AMA Thanks Its Lifetime Supporters
The Academy recently welcomed Life Members Robert E. Langelius Jr., White Plains NY; David L. Lumbra, Manchester CT; Matthew Bott, McKinney TX; Gary A. Gittens, Springfield Gardens NY; Daniel E. Hedrick II, Bossier City LA; John A. Hartis, Spokane WA; David L. Ulmer, Chula Vista CA; Sanders K. Chai, Seattle WA; and Paul J. Wilder, Vincennes IN.
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.
Busting AMA Insurance Myths
One of the many benefits you receive with your AMA membership is insurance coverage for your modeling activities. There is much confusion and misinformation regarding this benefit. Throughout the next few months, we will address some of the commonly asked questions to help members better understand this valuable benefit.
AMA is not an insurance company and does not “write” its own policies. We purchase the various policies and ensure that AMA members receive insurance coverage through those policies. The 2014 Insurance Summary provides an outline of these insurance benefits. You can find a copy of this summary on AMA’s website at www.modelaircraft.org/files/InsuranceSummaryMembers.pdf.
Q: I heard that my AMA insurance is only effective when I am flying at a chartered club field. Is this true?
A: No. AMA coverage is not limited to model operation at a chartered club field. It also applies to your modeling activities on private or public property.
Q: I am traveling abroad later this year. Will my AMA insurance cover my modeling activities?
A: AMA’s liability coverage applies to model operation on US military installations and specific FAI events. For model operation at different locations, we recommend you contact the local national modeling organization.
—Safety & Member Benefits Department
AMA Hobby Shop Program
Thank you to the following stores for joining the AMA Hobby Shop Program! These stores are now earning cash for signing up new members!
• E Mergent RC Heli, Huntsville, Alabama
• Dreamworks Model Products, Daytona Beach, Florida
• FliteLine Hobbies, Ridgeville, South Carolina
• The Hobby House, Poughkeepsie, New York
• Samano’s Hobbies, League City, Texas
• Hobby Artz, Dickinson, North Dakota
• ClubHeli, LLC., Emmaus, Pennsylvania
• Hays Hobby Shop, Hays, Kansas
The following hobby shops won $100!
• J&C Hobbies, Penn Hills, Pennsylvania (two-time winner)
• Big Boy Toys and Hobbies, Lafayette, Louisiana
• B&B Hobbies, Spokane, Washington
• Al’s Hobby Shop, Elmhurst, Illinois
• Heber Hobby Shop, Heber Springs, Arkansas
Hobby Hut in Norristown, Pennsylvania, was the $1,000 winner for 2013!
Do you own or work in a hobby shop? What are you waiting for? Join today!
For more information, see the May issue or contact Erin Dobbs at [email protected] or (765) 287-1256, extension. 272.
—Erin Dobbs
Marketing Partner Lead
White Mystery
Imagine that radio control technology is new and there is no information or precedent for creating a system that could control a model airplane during flight. What type of control system would you create?
That was the challenge faced by the competitors who entered the first national RC contest in 1937. Each of the six entries designed a system entirely of his own, and each worked in different ways. Perhaps, the most remarkable of them all was Elmer Wasman’s White Mystery.
According to Elmer, one unique feature of the White Mystery “was the wind driven controls in which threaded control rods were used to move the elevator and rudder. Motor cut-off control was also provided for the ignition engine. The direction of rotation of the threaded rods was controlled by magnetic clutches via a selector switch, which in turn was pulsed by a relay.” Bits and pieces from Erector Sets, bicycles, and telephones were salvaged to create the system.
It worked and Elmer was able to control the model’s movements on the ground; however, after Elmer took off, the model immediately went into a stall and crashed.
Leo A. Weiss, reporting on the meet for October 1937 issue of Model Airplane News, speculated that the crash happened because the model “had so many gadgets on it, including a wind-driven generator, that true control was virtually impossible.” Many years later, Elmer said that the crash happened because he did not have the time to properly test the model and it was too tail-heavy.
Despite the crash, Elmer placed third in the contest on the strength of his ground control, and because his aircraft was able to make it off the ground.
After the 1937 Nats, Elmer simplified the RC system and continued to fly the White Mystery for several years. It was used as a teaching tool for his high school mechanical drawing and aeronautics students. The White Mystery was eventually retired to Elmer’s attic where it sat for more than 50 years before being rescued, restored, and eventually Fred Mulholland donated it to the National Model Aviation Museum.
For more information about the White Mystery and its restoration, please visit the museum’s blog at amablog.modelaircraft.org/amamuseum/2014/05/20/restoration-of-the-white-mystery.
