INtheAIR - 2011/06
AMA's Diamond Anniversary
This year marks 75 years since the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) was founded. Join us from July 14–17 at the International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) in Muncie, Indiana, for four days and nights of fun and fellowship to celebrate AMA's 75th Anniversary.
The Academy was born during the Golden Age of Aviation in 1936. Seventy-five years later the hobby and sport have changed considerably. What has remained is AMA's leadership role in helping the aeromodeling community in dozens of ways.
If you've always wanted to visit the AMA Headquarters, tour the National Model Aviation Museum, and fly at the 1,100-acre IAC, consider this the red carpet treatment. Join the RC, FF, and CL community in celebrating this remarkable achievement, as well as the 85th National Aeromodeling Championships.
This special event will include fun-flying, guest speakers, entertainment, and exhibitors, all in one place. Bring yourself, friends, family, and your favorite model!
More information
- Website: http://ama75.com
- Contact: April Hathaway
- Phone: (765) 287-1256, ext. 516
- Email: [email protected]
MA — AMA Staff
History Preserved: The Collection of the National Model Aviation Museum
As noted before, sometimes museum employees don't know everything and need your help.
When sorting through the records, paperwork was discovered for two models that were loaned to the museum in 1989. The signature on the paperwork appears to read Dr. David Roberts. Dr. Roberts did not leave an address, and no other documentation relating to the models can be located.
Both are static scale models of World War II aircraft. Because of the subject matter and size of the airplanes, they were likely built from Guillow's kits. One is a Stuka Ju-87 with a 34½-inch wingspan; the second is a Mitsubishi A6M Zero with a 30-inch wingspan.
They are sheeted with balsa, adorned with panel lines and rivets, and weathered to show the wear of panel access, pilots climbing into the cockpit, and exhaust fumes. The Stuka was built from a multipurpose Guillow's kit—kit number 1002—that allowed one to build a model for either rubber-powered FF, .049 gas FF, a .09 CL model, or a single-channel RC aircraft.
According to the text on the box, the kits make "magnificent display pieces if built as a non-flying model."
The kit came complete with all the pieces for building the model, and everything needed to fly the model for FF and CL flying, including:
- six feet of rubber motor
- a CL handle
- bellcrank
- pushrod
- clay for balancing the model
The copyright date on the "Special Guillow's Action Plan," which supplemented the included plans, is listed as 1969.
The museum staff wants to make sure that the models can be returned to Dr. Roberts or his family, or have them formally donated to the museum. If anyone knows anything about these models, please contact the museum registrar:
- Maria VanVreede, Museum Registrar
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: (765) 287-1256, ext. 508
These are great models and the staff is happy to have them in the collection, but proper documentation is necessary.
MA — Maria VanVreede Museum Registrar
Dedicated Modeler and Manufacturer Introduces the Thrill of Flight to Middle Schoolers
Picture a four-year-old boy gathering scraps of wood to make the rudimentary shape of an airplane and finding hours of fun sitting on and flying his creation. Move forward about a decade and picture that same young man struggling in school, although his parents were accomplished academics.
Picture a shop teacher who intervened and provided a method of education—not from books, but from using your hands and working with wood. Now move forward many decades to the present. The young man is now graying and semi-retired, but with the same passion for aviation, learning, and sharing both with youth in the same way that shop teacher did for him so many years ago.
Mark Freeland of Retro RC (http://retro.us.com) has taken his life experiences and created some fascinating aircraft and accessories for all of us to enjoy. There is a decided emphasis on successful designs of the past, hence the name Retro. But Mark also wanted to provide young people with an avenue to enjoy model aviation as he has for many years.
Always thinking outside the box, Mark looked at the standard curriculum of simple introductory aircraft and could see why youngsters weren't interested. Mark went to his own inventory of designs and presented a group of students from Geisler Middle School in Walled Lake, Michigan, with a plan that would allow them to build, cover, and fly an unusual canard rubber-powered aircraft: his version of the Frank Ehling Trioxide Darling. All the kids had to do was make the initial purchase at a deeply discounted price and show up.
Mark invested roughly two hours per week in class with the kids. Much preparation work went into each session, but in 10 short weeks all 20 students finished their aircraft.
At the appointed "fly day," those present flew successfully. One young man was required to stay home per doctor's orders, but upon getting clearance to return to school, his aircraft put in the longest flight of any of the participants.
They built all-balsa, rubber-powered canards, covered them with tissue, and all flew! A great design was matched with laser-cut technology and a talented and dedicated instructor.
Retro RC is located in Keego Harbor, Michigan. Contact: (248) 212-9666.
