Pioneers of aeromodelling progress-C.Rupert Moore.

**wonwinglo** · 13-09-2004

It is pouring down outside, but who cares we can pull together a few chairs in the workshop,open a few cans and seek a bit of nostalgia ! gather around-
Just after World war 2 Britain was in the doldrums,the long evenings and certainly no television as we know it today would mean that the hobbyist was almost at his peak,out came the foot-tredle fret machines in the evening as another great piece of art in the form of yet another Eifel tower bristling with beautifully hand fretted & cut scrollwork was slowly emerging ! the Aeromodeller magazine had survived its wartime production figures on cheap low grade pulp paper but the plans and features were to prove some of the finest in its publishing history,the reason for its survival under thick and thin conditions of war plagued Europe were twofold,firstly its loyal readership and secondly its staff,the editorial offices wewre to buzz with projects created and entitled 'By the Aeromodeller staff' a combined merging of talents to provide the best for its readers,these individuals were to become aeromodelling household names and now sadly lost in the annals of time and events,but not if I have anything to do with it ! as an historian I just relish in remembering and recording the lives of people who just paved the way,today I would like to remember one such modest person-C.Rupert-Moore ARCA.
Rupert Moore was borne at a time when aviation was in its infancy,Claude Grahame-White was touring around the country showing everyone his wonderful flying machine landing on common land and thrilling the crowds,the heady days of pioneering aviation were to leave their mark on a small Rupert who would pick up the pieces of fabric from these aeroplanes and take them home for his wall,he would go one step further and observe the colours and record them in his many notebooks,his artistic skills would mean that he produced wonderful sketches and evocative scenes,little did he realise that he was witnessing the very first events of aviators & aviatrix ( lady aviator )
Suitably impressed he would try and emulate the flight of these machines by producing A-Frame pushers,these were made by bracing together two bamboo rods with a wing made from oiled silk,small propellers were twisted from tin with a bearing made from a Colmans mustard tin,the surprise was they flew fairly well despite their heavy construction.
As the years progressed art school presented itself and his collection of artifacts grew,he was good friends with someone who flew on test flights with the MAP ( Ministry of aircraft production ) and would frequently be entertained as a De Havilland Mosquito beat up his house ! the same person would provide yet more fabric and colour samples to add to his growing collection,the bits usually came from crashed aeroplanes but were gladly snapped up.
As the years progressed he got a job with the Aeromodeller who then had offices at a place called Eaton Bray somewhere in the Bedordshire area,his job was to provide the all essential artwork for the covers of the Aeromodeller magazine a job he did admirably right through until the late sixties,these covers stand testiment to this day as to the skill and accuracy of colours and historical significence of his subjects.
Not to be forgotton are the many designs created by C.Rupert-Moore as flying scale model subjects powered with complicated rubber motor drives,Moore designed and developed the special Moore Diaphram an ingenious device that enabled a lot of rubber to be installed in a small space,the design was patented and still holds to this day.
He did a Hawker Typhoon which had a retractable undercarriage operated when the rubber was either under tension or expended.
Then came a series of books on aircraft camouflage,all of the drawings came from his own brushes to fully illustrate the works.
So I hereby place this quiet but clever gentleman as number one in our hall of fame..now lets see who else have we earmarked ? well you will have to wait and see,meanwhile there is another crate over in the corner of the workshop,wipe off the balsa dust and crack open another can !

duncan · 13-09-2004

....."a place called Eaton Bray"! Mecca, Vallhala, Paradise.7th Heaven ! It was called The Model Aerodrome. Complete with concrete ring for tethered cars, long grass for free-flight and test flights etc. Nice friendly people. I cycled as a boy to visit it,from Ayr in Scotland 400 odd miles and same back (yes I did become a racing cyclist when I grew up!) Visited Ivinghoe Beacon and Sutton Bank to watch the gliders on same trip, three healthy weeks. Look at me now 60 fags a day.. oh dear.

**wonwinglo** · 13-09-2004

Wow Duncan what a trip that must have been ! Eaton Bray ran into trouble very quickly with the planning people,Aeromodeller in their misguided wisdom had built office block,workshops etc all without permission,they were made to dismantle everything,MAP Model Aeronautical press just about survived but after that things were not quite the same for them.
Dagra Engineering also set up next door,they were professional model makers of a very high standard making things like those airliner models for travel agents issued by the airlines,they too had to go.
I have flown once at Ivinghoe now still used actively for flying model gliders,the view from the top if you can still remember it Duncan was stunning.
You must have been really fit to have tackled that trip by cycle and keen as well.
Strange how these organised flying fields all fail in the end,Boddo purchased his own field in Oxfordshire for his own model group,it did not last long,then there was Goosedale near Nottingham complete with its own model museum and seaplane lake,that was sold up a few years ago,they also had planning problems.