When I was in Jr. high in Peru I built the Guillow's Fairchild F-24. It was my
first rubber band model that I actually got to fly for more that 10 feet.
It was great, I would wind up the engine, stand on top some low bleachers, and
send the plane skyward across our local the soccer field. It would fly
straight and true, climbing steadily and solidly until the rubber band engine
unwound. Then it would lazily circle back down to the ground. We moved
back to the USA after I finished Jr. high, but alas, all my models had to
stay behind.
I picked up an identical kit about a year ago and built up the frame in a
couple evenings. It's sat for a while, but I decided it was time to finish
it. I completed the model right at the end of 1999. Here are a couple
pictures and one bonus story.
May 12, 2005
A while back I bought a new rubber band for the motor, but must have gotten
some old rubber from the LHS. :-( After a moderate number of winds, the
rubber exploded inside doing some significant structual damage. It doesn't
look to bad from the outside but as of today, this model is being officially
retired from active flight status and now is on static display status only.
July 20, 2004
I replaced the old cracking motor, but haven't test flown it with the new
rubber yet.
I had a chance one night a couple years ago to attend a
local EAA chapter meeting where one of
the local 'old farts' was
speaking, filling in for another guy who had to drop out at the last
moment. Dave Lewis of Lewis Aviation was a spry, old guy, and stood at the
little podium and talked, recounting stories of his lifetime of flying
adventures, for about 90 minutes before breaking to take questions.
One job, before the war, had been test flying airplanes off the production
line at Fairchild. From the log books for that era (he brought a pile of
'em with him to show, or check dates I suppose) I looked in after the talk,
he was flying about two of every three F-23s and F-24s (I think I'm
remembering the models right -- if F-24s came after the war don't shoot me!)
as they came off the line - according to the serial numbers logged. The
deadpan remarks column was great --
Std test, OK
Std test, OK
Std test, oil temp high
Std test, OK
Std test, engine quit, deadstick landing
Std test, OK
...
and then the ones there'd been a squawk on would be flown again a day or
two later, with the 'Std test, OK' remark. And it just went on for pages
and pages. Later, he left there to fly P-51s off the production line at
NorthAmerican. He was great, just a walking encyclopedia of flight from the
30s on. Still pretty sharp, the last time I saw him, back in the summer.
