1939 Korda Wakefield

  Richard Korda launching his model on its 43 minute 29 seconds flight. 

The contest date was August 6, 1939. The place, chosen by Bernard McFadden, publisher and patron of aeromodelling: Aviation Golf Course, Bendex, NJ .The event: "The 1939 Wakefield International Cup" contest, of course! But the original contest site that was chosen by the American Wakefield Cup Committee, the Bendix Airport, was rejected by the attending SMAE officials as unsuitable for the Wakefield Cup Contest! "On arrival at the proposed flying ground it was immediately seen this was far from ideal, and an inspection of the spot allocated for the contest proved this to be quite impossible as it was sandwiched between a dense wood and the airship hangar." The only alternative was the Golf Course. The weather was "boiling hot" according to the English Team Member Norman Lees, but perfect until noon. There was no wind, and there were thermals everywhere!

Korda's Wakefield had just the right climb, not too slow and long, nor too steep and fast, it just climbed out. And got very, very high. After 60 seconds on the propeller, Korda's Wakefield leveled out at 300+ feet, the propeller folded back, and it went into an exceptional glide pattern, indicative of a perfectly trimmed airplane. Losing imperceptible height, Korda's Wakefield drifted toward the bottom of the Golf Course where, now at an altitude of about 200 feet, it was taken gently by a thermal. "Within a few minutes it was over a thousand feet, and soaring up with each turn." According to Leonard Stott of Team GB "Ten minutes passed as many eyes watched, and Korda's Wakefield was now at about 1,500 feet altitude!" Up there it circled, minute, after minute, now the Wakefield itself was looking down at the point from which it had taken off. Then it drifted down course again, past the end of the field, slowly gliding downward, and finally, landing! The official time for that flight was 43 minutes 29 seconds. Richard Korda made two other flights that extraordinary day, for an average time of 15 minutes 50 seconds. Was Korda's Wakefield an exceptional aeromodel? Yes it was, and still is to this day. It's only drawback was that it was so common! It was the standard cabin model of the "Cleveland Balsa Butchers", everyone in the club made them. Chester Lanzo and Richard Korda perfected the genre. Korda used a much knotted "T-56" brown rubber motor, 47 inches long, consisting of 18 strands of 3/16", cranked in 1200 winds to turn a 18 inch diameter single bladed propeller on the winning flight. Korda remarked that his Wakefield flew better under "reduced" power.

Hi Thomas, here is a picture of my Korda Wake all cleaned up by Sergio Montes. Cheers, Karl Gies

 I originally built the model while teaching school at Butte, Montana in 1968. I had known about this model since I was a kid but in 1966 I was showing the movie, “The Long Flight” a fictionalized drama about Dick Korda helping a kid to get his model to fly to my junior high model airplane class. There are are some terrific scenes of the 1939 Korda Wakefield in flight. I knew after watching the movie that building this movies was an absolute must. 

Every time I fly this model I stand in my transmogrifier at launch and am transported back to August 6, 1939 at the world Wakefield Championships. I literally become Dick Korda. At the SAM Champs in 1995 at Colorado Springs they had a 1939 Korda Wakefield Mass Launch Event. At that contest I was using a new motor made up of FAI Tan. Previous to that I was still using the motors I made up in 1968 and this rubber was not nearly as powerful as the FAI Tan. I had tested the model with the new motor but not at full torque and this proved disastrous. The model took off and after a short climb looped into the ground. 

I saved the model as it was repairable and after seventeen years have repaired it. The model when originally built was done in the exact same color scheme that Korda used and I even did the bamboo wing and stab tips. This black and green color scheme was inspired by the the Half A Wake kit that Easy Built models came out with recently. To view this fine kit goto:  http://www.easybuiltmodels.com/pd12.htm

To read more about the 1939 event goto: http://freeflight.org/Community/ClubNewsletters/2010/PMAC10-8.pdf and scroll down towards the bottom of the newletter. Also goto: http://www.btinternet.com/~kaynes/Wakebook/ch13.htm

My model less rubber weights 6.89 ounces. I will power it with twenty-four strands of Tan Super Sport that I bought last year and this is real hot rubber.

