smash it up flying it, so we pooled our cash and bought a cheap, break-away model to learn on. It turned out to be a broke-up model, so the Flying Tiger was started, but never flown :roflmao. So where's the propeller?!?:shrug:

Anyway, although nothing to do with anything on SRP, it brought back funny memories of a time and place long ago!

An appropriate toy for a boy who grew up to live near Kittyhawk.

Think you will get it airborne?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DZEC

An appropriate toy for a boy who grew up to live near Kittyhawk.

Think you will get it airborne?

---

Not sure David. There is a R/C airplane club near here. I'm going to see if any of those guys are interested in it for their collections (they're like SR shavers). If not, it'll probably be airborne to a buyer on eBay. I'm too old to be spinning in circles! I get dizzy sometimes standing up from a chair! :rofl2:

Boy, that jogs the memory for me too. Had a model airplane like that as a kid also. IIRC it was powered by a Cox 0.49 engine. Yup, too old to be spinning in circle now too. Thanks for the jog.

Bob

She is a busy. Is that a McCoy engine? Don't think the fuel would still be good. I built a few in my early days. Covered wings with silk and Dope Paint. Brings back memories. Thanks for sharing.

That is very cool, Harold. I remember getting the 70's version of that for my 10th birthday in '75, a Cox model, probably a Corsair IIRC. Many of you will remember the sweet-smelling Testor's fuel, the little battery with the clips, and trying to get it started against the spring without the prop catching and taking your finger off. Then flying it around in circles on the double fishing line in the handle that also controlled the flaps until the fuel ran out and you were too dizzy to stand!

My brother got one that was a P-51 Mustang replica. I'll never forget the little hellion neighbor boy somehow chasing him around with it while the engine was running; a lot of crying and commotion ensued, so a typical day in my neighborhood.

Thanks for sparking some cool memories. I miss dangerous toys: GI Joe Missile Launchers, lawn darts, Estes rockets, etc!

I believe it's a Cox .049 engine....not sure what model. I'll check next time I have the box open.

And I did get my finger in the way of the prop the first time we started it! It had a 5" 3 blade prop.

I had a friend build a model plane that ended up being so much work he was afraid to fly it.

He contacted a club and got someone with a lot of experience to fly it just to prove it worked.

As far as I know it never flew again.


P.S. I should have said he was afraid to land it rather than to fly it..........:rofl2:

Seems every one we had went straight up and then straight down in pieces.

Let's give a kid something which only runs full-speed, shall we? :rofl2:

The instruction book is a hoot! I’ll post some pics of the best parts. They left out, “once the prop is pulled against the spring and released, the engine starts AT FULL SPEED, LOOK OUT FOR YOUR FINGERS” .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Seems every one we had went straight up and then straight down in pieces.

Let's give a kid something which only runs full-speed, shall we? :rofl2:

---

I have a dusty one hanging in the back room at my shop from the trunk of an old junk car going to the crusher.
Big motor, no landing gear.

Buddy tells me it is a combat plane. Two operators inside the circle would try to chew a streamer off each other's plane with the prop.
As it ran out of fuel, the prop would stop level (I moved it for effect)and you would softly belly-land it.....
Yeah. Right!

He said he got kicked-out of the club for chewing the tails off the other planes. :rofl2:


Attachment 300366

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I have a dusty one hanging in the back room at my shop from the trunk of an old junk car going to the crusher.
Big motor, no landing gear.

Buddy tells me it is a combat plane. Two operators inside the circle would try to chew a streamer off each other's plane with the prop.
As it ran out of fuel, the prop would stop level (I moved it for effect)and you would softly belly-land it.....
Yeah. Right!

He said he got kicked-out of the club for chewing the tails off the other planes. :rofl2:

---

Had one like it but mine was solid black. Still have the Veco 35C engine plus a McCoy Red Head 35, control lines, a couple of props and miscellaneous other parts.

I had one too when I was a kid.
It was a Cox Spitfire .049
I remember vividly the fuel seemed to last forever...
so did the dizziness.

Pete <:-}

You must have had the touch, Pete. I think I made it around twice before crashing...Merry Christmas! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

You must have had the touch, Pete. I think I made it around twice before crashing...Merry Christmas! :D

---

I had no touch at all.
It wasn't very long at all spinning around in a circle that I wanted to crash...an did.
A few survivable crash landings and that was it.

Merry Christmas

Pete <:-}

Lotsa things we wanted as kids were like that.
A buddy got a Shetland pony for Christmas. I was jealous 'til I went over and we tried to ride that crazy thing! :eek:

Send it to me, Harold. I will string it up with my combat plane.
Thinking 3 blades increases your chance of losing a finger by 1/3rd? :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Send it to me, Harold. I will string it up with my combat plane.
Thinking 3 blades increases your chance of losing a finger by 1/3rd? :D

---

I just got a little nicked being quicker at 13 than I am now:shrug:

If the local guys don't want it, it going to the 'Bay...we shall see its worth, hopefully like a vintage W&B to some model plane nut, I mean collector :rofl2:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Haroldg48

I just got a little nicked being quicker at 13 than I am now:shrug:

---

But I bet now a days you would use something like a stick rather than your finger!

Very cool find! I got a gas plan when I was younger, but we could never get it started so it went back to the store.

Would love to try flying one of these with my nephews. One of them got a drone so I'm not sure how "cool" it would be.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 32t

But I bet now a days you would use something like a stick rather than your finger!

---

Or if you have grandkids let them get the full experience!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JP5

Would love to try flying one of these with my nephews. One of them got a drone so I'm not sure how "cool" it would be.


Or if you have grandkids let them get the full experience!

---

They wouldn’t find it cool with their current technology.

This last weekend I played with my grandson who is 7. He brought along some slime filled plastic tops. We found out the tops spun better without any slime but experimented with them half filled etc. To prove our point during this time we battled with the tops in a cover of a popcorn tin.

Don't think that today's kids cannot have fun with some of the most simplest of toys.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 32t

This last weekend I played with my grandson who is 7. He brought along some slime filled plastic tops. We found out the tops spun better without any slime but experimented with them half filled etc. To prove our point during this time we battled with the tops in a cover of a popcorn tin.

Don't think that today's kids cannot have fun with some of the most simplest of toys.

---

Agreed. My grandkids have a lot of hi-tech stuff, but they spend more time with crayons, markers, LEGO and Dominos. Replace LEGO with mini-bricks and you have the stuff I played with as a child.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that. What I was saying is: 1) This particular "toy" wouldn't be fun for a kid, since it starts and runs at full speed and is destroyed (as others have said) easily. Frankly, spinning in a circle waiting for it to run out of gas wasn't a whole lot of fun in 1960. 2) Flying a plane or operating a remote control car of the 21st century is a lot more fun than when the remote (or in this case "control line", aka string or wire is connected to the plane or car and you have to be attached to it and in the case of cars, follow it around on a 8 ft. lead.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 32t

This last weekend I played with my grandson who is 7. He brought along some slime filled plastic tops. We found out the tops spun better without any slime but experimented with them half filled etc. To prove our point during this time we battled with the tops in a cover of a popcorn tin.

Don't think that today's kids cannot have fun with some of the most simplest of toys.

---