Written by BW (09/1981 and 09/1968); Transcribed & Edited by JS (03/2012)
The Great Lakes Man
Cedric Galloway is a man you can’t afford not to know. Our trails have crossed so many times that this remarkable Californian seems like a distant member of a family who long ago pushed off for the Gold Rush. He always has been there. After all, he built his first model in 1915 when this author was a three-year-old toddler. If you say Great Lakes to us, we’ll answer instantly, “Ced Galloway.” If you say Galloway, we’ll respond, “Great Lakes.” But perhaps we had better “pre-kit” this story before we put it together. A word of warning: there are more pieces than Goldberg used in his Valkyrie.
When we left AMA, we sought for a time to compile for AMA files data on significant oldtimers, for with their inevitable departures so much treasure is frittered away that modeling has created its own Lost Dutchman Mine. Alas, these “Patriarchs” don’t come forward on their own, and only a handful of old-timers now know, hazily at that, who these pioneers are and what they did. So who can help? One of the dozen or so who tried was Ced, who, as he does about every five years, wrote us, mentioning another overlooked great. This chap is Jim Horne, a successful contractor, a model lover, a pilot, a collector of basket-case real aircraft which he rebuilds. ‘On the side,” Jim operates Historic Aviation (a major supplier of aeronautical books, whose ads and catalogues you must have seen; in fact, we just bought for $12.50 a remarkable book in fourcolor, with 3-views, An Encyclopedia of Propeller Driven Airliners.) Not knowing from whence we came, Jim in turn “put us onto” Ced Galloway! So…
“In those days,” says Ced, who was inspired by a piano-top picture of an Army Signal Corps pilot (that’s what the “air force” was called when the generals considered an airplane to be a tripod) who had married his dad’s cousin, “the National Geographic had pictures of WWI airplanes, and I was eager to look through each issue in search of a new airplane picture. Austin, MN didn’t have an airport, and I didn’t see a real airplane until I was in kindergarten. Across the street from the school,” Ced continues, “there was an old auto repair shop, and out back the remains of an old biplane. The uncovered wings leaned against the wall, and a bare-bones fuselage without engine or wheels lay next to them. I spent a great deal of time crawling around that framework, and always got a scolding for not coming straight home from school.” There was no model shop. In the days before magazine communications, Ced sent away to Ideal or some other mail order firm. Later, American Boy was a source of constructions plans. (Before Model Airplane News came out in 1929, we all read American Boy.) at 16, Jim Horne opened a basement model shop. In fact, Ced taught him how to make an ROG. Fifty-one years ago, Ced soloed a Kinner-powered Swallow biplane. Ced gave Jim his first ride – in a Great Lakes, of course. Whenever Jim had 50 cents he’d come out to the airport and Ced would give him a dollar ride.
Ced, retired for six years, spent 34 years with Lockheed. At first he was in the construction department, during the War in final assembly and customer service. His last 20 years were spent in the model department – we may assume that Ced and Bob Palmer knew each other, because that was Bob’s great love. In working with preliminary design engineering, Ced has a few firsts to his credit. In model form, he built the first 104, C-130 and S3A.
Ced is into RC Scale. “There was a stretch from 1955 to 1975,” he relates, “when all my building was solid-scale, so I didn’t participate in flying contests. That put me out of the know-how when it came to building flying models, so I have a great deal to learn to get a model built that will fly well in RC.” We don’t think he has much of a problem.
Later this year he will have finished a ¼-scale Travelair Mystery Ship R614K. After that comes a 1/5th-scale Great Lakes. Reminded of his many Great Lakes, Ced allows, “Yes, the Great Lakes is one of my all-time favorite airplanes. The only photo I have at present is one taken by a friend who was trying out a roll of high-speed film, the only light a fluorescent lamp over my head. I was drawing plans for a 1/5th-scale RC Great Lakes. The Great Lakes beside me is a 1/10th-scale electric-powered Free Flight.”
You’ll note this G.L. is older than the bulbous-nosed ones so common in kits. It is evidently Ced’s favorite – and ours. There is a story that the reason for the sweep is that G.L. got the C.G. in the wrong place, and sweep was the only possible fix. Some fix! Some airplane! Biplane sweep figures in so many great aerobatics and fighter aircraft. As Ced says, “Enjoy.”
In this photo with their nailed-together water-colored biplanes, L to R: Howard Bailey, Cedric Galloway and Warren Galloway; in front, Howard and Chuck Hall. (Chuck awaits the Delta Dart!) The two Hall boys are
cousins of Jim Horne, in our story; still live in Austin but are not aero-minded. (Photo and Caption Source: Model Aviation, September 1981) In March 1979, Ced was drawing his 1/5 –scale RC Great Lakes, beside him a 1/10-scale electric Free Flight. He’s almost finished a ¼-scale Travel-Air “Mystery Ship.” (Photo and Caption Source: Model Aviation, September 1981)
Ced built this 13 ½-inch solid Great lakes 2T-1A – after his full-scale job – for his good friend, Jim Horne. Made in 1935, it suggests Ced made progress in 17 years from his imaginative wood crate. (Photo and Caption Source:
Model Aviation, September 1981)
…I have never been able to get over the fever contracted when the airplane bug bit me back in 1922. Living in a small Minnesota town, there were no hobby shops, or anyone to show me how to go about building even the simplest type of model. So I learned by mail and through the American Boy Magazine. And not being able to go to Detroit, I built a solid model of the Ford Trimotor and shipped it to the contest. It was far from being good enough to place. Although I only participate in contests once in a great while, I keep up my membership in AMA and do act as a scale judge when called upon. Here is a picture of the latest model. It is a model of the Great Lakes 2T-1E, parked on the line with my Great Lakes 2T-1a. Same scale, 1/2 inch equals one foot.
I have been in many departments with Lockheed for the past 17 years. I am now in the model section of Sales and Advanced Design, which I like best. It sort of proves to me that if you keep at something long enough, it eventually will pay off. -Cedric E. Galloway, Burbank, Calif.
This page is a text transcription of the original document, made automatically and may contain errors. .