# 1955 Flying Star Pictures Please



## Flingdangle (Jul 13, 2022)

Hi,
I just purchased what I believe to be a 1955 Flying Star with a straight bar frame. 26" It is a middle weight frame. I would like to restore it and was hoping that somebody would post a bunch of pictures of an original bike for me. I would especially like to see pictures of the pedals, front and rear fenders because I believe that my fenders have been trimmed as they are shaped differently that any of my balloon tire fenders. The bike that I received came with a feather guard. I haven't seen any pictures of a Flying Star with that guard on it. Did the 1955 come with an actual Flying Star badge? Or were they available? I would post pictures of what I've got but unfortunately I'm pretty limited with computers.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Bob


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## Freqman1 (Jul 13, 2022)

Click on this link to the 1955 Schwinn catalog page for the Flying Star https://bikehistory.org/catalogs/1955.html#flyingstar  Being able to post pics would be extremely helpful-not that hard


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## Flingdangle (Jul 13, 2022)

How's this?


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## Freqman1 (Jul 13, 2022)

Not a '55 Flying Star. Clean the serial number area up a bit so we can see what it says.


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## piercer_99 (Jul 13, 2022)

that doesn't look like this at all.


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## Flingdangle (Jul 13, 2022)

Serial #U25636


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## Freqman1 (Jul 13, 2022)

With that late of serial number I'm thinking '56 Flying Star


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## Flingdangle (Jul 13, 2022)

Roger that. I'm hoping somebody will post some closeups of their Flying Star. Thank you Freqman1


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## GTs58 (Jul 13, 2022)

Here's one that was for sale. I can guarantee there are many parts that aren't original. But the fenders look correct. 













						Sold - 1956 Schwinn Flying Star | Archive (sold)
					

Hi all  I have this nice middle weight.  Original tires and S7 wheels.  Bike can be ridden as is but should be gone thru to make it a nice daily rider. Has a Bendix 2 speed, schwinn script front hub, schwinn script seat post, and a schwinn bell.  Wheels spin with no problems. Minimal fender...




					thecabe.com


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## Flingdangle (Jul 14, 2022)

GTS58 That's what I was looking for. A little embarrassed I missed that. Thank you


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## rustystone2112 (Jul 14, 2022)

*looks like a Spitfire to me especially with the BFG badge *


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## bloo (Jul 14, 2022)

Which year though? That spitfire in the pic has the same guard, but has the so-called "Phantom" chainring. Was that even still available in 1956? The guard on the original poster's bike looks fairly wrong over that little clover chainring. I'm not saying for sure Schwinn never did that, especially on a cheaper model, but I kind of doubt it. It just looks like it is not meant to go together.


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## rustystone2112 (Jul 14, 2022)

*56, that picture is flawed guard and chainring are both earlier . Guard has no flat space for decal . Middleweights never used that chainring or guard 
My 56 Deluxe Spitfire I painted 25 years ago *


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## Flingdangle (Jul 14, 2022)

This makes sense. Thank you RustyStone21. I had assumed that it was a 1955. This makes things a lot cheaper.


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## Flingdangle (Jul 14, 2022)

Does the middleweight spitfire use the same 9 hole rack as the balloon tire bikes?


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## Rivnut (Jul 14, 2022)

Another Schwinn publication picture of a 55 Flying Star. Totally different chain guard



No racks or other “extras” on the Flying Star.  It was Schwinn’s basement deal bike.


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## Rivnut (Jul 14, 2022)

Here’s a picture of a 1954 Flying Star (lower right.)


Same chain guard, double bar frame, and clover chain ring.


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## GTs58 (Jul 14, 2022)

Freqman1 said:


> With that late of serial number I'm thinking '56 Flying Star
> 
> View attachment 1661901




Is this a photochop by someone? Sure looks fake like someone took a Spitfire and swapped the guard then added the 2 speed. Schwinn didn't run the cable along the top bar even on the 57 and later cantilever frame Flying Stars.


Rivnut said:


> Here’s a picture of a 1954 Flying Star (lower right.)View attachment 1662489
> Same chain guard, double bar frame, and clover chain ring.





