Pioneers of aeromodelling progress-Captain Cesare Milani

[wonwinglo]

Visitors to a well known hotel in South Kensington,London will see some beautiful models hanging from the ceiling,the models are of aircraft that were flown by Captain Cesare Milinis father whilst in the Italian air force,they represent the Ansaldo SV.4 biplane done in incredible detail for control line flying plus other machines operated at that time.

Cesare Milani took his models to the annual nationals in the UK to show his workmanship,his models were exact replicas of little known aircraft and he pioneered the super scale subject for control line flying,at that time there was very little in the way of reliable radio control equipment and the method of control suited his subject matter.

Although the last time I heard of him he had relinquished model aircraft and was deeply into producing model soldiers with super detailing.

I wonder if the hotel is still going in London where his models were displayed ?

[Guest]

Ansaldo

Started to build the Ansaldo from Milani's plan many years ago.

Got bogged down trying to source turnbuckles - about 100 were needed to tension the working, load bearing, rigging wires.

Project abandoned/shelved after my shed was burgled and the Taplin Twin intended as power plant was, among other things, stolen.

Still have most parts of the uncovered airframe and, hopefully somewhere the plan.

One day I just might resurrect it and convert to R/c - it was a superb "builder's model".

The turnbuckles are still a problem and the cost would probably be prohibitive - they were several shillings each at the time the model was being built and I couldn't justify that sort of expenditure at the time.

Now I could probably make my own, but again I would find it hard to justify the time.

If I do try again, I would most likely try to get away from using the rigging as detailed, but that would, of course detract from the scale effect.

Malcolm

[wonwinglo]

Started to build the Ansaldo from Milani's plan many years ago.Got bogged down trying to source turnbuckles - about 100 were needed to tension the working, load bearing, rigging wires.

Project abandoned/shelved after my shed was burgled and the Taplin Twin intended as power plant was, among other things, stolen.

Still have most parts of the uncovered airframe and, hopefully somewhere the plan.

One day I just might resurrect it and convert to R/c - it was a superb "builder's model".

The turnbuckles are still a problem and the cost would probably be prohibitive - they were several shillings each at the time the model was being built and I couldn't justify that sort of expenditure at the time.

Now I could probably make my own, but again I would find it hard to justify the time.

If I do try again, I would most likely try to get away from using the rigging as detailed, but that would, of course detract from the scale effect.

Malcolm

*** Malcolm that was a brave attempt and one that you could easily resurrect one day,cannot remember who made them I think it could have been Sullivan from the States but I have purchased some of these in recent years,another excellent alternative are Proctor products ( again from the U.S of A ) turnbuckles,this company does things like a Curtiss Jenny kit which like your Ansaldo utilises working rigging wires,but quite frankly to the scale of that model they are not really required and from past experience can be a real problem with climatic changes and structure that will always move,you could easily represent that rigging and it would not detract from the original,Cesare Milani was a perfectionist ( wonder if he is still around ?) and a modeller supreme,did you ever see pictures of his Dornier 17 ? simply magnificent.

I would think that your plan is quite rare now as last time I enquired it was not available,so look after that plan.

Sorry to hear about the fate of your Taplin twin,what a motor that was,as long as you mastered its operation and got the verniers right it would fire up no problems,a better bet these days would be a big fourstroke motor,much less vibration which was not a problem with the control liners but could shake a radio to pieces especially if that big prop was the slightest bit out of balance !

I was delighted to hear that you built that Ansaldo,as it is one model that I always thought looked really scale looking with all of that on-board detail he used to cram on his models.

A workmate knew Captain Milani and said that anyone who visited his hotel in London would be treated to a tour of his lavish workshop,he had a lot of machine tools in a day that they were unheard of,his father flew the Ansaldo whilst in the early Italian air force,I think that he also built a Fiat CR.32 as well ?

If you ever dig the model out I would love to see a picture of even the framework.

[Guest]

Regretfully Cesare`s passing was reported in the modelling press recently. Aged 88,he died at his home on Lake Maggiore, Italy. Ron Moulton wrote an obituary in AMI Dec.`04 edition. R.I.P.

