Model Airplane News
February, 1950


Model Airplane News Cover for February, 1950

Model Airplane News Cover for February, 1950
Click to Enlarge

The February, 1950 issue shows a small boy dressed in a cowboy suit playing with a model airplane. At first sight, it is a nostalgic look at childhood. However, a closer inspection shows that the airplane is powered by the massive finger-chopping Morton M-5 model radial engine. Although parents were a lot less "safety conscious" back then, if you gave a nine year-old a Morton you may as well have given him a chainsaw. The cover is highly improbable.

About the Engine

The Morton M-5 was originally manufactured in the 1940s and was the first miniature radial engine made for model airplanes. They cost about $40 back then. $40 then has the same purchasing power as $600 today. If you want a Morton, be prepared to pay at least a four figure sum in the collectibles market.

 Morton M5 five cylinder model airplane engine     Morton M5 five cylinder model airplane engine     Morton M5 five cylinder model airplane engine

The Morton M-5
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The engine was designed by Glen Morton of Morton Aviation and was based on the full-size LeBlond radial aircraft engine made in 1928.

About the Model Airplane

The model of the WACO UPF-7 was made by the Burgess Battery Company in the years immediately after World War II. It was specifically designed to use the M-5 engine.

 Burgess Battery Co. WCO UPF-7 Model Airplane ad

WACO UPF-7
...made for the M-5
Click to Enlarge


If you are interested in building this model, you can order it from the Academy of Model Aeronautics The AMA Model code is 23376 and the plan designator is POND 31F3; plans cost about $30 in 2010.

About the Full-sized Plane:

The Waco UPF-7 is an unusual airplane,an obsolete design that became quite popular. In the early 1930s, biplane trainerswere supplanted by new low-powered monoplanes in flying schools and in private aviation. The Army and Navy used biplane trainers into the mid-1930s. WACO introduced the UPF open cockpit biplane in 1937 and captured a small market niche of nostalgia flyers. The UPF was made between 1937 and 1942 and sold about 600 copies, more than any single Waco model that preceded it.

WACO UPF-7 Open Cockpit Biplane     WACO UPF-7 Open Cockpit Biplane

WACO UPF-7 Open Cockpit Biplane
Click to Enlarge

Here is a video that features a restored UPF-7:


Click here to learn more about the WACO UPF-7.

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