In the Air - 2012/05

10 Model Aviation May 2012 www.ModelAviation.com
Membership news and updates
from AMA Headquarters intheA ir
A First for Joe Nall: Control Line
For more than 30 years, the annual
event in South Carolina, known
throughout the country as “the Joe
Nall” (www.joenall.com), has attracted
the who’s who of aeromodeling to a
spectacular facility provided by Pat
Hartness.
More than 1,000 RC pilots will attend
this year’s event, May 12-19. Joining
the lineup for the first time will be CL
circles. “I may not be the best Control
Line pilot on the planet,” said Mark
Weiss of the Starrliners CL Club from
Whitehall, Maryland, “but I do know
that grabbing a handle for the first time
is a wonderful sensation and experience.”
Weiss, a 50-year aeromodeler, who
started in CL, moved to Radio Control
(RC), and then came back to CL, will
help attendees enjoy the fun of tethered
aircraft, some of which will be hybrid
CL/RC aircraft utilizing a transmitter.
—Chris Brooks
Public Relations and Development
Director
CSI Flight Adventures Exhibit
Opens
Aviation enthusiasts of all ages
gathered in Indianapolis
February 24 and 25 to celebrate the
grand opening of Curious Scientific
Investigators (CSI): Flight Adventures at
the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
More than 8,500 people attended the
two-day event, which kicked off
with a special gathering for museum
members and donors. The exhibit,
a collaborative effort between the
children’s museum, AMA, and the
National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA),
opened to the general public
on February 25.
“It was a very nice
grand opening,” said
Bill Pritchett, AMA education director.
The grand opening took flight with
the premieres of “Wings Over Indiana”
and CSI Flight Adventures on February
24. Museum patrons and donors also
were treated an indoor air show.
Bill and National Model Aviation
Museum Director Michael Smith
flew RC aircraft in the cafeteria while
roughly 500 people enjoyed a buffet.
“Wings Over Indiana” is a special
episode of WFYI television show
Indiana Expeditions, which is hosted by
science teacher Rick Crosslin. CSI Flight
Adventures is a planetarium show about
a girl who learns about model and fullscale
aviation.
The Flight Adventures multimedia
show and experience was made possible
through a $597,000 NASA Competitive
Program for Science Museums and
Planetariums grant. The funds were
largely used to purchase special
equipment needed to show CSI Flight
Adventures in the planetarium.
The unveiling of the Flight
Adventures experience to the public
began February 25 with speeches by
children’s museum CEO and president,
Dr. Jeffrey H. Patchen, AMA ambassador
and retired astronaut Robert “Hoot”
Gibson, and Stephanie Brown-Houston
of the NASA Glenn Research Center.
Special guests included Amelia Earhart
and Wilbur Wright impersonators, and
AMA and museum officials.
Children at the event tested a wind
tunnel built by Rick, and built and flew
FPG9s. They also had the chance to
view the planetarium show, which had
a full house for each of the showings,
Bill said. Attendees also viewed model
aircraft on display, and got autographs
from Hoot Gibson.
AMA Thanks Its
Lifetime Supporters
The Academy recently welcomed
Life Members Tighe Kuykendall,
Summerville SC; Jason Scully,
Seekonk MA; David Corning, Castle
Rock CO; Christopher Blanchard,
Broussard LA; Philip Smith, Las
Vegas NV; Chris F. Sussek, Reeseville
WI; and Tom Hoerig, Phoenix AZ.
For information about becoming
a Life Member, contact AMA
Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.
—AMA Membership Department
www.ModelAviation.com May 2012 Model Aviation 11
While reflecting on the grand opening
and the project, Bill said, “I was just very
proud of the AMA and our opportunity
to be a part of it.”
For more information, visit www.
childrensmuseum.org/flightadventures.
—MA staff
AMA Flight School Wins Award
The advertising campaign for an
AMA program designed to teach
youngsters about flight has won two
awards from the Indianapolis chapter of
the American Advertising Foundation.
The Basement Design + Motion received
gold and silver ADDY Awards for online
program AMA Flight School.
“We are very much indebted to
our creative partners, BasementTV,
for developing such a vibrant and
effective online teaching tool,” said Bill
Pritchett, AMA’s Education director
and coproducer of the project. AMA
new media/Web designer, Mark Benson,
also helped produce the program.
“We think the many thousands
of youngsters who are sparked
by aviation will really take to this
technology,” Bill said.
