Stolen Sterling 63' model,PICTURES

[norgale]

Met a guy today who made a Sterling 63' back in 1954 or 55. Not too long after that the model was stolen from his home and never recovered.
It was a standard 63' with twin electric motors but wasn't R/C. He had built furniture for inside the cabin and has his name, Roger Salmons, written inside under the cabin.
This of course is a real long shot but if anyone see's Roger's 63' let me know. Roger doesn't have a computer but he did give me his telephone number. He would just like to have the boat back.
Thanks. Pete M

[Kmot]

Interesting. What if someone has it? What if it has changed hands several times over the years, each successor owner buying the boat in what they thought was a legitimate sale? What if it was worth $1000 today, would Roger buy his boat back? Or try to claim it is his without paying for it?

This presents an interesting case. I wonder what the legal system would say?

[drakonis]

stolen property is stolen property no matter who has it. if its acctually found somebodys unfortunately outa luck. i really doubt it would be found after this amount of time. but you never know. stranger things have happened.

[Mike McCrea]

Interesting situation...Im sure Roger after all these years would offer fair market value to the current owner if it did show up. How could anyone prove it was stolen way back then..is there a police report..did the homeowners insurance cover it? It would be very cool to see Roger reunited with his old friend.

[toesup]

Anything is possible... i guess..
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/382564_oldtruck10.html

[charlie eaton]

In most states whether bought in good faith or not you could be subject to a charge of receiving stolen property. Unlikely but possible.

[tugs]

Anything is possible... i guess..
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/382564_oldtruck10.html
Only 22 years?

Check this out:
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/mar/21/local/me-mustang21

38 years!

Do I hear 40? Going once.....

[norgale]

Glad to see some of you are thinking about this theft. I saw Roger again today at the flea market where we met yesterday. I sell my flags there and talked some more about the 63'Motor Yacht. He says he built it according to the instructions and painted it white as were the real ones. It took him 7 months to build. He lived in the Chicago area at the time and was moving things from one house to another and the boat among other things was stolen while he was at the first house getting some more stuff to move to the second house. The boat was built in 1955 but was stolen in 1958. His name was inside on the hull but you have to remove the cabin to see it.
Since Roger doesn't have a computer he will go to a friends home and try to view this thread. He will be sending me a picture of himself holding the model and I will post it here and on the 63' owners thread. Perhaps he will have something helpful to add to this thread too. As for getting it back if it's ever found,Roger seems to be a decent fair man and I would think that he could be put in touch with the present owner and let them work out the details on their own. If we happened to find the boat for him I think that would be as far as we could go with the deal.
In any case Roger would very much like to have the boat back so lets all keep looking whenever we have a chance. Thanks very much to all of you. Pete
Edit Dec 22,08
Got the pics of Roger and his Sterling 63' motor yacht today. His neighbor Jud, was good enough to scan them and forward them to me tonight so I'm posting them now. The model is standard issue and looks like a thousand others but you just may see one with Rogers name in it. If you do please let me know. Thanks to a great buch of guys and gals. pete

Since Roger has proved that he owned a Sterling 63' and lost it through no fault of his own I think it's fitting that I add his name to the list of 63' owners. Hope there is no objection to this. Pete

[norgale]

Need to get this back up on top so you will see the pics of Rogers 63'. Pete

[Aerominded]

Is Roger still a builder? Perhaps he could build a replica or restore an ebay boat? Of course, it would be neat to get the original back...

Neat pictures!

[norgale]

yes he is a builder although we only discussed the 63 for the most part. I think he would like another 63 to restore but he doesn't have a computer so it's difficult for him to find anything to try and buy. Don't know what to do about that.
Did you notice that the boat he built has no r/c equipment inside it? He just sort of set the rudder for a circle and let it go in the water. Not much R/C stuff available for a model back in '55. Interesting. That didn't stop people from building and sailing their models. I remember the pond sailers back in my home town in 1953 or so. They were really nice boats and no R/C at all. Pete

[jeepers1940]

What a shame about his loss, Pete. It appears that he did a really nice job on his model.
Yes, as we've noted elsewhere, what r/c equipment was available back then was bulky, heavy and not necessarily reliable. Just getting all the batteries needed could be a bit expensive then.
In the latter 1950s, my free runner airboat powered by a Cub .049A engine on a pylon just ran in large circles until it ran up on the pond edge (or hit something). Usually, no other people were around to get hurt.

