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A Narrative History
Compiled by Calvin Shumate
(R.I.P.)
A Founding Member of the Chicago
Model Masters
 Beginnings
"Being one of those lone modelers
scattered throughout the city (with none of my friends having an interest
in the hobby of building and flying model airplanes) one could imagine
my surprise in hearing that familiar sound of model airplane engines near
the Museum of Science and Industry.
Following the sound, I came upon an area south of the Museum where there
were about eight or ten modelers flying control line model airplanes. That
was my first encounter with the group of weekend flyers who were destined to
become the Chicago Model Masters.
I
stood in amazement as I watched a model airplane while it looped and
stunted, It was Leroy Cordes flying his “All American Senior” and
“Little Eight Ball” through the Stunt Patterns. It was my first time
seeing stunt flying of any kind being performed with a model airplane. The
following week, I joined the group of flyers. We flew regularly, on weekends
in Jackson Park near 62nd street and the lakefront.
The
local Hobby Shop was “Klins Toy and Hobby Shop," located on 63rd street just
west of Stony Island Avenue. Ed Klin repaired golf clubs and tennis rackets,
and his wife, Millie handled the toy and hobby department.
Note: Millie started “Millie’s Fly-Boys” a group that
encouraged young and poor children to cultivate an interest in model
airplane building. She had “accounts” for each child to allow them to
purchase small models on “time payments.” They would learn to build them and
then go out to learn to fly them. She was later taught to fly by those same
Fly-Boys!
There was a room in the back of the store where we could do last minute
repairs, having building sessions, or even test-running our engines, Almost
all of the flyers had an airplane or two hanging from the ceiling of the
store. There was even a set of old model airplane magazines in the back of
the workroom that belonged to Jim Harris, who was in the Air Force at that
time.
Starting The Club
We continued to fly as a group
until 1957, when we organized the club. Richard Thornton was the first
president and Leroy Cordes was the treasurer. The secretary was a young lady
named Bonita Vista, who we affectionately called “Butch.” There were also
guys like Harvey Shapps, John Boone, Ike Marshall, James Grier, Jim Clanton,
and William Stepp - to name a few. Butch, Millie, and Phyllis Boone were the
female members. We held our meetings in the recreation room of the Pioneer
Co-Op Apartment building where John Boone lived. We often held building
sessions well into the night and then would go flying the next day – without
getting much sleep!
One
of the hardest things to do was to come up with a name for the club. We
talked about it for several meetings and had actually settled on the name,
“Chicago Model Manglers.”
Leroy Cordes tactfully suggested that we modify that to “Chicago Model
Masters” and so it was. From there we had a contest to design the club
emblem. William Stepp came up with the winning design, which is the one we
still use today.
In
1959, we had an influx of new members including Dave Campbell, Thomas
Lightfoot, Merrell Booker, and Whalon Webb. Whalon was also a member of the
“Chicago U-Liners” club. On any given weekend, we could see twenty or
thirty flyers at the field. Remember – we were primarily a control line club
but some of the members flew Free Flight as well but Radio Control was not
really a big deal then.
Having Fun
We also began flying control line combat among ourselves, just for the fun
of it. The Chicago U-Liners flying field was located in the northeast end of
Kickapoo Woods Forest Preserve in Riverdale, Illinois and this is where the
Model Masters currently makes its home.
Not
every club member competed in Model Airplane contests but several of did on
a regular basis. We wend to almost every contest within a 200-mile radius of
Chicago. We went to our first “National” in 1958 but only as spectators. We
hit the contest circuit in 1959 and back then there was a contest nearly
every Sunday – we tried to make them all! We flew mostly combat and Rat
Racing in the beginning. Some club members flew in the speed events and
later on, others flew Stunt (Precision Aerobatics.) We added carrier in the
70’s and I also flew control line scale.
There were frantic building sessions before each contest. When you fly
Combat, you need lots of airplanes. We did a lot of dumb things too – like
doping an airplane in the kitchen with the oven and burners on to make the
dope dry faster. Luckily we didn’t blow ourselves up! If we had a new
engine, we would take the plug out, put the prop on, and hold it out the
window of the car on the way to the contest – in the hope that the
slipstream would turn the prop over and help to break in the engine. (As if
this would actually work!)
Making Our Mark
I remember getting ready to go to our first contest. We had about three or
four carloads of club members and airplanes. Richard Thornton, one of our
top combat flyers was reluctant to go. He had only one airplane, a
“Midwest Half-Fast,” which was considered obsolete. He also said that
his controls lines were in bad shape and that he didn’t have any fuel. We
finally convinced him to go, promising to lend him the lines, fuel and
whatever else he deeded. As luck would have it, Richard won round after
round of combat and went home with the first-place trophy! Not bad for
the club's first outing – and for a guy who didn’t want to go in the first
place.
An
interesting thing to note was that the club was extremely racially diverse.
We had Blacks, Whites, and one Oriental. For the most part, we were treated
as fellow modelers at most contests. There were a few guys from other clubs
(especially some of the downstate people) who didn’t like us -- but
over time we came to be liked and respected as colleagues and friends by
most of the clubs and competitors.
The
National Model Airplane Championships were held at 4 Naval Air Stations;
Glenview, Philadelphia, Kansas and Los Alamitos and rotated between them. In
1962 we attended as competitors for the first time. The “Nats” was a
week-long contest, where all of the Control Line, Free flight, and Radio
Control events were flown. Our late night building sessions went with us on
the road and were held in one of the Navy’s large work hangars. This time
however, we were joined by hundreds of other modelers from all over the
world.
Changes
We continued to grow and flew in Jackson Park until the mid and late 60’s.
Some of the younger members became adults and drifted away from the club to
start families. Some went in the Service, others moved to the South Suburbs,
and still others moved out of state. Ed Klin passed away and Millie Klin had
to close the Hobby Shop.
In
the late 70’s, the hobby was changing and even some of the larger control
Line clubs like the U-Liners were having trouble staying together. The
die-hard contest flyers in the Model Masters continued to fly and compete.
Many of us had moved south so after the U-Liners abandoned their flying
field, we began to fly there and it has remained our home ever since. Having
our own flying field gave a place to hold contests and we began to pick up
new members.
Whalon Webb did a lot to promote the club. He brought Maxie Patillo into the
club and he was instrumental in arranging static displays at the Dixie
Square Shopping Center. He also arranged the outdoor contest in the shopping
center parking lot and he even arranged for flight training and airplanes
for the young people who attended. He was also an event director at the Nats
and contest coordinator for our district. After his passing, a plaque was
named in his honor and is given annually to the club member who does the
most to benefit and promote the club.
The Club Evolves
During this time, club president, Bob Bearden initiated the club picnic and
Fun-Flys, which included the WWI Combat event. This was a big deal and
everyone participated. We added more contests, with even a carrier bash for
carrier flyers only. Over the years, we’ve had many presidents and during
the early 1980’s, we had our first Female president, Eyvett Gibbs.
She stepped into the role and served quite admirably.
In
the mid 80’s, model aviation began to change again. A lot of control line
clubs were getting smaller and the hobby was moving toward Radio Control.
There were not as many contests to attend. The Model Masters were not immune
to those changes and we began to shift our focus to Radio Control.
John Kenzal, Paul Odell, and Harry Morrill were also members of the “RC
Three” club and had been flying Radio Control for quite some time. Maxie
Patillo was also a long time RC enthusiast as well as Joe Griffin. Due to
the changes in the hobby and the influence of our members, the Model Masters
became totally Radio Control oriented and have been so ever since.
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