L.M. Cox Manufacturing Promotional Film from 1961, Wally Wins his Wings from the archives of MECOA 

I was an aviation nut from the mid 1950s on always dreaming of becoming an airline pilot. In March of 1962, as a 12 year old, I first flew my Baby Ringmaster control line model for a full tank of fuel without crashing. I conside this to be the beginning of my flying career that continues to this day, at age 74. I LOVED flying control line models and have never had an interest in RC planes. From that day in 1962, I learned to fly and soloed in a Piper J-3 Cub as a high school junior in the fall of 1966. Flying control line models had already taught me how to take off and land as it is the same for control line model as it is for a real airplane with one exception. You always take off in a real plane into the wind but with a tail wind when flying a control line model. Flying control line models led me to a 29 year career as a pilot with United Airlines. I retired in 2015 at the mandatory age of 65. I still fly a corporate jet professionally at 74. I flew contol line models into the late 1990s and still have 5 of them.

Wally’s dad obviously had deep pockets. When I was Wally’s age, 70 years ago, I couldn’t afford even the cheapest model engine. I was given a clapped out Spitzy .045 that I could never get running.

Oh, I forgot we had a lot of fun back then, I will have my 78th birthday in July, and I still build balsa scale flying models and read books. Film is outstanding, thanks 🎉

We were all poor, and none of that stuff was cheap. I worked my butt off to get money for a balsa kit.

I grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Hungary and had my incidental encounter with a COX engine at my age of 15 in '73...that encounter triggered my life-long devotion to COX engines.. fast forward and with the Curtain down, I found access to COX engines on ebay, COX International in Canada and Exmodelengines in the US and started building COX powered RC planes..at 65 today I fly a fleet of balsa RC planes powered by COX engines ranging 010 to 09 in size..what a beautiful hobby! How I wish I had been born in sunny California near the Santa Ana COX factory! When in LA recently, I went to see the old COX plant in the Quonset hut of Poinsettia, and the later facility on East Warner Avenue of Santa Ana..I loved the film and looked at it with yearning eyes from a continent away in Hungary, and decades after the heydays of COX that will never return anymore..

The hobby shop is an important part of the community. NOT ANYMORE:(

I got the PT-19 in 1972 as my 12th birthday present. Best present EVER! I flew the Heck out of it! I'm into R/C aircraft now.

I too was part of this era, I had a PT-19, a JU87 Stuka, and still own a WEN MAC P-38 Lightening! Good time to grow up in.

Mine was a kit-built Carl Goldberg L’il Wizard with the .049 Babe Bee. Used Missile Mist fuel. Graduated to a CG L’il Satan with a Golden Bee. Lived within a couple miles of the MSC. Early ‘70s with the space program booming. What a great time to be alive.

This brings back so many found memories of my parents hobby shop named, Pats Hobby Shop in Wilmington California, back in 1976.

i got the P-40 warhawk with .049 motor for xmas about this time and we flew it many times until it broke and then used the motor for other planes i built from kits. we also had several other cox motors like the .020 and .010. i can still smell the burning fuel.

I remember well,,, smell of Nitromethane and how it froze your fingers on a winter morning, the pain when said cold fingers got flicked by the prop cause you weren't quick enough , the high pitched scream when you got the needle Valve just right, the anger over flat batteries that wouldn`t glow your plug, the smell of PVC solvent cement when you really had to do a serious repair and the shop with the parts wasn`t open on the weekend, the dismay from your Mother when you started the thing up in your bedroom and fumed out the house, the disappointment when you let your previously competent best friend have another go and he totaled the thing, the delight when the know all rich kid with the latest model wrapped his round the telephone lines and stood there waiting for it to run out of fuel while it did the wild thing off the lines and everyone collapsed laughing, the terror when the huge wingspan balsa glider you built and then transplanted the little Cox motor onto took off much better than you thought it would and was last seen climbing away towards the coast and never came back,,,, wouldn`t have missed it all for the world. Thanks Dad,,,

