Model Airplane News Cover for December, 1949
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The cover has a drawing of Casalaire metal model airplane outfitted with skis in the hands of a lovely lady in ski attire. Our guess is that the winter setting was used, probably because it was the cover of the December 1949. The scene is somewhat improbable in that (a)The original model was configured for control line, not free flight and (b) production of the Casalaire ceased in 1948. I suppose that the modeler could have made some major revisons for free flight out of a vintage kit, so the scene is possible, not probable.

     

The Casalaire
... and skis
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The Casalaire control line model kit was produced in 1946 for a brief period by Tison Bros. of Los Angeles. The model was ddesigned by Louis Casale won the scale event at the '34, '35. and '36 National Model Airplane Competition. The kit had an aluminum fuselage that was assembled from parts using tiny rivets. The wing was built-up from balsa and covered with silkspan. It bore a strong resemblance to one of the Luscombe airplanes such as that featured on the cover of the September, 1946 cover of Model Airplane News. This model was designed for control line only. It was on the market for about two years or so. If you like this, you can order it from the Academy of Model Aeronautics The AMA Model code is 24471 and the plan designator is POND 4086; plans cost about $40 in 2010. Below are two ads for the Casalaire. Putting free-flight (or control-line) planes on skis was a popular practice, especially in places where frozen lakes offered an obstruction-free place to fly. We have also shown an aftermarket kit to convert a model to skis

Check out HREF="http://www.collectair.com/kitannex4.html">this website if you want to see pictures of the actual kit. (scroll down about halfway or use the "Find" function.

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