MA — Joe Hass Skymasters RC Club, District VII
Academy of Model Aeronautics Selects New Executive Director
The Academy of Model Aeronautics has appointed Dave Mathewson as its new executive director. Mathewson resigned his position as AMA president and leader of its governing Executive Council to accept the executive director position effective April 15, 2011.
Assuming the responsibilities of the AMA president, per the bylaws, is Executive Vice President Mark Smith.
Smith will undertake these additional duties until a special election for AMA president is conducted this September, concurrent with the regular annual AMA officer elections. The Interim Executive Director, Joyce Hager, will resume her duties as staff director and assistant executive director.
"Dave has been an exemplary leader for the AMA," said Smith. "The executive council is behind him 120%. For more than three years, Dave has been an outstanding president and we're very confident he will bring this level of success to his new role."
Mathewson will move from his home near Syracuse, New York, to Muncie, Indiana, approximately June 1.
MA — April 15, 2011 Press Release Chris Brooks, APR [email protected]
Model Aviation Online Gets a Facelift!
A scratch build involves days of research, discussing techniques with fellow pilots, random sketches in a notebook, and often a lot of coffee. Building a website is not much different.
During the fourth quarter of 2010, the Academy of Model Aeronautics formed a development team to redesign the Model Aviation website with a projected launch date of July 1, 2011. We agreed that the design needed to be more than just art; it needed to be strategic.
We wanted to be methodical with our approach, so after countless hours and pots of coffee, we established our goals and began developing a strategy.
Model Aviation Online will have three primary goals:
- Continue supporting the print publication. We understand that many readers appreciate the convenience and value of the printed page. We do not want to erode the significance of our monthly magazine; instead we want the online edition to support and supplement the magazine.
- Adhere to the print magazine's mission to be the voice of the AMA. Throughout the new website, we will cross-promote and reflect the association's position as the world's largest model aviation organization. Examples include additional coverage of events as well as updates on AMA's advocacy efforts.
- Make Model Aviation Online a self-sustaining and viable entity. We want to ensure that we wisely invest in the resources given to us.
Content is king. A website needs to be more than great looking and aesthetically pleasing. Too many good-looking websites quickly become useless when there is no content to drive traffic. Therefore, we have implemented a heavy production schedule that will continually supply content to Model Aviation Online.
The site will be rich with supplemental features, abridged stories, and online exclusives. In addition to content provided by the AMA staff, the site will offer outlets for our members to contribute as well. Interactive features will allow you to share your thoughts on a story, engage with other members, have a direct line of contact with the publications team, and even submit a story of your own.
Multimedia features will add a new level of content: after reading a story, you can view a video product review, tutorial, or how-to.
Technology is moving at lightning speed. More than half of all webpages are now accessed with a smartphone (comScore MobiLens Report 2011). It is not uncommon to discover that the person next to you on the golf course, in the elevator, or in a business meeting is probably checking his or her email on a smartphone.
iPads, tablets, and other e-readers were unheard of a couple years ago. And it's easy to forget that some of the most popular websites such as YouTube, Groupon, and Facebook are only five years old or less.
We want to protect the online edition of Model Aviation from being outpaced and falling victim to dated technology.
Without getting too deep into "geek speak," under the hood of the website is powerful coding used by entities such as NASA and Harvard's Science and Engineering Department, as well as popular publications including The New York Observer and Popular Science.
We are excited about unveiling the new look and tone of Model Aviation Online on July 1, 2011.
We invite you to become part of the development team. We welcome your thoughts, ideas, or feedback at:
The membership is the heart of the AMA, and we want you to have a voice as we enter this new frontier for Model Aviation.
MA — MA Staff
Nominations Due
Nominations for the offices of president, executive vice president, and vice presidents in Districts III, VII, and XI are due at the Headquarters of the Academy of Model Aeronautics by June 16, 2011. Any AMA Open Member may submit a nomination.
A special election for president will run concurrently with the 2011 elections.
Eligibility requirements:
- To be eligible to discharge the duties of AMA president, a nominee must be an AMA Leader Member and must previously have served as a member of the Executive Council or as an associate vice president (AVP), or as a Contest Board member for at least one year.
- To be eligible to discharge the duties of executive vice president, a nominee must be an AMA Leader Member and must previously have served as a member of the Executive Council or an AVP, or have served on the Contest Board for at least one year.
- To be eligible to discharge the duties of AMA vice president, a nominee must be a Leader Member of the Academy and must reside in the district.
(Nominees and nominators will be notified by AMA Headquarters confirming receipt of nomination. If confirmation is not received within two weeks after you have mailed your document, contact Lisa Johnson at (765) 287-1256, ext. 231.)
A letter of acceptance and a résumé of professional qualifications and model aviation experience from the nominee must be on file at AMA Headquarters by June 24, 2011 (15 days before the published Executive Council meeting).
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