1937 Fillon Wakefield

I have found a suitable home for Richard Thompson's Fillon 1937 Wakefield model at the Air Museum in Angers, France.
https://www.musee-aviation-angers.fr/collection
They are quite enthusiastic at the prospect of diplaying the model. (The original Fillon model is at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace is Le Bourget near Paris)
I'll bring it Thursday, complete with replacement bamboo landing gear and wheels which were missing.
Looking forward to seeing you.

Jean-Marie Piednoir

PS: You may be interested in the attached documents detailing the 
single-skein, flexible drive, free-wheel, remote unlock system devised 
by Emmanuel Fillon.

Richard James Thompson was born February 4, 1931 in Adrian, MI. He is the son of the late James and the late Doris (Hoffman) Thompson. He was a graduate of Adrian High School Class of 1950; where he was a gifted 3-Sport athlete (Football, Basketball, and Track).
He attended Western Michigan University for a year before joining the U.S. Marine Corp during the Korean War. He served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War from 11/02/1951 to 11/01/1953. He married Muriel Margaret Lantz on January 13, 1952 in Adrian, MI.
Upon returning to Michigan, he played Semi-Pro Football for the Michigan Big Red football team in Adrian. Dick last worked for T.R.W. in the Romeo Plant; a tool and die pattern maker. He helped with the development of passenger safety restraint systems. His name is on at least nine patents for air bags.
He enjoyed building and flying model airplanes, hunting (mostly: turkey, pheasant, and waterfowl), fishing, and camping. He was fond of saying, "Everything you do-do it your very best." Dick was a national champion model airplane builder; a meticulous master craftsman, he was a member of the Society of Antique Modelers. He won several national titles. He also competed abroad. He loved France!

Model Builder March 1988

THE VERY, VERY BEST TO ALL FOR A HEALTHY AND BOUNTIFUL NEW YEAR FROM CAPTAIN CORNELL CRAWFORD, NEIGHBORHOOD HERO

This is my Earl Stahl “Gypsy” 8 Ounce Wakefield off on a thrilling flight to win the Montana Open 8 Ounce Wakefield Championship for 2013. This picture is a selfie as I am the only contestant and spectator at the contest. Cheers, cccnh
(Karl Gies)

Bi-Annual Old Timer "Midwest Champs"

BI-ANNUAL OLD TIMER
“MIDWEST CHAMPS”

SEPTEMBER 14-15-16 2009

AMA FLYING SITES - MUNCIE, INDIANA

Sponsored by the MODEL ENGINE COLLECTORS ASSOCIATION
R/C EVENTS

MONDAY

1/2 A TEXACO

C IGNITION LER

0 & R SIDEPORT

ELECTRIC LMR

S O S ELECTRIC TEXACO

FOX-A-COY

TUESDAY

1/2 A TEXACO

C GLOW LER

ELECTRIC TEXACO

BROWN JR. LER

ELECTRIC LMR

A/B IGNITION COMBINED LER

WEDNESDAY

1/2 A TEXACO

ANTIQUE

ELECTRIC LMR

A/B GLOW COMBINED LER

O & R 23

SHILEN’S WAKEFIELD CLASS Speed 400 Mass Launch Each Day. 

FREE FLIGHT GAS EVENTS

MONDAY

A PYLON

C FUSELAGE


.020 REPLICAS -1/4 A NOSTALGIA

B/C NOSTALGIA

TUESDAY

B PYLON

A FUSELAGE


OLD RULER1/2 A/A NOSTALGIA


ATOMS ONLY (Fly any day)
WEDNESDAY

C PYLON

B FUSELAGE


A NOSTALGIA


30 SECOND ANTIQUE

***ATTEND MECA EXPO X SEPTEMBER 12-14***

RUBBER EVENTS

MONDAY

SMALL CABIN

LARGE STICK

8 OZ. WAKEFIELD

COMMERCIAL RUBBER
TUESDAY

SMALL STICK

LARGE CABIN

TWIN PUSHER ML

JIMMY ALLENGLIDER EVENTS

MONDAY

OLD TIMER CATAPULT

TUESDAY

OLD TIMER HAND LAUNCHTROPHIES AWARDED TO THIRD PLACE

CONTACTS

R/C EVENTS

ANDREW LATOWSKI
214 GABARDINE AVENUE
PORTAGE, MI 49002
PHONE: (269) 580-5814
ajlhis@hotmail.com
FREE FLIGHT