Growing up in Chicago in the 1950’s, I knew of an older kid that flew gas model powered airplanes. Every time he flew them I could tell he enjoyed it. I was too young to fly model airplanes in the 1950’s but the thought never left my mind. In the 1960’s our family moved out to the suburbs. During that time I had another friend that was just as interested in flying model airplanes as I was so we saved our money from cutting lawns and purchased 2 Stuka airplanes. One each. Within minutes of trying to fly them we had crashed them both. Shortly afterwards, my friend’s father bought him a gas model PT19 trainer airplane held together with rubber bands (as depicted in this video). We both learned how to fly the trainer. That led me to balsawood gas model airplanes. Eventually that led me to earning my pilot’s certificate in 1983 in a Cessna 150. My wife an I currently own our own airplane that we have flown all around the United States. It’s a great hobby and I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I wouldn’t trade those early days for anything.

This video has two important elements for me, the Sepulveda Basin "Los Angeles Model Airport" in its early days, and Reginald Denny's Hobby Shop on Hollywood Blvd that I remember from my childhood.

What we have lost. I well-remember my Cox wings! Tore up several Piper Cubs and more props than I can count but I finally did it!

Wow! Wally has a cool dad...a plane and a Corvette both! The LA model airport is still in operation and well attended. But I sure can't imagine anyone allowing the flying of model airplanes among real ones at an airport!

I still remember my 0.49 Baby Bee powered PT-19 control line model. Greetings from Argentina ! 🇦🇷

In '65 my older brother got the PT-19 Trainer for xmas and my dad flew it into my younger brothers head on its maiden flight. Made for a memorable holiday!

I had so many of these when I was younger! I really enjoyed going to the hobby shop with my dad. I really miss those days.

I desperately wanted one of theses when I was a kid.

I had a p-51 in the late '70's..... Flew it in circles on a line and eventually suffered from "spatial disorientation". lol Flew her into the ground, fell down and tossed my cookies............

Now at 67, I stumbled into this video which is Pure Gold. I also lived in LA and would visit the same Hollywood hobby shop when I was much older and had money. Thru out the late 60s early 70s I went thru my fair share of Cox classic U control air planes to learn to fly, the foam wing ChipMonk being the best. In the early 80s Cox come out with a nice line of RC scale planes from Japan which I still have my yellow scale Stinson that I fly about every 5 years. I also had a mountain bike component company in the early 90s called onZa and tried to negotiate a deal with the Cox president to hold flying events during world champion races. We almost signed a deal, when he decided to sell out Esstates model rocket company. The president did honor me with a Gold plated 50th anniversary Pitts Special which I still have somewhere in storage. To me the Cox brand was pure magical excitement.

Another great piece of history by Mecoa, Thanks.

I don't remember those Cox airplanes being that tough. Great film to look back tho.👍

I had the pt19 trainer back in the 70s,I lusted after a black Stucka but couldn't afford it 😢

I was born in 1964 my dad was competitive control line builder and flyer and by the time I was 8 years old in 1972 I got my first PT-19 trainer plane from Cox . I feel in love with the hobby. Although I got into RC and Free-Flite I always came back to control-line flying. But being specific to this video, I still have in new condition 12 of the cox ready-to fly models. P-51 mustang, Stuka Dive bomber, P-40 Warhawk, and many others. I still fly them from time to time. Always reliving my childhood. Oh what fun it was…. 😊

Just Wonderful!!! Was such a great time to be alive. Too bad we can't go back, as the world was such a better place. Today, well their's not much hope for today as well as the future.

I always wanted that Cox trainer, so many people had them and it was so fun hanging out with them and watching them fly. One birthday mom bought me the Testors cosmic wind trainer, and I was finally in! I flew that thing all i could, buying fuel from the hobby shop and having fun. Sadly one afternoon I was flying on our street and the wind caught the plane and sent it straight for me, it hit the ground hard enough to break so badly I couldn't fix it. I bought other gas powered models, usually building my own and hanging out with older neighbors who could afford things like bigger kits and engines. I even knew a neighbor with a couple radio control planes, pretty fancy stuff in the early 70's! Later I got into electric RC off road cars before getting more into motorcycles and becoming a bike mechanic, which I made a career of. Sadly now I hardly see kids even riding bikes any more, something every kid I knew did, just all of us outside goofing around every day. Little wonder kids now are so boring and unadventurous!

