Building and Flying the 1940 Scientific Model Company Whippet. A Vintage Snappy Rubber Powered Model

This video reviews a build and test flight for a model available in 1940 produced by the Scientific Model Company, Newark, NJ. Model building was quite popular at the time and 100's of kits and designs were for sale at local hobby and hardware stores. This design has proven to be a great flyer and looks great in the air with the swept wing and twin rudders. Learn more about the hobby and free flight models at the following websites:
flyingacesclub....
www.freeflight...
www.modelaircr...

[@erickvillano2069]

Looks like a real beauty, John! I love those old designs, they all have such character. Very informative and enjoyable video.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Thanks Erick. This ship is a good flyer! Thanks for watching.

[@glennreach6930]

Well you might as well box her up and send her to me, because it looks like its going to fly away anyways! Too cool for school! I love these old designs.🥸

[@Watchingthevideos99]

HA HA. Thanks Glenn. Yea, I think I'll at least pack this away and save for Geneseo in July.

[@diyfireking]

Bravo as usual👍👍

[@MikeDoughty-gv4co]

Very nice build. Looks like it flew right off the board.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Thank you Mike. Yes, pretty much. Just the slightest amount of right thrust. Really enjoy how this one flies.

[@JefferyHall-ct2tr]

Hi John! Interesting model! Scientific kind of liked those twin tailed designs around 1939. The Miss World's Fair from them was a twin tail, also. The Whippet seems like it is a pretty good flyer! Thanks for sharing!

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Hi Jeffery. Thanks for your comment. Yes, love those old Scientific designs! I have the full-size Miss World's Fair but have flown it in quite a few years. Would love to get it out again as if flew like a huge ROG. I'm discovering may other cool designs by Scientific. Really happy with the Whippet. A nice size model for our current flying field. As always, thanks for watching.

[@paulnelson5314]

Very nice John. Best not forget the dt or she might disappear

[@Watchingthevideos99]

yes indeed Paul. On one of my trimming flights I launched into life and forget the DT. Whoa. Luckily, it came down.

[@ericspecht8860]

I love the fact you include the construction videos. This one has me curious though. In one shot, the wing spar is glued down to rectangular ribs that appear to be glued to the LE and TE. In the very next shot, those rectangular ribs are fully formed. Did you sand them to shape, cut them with a template, or is there other magic afoot? I got the plan from Outerzone the other day and would really like to attempt to build one.

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Hi Eric. I highly recommend you build a Whippet! It's a great flying model. Your observations are spot on. I didn't have rib templates, so I scaled the rib heights using the front view on the plan. So, the rectangles were cut to proper height and the airfoil sanded in using the shape shown on the side view. It's the best I could do without rib patterns. As always, thanks for watching. Now build a Whippet!

[@johnmajane3731]

Very nice, it is great to see the old planes flying. Where did you get the timer?

[@Watchingthevideos99]

The visco dampers are getting harder and harder to find. This one is old stock from FAI Model Supply. You can find them on Amazon, but you'll need to add the arm piece. NFFS had an article on how to make the mods. Thanks for watching.

[@johnmajane3731]

@@Watchingthevideos99 thanks for the information

[@Watchingthevideos99]

John, you're welcome. There's a small outfit producing a visco timer but I can't recall the name! Sorry, it's tough getting old. 😂

[@johnmajane3731]

@@Watchingthevideos99 I am with you on that.

[@michaelmcgovern8110]

Amazing! Thanks for the inspiration. Is the dethermalizer triggered by time or unwinding rubber band or elves or what?

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Thanks for your comment Michael. The DT is triggered by a viscoelastic damper you can see in a couple photos. There's a fine coil spring that pulls on the damper that allows the line to release from the damper. A rubber band pulls the tail up and the string has a glass bead that stops the movement with the tail in the full DT position. Thanks for watching my video!

[@michaelmcgovern8110]

@@Watchingthevideos99 MANY thanks foe your helpful reply! I've wondered about rigging up something similar where a pin slides out, pulled/released as the rubber band unwinds and relaxes? I have NO idea if that makes sense; maybe the band holds tension on a spring to the pin? I'm trying to keep this simple and cheap. Suggestions?

[@Watchingthevideos99]

Michael, there were a series of Sterling kits that used something like that to drop bombs, lower landing gear, drop pamphlets etc. I guess that could work, but with my Whippet, I'm trying to let the model glide after the power runs down. So, you'd have to keep that in mind. If you want to maximize your duration, you'd want to let your model glide after the power run. But I certainly like your creative thinking!

[@michaelmcgovern8110]

@@Watchingthevideos99 Thanks for the lead that's exACTly what I'd hoped for!!!