Hannan's Runway

A short documentary tribute to a time when flying was fun!

Truly a nostalgic treat, this remarkable award-winning production by Nancy Kapitanoff, daughter of two vital members of the Comet family, was compiled from their personal archives.

Flying was all the rage in 1929, shortly after Charles Lindbergh soloed across the Atlantic, when two Chicago high school students, Bill Bibichkow and Sam Goldenberg, opened the Comet Model Airplane & Supply Company. In a motion picture style reminiscent of the newsreels of the 1930s and 40s, THE COMET MODEL NEWS presents the history and heyday of one of America's top model airplane kit manufacturers.

See how Comet Model rose from sparse beginnings in the back of Bill's father's tailor shop to a company with 20 salesmen and 6,000 dealers nationwide. Visit the field with famed model airplane designer Carl Goldberg, and watch him fly his innovative, contest-winning models. Be privy to the marriage goings-on at Comet, and the vital work the company does for the military during World War II.

Model airplane meets, Comet model events, and profiles of the men and women who made Comet prosper, are pictured in 8mm color and 16mm black-and-white film footage shot between 1937 and 1941. Also featured are factory still photographs, corporate publicity campaigns and images from company catalogs.

In addition to the Comet Model News documentary, the DVD presents a bonus 12-minute silent 1939 Comet film, "Building a Flying Model Airplane," with 13-year-old Walter Eckart constructing a 25-inch stick-and-tissue Comet Stinson. And successfully flying it!

The DVD is 27 minutes total, 15 for the documentary and 12 minutes for the Comet stick and tissue kit building segment. 

SPECIAL: While they last, as a bonus receive a 7½ inch span U.S. Army paper airplane designed by Comet in 1942!

A fun new video about flying scale model airplanes
By Dr. Bill Harris, of Hawaii

A lifetime compilation of modeling, from Bill's beginning at age 6, through his most recent activities. Over the years, In addition to his model-building, Bill managed to become a doctor, hang-glider and sailplane pilot, a musician, a composer, author and lecturer.

Various models built during his youth were reluctant to fly, initiating a determination to prove that they could be made to perform...eventually! Even when handicapped by windy conditions and limited indoor flying space, Bill persisted, and seeing these models in action should provide encouragement for anyone frustrated by stubborn rubber, CO2 or electric-powered subjects.

Models Featured are: Walt's Winnie Mae, Viking Kitty Hawk, Northrup Gamma, Rearwin Speedster, Curtiss Seagull, Chester Racer, Cleveland Condor, Boeing P-26, Comet Clipper, China Clipper, Curtiss Goshawk, Fokker D-7, Defiant, Hurricane, Spad, Zipper, PBY, F4U, Stuka, Yankee, Aeronca Seaplane, Jabberwock , Avenger, B-17, F4F, F4B4, F3F, Blackburn Shark, ME109, P-40, Mustang, Grumman Duck, Barracuda, Aircobra x2, Corben Ace, P-38, Stinson Reliant, Mulligan, Monocoupe, Spirit of St. Louis, DR-1, Float Zero, Page Racer, BV141, Dornier Anteater, GeeBee R-1, Curtiss Ascender, Bearcat , Skyshark, Typhoon, Storch, Tony, Seversky P-35, P-47 Razorback, P-47 Jug x2, PZL, Lysander, P-61, P6E, Hellcat, Hamburg 137, B-35, Kingfisher, Pete, B-36 x2, Pitcairn Autogiro, and a Winnie Mae, bringing this video autobiography full-circle.

VHS Running time: 58 minutes.

A nostalgic look back at fun-loving free flight modelers and models at their best! Presented are Peanuts, Embryos, Old-timers and great flying scale models, up-close, being wound and in action.

Watch "name" builders including Tom Arnold, Pres Bruning, Paul Boyanowski, Don Campbell, Paul Clark, Mark Fineman, Vance Gilbert, Tom Hallman, Ralph Kuenz, Dave Livesay, Mike Midkiff, Jack Moses, Ross Mayo, Stew Meyers, Mike Nassise, Vic Nippert, Terry Pittman, Dennis Norman, Scott Paisley, Cole Palen, Dave Rees, Gordon Roberts, Don Ross, Frank Rowsome, Dave Smith, Paul Stott, Bob Thompson, Bill Warner, and many more!

See mass model launches! See Don Srull's fabulous Dornier DO-X in full flight, with all of its twelve props churning, and even some full-size aircraft in action.

The main tape runs about 32 minutes, but stay tuned for an additional 10 minutes of "out-takes," some of them quite humorous. Perfect entertainment for model club meetings, or just introducing folks to this fine fun hobby!