 Sal TAIBI - Inducted 1989
Born Brooklyn, New York April 5, 1920 --- Died Lakewood, California December 14, 2012
There are a lot of reasons why Sal Taibi was in the first group of people elected to the SAM Hall of Fame. Sal had been President of SAM from 1985 to 1988. He’d been Secretary Treasurer of SAM for 2 years. Sal started modeling at the age of 14 in Brooklyn, and was soon designing his own models. His Powerhouse was designed in 1937 when he was 17. The Brooklyn Dodger, the Pacer and others came later. He kept on designing models into the Nostalgia ear and beyond—with the Spacer and the Starduster series. His last design, the Perris Special, is a favorite among old time sport modelers today.
Sal admitted that it took him a while to get this competition thing down right. He didn’t start winning model airplane contests until he was 18---and then he kept on winning and winning. He was proud that he was the FF Power Champion at the 1995 SAM Champs—when he was 75 years old! Sal attended and competed in every one of the AMA Nationals starting in 1937—and in every one of the SAM Champs starting in 1966 until ill health slowed him down around 2004 or so.
After WW II Sal’s day job was as a machinist for the Navy Bureau of Ordinance and for Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena California. He helped his son Mike run Superior Balsa—a premier cottage industry supplier of balsa wood to the FF community. Sal helped many small free flight kit companies set up the dies and cutting tools needed to make kits; Superior Balsa cut a lot of wood for different kit makers. Sal also used his machining skills to do tanks and tank mounts for a variety of SAM legal engines.
Sal was also a great raconteur, and nearly every modeler who ever met Sal came away with at least one (in not many) “Sal stories” that they will cherish.
|
1989 |
 Gordon S LIGHT - Inducted 1989
Born July 7, 1915 --- Died September 20, 1999
Gordon Light’s interest in model airplanes was stirred by Charles Lindbergh’s flight to Paris in 1927. Gordon started to build models. His first big contest was the 1931 National. In 1932, he entered the National Meet at Atlantic City and qualified for the US Wakefield Team with a flight of 25 minutes and 53 seconds—which was a new world record. His plane landed 8 miles from the takeoff spot. Charles Hampson Grant, another SAM HOF member, was his timer on the flight and rode along in a motorcycle sidecar. The actual Wakefield contest was held that afternoon, and Gordon Light won that with an 8 minute flight. Those were the days of proxy flying, and the Wakefield committee disallowed the 1932 win because the proxy models had been stored in boxes for too long (the contest had been postponed). So there was no Wakefield winner in 1932. However, Gordon Light was awarded the Wakefield trophy in the 1935 contest. His model had been sent to England and was proxy flown on what is now Heathrow Airport (but was then Fairey’s Aerodrome). His winning flight landed two hours after takeoff. In 1936 the Wakefield contest was held in conjunction with the Detroit Nationals at Selfridge Field. Gordon placed third in that contest, losing to Albert Judge of England. Gordon Light’s Wakefield design remains a potent contender in the Four Ounce Wakefield class. Light graduated from engineering school in 1936. He went on to an engineering career, working for the Budd Company, for the Glenn L. Martin Company and at the Applied Physics Laboratory. He worked for a period of time as an editor at Air Trails magazine, and also wrote articles for the American Modeler magazine. |
1989 |
 John
POND - Inducted 1989
Born March 20, 1917 --- Died June 11, 2001
If anybody deserves to be called the “Father of The Society of Antique Modelers”, then John Pond does. John was quite properly inducted in the SAM Hall of Fame in the first year of its existence. . John spent a lifetime being involved with “old timer models”. John was a founding member of the “San Francisco Vultures” in the 1930’s. The Vultures ultimately morphed into SAM Chapter 21. He wrote model aviation columns for the Hearst newspapers in San Francisco in the 1930’s and was an instructor for San Francisco area youth model airplane groups. John’s articles and columns about model airplanes were published in many magazines over a period of more than 60 years. In the early 1960’s he and Lee Freeman, another SAM HOF member, discussed their desire to have contests just for “old time model airplanes” like the ones they flew in the 1930’s. John set out to organize old timer contests, and got Tim Dannels (another HOF member) to promote the idea in the Model Engine Collectors magazine that Tim edited. John was also a founding member of MECA. He got the AMA to run “old timer” events at the AMA National Championships, and ran the “old timer” section of the AMA Nats for 25 years. John was an organizer of the first true SAM Championships held in Denver in 1967. He was one of the seven original incorporators of the Society of Antique Modelers when it obtained its New Jersey corporate charter in the mid 1970’s. He was President of SAM from 1978 to 1982.
