ESTABLISHED IN 1969, the Model Aviation Hall of Fame
honors those men and women who have made significant
contributions to the sport of aeromodeling.
The list of members is long and distinguished.
Contributions may be in volunteer or administrative
activities, product development, competition performance, or
a variety or combination of activities.
The selection committee is composed of past and present
AMA presidents and one individual selected from each of
the 11 districts by the respective vice presidents. Each year,
the new class is inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of
Fame, and the winners are announced in Model Aviation
magazine.
Any AMA member can submit a Hall of Fame
nomination. For a nomination form or further information,
contact Michael Smith: (765) 287-1256, ext. 500.
The committee has selected the following modelers to the
2002 Model Aviation Hall of Fame.
Charlie Bauer, 72, began modeling in the
mid-1930s. In 1939 he won his first contest
with a Free Flight (FF) model Carl
Goldberg helped him build. Early in his
aeromodeling career Charlie was a member
of the Chicago Vultures, a FF and Control
Line (CL) model club.
Charlie continued flying CL model
airplanes while in the service from 1952 to
1954. After the service, Charlie worked for
TopFlite Models designing models such as
the J-3 Cub, the Elder 20 and 40, and the
Hot Kanary. He designed the P-82 for Wing
Manufacturing and the Fun Fighter series
for Four Pi, Inc.
While at TopFlite, Charlie produced
MonoKote videotapes teaching thousands of
modelers how to cover with MonoKote. He
has given many club demonstrations on this
topic throughout the Midwest.
Charlie found success in the National
Aeromodeling Championships (Nats)
competition as well. He was one of the first
modelers to win with a ducted-fan CL
model at the Nats. He has won many
trophies at the Nats throughout his
aeromodeling career.
Charlie was one of the first modelers to
use electronic control boxes in CL Scale. He
is proud to have been a club officer for the
Chicago Aero Angels for many years and
has served as AMA District VI vice
president.
Dave Gierke, 61, first began building
model airplanes at the age of seven. He
obtained his first engine and started flying
CL in 1952. He joined AMA in 1956 when
he entered his first contest.
Concentrating on CL Speed and Stunt,
Dave wrote his first magazine article in
1967 for American Modeler. During the
next decade, he designed, built, and
competed with many new models in CL and
Radio Control (RC). Many of his designs
were published in magazines.
Dave developed experimental apparatus
and techniques used to help understand and
improve miniature engines. Many of these
are described in technical articles he wrote.
In 1992, Dave became a contributing
editor for Model Airplane News and his
column “RPM” (Real Performance
Measurement) provides answers to
problems associated with the design,
operation, and maintenance of engines. His
book, 2-Stroke Glow Engines for RC
Aircraft (1994), continues to receive
enthusiastic reviews from readers across the
spectrum of model aviation.
Dave won the High Appearance Points
award for Stunt in two Nats and received
first place 13 times at the Toledo Weak
Signals RC Expo with his models.
As an educator, Dave credits model
airplanes for helping to motivate his high
school students to many science and
engineering achievements throughout his
34-year career. Dave was honored as New
York State’s Teacher of the Year in 1978.
John Hunton, 70, first began modeling at
age seven. He competed in various
categories including CL Speed, Jet Speed,
Stunt, Combat, and FF between 1946 and
the 1970s.
After serving briefly as a tool design
draftsman at the General Electric jet engine
facility in Evendale, Ohio, John was a US
Army artillery instructor from 1952 to 1954.
In 1960 he graduated from Virginia
Polytechnic Institute with a Bachelor of
Architecture degree. He became a registered
architect in a few states and worked on
many school buildings as a partner of
Musolino and Hunton Architects.
From 1975 to 1981, John was a test pilot
of remotely piloted vehicles for the Melpar
Division of E-Systems where he was also an
aeromechanical engineer. He left that
position to become the senior architect
specialist for the Central Intelligence
Agency in 1981.
John designed the former AMA
Headquarters in Reston, Virginia, and the
present museum facility in Muncie,
Indiana.
Howard Johnson, who passed away on
May 2, 1981, ran his own model airplane
company starting in the 1960s. Originally
called Hi Johnson Model Products, he later
changed his company name to Dynamic
Models. He first produced slot car
accessories and gas-powered RC cars.
