Written by LK and FF; Compiled and Formatted by JS (03/2016); updated by JS (08/2021)
Honors
- 2014: AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame
- 2010: Flying Aces Club Hall of Fame
- 2005: National Free Flight Hall of Fame (NFFS)
Free Flight and Me
For over five decades I have been inspired by flight - an inspiration which began, to a large degree, from being raised on the Great High Plains where hawks, Golden Eagles, and buzzards drifted effortlessly through the warm rising air as fixtures of my early boyhood. I remember the thrill of watching a nickel glider catch a thermal for the first time, and my brother and I chasing it on our bikes for miles on a dusty, dirt road before it capriciously came down and landed in a fresh cow pie.
As I grew up, that fascination with flight turned into the usual spate of building many Comet kits ordered by mail, always accompanied by the agony of going to the post office every day in the hope that the box from America's Hobby Center had arrived. Two slightly older neighbors urged me along. Although both of them mainly flew control line, they occasionally dabbled in free flight. I can still close my eyes and see Fred McKee's Ramrod 600, woefully underpowered by a Cameron .19, yet capable of awe-inspiring flights, hanging just above the setting sun and motionless in the still evening air.
During high school, I turned away from modeling aircraft and toward designing and building futuristic 1/12 scale cars for the General Motors-sponsored Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild. That experience was invaluable to my return to aircraft modeling because it taught me that I could start with a blank piece of paper and an idea, and come up with an object of beauty and wonder (at least to my eyes!). Later, when I returned to modeling, only those airplanes I designed myself had any special meaning to me and satisfied the aesthetic needs within.
I began competitive flying in the early 1970s after college by attending my first contest and winning my first trophy in Hand Launch Glider. Before the contest I was inspired by a seminal article on HLGs written by Dick Mathis, Kit Bays, and Tom Peadon that appeared in Flying Models in July of 1970. In fact, my first published modeling article in 1973 was entitled, “From Theory to Trophy” and detailed my preparation for entering duration free flight competition and flying the HLG event.
From that point on I began publishing designs, both my own and those of others whom I felt should have some exposure to the modeling world, now totaling some 80 different aircraft models. Over the past 40-plus years, I've written for all of the major commercial modeling publications (some now defunct), and estimate that the total volume of work stands at over 800 articles. That total includes construction articles, kit and product reviews, Nats and other special meet coverages, building hints and tips, and my monthly column in Flying Models magazine. The monthly column came about through a request by the then-editor of Flying Models, Bob Hunt. Bob wanted to begin a monthly column that aimed itself at the average free flight modeler
- one who perhaps was just getting into the hobby or just returning - and one who was in need of some down-to-earth common sense advice and information. “FF Sport” seemed like a natural name for the column at the time, and still speaks to its purpose, I think. And, having now completed over 30 years of cranking out “FF Sport” on a monthly basis, it only seems right to continue as long as readers exhibit interest and the editorial staff at Flying Models will put up with me.
My modeling interests within free flight have changed over the years, starting with duration events and the moving to free flight scale in a serious way during the 80s to chase a goal of winning every free flight scale event at the Nationals, both indoor and outdoor. That quest ended in eleven first-place Nats trophies in Rubber Scale (indoor and outdoor); Peanut Scale (indoor and outdoor); and outdoor Power Scale. Along the way, I also collected three National Association of Scale Aeromodelers Achievement Awards, and a proxied first place in Indoor Bostonian for Don DeLoach thrown in for good measure.
In 1992 through 1996, I took a hiatus from modeling to concentrate on completing a doctoral program at Oklahoma State University. Much to my surprise, when I came back to modeling my focus had changed. While I still hold the highest rank possible in the Flying Aces Club, lately my modeling interests have come full circle. I'm now back into duration events, particularly the Nostalgia planes of the 50s that eluded me as a boy (chiefly because of the cost of the engines at that time); today's version of the HLG for those past their prime, the catapult glider; and small rubber jobs like the P-30, which remains amazingly intriguing despite (or perhaps because of) its inherent limitations.
