AMA Thanks Its Lifetime Supporters
The Academy of Model Aeronautics recently welcomed Life Members Jesse J. Russell, Dudley MA; Gregory A. Crabtree, Farmington MN; Vittorio Grigolo, Nesconset NY; Kelly J. Scott, Lindale TX; Daniel M. Ribar, Nokomis FL; Neal K. Daniel, Hayesville NC; and Phillip Cooper, Casper WY.
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.
—AMA Membership Department
An RC Flying Tribute to Our Heroes
To some of us who fly RC warbirds, it’s more than just because they look cool. It’s because they are functioning replicas of history. Sadly, with each passing year, we lose more of our veterans.
It has become the mission of one particular group of RC enthusiasts to share that history and keep the memory of our veterans alive. On October 11, 2014, the group achieved its greatest mission ever, performing a flying tribute to a special group of World War II veterans—the members of the 352nd Fighter Group.
The 352nd, known as The Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney, were the youngest group of the 8th Air Force—not in age, but in experience. Still they managed to produce 29 aces, flew 420 missions amassing 59,387 operational combat hours, and destroyed 776 enemy aircraft. The group also had the highest scoring Mustang ace of all time, Major George E. Preddy, who shot down six enemy aircraft in 5 minutes on one mission. More about the achievements of the 352nd Fighter Group can be found at www.352ndfightergroup.com/assoc/main.html.
The veterans and members of the 352nd Fighter Group Association held their 2014 reunion in Huntsville, Alabama, in October 2014. Because of the expenses of having full-scale P-51s at the reunions as they had done in the past, it looked as though having any flying representation wasn’t going to happen. This is when association member and RC enthusiast, Aleksey Lomov, brainstormed the idea of having as many RC pilots with 352nd Fighter Group RC airplanes attend for a flying tribute.
Aleksey found that the Rocket City Radio Controllers (RCRC) club was the closest AMA field to the reunion. Fellow association member and RC enthusiast Derik Rinehart of Decatur, Georgia, put the call out on RCGroups and contacted the president of RCRC, Bill Mitchell, to help make it happen. Several on RCGroups responded, but unfortunately couldn’t make it.
In the end, five RC pilots attended the reunion. There were 16 P-51s representing the 352nd Fighter Group and nine FMS 1450mm P-51s. It was an impressive lineup for the and the flying tribute gave the RC pilots a chance to show the veterans exactly how and why they fly warbirds. After the flight demos, Derik gave a speech telling the history of the 352nd Fighter Group.
Rain threatened the event, letting up only a few minutes before their arrival, but it stayed dry until right when the last airplane was loaded up for home. Five of the living veterans of the 352nd attended the event and two of the models represented two of those veterans. Jim Butler of West Virginia flew the P-51B The West “by gawd” Virginian, replicating the airplane of attending veteran Lt. Robert “Punchy” Powell of the 328th. Derik flew the P-51B that replicated Lt. Elmer Smith’s aircraft. All of the 352nd Fighter Group models were accompanied by historical data sheets, giving information about the airplane, pilot, and their achievements.
Derik said of the event:
“It all came together thanks to the quick thinking of Aleksey Lomov and, most importantly, the cooperation and incredible hospitality of the Rocket City club members. We take our mission of representing these great veterans very seriously. The only way to keep their memory and achievements alive is to continue perpetuating their history.
“We chose to use our hobby as a means to do this. Doing the demo at their reunion was our way of saying thanks, and letting them know we will never forget what they did. Hopefully what we did will encourage others to do the same.”
The 352nd Fighter Group veterans who attended included Richard Creamer, John Kaprelian, Louis O’Brien, Howard Polin, Robert “Punchy” Powell, and Elmer Smith. The RC pilots who flew 352nd replicas for the event were Aleksey Lomov of Pennsylvania, Jim Butler of West Virginia, brothers Keith and Derik Rinehart, and Gavin Woodruff, all from Georgia.
—submitted by Derik Rinehart
Subscribe to NatsNews
It’s time to dust of those wings, tweak your engines, and stock up on extra propellers because the Nats are coming! The annual event starts June 8 with Indoor Free Flight in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Historic City Auditorium. The Outdoor Nats, to be held at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana, kicks off July 6.
Keep up with the latest exciting action by subscribing to NatsNews! You will be notified when the daily newsletter, filled with reports, photos, and scores, is posted. It’s as simple as visiting www.modelaircraft.org/natsnews and clicking on “Subscribe” to sign up. All you need is an email address.
Learn more about that Nats by visiting www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats.aspx.
Miss Philadelphia II Reproduction
Flying the gas-powered Free Flight model, Miss Philadelphia II, Maxwell Bassett won the 1933 Mulvihill contest at the Nats with a flight time of 14 minutes, 55 seconds. That was the first and only time that a gas-powered model has won the Mulvihill. At the same Nats, Maxwell, flying the gas-powered cabin fuselage Miss Philadelphia III, also won the Stout Outdoor trophy and the Moffett event.
These wins were possible because competition rules at this point did not differentiate between types of power, so rubber-powered models could compete against those with gas engines. After Maxwell won, the rules changed so quickly that, in the same paragraph announcing Mawell’s triumph, Model Airplane News stated that “due to Bassett’s demonstration of internal combustion powered model planes, N.A.A. officials have decided that henceforth rubber power will not compete against gasoline.”
Built in 1932, the Miss Philadelphia II was the 12th gas model Maxwell built. The last of his models to have a stick fuselage, it has a 72-inch wingspan and a 45.5-inch fuselage length including the rudder and elevator overhang. It is covered with bamboo paper—Maxwell’s trademark—and features a nearly oversize tail, as did all of his early designs. The original model was powered by a Brown Jr. Model A engine.
Bill Brown and Maxwell were good friends and had partnered together to perfect gas-powered flight. Bill designed the engines and Maxwell the models. To learn more about both men, please visit their biographies in the AMA History Project at www.modelaircraft.org/museum.
The replica Miss Philadelphia II in the museum’s collection is an RC reproduction built by Dave Ritchie in the early 1980s, after extensive research and analysis of existing documentation and photographs. Dave, like Maxwell, powered it with a Brown Jr. engine. Unlike Maxwell, Dave complained that the engine wasn’t powerful enough to fly the model well. Apparently this didn’t deter Maxwell from approving the model in 1986 when he signed a note confirming the Miss Philadelphia II’s accuracy. This note was eventually doped onto the wing, although it has faded to near unreadability.
The replica Miss Philadelphia II was donated to the museum in 1987 by Dave’s wife, Patricia, along with a replica KG-1 model that is signed by more than 40 model aviation pioneers.
—National Model Aviation Museum Staff