[wonwinglo]

Regretfully Cesare`s passing was reported in the modelling press recently. Aged 88' date='he died at his home on Lake Maggiore, Italy. Ron Moulton wrote an obituary in AMI Dec.`04 edition. R.I.P.[/quote']*** Duncan,thanks for pointing this out,any chance of you just outlining any of his life story here mentioned in that obituary ? I had no idea that he had returned to Italy,Lake Maggiore is where they held a scale model seaplane event some years ago,I think that it was a Schneider re-enactment event,how fascinating that this is the same place ? more than a co-incidence I think.

[Guest]

The Ron Moulton piece on the late Cesare Milani contains brief descriptions of major trophies won by him ( All Britain Rallies at Radlett in three successive years,British Nationals,Knocke Trophy twice,1960 Championship and Bristol Cup 1960 Model Engineer Exhibition) Also mentions that he started with a Mills 1.3 Hawker Typhoon and went on to design 58 scale models including the famous Ansaldo,Fiat CR32 & 42 biplanes , many twin engined models including Dornier Do217. Some were petrol engined, a novelty at that time. The Glendower Hotel in Kensington became the meeting place for visiting national teams and FAI and SMAE committees formulated rules there. Later interests were Militaria and Napoleonic figures where he was revered as much as in aeromodeling. He travelled to events as a judge or competitor with equal panache. He served 13 years in the Italian Air Force and Parachute Regiment. To quote Ron`s words "His passing ends an era, but the standards he established will remain a legacy for ambitious future champions to follow. Our sympathies are extended to his two sons and their families on their great loss" ..... I will simply remember him as Captain Milani, Regia Aeronautica and aeromodeller supreme. ............Barry the lake you are thinking of for model Schneider Trophy models is Lake Varasse . Most of the northern Italian lakes were utilised for full-size seaplane operations ,civil and military, including Lake Garda. This lake has an unusual weather pattern. Almost every day the wind changes direction 180 degrees at about midday. Must be the Alps at the north end the warmer climate at the south (Mediteranean) end. The steep sides of the lake make it a natural wind-tunnel. Probably why Macchi chose that particular lake for world speed record attempts. Today it is infested with wind-surfers,hundreds of thousands of them from all over the world to enjoy this oddity of nature. There is a "Piccolo Coppa Schneider" event held in Italy for, I think, Ultralight floatplanes. Cant remember where, they have a website though. Try Google.

[wonwinglo]

Duncan I am indebted to you for filling in these fascinating details about Captain Milani,I think that it is important to remember our past masters of model building,especially those who excel in this wonderful hobby,you can almost imagine the atmosphere in that hotel in London all of those years ago with the friendly exchange of knowledge just as we are doing today here.

All that I need to do now is research those 58 scale models that he designed,that is quite a lot of detailed scale models and I need to know the types at least.

Thanks for the details of those Schneider races in miniature,I went some years ago to a seaplane event ( Trentham gardens I think was the venue ?) which had several delightful Schneider aircraft made for a particular event.

The only one that I built was the famous Model shop Newcastle rubber powered Supermarine S.6B racer,I still have the kit box lid stapled to my workshop door,however the model would not lift off the water and was eventually converted to Cox Tee dee power but never flown in that configuration.

[Guest]

Pioneers and the exceptional talents should be remembered I agree. Best of luck with your researches. We havent had much on Col. Bowden.......More on the microlight seaplane races in Italy can be found on www.aviogatti.it Mostly in Italian language and the auto-translate just seems to make it more difficult to understand. Some good photos, rules & regulations, course maps, history of the Schneider Trophy etc, worth a look. There is a beautifull all silver "mini-Spitfire" with German civil reg, not on floats in the picture. Looks like it is going to be pretty serious racing if machines like that go as well as they look____lane: lane:---lane:_____lane:_lane:--

[Guest]

A "quickie" for Wonwinglo.

Agree about the fourstroke engine for the SVA4. Milani used a 10cc Anderson Spitfire so I would think my ASP 52 would be OK.

I'll try to find the plan, and if it is still readable (it was a "dye line" type) will try to get a copy made - for posterity of nothing else.

[wonwinglo]

A "quickie" for Wonwinglo.Agree about the fourstroke engine for the SVA4. Milani used a 10cc Anderson Spitfire so I would think my ASP 52 would be OK.

I'll try to find the plan, and if it is still readable (it was a "dye line" type) will try to get a copy made - for posterity of nothing else.