Eventually, Hi (as he was called)
produced plastics and foam products for
model airplanes. To help his business, Hi
developed his own foam-cutting machines
that would produce the truest and straightest
wing possible. Dynamic Models also
produced model engines. Hi conducted
research about the lift and drag of airfoils.
Though Hi didn’t start his own business
until the 1960s, he began manufacturing
airplane kits, engines, and components in
the 1940s. He worked for various
manufacturers including Burbank
Manufacturing, the Henry Engineering
Company, and Kehnhi Model Products. In
1956, Hi acquired tooling and license for
Orwick engines.
Hi was killed in a soaring accident in
1981 when his glider went down near
Pearblossom, California.
L.F. (Randy) Randolph, 77, got his start in
model aviation when he received a model
airplane on his ninth birthday. His interest
was piqued and he began building and
flying models with friends in the local
schoolyard. By the summer of 1942, he had
a job working as a shipping clerk for Johnny
Clemens, which allowed him a discount on
model supplies.
Randy joined the US Navy in 1943 and
found that CL supplies were the most
available during that time. When he
returned from service in 1946, he became a
member of the newly formed Cliff Model
Club and at one time or another held all club
offices.
In the early 1950s, Randy’s interest
moved to RC model airplanes, especially
since he held an amateur radio license. He
bought his first RC equipment with the prize
money he received after winning the Clipper
Cargo event at the Nats in the early 1950s.
Randy took a break from aeromodeling
while raising a family. When he got back
into model aviation the second time, he
joined the Dallas RC Club and has held
every elected position in the club and
published the club’s newsletter.
After his first two construction articles
were published, Randy challenged himself
to do better and has now published more
than 420 articles. During this time he
formed the Small Model Airplane Lovers
League (SMALL) with friend Joe Wagner.
The club has a Web site, an E-mail
newsletter, and tens of thousands of
members worldwide. It has no dues and no
officers.
Randy has served AMA as a Contest
Board member, Contest Coordinator, and
assistant vice president of District VIII. He is
an AMA Leader Member and received the
AMA’s Superior Service Award in 1986.
Randy is proud to still have the original
AMA number issued to him in 1941.
Model Aviation Hall of Fame Recipients
1969
Walter Billett
Carl Goldberg
Charles H. Grant
Willis C. Brown
Walter A. Good
N. E. “Jim” Walker
Frank Zaic
1970
Dick Korda
Al Lewis
Bill Winter
1971
None
1972
Howard McEntee
1973
Ocie Randall
1974
William L. Brown
William R. Enyart
Irwin S. Polk
Nathan Polk
Sal Taibi
1975
Irwin Ohlsson
C.O. Wright
Walt Schroder
Jim Kirkland
Lieut. Harold W. “John”
Alden
1976
Harold deBolt
Frank Ehling
Merrill C. Hamburg
Chester Lanzo
Henry Struck
1977
John W. Brodbeck
Maynard L. Hill
Bert Pond
Peter J. Sotich
Ken Willard
1978
Duke Fox
Phil Kraft
E. T. Packard
Leon Shulman
John Worth
1979
John E. Clemens
Claude McCullough
L. Glen Sigafoose
Matthew A.
“Matty” Sullivan
Bill Wisniewski
1980
Sidney Axelrod
Kenneth G. Held
Edward J. Lorenz
Fred W. Megow
Ben Shershaw
1981
Mel Anderson
Leroy M. Cox
Robert L. Palmer
Louis J. Andrews
Edward J. Lidgard
1982
William E. Atwood
James Dale Kirn
Joseph S. Ott
Edward L. Rockwood
Wally Simmers
Stephen
Calhoun “Cal” Smith
1983
Maxwell B.
(Max) Bassett
Clarence F. Lee
Joseph John Lucas
Dick McCoy
Lee Renaud
1984
George M. Aldrich
Myrtle Robbers-Coad
George Perryman
Granger Williams and
Lawrence Williams
1985
Walt Caddell
Owen Kampen
Frank Nekimken
Dick Sarpolus
Victor and Joe Stanzel
1986
Bill Effinger
Dick Everett
Paul Guillow
Gordon Light
Dan Pruss
1987
Frank L. Cummings Jr.
