John Stein built and donated this custom-built control line speed competition model airplane. This unique model plane was built for speed. The pilot held onto a pair of control lines, or in some cases a single wire that was twisted to drive a worm gear to work the elevator mechanism on the plane for altitude control. The operator stood in the center of a circle with his hand in a fixture that rotated, but kept him in the center of the circle against the plane’s centrifugal pull. That pull could be quite high, as these tiny aircraft were capable of speeds between 100 and 200 mph!
This plane was fabricated from aluminum and has about a 15″ wingspan. It was never quite completed, as the control line mechanism and elevator bellcrank were not installed. Unfortunately, nothing is known of the builder, and the engine is in the process of being identified.
