In the Air
National Model Aviation Day
To celebrate the history of model aviation, clubs across the country are invited to participate in National Model Aviation Day on August 17, 2013. This nationwide celebration of model aviation has been established to commemorate and promote the hobby, and to support a great cause.
The AMA and all participating clubs are asked to help raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Not only will the inaugural event be a celebration of a hobby we love, but it is an opportunity to introduce model aviation to your friends, family, and community members, and a chance to support a worthy cause.
All AMA chartered clubs are encouraged to sign up to participate. Members across the country have reached out to share their ideas and to get more information about the event. We are excited to convey this information.
To take part in the inaugural celebration, please visit www.nationalmodelaviationday.org to register your club for free. Clubs must be registered to receive the many benefits of participation. Some of these benefits include:
- You will have access to the National Model Aviation Day club resources page where you will be able to download materials to help promote your event, find fundraising ideas, receive educational activity information, learn details about supporting the Wounded Warrior Project, and more.
- Your club will be included in National Model Aviation Day ads in Model Aviation.
- Publicity for your event will be shared on the AMA blogs, on AMA social media sites, and through AMA’s electronic publications including AMA Today.
- You will receive special AMA membership offers.
- Your club will be formally recognized with a certificate of participation from the Academy of Model Aeronautics’ Executive Council.
Clubs wishing to participate must register by August 1, 2013, but are encouraged to sign up sooner so that we can share information about the event. If your club has already planned an event for this date, we encourage you to tie National Model Aviation Day in with your activities.
By supporting this national event, your club can help the AMA in its mission of promoting the hobby and introducing newcomers to its many positive aspects. Special membership promotions will be provided to registered clubs to help promote the hobby and build your clubs’ membership.
More details about National Model Aviation Day will be released on the AMA website, in MA, and in AMA Today.
If you have any questions, please contact Mandee Mikulski, at (765) 287-1256, extension 277.
—Mandee Mikulski Development Communications Coordinator
displayed in the store’s window.
My cousin, Ed Beshar, who was 10 years older than me, was a prolific builder of microfilm indoor models and outdoor models, as well as a competitor at the New York City armory with Carl Goldberg and other accomplished modelers. Some of his trophies are on display in the National Model Aviation Museum in Muncie, Indiana.
In 1937, Ed opened a hobby shop in New York City on 54th Street, named it Beshar Models, and kitted some of his designs including the Alpha Corsair and Yankee. One day when I went to visit his hobby shop, Ed generously offered me a kit of his Alpha Corsair design, which had won many contests. It had a 5-foot, 8-inch wingspan and was priced at $4.75. He said if I built it he would give me a Brown D engine for it.
I was inspired, because all I had built until that time were small, rubber-powered, stick-and-tissue models. This was my opportunity for a gas-powered FF model—a real challenge. I went to work diligently and succeeded in completing the model’s skeletal framework.
Elated, I put on my Sunday suit and had a photo taken with my Kodak box camera. I went to Ed’s hobby shop with the photo and he gave me a Brown D engine. I was thrilled! I now had the potential to complete my first gas model. I successfully completed the model with the Brown D installed and took it to the local flying field in East Paterson, New Jersey. I attempted to fly the model, but it spiraled in on its first flight and was destroyed.
I went on, still an addicted, but determined, modeler. From the accumulated funds from building 10¢ kits at the hobby shop, I bought a Comet Mercury kit and an Ohlsson .23 engine. I completed the Comet Mercury, installed the Ohlsson .23, and attended the first Brooklyn Skyscraper contest held in Creedmoor, Long Island, New York, in 1939. Among roughly 100 entries, I placed first in Class B.
In August of 1940 I established a new Class A FF world record in Poughkeepsie, New York, using a 15-second engine run with a Bantam .19, flying two flights totaling 49 minutes, 48 seconds. I flew the model out of sight on the second flight, and it was found a month later in North Adams, Massachusetts, by a hunter.
I built a modern-day version of the Alpha Corsair, powered with an electric motor with a two- or three-cell LiPo battery in place of the original Brown D gas engine. Plans for the Alpha Corsair are available from the AMA Plans Service (page 147) or from Roland Friestadt, 1640 Kellogg St., Galesburg IL, 61401.
I hope the availability of modern materials will encourage craftsmanship and creativity as you build.
—Joe Beshar
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