William C. Hannan
Robert Hatschek
Robert Holland
Walter Musciano
William “Bill” Northrop
William Hewitt Phillips
John Pond
Louis Proctor
Joseph Raspante
1988
Donald Clark
Keith Shaw, 55, began flying FF model
airplanes in the early 1950s and added CL
aircraft to his hobby in the mid-1950s. By
the end of the decade, Keith had designed
and built his own vacuum tube RC control
system. He continued to perfect the system
into an early quasi-digital system in 1964
and a home-designed, four-channel digital
in 1967.
Keith began competing in 1964 and has
not stopped. In 1975 he became interested in
Electric flight and by 1980 started to build,
seriously compete, and show the potential of
Electric flight at air shows.
Keith has been a member of the
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
(FAI) Electric Team Selection Committee
since its inception and a member of the
AMA Electric Contest Board since it was
formed. He is also a Contest Director (CD)
and club officer.
Keith has had eight how-to articles
published in national magazines and was a
columnist for Model Airplane News. He is
currently a columnist for E-Zone, a virtual
electric magazine. Keith’s work has been
published in local and national newsletters
as well.
Keith received his undergraduate degree
from Bowling Green State University in
Kentucky and his graduate degrees from the
University of Michigan. He currently works
for the University of Michigan as a research
physicist/engineer in the biophysics research
division.
Jack R. Sheeks, 69, started modeling
around age eight or nine but didn’t fly in his
first contest until after he returned from
service in the US Navy in the mid-1950s.
He won second place with a Sterling Profile
in his first contest and then began building
his own designs 1961.
Jack’s first published design, the Stuka
Stunter, ran in Flying Models in 1963. Since
that first publication, he has published
roughly 70 articles and designs for Stunt,
Sport Scale, and Scale models in CL and
RC.
To make up for lost time as a child, Jack
has competed in most of the Nats during the
last 40 years. He has judged Stunt and Scale
at the Nats and won more than 25 trophies
in national competition. Jack placed first in
Precision Scale at an FAI team trial. He is a
two-time winner of Old-Timer Stunt and
placed second through fourth many other
times.
Jack competed with the US Scale Team
in 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996. He has been
the CD of the Control Line Scale event at
the Nats and FAI Stunt Team Trials and
many local and regional CL events.
Jack has been involved with teaching
children and adults how to build and fly CL,
RC, and FF models. For 11 years he owned
a hobby shop where he held club meetings,
building sessions, and classes.
Robert D. Stalick, 65, began aeromodeling
while in grade school and has continued in
the hobby while working in education in
Oregon. Bob, who graduated from the
University of Oregon in 1960, got his first
teaching job at Albany High School in
Oregon.
On his first day at the school he met with
a couple of other modelers who were talking
about starting a club, the Williamette
Modelers Clubs of Oregon (WMC). Bob
became one of the club’s founding
members. He has remained involved with
this club and served as secretary and
treasurer.
Since 1962, he has been editor of the
club’s newsletter, WMC Patter. This
newsletter is the longest-running continuous
club newsletter in the Northwest and
features information relating to FF activities
as well as club information.
Bob became a CD in the mid-1960s and
has directed many of his club’s Outdoor and
Indoor contests. In 1996 he was the CD of
Bill Gough
Jim Richmond
Dale Root
Hazel Sig-Hester
Henry A. Thomas
Frank Tlush and
Charles Tlush
Elbert J.
“Joe” Weathers
Dolly Wischer
1989
Joseph Bilgri
W. L.
“Woody” Blanchard
Frank Garcher
Earl F. Stahl
Cliff Weirick
1990
Joe Beshar
Paul Boyer
James “Jim” Cahill
Carl Fries
Milton Huguelet
1991
William “Bill” Bishop
Howard Bonner
Joseph W. Foster
Don Lowe
John Tatone
1992
Hurst G. Bowers
Charles Tracy
Earl Witt
1993
Merrick S. “Pete”
Andrews
Robert A. Champine
Bud Romak
Norman Rosenstock
William Austin Wylam
1994
None
1995
Robert Boucher
Dr. Ralph C. Brooke
Vic Cunnyngham
Ed Izzo
Frank Hoover
1996
Joseph Bridi
William “Bill” Cannon Jr.
