Record Achievement Recognized
Maynard Hill’s world-record-setting airplane TAM 5 — which crossed the Atlantic Ocean in August 2003 — was on prominent display at this year’s Toledo R/C Expo. It attracted a great deal of attention because of its historical significance. Many who saw the model and took pictures of it commented that it looked “so ordinary.”
AMA staff brought TAM 5 to the show from AMA’s National Model Aviation Museum. They mounted it on a tripod so that it was above all other displayed aircraft, yet close enough for everyone to get a close look. Based on the number of fingerprints it accumulated during the weekend, many felt the need to touch the airplane!
Maynard and his wife Gay were in the model’s vicinity much of the time, and they received many congratulations. Toledo Weak Signals club members who arranged the display as a highlight of this year’s show were pleased to have the Hills and the model on hand to celebrate the 50th‑anniversary event.
Award Presentation
To kick off the ceremony for the awards and raffle winners Sunday afternoon, I made a special presentation to Maynard in recognition of his team’s incredible effort to fly TAM 5 nonstop from Newfoundland to Ireland. I presented him with a plaque for the John A. Zaic Memorial Award and a $1,000 check. That was the second time this award combination had been made; last year it went to AMA Historian Norm Rosenstock.
This year’s award recognized Maynard and his supporters’ 40 years of effort to establish 25 RC world records, setting the stage for the greatest one: the Atlantic Ocean crossing. That accomplishment was detailed in the January 2004 MA and is known about worldwide. Now, for the first time in many years, he can relax and enjoy the results of his extraordinary achievements.
- 40 years of record-setting efforts
- 25 RC world records established
- Culminating achievement: nonstop Atlantic crossing (Newfoundland to Ireland)
Team Effort and Background
Hampered in recent years by sight and hearing problems, Maynard persevered and managed all aspects of the final project with the help of many friends and talented specialists. I’m proud to say that I helped with early record attempts when I was AMA president in 1963.
When Maynard succeeded me as president in 1964, the record-setting efforts continued. He was assisted for many years by 1969–1970 AMA President John Patton, who served as a record certification official.
Emphasizing the team effort throughout the years, when Maynard launched TAM 5 from Newfoundland, current AMA President Dave Brown landed the model in England after its autopiloted flight over the ocean got it to Ireland.
The John A. Zaic Memorial Award
The John A. Zaic Memorial Award was instituted in 2003. It was funded by an inheritance that Frank Zaic received upon his brother John’s death and donated in 2002. Frank was one of the pioneers who helped establish AMA in 1936. He is now retired and living in Guatemala with his wife’s family.
The Zaic brothers wanted to honor the memory of Lieutenant J.W. Alden; he is regarded as the principal person whose efforts helped bring about the creation of AMA as an offshoot of the National Aeronautic Association.
The award criteria specify that it is to be given “In Recognition of Extraordinary Contributions to the Progress, Promotion, or Preservation of Aeromodeling in the U.S.A.” That is much in keeping with the vision that Frank Zaic and John Alden had when they helped establish AMA, and Maynard Hill’s long service to the Academy and aeromodeling in general made him a natural candidate for this year’s award.
I was happy to be in Toledo to make the award presentation to Maynard on behalf of Frank Zaic (who recently received the FAI Gold Medal — the organization’s highest award — for more than 70 years of contributions to aeromodeling history as a model builder, designer, writer, publisher, and supplier of model‑aircraft products).
MA — John Worth
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
