In the Air-2013/03

The Academy recently welcomed
Life Members Buckley Stamps,
Roswell GA; Timothy Wesselman,
San Diego CA; David U. Johnson,
Keller TX; Albert Hester, Hobbs
NM; Scott Paschen, Livonia MI;
Andrew Baker, Phoenix AZ;
Mark Indiveri, San Jose CA;
Douglas Gwinn, Richmond TX;
Arthur Richards, Northfi eld CT;
Michael Wagner, Bismarck ND;
Neal B. Caisse, Willington CT; A.
Jay Hunter, Laurel MD; David
Koch, Mandan ND; Joe Cavett,
Broken Arrow OK; Gary Hale,
Concord VA; Russ Richmond,
Stockbridge GA; Robert Swider,
Rochester PA; David C. Mcmartin,
Fort Leavenworth KS; Kalijah
Anderson, Costa Mesa CA;
and Jeff D. Fluegeman, Canal
Winchester OH.
For information about
becoming a Life Member, contact
AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-
9262.
—AMA Membership Department
AMA Thanks Its
Lifetime Supporters!
Aeromodeling Legend Sal Taibi
Sal Taibi, 91, passed away in December
2012. He was one of the best-known
modelers in the history of the hobby.
Involved in aeromodeling nearly his entire
life, he was a competitor, a creator of many
classic designs, and considered a mentor to
many.
“Calling Sal Taibi a ‘legend’ is almost an
understatement,” wrote AMA Executive
Director Dave Mathewson. “He’s arguably
one of the most signifi cant members
AMA has ever had. His infl uence is as far
reaching as anyone I can think of.”
Sal fi rst became involved in building
model airplanes in 1934. The hobby
soon evolved into his passion and he lost
interest in all else, including school. He
dropped out of school, took a job, and
earned enough to keep building models, so
he was content.
Sal met Leon Shulman and became
more involved in the
competition aspect of
modeling. He, Leon, and
several others formed
the Brooklyn Skyscrapers
club in 1936, one of the
oldest model airplane
clubs in the country.
Sal designed the classic
Powerhouse in 1938, a
model that would later
be published in Model
Airplane News. The
Powerhouse was the fi rst
of roughly a dozen published designs. He
designed the Brooklyn Dodger in 1941 for
H&F Models, the company where he was
then working.
His fi rst win at the National Model
Airplane Championships came in 1941
in Chicago. His reputation as a serious
contest fl ier and designer grew.
That same year, he began working for
the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA, predecessor to
NASA) at Langley Field in Virginia. He
had only been there for three months
when World War II began.
“The programs at Langley Field changed
from a casual research effort, to an all-out
effort for the design, modifi cation, and
fl ight proofi ng of our military aircraft,”
Sal wrote in his AMA biography. “All
the draft-age men at Langley Field were
placed in the Army Reserves on an
inactive status. This would keep us out of
the draft and also discourage voluntary
enlistment. We were needed for the
research effort at Langley Field.”
Eventually the reserves were called
up and Sal left for basic training in 1945.
Germany surrendered while he was in
basic training, and he received orders to
report to Camp Patrick Henry, in Newport
News, Virginia, where he was sent to serve
with the Occupation
Forces in Europe.
Upon his return to
the US, Sal and his
wife eventually made
their way to California
where housing was
readily available,
as were excellent
modeling venues and
year-round fl ying. He
met Bill Baker, owner
of a model airplane kit
manufacturer, and began
designing models for him.
A few years later Sal and two friends
formed their own company, Competition
Models and started manufacturing the
Starduster series of FF model airplane kits
in their spare time. The initial investment
paid off well, but the company grew to
the point where they needed to sell it to
someone who could operate it full time.
Sal took a government job that required
him to have a high school education, so
he took his GED test, completed the
necessary classes, and graduated from
Lakewood High School in 1964.
Sal’s many honors include being
inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of
Fame in 1974, becoming an AMA Fellow
in 1975, induction into the National Free
Flight Society Hall of Fame in 1978, and
the Society of Antique Modelers Hall of
Fame in 1989. He belonged to the Fresno
Model Club, the Southern California
Antique Model Plane Society (SCAMPS),
and the Thermal Thumbers. The SCAMPS
club planned to hold its ninth annual Sal
Taibi Commemorative Fun-Fly at its fi eld
in Perris, California, in January.
Dave refl ected on Sal’s life and all that
he has given to the hobby by saying, “His
infl uence on aeromodeling over a span
of nearly eight decades is recognized
worldwide and is virtually unmatched.”