Lower right is a Spitfire. 

I have yet in 14 years have not seen a piece of Schwinn literature with a straight bar Flying Star. Just the single bar (camelback) frame and the cantilever frame. Not saying that Schwinn never built these, but they must be another one of the unmentioned with no advertisement. A Spitfire that had some gears added and chrome rims. Bam! A Flying Star of a different variety.


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## rustystone2112 (Jul 14, 2022)

1955 catalog , lower left Flying Star , far right girls Spitfire and no picture of a boy’s Spitfire.


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## GTs58 (Jul 14, 2022)

rustystone2112 said:


> 1955 catalog , lower left Flying Star , far right girls Spitfire and no picture of a boy’s Spitfire.
> 
> 
> View attachment 1662570
> ...



That has to be a 1957 brochure, not a 55.


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## rustystone2112 (Jul 14, 2022)

GTs58 said:


> That has to be a 1957 brochure, not a 55.



It says 60 years since 1895 + 60 = 1955


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## GTs58 (Jul 14, 2022)

rustystone2112 said:


> It says 60 years since 1895 + 60 = 1955
> 
> View attachment 1662608



The Flying Star had a cantilever frame for 1957.
The Corvette, Tiger and American seats are 1956-57
The Hornets are both middleweights
The Jaguar hit the scene (catalogs) in 1957, but were released in the fall of 56. 

So that has to be a brochure for the 1957 models.


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## Jeff54 (Jul 15, 2022)

rustystone2112 said:


> It says 60 years since 1895 + 60 = 1955
> 
> View attachment 1662608



The Deluxe Hornet in '60 Years' brochure is not a 1955. 55 and 56 Deluxe Hornet has a flat bar frame with detachable kick stand and S2 wheels.

And the topic bike in question could easily be a standard Hornet too.


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## Rivnut (Jul 15, 2022)

GTs58 said:


> That has to be a 1957 brochure, not a 55.



Agree. The picture of Terry Moore, rust colored shirt and olive green pants, appears in the 1957 Schwinn Brochure. In the 1957 brochure, she’s riding a girl’s Corvette. Look at the chain guard on the bike that she’s posed with.


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## Rivnut (Jul 15, 2022)

Here’s something to investigate. In the February 1955 Fair Price Guide, the Spitfire, along with the Jaguar, Streamliner, Hornet, and DeLuxe Hornet are all listed as Balloon bikes built as D models.  All of the 1955 Middleweights are in a separate listing showing them to be F models.  Check the tires to see what size they are and look to see what SCHWINN TUBULAR S# is stamped into the rims. Same model designation (D) for the 1954 Balloon bikes, but no middleweights in February of 1954. Starting in 1956, the Spitfire is shown on the Fair Price Guide as an F model along with all the other middleweights. Besides tire and rim size, frame size is going to be a clue.  What is the spread of the seat stays where the rear fender is attached?


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## Flingdangle (Jul 15, 2022)

2" as opposed to my other frames at 2.75"


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## GTs58 (Jul 15, 2022)

Flingdangle said:


> 2" as opposed to my other frames at 2.75"




So your serial number is U25636 right? That number was stamped on Nov. 29, 1955 and that most definitely makes your bike a 1956 model built in 56. In 1956 the Hornet was a middlelweight and the Deluxe Hornet was a balloon. That's not all, the Spitfire was also offered as a middleweight and balloon model in 1956.
I'm pretty sure yours is a Spitfire or Hornet and definintely not a Flying Star.
I just visited that screwed up Schwinn site and LMAO after looking at Pats 1956 Catalog. Now I know were Freqman got that hokie image of a Flying Star straight bar.

And what is the little black drawn on piece where the fender/brake bridge is supposed to be? Definitely a hoax image pasted on some T-Paper!  🤣


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## Glenn Rhein (Jul 16, 2022)




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## KevinBrick (Jul 16, 2022)

My 1955 Flying Star.. I added the vintage nos Carlisle white wall road grippers.. I think the badge should be a regular Schwinn.. Not the flying star badge.. Mine has the bendix 2spd rear hub..


