Nats photos from 1966 (I think!) and other old photos

[Dave Blakemore]

Andy,

I believe that the Piper Commanche was built by Mick Charles.

Dave

[Andy Palmer]

Well done Dave, yes it was Mick Charles. I've just googled it and found this in Mick's obituary:

1967 Built Piper Commanche as flown by Sheila Scott, Highest static
scores for scale & workmanship but cowl opened in flight at Nats

So if that is correct all my photos are from 1967 not 66, quite possible.

Andy

[Gazza58]

Well done Dave.

Between us we are putting together the 1967 nats. The reason I know the year is that I still have the 1967 SMAE pennant. They were a different colour each year and I had them pinned to the wall above my bed. 1967 was purple with white trim. I believe the following year the nats were held at RNAS Yeovilton. The pennant that year was gold with red trim.

We went to the NAAFI Club on the saturday evening where my mum had a few too many sherries. The were a lot of sailors in the club that night and a sailor put his cap on the table upside down. My mum was a bit fuzzy around the edges and put her cigarette out in it thinking it was an ashtray. He didnt seem to mind too much.

Weather was much better that year.

Gazza

[Andy Palmer]

Yes! I went to Yeovilton the following year as well. My mate had bought his first car then (Morris Minor) so we drove. Some other campers gave us some scrumpy which was very strong for us youngsters and I remember getting 'merry'.

Andy

[mal brewer]

Hi Andy,

your original photo's ( Dave Platt Dauntless ,etc ) were from 1966,and the T28 actually placed top in r/c scale that year,and it was indeed built by Dave Platt.The Sheila Scott Commanche was from 1967,I think,I remember the pictures well,and you're quite correct,it was built by Mick Charles.............................Mal.

[Andy Palmer]

Hi Mal,

All the photos have the same printer's serial number on the reverse and I only have one pack of the photos so I'm sure they are all of the same year. It was certainly the year of terrible weather, there are a few very blurry shots that I took of the scale models in a hangar when the heavens opened.

I went to the Nats 3 years in a row and am 99% certain that only the first was at Hullavington and the other two were both at Yeovilton so I think these are all from 67...but I could be wrong!

Andy

[mal brewer]

Hi Andy,

I've just found an old copy (1966) of Aeromodeller, and Dave Platt is pictured and listed as winning r/c scale,but.....................no mention of his Dauntless ! Now that would have been mentioned,as it was such a ground-breaking model,indeed I remember the model press raving about what an outstanding model it was.So maybe your pictures were taken in 1967.I have got,somewhere,a report on the Platt crash,I must have a dig through my old mags to discover the year.I also seem to think that the Sheila Scott Commanche was built later than 1967,I seem to recall it in the early to mid '70's,but I stand to be corrected................................Mal.

[Andy Palmer]

Haha, nostalgia's not what it used to be...like our memories!

I'm sure (almost) the photos are all from the same year and the obituary I quoted from says 1967. It was written my Ron Moulton and I imagine he would have been pretty sure of his facts. It also says: 1970 First World Scale Champion at Cranfield with Jurca Sirocco. Any idea if the Commanche was before that?

Andy

[Gazza58]

Thick as the fog is, I have to say that I never went to the nats in 1966. The Dauntless was def at the 67 nats but its possible of course that it was at 66 also.

After 1968 at Yeovilton I seem to think that Hullavington featured again along with Little Rissington, and Lindholme. These championships I am sure were the British and not World championships. It is on my mind that we stopped attending the nats when the different disciplines, radio, scale, free flight, and control line were split up and held at separate venues. There was even an event called 'unorthodox flying' that took place in one of the hangers. These all in nats were truly great events to see aeromodelling in all its forms.

Gazza

[mal brewer]

Hi Andy and Gazza,

it does seem that the pictures in question were taken in 1967,but how did the t28 picture come to be included.Was it entered by Dave,or was it a back-up model to his Dauntless,as it was the T28 with which he won r/c scale in1966.Mick Charles did win the world r/c championship with the Sirroco,and it was in 1970,so perhaps the Commanche was from 1967,as I think Sheila Scott flew the full-size a/c on a round the world solo flight in 1966.I didn't think it was that long ago,don't the years fly..............................Mal.

[Andy Palmer]

Sounds as if we've solved it then, that all seems to make sense.

In August 1967 I would have been 16, just short of my 17th birthday. It's great to remember some of the things that happened back then. As Gazza says the 'all in' Nats we great, I remember rushing around from Free Flight to Combat to R/C Scale and so on. As all classes of free flight were launched at the upwind end of the airfield they used to drift across all the other disciplines including R/C scale. Great fun, for the spectators anyway!

Thanks for the memories

Andy

[mal brewer]

Hi,

as a point of interest ( to some ),when Mick Charles opened his model shop in Kingston,Sheila Scott ,the owner/pilot of the full-size Commanche modelled by Mick,along with Al Mancini,attended the ceremony

Mal

[Alan Dorrell]

I went to the Nats at Barkston in '61, '62, '63 and ;64. In '65 they were held at Ouston in Cumbria and the C.O. made accomodation available in the station's barrack blocks, with grub in the mess. It was fabulous but many found it too far to travel, I missed '66 but went to many more Nats mostly at Barkston.