The AMA Flight School campaign,
which launched January 11, 2012,
received a gold award for Advertising
for the Arts–Interactive, and a silver
award for Elements of Advertising–
Illustration, Campaign. Basement
Design + Motion, Indianapolis,
received the award at a February 24
ceremony.
AMA Flight School is narrated
by AMA ambassador Robert
“Hoot” Gibson and teaches lessons
in aeronautics to children of early
elementary school age. Colorful
cartoon characters educate youngsters
about lift, drag, thrust, and weight.
AMA officials hope to continue to
develop the program and make it also
appropriate for older children.
The Indianapolis chapter of the
Advertising Federation of America is
the second-oldest chapter.
To check out AMA Flight School
visit www.modelaircraft.org/education/
amaflightschool/index.html.
—MA staff
History Preserved
What do we know about the
Airplane Model League of
America (AMLA)? It’s not much. From
a variety of sources, the following has
been gleaned about this large group
that seemed to disappear as quickly as it
emerged:
According to a 1929 Aero Digest
article, AMLA was “conceived and
organized” in September of 1927 by
Griffith Ogden Ellis, then-editor of The
American Boy magazine. It swiftly built
a following of eager young modelers.
A letter from Mitchell Charnley
of The American Boy’s editorial
department, sent to Mr. Neely, general
Kids try out a flight simulator at the grand opening of Curious Scientific Investigators: Flight Adventures at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
The multimedia experience is a partnership between the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and the AMA. Chris Brooks photo.
12 Model Aviation May 2012 www.ModelAviation.com
manager of the National Aeronautic
Association (NAA), dated May 29,
1929, read:
“During the eighteen months since
the League was organized by The
American Boy, under National
Aeronautic Association auspices,
to further youthful interest in
and knowledge of aviation, it
has enrolled more than 300,000
members; it has distributed
millions of plans for building
scientific flying models; it has
answered 400,000 letters from
enthusiastic young model
builders. It is
conducting
the national
contests for the
second time
this year, and
for the second
time sending
the winners to
Europe, as well
as offering more
than 300 prizes
in cash, medals,
cups, trophies,
scholarships, and
other awards. It has
the cooperation
and backing of
Commander
[Richard] Byrd,
William B.
Stout, Clarence
Chamberlin, William
P. MacCracken, and
other leading figures in
1929 aviation.”
By 1930, membership
was roughly a halfmillion
youth. Merrill
C. Hamburg, AMLA Secretary
and airplane model editor of The
American Boy, wrote the AMLA
Manual for Model Plane Builders. Sold
to members for 5 cents, the manual
explained tools and materials, how to
construct models, a diagram of model
The AMLA contest winners visited the White House. (L-R) Ehrhardt, Lamb,
President Hoover, Hamburg (AMLA secretary), Feinberg, Klazura, and Haas
(The American Boy staff). Source: The American Boy: Youth’s Companion
magazine, September 1931, #0001 AMA Collection, National Model Aviation
Museum Archives.
parts of indoor tractor models and
outdoor twin pushers, the flying sticks
and Scale models available, and what
AMLA offered to help in the modeling
process. Parts sold by 1929 included
a Baby ROG kit for 65 cents and an
Outdoor Twin Pusher
for $3.
The First National
Airplane Model
League of America
Contest, which was
sanctioned by the
NAA, had 300 fliers.
The Indoor and
Outdoor winners
received trips to
Europe, sponsored
by The American
Boy. The Scale
winner received a trip to the
National Air Races in California, paid for
by Aero Digest. By the second year of the
competition, all first-place winners were
sent to exhibit their airplanes in Paris
and travel through Europe. We consider
these contests to be the beginnings of
today’s Nats.
By the third Airplane Model League
of America National Championships, in
1930, NAA cosponsorship was needed
to help cover rising costs. The fourth
contest, conducted by AMLA and
sponsored by George D. Wanner and
Company, was held in Dayton, Ohio.
In 1932, the AMLA contests were
sponsored by Bamberger & Company
department stores and held in Atlantic City,
New Jersey.
However, by 1933, Charles Hampson
Grant arranged for the events to be held
in New York, cosponsored by Model
Airplane News, and run by the NAA.
Sometime after 1932, the AMLA
waned and disappeared. It was the
Depression and money was tight. Other
model airplane groups existed, but we
still do not know what caused AMLA’s
final demise.
We need to fill in some blanks. If you
have papers concerning the AMLA you
would like to donate, or have a story to
tell, please let us know. Email jackies@
modelaircraft.org, or call (765) 287-
1256, ext. 511.
—National Model Aviation Museum Staff
inthe A ir