National Model Aviation Day 2014
The joy of building and flying model aircraft is something to celebrate, and that’s exactly what 192 clubs across the country did as part of National Model Aviation Day.
Events and fundraising
Clubs held fly-ins, cookouts, air shows, and children’s activities in their communities. At the time of this report, more than $69,000 had been raised for the Wounded Warrior Project. Roughly half of the 192 clubs that held events had submitted their donations.
The AMA also sold National Model Aviation Day T-shirts to raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project.
Muncie celebration
Indiana was among six states this year that issued proclamations declaring August 16 as National Model Aviation Day. A National Model Aviation Day celebration was held in Muncie, Indiana, at AMA Headquarters on that day.
The Muncie event included a moving presentation by Wounded Warrior Project spokesperson and wounded veteran Jason Braase; flying demonstrations; hands-on activities for kids of all ages; an inaugural 5K run/walk; and a community sale.
History and submissions
This was the second year that National Model Aviation Day was held. It was created in 2013 to celebrate aeromodeling and spread awareness of the hobby. The inaugural celebration raised $76,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project.
You can submit information about your club’s gathering—including photos and videos—to [email protected], which could be posted on nationalmodelaviationday.org. Photos from celebrations in Muncie and other locations are on AMA’s Flickr page.
—Rachelle Haughn [email protected]
Notable People: Joe Beshar (AMA Life Member 175)
Joe Beshar enjoyed flying both full-scale and model aircraft. He placed first in Class B in a free-flight (FF) contest sponsored by the Brooklyn Skyscrapers, flying a Comet Mercury powered by an Ohlsson 23 ignition engine. In 1940, Joe set an FF world record in Class A Gas.
Military service and education
Taking a break from serious modeling, Joe joined the Army Air Corps where, while stationed with the Eighth Air Force in England, he flew 17 bombing missions during World War II, earning the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster. When the war concluded, Joe returned to the U.S. and earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University.
Later involvement and organizations
With family and professional obligations occupying most of his time in the post-war era, Joe participated predominantly in local club flying activities until the early 1970s. From roughly 1975 until recently, Joe’s involvement in all aspects of model aviation continued at an extraordinary rate.
In 1975, Joe entered the AMA Nats in the Old-Timers class and won the event. That same year he helped found the Old Time Eagles Club and began a four-year stint as president of the Society of Antique Modelers. In recent years Joe was careful to point out that, despite appearances to the contrary, the “Antique” in the Society’s name referred to the types of aircraft being built, and not necessarily to the modelers themselves.
In 1976 he was instrumental in founding the Interstate Flying Club; in 1988, the Vintage RC Society; and in 1989, the Bergen County Silent Flyers. In a 30-plus-year run beginning in 1975, Joe was the contest director (CD) in at least one AMA-sanctioned event each year. He served a three-year term as AMA District II Vice President and was appointed the first AMA Flying Site Coordinator.
As Flying Site Coordinator, Joe helped forge a memorandum of understanding with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), defining an alliance with AMA concerning the potential use of closed EPA Superfund sites as AMA flying sites.
Designs, building, and mentorship
Although he expended vast amounts of energy with organizational and administrative activities in support of model aviation, Joe was also an innovative designer and prolific builder. He designed a FF Class A Bantam-powered Fox in 1940. His popular Shrike was designed in 1989 and was published and kitted by Lanier RC Corporation.
In 1996, Joe designed and built an electric-powered B-17 Flying Fortress with a 10.5-foot wingspan. In 2000 he built a turbine-powered Me 163 Komet, and in 2002 he produced an indoor infrared model aircraft.
Joe mentored myriad modelers during his lifetime. He often said he got more satisfaction from teaching and interacting with fellow modelers, whether fledgling or seasoned pilots, than from his actual flying activities. Nothing was more satisfying to him than striking the spark that fired the imagination of a new modeler.
Honors and awards
Joe’s tireless efforts on behalf of the hobby he loved were recognized often. A partial list of honors and awards bestowed on Joe includes:
- AMA Distinguished Service Award
- Carl and Beth Goldberg Vital People Award
- Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
- AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame
- AMA Meritorious Service Award (twice)
- Elected as an AMA Fellow
- Vintage RC Society Hall of Fame
- Westchester Radio Aero Modelers Howard McEntee Memorial Award, “in recognition of great contributions and innovations in the hobby of radio control”
Joe is survived by his wife of 63 years, sons, daughters, a brother and sister, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and a huge contingent of model aviators who will continue to benefit from his selfless dedication to the hobby.
—Wes De Cou
Note: Joe’s most recent and favorite of his honors was the Howard McEntee Memorial Award. The citation captures the totality of his passion for the hobby.
Carl V. Carlson’s Big Crate
Model Airplanes: How to Build and Fly Them, written by Elmer L. Allen in 1928, advises that “almost any kind of mechanical motor will weigh as much—probably more, in fact—as the entire model itself, and the model would not be likely to get off the ground.” It concludes that rubber power is best. Gas model pioneer Carl V. Carlson disagreed.
By 1931, Carl was already tinkering with gas engines. He borrowed an engine from Elmer Wall and installed it in his first Big Crate. Carl made several flights with this airplane—one was at the 1931 Nats—but none were considered successful.
Big Crate III and record
After more work and trials, and a partnership with Gilbert Nelson of Gil Manufacturing, Carl designed the Big Crate III in 1933. The project included a new engine designed by Gilbert, with a 1 1/8-inch bore x 13/16-inch stroke, providing 1/4 horsepower. According to Carl, it worked “fairly well.”
Although the engine weighed more than the model, contrary to Elmer’s prediction, that didn’t prevent it from getting off the ground and completing several test flights. The finished model had an 11-foot wingspan, 5-foot fuselage, and weighed more than 10 pounds.
Carl hauled the Big Crate III from his home in Chicago to the 1934 Nats in Akron, Ohio. There, competing in the new Open Class for modelers older than 21, Carl set a national record for gas-powered FF airplanes in the open division with a time of 6:48.5.
Reproduction and museum exhibit
Carl built the reproduction of the Big Crate III, which is on exhibit in the National Model Aviation Museum’s gallery. It was built between 1993 and 1996 with the assistance of many friends and his family. It closely replicates the original model, using spruce for the key stabilizer spars, longerons, and struts, and a hand-carved walnut propeller.
The replica deviates from the original in two ways: the engine is an “oil” engine of the same period (but not from Gil Manufacturing), and the original fuel tank was made from a tooth powder can while the replica uses a baby powder can.
To see pictures of the original Big Crate III and the reproduction in progress, a post is available on the museum’s blog. If you are interested in building a Big Crate, plans (number 14331) are available through the AMA Plans Service.
—Museum staff
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
