In the Air — 2013/03
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 significant members AMA has ever had. His influence is as far reaching as anyone I can think of.”
Sal first 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 first 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 first win at the National Model Airplane Championships came in 1941 in Chicago. His reputation as a serious contest flier 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, modification, and flight proofing 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 U.S., Sal and his wife eventually made their way to California where housing was readily available, as were excellent modeling venues and year-round flying. 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 free-flight 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:
- Induction into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame (1974)
- Becoming an AMA Fellow (1975)
- Induction into the National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame (1978)
- Induction into the Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame (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 field in Perris, California, in January.
Dave Mathewson reflected on Sal’s life and all that he has given to the hobby: “His influence 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: www.modelaircraft.org/files/taibisal.pdf.
—MA staff
Estes Educator
Educators now have the fuel to fire 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 find grants and funding opportunities so all have the opportunity to participate in this fun program.
Program features and benefits:
- Hands-on activities that engage students across nearly every subject.
- Enhances Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education and brings abstract concepts to life.
- Students design and conduct their own experiments; educators choose which subject to focus on.
- Free one-, two-, and three-day lesson plans matched to national learning standards for grades 3–12.
- Each lesson plan outlines objectives, necessary materials, time required, suggested activities, and evaluation/assessment methods.
- Educator packs come in sets of 12 and 24 at special discounts.
- Participating schools receive a monthly Estes Educator E-newsletter, free how-to manuals, and publications.
- Every student who participates has the chance to build, design, and launch a model rocket.
Getting started is as easy as entering basic information at www.EstesEducator.com. Educators can choose a lesson plan and enter the number of students participating; the site generates a list of necessary rocket products and the cost. Materials can be ordered through the website or purchased from an Estes retailer—use the dealer locator on the site 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 provide guidance and stability; electrically ignited engines are held in place by engine mounts. Recovery devices, such as parachutes or streamers, deploy at peak altitude to help rockets return. Model rockets can be launched at schoolyards, playgrounds, football fields, and soccer fields.
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 flights. It has gone through three Fox .59 engines, the last and present one being the first 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, where I handed the transmitter to a close friend and fellow pilot with no experience in RC flying.
"Its most remarkable flight, 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 watch it drift and finally 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 first 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 finally come to rest at the edge of the bank, was reluctant, at first, 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
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