Since my work in the real world was as an administrator, prior to my retirement and since that time, I've tried to make it a point to become involved in modeling in an administrative fashion as well. I've been one of the founders of a modeling club; gotten over 200 Cub Scouts in a gym to fly Delta Darts each fall; served as a CD for contests; judged scale events at regional meets and the Nats; written AMA rules proposals for improving the hobby; chaired the NFFS Ten Models of the Year committee; helped establish the NFFS Scholarship program as a sitting committee member; and currently serve as a mentor for a state-wide model competition at our local technical school.
Beyond all of the above, I've enjoyed and treasured the many friends and acquaintances that modeling interaction permits. Those of us involved in free flight are a small and select group, but one populated by the best people in the world. Because of our association with each other and with our segment of the hobby, we are uniquely blessed as human beings. I am grateful to be one of the chosen few who find magic in models that fly free.
Not too long ago, a little blue-haired lady approached me after I'd made a presentation to her club on getting young people involved in modeling. She peered up at me through the glasses perched on her nose and said, “You know, Dr. Kruse, I don’t think you've ever grown up!” I replied, “Thank you, ma’am. Nor do I intend to.”
Published Designs by Larry Kruse (Not a comprehensive list) Designer
Type
Publication
Date Published
Kruse
Peanut Scale
Flying Models
1988/10
Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse
CO2 Scale HLG Catapult glider Rubber Sport CO2 Scale CL Semi-Scale Rubber Profile Rubber Scale Bostonian RC glider CL Profile Stunt CL Profile Stunt Rubber Scale CO2 Scale Rubber Sport CO2 Sheet Balsa
Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Model Aviation
1979/07 1973/04 1976/03 1976/05 1982/04 1979/06 1985/08 1981/11 1982/09 1984/09 1982/07 1979/10 1986/07 1985/07 2007/01 1987/01
Kruse
Catapult glider
Flying Models
1987/11
Compact field box
Kruse
Support equipment
Flying Models
1985/01
Cubby
Kruse
CL Trainer
Dalotel DM-165 Druine Turbulent
Kruse Kruse
Rubber Scale CL Sport
Design 1911 Caudron Type N 1919 LWF Butterfly Backlash Bandido Barnwell Monoplane Bebe-Jodel Beech Starship Bellanca Scout Bostonian T-Craft Carousel Cassutt II Cessna Agwagon Cessna C-34 CGS Hawk Ultralight Clones from the Past CO-2 Cub Columbia Space Shuttle
Model Airplane News Flying Models Flying Models
1981/05 1985/11 1978/07 Face Saver Fairey Barracuda Fantasy Farman Moto Aviette Flying Aces Stick Fokker D-VII Found Centennial (20”) Found Centennial (39”)
Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse
HLG
No-Cal Scale CO2 Sport CO2 Scale CO2 OT Rubber Scale
Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models
1974/08 2008/08 1977/12 1986/08 1990/08 1988/08
Kruse
Rubber Scale
Flying Models
1989/11
Kruse
Rubber Scale
Flying Models
1993/09
Geezer Pleezer
Kruse
Flying Models
2003/11
Goldwing Ultralight Heat Stroke Heinkel HE-100D
Kruse Kruse Kruse
P-30 Rubber Power CO2 Scale Rapier/Jetex No-Cal Scale
1988/07 2007/03 1986/11
Hyperbipe
Kruse
CL Profile Sport
Lear Fan Lippisch MauboussinHemiptere Mig-3 Miles Sparrowhawk Monoprep Morane Saulnier
Kruse Kruse
No-Cal Scale Catapult glider
Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Model Airplane News Flying Models Flying Models
Kruse
Rubber Scale
Flying Models
1988/05
Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse
Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models
1981/02 1984/07 1979/02 1978/10
Pond Scum ROW
Kruse
Flying Models
2008/03
Prairie Duster Bipe
Kruse
Flying Models
1984/05
Roger Dodger
Kruse
Rubber Scale Rubber Scale Rubber Scale CO2 Scale Rubber Sport/Competition CO2 Sport P-30 Rubber Power
Flying Models
1979/11
Kruse
Peanut Scale
Model Aviation
1987/07
Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse
FF Power CL Profile Stunt Rubber Scale Jetex/Catapult
Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Flying Models
1979/03 1984/09 1980/04 1989/05
Kruse
Catapult glider
Model Aviation
1982/12
Kruse Kruse Kruse Kruse
.020 Sport CL Profile Stunt Peanut Scale HLG
Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Flying Models
1974/11 1988/09 1987/09 1973/08
Santos-Dumont 14 bis Sky Bird Smoothie Profile Star Cavalier Switcher II Temco TT-1/Cessna T-37A Throwback Tomahawk II Tx-Air TX-1 Underdog
1980/03 1983/11 1987/07 Designs published by Larry for other designers (Not a comprehensive list) Design
Designer
Type
Publication
1/2A Marval 2+2 Unlimited Aeronca Chief Bad Medicine Beta Blue Chip Racer
Berry O'Reilly B. Schmidt Ransom
FF Power Rubber Power Rubber Scale FF Power
Model Aviation Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models
Date Published 2008/06 1975/01 1999/12 1975/03
Derber
FF Rubber Scale
Model Aviation
2002/05
Brewster Buffalo
Midkiff
Rubber Scale
Bubba Clem
Clem
FF Power
Cessna 140 Checkers .60 Country Boy Country Boy Dennyplane Draft Dodger Electric Country Boy Embraer Ipanema Evil Ways Fun Flying Foamies Geodetic Tubesteak Kansas Wakefield Medicine Man Orr's Pacemaker ParFAI Piper PA-16 Porterfield Zephyr PZL P11C Scorcher Scorpion .60 Semi-Pro Sir Rodney Spacewalker
B. Schmidt J. Schmidt Clem Clem Mathews Dunham
Rubber Scale RC Pattern FF Power FF Power RC Sport Rubber Power
Model Airplane News Model Airplane News Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Model Aviation Model Aviation Flying Models
Clem
FF Electric
Model Aviation
1982/02
de Souza Turner/Hallum Goldbach O'Reilly Linn Clem Linn Marcos B. Schmidt Mathews Nogy Chilton Hamilton Chilton O'Reilly de Souza WoolardTallman Blackard
Peanut Scale FF Power FF Sport Gliders Rubber Power OT Rubber FF Power OT Rubber FAI Power Rubber Scale Rubber Scale RC Sport Scale Jetex RC Sport HLG A-1 glider Peanut Scale
Model Aviation Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Model Builder Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Flying Models Model Aviation Model Aviation Model Aviation Flying Models
2007/11 1978/04 1991/05 1979/05 1988/10 1974/02 1996/05 1975/09 1998/04 1979/10 1982/12 1976/03 1988/01 1976/01 1981/05 2008/04
CL Combat
Flying Models
1973/11
RC Sport
Flying Models
1983/08
Spider Spinner II
1981/10 1981/05 1997/08 1977/04 1977/10 1977/03 1977/01 1975/04 Star Seeker Sudden SAM Together IV Tubesteak Tubesteak OMT Twin Comanche Two for the Show Winterhawk Witch Hawk 500
Hallum O'Reilly Johnston O'Reilly O'Reilly Perez WoolardTallman O'Reilly Clem
FF Power FF Power CL Stunt Rubber Power Rubber Power CL Scale CL Stunt Rubber Power FF Power
Flying Models Flying Models Model Aviation Flying Models Model Aviation Model Aviation Model Airplane News Flying Models Model Aviation
1974/03 1979/08 1978/01 1975/12 1987/03 1983/05 1976/02 1977/03 1982/09
Larry Kruse Larry with his Hustler model.
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