Flying Site Assistance
In October of 2013, one of AMA’s Flying Site Assistance volunteers, Dale Arvin, attended the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. During the past several years, AMA representatives have attended similar events to meet officials and locate possible flying sites for our members.
Dale was able to obtain contact information for several cities that are interested in speaking with AMA members and club officers about possible flying sites. AMA has added these contacts to our map, which you can see at www.modelaircraft.org/flyingsiteassistance/action.
If you live in or near an area with contacts shown on the map, contact AMA’s Flying Site Assistance Coordinator Tony Stillman for more information. You can reach Tony via email at [email protected] or call (912) 242-2407.
Goldberg Vital People Award
Mark Freeland was presented with the Carl and Beth Goldberg Vital People Award on November 12, 2013. Shown in the photo (L-R) are previous Goldberg award winners Gary Weaks, District VII Vice President Tim Jesky, Mark Freeland, presenter Joe Hass, Keith Shaw, and Ken Myers.
In addition to being Goldberg recipients, Keith and Ken are members of the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame.
—Joe Hass
2014 Nats Dates Announced
The 2014 Outdoor Nats events will be held at AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana. The scheduled dates are:
• RC Scale Aerobatics: July 7-10
• RC and CL Scale: July 11-13
• CL (Navy Carrier, Precision Aerobatics, Racing, Combat, Speed): July 14-19
• RC Pylon Racing: July 13-19
• RC Combat: July 15-18
• RC Aerobatics: July 20-25
• RC Soaring: July 26-August 2
• FF Outdoor: July 28-August 1
• RC Helicopter: August 3-7
The dates for the Indoor Free Flight Nats, to be held in Champaign, Illinois, will be announced later this year.
If you have participated in the Nats within the last two years, you will receive an entry form in February. For more information, or to obtain an entry form, visit www.modelaircraft.org/events or call (765) 287-1256.
Tony Italiano
1923-2013
Tony Italiano was a simple man. His models were simple. His .020 Old-Timer model was simple. His K&B .21 Shocer was simple. The only mechanism I ever saw him use was an auto rudder on his Towline Glider. He was one of the few who still used a standard 1.5 volt battery to start his engines.
I have no idea how he did it, but his technique for choosing thermals was merely to start the engine. I timed many of his flights at his home field, the Bong Recreation Area, and most ended up in thermals. There were no Mylar streamers, thermometers, or bubbles. He would launch when he started the engine. He had the knack. But this was far from who the man was.
This is an excerpt from his obituary:
“When Tony was 18 years old, he and his brother, Victor, opened a hobby shop in Waukesha [Wisconsin]. The business grew and they needed to relocate to larger quarters three times. He organized Supreme Model Supply Company to produce model airplane kits.
“Tony joined the Air Force and after completing pilot training, he went to New Guinea on the baby flattop CVE Admiralty Island. He joined the 64th squadron at Lae, New Guinea, in November 1944. Tony gained much experience under trying weather conditions and strange mission environments.
“During August of 1945, Tony transferred to the Far East Air Force headquarters squadron in Manila. In December of 1945, he was assigned as an Engineering Officer and then transferred to Chafu Air Base in Tokyo, as an Operations/Engineering Officer and Interim Commander of the base. He was the only officer supporting 67 skilled personnel. The assignment involved 27 aircraft, which included the two supporting Generals MacArthur and Eichelberger.
“Tony returned to the US in July 1946 and joined the Air Force Reserves, from which he retired April 2, 1983, having achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel.
“Tony entered the industrial world, eventually joining General Motors at its Delco electronics facility in Milwaukee. He had various assignments including head of fire control engineering for equipment which went into the F-84, F-86, F-94, and F-102 aircraft. He was the head of the Apollo program office for the guidance equipment for the mission to the moon in cooperation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tony retired from General Motors in 1984.”
Tony never left the modeling world. His number one love was Free Flight. He was a charter member of the Bong Eagles. He was instrumental in many National Free Flight Society (NFFS) activities and served three straight terms as NFFS president. His crowning achievement was running a world championship competition the Mini-Dome in Johnson City, Tennessee.
NFFS and the modeling world will miss Tony, but I am sure there are some models up in heaven with his name on them.
—John Lorbiecki
NFFS President
History Preserved
“This jacket was worn by me in the early ’40s while [I was] a member of the Portsmouth, Virginia, club,” stated Dolph Henry in a 1998 note addressed to the museum curator.
The well-worn jacket is bright brown corduroy with “Dolph” stitched on the left chest. The jacket’s central focus is the design on the back—an embroidered version of the winged-engine logo of the Portsmouth Aero-Nuts. Although the jacket may or may not have been homemade, it was certainly embroidered by someone who had the skill to enlarge the logo and stich it on in an attractive manner.
The Portsmouth Aero-Nuts club was started by Len Purdy. Len’s daughter, Joyce, wrote, “As a boy, Dad was fascinated with airplanes. After he won his first contest with a free flight model in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1933 (he was 12), there was no curbing his enthusiasm. He got four friends together and founded the Portsmouth Aero-Nuts in 1938.”
Was Dolph one of the founding members of the club, or did he join later? What happened to the Portsmouth Aero-Nuts? Did Dolph continue modeling or did he stop? We don’t know.
Records indicate that Dolph Henry was not an AMA member when he donated the jacket in 1998. Len Purdy has passed away. In the end, this jacket raises more questions than it answers, but it is a tangible reminder of friends who banded together to take part in a hobby they enjoyed.
If you have more information about Dolph Henry, the Portsmouth Aero-Nuts, or simply want to share information and memorabilia about your local club and its history, please contact Maria VanVreede, museum collections manager, at [email protected], or call (765) 287-1256, extension 508.
—National Model Aviation Museum staff