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## Flingdangle (Jul 16, 2022)

Wow!


GTs58 said:


> So your serial number is U25636 right? That number was stamped on Nov. 29, 1955 and that most definitely makes your bike a 1956 model built in 56. In 1956 the Hornet was a middlelweight and the Deluxe Hornet was a balloon. That's not all, the Spitfire was also offered as a middleweight and balloon model in 1956.
> I'm pretty sure yours is a Spitfire or Hornet and definintely not a Flying Star.
> I just visited that screwed up Schwinn site and LMAO after looking at Pats 1956 Catalog. Now I know were Freqman got that hokie image of a Flying Star straight bar.
> 
> View attachment 1663008



Wow! So I can go with Spitfire or Hornet. I've already got a Spitfire badge so I think I'm gonna go that route. Thank you GTS58.


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## Flingdangle (Jul 16, 2022)

Hey guys, when you look at the second picture of my bike at the beginning of the thread, you can see a square piece of steel that holds my kickstand on. Is that correct?


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## GTs58 (Jul 16, 2022)

Flingdangle said:


> Hey guys, when you look at the second picture of my bike at the beginning of the thread, you can see a square piece of steel that holds my kickstand on. Is that correct?




It's correct for the person that put on that piece of flat plate steel. 🤣  I would've rounded off the corners a bit.


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## GTs58 (Jul 16, 2022)

Flingdangle said:


> Wow!
> 
> Wow! So I can go with Spitfire or Hornet. I've already got a Spitfire badge so I think I'm gonna go that route. Thank you GTS58.




It is a middleweight frame and it has painted rims so, it's not the Deluxe balloon Hornet.


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## Rivnut (Jul 16, 2022)

GTs58 said:


> It's correct for the person that put on that piece of flat plate steel. 🤣  I would've rounded off the corners a bit.



If you figure out what model it is, it could be on of the bikes that Schwinn built with a “detachable” kick stand.


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## GTs58 (Jul 16, 2022)

Rivnut said:


> If you figure out what model it is, it could be on of the bikes that Schwinn built with a “detachable” kick stand.
> 
> View attachment 1663812




The stand on his bike has a 3x3 x 1/4"? piece of plate steel for the top clamping. The model was most likely a standard Hornet or the Spitfire. Both had the bolt on stands and the rolled stems. And the feather guard and painted rims.


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## Flingdangle (Jul 16, 2022)

So that 3x3x1/4" plate isoem?


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## GTs58 (Jul 16, 2022)

Flingdangle said:


> So that 3x3x1/4" plate is oem?



Oh heavens no.


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## Rivnut (Jul 16, 2022)

GTs58 said:


> View attachment 1663814



Hornet? If so, what year?  I’m working on a ‘54 that will (hopefully) look just like this when I’m finished with it.  Why is it when you try to work on more than one bike at a time, you seem to work backwards?


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## GTs58 (Jul 16, 2022)

Rivnut said:


> Hornet? If so, what year?  I’m working on a ‘54 that will (hopefully) look just like this when I’m finished with it.  Why is it when you try to work on more than one bike at a time, you seem to work backwards?




It's a nice 1955 Spitfire. 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/324909038183?campid=5335809022


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## Rivnut (Jul 16, 2022)

Should have looked closer. The Hornet has a tank, truss rods, and headlamp. But still has a detachable kickstand.  I’ve had it disassembled for so long, I’ve forgotten how it was equipped - except for that odd detachable kickstand.


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## Flingdangle (Jul 17, 2022)

Hey GTs58, 
What pedals are on your green girls bike? Are they correct? Are they waffle type?


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## GTs58 (Jul 17, 2022)

Flingdangle said:


> Hey GTs58,
> What pedals are on your green girls bike? Are they correct? Are they waffle type?




Check out the eBay listing of that Spitfire that's in my post. The seller also has/had that for sale here on the Cabe.


