FREE FLIGHT SCALE
Dennis O. Norman, 11216 Lake Ave., Cleveland, OH 44102
Lin Reichel and the Flying Aces Club (FAC)
He is called "the great organizer" of the Flying Aces Club (FAC). Lin Reichel is at the center of today's FAC and has helped make the FAC one of the most successful free-flight organizations in the world. At 76, Lin graciously volunteers roughly four hours a day to the business (and pleasures) of the FAC's growing membership. He is helped by his wife Juanita and good friends Vic Didelot, Ross Mayo, and other Erie Model Aircraft Association members.
Lin is no stranger to large organizational activity. Since 1962 he has been involved with the Erie Little League Baseball Organization in Pennsylvania. He served as commissioner from 1984 to 1987 and is still on the board of trustees. Juanita shared those burdens and remains a pillar of FAC-GHQ (general headquarters). The FAC is built on enthusiasm and voluntarism; many people help to make it an enduring success story.
Origins: aviation, youth, and the original FAC
The FAC originally arose from the same fertile ground that gave rise to the AMA. In the mid-1930s, as the country recovered from the Great Depression and the world moved toward war, aviation was among the most glamorous and newsworthy topics of the age. Exciting new airplanes were emerging; records for speed and distance were constantly being made and broken. Youths dreamed of soaring adventure in powerful, glittering new machines.
Pulp magazines and Hollywood helped build aviation's glamour. The popular media celebrated aviators such as Lindbergh, Byrd, Doolittle, and others. Airplanes could be seen, heard, smelled, and touched; if a kid lived near an airport, he might get a job there and become part of the excitement.
Model-airplane building became a widespread hobby. Garage businesses produced kits for eager modelers; some grew into large firms. The newsworthiness of aviation also produced books and magazines devoted to model airplanes. Among the most prominent was Flying Aces, first published in 1928 in the afterglow of Charles Lindbergh's New York-to-Paris flight. Flying Aces blended fiction, model-building material, and fact, and by its tenth year cost only 15¢ per issue.
One of Flying Aces' popular features was the Flying Aces Club, created "to advance the cause of aviation." By 1938 the original FAC claimed more than 50,000 members and listed honorary members that included President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and many prominent figures in aviation, entertainment, and industry. There was no membership fee; a person joined by completing a coupon and mailing it to FAC-GHQ with a stamped, self-addressed envelope. GHQ returned an official card declaring the holder a member in good standing.
As a member one became a cadet and could rise in rank by enrolling others. FAC awards and items included:
- Pilot's wings
- An official FAC club ring
- An aviator's identification bracelet
- The Ace's Star (for enrolling five members)
- A Distinguished Service Medal
- A Medal of Honor
Although Flying Aces was distributed abroad, only American and Canadian citizens who reached the rank of Ace were eligible for membership in the Flying Aces Escadrille. With the perspective of history, it can be argued the original FAC helped organize American and Canadian youth for eventual military service as the 1930s drew to a close. The original FAC was a patriotic effort with far-reaching impact.
Revival and the modern FAC
By the mid-1960s the youth of the 1930s were middle-aged. A renewed interest in free-flight scale modeling in New England produced a wave of nostalgia and led to the birth of the modern Flying Aces Club.
Bob Thompson, Dave Stott, his son Paul, and his nephew John were the first members of the new FAC. No AMA membership was required, and there was no entry fee for the first FAC contest, held November 7, 1965, at Old Dam Road in Fairfield, Connecticut. There was only one event—Scale—and most contestants were members of the Southern Connecticut Aero Modelers Association (SCAMA). The legendary Henry Struck was among them. The flying site was named "Pinkam Field," a name later applied to subsequent flying sites.
The second FAC contest, November 6, 1966, again at Fairfield, introduced FAC Handicapped Representative Scale Rules (now known simply as FAC Scale Rules) and added an event for nonscale models with wing areas under 100 square inches; this event became known as "FAC Sport."
At that second meet a ritual began of burning old models as an offering to "Hung, Great God of Thermals." The ritual remains part of the Midwinter Madness meets of the Glastonbury Modelers and the Pinkam Field Irregulars.
Copies of old Dallaire and Megow 10¢ kit plans were distributed at the November 6, 1966 meet and became the foundation of "FAC Peanut Scale." By 1967 Peanut Scale was a fixture in FAC contests, and its popularity continues.
By the third FAC meet on November 5, 1967, the new Flying Aces Club News was started. The original FAC's zany lingo and humor carried over into the new publication. The new Flying Aces Club News introduced a readers' letters column, listed members' "out-of-sight flights," fixed 13 inches as the official wingspan limit for FAC Peanut Scale, and began "The Kanone List" and the use of military rank and promotion to acknowledge achievement.
Under FAC rules:
- An event must have at least three competitors to be official.
- The winner of an event is awarded a "Kanone."
- A competitor increases in rank with every five Kanones.
- Upon reaching 16 Kanones, the competitor is awarded a replica of the World War I German "Blue Max" medal.
- Upon reaching 100 Kanones, the competitor attains the FAC rank of "Air Marshal."
Bill Hannan and the late Walt Mooney were early and influential promoters of the new FAC, especially Peanut Scale. Bill published extensively and still markets books and pamphlets devoted to FAC events. Walt contributed a long series of Peanut Scale plans in the now-defunct Model Builder magazine. Their work inspired many FAC members to draw and publish plans in the FAC News and other modeling publications.
FAC events continued to multiply. Examples include:
- No-Cal (from the original FAC group)
- WW I Peanut Scale (Glastonbury Modelers)
- WW II Mass Launch (D.C. Maxecuters)
- Jumbo Scale (North American Flight Masters)
This trend continues, with nearly four dozen possible categories at FAC contests.
Nationals, organization, and publication
The FAC movement's growth in the 1970s led to the first FAC Nationals, held at Johnsonville Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania, July 15–16, 1978. Tom Nallen Sr. suggested the idea of a national meet; it happened through the efforts of Lin Reichel, Bill Kalb, Dennis Norman, and the late Bob Leishman. Dennis Norman also began FAC merchandising by designing the first FAC Nationals T-shirt for the 1978 meet.
In the fall of 1980, following the second FAC Nationals, it was decided to transfer command, organization, rules-making, and the editing, printing, and distribution of the Flying Aces Club News to Lin Reichel in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Ross Mayo summarized the modern FAC as "a society of unique individuals with a common interest that at times borders on a passion." Its purpose is to "preserve and promote the traditional building and flying of free-flight stick and tissue model aircraft. Although competitive at times, the sharing of innovations, assistance and camaraderie is second nature to all who believe in the spirit of the FAC."
Today there are 1,445 FAC members in 17 countries and 65 FAC squadrons. The Flying Aces Club News is sent to all members every other month and typically consists of 24 pages of text and four pages (double-sided) of full-size plans.
Membership and contact
Membership fees (U.S. dollars):
- United States: $15 per year
- Canada: $20 per year
- Overseas: $25 per year
Make checks payable to "Flying Aces" and send to: FAC-GHQ 3301 Cindy Ln. Erie, PA 16506
Events and upcoming meets
The joy and fellowship of the first FAC Nationals led to the establishment of the biennial FAC Nationals (Nats). Shortly thereafter, an unofficial "non-Nats" filled in the gaps between Nats years. This was an Nats year, with the three-day event to be held in Geneseo, New York, July 16–18. See you there!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