I spent countless hours flying these as a boy then countless hours later in life with two sons. My best flying was with a Guillows kit I built. Thanks for sharing this video of Cox. Brings back a lot of memories.

I will be celebrating my 70th birthday in a few weeks , but I still remember the good old days of control line model aviation and the L.M. Cox corporations major contribution to that hobby . I was blessed to be captivated and involved with this hobby having many Cox models and regularly visiting the model aerodrome at Disneyland . My Dad and I had the priveledge of touring the Cox factory in nearby Santa Ana and watching as their models were assembled . So many great memories of Cox gas powered models and slot racing cars as I grew up ! . Thank you L.M.Cox corp . for so much fun and wonderful memories . 😎👍

WOW that brought back memories from my childhood! My older brother learned to fly .049 models with the gorgeous aluminum wing Cox TD-1, and a little later the very aerobatic Cox _Little Stinker_ biplane in 1957. Later when I was old enough, I learned to fly the popular Cox PT-19 trainer. It was such a docile flyer I ended up teaching many of the kids in our Dilworth neighborhood to fly control line. Over the course of a year or two I literally wore out the little .049 engine and also the plane's plastic wheels. Replacement parts were very inexpensive and I kept the PT-19 flying for a long time. Yep, both Cox and Wen Mac models were very popular in the 1950s & 1960s. I also had a Comet brand P-40 in the early 1960s. I've loved aviation all my life and I ended up becoming a Private pilot and enjoyed many hours of flying, as well as flying RC aircraft and more recently quadcopter drones. 😁

Still have my Cox PT-19 trainer from the 1960's, the Cox fuel and accessories! Precious memories of childhood!

What wonderful times, with a small u line plane my friends and I had fun on Saturday and Sunday mornings, today we have everything and we are not happy I'm almost 70 years old now.

I had a Cox Pitts Special that was a ball to fly and a Stuka I got for Christmas, my mom had a fit when I started it in my bedroom because it was snowing and I wanted to make sure it ran!😂

We used to practice by spinning for 3 minutes straight , and not falling over dizzy. All mine were Warbirds. Good times!

These were the best times. Back to the Future is the only way home. Outstanding!

I owned a second-hand Cox 0.49 In the 1960s but would never have had the money for ready to fly model so I built my own from FF model out of Balsawood that aircraft now lives at the top of a tree in a wood somewhere in Kent. I never did find it should you come across it (55 years later!) happy for you to keep it.

I had once upon a time, an old COX motor that suffered a crash i recieved with a bucket of parts included when I bought my 1st used R/C Trainer. One man's spares is another's learning aid.

Thank You my Pop had gotten me the Grasshopper 049 way back! I was then building the Scientific kits after that with the 049 Cox! What memories of the 1960's

Disneyland had the same set up for Cox airplanes, boats and cars. My older brother got to fly the same trainer airplane. It was designed for new flyers, as the wing section was held on with rubber bands. He managed to fly it to fuel exhaustion, but bounced the landing so the wing rubber bands let go and it went to pieces. No harm done and it was put back together for the next show.