Sal’s biography is available on the AMA
website at www.modelaircraft.org/fi les/
taibirsal.pdf.
—MA staff
Photo courtesy of Estes-Cox Corporation.
Estes Educator
Educators now have the fuel to fi re
up their students to learn about the fun
side of science, math, social studies, and
language arts: model rockets.
Estes-Cox Corporation’s low-cost Estes
Educator program allows teachers to “put
academics in action” with the company’s
model rockets at an average cost of less
than $300, or $5 to $8 per student. For
those with tight budgets, Estes provides
links for interested educators to fi nd grants
and funding opportunities so all have
the opportunity to participate in this fun
program.
The hands-on program can help
engage students in nearly every subject.
It enhances Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math (STEM) education,
brings abstract concepts to life, and allows
students to design and conduct their own
experiments. Educators can choose which
subject they want their students to learn
about.
Estes offers free one-, two-, and threeday
lesson plans, making it easy to fi t
the program into a hectic schedule. The
educator packs are matched to national
learning standards for a wide variety
of subjects for students in grades three
through 12. Each plan outlines the
objectives, necessary materials, the amount
of time needed to complete the program,
suggested activities, and evaluation/
assessment methods.
Along with the educator packs that
come in sets of 12 and 24 at special
discounts, participating schools will
receive a monthly Estes Educator
E-newsletter with tips and updates for
teachers, and numerous free how-to
manuals and publications. Every student
who participates will have the chance to
build, design, and launch a model rocket—
igniting curiosity though interactive
exploration.
Getting started is as easy as entering
some basic information at www.
EstesEducator.com. Here, educators can
choose a lesson plan and enter the number
of students that will be participating. This
generates a list of all necessary rocket
products and the cost.
The necessary materials can be ordered
through this website, or purchased from
an Estes retailer. Use the dealer locater on
the website or
call (800) 820-
0202, ext. 270,
for assistance.
Materials ordered
from www.
EstesEducator.
com typically ship
within two days.
Estes model
rockets are built with lightweight
materials such as paper tubing, balsa
wood, and plastic. Fins help provide
guidance and stability, and the electrically
ignited engines are held in place by
engine mounts. Recovery devices, such as
parachutes or streamers, are deployed at
peak altitude to help the rockets return.
The model rockets can be launched at
school yards, playgrounds, football fi elds,
and soccer fi elds.
More than 30,000 teachers and youth
groups use Estes products, and there have
been more than 315,000,000 launches
since the company was founded in the
1950s. Estes products have been endorsed
by the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, and
the U.S. Space Camp.
—Rachelle Haughn
Peterson’s Custom Privateer
A. Theodore Peterson shared the
history of his 114-inch wingspan RC
Custom Privateer in a letter to curator
Hurst Bowers when it was donated to
the National Model Aviation Museum in
1989. Here are Theodore’s words telling
the story of his aircraft:
“It was built from a Berkeley kit
34 years ago and since that time has
compiled well over 500 fl ights. It has
gone through three Fox .59 engines,
the last and present one being the fi rst
throttled one. Approximately 10 years ago,
I upgraded the seaplane from single to
three-channel [radio].
“It suffered only three crashes during
its lifetime—only one severe, breaking its
wing in half and sustaining major damage
to the radio and servo gear. It survived
three unintentional, successive loops, when
I handed the transmitter to a close friend
and fellow pilot with no experience in RC
fl ying.
“Its most remarkable fl ight and one
almost too incredible to be believed,
occurred about 17 years ago. After letting
it go off the water in Hingham Bay
[Massachusetts], I immediately realized
that I had
lost radio control
of it (it had only rudder
control then). As it climbed in a wide left
circle over the bay, I could only wait and
watch it drift and fi nally disappear in a
southwesterly direction.
“My only concern then was that it did
not hit anyone on its return to earth, as
back at that time every landing was a
dead stick and silent one. After fruitless
searching with our two boys, we returned
home to hear that someone had called and
said he had the seaplane. I returned his
call to get his address and directions and
rushed to his home. He informed me that
he and his family were out on their porch
and saw the seaplane make a wide circle
over the area. They fi rst thought it was a
full-sized one until it got low enough to
realize it was not large but not small either.
“The father, who watched the plane
glide straight into the middle of a rather
narrow river and fi nally come to rest at the
edge of the bank, was reluctant, at fi rst,
to have his two young boys retrieve it, for
fear that little, green men might attack
them!”
Not too many stories in the museum’s
collection end with the possibility of little
green men, but every model and artifact
in the collection has a remarkable story to
tell. Thank you to A. Theodore Peterson
for sharing this one.
—National Model Aviation Museum staff