Kwik-Fli, Slow Build: Beppe’s Build Log

Kwik-Fli, Slow Build Blog Series header graphic. With a close-up of the model's engine at center, the graphic is done in orange and blue.

The build log that Giuseppe “Beppe” Fascione donated to the museum along with his Kwik-Fli Mk. II reproduction is the first, completed build log in the museum collection. We have a few time/build logs, but none of them document a finished model, or the work log itself was left uncompleted.

Beppe’s log isn’t the original. It is, instead, a compilation of all of his notes from the original, interspersed with pictures of the build process and charts he wrote as the work progressed. Put together for his own reference, it’s all very neatly arranged in a black, plastic, three-ring binder with a print out of the 1966 Phil Kraft Enya ad on the front.

A closed black, plastic, three-ring binder. The binder has a printed graphic on the front, as well as a piece of orange tissue slipped in the front pocket.
Beppe’s build log is a black, plastic, 3-ring binder filled with printed sheets.

The focus of the entries, is, of course, the work Beppe is doing on the Kwik-Fli Mk. II. But, we also hear about his work on the other three models he is building at the same time – Das Ugly Stick, the Kwik-Fli Mk. III, and the Flea Fli. We also get to know Beppe as he discusses events impacting the amount of time he has to spend on the model, and pick up on the idiosyncrasies in his writing – like the way he abbreviates “aircraft” to “a/c”, and how he sprinkles in a few words in Italian, his native language.

Over the next year and so we hope you enjoy watching the Kwik-Fli Mk. II reproduction go from some balsa wood to a fully functional model airplane. We also hope that you enjoy getting to know Beppe along the way.

Photo of a black plastic binder open to show pages covered in typed text and various images of the Kwik-Fli II during the build process.
Typical entries in Beppe’s build log.

Note that blog posts will mimic Beppe’s posting layout with the accompanying in-set picture(s).  In addition, we will be enhancing the blog posts with a few other graphics – including scans of the original text.

Please join us as we follow along with Beppe as he builds the Kwik-Fli Mk. II!

Next post: Beppe’s unofficial first entry on February 21, 2019

See all the Kwik-Fli, Slow Build posts!

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For more information on the National Model Aviation Museum, including our location, hours and admission fees visit: www.modelaircraft.org/museum