What a throwback!. The hobby shop depicted in the film was none other than Reginald Denny's located at the northwest corner of Hollywood Blvd and Van Ness up to about 1963 or 4, If I recall correctly. Later I believe it was sold (still retained the same name) and relocated to the northwest corner of Sunset and Western. I used to frequent the latter location pretty often which also had an enormous multiple lane slot car track with 'events' every weekend. A fascinating hobby shop with all sorts of various scale model aircraft hanging from the ceiling. Who knows how many gallons of HB glow fuel I bought there. They also had an amazing selection of balsa planes doped and solid wing and of course. I bought and asssembled Estes model rockets, had a Cox Shrike tethered high speed speed car, as well as the meyers manx dune buggy, Cox PT-19, Stuka JU87D dive bomber, I pretty much spent just about everything I earned at that hobby shop. I was a paper boy, or 'caller' (i.e. "Bobby Kennedy assassinated - read all about it!) selling newspapers at the Hollywood Ranch Market on Vine Street after school from Junior High. I saved up my dollars ($14/per week + tips back then 1967-1970). I'd earn additional bucks mowing lawns and cashing in pop bottles. I still remember the 12oz soda bottles were 3c while the larger 28 or 32's were a nickel. As an interesting aside: Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 7 PM like clockwork - a chauffeured black Cadillac sedan with tinted windows would pull up and stop in front of the stand with the right rear window cracked open about an inch or so. Frank, my paperstand owner/boss mentioned this as part of my job and he simply said, Just slide a copy of the Variety and the Racing Form into the window, it never changes and he never says anything. He'll hand you a $10 bill and never wants the change (back then, the both of them were about $3 so this was a major tip!). On X-mas it was the same routine, difference being I'd slide in the papers and instead of a $10 it was a crisp $100 bill ! - Frank finally let me in on who it was. It was none other than Howard Hughes. Howard Hughes Headquarters was at 7000 Romaine not more than 2 miles away. Anyhow great film footage and thanks...for the memories!

Learned to fly control line in the early 70's using balsa models. At various model clubs around me we theorised that there were more Cox models in the back cupboards of demoralised would be modellers, that could never get them to fly, than those that then went on to balsa models and enjoyed the experience. Yes, they barely flew and were quite hard to fly. That said, if you COULD fly a Cox model, you could work your way up through the hobby fairly quickly. The PT-19 was one of the better flyers (that I flew), and I got a few flights out of the Spitfire, but if someone came to me (when I was 16) to teach them how to fly their Corsair or Stuka, I usually told them to put it on the wall and get a balsa model, and use the same engine. The Cox engines were Ok once you got them running the right way...

my first ccontrol line model was a cox curtis flyer model, and was so under powered by the small cox engine that it had a hard time staying in the Air, and dad then bough the Cox P40 flyer (because he serviced the real planes during WW2). BUT it was heaven to a ya young boy, andwas such fund i still 70 years later, treasur those moments whithe tears in my eyes. would kill to find of of them again.

My first model airplane was a PT19 Trainer. Put it in the ground a few times, but it came back for more. Great little movie! Thanks for posting.

PT19 was my first model back in the 70,s.

Great times. The best era for toys and hobbies.

I flew and trained on the PT19 as well. That thing was tough!!! Wish they still had stuff like that readily available again..

1966. Got a .049 trainer for Christmas. I was almost 9. My Dad said "I'll show ya". He was excited as he had never had anything like this. He's flying it good and suddenly, it turned in on him. Like a Kamikaze!! He flung his arm in the air, no help, and it hit him in the shin bone. He had a bump on that leg the rest of his life 2017. Right after, I got a .049 Thompson Trophy winner. Corsair. Great times.

As a kid of the 60’s I had three Cox models. A PT17, a P40 and 1/24 scale GT40 slotcar.

Had a Cox powered plastic jeep and a wooden control line plane. It was always a major achievement after a considerable period of time trying to get the motor started. Starting the motor gave the greatest feeling of achievement, the rest was just sauce :) Though I haven’t actually smelled that aroma in 40 years, I can sense it just sitting here, that distinct scent of a Cox motor running. Interesting to think that they actually operate as 2 stroke diesels.

I dont know how we didnt lose fingers with those .049's

mmmmmm...the Good Golden old days...wow...what a flashback....😊👍

Great video that brought back a lot of childhood memories . I think I wrecked 5 Stukas , 5 or 6 PT-19s , 4 or 5 Extra 300s , 4 or 5 Mustangs , 4 or 5 Skyraiders at least 8 P-40s , 4 or 5 Corsairs . But lucky in those days kids could work so I did . I still have a bunch of those engines in a cigar box somewhere .

It's amazing what AMERICAS future looked like back then to what it looks like today.

Wow, can't remember a wonderful time when rap or " new pickup truck" music was not used as a soundtrack ...man, have we moved into digression...

My dad actually has some of the old Cox airplanes in his collection of planes. He does mostly radio controlled planes now and occasionally joins me with the RC cars and boats.