MEREDITH K. CHAMBERLAIN
5810 MADISON AVENUE
ANDERSON, IN 46013(765) 643-1885

GENERAL INFORMATION

WOODY BARTELT
3706 NORTH 33rd STREET
GALESBURG, MI 49053
(269) 665-9693
HYPERLINK "mailto:woodybar@charter.net"woodybar@charter.net

FEES – 3-DAYS$20.00 ENTRY FEE PLUS $5.00 PER EVENT –MAXIMUM $35.00

Video from Carrol Allen's Wakefield

If you haven't seen them yet have a look at these video clips shot by Carrol Allen from his (rubber powered) Wakefield model over snow covered Barron Field near Waywayanda, NY. Watch full screen for best effect. In the rear-facing clip some geese cross the screen about 7 seconds after the prop folds. The time stamp is wrong but we have fixed that for future shots.

Rear facing camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5VqMLtJHj8

Front facing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXG-O4DAq6w

Regards

Bob Morris

Flanders, NJ

973 584-1457

Tandy Walker's Christmas display

Sue's daughter Kathy and her husband David have this huge Christmas store in Arlington called Decorator's Warehouse. This year I took two if my radio control models down to their store and hung them up over the Christmas tree area. The picture below shows the Speed 400 electric powered 54 in. span Korda Wakefield RC model hanging from the store's ceiling.

Over on the opposite side of the Christmas tree area, we hung the 65 in. span FUBAR 600X Nostalgia RC model from the ceiling. It is gas powered with an Italian SuperTigre .35 engine.

David told me I had better come up with a price for each of these models because before the Christmas season is over there will be several people that will want to buy them.........................Tandy Walter

Korda Record Holder (not the 39 Wakefield)

http://www.thebuildingboard.com/2009/03/long-flight.html

Karl Gies' 1949 Keil Kraft "Gipsy Wakefield"

This is the model that I built in 1967 and hit a car with it at the 1991 SAM Champs destroying the fuselage. I kept the remaining parts and twenty years later resurrected it. I almost never throw any model stuff away. This model is now almost finished except for bending the free wheeling prop mechanism with tensioner, glueing on the sub rudder and attaching the d.t. fittings. The covering is Japanese tissue over 1/4 mil mylar, The prop is a 17" diameter freewheeler finished with lighweight fiberglass cloth using Z-Poxy and colored with Design Master Floral Spray. I also have a 17" folding prop for it and have yet to make a nose block for this prop. I did this in the spirit of empiricism. I have been told by a couple of expert modelers that it will climb higher with the freewheeler but of course glide better with the folder. Horses for courses. cheers, cccnh

Remuera Glider

calendar photo

As built by Bucky Walter (double size)

October 16, 2012 update

Hi Bucky, thanks for answering what must seem a strange contact out of the blue. As you know once something is on the internet it is there forever!! I was looking for something the other day when I stumbled on an old post of yours on the Building Board and saw the Remuera Glider. Anyway, I am a long time member of AMAC, the Auckland Model Aero Club here in New Zealand. Our club was formed in 1928. We fly everything except helicopter but we have a particular focus on vintage, free flight scale, control line and indoor. Although NZ is of mainly British heritage, our club swings both ways as it were and we incorporate a SAM chapter (SAM 1928) for those who want to fly to your rules. We do a fair bit of 1/2A and A Texaco and quite a few of us have Jimmie Allen models. W.B. (Bill) Mackley who designed the Remuera Glider was a life member and patron of AMAC until his passing a couple of years back. I have attached some blurb and a photo from the Model Flying NZ website. The model Bill is holding is his 72” gassie the Venus. I have a plan for this beautiful model and will build it for R/C assist one day soon. It is approved for vintage competition. Remuera is one of Auckland’s central suburbs and I guess the model was designed while Bill was living there before the war. Bill flew in the RNZAF during WWII and was an airline pilot afterwards. He was a real gentleman. Please excuse this intrusion on your privacy but I thought you might be interested in the context to your Remuera Glider Regards, Mike Mulholland



