Bill Northrop 1922–2012
The second floor of his home was cluttered with airplanes collecting dust. Some hung from the ceiling, a few were on the workbench waiting to be finished, and others never made it out of the box. These were works unfinished from a life that abruptly ended. These are a small part of the legacy of the late William "Bill" Northrop.
"Bill himself was a project that was never quite finished," said Dave Brown, a former AMA president who knew Bill for roughly 40 years. Like many modelers, Bill would start a project, stop working on it, and begin another.
Bill, who was a champion FF and RC competitor, a writer, a magazine publisher, and the founder of a model airplane convention and a plans service, passed away May 25, 2012. A celebration of life ceremony was held for him on September 12, two days before what would have been his 90th birthday.
"I miss him so much. I'm totally lost without him," said Bill's wife of 41 years, Anita Northrop, who was clearly still grieving.
"He was just an all-around good guy," said Jeff Troy, editor of Park Pilot.
Jeff met Bill and Anita through their International Modeler Show (IMS), which they founded in 1978 so there would be a trade show for West Coast modelers. IMS was sold to the AMA in 1998. AMA moved the convention from Pasadena, California, to Ontario, California, and changed the name to AMA Expo.
Jay Mealy, former AMA programs director, said he participated in negotiations for AMA to acquire the show. He said Bill and Anita donated a portion of the money they received from AMA for the sale of the show back to the organization. Jay, who worked for AMA from 1991 to 2008, said, "They were really great people." Jay last saw the couple at the January 2008 AMA Expo.
Many people also knew the couple through their magazine, Model Builder, which Bill and Anita published from 1971 to 1996.
Bill graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, with degrees in aeronautical engineering and architecture. However, engineering jobs were scarce. Shortly after marrying Bill, Anita suggested that he start his own magazine to earn income.
"He told me all about airplanes and RC and I said, 'Why don't we start a magazine?' My aunt and I got some money together and started the magazine," Anita said in a telephone interview from the Henderson, Nevada, home she shared with her husband.
In the beginning, the magazine had no employees other than Anita and Bill. The couple sometimes worked roughly 16 hours a day, seven days a week. "When we started the magazine, we had no subscription manager so I had to change my voice" and pretend she was the subscription manager, Anita said, laughing.
"Model Builder was a real modeler's magazine. It was concise, fun to read, informative. Bill was a modeler, a good publisher, and a good guy," Jeff said.
"I wrote a column in his magazine for a while," Dave said. "If there was an aeromodeling event going on, the chances were 90% that he would be there."
Anita said the couple struggled with the decision to sell the magazine. "I wanted Bill to retire and fly airplanes. We sat down and we cried together, we laughed together. He needed time to play with airplanes. There's a time when you need to let go," she said.
The couple hoped that the new owner of the magazine would continue publishing it and retain all of the employees; however, the new owners soon went bankrupt.
"People are still talking about how [Model Builder] was the best magazine ever," Anita said. "[Bill] was one of the best editors ever."
A big part of Model Builder was the plans service that Bill created. After the couple sold the magazine, Anita said she was adamant about acquiring the plans as a means of support. The plans were auctioned as part of the bankruptcy proceedings, and Bill and Anita were the highest bidders.
Anita still has the plans and continues to take orders. Information about the plans service can be found in the classified ads section of this issue.
"It was a labor of love," Dave said of Bill's plans service.
Some of those airplanes were champions. He liked to scratch-build and compete with large airplanes. One notable achievement was when he set the FF record of 16,610 feet at the 1965 World Radio Control Record Trials.
Although he achieved many things in life, including being inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1988, Bill is most fondly remembered for his personality.
"He was so sweet, so nice, so caring," Anita said. She shared many stories of the fun the couple had together and the funny moments she cherishes.
"He abounded with enthusiasm for aeromodeling—both with his magazine and his plans service," Dave said. "He supported anything that had to do with building model airplanes."
AMA planned to honor Bill with another celebration of life at the AMA Expo in January 2013.
To learn more about Bill, read his autobiography at www.modelaircraft.org/files/NorthropWilliamBill.pdf.
—by Rachelle Haughn [email protected]
In The Air - 2012/12
NASA Loan
The chief of the Aircraft Maintenance and Quality Assurance Branch, Aircraft Operations Division, Johnson Space Center requested the loan of the models, noting that carrying them on the last flight of the SCA would be "both a tribute to him [John Kiker] as well as an educational tool to illustrate the value that models have in demonstrating innovative concepts."
Museum staff members agreed that using artifacts that represent and document the beginning of the Shuttle program to help document its ending adds to the powerful story the artifacts tell. It was powerful enough to put the models' long-term preservation at risk by sending them to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, then across the country and back. A specially built crate helped minimize the risk during transit.
This was not the only time the test models had been displayed with one of their full-scale counterparts. In the early 1980s, when the SCA brought the shuttle prototype Enterprise to Dulles International Airport, photographs were taken of the Enterprise with the 1/40-scale test models. The image appeared in a May 1986 Model Aviation article written by Luther Hux to commemorate the donation of Enterprise to the National Air and Space Museum.
On the final trip, the 747 and space shuttle test models were installed in the cabin of the SCA where they were visible to those who toured the SCA at each stop along the route. According to Ash, they were extremely popular and admired.
At an overnight stop in Houston, Kiker’s family was able to visit the SCA, see the models, and share stories of Kiker’s modeling career.
For more information regarding the history of the models and their use to test the piggyback and in-flight launch concepts, visit http://bit.ly/OWuVuZ. For more information on the loan to NASA and the last flight of the SCA, see http://bit.ly/VVk328.
We are honored that NASA recognized the importance of model aviation in research and design in such a visible way that allowed the museum to share in the ending of an era.
—National Model Aviation Museum staff
AMA Employees Try Free Flight
Interacting with members allows AMA employees to be exposed to the different disciplines of aeromodeling. Add to that the fact that many events are held here at the International Aeromodelling Center, and many have the chance to see firsthand what the excitement is about. However, employees who are not modelers miss out on the experience of actually building and flying their very own models.
Shortly after the July issue of Model Aviation was released, which was dedicated to FF, there seemed to be a growing interest in the office to learn more about this early form of flight.
With the FF Nats on the horizon, Mark Freeland, owner of Retro RC, agreed to conduct a FF workshop. Everyone who attended built his or her own catapult-launched Camp Racer.
Mark brought a couple of his competition models to give a basic FF overview and then everyone dove into building his or her own Camp Racer. Mark walked the staff members through every step of the process.
How often does one get the chance to build a model alongside the designer? It was obvious that everyone benefitted from this opportunity and it ensured the successful completion of a dozen aircraft.
When construction was complete and the models were adorned with each pilot’s Sharpie color scheme of choice, it was time to go outdoors and learn the next skill: trimming a FF model.
The Camp Racer is designed with added weight in the nose that is easily sanded away using an emery board to get the perfect balance. In the next 15 minutes, the excitement built as pilots dialed in their models and achieved progressively longer flights.
More than half of the FF workshop attendees had never constructed or flown a FF model—except for a paper airplane. Everyone who attended left with a greater appreciation of building and flying FF models!
For more information about the Camp Racer and Retro RC, visit www.retrorc.us.com.
—Jay Smith
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