Art Laneau
Dave Platt
Bob Violett
1997
Roy Mayes
Francis McElwee
John C. Patton
Robert Underwood
Robert Wischer
Neil Armstrong
1998
Bob Aberle
Jack Albrecht
Everet Angus
George Buso
John Grigg
Maxey Hester
Howard E. Johnson
Joe Kovel
Vernon Krehbiel
Austin Leftwich
Gerald
“Jerry” Nelson
William Netzeband
Frank Parmenter
Len Purdy
Edward Roberts
Art Schroeder
George Steiner
Keith Storey
1999
Arthur Adamisin
Edward Beshar
Roy L Clough Jr.
Robert Dunham
John Frisoli
C. Leslie Hard
Ronald Morgan
Harold Parenti
Robert Sifleet
Wayne Yeager
Nick Ziroli Sr.
2000
Robert Bienenstein
Roland Boucher
Edward
Daniel Calkin
Joseph Elgin
Robert Gialdini
Ed Henry
Robin Hunt
George A. Reich
Robert W. Rich
Richard J. Sherman
Joe Wagner
LeRoy Weber
Jon Zaic
2001
Oba St. Clair
Joel Danner “Dan”
Bunch
George Brown Jr.
Fred Reese
Stuart Richmond
J. C. Yates
Fred Marks
Francis Reynolds
Peter Waters
Herb Kothe
Jim Alaback
2002
Charlie Bauer
Dave Gierke
John Hunton
Howard Johnson
L.F.
(Randy) Randolph
Keith Shaw
Jack R. Sheeks
Robert D. Stalick
Bryant Thompson
Abram Van Dover
Mickey Walker
Riley Wooten
the Indoor World Championships in
Moscow, Idaho. Bob also served on the FAI
Free Flight Team Selection Program during
the 1970s and was its chairman for two
years.
Bob is proud to be a founding member of
the National Free Flight Society (NFFS) and
served as its first president then later as a
member of its board. He was again elected
president in 1997. Bob also promoted the
founding of the Society of Antique
Modelers and is responsible for naming the
organization.
Bob earned his master’s and doctorate
degrees from the University of Oregon and
spent most of his career working in the
Albany schools, eventually becoming the
superintendent. After retiring in 1995, Bob
worked in education research at the
University of Oregon and then as the
interim deputy state superintendent.
Bob was AMA District XI vice president
from 1966 to 1972 and served as the
Scholarship Committee chairman from 1972
to 1982. He has also written articles for
various modeling magazines, including
columns in American Aircraft Modeler and
Model Builder.
Bryant Thompson, 74, started building
model airplanes in 1938. He progressed
from stick-and-tissue models to CL models
before enlisting in the US Air Force in
1947.
In 1949, Bryant won second place in CL
Scale at the Nats with the first four-engine
CL model to be flown at any Nats. Two
years later he flew the first six-engine B-36
at the Nats.
Throughout his modeling career, Bryant
has competed in at least 15 Nats. He has
never won first place but placed high often
and as a result was a four-time member of
the National Team Championship team.
Bryant, who has more than 130 trophies
and plaques, was the Air Force worldwide
champion for four years as well.
During the 1960s, Bryant was involved
with rocket modeling. He set eight national
and one world record then was a member
and team manager of the 1970 FAI model
rocket team.
During his time in the Air Force, Bryant
organized many model clubs on various
bases where he was stationed. His last club
membership was with the Fog Busters of
Fort Bragg, California. He has served as a
club officer for various model clubs
throughout his life.
Bryant became a CD in 1955 and has
directed Nats events including CL Stunt, CL
manager, and Nats manager. He coordinated
the first Trans American Radio Control
Race.
Bryant was a CD for Air Force
aeromodeling events and continued to serve
as CD for Air Force events after his
retirement.
Bryant has had three model airplanes
published, the Chow Hound, Miss Max, and
the Ringer. He has also had RC scale boats
published.
Bryant opened a small hobby shop
outside Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul,
Illinois, in 1965. When he retired from the
Air Force two years later, the shop grew and
eventually he opened another shop in
Champaign, Illinois.
