September 2012

Photos From Across The Continent And Oceans, East And West.


From our friend in England-- Lindsey Smith at Wallop.











From Bill Warner (Uncle Bill) -- his latest toy restoration.





"Well, my friends, here's one of the prettiest tin toys I have ever worked on. Made in Italy by Ingap, this Alitalia Lockheed Constellation friction toy
measures 15: span. Probably made in the 50's. There is a Japanese one that is almost identical. Who copied who? Worked on wheels, added a ton of lead to the nose to get it to sit on 3 wheels, repainted the wing, straightened the prop discs using a heated alum. disc. Who'd ever give a kid one of these to play with? Only one I've ever seen. .."
From our friend John Bird in Australia--

"Please find attached a collection of Free Flight models built by John French.
I found John's work most inspirational, the work of free flight aeromodelling master and wanted share them with you.

Please on-pass to the pics onto others whom you think might be interested.

He's now retired and lives in Eden N.S.W but has almost no one local to share his hobby or fly with except Kath his wife.

Send John an email -- mailto: j.k.french@bigpond.com
I am sure you will find many things in common to chat about. As you can see from his models (and his workshop) he's a master builder , also a member of the famous Flying Aces"





























John Bird forwarded a note from John French

" Hi Folks. I've just finished scanning all I'm going to do today and was putting all the scannings away when I came across some pictures of my West Wings Hawker Hart. I actually photocopied the plan and parts so I still have the original kit intact. I no longer have this model as somebody in Queensland wanted it! He wanted it so badly in fact that he gave me a new-in-box OD 90FS with pump, $699 worth as it was then! The model only cost me about $4 to make! But I did put several hours into it. I still have the OS 90FS nib!

Anyway, I thought you both might like to see what I REALLY love doing, splashing details on as much as I can. The Lewis gun took me a while before I could 'get in the gun' mood, but after making it the rest of the detailing stuff was a piece of cake. I am a very patient man, but only when it comes to building model aeroplanes!

Hope you're both well, and not too busy. One thing about getting old, .... damn it, I can't remember what it was!

Cheers for now, John and Kath."