John was an avid collector of old time model airplane plans, having kept the plans from every airplane he ever built—starting in the early 1930’s. John’s “day job” for most of his life was as a civilian draftsman for the U.S. Navy. He drew up old timer plans from magazine photos and article. He also had other draftsmen draw up other old time model designs for him. That led to a business, the John Pond Model Plan Service, which ultimately had several thousand vintage and antique model airplane plans. Those plans were in turn used by SAM members to build old time model airplanes. On John’s death, the inventory of the plan service was sold to the AMA.
John was an enthusiastic and tireless promoter of the SAM movement. He’d travel almost anywhere to promote SAM. He wrote the “Plug Sparks” column in Model Builder magazine which appeared monthly for over 20 years. In each column he’d have news about old time model airplane contests, and pictures of SAM planes and SAM members. Each column also included a story about and a plan or design for an old time model. The column was one of the best long running “recruiting poster” for SAM that ever existed.
John was a frequent contest director having been the CD of more than 100 contests or meets during his life. He was also an enthusiastic competitor in those contests. He travelled to England and Australia to help promote the SAM movement there. He was elected to the NFFS Hall of Fame in 1983 and to the AMA Hall of Fame in 1987. |
1989 |
 Dr. Walter
A GOOD - Inducted 1989
Born April 25, 1916 --- Died July 19, 2002
Walt Good and his twin brother, Bill Good (inducted into the SAM Hall of Fame in 1996) are the one set of just two sets of brothers in the SAM Hall of Fame. Walt Good, along with fellow HOF’er Frank Zaic were two of the just five modelers inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in its first class of 1969.
The Good brothers were born in Hillsdale Michigan and grew up in Kalamazoo Michigan. Their father was a high school science teacher. He encouraged their interest in physics as did their professors at Kalamazoo College. Both boys had started building model airplanes in 1927. Walt had the stronger passion for building model airplanes, and Bill focused on developing radios. Their shared interests and efforts led to the development of the first successful RC controlled model airplane. The airplane was the “Guff”. And of course the Guff was guided by the first successful model aircraft RC system. The Guff was first flown at a Nats in 1937. The Good brothers won the 1938, 1939, and 1940 Nats flying the Guff, and competed successfully with it as late as the 1947 Nats also won by the Good brothers. In 1952, Walt Good set up a new world’s RC duration record of just over 40 minutes flying his own design Rudder Bug. His own design Multibug set a new world’s altitude record in 1963. The Good brothers’ “Big Guff” is on permanent display at the Smithsonian.
Walt Good earned a PhD in Physics from the University of Iowa in 1941 and immediately started work at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory near Washington D.C. He spent his work life there retiring in 1977. His early work there included developing a vital component of the proximity fuse. This was a major invention that made US antiaircraft fire more effective. It helped defend against both kamikaze attacks in the Pacific and V-1 attacks in England. Much of Walt’s later work at the Applied Physics Laboratory related to guidance systems for military applications. He was the winner of several Naval Ordnance Division awards for his work.
Walt continued his interest in model airplanes through most of his adult life. He began volunteer work for the AMA in 1946. He was President of the AMA from 1958 to 1960. He served on the Contest Board, the Radio Control Rules Committee, and the AMA Frequency Committee. Walt worked very effectively to secure the use of radio control frequencies for model aircraft, helping create our hobby of today.