I had a bunch of these growing up mostly ended up into ground but fixing them was just as fun

10th birthday got a cox P-40 with the 0.049…..crashed and rebuilt that thing a dozen times. It was awesome!

I watched a control line disconnect. It must have a been a clean disconnect because the plane flew in ever larger circles free flight and landed some distance on a road, that's why I remember it so well after fifty years.

Holy crap, what a trip down memory lane. Me and my brother had the C-152, piper archer and PT-19 control lune planes. Back when kids still played with spinning props and fuels with no problem. Several finger strikes but that was part if it. Miss those little screamers!

I got my first Cox plane for my 13th birthday. My cousin had one and I had watch him fly it. I remember starting the engine for the first time. Like Wally I crashed mine a couple of times. I had to buy a couple of propellers until I got the hang of it. Friends had given me several old engines and I messed with them trying to get one to run faster. I keep thinking of getting a battery powered remote controlled plane as a new hobby. Pretty sure I'd fall on my backside going around in circles these days.

How could Wally win his wings without a few chopped up fingers to show for the effort? I know I went through a few Band-Aids (and a mortified mother!) before I mastered my Cox PT-19 and its noisy little power plant. Loved the shots of the old Reginald Denny hobby shop in Hollywood. My Dad took me there when I was very little but I do remember it inside and out - just like they showed! Great times. I'm still a very active modeler even in my 60's.

Awsame video I love it

I was born in 1961 when this film was created. My first COX model was a red plastic flying saucer with a .049 engine. I had that thing a few years and never got it to fly. Got the PT-19 as a gift for a birthday and my father helped me and I never got any part of a successful flight with it. It was durable though. I also remember finding the mini stunt biplane on sale and spent my Christmas money on it. It never stood a chance with my inability to fly. I owned literally dozens of COX land vehicles starting with a purple 3 wheeled chopper with big slicks. A dune buggy, Shrike, militay jeep, VW Bug, were the most memorable for me. There was another brand also as I recall that I can't remember the name of. Every chance I could get I would go to the hobby shop in the shopping center to look at what was available and dream about. The store was owned and ran by an older husband and wife. They always were eager to let me have a closer look at items even if I did not have the money to purchase it. I had more respect from them when I was 10 than I do today at 63.

I miss those days. I had a p51 mustang, earned by selling flower seeds and greeting cards in the neighborhood. Later I got a 2-plane kit as a gift, it was a Sopwith Camel and a Tri-Wing Foker. I destroyed all three in short order. I also had the VW Baja bug car and a Top Fuel dragster. I loved tinkering with those engines.

I never imagined that in the 60's that the toys in this era was this advance already even the box or the casings. 😮

Hello, I have yet my vintage Cox Mustang P51 yellow linecontrol. An excellent example of Quality and Beauty. The Best in R/c planes. Awesome video.😃

I had that PT-19 trainer! Little did I know that I would spend 24 years in the Navy.

I was a nut for these as a kid. Spent much of my paper route money on them!

Great stuff. I had a Cox Super Chipmunk in the late 80s. Sadly it bit the dust when the foam wing broke in a crash.

Those were the days. I remember those trips to the hobby shop. I lived in Beaumont, Tx and Don Still owned a hobby shop there. He was very renowned in the model plane world. I still remember the smell of that castor.

Memories.. Had the same trainer here in Oz when I was a kid.

ahh the good old days when boys were boys and men were men

Cox! Many memories 😢

Fond Memories of a Great Time !

Oh man, my first flight was a Cox Spitfire. Went around about 2 times porpoising up and down until it dove nose first into the schoolyard pavement. Hit so hard it bent the cylinder. Also had the big purple Cox trainer and a Cox .049 gas funny car dragster. Cox made a ton of cool things, had an HO scale train and a huge banked oval slot car track, larger scale not small like Tyco.

I had the Cox Piper Cub bush plane that came with wheels, skis and floats among others. Everything had .049 engines. Miss the smell of the exhaust. Had a Sopwith Camel we used to fly in the narrow street in front of our house. If a car came we had to crash land it and start again. Got into Estes model rockets after that. Found a box of plane pieces in a closet that were stained red. Finally found out it was the Comanche pictured here and Dad had crashed it on the ball diamond at the local school, hence the red dirt stains. He never talked about it.

