Museum News & Views - 2004/08

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outcome. This makes any attempt to answer
an identical hypothetical question previously
answered for one jurisdiction when
submitted from a different jurisdiction
impossible. This is further complicated by
the time between inquiries when the law or
court rulings may have changed the answer.
Often hypothetical questions are the
result of a dispute or conflict among
members about a given type of conduct.
Even if they warrant the expense of a legal
opinion, there may be an ongoing difference
of opinion among members, especially in
clubs. In that situation, whether the disputed
conduct is or is not covered under the policy
is normally not adequate to resolve the local
dispute.
It is AMA policy not to get involved in
differences of opinion or personality issues
at the local level. Dressing up such a
problem in an attempt to resolve it with a
legal opinion is simply nonproductive from
the standpoint of final policy coverage.
The majority of members contacting
AMA regarding general insurance questions
normally have their questions answered
without difficulty because these questions
do not involve hypothetical situations.
The AMA-member liability policy
provides broad coverage customized to meet
your needs. That means you are usually
covered should your negligent conduct
cause injury to another person; however, as
with all insurance policies, there are
exclusions and limitations.
Keep in mind there may be coverage
afforded by the AMA accident medical
policy which pays medical expenses for an
injured member without regard to fault.
Basic distinctions such as accident and
disability coverage, property damage, and
general liability coverage are routinely
explained in response to members’
questions; however, hypothetical questions
cannot be resolved with legally binding
answers.
The Special Services Department will do
its best to provide you with answers in
general terms based on limited information
available.
Questions on “What If?”
Continued from page 149
ARE THE AIRCRAFT that your Special
Interest Group (SIG) flies represented in the
National Model Aviation Museum’s
collection? Members of the museum staff
are frequently approached by aeromodelers
inquiring, “Why don’t you have any ... on
display in the museum?”
In some cases, it is simply a matter of
pointing the questioner to the area of the
museum with that particular aircraft;
unfortunately though, there are some
disciplines of aeromodeling for which the
museum has few or no artifacts. Often we
simply have not had donations to the
collection representing those categories.
One of the goals of the museum is to tell
the history of aeromodeling. We want to be
able to show visitors the developmental
history of each facet of our hobby. For
instance, an aircraft that was first flown in a
particular category would be a significant
addition to the collection.
What if we were able to locate and
acquire the airplane that actually won the
first contest for that particular event? Ted
Kraver, an active participant in CL Navy
Carrier, became enthusiastic about
preserving the history of his event. He
helped the museum staff gather information
about the event as well as significant CL
Navy Carrier airplanes flown. This included
the aircraft that won the 1954 Nationals
Navy Carrier event.
Through his research, Ted found the
name of the man who had won this event,
Dave Domizi, but apparently he was no
longer an active flier. No one flying Navy
Carrier today knew of Dave’s whereabouts.
An Internet search revealed a potential
contact, so Ted sent out an E-mail to this
individual asking for information about the
Dave Domizi who had flown Navy Carrier
and won the Nats in 1953 and 1954.
Ted received a response from the son of
the winner who reported that his father had
quit flying following the back-to-back
victories, but he still had the airplane with
which he won the event up in his attic.
He put Ted in contact with his father and
they discussed the airplane and the Navy
Carrier events at the Nats nearly a half
century before. Dave offered to donate the
airplane to the museum and the aircraft was
reviewed and accepted by the Museum
Acquisition Committee.
Ted and the Navy Carrier Society (NCS),
the SIG for Navy Carrier, invited Dave to
the 2000 Nats. Dave was honored at the
NCS Nats banquet where he presented the
airplane to the museum.
The CL Navy Carrier Guardian by Dave
Domizi won the 1954 Nats.
Because of Ted and the NCS’s help
identifying and locating this significant
aircraft, the museum can present the
evolution of the aircraft involved in the
event—literally show the history of the
Navy Carrier.
As with Navy Carrier, we want visitors
to be able to see and understand how each
aeromodeling discipline has developed.
How has the design of competitive
aircraft evolved? Did the size of the aircraft
or the materials they were constructed from
change? Were retractable landing gear an
added component or with rule changes did
they become illegal?
