Blue Miss America

Mudhen on Mon Mar 30, 2020 4:37 pm

One day I was corona-bored and decided to bounce around ePay.
I came across this Miss America P-51 from the early 70’s. (About 1973-75.)
The seller was asking $125.00, which is low for the model, especially in good to mint condition.

While flipping through the pictures, I remember thinking,
“Wow, this is a nice airplane…beautiful paint, blue back plate, nice patina, no fuel stains…
“Wait…blue back plate?!?!?”
I was never able to figure out the blue back plate. It seemed to have a different blend of Delrin than what Cox used for the early 290 engines.
The blue, I thought, resembled the red composites from the late 60’s to early seventies. But, I wasn't sure.
Dan Sitter couldn’t figure them out either. Without any concrete evidence, who can blame him?

Well, happy me. The airplane came in today, and it is gawgeous. Brand-new. Moreover, I have no reason to think it is not authentic.
Conclusion? Boss airplane. The blue back plate was in production, at least in the early to mid-70’s while the Miss America was manufactured, but on a limited basis.
So…why blue? Oftentimes when Cox planned a transition from one assembly type to another, they used an intermediate color, identifying the transition, until the new production assembly entered service.
I know the Miss America used both the red 290 back plate, and the white. Though conjecture, it seems reasonable Cox used blue as an intermediate until settling into the white.
This was way cool. I not only received a sweet model, but a bit of history thrown in with the deal.

Jason_WI on Mon Mar 30, 2020 4:59 pm

Nice find. I’ll have to keep and eye out for this. I’m still missing a blue backplate in my collection.

I do have 3 of those .020 tanks with the never went into production reed holder. They all came from the .020 cars with the heavy crankshaft so it seems these were in production for a little while.

Mudhen on Mon Mar 30, 2020 5:10 pm

Hi Jason,
I know the tank front you're referring to.
It's not a reed holder, but a steel thrust plate. You're right, it was in production for a limited time. (I have a Camaro NIB with this assembly.)
It still used a circlip for the reed, but the O.D. of the reed housing was slightly less than stock engines.
If you look at Dan's picture you can see the cross bar from the circlip.

akjgardner on Mon Mar 30, 2020 5:20 pm

Wow. Nice

rsv1cox on Mon Mar 30, 2020 5:23 pm

Let me play CNN here.

But Mud, it has a bent prop.

davidll1984 on Mon Mar 30, 2020 7:06 pm

y have bleu yelow red black engine mount not same size plane lost destroyed stil have back plate lot of 3 buried somwere in cox and guilow plane used 1 bleu timbledrome engine mount to mount on foom plane converted rc . mebe same materiel for back plate reed valve?

Mark Boesen on Mon Mar 30, 2020 10:55 pm

rsv1cox wrote:Let me play CNN here.

But Mud, it has a bent prop.

LOL, OUCH!!!!!

getback on Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:18 am

That is a Beautiful Miss America !! I Have one of those blue plates somewhere LOL I think i had ask about it awhile back and was told it came from this plane , Good Deal Mudhen !! Small Cox Logo

Mudhen on Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:22 am

davidll1984 wrote:...mebe same materiel for back plate reed valve?

I'm not sure if you're referring to the back plate, or engine mount, (firewall). Back plates were molded from Celcon or Delrin, and came in a variety of colors. Cox also experimented with different blends. The firewall or engine mounts were molded from polystyrene or propylene and usually matched the colors of the model.

rsv1cox wrote:Let me play CNN here. But Mud, it has a bent prop.

If I were responding to CNN, I'd reply...
"It figures you'd miss the forest for the trees. Try coding!!!"

Admin. We need an emoji showing a "mike drop" moment. Then insert it after my response to CNN.

Jason, Here's the assembly.

rsv1cox on Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:43 am

Mudhen wrote:
davidll1984 wrote:...mebe same materiel for back plate reed valve?
I'm not sure if you're referring to the back plate, or engine mount, (firewall). Back plates were molded from Celcon or Delrin, and came in a variety of colors. Cox also experimented with different blends. The firewall or engine mounts were molded from polystyrene or propylene and usually matched the colors of the model.

rsv1cox wrote:Let me play CNN here. But Mud, it has a bent prop.
If I were responding to CNN, I'd reply...
"It figures you'd miss the forest for the trees. Try coding!!!"

Admin. We need an emoji showing a "mike drop" moment. Then insert it after my response to CNN.

Yeah, if anybody can find a cloud in a rainbow, it's CNN.

balogh on Tue Mar 31, 2020 9:55 am

You may want to read the bottom and top right on page 49 of Dan Sitter's Cox Model Engine Handbook, strangely stating the blue backplate never went into production..so Mudhen must have something of a rarity with that engine!

Jason_WI on Tue Mar 31, 2020 4:04 pm

Mud,

Thanks for the pic. I never took mine apart to see that it was just turned down. Makes sense it was added as a thrust plate on the car. I do have 3 of them.

Jason

Mudhen on Wed Apr 01, 2020 7:16 pm

The restoration went well. The airplane is definitely new. No fuel residue anywhere. It’s never been run, or flown.
It had some minor shelf-wear that I wet-sanded. Also, it has mild sun staining. But to avoid damaging the paint, I just let it be.
The engine does not have “W” filament, which Cox discontinued in November 1972. It has a stepped cylinder that Cox deleted in January 1975.
I’m not sure when the Miss America was discontinued, but the blue backplate came somewhere between 11/72, and 1/75.
Pretty cool for $125.00

Dave P. on Wed Apr 01, 2020 9:14 pm

That's the one Cox airplane I really wanted but never got. I suppose because it's sort of a mix of Cox, air racing and Evel Knievel. Very cool, Mud. Thanks for sharing your good fortune! And for sharing your extensive knowledge. It really is most appreciated.

balogh on Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:03 am

Mudhen wrote:
I’m not sure when the Miss America was discontinued, but the blue backplate came somewhere between 11/72, and 1/75.
Pretty cool for $125.00

Beautiful restoration, congrats. I found in the COX models database of Martin Happerle

that Miss America was produced sporadically in 1971-72, 1972-75, and 1990-91, but the last production run had wire landing gears and engine placed upright. . So yours is dated between 1972....75 i.e. from the 2nd production run.

rsv1cox on Thu Apr 02, 2020 7:09 am

I agree Mud - Way cool. Beautiful model and a nice restoration.

Looks like it might have rested on one blade of the propeller but the rest of the airplane looks straight. I imagine you replaced it with an identical prop. I have sworn off plastic airplanes, but had I noticed it I might have given you some competition. Love the P-51 models.

Bob

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