Eldon No. 902 Cargo Plane (Convair R3Y Tradewind Flying Boat)

This post is about a project that has been years in the making - much like my current 'It's A Small World" series. I'm a big fan of Eldon toys, having had them as a kid as well as latching on to a fair amount as a collector. This particular post came about when I bought one of these cargo planes many years ago. My first purchase was the plane (missing outrigger pontoons) and a couple of small vehicles and ramp - which BTW will make a future "It's A Small World" entry. Later, I would come upon a magazine ad for sale which showed the plane in better detail, but that'll be covered further down in the post. Then, I latched on to the small Eldon fold-out catalog that I posted yesterday and this showed a complete set with the proper components. Luckily, the correct types of vehicles were already in my collection but when I bought them I had no idea what toy they went to. Lastly, I was able to acquire a complete airplane which even had it's cardboard wrap for store display!! So, now that the set is complete as well as my understanding of what all went with it, let's get on with! Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Let's have Wikipedia describe the aircraft (edited for length)

"Designated XP5Y-1, the first aircraft first flew on 18 April 1950 at San Diego. In August the aircraft set a turboprop endurance record of eight hours six minutes. The Navy decided not to proceed with the patrol boat version, instead directing that the design should be developed into a passenger and cargo aircraft.

One of the XP5Y-1 prototypes was lost in a non-fatal accident on 15 July 1953, while design and development continued on the passenger and cargo version of the aircraft. The transport and cargo version was designated the R3Y-1 Tradewind and first flew on 25 February 1954.

A total of eleven aircraft were built. The first two prototypes built were in P5Y configuration, armed with 8,000 lb (3,600 kg) of munitions (bombs, mines, depth charges, torpedoes) and five pairs of 20 mm cannon in fore and aft side emplacements and a tail turret. The next five were built as R3Y-1 aircraft, intended for troop transport and inflight refueling tanker service. The final six were built as the R3Y-2 variant with a lifting nose and high cockpit (similar in concept to the C-5 Galaxy's nose and cockpit) for heavier transport and landing-ship duties.

The program was halted after thirteen aircraft were built, the reason being the unreliability of the Allison T-40 turboprops. The crash of one of the two XP5Y-1 aircraft was judged due to catastrophic engine failure; when little progress was made with the engine problems, the Navy halted the program. Subsequently, three more aircraft were lost through engine failures, and the Navy gave up on the T-40 and aircraft powered by it. All the P5Y and R3Y aircraft were grounded in 1958 and subsequently broken up."

Courtesy Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_R3Y_Tradewind

Like many toy airplanes, Eldon's Cargo Plane is just a caricature but you can see the resemblance. Eldon's version is shorter and stubbier but the general outline is there.

Courtesy Wikipedia

Courtesy Wikipedia

Courtesy Wikipedia

Courtesy Wikipedia

This ad (in my collection - both sides shown for context), from the March 1956 Playthings magazine, shows what appears to be an artists rendering of the plane and is likely a pre-production advertisement. It clearly shows an aircraft big enough to accept those vehicles shown disembarking from it. The reality is quite different I'm afraid.

This undated fold-out catalog was included in another Eldon toy and clearly shows the production set

In this extract we can clearly see that the plane and vehicles are more colorful than what my samples are.

The plane had this cardboard wrap attached.

Here's the quandery: If this plane was sold as you see it, with the cardboard wrap, how were the vehicles sold. You can't fit all three in it! Did this particular iteration include the smaller vehicles???

The unloading ramp and vehicles were all bought separately over a period of time but are correct for the set as shown in the fold-out catalog (except for being a less colorful olive drab). The rocket launcher is missing the rocket.

You'll notice the vehicles are far too large for the plane, unlike what is shown in the Playthings magazine add. Was there another way in which all of these were packaged? Perhaps in a display box?

Okay here goes some total guess work: Eldon first sold this plane with the larger vehicles possibly in a box. Later, when someone at Eldon finally figured out that the large vehicles simply were a poor match for the plane, they included smaller vehicles. I can't prove it but it sounds like a likely scenario.

The plane measures: 11 1/4" (28.57cm) L x 12 3/4" (32.38cm) wingspan x 3 1/2" (8.89cm) H.

Here's my two aircraft. The one on the right was an earlier purchase and is missing the outrigger pontoons.

I posed this grouping using the complete airplane from the second purchase and the much smaller ramp and vehicles from the first purchase. The cardboard wrap clearly states that three vehicles were included and a Jeep and tank are pictured in the artwork along with the ramp. My set included a truck and tank, plus the ramp.

My speculation is that this was a later release set. 

They fit!