My last purchase ; Testor Albatros

I remember the plane when I was young. I never liked the Testor's engines. It took very little time to discover the shortcomings when compared to Cox. My dad's friend Matt bought a new Pontiac Firebird in 1969 and was drafted to Vietnam a month later. He was a heli pilot and was hit in the heel with a tracer round. He spent 2 years in the hospital due to the phosphorous. In 1971, he returned to the states, his prosthetic leg was frightening to me as it looked like the Terminator. His mental state was at rock bottom so my dad figured we would all go out and fly this Albatross. What better way to arrive at the field in this 69 Firebird which had probably no more than  1000k miles on it. Somewhere I have this picture of the new Firebird, me squatting down, and this brand new Albatross. Matt was at the handle and he could turn surprisingly well with a missing leg.  The old Albatross had a lifespan of about 4 laps before being recycled into the asphalt. I'm not certain as to what happened, I think it may have been a attempted touch and go. The gear was stripped off the fuse , the cartwheel tore the top wing off. The debris field was probably 1/4 of the circle as there were parts everywhere.

             Certainly a neat plane, I believe Testor's did think outside the box a bit more but in general, Cox also carefully selected interesting designs equally. Call me crazy, but one thing that I can distinctively remember to this very day is the smell of the Testor's fuel. It was unlike any other fuel of the era. A sweet kind of smell somewhat. I've experienced this smell years ago and it immediately had me thinking of Matt.

Administrators,

Could you move my topic to Non Cox model?
The error is that I have too much the name Cox in my head .......

i still have my Testor's Fly-Em green sopwith camel, its followed me through divorces, jobs, moves, hanging in the rafters of the garage.

the red "engine ring" cracked about 30 years ago. I never tried to replace it, as I never got the plane to fly

I agree with Ken, Testors Fuel smelled like nothing else.

That Albatross? Is spectacularly beautiful.

cstatman wrote:i still have my Testor's Fly-Em green sopwith camel, its followed me through divorces, jobs, moves,  hanging in the rafters of the garage.

the red "engine ring" cracked about 30 years ago.   I never tried to replace it, as I never got the plane to fly

I agree with Ken, Testors Fuel smelled like nothing else.

That Albatross? Is spectacularly beautiful.

I have the yellow version Charles with the guy wires like the posters Albatross, but I have a NIB example without them. Does your's have the wires? I thought at first that Latole's was modified but maybe not.



It seems that Testors biplanes did not suffer from distorations like their low wing planes did.

In my opinion, and the picture shows it well, the guy wires are original.

The holes are really molded at the factory and not drilled afterwards.

This plane is so beautiful.

latole wrote:In my opinion, and the picture shows it well, the guy wires are original.

The holes are really molded at the factory and not drilled afterwards.

This plane is so beautiful.

I agree, those are the original wires, and nicely done too. What are your plans for it?

rsv1cox wrote:

latole wrote:In my opinion, and the picture shows it well, the guy wires are original.

The holes are really molded at the factory and not drilled afterwards.

This plane is so beautiful.

I agree, those are the original wires, and nicely done too.  What are your plans for it?  

My plan ; display only.
I never know Testor planes, only Cox.
Are Testor are available in Canada in the '60 ?

mine has holes, no wires.

thinking of taking it down and trying to testors red the cowl, but? its so calm hanging there from the garage ceiling....

In my wall installation, I wanted to imitate the format of the Cox boxes that I built with cardboard or box bottoms.

I especially wanted to limit the accumulation of dust that I could have by exposing the planes horizontally.
And it allows me to admire them well and to easily remove them from the wall; a simple hole in the box and a screw on the wall.

And with these boxes, they are easy to carry safely in my car to show to a friend, a very big Cox collector, living 1:15hours car drive from my home

cstatman wrote:i still have my Testor's Fly-Em green sopwith camel, its followed me through divorces, jobs, moves,  hanging in the rafters of the garage.

the red "engine ring" cracked about 30 years ago.   I never tried to replace it, as I never got the plane to fly

I agree with Ken, Testors Fuel smelled like nothing else.

That Albatross? Is spectacularly beautiful.

I wish to see a picture your green Sopwith Camel.

Good to learn that Testor oil ( smell ) is different from Cox oil .
Would the composition of nitro, castor oil and methanol .... be different or is it something else?

sorry for mediocre pix,  its really hanging from the ceiling, and I am really short.

I did notice, apparently the landing gear was hot-glued on decades ago.

If I was smart, I'd take it down and do one of those full on RSV Bob style renovations... but I got some other projects that need my attention.

cstatman wrote:
I did notice, apparently the landing gear was hot-glued on decades ago.

And cellotape elevator hinges.

Very busy sky !