Centennial of Flight 2003 : Australian Aeromodellers Tribute

Australian Aeromodelling Groups - Bonus

Updated December 12, 2003

The Ebenezer

This year on the weekend of the 24-25 May (2003) the third Festival of Ebenezers culminating in a mass launch on the Sunday as part of the World Mass Launch of these feisty little devils. The other major launch will be held at Old Warden in the UK. The record number at that event has been 81 aircraft. We beat the Pomms last year with 30 odd due to poor weather in the UK.

Festival of Ebenezers 2003 Poster

Download the Poster as an a4@72dpi or an a4@300dpi

Read about previous Ebenezer Mass Launches in 2001 and
two pages covering the launch in 2002 and 2002

Also read an issue of The Ebenezer Herald

Bert has made us a small brass Ebenezer to fix to a trophy for the event. We will have official challenges read out at each end of the World on the day of the mass launch.

Bert Striegler's Ebenezer Trophy

Photo courtesy of Ian Cartwright

download a 500pixel image

Lift Your Ebenezers to the Heavens!

or "How the Ebenezer got its Name" by Bert Striegler (1930-)

The name really did have a religious connotation. I had built and flown several but had not come up with a name for the concept. Then one day while I was sitting in church listening to a very dull sermon, my mind naturally drifted back to model flying.

Then they said to open our hymnal to #400 (a Methodist hymnal) and sing, "Come Thy Fount of Every Blessing". In the first line of the first verse, it says, "Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it" and my warped mind immediately said, "Aha, a slope soarer?". This was followed by the first two lines of the second verse, which went on to say, "Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I've come."

Bert Striegler, 1954

Photo courtesy of Ian Cartwright

Now you can clearly see where this is leading - thus the name Ebenezer was born for the concept. The third line clinced it by saying, "And I hope by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home."

He climbed a mountain, launched his Ebenezer and found it safely after the flight. That woke me up, but by then the sermon was finished. My wife commented that I had not been paying attention, but I assured her that I was simply listening on another plane - she got that one.

Bert Striegler's Ebenezer 'Biplane', 1954

download a 1500pixel plan

Ebenezers
by George Car

Want to build and fly a simple model plane, one that has character, is easy to build & fly, and that can handle quite a range of motors?

That's what Bert Striegler confronted back in the early 50's. The new Cox motors had just come out, and offered lots of power in a small package. Bert designed and built a cute biplane which flew well - and as it had a flat plate wing section, it also didn't glide that well - an advantage if you didn't want to loose the model in a fly-away! ...more

The Ebenezer Sports FF models
by George Car

Photos courtesy of Ian Cartwright

Ian Cartwright, Albury NSW., 'Fokkenezer Triplane'

Photo courtesy of Ian Cartwright

Bert Striegler's 'Fokkenezer Triplane'

Aeromodeller

download a 1500pixel plan

Bert Striegler's Ebenezer 'Flying Boat'

Aeromodeller

download a 1500pixel plan

Jim Fullarton's Cox .010 powered Ebenezer 'Flea'

Courtesy Jim Fullarton

Jim Fullarton's Cox .010 powered Ebenezer 'Flea'

Aeromodeller, courtesy Jim Fullarton

download a A4@300dpi plan

also see Henri Mignet's Flying Flea

Jim Fullarton's Cox .010 powered Ebenezer 'Flea'

Courtesy Jim Fullarton

There was a Fokker DVll in the 80's, and more since. Ebenezers are characterised by flat plate wings, profile body and use small (0.5cc) motors, usually the Cox 020 Pee Wee. Really, they are caricatures of aircraft. Bert designed the original to be easy to build, to fly well, but not well enough to thermal and fly away!