what airplanes have you built? post your pics of the models and feel free to talk about your airplanes

Bob, that Jim Walker Firebaby is the one I remember in the mid 1960's at the A&P Market grocery store several blocks from where I lived in Biloxi Mississippi on Pass Road, the main drag out Keesler Air Base's west entrance. I lived a couple blocks from there too, but in the opposite direction.

The Firebaby was wrapped in plastic similar to the packaging of Northwest Pacific's 10 cent gliders, rubber powered Skeeter (without landing gear, only 15 cents, I'd take the wheels salvaged off a crashed and trashed Sleek Streek - then 25 cents), hanging in their toy rack. It cost a couple bucks, but I was mostly into rubber power then as a 11 or 12 years old. Bought Comet rubber powered stick and tissue kits from Cornet variety store. (Then the called them variety versus department stores.)

Heard now that Biloxi has a crime problem. Things and times have changed. Back then, I never remembered robberies, was quiet and peaceful, clean. Never even heard of drugs until I moved to Hawaii and started 7th grade. The big thing then but I never bought them because they were like $2.50, I'd buy North Pacific kits for 10 and 15 cents, and string for 10 cents, was the spinning kites that didn't require a tail.

I have one of those Jim Walker Firebabys new in the box that I bought shortly after I got the crashed one shown.  I got it for the templates to rebuild it.  

Same here, only Pensacola in 1956.  Wife and I as teenagers drove down from NH in my 1951 Studebaker bought for $250.00.  We stopped at a Dairy Queen and asked if there was anything for rent in the area.  She said there was a Duplex over on West Liberty street, renamed recently from Zaragrossa Street.  Not exactly the upscale part of town.  Nice elderly lady rented it to us for $45 per month.  

Cockroaches in the kitchen which we swept out the back door thinking they were a form of Cricket.  Up North it was thought unlucky to kill a cricket. "Cricket on the hearth" etc..  Basic, kitchen, bedroom/livingroom and that's it.  Landlady noticed my wife polishing the furniture, so she added some making it livable.  But, yes no crime, no robberies, I left the keys in the car overnight and I don't ever remember locking doors.  Like New Hampshire in that respect.  

After about three months we bought a 28' trailer "Casa Mania" at Niland trailer sales in Pensacola and moved closer to the base in Hurds trailer park.  Finally made friends of our own age.  Moved up from liverwurst and PB&J sandwiches to the occasional hotdog.

What kind of clear coat are you all using? Seems like 1/2a engines use a higher nitro content than the 35 to 60 stunt engines, which eats through the single stage paints

@Kim posted the following recently:

https://www.coxengineforum.com/t17744-foam-plane#229937 regarding how he protected the foam using a clear product.

When I was flying my half-A Q-Tee R/C before last mishap, it was mostly Monokote covered with clear urethane oil based varnished ply engine bulkhead and inside the balsa sheet cowling and cabine struts for the wing. Varnish seemed reasonably fuel proof.

But, I'd carefully wipe down the aircraft sprayed with Fantastic to remove all fuel residue before going home. This prevented the fuel from softening the finish.

I use polyurethane transparent spray on the bulkhead and  in several layers even under the oracover shrink foil around the engine cowling , wing saddle and leading edge areas.

rsv1cox wrote:
we bought a 28' trailer "Casa Mania" at Niland trailer sales in Pensacola and moved closer to the base in Hurds trailer park.  

Casa Mania...too funny! We called ours "The Shaker Shack," and nicknamed the trailer park "Transient Estates Sub-division."

944_Jim wrote:

rsv1cox wrote:
we bought a 28' trailer "Casa Mania" at Niland trailer sales in Pensacola and moved closer to the base in Hurds trailer park.  

Casa Mania...too funny! We called ours "The Shaker Shack," and nicknamed the trailer park "Transient Estates Sub-division."

I'm not sure if I have the translation correct. Should be "House of Tomorrow".......I may have it as crazy house. Tiny thing, both my wife and I were raised in large houses, quite the transformation but as teens, what did we care. Gained a couple of rates while in Pensacola, went from liverwurst and PB&J sandwiches to hotdogs and beans.

rsv1cox wrote:I'm not sure if I have the translation correct.  Should be "House of Tomorrow".......I may have it as crazy house.

"La Casa de Mañana". (The House of Tomorrow). I guess possibly another name might be "La Casa del Futuro" (The House of the Future). I guess, anything to sell a trailer.

rsv1cox wrote:Tiny thing, both my wife and I were raised in large houses, quite the transformation but as teens, what did we care.

Until we moved into base housing at Fort Lee, VA in 1963 in 3rd grade, we lived in a 3 bedroom single-wide that was my father's. I'm only guesstimating but maybe 10 - 15 feet longer than yours. It had a kerosene oil heater for winter. A 50 gallon drum set sideways on a stand fed the heater. A truck would come to top it off.

rsv1cox wrote:Gained a couple of rates while in Pensacola, went from liverwurst and PB&J sandwiches to hotdogs and beans.

Used to kid in high school about being so dirt poor that we ate hotdog weiners split down the middle.

My experience is krylon paint 2-3 thin coats good up to 25% nitro fuel the 35 would bleed it off or could say wipe it off when cleaning LOL  Rust Oleum bout the same or less , don't like it as good as Krylon