 Bill Mackley joined the Auckland Model Aero Club in October 1930 and was soon making a name for himself in both contest flying and club management. His Yellow Bird fuselage rubber design was one of the first really successful Auckland fuselage designs. This was kitted by Modelair. A little later, Modelair also kitted his Red Bird and Hornet designs. He was a New Zealand Wakefield team member in 1936, and represented New Zealand at the 1937 Moffett contest. He also coached the members of the Auckland Grammar School MAC to such good effect that the soundly beat AMAC in a competition! In 1936, Bill set new records in Fuselage Indoor ROW, Spar outdoor ROW, Senior Spar indoor ROW, Scale outdoor ROG, and in 1937 he set a new mark in Senior Spar Indoor ROW. Bill always played an important role in club management. He was a Committee Man in 1933, Secretary for a time in 1935, Club Captain in 1936 and 1937, Vice President in 1938, 1940-41, and 1943 to 1949. He was Club Patron from 1978 to 1984, and again in 1987 to 2002. He was also active in NZMAA matters, being the Public Relations Officer in 1937, a member of the Technical Committee in 1937, and a member of the Board of Management in 1937 and 1938. In 1937 he was co-editor of the NZMAA Notes in Fernleaf, the Official Organ of the Association. He won the NZMAA Silver Badge for June/July 1937.

California Champ Wakefield Flying at Shelby

Click here for more on the California Champ

later one built by Rich Wegener

Fillon's Wakefield

The Long Flight

And the design by Chesterton that would reclaim the Wakefield Cup for the British after the War

YouTube FreeFlight Videos

Slope Soaring Venezuelan Style

1939 Korda Wakefield

Misc.

yes, they fly: CLICK

Tissue over Mylar

I have been asked about this process a number of times even though, I've never tried it.   It appears from the reviews I've just read that the two materials compliment each other very well in achieving strength, puncture resistance and rigidity.   If we are to believe the claims, the process takes less time than tissue alone and the finished product ultimately weighs less because less dope is used.

Here are some of articles I've found on the subject:
A PDF from the New England Wakefield Group
An online description by Mike Woodhouse of Free Flight Supplies in the U.K.
A build report on the Keil Kraft Senator seen above by Craig Limber.

A forum discussion at Flying Small Arts.
A PDF from the Pensacola Free Flight Team and another.
A Tony Tomlin article in PDF
And, last but not least, a review by Karl Gies of Lewiston, Montana.

Update from Karl Gies  (6 Aug, 2011)

Hi Thomas, a couple of caveats, when you lay the tissue over the mylar don't try to wet a large area. Just a few panels and cover the tissue below it with something like a lightweight cloth. Then you can use kleenex to blot some of the water off the wet tissue if you get it too wet. You want the tissue to be wet when you brush the dope over it. You will get some blushing but one coat of thinner or real thinned down dope will get rid of it. Do not try to stretch the tissue until it is real tight and looks perfect. Just get out the big wrinkles. I go over the mylar that is on the model with dope on the edges or better yet a purple glue stick, let it dry and then put the tissue over it. After I get the tissue stretched out I go around where I put dope or glue stick and brush thinner through and rub a finger over it. That way it will not curl back on you. cheers, karl p.s the velcro cement is the only way to go to attach the mylar to the model. Thin it down 50/50 with nitrate thinner. Let it dry real good and then lay the 1/4 mil mylar down. 

