Michigan Modelers, Manufacturers and Retailers Support STEM
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) has become a needed critical element in K-12 educational programs. What better than aviation to touch all aspects of STEM?
On Saturday, October 26, 2013, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Michigan Aeronautic Commission along with the Square One Education Network (www.squareonenetwork.org), invited teachers from throughout Michigan to a workshop in Lansing to explore all things aviation. Aeromodeling was well represented.
The event, held at the Capital City Airport, included control tower tours and up-close experiences with a wide variety of full-scale general aviation aircraft including a vintage AT-6 Texan, a jet trainer, and actual flights. The program began with speakers from Michigan-based companies setting the stage for what is currently going on in Michigan-based aerospace and what will be needed for the future.
Event director Karl Klimek of Square One used a short break in the morning session to ask the teachers present to “think outside of the box and capture the excitement of learners through high emotion.” With that, Chris Hass launched his Slick 540 foamie from the back of the dimly lit auditorium for an aggressive aerobatic flight demonstration. Simultaneously Joe Hass launched his Helimax AXE 100SSL micro helicopter, with lighted rotor blades, to perform on stage center. The crowd roared. No longer were ideas in the abstract. You did not have to go to an airport. Flight could be brought to the classroom.
During breakout sessions, John Hoover of Flight Line Hobby in Lake Orion, Michigan, demonstrated quadcopters. Teachers got to fly them. Discussion included how a simple obstacle course could be set up to measure performance, fly against a clock, and log energy consumption. Mark Freeland of Retro R/C showed off his line of products and how, with a simple glider, everything from construction techniques to fluid dynamics could be discussed and demonstrated. There was even discussion about Retro R/C putting together a catapult kit!
Karl Klimek stated, “Until I saw a demonstration of the current technology in aeromodeling, I never thought so much was possible in the classroom. I thank the Michigan Indoor Aircraft Association, Flight Line Hobby, and Retro R/C for providing a hands-on, wings-on experience for the teachers.”
—Joe Hass
[email protected]
Margaret “Dolly” Wischer
August 12, 1919-October 17, 2013
Modelers and friends worldwide will be saddened to learn of the passing of Margaret “Dolly” Wischer on October 17, 2013 at age 94.
Affectionately known as “The Bear Lady,” Dolly earned that title following the 1980 Wilmington, Ohio, Nats. Through the years that followed, Dolly produced several thousand hand-crafted teddy bears of various sizes. First sold from the AMA booth at the Toledo Show for $25, they appeared at Oshkosh and FAI World Championship events. All of the proceeds were donated to AMA projects such as the AMA Headquarters building (Reston, Virginia) debt retirement and Scale Team Fund. Dolly was awarded a Legion of Honor Award in 1986 for her monetary contributions.
Dolly flew in the Nats and even designed her own aircraft. One of her designs was picked up by Goldberg Models and became the Falcon 56. She also created and produced her own pulse-proportional radio system.
For many years, Dolly worked behind the scenes at the Nats producing signs used for directions and identification. Her unique ability to locate and utilize materials, at little or no cost, was extremely helpful.
While Dolly was more often recognized standing next her husband, Bob, at the many local, national, and international events as his mechanic, they shared many other modeling tasks too. They acted as a team while Bob served as a FAI Scale Subcommittee member from 1977 until 1993. Bob and Dolly helped staff the AMA booth during the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Many people from around the world often showed up around lunchtime because they knew Dolly had food and a cold drink to share!
Dolly and Bob have been described as true pioneers born in the wrong century. Bob, a draftsman, designed their home as well as the radiant heating system. Together, they “scratch-built” it with their own hands!
On their 10 acres, Dolly maintained a large garden and prepared and canned most of the vegetables and fruit they consumed. She collected, kept, and used everything. If one dissected one of the thousands of larger teddy bears, they would find that the moveable joints consist of two Ball canning jar lid inserts and a brass band to hold them together.
In addition to the Legion of Honor Award, Dolly was also selected as an AMA Fellow in 1975 and was inducted into the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1988. Known for her perpetually cheerful manner and her many good works, she will be sorely missed by AMA and the world aeromodeling community.
