In their own words

Model Airplane News, Oct 2000 by Gudaitis, Frank

Three pioneers reminisce about the early days of RC

In February 1996, at the Westchester Aero Modelers (WRAM) show in White Plains, NY, I met with three distinguished pioneers of model aviation: Joseph Kovel, Benjamin Shereshaw and Henry Struck. Armed with a tape recorder, I was able to record some of their memories of the early years of the hobby. Here are their stories.

JOE KOVEL AND THE K-G

"I started to build model airplanes right after Lindbergh's flight to Paris in 1927. The first model was a 'standoff' scale of Lindbergh's airplane. The framework was made of pieces of wood split from the egg crates that were available to us in those days. I used Le Page's glue and window-shade material for covering. There was no rubber motor and no prop. I fastened a long string under the fuselage, and I ran with the model until it took off.

"The second model I built from plans published in American Boy magazine. It was a stick model with a wingspan of about eighteen inches. When hand-launched from shoulder height, it flew for about 'one sewer' length-the distance between two manholes in our street.

"The third model was built from plans in Popular Science magazine around 1928. This model proved to be a great success.

"It was a pusher model with a cigar-shaped fuselage, and it had a landing gear. It actually took off under its own power and climbed to a height of about twenty-five feet.

"After that, I began to design my own models, and I had a fair measure of success in local contests around New York City. These contests were frequently sponsored by local newspapers and were held in various armories for indoor events, and in Van Cortland and Central Parks for outdoor events.

"At the Atlantic City Nationals in 1932, my model won the 'Stout' indoor stick event with a flight of thirteen minutes, three seconds. This event was held in one of the hotel ballrooms. I think it was the last time that a paper-covered model won that event at a Nationals. It was here that I heard that a fellow named Maxwell Bassett had successfully flown a gasoline-engine-powered model airplane. This was to foreshadow my own entry into gas-powered models.

"The K-G story began in 1933 when I received a postcard from Model Airplane News notifying me that a medal I had won at a recent contest was available for me to pick up. When I arrived at their offices, a secretary told me that Charlie Grant, editor of Model Airplane News, had a visitor, but that I could go right in. The visitor was Lt. H.W. Alden of the National Aeronautic Association [NAA]. I knew him from the many contests I had attended at which he officiated in one capacity or another.

"As I walked into Charlie's 'inner sanctum,' Lt. Alden said to Charlie, 'How about Joe, Charlie? Have you asked him?' I had no idea what they were talking about. Then Charlie asked me, 'If I were to furnish you with a gasoline engine, would you be willing to build a model airplane for it?' I hesitated for an instant while the impact of Charlie's question hit me. Would I be willing to build a model airplane to be powered by a real gasoline engine? How could I say no?

"Though I had graduated from high school and was attending night school to gain the credits I would one day need to take a course in engineering, the thought of building a gas-powered model promptly took first priority. The Nationals were to be held within a few short weeks at Roosevelt Field, New York. Over the next few days, I cleared the decks for action by completing the rubber-powered models I intended to fly at the Nationals while Charlie drew up the rough plan of the gas model on heavy brown wrapping paper.

"I still find it hard to believe that I completed construction on what was to be called the K-G-for Kovel-Grant-three weeks after I received Charlie's rough drawings. The model was finished on the morning of the first day of the Nationals. It was a large model with a wingspan of eight feet and a fuselage more than six feet long. I had no way of getting the model to Roosevelt Field, since, at the age of nineteen, I did not have a car. I had to leave the plane at home.

"I used public transportation to travel to the field with my rubber-powered models. While I was making my official flights with these models, Charlie contacted someone who had a station wagon. I was driven back to Brooklyn to pick up the gas model. By the time we got back and assembled the K-G, it was almost quitting time, and Maxwell Bassett had swept the three events he had entered with his own gaspowered model.

"Now came the crucial moment: starting the engine for its first flight. I had not had time to become familiar with the Gil engine Charlie provided, so the job of starting the engine fell to others. No luck! We could not get it to run! That ended phase one of the story.

"Phase two began when the K-G and I were shipped to Grant's home in Peru, Vermont. By then, the engine Charlie had obtained from Bill Brown had arrived. Charlie had designed a special engine mount, and I modified the fuselage so that it was able to receive the power-- plant as a complete unit that included the engine, fuel tank, ignition coil, condenser and batteries.