Sal Taibi Fun-Fly
by Kevin Sherman
Aeromodeling legend Sal Taibi passed away in late December 2012. With only a small family service planned, two members of Sal’s former club, the Southern California Antique Model Plane Society (SCAMPS), thought it would be a good idea to have an event in his honor for his modeling friends.
The SCAMPS club holds an annual contest in March in Sal’s honor called the Taibi Annual, but Kevin Sherman and Daniel Heinrich wanted to hold an event that would allow modelers to honor Sal the way he would have liked and not have to wait for his traditional contest. Having a fun-fly in his honor seemed like the perfect idea and the event was scheduled for January 12, 2013. Sal’s son, Mike Taibi, and Sally Moke, Sal’s girlfriend, sent word that they would attend.
Sal Taibi started test flying at a field in Perris, California, in the 1960s. He used his test sessions to prepare for contests. A few SCAMPS asked if they could tag along. In time, Sal had a group of fliers joining him each week, and flying at Perris every Wednesday became a SCAMPS tradition. Eventually the field was named Taibi Field after Sal.
It was decided that a perfect way to honor Sal would be to have a fun-fly at Taibi Field and the date was set. People were invited to bring their Taibi-designed models for a group picture—and, of course, donuts. If Sal's first love was model airplanes, his second may have been eating! His stomach was like an alarm clock, telling him when it was time to take a donut break. In time, that alarm clock would go off earlier and earlier until he would call for a donut break at 9 a.m.
January 12 approached with conflicting weather forecasts. Some called for strong winds and others predicted 3-5 mph winds. Not in question were the cold temperatures because of an arctic flow. In any case, neither the cold nor the winds that didn't materialize kept anyone away.
Daniel Heinrich was first on the field and the Shermans were second. At 7 a.m. it was 27° and the ground was frozen. Walking was a chore because of the ice on the ground. Daniel supplied coffee, purchasing a large coffee pot and carafes, and the hot coffee was a big hit.
Kevin brought donuts and somehow more donuts and fruit materialized. There was a photo board collage of Sal and a sign-in sheet made to commemorate the occasion. The photo board will be put out at every Taibi Annual in the future, and the sign-up sheet will be given to Sal's son, Mike.
Approximately 40 people signed in and a large number of Taibi-designed models were in attendance. Kevin, Gary, and Don Sherman all reported having 11 Taibi-designed models in their stables, which seemed like a lot until Joe Jones announced that he had 18!
The Shermans managed to load nine of their models into their truck and Joe brought eight. Others, including Ted Firster, Jeff Carman, Ken and Don Kaiser, and Ray Peel, had multiples, too.
Sal Taibi Fun-Fly
Kevin Sherman
Thanks to social media—in particular the SCAMPS Facebook page—we were able to spread the word about the Taibi fun-fly beyond our membership. Some people who had never built a model, but knew of Sal or had met him, attended. A few others came out to the field for the first time, bringing their vintage Taibi models to be included in the group photo.
The Facebook page carried event updates. One person even made a photo board from Sal Taibi photos posted on the Facebook page and presented it to Mike Taibi. It was great to see so many of the people Sal touched during his life get behind the event.
Flying got off to a late start because of cold weather. One of the first flights was Sal's own Starduster 900. Sal was known for getting his flights in early in the thick morning air, so it was neat to see the tradition continue with this early morning flight. In Taibi fashion, it made an easy max and D/Ted from good altitude!
After that flight, flying began in earnest. What a joy to see all the Taibi models flying. There were many Stardusters, Spacers, Powerhouses, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Perris Specials tearing up the sky! Ken Kaiser even had an Eagle 1 cruising around. Sal must have been looking down on us with a big smile on his face!
Don Sherman flew two Forster 99-powered Powerhouses. It was fun to see them rise off the ground and climb out. The Forster is a quiet engine, but it puts out a surprising amount of thrust.
Jeff Carman also flew a big Powerhouse with a Super Cyke. On his first flight he forgot a rubber band that aided the DT and it failed to properly pop the tail. The model could not decide if it wanted to fly or stall. It eventually flew into a light spiral, and Jeff was able to catch it and received a round of applause for saving the model from any damage. He later stuck it in a nice piece of air and got it up there—at least twice as high as before—and this time the DT properly deployed.
Because of the late flying start, the schedule was pushed back. Gathering the Taibi models for the group picture began approximately 9:30 a.m. Sal's traditional donut break was scheduled for 9 a.m., but people didn't begin flying until 8, so the donut break never materialized.
Food was set out early in the morning, and people ate as they socialized. By 10 a.m. there was a nice group of models present. Don Kaiser reported counting 62, but a few late arrivals and a few who did not make it into the picture put the total of Taibi designs at roughly 70.
After we took pictures, Mike Taibi addressed everyone, thanking them for coming and conveyed some nice, touching thoughts. Mike walked around at the end of the day and individually thanked each person who attended. The day was made much better by Mike's presence and that of Betty Moke, who also thanked everyone.
Ted Firster presented Mike and Betty with shirts from the SAM Champs a few years ago when Sal was also honored. The shirts were imprinted with a picture of Sal launching and Las Vegas in the background.
Mike Taibi holds the Starduster 900 Sal built and gave to Kevin Sherman. Sal said the Starduster 900 was his best design of all time. Betty is a wonderful person who had been Sal’s partner for several years.
After the group photo shoot, it was back to flying. Everyone was asked to sign in, but several forgot to do so because they were having too much fun flying! After 10 a.m., the weather improved. The temperature rose to the 50s and winds were light and variable.
If you judge an event such as this by how much fun people had, then it was a rousing success. Many people talked about what a great time it was and were appreciative that Kevin and Daniel thought to organize the fun-fly. Only Sal could have drawn a group this large on a freezing day with a questionable forecast.
Sal was a special person, and it was nice to see that so many came to honor him. He had an infectious laugh and willingness to help anyone and everyone he could. Although modeling has lost one of its great pioneers, Sal lives on in every Taibi design that is built and flown.
Special thanks to the Shermans, Daniel Heinrich, Mark Williams, and everyone else who helped put on the event and the many others who came out to support it.
People were already looking forward to the Taibi Annual in Perris on March 17, 2013.
—Kevin Sherman [email protected]
SOURCES: SCAMPS http://scamps.homestead.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
