One of the “classic” toys we had when we were kids were balsa model airplanes that actually flew! We spent a lot of time both at school and home flying these little aeronautical delights. They probably don’t make them anymore, at least I haven’t seen any in the past several years. If I ever find any, I’ll quickly “put some in my shopping cart”. I wouldn’t buy any for myself, but they would be for “My little nephew” (Yeah right). I guess kids are too busy these days surfing the Internet, chatting on their cell phones, or downloading the latest pirated music to their iPods to fool around with “kid’s toys”. On this same subject, I don’t ever see anyone making paper airplanes these days either. I still do and get a lot of instructions from the Internet on how to make all kinds of neat ones (For my ”little nephew” of course).   

 

We could buy different models of the balsa model airplanes. They had a 5-cent version, which was the economy model. This was for kids who either received a meager allowance or didn’t have the ability to con their parents out of 10 cents to buy the better model. These had a red slot that fit on the top of the fuselage and we inserted a wing on each side. The wings were at an upward angle that was called “dihedral” according to our 7^th grade teacher, Mr. Cranston. He was the “coolest” teacher any of us ever had! He moved to Florida several years ago, but I still keep in contact with him VIA email. If any of you present or former ‘Berlin Heightsers” either had him as a teacher or knew him, if you desire, email me and I will send you his email address. My email is quarterhorse3@yahoo.com (This link will automatically put this subject in your subject line for your email to me. Pretty cool, huh! The line forms immediately for people in awe of my computer skills to get some “pearls of wisdom” from me, and as a special bonus, get my autograph)! You could try calling me about where the line forms, but my phone is always tied up by Bill Gates getting computer information from me. The same goes for my email since it is always backed up with emails from Microsoft.

 

The next step up was the “intermediate line” of balsa airplanes. For 10 cents we could get a bigger and better plane that flew great! This was the model that was the most popular with all us kids. (See pic below). All the balsa airplanes we used to buy came unassembled in a long cellophane package. Assembly was a snap. With the 10-cent model, we just slid the wing through a slot, slid the back wing into a slot, and slid the stabilizer tail into a slot. It took about 6 seconds for assembly, then Bingo, we were all set to perform all kinds of aeronautical feats! The fuselage had a long slot so we could adjust the performance by either sliding the wing forward or back. The forward position was for loops. We had to be careful not to max out the forward position of the wing. This would result in the plane doing an immediate loop. If we launched it really fast, we risked getting hit in the back of the head unless our reflexes were instantaneous. The other setting, by maxing out the wing in the rear position, resulted in a long straight flight. This was the setting I always used since I wasn’t fast enough to avoid getting hit with it on the back of my head. After having this happen several times (Yeah, I know, this would explain a lot of things today!), I stayed with the “long flight” adjustment.

 

The “top of the line” model consisted of an even larger plane that had landing gear and a propeller that was powered by a long rubber band (See pic below). This model cost 25 cents and only “rich kids” ever had this one. It could take off from the black top by the school playground.

 

A really cool thing was when Mr. Cranston started “The Model Airplane Club”. Most of us guys were in it. Girls were not invited to join because of their “Cootie” problem. We could purchase really swell bigger balsa planes. These were much more expensive than the “amateur” models we bought at the “Locker Plant” and performed much better than those. They had a gob of gray clay wrapped around the nose for a counter weight for proper flight. Mr. Cranston would spend noon hour recesses and after school with us while we flew our “Deluxe Models”. (Was he “cool” or what!”) Tim performed his “maiden flight” with his plane. It did an immediate loop, crashed to the ground, and broke into several pieces. This resulted in Tim laughing. Mr. Cranston looked at him with distain and said, “Grow up Tillinghast!” Tim replied with his high-pitched preadolescent voice, “I’m trying sir!” I usually did very well with all my balsa model plane endeavors due to the fact that I was very “flighty” to begin with.

 

As we got older we progressed to the “ultimate” plane level to fuel-powered model planes with a real motor! Tim and I had both “Free Flight” and “U-control” ones. For our experiences with these, read the story: Just “Plane” Crazy”.