File: 11inthe.lt1
AMA Thanks Its Lifetime Supporters
The Academy of Model Aeronautics recently welcomed Life Members Armando Mosqueda, Hayward, California; Peter Soltani, Woodbury, New York; Kris Dixon, Dexter, Georgia; Duke Schneider Sr., Somerset, Texas; Herbert Garrett Sr., Baltimore, Maryland; Jody Marmon, Minot, North Dakota; and Denville Pieters, Oswego, Illinois.
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.
—AMA Membership Department
National Model Aviation Day
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Dave Decker explains how his UMX Pitts S-15 works to Steve Reed and his grandchildren, Evan and Chloe Reed, at AMA Headquarters
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Jason Braase, Army National Guard veteran and Wounded Warrior Project spokesperson, gave a presentation at AMA Headquarters for National Model Aviation Day.
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.
Clubs held fly-ins, cookouts, air shows, and children’s activities in their communities and raised more than $50,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project this year. At the time of this writing, (three weeks before the deadline), fewer than half of the 192 clubs that held events have submitted the funds they collected.
Indiana was among the six states that issued proclamations declaring August 16 as National Model Aviation Day this year. A National Model Aviation Day celebration was held in Muncie, Indiana, at AMA Headquarters on August 16.
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.
The AMA also sold National Model Aviation Day T-shirts before this year’s event to raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project.
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 may be posted at nationalmodelaviationday.org. Photos from this year’s celebration in Muncie can be seen on AMA’s Flickr page.
—Rachelle Haughn
[email protected]
Notable People
Joe Beshar AMA Life Member 175
[Photos:
JoeBeshar
Picture 142 (if space allows—this is also running in AMA News)]
Joe Beshar called “wheels up!” and flew off into the wild blue yonder for the final time on August 26, 2014.
Joe was born on July 21, 1923, in Union, New Jersey. Spending his childhood in New Jersey, he built his first non-flying model at age 13. Bitten by the flying bug, he built his first flying model, a Curtiss P-6E Hawk at age 15.
In 1939, at age 16, Joe won his first contest and cemented his lifelong love of flying, both full-scale and model aircraft. He placed first that year in Class B in a FF contest sponsored by the Brooklyn Skyscrapers, flying a Comet Mercury powered by an Ohlsson 23 ignition engine. In 1940, Joe set a FF world record in Class A Gas.
Taking a break from serious modeling, Joe joined the Army Air Corps where, while stationed with the Eight 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 US and earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University.
With family and professional obligations occupying the majority of his time in the post-war era, Joe participated in predominately 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 times, 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 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 was instrumental in forging 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.
While 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, which sported a 10.5-foot wingspan. In 2000 he came up with 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 expressed the opinion that 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.
Joe’s tireless efforts on behalf of the hobby he loved were recognized often by people who appreciated the impact of those efforts. A partial list of honors and awards bestowed on Joe includes:
• The AMA Distinguished Service Award
• The Carl and Beth Goldberg Vital People Award
• The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
• The AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame
• The AMA Meritorious Service Award (twice!)
• Election as an AMA Fellow
• The Vintage RC Society Hall of Fame
• The Westchester Radio Aero Modelers Howard McEntee Memorial Award, “In recognition of great contributions and innovations in the hobby of radio control.”*
Joe leaves a 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 our hobby.
—Wes De Cou
*Joe’s most recent and favorite of the honors bestowed upon him. The citation captures the totality of his passion for the hobby.
[Photo: Joe Beshar]
Joe Beshar (L) receiving the Howard McEntee Memorial Award from Fred Penichet, president of the Westchester Radio Aero Modelers, February 2011.
History Preserved
[Photos
Whatever Chris chooses]
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.
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 11/8 bore x 13/16 stroke, providing 1/4 horsepower. According to Carl, it worked “fairly well.”
Although the engine weighed more than the model, contrary to Elmer’s predication that didn’t stop it from getting off the ground and it completed 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 over the age of 21, Carl set a national record for gas-powered FF airplanes in the open division with a time of 6:48.5.
The reproduction of the Big Crate III, on exhibit in the museum’s gallery, was built by Carl between 1993 and 1996 with the assistance of many friends and family. It replicates the original model closely, using spruce for the key stabilizer spars, longerons, and struts, and a hand-carved walnut propeller.
The model only 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. The replica is made from 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, the plans (#14331) are available through AMA Plans Service.