—Bob and Rae Underwood
History Preserved
One reason for AMA’s inception was a need for unified rules in American aeromodeling competition. In the late 1930s, the newly created organization gathered modeling leaders from across the US to create cohesive rules. Suggestions for rule changes were made at the AMA’s short-lived national conferences and via ballots for those who could not attend.
By late 1938, it appears the AMA’s Contest Board was developing (Model Aviation, October 1938). This committee still operates, reviewing model flying standards and policy, and voting on rules changes. Famous modelers and AMA founders, including Walt Good, Chet Lanzo, Carl Goldberg, and John E. Clemens, have been members of the board.
In 1946, there were 22 members on the Contest Board. Today, there are 15 contest boards, focusing on specific flight categories, with spots for 11 district representatives in each. One contest board coordinator helps the AMA Technical Director interpret the rules and determine their applicability. A separate Special Events Contest Board deals with rules not clearly assigned to other boards.
The National Aeronautic Association, of which AMA is an associate member, also had a contest board, and listed model competition rules in 1938 in its Official Model Contest Manual. It appears that AMA didn’t publish a booklet of model flying rules for mass distribution until 1941. This booklet was titled Official Model Aircraft Regulations Governing Sporting Model Aviation in America (renamed Competition Regulations in 1988). It is commonly referred to as “the rule book.”
We have copies of every AMA-produced, official rule book made for mass distribution in the archives—45 in all. The first was a multifold, pocket-size brochure (3 x 8 inches). In 1944, it was a four-page document measuring 81/2 x 11 inches. The third version (1946) was an 81/2 x 51/2-inch booklet with 24 pages.
Rulebooks of that dimension were produced for more than six decades, but the number of pages increased immensely. The 2002-2004 Competition Regulations contained 204 pages.
The 1941 and 1944 issues included rules for only five types of models (each further divided into categories and classes).
• Indoor model aircraft, powered
• Indoor model aircraft, non-powered
• Outdoor aircraft, powered by internal combustion engine
• Outdoor aircraft, powered by other than internal combustion engine
• Outdoor aircraft, non-powered
By 1946, there were seven types, more specifically-defined:
• Gas models: Free Flight
• Gas models: Control Line
• Outdoor models: Rubber-powered type
• Towline Gliders
• Indoor models: Rubber-powered type
• Outdoor Hand-Launched Gliders
• Indoor Hand-Launched Gliders
Rules exclusively for the RC category were added to the 1949 rulebook, drawn up by Dr. Walt Good’s Radio-Controlled Model Aircraft Committee.
Current rules are available online (both for 2011-2012 and 2013-2014). Photocopies or scans of past rulebook sections can be ordered through the museum.
—National Model Aviation Museum staff
AMA Thanks Its Lifetime Supporters
The Academy recently welcomed Life Members Glen M. Rahm, Sewell NJ; James E. McCarty, Pittsford NY; Adeel Khalid, Decatur GA; Robert A. Sigman, Dickinson ND; Robert S. Crompton, Palm Beach FL; Henry J. Miehle, Sanford NC; Wayne A. Pinkham, Thomaston CT; Jonathan L. Faubion, Riverton WY; Peter F. Avonda, Jupiter FL; Jerry L. Thomsen, Winchester KY; Michael Malik, Royal Oak MI; Michael M. Miller, Rice MN; Henri Richard, Los Altos CA; Albert J. Wargo, Burbank CA; Brian R. Dysert, Roy WA; Thomas S. Scott, Cincinnati OH; Kelly C. Johnson, Dallas TX; John M. Conklin, Deer Park NY; Dru D. Goodman, Riverwoods IL; Robert J. Willis, Spring Lake MI; Craig M. Oku, Mountain View CA; Philip P. Morrison, Pasadena CA; Thomas M. Manson, Glendale AZ; Keith D. Herbert, Sibley IA; Lascelles I. Mitchell Jr., Schertz TX; James Hansen, Tucson AZ; Mike Kunkel, Castaic CA; Frank Donofrio, Medford NY; Scott A. Foster, Mansfield OH; Ali E. Haas, Venice FL; Douglas W. Bowman, Mesa WA; Charles M. Strinz, Azusa CA; William B. Hander, Louisville CO; Dale Gathman, Elgin IL; Frederick M. Kennel, Old Hickory TN; Griffith F. Evans, Omaha NE; and Josef R. Saniga, Valparaiso IN.
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.
—AMA Membership Department