As noted Walt was in both the first class to go into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1969, and the first class to go into the SAM Hall of Fame in 1989. He was inducted into the Vintage Radio Control Society Hall of Fame in 1975. The FAI awarded him its Tissiender Award in 1960 for his pioneering work in model aviation. |
1989 |
 Bertram Phillips (Bert)
POND - Inducted 1989
Born May 31, 1901 --- Died June 30, 1999
Bert Pond was born in Chicago and graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in mechanical engineering. He’d been a modeler from the age of twelve and had been invited to join the Illinois Model Aero Club in Chicago. He designed and built rubber models of all types. He was a very competitive flyer winning contests and holding national records. He also wrote articles for magazines. In 1926 Bert was teaching high school shop classes in Peru Indiana. He designed a three cylinder compressed air motor named The Hoosier Whirlwind as project for his high school students. He also wrote an article about the design along with plans for the motor, and published it in Popular Science Monthly. The article appeared just a few weeks before Charles Lindbergh made his famous solo transatlantic flight. Most of life is luck and timing, and within a few days after Lindbergh landed in Paris, Pond was inundated with orders for The Hoosier Whirlwind. Small spark ignition engines for model airplanes were still a few years in the future and the compressed air motor had a heyday of several years. Bert continued working as a professional engineer, doing work at Wright Patterson in the World War II era, then working on materials and equipment for the space program at Hamilton Standard. In the early 1980’s, Bert produced a 180 page treatise on “Expansion Engine Powered Model Aircraft” with plans, photos and historical material on both compressed air and CO2 powered aircraft. Bert is in the SAM Hall of Fame as the “father of the compressed air engine”. Bert was also inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame (1977) and the National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame (1978). |
1989 |
 Chester
LANZO - Inducted 1989 - 1914-1989
Born June 11, 1914, Cleveland, Ohio --- Died August 13, 1989
He was a lifelong resident of Cleveland, Ihio. Lanzo was one of he earliest members elected to the Academy of Model aeronautics (AMA) Hall of Fame. Lanzo built indoor and outdoor rubber models and ;Gasoline engine powered mo and was an early pioneer in radio controlled (RC) models and was the first to successfully radio control a gasoline engine powered model plane. Chet was the first to win the national meet in the RC event in 1937. Lanzo was a national champion in outdoor rubber and a record holder in those events. His later years were spent in RC, primarily gliders and scale.
He was an electrical, instrumental,
nuclear and laser engineer. He worked at NASA's Lewis Research Center as a nuclear engineer until he retired in 1974.
As modelers, we all will remember him for his outstanding model designs and contributions to aeromodeling. Chet's
memory will live on in the hearts of all modelers. His gift to us is the pleasure we derive from modeling and flying
one of his designs. Chet was a modest, soft-spoken, gentle man. The closest I ever heard Chet come to bragging was
his little saying when he saw one of his designs being flown by another modeler - 'a beautifully engineered model'
Chet had literally hundreds of friends and acquaintances who were model enthusiasts. He was easy to meet and made
everyone feel at ease.
I was privileged to attend the 50th Anniversary Wakefield at Taft, California with Chet and he literally spent half
his time meeting new people and posing for pictures with different modelers - a great memory for him and all of us.
Chet had built a new 4-ounce Duplex and was test flying it with just a few turns. An unidentified modeler, who didn't
know him, was giving him advice on trimming the model. Chet was very courteous and said, Well, I may try your idea.
Thanks for your help. I thought at the time, 'What a gentle man'.