I grew up with Cox products. Dune buggy, P-40, Stuka, Dauntless ect.

I remember in the spring of 1990 going into a pawnshop and saw one of those Cox airplanes from around that time period never flown, in mint condition and still in its original box. I wish I would have bought it; no telling how much it would be worth now!

I use to fly these back in the 60's at our local park. Michigan ✈.049 • • PT 19 was their best airplane. Now I do RC airplanes with the Flying Pilgrims RC Club - Very cool & fun video. 👍

I had 2x4 scraps nailed together with a rope attached at each end. Spun it round and round until I couldn't stand. I wasn't Wally but I enjoyed what I had/built

Back in the mid seventies my neighbor’s dad had a service station and we picked up bits and pieces of anything motor related…he got a couple cox powered trainers and we flew them in the parking lot out back….got the idea that these could run longer with bigger fuel tanks…but the spinning around finally took its toll…later we bolted a 049 to a saw horse and fed it a whole pint of fuel…the little booger ran the whole time..couldn’t hear a damn thing when we were done…we wanted to make mini lawn mowers but that never happened…

I had a cox P51 mustang for Christmas in the 1970s Neither me or my dad could never get the engine to run for more than a few seconds . Presumably there was a fault with it . I just remember being really disappointed with it ,it did look great though.

How cool is this? Wow. You had to be there. I still have cox engines.

Nice memory, Randy

Had a small fleet of 1/2A powered CL models, including a Cox Stuka, PT-19, and F-8 Crusader.

Back when kids heads weren’t buried in a phone. Must have been a wonderful time ( within reason obviously)

enjoyed thx!

In the fifties I built model balsa kits from the likes Mercury, Comet and Keil Kraft, which were rubber powered. My later models were free flight duration type, mostly with diesels. My biggest use of Cox Bees was fifty years later in the mid 2000s, flying R/C class A Texaco. Lots of fiddling getting that engine to run as long as possible on the built in tank. Whoever stays up the longest wins.

We've come a long way.... 🙂 But that was back when America was great, I guess. 😞 At our local model airport, the guys bring actual turbojets, RC, the works. But you all know that, I suppose.

How many remember the Cox slot cars of the 1960"s.?...........that was a big hobby too back then!

Had a P40 Warhawk, thank goodness for rubber bands to keep it together. Even figured out how to fit my sister’s troll doll into the cockpit to pilot it.

Those were the days when you could go to a hobby store and they spoke English and wore a tie.

Dad turns up in. Corvette and gives you a new model!!?? Err-Not in my day.Still got my Cox Golden Bee from the seventies.👍

Crashed pretty much every one of the Cox Planes we had. Got too Dizzy after about 10 circuits. Tried longer lines, but that led to slack, and more crashes... The PT-19, which is supposed to a Crashable Trainer, was splintered on its first Crash, needing a new Fuselage and Wing... Many fingers were sliced up by those props, and that Glow Fuel really stung when it got in them

Must have been nice to be rich in the 60s. My dad worked two jobs and Mom cleaned houses. Bought my own Cox airplane with money earned by delivery papers, around "67" when I was 12. It was a P-40, loved it til I crashed it and broke the gas tank. Broke my heart too

This hit buttons. I have lump in throat.

1950's and I wanted to fly! $8 for a Cox P40 model airplane (plus fuel & battery) was almost unreachable. My main source of income was 2-cent pop bottle returns. A gift from a "rich Aunt" let me realize my dream. I carefully "broke in" that little .049 hornet. (The whine was nothing like the soundtrack in the movie.) Like Wally, I made my first (but only) flight -- 3/4 of a lap, ending with an upwind "wing-over." Repair parts would be another $8, so my flying career came to a sad end. No more over-weight, under-powered plastic models for me... I picked up the control handle, much later with a .15 Enya-powered Ringmaster Jr. with much greater success. Ah, memories...

SO ... How many of these did I crash ?..... Let me count ............................................ I'm still counting (lol).

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