Running out of piano wire….

… is AWESOME!!!!

I’m rebuilding my electric Flite Streak, and I want to change to a wire 2-wheel setup, but I found I’m out of 1/8 inch piano wire last week.  I was having a crappy day at work yesterday, so at lunch I ran out to the hobby shop.  When I walked through the door, the guy behind the counter gave me a strange look.
“Did you get me email?”  
What email?
“I sent you an email five minutes ago.  We have something you might be interested in.”

I have an agreement with the hobby shop to hold any old engines that come in for me to look at.  Even for a crappy engine I’ll give them a couple of bucks, just to keep them interested.  When he went to the end of the counter and pulled out this box, I knew it would be something I was interested in:




With AMF WEN-MAC on the side of the box, it had to be good stuff in there.  Opening up the box showed this among the packing peanuts:






The nose gear is broken so I’ll have to bend up another, and the engine is seized, but it should cleanup nicely.  The canopy has some strange kind of oxidation though.  I think I’ve seen the such before, but that was a long time ago.  I’ll have to figure out how to clean the canopy and restore the original shape to it.  I know I’ve seen a few restoration threads here on these WEN-MACs, so I’ll have to look them up.  Now, just to find an instruction manual to figure out how to make the rockets work.  The prop is one I’ve never seen on a Wen-Mac before.  It’s a 6x4 prop with a more normal shape to it than the usual props I see with the Wen-Macs.




There were also some miscellaneous items in the box.  I don’t think I have this particular Wen-Mac handle, and the custom wood handle is actually quite nice.  The previous owner was using regular cotton string for the plane instead of dacron.




The P-39 was a nice find, but when the counter guy opened the box, there were a couple of pieces turquoise plastic behind the P-39, and my Spidey Sense started tingling.  After looking at the P-39, I set it aside and started digging through the packing peanuts.  Sure enough, it was what I hoped!








I’ve wanted one of these for years, naturally, but I didn’t want to spend the money they were going for on eBay.  As I was looking through the packing peanuts, I was trying to figure out how many parts I’d have to try to source in eBay to complete this.  After all, a 60 year old plane would be bound to have a few broken/missing parts.  After getting home and emptying out the box, I was amazed.  It’s virtually all there!!!  The only things I can see missing are the hub for the 6x6 prop that holds the spinner on and the starter spring.  My best guess is that the original owner flew it a couple of times and then decided he wanted to use the engine on another plane, so he disassembled the Comanche and put the parts away.

As I was at the shop, I asked the counter guy what he was thinking for the whole box.  He said to make an offer.  Hmmm….  So, do I offer what I’d be willing to pay?  Or make a low offer and let him raise it up to what he’d be willing to take.  I said, “How about $45 for the box?”  He says, “okay.”  

SCORE!!!!!!!

As I was looking at the Comanche, I noticed a crack in the fin.  The counter guy sees it and says, “How about we just call it an even $40?”  “Okay!”  So he yells up to the owner at the front, “We’re saying $40 for the box.”  The shop owner smiles and says “Thank You!”  He was happy to get 40 dollars for a box of junk, and I was happy to take it off his hands.

The Ecstatic Mark