TISSUE COVERING OVER MYLAR - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

Rubber Power Model Airplanes

This following covering method is a compilation of what many modern day old-time rubber modelers now use, plus my personal experience. You cannot go wrong following this. Oh, yeah! Tissue over Mylar has many advantages over just straight tissue but still retains that great Japanese tissue look.  Others more empirical than me have done weight tests and tissue over Mylar is generally lighter or about the same as just doped tissue due to the fact you do not need much dope. The combination of Mylar/tissue is tough, probably 50 times tougher than just tissue, and the tissue won’t sag in high humidity or early morning dew.

Cheers, Captain Cornell Crawford, Neighborhood Hero

               Aka: Karl Gies

Subject: TISSUE OVER MYLAR (YOU GET THE GREAT JAPANESE TISSUE LOOK!)

 This 2-step covering method is not only a lot tougher than just tissue, but as light or lighter because you only need one or two coats of Nitrate dope on the tissue. Dope is heavy.

This is what I learned from using Mylar covered with tissue and it is a great way to go. I do not use the iron-on self-stick Mylar on the advice of others. I made some test panels and I highly recommend this before trying it on a model. DO MAKE SOME TESTPANELS FIRST, IT WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF GRIEF! I just used scrap balsa, stout stuff like 1/4" square to make some squares. On smaller models like rubber jobs I use 1/4 mil (.00025) Mylar. Others use this method on big gas jobs but use a heavier grade of Mylar.

First, give the balsa area that the Mylar will cover a couple of undercoats of 50-50 thinned nitrate dope. 

For the actual Mylar adhesive I first tried thinned down contact cement - it gets globs in it and it’s hard to thin. You have to avoid getting the globs on the balsa wood.  Next I tried Balsaloc, also Sig-Stix-It, and brushed onto the balsa to adhere the Mylar, but once you hit the Mylar applied over this stuff with the heat iron you cannot reposition the Mylar.

I now use Velcro cement thinned 50-50 with nitrate dope thinner, it works great. You can get the Velcro cement in small tubes at any sewing shop. It’s just a finer grade of contact cement but does not clump up much. I use nitrate dope thinner to thin it down about 50/50.

Plug in your iron set on medium. I use a Monokote trim iron. Brush the Velcro adhesive, thinned (50-50) with Nitrate dope onto the balsa. Then when it is pretty much dry, just a slight bit tacky, lay the Mylar over the portion of your structure to be covered. Pull and tug until you have it fairly even and tight without too many wrinkles. Iron on the Mylar with the iron set on medium heat and it will adhere. After a few minutes go over the top of the Mylar with the iron- not touching it, until it shrinks, and it will shrink. Mylar will not work on lightweight stabs and fins, it will twist them. You can use it, just don't shrink it on the tail feathers.

Now for the tricky part, putting the Jap tissue on the Mylar. I was told that on the longerons you had to leave part of them bare to get the tissue to stick. Well this will not work very well w/say 1/16"square longerons, too tricky. On my test panel I went around the edges of the balsa square w/a bead of full strength non-taughtening nitrate dope...do not use butyrate, because it will really shrinks the heck out everything. Let the dope dry...or use a bead of purple glue-stick which dries clear, this works really great. 

I then cut out a larger square of tissue. I put the tissue on the Mylar fairly wet, by first laying it on a towel and spraying it with rubbing alcohol. I’ve also lightly sprayed it with water, if I got it too wet I’ve left it on the towel and lightly blotted it w/another towel. If the tissue is thoroughly wet when you brush the thinned down dope over it (50/50) it will really smooth out. I use non-taughtening nitrate dope only to adhere it and have never tried butyrate. Butyrate would shrink it too much.

Pick up the moistened tissue and lay it over the structure covered w/Mylar. Pull and tug until it looks pretty good and then brush thinned (50/50) non-taughtening nitrate dope over the area avoiding the edges. When you dope the tissue onto the Mylar use non-tautening nitrate dope if possible. Heating the Mylar will give it all the shrink you need.  This gets everything stuck down and then I let it dry. I then tried a test panel rubbing the edges with a purple UHU glue stick instead of the straight dope. Went through the above process again, brushing thinner through the tissue on the edges to adhere the glue stick. As a precaution I lightly went over the edges w/the trim iron. This worked very well also. 