[Aerominded]

I suppose a lot of these boats were set up as teather boats in the 1950's! :) Freesail vane type sailing yachts seem to be the most active fleets in my club... I like to 'drive' too much for that! ;)

[norgale]

I guess people have always built model boats and found some way to run them in the water. What we have today would boggle some of the guy's minds back then. Heck it boggles my mind today sometimes. Ha! When I was a kid I never even dreamed about the stuff we have today. Didn't dream about TV or a ball point pen either but suddenly there they were. Ha!
I'v been using a computer for several years now and I'm still absolutly amazed when I can converse with somebody in say Australia or South Africa or California almost instantly while just sitting here in my little trailer in Bonita Springs and at practically no charge at all. Now that's amazing to me. Ha! Pete

[Mike McCrea]

I sure hope Roger gets his model back..that would be a cool news story. I will keep my eyes peeled at the antique shops I hit. You never know.

[Kmot]

How old is Roger now?

[norgale]

I'm not positive but he seems to be about the same age as me and that's 66. I think that would be pretty close. Pete

[norgale]

Thanks much Mike. I know Roger will appreciate that a lot. Pete

[R/C_guy]

That Sterling kit sold for about $18 back in the 50's. Why didn't your friend just build another 63. The kit was available all through the 60's 70's & 80's from numerous
hobbyshops..local and mailorder.

[Jerome Morris]

Pete, I see a lot of models that need some help here in the northeast. I'll tuck this one in the 'ol brain and keep my eye open.
There's a very good chance it's still out there. Most folks don't throw model away.

[norgale]

R/C guy I really don't know why he didn't just get another one. Maybe he was too disappointed to go through all that building again. He did tell me he paid about $35 for the kit at the time but I don't know what that included. Personally I'm not interested in building the same model twice. Once I build one that's it. Maybe Roger felt the same way.
Hi Jerome. Thanks for the offer and yes you never know what you'll come across. Models have a way of finding homes no matter what so unless Rogers model was destroyed somehow it's probably still around somewhere and maybe not too far from where it was stolen. I know Roger will appreciate your efforts on his behalf. Pete

[AndyKunz]

You know if he were my friend, I'd probably find a kit on ebay or pennvalleyhobbycenter.com (they have LOTS of NIB oldies and remakes) and build it for him. Might not be the same thing, but it would be appreciated.

Andy

[Jerome Morris]

There Ya go Pete! As Andy say's, you could build him another, right after you finish all your other projects!

[norgale]

Yaaaa it would be appreciated. However building the boat is most of the fun and besides I already built one. Don't want to build another. Pete

[graphixman]

There is one on EBAY right now...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=310111089442

[norgale]

Wrong boat Graphixman. That's a Catalina. Not a very good one either. Pete

[graphixman]

Sorry Pete, just trying to keep an eye out. Having not seen one before and with 50 years gone by, it could look like anything.

Fred

[norgale]

It seems as though Roger has been thinking about this 63 all this time and has decided to make another one. He called me a few weeks ago and we arranged for him to purchase a set of the plans I have for the 63 including the patterns. He has the plans now and has started with some of the patterns and will continue the project when he gets back home for the summer. Roger will be sending me pictures of his build as he goes along and since he doesn't have a computer I will post them for him. Hope that's ok with everybody.
I have shipped two more sets of plans this week so pretty soon we will have at least three more new 63' motor yachts to add to the roster. Stay tuned for the rest of the news as it comes in. Pete

[mxz70017]

I feel left out Pete. :( I can build things from prints an sheets!!I need a beautiful old boat In my fleet!!!lol.. :D

[P_J_Glor]

I feel left out Pete. :( I can build things from prints an sheets!!I need a beautiful old boat In my fleet!!!lol.. :D
Here you go...

http://cgi.ebay.com/Chris-Craft-63-Motoryacht-Plan-Pattern-set_W0QQitemZ280348494542QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio_ Control_Vehicles?hash=item4146128ace&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A2103%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

Pete G.

[jeepers1940]

Pete, I'm a bit confused. (what else is new?) In your first post, you mention twin motors powering Roger's model. Then, in the picture of the interior of the model, we see a single green label Pittman motor providing the power. Can we assume that the single Pittman motor and a single screw and rudder might be the power configuration of the model if found today?
It appears that he did a really nice job on his model; a real shame about the loss of it. As good a job as Roger did on it, I suspect that the model is still in existence somewhere today.
Bill

[norgale]

Jeepers,you may assume that I screwed up. Obviously it's a single screw for power. I must have misunderstood what Roger told me. Pete