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## Jeff54 (Jul 17, 2022)

Flingdangle said:


> Hey guys, when you look at the second picture of my bike at the beginning of the thread, you can see a square piece of steel that holds my kickstand on. Is that correct?



As far as I know, Schwinn wasn't bragging about the post war detachable kickstand. Whis is no surprize B/C they can squeeze the two small bars in untill they'll never get tight and right. Prewar they used Miller brand and would have had a narrower rectangle steel plate almost half the width your square is. .

Yours would of, should of, had this post war Miller (Improved? maybe but others were crappier and squeezed in the mount worse) in photos below except this is photo is for a 24" Juvenal.


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## Rivnut (Jul 17, 2022)

Yes, waffle pedals.  I disassembled them, cleaned up everything, but still have to try and clean some white paint off one surface of two of the pedal blocks. When I got the bike the ENTIRE bike had been painted white with red and blue stars painted on it.  I bought it from a professor at the University of Kansas who rode it to class every day. I bought it for the new tires and unique rear rack. He told me that he painted it that way so that 1) no one would want to steal it or 2) if it were stolen, it would be easy to find.


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## GTs58 (Jul 17, 2022)

I've seen three different types of pedals on the middleweight Spitfires, and I don't have a clue of what was the actual factory issue/spec... The 1955 catalog images of the Spit, Hornets and some others depict these pedals.


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## bloo (Jul 17, 2022)

Those look like Torrington to me, and most likely rebuildable. The picture omits the outside view on both pedals so you can't tell for sure, but most Torringtons are. Most waffle pedals are disposable things that cannot be taken apart.


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## Jeff54 (Jul 17, 2022)

Rivnut said:


> Yes, waffle pedals.  I disassembled them, cleaned up everything, but still have to try and clean some white paint off one surface of two of the pedal blocks. When I got the bike the ENTIRE bike had been painted white with red and blue stars painted on it.  I bought it from a professor at the University of Kansas who rode it to class every day. I bought it for the new tires and unique rear rack. He told me that he painted it that way so that 1) no one would want to steal it or 2) if it were stolen, it would be easy to find.



I don't think Schwinn had waffle pedals yet in 55. I checked my hornet and had forgot mine were replaced wit reflector newer. 

However, first photo below Ebay has it correct: Seller does not show the Schwinn or maybe AS  stamp on side cups but, these look like they will. this set looks are pretty scrappy but I put link below so, if they have Schwinn's stamp on the ends, that's what U should have.  Ask seller to show them. I have a 55 girl ballooner set but caps are too crappy to say if AS or Schwinn is stamped in the caps.  and of course, size makes a difference between girl and boy's

It's pretty much the same, not to chop em down B/C Schwinn are usually better than other makes.  But for Schwin they are rather standard 50's low end set. 

In 58 last photo below, it's the same rubber blocks but, these will not have a nut at ends rather it's a cheaper modern push washer/ lock thing verses more workable nut. . 




https://www.ebay.com/itm/133971178088?campid=5335809022

This is next generation 58/9 Ebay auction title:  "Schwinn Deluxe Spitfire 1/2" Pedals 1958". Says from a Deluxe but, these  types did not have Deluxe pedals. Last two photos below:


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## Flingdangle (Jul 17, 2022)

Wow, thanks you guys. I appreciate you posting these pictures Jeff. I was just thinking that somebody needs to start a thread. A Schwinn timeline for pedals with pictures and bike models each pedal was used on. I've looked all over the web and that information has been really hard to find.


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## Flingdangle (Jul 17, 2022)

Hey Jeff, I found these on ebay. Is this the end cap you're talking about?


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## Flingdangle (Jul 17, 2022)

I was looking at these too but couldn't pull the trigger at $195.00 They're repops but they're the only ones I've ever seen.


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## bloo (Jul 17, 2022)

The ones labeled "Juvenile" are going to be really small. I think it is time for some rash generalizations. "Men,s" pedals have pads about 4" long. "Ladies" pedals have pads about 3-1/4" inches long. The pedal is otherwise identical, just shorter. "Juvenile" pedals are also about 3-1/4" long, but the pads are closer in towards the axle. The end plates are shorter and the spindles are closer together.

