With the first world war just twelve years gone and the advances in aeroplane construction reaching new levels,the thirties were to become the golden years of flight,all over the world new manufacturers were springing up to produce that elusive perfect airplane,in America flying was reaching fever pitch with ordinary people learning to fly on the Taylor (later to become the famous Piper Cub) Cub,during the thirties some names were to be with us for a long time to come,Lloyd Stearman,Beech,Waco,Porterfield and Fairchild designed and built some of the finest sporting and aerobatic machines of their day.The publishing giants realised the potential and brought out an odd mix of what were termed 'Pulp magazines' produced on self destroying cheap acid based paper these mags have become collectors pieces in themselves,the front part of the magazine would feature both real life and fictional stories written by such stalwarts as Arch Whitehouse,world war one aces battling it out in the skies,superb drawings of machine guns ripping through fabric of early biplanes and triplanes !!,then there was a section typically called 'On the lightplane tarmac' featuring such aircraft as the Aeronca C.3 Flying bathtub with its tiny JAP.99 engine,a section called 'I learned about flying from that' a sort of period primer in aeronautical chance taking,but it was the rear of the mag that held treasures,articles and above all plans of small scale models made from balsa wood,the new wonder material that was both light and strong which grew at an alarming rate in the swamps of Ecuador,these plans coupled with clubs such as the well known 'Flying Aces' club sparked enthusiasm beyond all belief as modellers throughout America reached for their building boards and sharpened up their craft knives,the infectious way that the plans were laid out and the succinct instructions that came with them were here to stay.
A natural progression was to be the advent of many manufacturers producing and selling kits of parts to make up models,the back cover held advertisements for cloud soaring Mr Mulligan racers and balsa solids attractively packed in small brown card boxes,propellers made from tin,wheel pants made from deadly lead and tiny turned wooden wheels and cowlings,a whole new industry was created around a demand never before realised,as the nation became air minded the thirst for new models increased by the week.Back in England things were also about to change and as Uncle Sam actively recruited for its air force and navy elements for darkening skies,second hand copies of the pulp mags such as 'Flying Aces' & 'Model Airplane News' started to emerge on the market stalls of England,and this is where another story has to be told,the next installment will deal with the way that scale aircraft modelling was starting to emerge in a very big way indeed and how one man in particular was about to start building an empire which included a dedicated following of scale model builders.
Part 3 to follow soon !