Neil Armstrong
There is little proof of his last confirmed visit to AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana. He didn't sign the banner for the event, he dodged cameras trying to snap photos of him, and he wore sunglasses and a white hat to hide his face.
To those who couldn't make the connection, he looked like an average modeler—taking photos of the event and enjoying a casual day of flying. That's how he wanted it. That's how the first man who walked on the moon lived most of his life.
Retired astronaut and aeromodeler Neil Armstrong passed away on August 25, 2012, at the age of 82 from complications from heart surgery. His last confirmed visit to the International Aeromodeling Center was for the AMA's Celebration of Eagles, held July 6 and 7, 1996.
At the Celebration of Eagles
"I went over to him and introduced myself. We shook hands; we spoke," Norm Rosenstock, AMA Historian, said of meeting Neil at the 1996 event. Norm said Neil came to the event with members of a CL group to which he belonged. Neil lived near Cincinnati, Ohio.
"A guy was taking photos of the event, and whenever he took photos, [Neil] hid," Norm added.
In a photo taken at the event and published in the November 1996 issue of MA, Neil was identified as "former Purdue aeromodeler Neil Armstrong." There was no mention of his historic 1969 walk on the moon.
Dave Thornburg, who wrote that article, said he remembers seeing the retired astronaut at the event, but never approached him. "He was just mobbed every time I saw him."
"He was a very quiet, typical pilot ... withdrawn," Dave added.
"He did kind of hide from the limelight a bit," said retired astronaut and AMA Ambassador Robert "Hoot" Gibson, who knew Neil for more than 30 years.
Model aviation background and Nats appearances
Neil was nominated for and inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame after he attended the 1996 event. Cliff Weirick, who nominated him, had this to say about Neil's presence:
"The Academy enjoyed an unexpected visit during the Celebration of Eagles by Neil, a longtime modeler and friend of aviation. Throughout the day, he chatted with the pioneers of modeling, helped a youngster trim a FF model, and in general, recalled the days that planted the seed in his life for a career that helped shape a new frontier in aviation."
This wasn't the first time Neil had been to an AMA event. Through his research, Dave learned that Neil was part of the U.S. Navy team at the 1949 CL Speed Nats and attended the 1962 Nats. He also attended several Nats held at AMA Headquarters in Muncie, said Bob Underwood, former AMA technical director and executive director.
"He wouldn't necessarily announce himself at events," Bob said. "He was a very, very private person. He would show up and help people with their Free Flight models during the Free Flight Nats. He was frequently at the Nats but people didn't recognize him." Bob, who worked for AMA from 1985 until approximately 2001, said he would sometimes hear of Neil's visits after the fact.
Ron Morgan, who retired this year after more than 50 years as a Nats volunteer, confirmed that Neil occasionally attended the Nats in the 1970s. He said the retired astronaut was known to watch more than just the FF Nats.
It is believed that Neil was once an AMA member, but there are no membership records prior to 1974. Neil is not in the current membership database.
However, according to the June 1984 issue of MA, Neil was a member of the Purdue Aeromodelers club and flew in model aircraft competitions between 1946 and 1950. Neil's model aviation experience is believed to have shaped his future as a naval aviator and astronaut.
Personal recollections
Hoot knew Neil more as an astronaut than an aeromodeler. Neil began training Hoot to become a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut in 1978. They remained friends throughout the years.
"He wasn't just the first man to set foot on the moon. He was a gifted test pilot, an accomplished pilot. He had a personality that I couldn't picture anyone not liking him. You had to love the guy," Hoot said of his friend.
To read more of Hoot Gibson's recollections of this shy man and the astronaut who made a "giant leap for mankind," visit www.ModelAircraft.org/neilarmstrong.
—Rachelle Haughn [email protected]
Valkyrie on Display
“It’s authentic as I can make it,” is what A. Colin McKinley told former museum curator Mike Fulmer in a letter dated November 6, 1992. The “it” he is referencing is his reproduction of Carl Goldberg’s Valkyrie. McKinley donated the finished model to the National Model Aviation Museum in 1993.
Making the Valkyrie reproduction authentic was a big task. Goldberg’s design calls for multispan construction for both the wing and tail surfaces. A similar built-up construction method was employed for the fuselage. The model has a 10-foot wingspan and an 8-foot fuselage. Carl noted in an Air Trails October 1938 article that, “while this construction is not difficult, it is tedious—there being over 1,100 individual pieces in the wing alone.”
Construction details
In his letter to Mike Fulmer, McKinley detailed the construction process: “The under cambered wing and stabilizer were constructed using the sliced rib technique building the upper surface first and putting the spars in. The surfaces were turned upside down and the bottoms of the ribs were put in, the spars installed and finally, the diagonals were put in between the spars.” The round fuselage consists of “a simple 1/8 square box with circular formers finished 1/8 square strips and 1/16 sheet planking.”
McKinley differs from Goldberg’s original in a few aspects. Most notably, he:
- Added plywood reinforcements to the spars in the wings and carbon-fiber tubes for wing joiners.
- Added a thin glass cloth to the unpainted wood on the fuselage before doping.
- Replicated the original white bamboo paper wing covering with white mica film.
- Made the stabilizer removable as well as the wing.
- Built the model as RC rather than FF. Before donating the model to the museum, he removed the radio components and returned it to its FF appearance.
The original Valkyrie
Carl Goldberg’s original Valkyrie dates to 1936–1937. This first gas model, built and designed by Goldberg, featured a wing placed high on a pylon above the fuselage. This was a dramatic departure from FF models of the time, and is something that Goldberg made famous with his Zipper design.
The Valkyrie won second place in the 1937 Nats after a 53-minute flight before disappearing somewhere over the Detroit River near Canada. Although it had only one official Nats flight, Goldberg displayed the model frequently during the build and it was considered an “impending trophy threat,” according to Bob Larsh in his history of the Comet Zipper in Model Airplane News, February 1981.
The Valkyrie reproduction is on display in the museum’s FF exhibit, along with Goldberg’s prototype Zipper and his Sailplane.
—National Model Aviation Museum Staff
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
