Silvaire and John,

Thank you for your responses and the information--very interesting!


Trisquire,


You must have owned the Lil Stinker, made from '58-'64. That's a really neat little airplane, especially with the little .020.

Originally Posted by kpriddle

Silvaire and John,

Thank you for your responses and the information--very interesting!


Trisquire,


You must have owned the Lil Stinker, made from '58-'64. That's a really neat little airplane, especially with the little .020.

You're welcome KP!

BTW, Lil Stinker, issued as you said, but was molded red/white, with inverted engine, endorsed by Betty Skelton. Next came lime green version, "Mini Stunt" '69-'70, next came all red version, "Red Baron" for about a year, had to change name because of 'Peanuts' comic publishers owned copyright. Name changed to "Red Knight". Soon after came the Art Scholl version, then lastly the gold edition. Sorry, probably more than anyone ever wanted to know!!
I flew the lime green model a lot, received as a gift 1969. It flew circles just fine. But was it capable of actual stunts?? No way! Still, was a really cool model.

John

Thank you for correcting me! I checked The Encyclopedia and found that the "Little Stinker" was made with "red fuselage, white wings; white fuselage, red wings; red fuselage, red wings". Unless Mr. Hepperle made a mistake (according to my information, I am in agreement that he did), the easiest way to tell would be the engine position. Only the Li'l Stinker's engine was inverted.

KP

P.S. Neat story! It wasn't capable of stunts? Really?!!

I found an ad in my August 1972 AAM:

Trisquire, thanks for sharing. Here's another neat thing--a reference to the Cox Pitts:

Because I saw this plane as one that would be far more important to a collector, I decided to list is. What has ended up happening...BLOWS MY MIND!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150848631849...#ht_586wt_1185

Likely bought by someone who lives in a Trailer. Thinking that this is gonna be their Mona Lisa find in the local dumpster.
What was utter Crap when new is now perceived as "valuable"
Wayy too evocative a vignette of the state of our rapidly failing "civilisation".
Depressing as hell actually.

Bare,

I think we have all heard it before...

KP

Originally Posted by Bare

Likely bought by someone who lives in a Trailer. Thinking that this is gonna be their Mona Lisa find in the local dumpster.
What was utter Crap when new is now perceived as "valuable"
Wayy too evocative a vignette of the state of our rapidly failing "civilisation".
Depressing as hell actually.

...or a very nice looking model airplane that reminds a man of his childhood youth, when he ran the model with his father and enjoyed simpler times.

KP, I'm not surprised at all. If someone is a serious collector, this is what has to be done to own a nice plastic RTF. It's the same with collecting anything; coins, stamps, antique books, etc.

You made an excellent investment!!

John

Originally Posted by kpriddle

Because I saw this plane as one that would be far more important to a collector, I decided to list is. What has ended up happening...BLOWS MY MIND!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150848631849...#ht_586wt_1185

KP, would like to know if/when you actually get paid: buyer is a new account. Good luck with it, but seems a lot of these over-the-top auctions lately are won by zero feedback 'bidders'. 13 year olds that think goosing an auction is some kind of video game?

However, it does look like you did have some legitimate bidders with a remarkable interest in the airplane.

John,

I would also say that it ended up being a great investment! It will fund my other hobby items/gear.

Ahrma,

I just returned from a trip today and was nervous about the buyer's state of mind after my unresponsiveness after so many days. Unfortunately, I haven't received any payment or message from the winner. I've send him a message and am awaiting a response. Hopefully, this person is just unfamiliar with the ways of the site.

KP

I had a green one, wish I still did..

I had the Red Baron, circa 1970-71. As John said, it flew pretty well, but was definitely not a stunter. When the engine quit, it had the L/D of a piano. After a couple dozen end-over-end landings, the plastic bits were pretty much done. Still have the .020 40 years later, and it's been on a bunch of free-flight models since and still runs great.

Offer the 'vendor' $20 ... Likely ALL that it's actually worth.
Likely he's real antsy by now, as the pad rental is past due.
Spray bomb the thing to any color you desire.