Plane Crazy

I recently discovered that every issue of the old 'Meccano Magazine' is currently available online, with every page lovingly scanned into the database.  Naturally, I've ended up spending a lot of time browsing these magazines which, at the height of their popularity, covered not just Meccano, but every type of miniature modelling.  I've been particularly fascinated by the adverts for long since defunct products.  They include products which, nowadays, it would be unthinkable to advertise to children, (air pistols and rifles come to mind).  Perhaps my favourite ads are for the 'Wen Mac' control line model planes.  I mean, just look at the above example (from 1963), they look bloody brilliant!

Not only do they have real motors, rather than the elastic band powered propellers of the balsa wood model planes I remember, but some of them drop bombs, or fire rockets!  Jesus!  I would have loved to have gotten my hands on something like that when I was a kid!  The damage I could have done!  The neighbours I could have terrorised!  Sadly, they seem to have stopped being imported into the UK somewhen in the late sixties, although later adverts show the importers, Keil Kraft, produced their own, similar, models, most notably a Hurricane, for several years.  These, however, didn't fire missiles or drop bombs. 

I've had a look on eBay to see if I could find any second hand examples for sale in the UK, with no luck.  Which is a pity.  That said, I'm not sure I would buy one now.  For one thing, my usual excuses for such purposes, my two eldest great nieces (the things I've supposedly bought for them, in order to have a chance of playing with myself) are currently living in the US.  Without my usual co-conspirators, (who I, apparently, shouldn't be encouraging anyway - they're disruptive enough without my help),  I'm not sure it would be as much fun.  Nonetheless, it is fun to idly dream about misusing one of these models...