These names, ,"Mens" and "Ladies", seem to follow 26" bike practice. "Ladies" pedals are also often found on boys "Juvenile" bikes (think of 24" bikes, back when they were for small children). "Juvenile" pedals must have been for really small bikes, maybe 20" when they were for little tikes on training wheels. Maybe. There isn't much reason to use them instead of "Ladies" pedals since they are about the same length. That probably all went out the window when people of all sizes got on 20 inch bikes with banana seats.

I don't have any idea what Schwinn's policy was about all of this pedal sizing, but I worked on a lot of bikes when I was a kid, and I have not ever seen many sets of "Juvenile" pedals. I feel sure that is not what you want for the bike this thread is about. 4 inch blocks (or something real close) are the ticket.


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## Jeff54 (Jul 18, 2022)

bloo said:


> The ones labeled "Juvenile" are going to be really small. I think it is time for some rash generalizations. "Men,s" pedals have pads about 4" long. "Ladies" pedals have pads about 3-1/4" inches long. The pedal is otherwise identical, just shorter. "Juvenile" pedals are also about 3-1/4" long, but the pads are closer in towards the axle. The end plates are shorter and the spindles are closer together.
> 
> These names, ,"Mens" and "Ladies", seem to follow 26" bike practice. "Ladies" pedals are also often found on boys "Juvenile" bikes (think of 24" bikes, back when they were for small children). "Juvenile" pedals must have been for really small bikes, maybe 20" when they were for little tikes on training wheels. Maybe. There isn't much reason to use them instead of "Ladies" pedals since they are about the same length. That probably all went out the window when people of all sizes got on 20 inch bikes with banana seats.
> 
> I don't have any idea what Schwinn's policy was about all of this pedal sizing, but I worked on a lot of bikes when I was a kid, and I have not ever seen many sets of "Juvenile" pedals. I feel sure that is not what you want for the bike this thread is about. 4 inch blocks (or something real close) are the ticket.



Yeah, you are right about Schwinn girl sized and boy's.  With Juvenile 20 and 24" sized wheel/frame,  the Pedals are same as girl's pedals.
I would guess to say only this; Maybe, smaller kiddy, 16 or 14" bikes kind-a, I mean, ought to be, smaller but IDK.

The AS  pedal set, I do not think are correct for a 1955 of your model type. I do not know if they are earlier, fantasy repop? or what. Plus When that AS is on Schwinn pedals then, I believe it's a deluxe model and not a chance in H, would be on any standard models. U know? except dealer/owner up-grade switch-a-roo.  But I do know that, as I have shown in previous post, the 1958 set with push-lock washer has close to what yours would have but and it is not flat rather, it's cup, and as U can see it the photo below, the cup has a ring around it, and I think it wasn't intended to be influenced by, but  the top pedal at side angle, like an old 1950's flying saucer shape. And just may be the same as the ebay set, but that's too small for you. 

Yet for spits and giggles, I'm gonna run wit it.

Circa 1958 Schwinn flying saucer bearing cup petals. Mah, ha, ha!
Now B/C I am way back-logged in 100's and hundreds of photos unrelated to bikes, waiting to be taken, I am not set up to make a photo of mine. BUT, a little imagination if you will:

The 1958, as I took a closer check on my 55 pedals, are not quite 'flying saucer' Rather, the cup is a bit deeper, wider and with thinner ring than the 58 has. I can not drag mine out currently too. It's not bashed in but too rusty to see any stamp on the cup, there might be one. .

Regardless, I'm adding the photo of 1958 so U can see the round cup and ya only need Imagination to understand; in 1955 it is similar but the 58 makes a better flying saucer impression. 55 cup is wider, taller and ring around it is thinner than 58. Not to leave out, again, before 58-ish, nuts and bolts verses this push-lock ring. Which is like that ebay set. I just can not be sure as mine are to rusty to see any marks. 





circa


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## Flingdangle (Jul 18, 2022)

All good information guys. Thanks again!


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