In 1985, Bryant retired, sold both hobby
shops, then went to work in public relations
for Midwest Products. He visited
approximately 200 hobby shops a year. In
January 2000 Bryant became product
manager of Falcon Trading Company, a
subsidiary of Midwest Products dedicated to
the sale of imported Almost Ready-to-Fly
(ARF) RC aircraft.
Bryant has served AMA as District VI
vice president and received AMA’s
Meritorious Service Award in 1985.
Abram Van Dover, 71, got started in
model aviation at age eight when his father
bought him a kit of a Nieuport 28 WW I
biplane. There were no model clubs around
Abram’s hometown, so he didn’t join his
first model club until 1961 when he was at
Fort Rucker in Alabama.
Abram began competing in 1961 and
placed well in his first local contest. He
competed in his first Nats in 1985 and
placed ninth in the FF Wakefield event that
year and the next.
Throughout his aeromodeling career,
Abram has served in various capacities at
the Nats and even directed both Indoor and
Outdoor FF events at the 1995 Nats. Since
1961 he has directed approximately 50
contests at all levels.
Abram has served as vice president and
president of the Brainbusters Club in
Newport News, Virginia. He has been the
club’s newsletter editor since 1981 when he
retired from the US Army after 30 years of
service.
Abram’s writing has been published in
Model Aviation and his work frequently
appears in the NFFS Digest, the publication
of the National Free Flight Society. He has
also taught a model building class at
Denbigh High School in Newport News
since 1994 and has taught model building at
a 4-H camp since 1992.
Abram graduated third in his class from
the US Army Sergeant Major Academy in
1974. He retired from the Army as a
Command Sergeant Major E-9 and spent
most of his military career working in Army
aviation.
Mickey Walker, 71, received a solid model
of Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis in
1936, sparking his love of model aviation.
By 1941 he was building gas models and six
years later he entered his first gas model
contest in Griffin, Georgia, where he won
first place in Class C Gas.
Mickey continued to fly in contests
throughout the Southeast from 1947 through
roughly 1952 when he started flying RC.
His first RC contest was in 1954 and he
continued to compete in RC until the early
1980s when his focus shifted to Society of
Antique Modelers (SAM) events.
Mickey was a charter member of the
Thermal Thumbers Club of Metro Atlanta
(TTOMA) and founded the Senior Pattern
Association (SPA). He has competed in
SPA events every year since 1991.
Mickey joined AMA in 1941 and is now
a CD and Leader Member. He has been in
numerous model airplane clubs and served
in various positions within the clubs.
Mickey started the Cobb County Radio
Control (CCRC) Competition Team in 1970
for people who wanted to fly RC Pattern;
later he served as president.
Mickey has served as president of SAM
Chapter 47 since 1994 and is the editor of
the Dixie Playboys, the newsletter of his
SAM chapter.
In 1972, Mickey opened a hobby supply
store in Cobb County after a former store
went out of business. He kept his shop open
long enough to fill the void and closed in
1978. In 1985, Mickey purchased the rights
from Michael Drozda to remanufacture the
Cobey Wait engine. He stopped production
of this engine in 1987.
Riley Wooten, 68, began his model aviation
career in 1941 by carving solid model
airplanes from old orange crates. He
progressed to gas models and was
competing in CL Stunt and Combat by
1954. He entered his first Nats in 1956 and
found success, particularly in Combat,
which he won six times in the late 1950s
and 1960s.
Riley built and then kitted the first foam
(expanded polystyrene) Combat airplanes in
the early 1960s. His designs won Open
Combat at the Nats from 1965 through
1968. He also designed the popular and
successful Voodoo, which was kitted by
Carl Goldberg Models in 1961.
Riley became an AMA Leader Member
and CD in 1957. He has directed numerous
local, regional, and state contests and
worked as an Event Director at the Nats.
Riley also started several model clubs and
served as officer or president of each of
them.
Riley, who has had articles and designs
published in numerous model aviation
magazines, started Flite Line Products in
1963, first producing CL kits and later
adding RC kits to the company’s line of
products. Flite Line built ready-to-cover RC
models in Mexico under the corporate name
of Model Magnifico during the early 1980s.
He also started Lone Star Models, a mailorder
balsa supplier, in 1981.
