Berkeley Buccaneer 'C' Special Gas Free flight Flying Model Airplane Kit

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Berkeley Buccaneer 'C' Special Gas Free flight Flying Model Airplane Kit plastic model kit

Berkeley Buccaneer 'C' Special Gas Free flight Flying Model Airplane Kit

Wood Model Kit,   Box Condition: VG

Early free flight gas model design. Very large 72 inch wingspan. These make incredible RC aircraft - they are light and strong. Power it up, fly to altitude and shut done the engine - it may be a very long time till she comes down. Early gas flight was a true art form - the demands on the aircraft design were unique. First, the aircraft had to take off under power, climb rapidly and stay in the contest area. Secondly, when the motor shut down, the model had to glide like a glider and hopefully still stay in the contest area. These contradictions in aircraft performance lead to some amazing designs. One persistent issue was spins - this Buccaneer features slotted leading edges to prevent 'whip stalls', which was a very common problem at the time. It also has a tail design that "...arrests spins". Model features ready made landing gear, complete full size plans, plywood firewall, semi-finished wood blocks, rubber wheels, plastic windshield, silkspan covering and printed wooden parts. The model has not been started. The parts are either in factory sealed bag(s) or inventoried 100% complete with all parts and instructions. Makes and idea conversion to electric and RC - these are light aircraft, so you simply climb to altitude, shut down the motor and glide.Berkeley is a very famous manufacturer of flying model kits from the Golden Age of flying aviation, about 1932-1954. Founded in 1933 by William Effinger, the company was quite progressive in producing quality kits - it was likely the Berkeley 'Buccaneer' was the first gas powered model in kit form. In the later 1930s, Effinger acquired the services of a very talented Henry Struck. Struck went on to design numerous award-winning kits under the Berkeley name. Berkeley weathered the post WWII recession and emerged as a major kit producer in the late 1940 and 1950s. These were great years for Berkeley and they produced some incredible and large kits. The company went bankrupt in about 1960 however. Fox engines (Duke Fox) bought the company and released the kits alongside his own FOX models and engines. This arrangement did not last, and in the early 1960s the Berkeley name disappeared from hobby shop shelves.

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