I left the house early yesterday and drove roughly 120 miles south to Taft, California. Man, there's NOTHIN' to Taft but bare dirt and scrub brush..... oh, and OIL WELLS! The town of Taft thrives on the subterranean pools of black goo. There's not much else to attract folks here unless maybe you appreciate the study of these:
or you like ATV and dirt bike follies. Oh.. and model airplane flying too. No one here to holler about the noise or the incursion of someone chasing their vagrant sky craft across private properties. Here's a photo of the flying site I was at for most of the day.
I went there because one of the chapters of SAM (Society of Antique Models) was having a two-day contest there and I happen to be a fan of the pre-WWII model designs that they still build and fly. Many model designs of that era were very "artistic" and many were very straightforward and simplistic. It's tough to characterize the essence of this little corner of model aviation so I won't try here. But here's a couple of examples. The 9ft wingspan orange plane is a Dallaire Sportster - the likes of which I'm trying to build.
This one here, called the Flamingo, is another example of the "art deco" sorta influence that permeated model building of the 30s. This one flies nice, has a genuine 30s vintage, ignition engine and is a true sight to behold as it soars slowly and majestically overhead.
OK, so there's GOTTA be some Studebaker content here. So look close at what I spotted, half-hidden, as I got close to Taft! You can't tell from this angle, but there were TWO of them trying to hide there. The place was locked up or I'd have stopped to investigate.
Even at the meet, there was another unexpected and intriguing tidbit of Studebaker history in the form of this fella you see flying his entry here:
His name is Don (I'll look at my notes later to give his last name) and he overheard my conversation with another fella about my love for Studebakers. He offered up that amongst the various auto/aviation manufacturers he'd worked for was McCullogh in Burbank along about 1950.
He was well aware of Studebaker's use of the blowers on the 57-58 Stude products, but what was really intriguing was his job of test driver for McCullough's foray into transmissions at the time. Don wasn't aware of whether or not what he test drove was simply something that McCullough had dreamed up or if it had official backing from Studebaker, but it sure sounds interesting!
What it was was a variable speed transmission in a Champion car. He said basically it consisted of adjustable pulleys (like are used in so many lawn tractors) - two large aluminum pulleys with hard chrome facing. Dan said they retained the 3-spd tranny as a means of effecting reverse, but otherwise it was left in 3rd gear. It also used a clutch, but once underway, power/rpms were controlled by a twist handle (like motorcycle controls) on the end of the shift lever. Pretty neat!
Don said, as a test driver, he simply drove it and followed instructions so that data and performance could be observed and calculated. He had no idea what the final conclusions were or why they eventually abandoned the concept. But in his estimation, it was a viable concept.
Another fella there, got to tellin' me about a '59 Lark VI he owned about 1962 or so. He allowed as how when a darned Volkswagen passed him going up a hill outta Los Angeles, it was time to buy something else.[xx(]
Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle
[img] http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/906179/2006/
or you like ATV and dirt bike follies. Oh.. and model airplane flying too. No one here to holler about the noise or the incursion of someone chasing their vagrant sky craft across private properties. Here's a photo of the flying site I was at for most of the day.
I went there because one of the chapters of SAM (Society of Antique Models) was having a two-day contest there and I happen to be a fan of the pre-WWII model designs that they still build and fly. Many model designs of that era were very "artistic" and many were very straightforward and simplistic. It's tough to characterize the essence of this little corner of model aviation so I won't try here. But here's a couple of examples. The 9ft wingspan orange plane is a Dallaire Sportster - the likes of which I'm trying to build.
This one here, called the Flamingo, is another example of the "art deco" sorta influence that permeated model building of the 30s. This one flies nice, has a genuine 30s vintage, ignition engine and is a true sight to behold as it soars slowly and majestically overhead.
OK, so there's GOTTA be some Studebaker content here. So look close at what I spotted, half-hidden, as I got close to Taft! You can't tell from this angle, but there were TWO of them trying to hide there. The place was locked up or I'd have stopped to investigate.
Even at the meet, there was another unexpected and intriguing tidbit of Studebaker history in the form of this fella you see flying his entry here:
His name is Don (I'll look at my notes later to give his last name) and he overheard my conversation with another fella about my love for Studebakers. He offered up that amongst the various auto/aviation manufacturers he'd worked for was McCullogh in Burbank along about 1950.
He was well aware of Studebaker's use of the blowers on the 57-58 Stude products, but what was really intriguing was his job of test driver for McCullough's foray into transmissions at the time. Don wasn't aware of whether or not what he test drove was simply something that McCullough had dreamed up or if it had official backing from Studebaker, but it sure sounds interesting!
What it was was a variable speed transmission in a Champion car. He said basically it consisted of adjustable pulleys (like are used in so many lawn tractors) - two large aluminum pulleys with hard chrome facing. Dan said they retained the 3-spd tranny as a means of effecting reverse, but otherwise it was left in 3rd gear. It also used a clutch, but once underway, power/rpms were controlled by a twist handle (like motorcycle controls) on the end of the shift lever. Pretty neat!
Don said, as a test driver, he simply drove it and followed instructions so that data and performance could be observed and calculated. He had no idea what the final conclusions were or why they eventually abandoned the concept. But in his estimation, it was a viable concept.
Another fella there, got to tellin' me about a '59 Lark VI he owned about 1962 or so. He allowed as how when a darned Volkswagen passed him going up a hill outta Los Angeles, it was time to buy something else.[xx(]
Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle
[img] http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/906179/2006/
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