Has your club registered for National Model Aviation Day?
National Model Aviation Day will be held throughout the country August 15, 2015. Join in the celebration by registering your club as a participant. Together all clubs, the AMA Foundation, and our National Model Aviation Day sponsors hope to promote the hobby and raise money for a great cause!
The national event will raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. Last year, $100,000 was raised to support this great charity that provides programs to the injured heroes who have served in the US armed forces. Working together, we hope to surpass that amount this year and generate lots of new model aviation enthusiasts.
National Model Aviation T-shirts are now on sale for $10. The shirts are available with or without the date, and with or without the Wounded Warrior Project inscription. Clubs are not required to participate on August 15, and can select another charity, or choose not to hold a fundraiser, in order to host an event. The main goal is to celebrate model aviation!
Thanks to our National Model Aviation Day sponsors, we are able to provide registered clubs with event banners for $15. The 2- x 6-foot indoor/outdoor vinyl banners will include the club name, National Model Aviation Day logo, event date and time, and the 2015 Platinum Sponsors.
Registered clubs will receive access to the National Model Aviation Day Club Resources web page. Here you will find information about promoting your event, a customizable flyer, state proclamation information, and much more. We encourage all registered clubs to share event details with us using #NMAD on Twitter and Facebook.
The AMA Foundation would like to thank this year’s National Model Aviation Day Platinum Sponsors: Ready Made RC, HobbyKing, Hobbico, and Horizon Hobby, as well as the first Gold Level Sponsor Wendell Hostetler’s Plans for supporting the celebration of model aviation.
Learn more and register online at www.nationalmodelaviationday.org. Register by June 1 to be listed as a participant on the National Model Aviation Day ad that will appear in the August issue of Model Aviation.
San Diego Air & Space Museum looking for a few good modelers
While I was in California for the AMA Expo earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit the San Diego Air & Space Museum and meet the curator, Terry Brennan. Housed in the former Ford building, the museum has a fantastic assortment of aircraft and artifacts. I was also impressed by the amount of aeromodeling items that were on display including models, radios, engines, etc.
If you visit San Diego, I would recommend a stop at the museum. If you live in the area and would be interested in contributing your time to help the museum preserve, inspire, educate, and celebrate aviation, your opportunity may be available.
The San Diego Air & Space Museum is looking for a few modelers with woodworking experience who would like to volunteer their time in the model shop at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, California. Generally volunteers work eight to ten hours a week in a well-equipped shop building and, in some cases, restoring historic aircraft models. Please contact Terry Brennan, Museum Curator, at (619) 234 8291, extension 141 if you would like to learn more.
Carl and Beth Goldberg Vital People Award recipient John Hoover
The District VII Town Hall Meeting on October 26, 2014, at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac, Michigan, added a pleasant surprise to the agenda. Noted competitor, designer, manufacturer, and retailer John Hoover was awarded the prestigious Carl and Beth Goldberg Vital People Award in front of modelers from around the state.
John creates amazing aircraft and makes them available through his businesses. John also goes above and beyond by generously supporting local clubs and hosting educational seminars.
As a further surprise, John’s wife and family were quietly ushered to the front of the arena without John noticing. The entire group was there as the announcement was made. District VII Vice President Tim Jesky was on hand for the presentation.
Veterans visit the ultimate indoor flying site
William “Bill” Dezur knows full well the importance of the Veterans Administration Hospitals system and the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) organization. Bill spent three months in a VA facility after returning from his tour of duty in Vietnam.
Bill, an active member of the Skymasters Radio Control Club, is a regular pilot at the weekly indoor flying sessions at Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac, Michigan. As a DAV service officer, Bill is familiar with disabled vets as well as the VA system and the facilities at Ultimate Soccer Areas. He envisioned a visit from VA Detroit hospital veterans to enjoy an outing, the flying. and some lunch.
Bill began the arduous process of introducing the idea to government officials, getting approvals, arraigning transportation, recruiting volunteers, providing lunch, and setting a date. All of his work paid off on Tuesday, March 10, 2015, when a contingent of disabled veterans joined the aeromodelers of southeastern Michigan for a full day of aviation activities.
Numerous modelers performed flight demonstrations and spent time explaining their particular aircraft, whether an airplane, helicopter, or multirotor, to those in attendance. Modelers brought in a cache of aircraft, including Scale, sport and, 35% IMAC, for display in the conference room where lunch was provided. Ultimate Soccer Arenas, Potere-Modetz Funeral Home, and the Skymasters donated all the items needed for this wonderful program honoring our veterans.
First National Model Airplane Trophy to Visit Museum
One Hundred years ago this October, the first national trophy for a model airplane contest was awarded. That trophy, the Henry S. Villard Trophy, will be on exhibit at the National Model Aviation Museum from June to August 2015 in celebration of this centennial.
Sponsored by the the Aero Club of America in 1915, the first national model contest was formatted for maximum participation without the hassle of travel or shipping models to be proxy flown. Instead, the national contest was actually a series of local events. It worked like this:
• Each club held elimination rounds and the four winners and four runners-up would represent their club at the official contests.
• Official contests were held at places selected by the model clubs during a timeframe set by the Aero Club of America. They were judged by members of the larger clubs.
• There were three events: Distance Flown after Hand Launch, Flight Duration after Rise off Water, and Flight Duration after Rise of Ground.
• The results of the contests were mailed to the Aero Club of America to determine the winners.
• There were cash prizes for individuals, but the Henry S. Villard Trophy went to the club whose members collectively made the largest score during the three months, which was determined by the point system.
The Illinois Model Aero Club won the Villard trophy in 1915, 1916, and 1917 and then it was retired to the club. In 1992, it was returned back to Henry Villard and he presented it to the San Diego Air and Space Museum in 1993.
Henry Villard was born in 1900 and fell in love with aviation at the age of 12 while he lived in France. It was in France where he took his first airplane ride and interacted with many of the European aviation pioneers. This fascination with aviation continued after his family moved back to the States, and inspired him to sponsor the Villard trophy in 1915. (At the age of 15; a later article about the trophy notes that he used his own money.) Throughout the course of his life, Henry continued to enjoy aviation, writing two books on the subject.
The Henry S. Villard Trophy will be at the museum thanks to a loan from the San Diego Air and Space Museum. It will be displayed in the Nats exhibit along with some personal items of Henry’s loaned from his friend Willis Allen of Allen Airways Flying Museum.
Please visit the museum sometime this summer to see the Villard trophy and watch the museum’s social media for ways to celebrate the centennial of modeling competition.