Moitle by Francis Reynolds is a 1945 CL
Aerobatics aircraft. This reproduction was
built by Dan Hutchinson.
George Aldrich’s 1951 CL Aerobatics
Nobler continues to be a popular design
today. Recently an RC version of the
Nobler was produced as a fun-fly model.
This is the original Nobler that was
destroyed and later restored by Charlie
Bruce.
Stiletto by Les McDonald is a 1975 CL
Aerobatics model.
Museum News & Views
Michael Smith
National Model
Aviation Museum
Curator
Tel.: (765) 287-1256
Ext. 500
[email protected]
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August 2004 153
A FRIEND of my son’s recently shared
with him that he had seen some RC
airplanes on television and thought they
were “great.” He expressed an interest in
having one. My son said, “You should talk
to my dad,” so we arranged a meeting to
show him my airplanes.
After talking with him, I asked if he
thought he would like to build an airplane.
His response was, “Yes, someday, but I
thought we would go buy one today and I
would fly it before dark.” He is 55 years
old and instant gratification reigns
supreme.
He purchased a complete package with
an electric airplane, radio, and charger and
flew it successfully—alone I might add. He
has now experienced a crash but it is
repairable. He is really interested—hooked
might be a better word—on the sport.
My son’s friend is typical of what the
beginning modeler wants these days and
the industry is producing more of these
“packages” in answer to that trend.
As modelers, we should always be
willing to offer encouragement to
beginners. Friendships that develop out of
modeling are priceless.
You can find the audit report on the AMA
Web site and I will begin running pages of
it in this column for those of you who don’t
use a computer.
Food for thought: People don’t
overachieve, they just underestimate.
ABC: Always Be Courteous. Until later ...
Executive VP’s Report
Doug Holland
AMA Executive VP
3517 Fernwood Dr.
Raleigh NC 27612
(Home) (919) 787-5163
(Office) (919) 787-7454
A reproduction of an Astro-Hog was built
by the Flying Aero Association. Designed
by Fred Dunn, this early RC Aerobatics
model took first, second, third, and fourth
places in the 1958 Nats.
The LA-1 by Vic Re is a late-model RC
Aerobatics model.
On a related note, were there
developmental offshoots such as the
creation of categories for slower or
cheaper aircraft? All of these evolutions
are important. We want to give present and
future competitors the opportunity to visit
the museum and see for themselves where
and how their form of aeromodeling
developed.
For the museum staff to be able to
illustrate the evolution of each discipline
of aeromodeling, we need the assistance of
the Special Interest Groups.
SIGs—and other interested modelers—
can help us determine the history of their
particular event and identify significant
aircraft as they have been involved with
their event and are best suited to identify
significant aircraft. Although we have a
large number of aircraft already on
display, we are always interested in adding
key artifacts to the exhibits.
If each SIG can develop a list of aircraft
significant to the history and development
of its discipline, the Museum Acquisition
Committee can use this list as a source to
evaluate potential donations. At the same
time, the museum staff can supply the SIG
with a list of models pertaining to its
interests currently in the collection.
Once this information has been shared,
members of the SIG will be able to
research and try to locate other aircraft on
the list for submission to the committee. In
order for us to have exhibits that truly
show the history of each discipline, we are
dependent upon the SIGs for their
assistance. Otherwise we are relying on
random donations. If this is the case we
may never acquire an accurate history. If
we are not proactive, too many significant
airplanes might be lost to the ravages of
time.
Along this line, the museum is very
interested in acquiring information
regarding the history of each SIG. We
want to preserve the history of each group
so that future modelers will know the
history of their sport. These will be posted
to the museum’s Web site at
www.modelaircraft.org/museum/sighist.asp.
This 1961 Delta Wing RC Pylon racer by
Austin Leftwich was donated to the
museum in 1985.
Quarter Midget was an offshoot of RC
Pylon racing. This is a Dennis Sumner
model.
Quickie 500 is another category of Pylon
racing. Dick Ritch model.
The National Model
Aviation Museum is open
8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Monday through Friday,
and 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
on Saturday and Sunday.
Closed on Sundays
Thanksgiving through
Easter. Call ahead for
holiday hours, (765) 287-
1256, ext. 500.
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