(Ed. note: From Tom McCoy's cover letter - 'As you know, Chet and I were flying buddies and this has been a tough
job for me. I guess we all lost a good friend.') Tom McCoy. (ref SS#90) |
1989 |
 Irwin
OHLSSON - Inducted 1989
Born 1913 --- Died April 20, 1996
Irwin Ohlsson started model building at the age of 7 in 1920. By the early 30’s he was a successful rubber model contest flyer in California. By 1933 and 34 Maxwell Bassett and Bill Brown were having good success in the east with Miss Philadelphia models powered by Brown Jr. engines. Irwin’s first gas model had an 8 foot wingspan and was powered by a modified boat engine. Irwin travelled to Akron Ohio to try his luck against the Easterners. In the hot weather, his engine wouldn’t start. Later that year Irwin went to the California State Contest in Sacramento. This time his engine ran, and Irwin became the California State Champion with a flight of an hour and six minutes, a record that stood for a long time.
Ohlsson made his first own design model engine in 1934. It was quite small with a displacement of 0.12 cubic inches. He’d designed the engine in response to a Los Angeles Herald Examiner plan to use small model airplanes as an incentive for their delivery boys to boost circulation! The Herald Examiner changed editors and both Irwin and the newspaper lost interest in the engine.
Irwin’s next design was for a .56 sized engine which became known as the “Gold Seal”. In the spring of 1935 Ohlsson and machinist Harry Rice started production of the Gold Seal engine. They eventually became partners in Ohlsson & Rice. The partnership had produced more than half a million spark ignition engines by the time WW II started, and coupled with production after the end of war, ultimately produced and sold more than 800,000 model airplane engines.
The Brown Junior was the first successful spark ignition model airplane engine, and it had arrived on the market in late 1933 or early 1934. The Junior Motor Company had made and sold some 50,000 plus Brown Jr. motors by the start of WW II, but was focused almost exclusively on their .60 size motor. They did not resume production after WW II.
By contrast, Ohlsson produced several different sizes of motors, including its .19 and .23, as well as well as the .60 sized engines. Ultimately they manufactured 78 different models of their engines. Because so many Ohlsson engines were produced, and because Ohlsson engines have a reputation for being easy to start, the engines are very popular among SAM modelers. Ohlsson engines will continue to power old time models well into the 21st Century.
Ohlsson left the engine manufacturing business in the early 1950’s. He continued in the hobby business producing model airplane fuel and flow plugs.
Ohlsson was the fourth President of the Academy of Model Aeronautics, serving in that capacity from 1943 to 1946. His efforts to prepare the AMA for the influx of veterans returning from WW II were both successful and significant. Ohlsson was elected to the Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1975. He was elected to the National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame in 1978. |
1989 |
 Dick
KORDA - Inducted 1989
Born February 15, 1915 --- Died October 12, 2001
Dick Korda was an outstanding contest modeler in the 1930’s. He won the Wakefield Cup with a record breaking 43 minute 39 second flight OOS in 1939. He made the flight at the golf course at Bendix, New Jersey. Second place that year went to Canadian Fred Bowers who had a flight of just over 12 minutes.
That 1939 Korda Wakefield design has been and remains one of the most popular Wakefield designs among SAM modelers. Korda was honored at the 1994 SAM Champs. He built a replica of his 1939 model and placed 10th among the 76 entrants in the 8 Ounce Wakefield Class.
But Wakefield was not the only class in which Korda had exceptional contest success during the 1930’s. He’d started building models in 1929 when he was 15. He won the Mulvihill Trophy at the Nationals in St. Louis in 1935 with a world record of 24 minutes 30 seconds. He was extremely successful in indoor rubber model competition. He designed Class C and Class D rubber models. One of his successful rubber designs was the 1941 Korda Dethermalizer. After the war he designed the Korda Powerhouse, and branched into control line speed competition. While he did not win the Wakefield Cup again after 1939, he was a member of the US Wakefield Teams after the war.
Korda had a career as a machinist and skilled toolmaker in the Cleveland area. He stopped competing in model airplane contests in 1952, opting to go into full scale aviation with gliders and light aircraft.
