My question has to do with model airplanes. I recently picked up a vintage (1940s) control line airplane. It has an AMA number on the wing and by judging by the design and an engine that looks way too big for the plane, it must have been a speed record plane. Does anyone have any history on racing or speed model airplanes?


plane 1 by tarawa1943, on Flickr


plane 2 by tarawa1943, on Flickr


plane engine by tarawa1943, on Flickr

Looks like McCoy engine. I think they called them "redhead" engines. I have seen people fly these "U-Control" models for speed, and they pulled hard on the lines and were launched in a carrage and landed just on their belly. The prop was set to stop while horizontal.

Hi Mike,
When I saw the plane at a community garage sale for $55.00 I thought it had a McCoy RedHead. I have been buyng some McCoys on Ebay with the hopes of building a tether car some day (child hood dream that I never got). Then when I got it home, I realized that the colors were reversed. After a lot of researching I found out thet it is a 1947 EDCO Sky Devil. I believe they were made for one year. Highly collectable engine supposedly. The plane has a metal strip on the belly, so you must be right about the belly landings. Unfortunately the engine must have been running when this thing crash landed. The plane is made of some sort of phenolic as it reminds me of printed circuit board material.
George

We used to build airplanes like that with large, faired engines for Rat Racing competition. It was done in a fenced circle area and we had a pole in the middle to rest the control on. I remember using Torp Rear-rotor 40's, Fox 36XBB's and others. I do not remember the speeds and I think they were 52 foot lines, but it was almost as fun as the combat wing flying.