*** Malcolm,I would go for a bigger motor,say a 90 fourstroke I think the 52 would be struggling,I dont know the weight of this model but I would say with all of that heavy detail and the drag of a biplane you will need it.

You will probably find that depending on how the plan has been stored it could have faded a bit,I usually go around the drawing with a pencil,as you say a real builders plan,best of luck !

[wonwinglo]

Pioneers and the exceptional talents should be remembered I agree. Best of luck with your researches. We havent had much on Col. Bowden.......More on the microlight seaplane races in Italy can be found on www.aviogatti.it Mostly in Italian language and the auto-translate just seems to make it more difficult to understand. Some good photos' date=' rules & regulations, course maps, history of the Schneider Trophy etc, worth a look. There is a beautifull all silver "mini-Spitfire" with German civil reg, not on floats in the picture. Looks like it is going to be pretty serious racing if machines like that go as well as they look____lane: lane:---lane:_____lane:_lane:--[/quote']*** Thanks for that link Duncan,when I get a few minutes I will peruse that site,what I usually do with these languages is cut and paste them into one of those excellent on-line translaters,it works really well.

[wonwinglo]

Pioneers and the exceptional talents should be remembered I agree. Best of luck with your researches. We havent had much on Col. Bowden.......More on the microlight seaplane races in Italy can be found on www.aviogatti.it Mostly in Italian language and the auto-translate just seems to make it more difficult to understand. Some good photos' date=' rules & regulations, course maps, history of the Schneider Trophy etc, worth a look. There is a beautifull all silver "mini-Spitfire" with German civil reg, not on floats in the picture. Looks like it is going to be pretty serious racing if machines like that go as well as they look____lane: lane:---lane:_____lane:_lane:--[/quote']*** Duncan,Col Bowden is still being researched,despite his fame there is very little recorded of his many adventures,it will take some piecing together but I will get done in good time,it entails a lot of browsing of hundreds of books etc ,a very pleasant activity but alas time consuming ! the problem with any research is you get off on a tangent and forget what you were looking for in the first place,have you ever done that ?

[Guest]

...."have you ever done that ?" All the time, even more on the web when somebody has kindly added a link. Today`s meander started with model ships,took me to Edinburgh,then Rosyth cruise ship terminal, S.S.Marco Polo was pictured ,found it did Antarctic cruises,some time spent on that which led to flying in that continent,then to Falklands, then inevitably HMS Invincible,which took me back to Rosyth Naval Dockyard . Full circle ? No ! How did I get to the Reno Air Races pages during that trip on the web ? Fact, and I just cant think where or why I deviated ! I love it ! All that information (and images) at our fingertips. I could have cleaned my work-room I suppose...nah, my cyber-trip only took 20 minutes, you`re talking 20 days for the workshop.

[wonwinglo]

That reminds me,it is about time to clear my own workbench which is slowly getting hidden with a combination of wood shavings,balsa dust,tools,templates and plans,just how do they get into that state ? problem is that is when you start loosing things amongst the debris.

The biggest problem with my shed is that I have to store things for modelling as well besides having my machinery saws,sander etc when the weather is right I move the workmate outside and work from there,never found a way to work without dust present,it is a real problem even to the professionals.

[Guest]

*** Malcolm,I would go for a bigger motor,say a 90 fourstroke I think the 52 would be struggling,I dont know the weight of this model but I would say with all of that heavy detail and the drag of a biplane you will need it.You will probably find that depending on how the plan has been stored it could have faded a bit,I usually go around the drawing with a pencil,as you say a real builders plan,best of luck !

I'm not convinced that I need to go as big as a 90. The Anderson Spitfire wasn't, IMO, as powerful as a modern engine, and that had the weight of coil and batteries etc. which would just about balance the weight of modern R/C gear. Coupled with the airframe drag, there was also the drag of the control lines - not inconsiderable. The Taplin was only 8cc and that would have coped OK. After all, I would be looking for scale performance of the type, not that of a Pitts Special. :-)))

The model is only 45" span and my Puppeteer does very well on a cooking 40.

I agree about the plan - it might now be totally unreadable - I bought it in about 1964 - two sheets for 8s 6d plus post. I'll have to dig it out and see. Apart from the fading, the paper used for this type of print wasn't very durable. Many of my old plans of this type have been gone over with a fine draughting pen and copied so as not to lose them.