Brooklyn Dodger (oz15182)

About this Plan

Brooklyn Dodger. Free flight power model.

Note the original Sal Taibi Brooklyn Dodger (oz1056) first appeared in Air Trails, Jan 1942. This here is a redrawn later version published in American Modeler, Dec 1971.

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Quote: "In 1941, Sal Taibi designed this plane and named it 'The Cadet.' That same year Brooklyn went crazy when the 'Bums' won the pennant. The Brooklyn manufacturer, H&F Model Airplane Co, decided to capitalize on the Dodgers' triumphant year by changing the name of the plane to the Brooklyn Dodger.

This Old-Timer has a list of winners too long to mention and is still winning. Sal still flies one at all contests he enters, along with his famous Starduster 900.

The revised version has maintained all of the aerodynamic qualities of the original. The only major change is the addition of a DT (dethermalizer) and there are some minor structural changes as well. The Old-Timer that may seem so foreign to the modern builder is really not quite so outdated. This became especially noticeable when an effort was made to update what Sal had done thirty years ago.

Although it is no longer produced, I was fortunate to find one of the original kits which I used as a guide and then repacked for the collectors. This kit, complete except for the power system, was packed during World War II. The patriotic packaging - red, white and blue with a flag printed on the box - was a common practice during those years, as were the red fiberboard for the firewall instead of plywood, and corks substituted for the metal caps on the dope, glue and colored dope bottles. In this respect one could refer to that period as the good old days.

It may be that the old-timers are more aware of these changes, but I can remember how many Liberty magazines and others that had to be sold to buy a kit and engine. They sold for 5 cents and our profit was 11/2 cents. When the end of each week came we would add up our pennies, go to the model shop and drool over the items we were saving towards, and then go out and sell a little harder. After all was saved and the last penny counted out we would treasure every piece and part of our purchase. Then came the big disappointment - the kit wasn't complete, so we would sell some more to buy the extras. Maybe this is one of the reasons, besides its graceful and majestic flight, why an old-time plane is looked upon with such reverence.

The other great disappointment of those days was the fly-away, unless it was at a contest and we won. I often wonder why none of us were smart enough to invent a DT. We used to brag how we would never build a kit. We felt we had to design and scratch build in order to be a real modeler. (There was some merit to this, but I think it was partly a defense because we couldn't afford a large kit.) Most of us in my area won our first big kits and new motors by placing with our scratch-built rubber models in contests. I still remember my first. It was on a foggy morning at Point Mugu (now Port Hueneme) and I won a Huskie Jr, class A engine and a class A Skyrocket Kit. And do you know what? I wasn't the least bit ashamed to build that kit.

Since this kit is not available I hope you are not ashamed to build a scratch-built. Before construction starts, better plan to do some searching at your local hobby dealer if you are going to use an ignition system and do not already have one. The wiring diagram shows all necessary parts. The Austin timer and battery case is still in production, the coil is still being made and condensers of the old type (Ford 11A18801) are plentiful..."

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