In the Air
Membership news and updates from AMA Headquarters
King Orange
The King Orange International held its 60th anniversary event December 29–31, 2014, in Palm Bay, Florida. Jay Smith, editor-in-chief of Model Aviation, attended and presented CD Jim Demeritte with a plaque commemorating the milestone.
To learn more about the King Orange International, see the feature article in the January 2015 issue of Model Aviation, which looks back at 60 years of Free Flight and Control Line competition.
Goldberg Vital People Award recipients
Two AMA members were presented with the Carl and Beth Goldberg Vital People Award in December 2014.
- Joe Jopling received his award during the Fort Worth Thunderbirds Radio Control Association’s annual Christmas party on December 5, 2014. Joe accepted the award to a standing ovation. He said this was a memorable award for him because one of his first airplanes was a Carl Goldberg Zipper.
- James Taylor, a member of the Raleigh Aero Masters Club in Raleigh, North Carolina, received his Carl and Beth Goldberg Vital People Award on December 7, 2014. The award was presented during a small ceremony with club members present. James was nominated by Joe Schodt and Jose Armstrong.
- Joe Jopling information provided by Steve Ehlers
- James Taylor information provided by Jose Armstrong
NATIONAL MODEL AVIATION MUSEUM
HISTORY PRESERVED
The Mirror Model Flying Fair was a one-day flying extravaganza sponsored by New York City's Daily Mirror newspaper from 1946 to 1961. Flown at various New York locations including the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation airfield in Bethpage, Long Island, and Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, this festival was highly encouraged by Albert Lewis, who was AMA's executive director at the time. A letter from Albert in the museum's collection, dated April 8, 1946, describes AMA's anticipation and hope that the event would take place. AMA was supportive of the event before it even got started.
"Dear Sid:
Thanks very much for your phone call this morning. We were delighted to learn that the Daily Mirror is contemplating going into a model contest in a big way. We will keep all of this in under our hats until you get ready to release your publicity and we can back you up with additional announcements down here in Washington ...
The idea of the model dealers getting together in the New York area in an association as well as the clubs through the Metropolitan League, is most admirable. This way you will be assured of wide publicity coverage and the knowledge that information on the meet will get to every modeler in the New York metropolitan area ...
Best regards, Albert L. Lewis"
The first Mirror Model Flying Fair was held on Sunday, September 29, 1946. Leon Shulman was the CD, and despite some issues with spectator control in the afternoon that were out of Leon's control (according to a letter from Albert Lewis dated October 3, 1946), the event was considered a success.
The fair really took off. In the roster of entrants for the fourth annual Mirror Model Flying Fair, held June 5, 1949, the group of valid entries was limited to only the first 5,000 registrants. Another 500 entrants who had sent in registrations by the March 30 deadline were on a reserve list and could enter if anyone did not pick up his or her registration number. This was a big event! In 1949, AMA set up a sanction fee ($275) to cover the expenses of putting on such an event. The Daily Mirror headline on June 7, 1948, read "Air Show Thrills 200,000." In 1951, record crowds attended. The Daily Mirror reported on page one:
"They came on foot and by car, in chartered buses and by train. They came with the kids and the family pets, with picnic lunches and vacuum bottles. They came to be entertained and thrilled, and they left satisfied that it had been the most exciting 11 hours of their lives."
That year, there were 1,253 registrations. Events included Free Flight, Control Line Speed and Stunt, a beauty class, and RC.
The event continued through 1961; however, the museum does not have much paper documentation past the mid-1950s. Do you have newspaper clippings, photos, brochures, or other documentation from any of the Mirror Fairs that you would like to donate? If so, please contact the National Model Aviation Museum.
For more information about the Mirror Model Flying Fair, check out Frank McMillan's "CL Aerobatics" column in the July 1993 issue of Model Aviation. It can be found in the archived issues at https://library.modelaviation.com.
- National Model Aviation Museum staff
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
