Paul’s Sopwith Pup

I often visited Bud Nosen in Two Harbors, Minnesota during the formative years of his company. On one such trip he gave me a Pup kit. I could hardly wait to get at it, but when I had it home I was disappointed in the quality of the kit’s balsa, and the lack of detail on the plane.

Paul Butcher loved it, so I passed it on to him. He built it in a week or so, installed an early Quadra which began life in a chain saw, and was off and flying. It flew well right from the start. Paul flew that bird for a dozen years, gaining weight with every rebuild. It may still exist in a barn or garage somewhere in Ontario, or Michigan. The crashes were usually attributed to stripped servo gears, radio interference, or one dead cell. Standard servos were geared for models with 60s in them.

Oh…  and Snoopy’s flying disk that makes a brief appearance at 1:56 … The “disco volante” with Snoopy on board was mine, and the easiest plane I ever flew, yet Jim Elgie was unable to handle it! It could hang on the prop, hover, and sink slowly to the ground. Another version of the model had a cartoon version of Mary’s Schnauzer Fritz in the pilot’s seat!

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