For the benefit of all the aeromodeling community, I have been
collecting images of vintage airplane, helicopter, and boat kits which have appeared
on eBay and
WorthPoint. Over time, it has been a very
good source of photos of it boxes and labels, plans, and all the included kit components
- balsa, plywood, hardwood, music wire, canopies, and hardware. Hyperlinks to external
websites is kept to a minimum because pages disappear frequently. Copyrights, if
any, are hereby acknowledged.
This photo of the AAMCo Andrews MiniMaster appeared in the May
1971 issue of American Aircraft Modeler coverage of the Toledo show.
When I was a teenager living in
Holly Hill Harbor,
Maryland, a man down the road from me was an avid R/C modeler and had a carport
chock full of airplanes, engines, radio systems, and assorted modeling tools and
accessories. I've mentioned him before; I bought my 3-channel
OS Digitron DP-3
radio system from him for a cool $100 (earned from my paper route and cutting grass).
He was kind enough to give my flying buddy, Jerry Flynn, and me a couple pieces
of his excess inventory. A broken but repairable Andrews MiniMaster was handed to
me one day, which was a real thrill for me in the day. I fixed what needed fixing
and installed my 3-channel radio in it. Although the MiniMaster is a full house
(4-channel) ship, I fixed the rudder in place and hooked up the ailerons for flying.
After scraping together enough money for an OS .20 R/C engine, I taxied it all over
the road in front of my parents' house for as long as the neighbors would tolerate
the noise - and the RF interference on TV channel 5. After finally talking my father
into driving me to the Prince Georges Radio Control Club (PGRC) flying field with
it, nobody there was willing to do a test flight for me because 1) it was considered
too underpowered, and 2) they didn't trust the radio system. Shortly thereafter
I bought an AAMCo Andrews H−Ray and using
the same engine and radio, managed to teach myself to fly with.
The photos presented here were downloaded from multiple MiniMaster kits listed
on eBay. They typically sell in the $100 to $175 price range, which is very comparable
to what a new kit of similar size and complexity would sell for today. Alas, I do
not have one of these MiniMaster kits in my meager collection of model airplane
paraphernalia I had as a kid.