I believe I am correct in saying that proportionalradio first appeared in the British Isles at the R/C World Championships held at RAF Kenley, where the the result was an amazing tie between Harry Brooks, with button control, and the American whose name, at the moment, escapes me, who used propo, 'Orbit' I think. Within a year or two, Kraft Systems were being imported but were priceless with enthusiasts paying up to £800. But by then the British manufacturers were getting going so Dave Platts' models were sure to be propo controlled.

I was about that time that film makers began the making of the film "The Battle of Britain". Their model makers built some excellent scale models but were not skilled in flying them. So "real" scale modellers were approached, doubtless, Dave Platt among them, to produce and fly the fleets of aircraft in the film. However, when the 'amateur modellers' turned up with their Spits and Messersmits, they were all too shiny, so lessons were given in how to achieve the distressing for a well used appearance. And so on and so forth.

Cheers. Alan.

[Alan Dorrell]

P.S.

Kenley was in 1962.

[mal brewer]

Posted by Alan Dorrell on 23/10/2012 11:58:44:

I was about that time that film makers began the making of the film "The Battle of Britain". Their model makers built some excellent scale models but were not skilled in flying them. So "real" scale modellers were approached, doubtless, Dave Platt among them, to produce and fly the fleets of aircraft in the film.

Hi Alan,

Mick Charles was also involved in the model making for this film,would Ken Binks have been one of the r/c pilots?..........................................Mal

p.s. finished that 'Toot' yet ?

Edited By mal brewer on 23/10/2012 12:10:00

[mal brewer]

Hi again Alan,

just found an old mag,and the winner of the 1962 r/c world champs is given as an American by the name of Tom Brett,a name I don't remember at all.However,he is listed as using Orbit 10 channel gear (reeds),but he said he intended changing to propo gear.His companion,Don Brown,now I do remember that name,was at Kenley using Dee-Bee Quadraplex proportional gear.So it seems a bit of confusion somewhere................................Mal

Edited By mal brewer on 23/10/2012 12:25:00

[Alan Dorrell]

Hi Mal,

Yes of course it was Tom Brett. Sorry I was wrong about his gear being propo, but propo was there.It's the memory, you know, I was only a young lad of thirty.

A year later, I returned to Leicestershire. My own speciality was c/l stunt using 35 motors in 50" span models and my LMS had limited stock, so I used to go to Geoff Franklin's in Leicester. He was the importer of Kraft radio during the years I knew him. Although I never got into r/c I listened to the tales which were from Geoff''s viewpoint. I understood he and his mates to be substantially involved in the film, but I was not sure who they were.

I do something to the Toot most days. While I am not aiming for a super scale model, I find detailing fiddly. However, the fuselage is primed ready for painting. I have to do the cockpit and the cowl, all materials and accessories at hand and this morning I plan to fibreglass the wing centre sections prior to starting covering. I am using Profilm.

I'm not motivated to hurry as I have a room full of trainers and between my disability and the "marvellous" weather we have had this year, my flying skills have not progressed much. I have invested in some low temperature kit in case there are more opportunities in the coming months. Technically, I am well prepared.

Cheers. Alan.

[PatMc]

Hi Alan, these scans from AM annuals might be of interest :

First is from the 1963-64 AM annual

I think Don Brown is the only one who used propo which he designed & built.

Next two are from an article about moulding models using 2 part foam that was in the the 1968-69 annual.

Although it doesn't say so, I think this was one of the models used in the BoB film. I seem to remember some mention in either an AM mag or early RCM&E of Dave Platt producing some of the models by this method.

BTW Ouston wasn't in Cumberland, it was in Northumberland just west of Newcastle. I say "was" because it's since been taken over by the army & re-named Albermarle Barracks.

Cheers,

Pat.

PS if you want a source of downladable old AM annuals & mags try here.

[Andy Palmer]

Great stuff. I see Chris Olsen was third, he was my hero! I remember seeing his Uplift etc.

Andy

[mal brewer]

Posted by Andy Palmer on 25/10/2012 22:40:32:

Great stuff. I see Chris Olsen was third, he was my hero! I remember seeing his Uplift etc.

Andy

Hi Andy

yes Chris Olsen,I think he was every early modeller's hero ! When asked why he named one of his earlier designs 'Uproar' he replied ''have you ever heard an ETA 29 on full chat ? ! ''(open exhaust in those days,of course)...............................Mal

Edited By mal brewer on 25/10/2012 22:52:15

[PatMc]

Not quite Malcolm. The Eta 29 was suggested as a suitable engine but the quote in AM was " Have you ever heard a Fox 29 turning over at 12,000rpm."

Can you image today anyone powering a 5.5lb, 72" sports aerobatic model, never mind a competition pattern ship, with a 5cc engine ? Also bear in mind that the most powerfull 5cc engines of the day would have been less powerfull than most modern cooking 25s even allowing for the silencer difference.

Edited By PatMc on 25/10/2012 23:28:05

[mal brewer]

Hi PatMc,

yes it seems very unlikely,but the Howard Bonner 'Smog-Hog,' and the Fred Dunne 'Astro-Hog'.both state of the art 72-74" span multi-models,were both powered by .35 engines,and this was when multi-channel radio gear (reeds) alone ,with batteries etc,could weigh up to 2 lbs..............Mal.