Ebay Photo Album

Kim Sat Aug 30, 2014 4:23 pm

I figure that plenty of guys have already been doing this, but haven't seen any posts on it so...

Ebay catches a lot of flak (sometimes deservedly so), but it HAS allowed me to reach out and capture a lot of great stuff over the years. There's no way I could have gotten these things any other way.

I guess I'm now turning a corner of sorts in that I enjoy reminiscing by just looking at photos of stuff from my youth. With my storage shed bulging at the seams with all the great treasures I've accumulated, one of my nostalgia trips can often require a considerable amount of digging.

The sellers on Ebay often post really nice photos of their items, and I've started saving the ones that "Hit Home". With my new album, I can get pretty close to the same feeling without the risk of being buried in an avalanche of old stuff! So, here are a couple of the great things that fire me backwards to a time when ANYTHING was not only possible, but probable !!!

The ironing board wasn't my Christmas gift, but much to the irritation of my little sister, in my youthful eyes, it looked EXACTLY like an aircraft carrier. It was often aquired in secret, and reassigned to Sea Ops, servicing the Tradewinds Flying Boat parked at my knees.

The Tradewinds came complete with a jeep, military truck, and a rubberband-powered rocket launcher...all loaded though it's hinged snout. We flew a lot of missions out around my Grandpop's backyard garden.

This was a great Christmas Haul !

The little electric flyer parked next to it was my first dose of circle-turning with a model airplane, and I still have a replica purchased a decade or two later.

My Aunt Bert ordered this F-100 Super Sabre ("Allow 2-3 Weeks for Delivery"---an eternity to a six-year-old!) from Kelloggs or Nabisco. At the time, it was the absolute COOLEST THING I'd ever seen...retracting wheels and the ability to shoot missiles from it's engine's intake !!

The icing on the cake was that this was a "mid-year toy", not a Christmas gift. It was a major thing to get something like this "just because".

So thanks for tolerating an old guy's Saturday morning ramblings !!!

roddie Sat Aug 30, 2014 6:29 pm

Yes, this is something I also enjoy doing lately. Kim.. asking "thanks for tolerating" your ramblings.. are unnecessary, as far as I'm concerned. This is where we came from.. and is a testament as to how we became passionate about this hobby!

BTW.. that "Tradewinds" Flying Boat looks very similar to a Martin JRM-2 "Mars". This is one of my favorite aircraft.

Ebay Photo Album 05515210

I started building (no plans) what was/is to be a "stand-off" (way off.. Laughing

) approx. 1/12 scale RC version, powered by two Cox reedies (outboard, for taxiing..) and two "brushless" speed-controlled electrics (inboard) for the power needed to get up "on-step" and hopefully fly. I've got a big box of parts that I designed and cut on the CNC router. The fuse is 3" foam.. "hogged-out" to house radio gear, wing ribs are foam.. and have cut-outs for a 1" x 1" sq. lightened-aluminum tube spar (photo below) and the wing mounted "floats" are made of foam with sheet aluminum braces. The tail-boom is the same 1" x 1" sq. alum. tube as the wing-spar.. That's as far as I got with it.. What?

The "big-box" of parts is buried (and at the bottom.. of course) of a clothes-valet.. that's full of other model stuff.. and blocked-in by my work-table.. which has stuff all over and under it. Laughing

batjac Sat Aug 30, 2014 9:13 pm

I do something kind of like that. If I see some pictures or drawings that I like, I'll save the picture. Kind of like a few months ago when I posted pictures of how the Cox throttle worked with their "D" handle. It helps for my future project file.

The Future Mark

Kim Sun Aug 31, 2014 1:50 am

Planning ahead is NEVER a bad idea Mark !!!

And yeah, Roddie, the thing about the Mars is that it's a lot prettier than my lumpy ole Tailwinds!! And, it has had a far more successful career! I've been a fan of this big boat for a long time, and would LOVE to see it fly before it's finally retired. Also, your project is spectacular...and I'll be happy to post consecutive harassing comments if there's a chance that you could be bullied into finishing it!

Another thing concerning the Mars...way back in 2008, we had a major flood at the airport that shut us down to only letting helicopters come and go.

Bruce, our airport manager, came out one evening to take some quick photos for the local newspaper when I was on duty (mopping and moping). His camera croaked, and he knew I was always locked and loaded to take video or photos, so he asked if I ride along with him and take a few.

In those days before I got involved with Facebook, I had created my own "Cape Airport Newsletter"...basically just a Yahoo Mailing List...but with quite a few recipients...some aviation savvy...some not so much. Anyway, as self-appointed Editor-in-Chief, Head Reporter, and Publisher, I had a big time messing with people who didn't always get my slant on things.

I just couldn't let a golden opportunity like this slip by, and decided to mess with one of the photos. I don't own a photoshop program, but thought I'd try to put a Martin Mars onto one of the pictures using the standard "Paint" program that comes with all computers.

It was quick and dirty, but I thought it looked pretty good, and buried the photo in the thumb drive I gave Bruce, AND posted it in my Newsletter with a title something like "Historic Flying Boat Visits KCGI!!!" I thought I was being pretty sly since Bruce was about the only one around that DIDN'T get my newsletter!

Next day, I get a couple newsletter relies: "Ha! THAT'S Not Real!!!".

Dense people can irritate me when they don't get my humor, so I replied, "BWUUUH...IS SO !!!! Just ask Bruce, he was there!"

Well, my doctored photo didn't show up in Cape's Newspaper, and the only other feedback I got was when Bruce walked by me a couple days later, slowly shaking his head and saying, "Kim, Kim, Kim".

You place your bets and take your shots ......

roddie Sun Aug 31, 2014 4:38 am

Hey, that's funny stuff man! People can be pretty "dense" sometimes. Both of our photos depict the "Mars" in their most current service roll in British Columbia.. working as converted "flying-tankers" for fighting the massive forest fires that occur in the Pacific Northwest. Two of the original four conversions remain. Two were lost; one in a firefighting sortie and the other in a typhoon while beached. I believe that the "Hawaii" and "Philippine" Mars are the survivors. Four of only seven original Navy aircraft built between 1945-1948, were destined for the scrapyard in 1959.. and actually "sold for scrap" before they were "luckily" bought by "FIFT" (Forest Industries Flying Tankers) of British Columbia. There was a write-up in "Air & Space" magazine back in the early 90's about these aircraft. This is how I became fascinated with them.

As far as a finishing the model I "started" goes.. I've never lost interest in the concept.. and figured that; "even if it won't fly.. it would be the coolest model boat in the water"!!

Kim Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:47 pm

roddie wrote:

As far as a finishing the model I "started" goes.. I've never lost interest in the concept.. and figured that; "even if it won't fly.. it would be the coolest model boat in the water"!!

Well, maybe you'll get fired up on it again. The giant rudder on that big dog would certainly seem to lend it's self well to wrangling those engines !!!

I'm tempted to start a "Hangar Queen" thread, with photos of my stalled projects. Maybe prompt me and some others to drag them out and start slinging glue at them !!!

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