By Derrell Maxwell
For Coastal Senior

Derrell Maxwell photo
Robert Cooper and his model of the Sopwith Snipe.

Highly-detailed, scale model aircraft recall the golden days of aviation

Savannah

"I take great pleasure in completing one detail at a time," said Robert Cooper, a Savannah retiree who makes hand crafts scale model, radio-controlled model airplanes.

Cooper, a long time resident of Savannah, is a graduate of the Citadel and retired from the Civil Works department of the Corp of Engineers. For the past 30 years, Cooper has enjoyed his life long love of building model aircraft.

"I've been making model airplanes for almost seventy years," said Cooper. "When I graduated from the Citadel I could not qualify to fly aircraft for the military because of physical reasons, so I made models I could fly by remote control."

In his workshop, which is well organized and outfitted, Cooper restores antique furniture, as well as crafting lute4s, a stringed musical instrument.

"I have always been attracted to beautiful and fine craftsmanship; especially of models and in particular, airplanes," said Cooper.

And, importantly, he is passing along the skills he has learned from years of experience.

"I'm learning from the master," said Jean Lim, who earned her master's degree from Savannah College of Art and Design and is picking up the finer points from this master craftsman.

Dressed in a blue work apron and accompanied by his dog, Bella, Cooper painted a mental picture of early flight. His knowledge of early powered flight, the Wright Brothers, and World War One aircraft is nothing short of astonishing.

Cooper spoke with reverence about the Wright Brothers skill, in great detail, as he explained how he crafted the replicas of their fliers with the help of drawings and plans he had gotten from the Smithsonian Institution. He was commissioned to build two replicas, one of which will tour the nation and then will be on exhibit at The Wright Experience in Warrenton, Va. The other model will be on display at the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.

His newest project fast forwards into history from the Wright Brothers flight. The Sopwith Snipe, a British biplane that flew at the end of World War I, saw combat in 1918 and was the type aircraft the Canadian Ace, Billy Bishop, flew.

Looking into the cockpit of the 1/4-inch scale aircraft is like stepping back in time. From the control stick to the duel machine guns mounted above the control panel it was like looking at an authentic WWI biplane.

The pilot's seat is made of wicker with a fuel tank beneath it; control cables run underneath to move the rudder and flaps. Everything was to scale and looked authentic, right down to the smallest detail.

"The radial engine was made by me and my friend Paul Knapp," said Mr. Cooper, "it produces 25 horsepower."

His skill with hand tools, ranging from a drill press to a jewelers lathe, is reminiscent to that of an artist with brush and palette, creating art in the form of airplanes.

"Powered flight is 100 years old this year and will be celebrated in December," Cooper said. And its long heritage is preserved, gratefully, by people like Cooper - part historian, part craftsman and 100-percent enamored by our flying machines.