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The Stanzel Model Aircraft Museum opened
in Schulenburg Texas on 28, 1999.
There are over 30 exhibits,
 most
of which are Mono Line and control line
models, and one exhibit devoted entirely to the
two free flight airplanes they produced;
the 1940 Texas Ranger and the 1941
Interceptor.
Both free flights had straight
dihedral, and combination free flight or
G-Line modes.
In 1939, Victor and Joe Stanzel introduced
the world’s first control line model
kit, the Tiger Shark.
Their family-run factory continued
in operation until 1990 in the small
farming community of Schulenburg; building
kits for models and battery-powered toy
airplanes. They held 25 patents, including
a Buck Rogers-style rocket carnival ride
and a pinball machine.
Dale Kirn met Victor and Joe in 1951 and
went to work for them in 1955. For four
years he traveled the US demonstrating Stanzel’s new Mono-Line control system
and airplanes.
When the Stanzel’s decided to
open their museum, they asked Dale to
restore fifteen remaining models that had
been in storage, and to build some new
ones.
The following is Dale’s account
of the project.
Victor Stanzel called me in 1994 and asked
if I would restore the original Tiger
Shark he made in 1938.
The AMA Museum had requested it for
their museum so I went to Texas and
restored it.
It is now in a Plexiglas case in
Muncie, Indiana.
Then Vic asked me if I would restore some
of the planes he and Joe had made in the
40’s and 50’s.
He wanted them for the museum he
was planning.
So, for the next 5 years I restored
14 of these airplanes and built 10 new
ones from his kit plans.
On all of the new planes I used
spruce on the outer perimeters of the wing
and tail parts to minimize warping.
Vic had requested that the covering
on the new and restored planes be done
with silkspan and dope,
but I went a step further.
After the new planes were covered
with silkspan I added silk over the doped
silkspan.
This really extends the life of the
covering.
A spark ignition system was installed on
all the new planes I made ending with the
Sharkadet (1947).
All Stanzel planes with ignition
engines had a removable tray that allowed
the engine and ignition system to be
removed from the fuselage for servicing.
Both of the free flight planes and the
G-Line planes had adjustable elevators and
rudder with a common “tiebar”
arrangement.
In 1943 Victor Stanzel was working at
Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas as a
drafting instructor.
He saw the need for some kind of
training program for the newly recruited
aerial gunners; something better than
merely shooting at a towed target.
His idea was to use a large, engine
powered model airplane, flown on a
100-foot line, that would be commanded to
climb and dive by the pilot from outside
the circle.
After much design work, Vic and brother
Joe built the Target Plane and powered it
with a 1.2 cu. in. OK Twin ignition
engine.
For test flying, a steel-tubing
pylon was made and mounted on top of his
1942 Chevrolet Aero Sedan.
The car battery supplied the
current to operate the electric motor in
the plane that moved the elevators in
flight.
The plane flew like he thought it would,
but was too slow.
He tried to increase the airspeed
by installing two engines on the wing, but
still it was not fast enough, so the
project was dropped.
In 1995 this plane, complete pylon
assembly, flying line and control switch
mechanism was found in one of his
warehouses.
The decision was made to restore
this plane to the original configuration
with the OK Twin.
The airplane was in pretty bad shape, so I
took many photos from several different
views.
Started the project by removing the
two engine nacelles from the wing and
reconstructing the wing.
All the glue joints were very weak,
so I carefully picked away the
crystallized glue and applied epoxy to the
joints.
Most of the plane was made of spruce and
basswood, except for the balsa cowl and
fuselage top.
Some of the balsa had to be
replaced or filled in with
Bondo.
Before applying the
Bondo, I put
.005” 3M metal tape around the area that
was to be filled.
This made sanding safe after the
Bondo dried and would not sand into the
balsa at the feathered edges.
Another important phase of this
restoration was document on all the
electrical and mechanical parts and
assemblies inside and outside the
fuselage.
A full-size drawing of the fuselage
was made, showing the solenoid, switch,
elector motor with gears and pulley
assembly, springs for controlling rudder
offset, control horns and control guide
arm, etc.
The elevator hinges were replaced with
1” wide aircraft linen tape glued in
place with
Ambroid. A .045” music wire
frame was made to hold the forward portion
of the celluloid window where it meets the
back portion of the windshield.
The formed wire was epoxied into
the cockpit at the correct angle, and
celluloid windows were glued in place with Duco cement.
After all the balsa, spruce and basswood
parts were sanded and ready for covering,
two coats of clear nitrate dope were
brushed on.
The original plane was covered with
bamboo paper, but we recovered it with
heavy grade silk for longevity.
Four coats of clear nitrate dope were
brushed on the silk and allowed to dry for
several days before spraying on the yellow
butyrate dope.
On all masking I used 3M masking
tape and always cut fresh edge with a new
#11 blade on one side and used this side
to prevent the colored dope from creeping
under the tape.
This process takes a little longer
to do, but it really works well. Randolph
dope and thinner was used on all the
airplanes I restored.
Repair work on the OK Twin was done while
the dope was drying.
It was missing a few parts, as well
as the dual coil and condenser.
This engine had serial #50 stamped
on the back of the crankcase.
An RC prop was reshaped to simulate
the 18” Rite Pitch prop that was on the
original.
New 5” wheels were installed on
the 3/16 diameter music wire landing gear.
Victor passed away in April 1997.
This museum is a fitting tribute to
the Stanzel brothers who designed and
produced two free flight planes, fifteen
engine-powered control line planes, five
different types of control systems and
numerous battery-powered toy airplanes to
help promote model flying and enjoyment
for the youth of this great country. |