When I covered the Scientific "Major" I covered the entire fuselage sides, cabin area included, with Mylar, this made it easier. After I put the tissue over the Mylar including the cabin window area I let it dry and then with a double edge razor blade I cut out the tissue/Mylar where the windows would be. I then made a pattern where the windows are, laid it over a piece of Mylar and cut it out to fit except for the fuselage edges, let this be oversize to have something to pull on. I then very carefully went around the window edges w/the purple glue stick, let it get real tacky, then positioned the Mylar correctly, rubbed w/my finger and then again touched the edges w/ the iron on medium. I then used the iron to shrink the window area and ended up w/windows that were perfect and light, much lighter than celluloid.  I could see the color of the tissue underneath the Mylar but then cut out thin strips of tissue, put some glue stick on the uprights and window edges, and laid the cut out strips down. I use a pattern to cut curved strips if there is a curved area. After rubbing the strips down I again lightly touched the tissue w/the trim iron on medium. This turned out to be the best window job I have ever done. I did not do anymore doping but you could if it does not look good. It is not necessary except from an aesthetic standpoint. 

For models just covered with Mylar, and no tissue over it apply a piece of Mylar snugly over a test panel spray it w/Design Master Floral spray paint with the color you intend to use on a model to see how it looks. I just laid the test panel on a newspaper and gave it several light coats of Design Master. It will never be opaque, and the end result looks like see-through colored Monokote. It will definitely not have a vintage look!

I just built another AMA Maxi Jr., a simple solid stick fuselage model (like the standard ROG but w/no landing gear). This model has a wing with ribs. I did not worry about the vintage look, not a vintage model, just wanted it light and of course not invisible in the sky from using just the clear Mylar. I sprayed it with Design Master floral paint and it came out very light, somewhat lighter than the Japanese tissue covered one that I lost last summer. I also covered the tail feathers with colored Mylar but only hand tightened it as the iron shrinking process would pretzel these parts. The end result is a very light, good-looking, highly visible model. 

Here’s the technique to use spraying Design Master Floral spray paint over Mylar. Place a piece of Mylar on a frame, stuck to the edge of the frame, and do not heat-shrink it, just pull it tight. Spray several light coats of the Design Master Floral Spray and when dry cut the Mylar off the frame. Apply the Mylar to the structure so that the colored surface is on the inside. I did this and it works great. This way the colored surface is on the inside and the paint cannot be rubbed off. 

Sources: (as of June 2010)

Mylar:

FAI Model Supply Box 366 Sayre, PA 18840 Phone (570) 882-0366 

Email: faimodelsupply@cyber-quest.com
Website: http://www.faimodelsupply.com/

   Model Research Labs - Online Store Website: http://www.modelresearchlabs.com/

Mike Woodhouse   mike@freeflightsupplies.co.uk (This is probably the best source that I know of with terrific service)

Nitrate Dope:

Sig Nitrate Dope is non-tautening - available at hobby shops or online direct from http://www.sigmfg.com/cgi-bin/dpsmart.exe/MainMenuFV5.html?E+Sig  Email:  mail@sigmfg.com

Phone: (641) 623-5154  Sig also offers Sig Dope Thinner

Randolph Nitrate Dope available in both clear taughtening and non-taughtening plus Nitrate dope thinner, both available in quarts or gallons from Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Co.   http://www.aircraftspruce.com/index.html

Aircraft Spruce West (Culver City, CA)      Phone 1- 877-477-7823

Aircraft Spruce East   (Peachtree City, GA) Phone (770) 487-2310

Design Master Floral Spray Paint can be obtained at a Michael's Craft store (nationwide chain) or art supply stores. It’s available in a lot of colors. It is mostly propellant and is light stuff. You can spray some Krylon clear over it as a fixative without adding any appreciable weight.

cheers, Karl Gies

131 13th Avenue South

Lewistown MT 59457-2808

406-538-8503

17 June 2012 updates:

 http://www.newg.info/tissue_mylar.html 
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1547584&highlight=tissu+over+mylar&page=5
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1457843


http://cmac.synthasite.com/tissue-mylar.php