He was inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1970; into the National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame in 1978, and was in the first class to enter the SAM Hall of Fame in 1989.
|
1989 |
 Frank
ZAIC - Inducted 1989
Born August 1, 1912 --- Died May 27, 2005
Frank Zaic’s “orange books” are the single most important chronicle of the original SAM era of modeling. The modeling books were published from 1934 up through at least 1965. They had technical articles and three views of all sorts of models. Those three views were a significant contribution to drawing up the approved design list of SAM models, and of course inspired many modelers to replicate the models in the drawings.
He was born in Slovenia. His parents and older siblings moved to New York shortly after Frank was born. He stayed with his grandparents until 1922 when he came to the United States. He couldn’t speak English, but his younger brother John helped in school, and Frank graduated from 8th grade in 1926. He trained to be a patent draftsman, a skill that was useful for the creation of his orange books. He maintained an extensive correspondence with other modelers worldwide throughout his life, and the information and drawings he received made their way into his orange books. A young modeler trying to learn to fly, or even a first year aeronautical engineering student could do worse than study those orange books closely.
Frank’s life was full of “firsts”. He was a naturalized U.S. citizen, and was the first American citizen to receive the FAI’s Paul Tissiender Diploma. He was in the first class to enter both the AMA Hall of Fame (1969) and the SAM Hall of Fame (1989). He was also in the NFFS and Kits and Planes Collectors Halls of Fame.
Zaic was a competitive modeler in the 1930s, being on the US Wakefield Team in 1934, 1935 and 1937. He set a rubber Class D Open Outdoor Cabin record of 17 minutes and six seconds at the 1938 Nationals.
Zaic was a founding member of the AMA in 1936; he was on the AMA’s first executive committee. Along with Lt. H.W. Alden he started Model Aviation, the AMA magazine. He designed the AMA logo, and that logo is still in use today.
In the 1930’s, Frank and his brother John founded JASCO. Jasco t offered building supplies and kits for indoor and outdoor free flight. Zaic designed several model airplanes, particularly gliders and small rubber models.
Zaic served as an enlisted man in a B-24 unit in WW II performing administrative duties on the ground for his squadron. He married Carmen after the war. They moved to the Los Angeles suburbs in 1962. In the late 90’s, with Frank’s health failing, they moved to Guatemala to be near Carmen’s extended family. Frank died in Guatemala in 2005.
Shortly before Carmen and Frank moved to Guatemala, Frank spoke at a free flight awards banquet in Southern California. He said that the one thing he’d learned in his life, and his extensive correspondence and exchange of information with other modelers in the United States and overseas was that we were all bound tightly together. He said that was because we and our model airplanes all faced a common enemy, “Gravity.” Frank understood us.
|
1989 |
 Maxwell BASSETT - Inducted 1989
Born July 7, 1914 --- Died April 4, 2005
Honors:-
-1981: National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame
-1983: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
-1989: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Maxwell Bassett, and Bill Brown were the first successful flyers of spark ignition powered model aircraft. They were first to design both the plane and the engine. As boyhood neighbors in Philadelphia they belonged to the Philadelphia Model Aeroplane Association (PHHA) building and flying contest rubber models. Maxwell was disappointed with the relatively short flights with the rubber models.
In 1929 Bassett and Brown discussed building a useful small engine for airplanes. Brown worked on the engine in his father’s workshop, making everything including a crude sparkplug. A photo of Bill’s .27 displacement prototype engine and airplane appeared in the Philadelphia Bulletin on Memorial Day 1931. Bassett designed a small V-shaped twin-stick-fuselage test model. The airplane was not a great success because the engine and the airframe were too small. They then started planning a new engine/airframe combination that would “clean up against the rubber powered competition”.
With help from a local machinist, Walter Hurleman, Brown designed a new .60 cubic inch engine. By mid-summer 1932 he had one of his first new Brown Jr. engines. Bassett’s newly designed cabin ship called the Fleetwing, powered by the new Brown Jr engine was entered in the Nationals flown at Atlantic City, on September 1932. The rules required a fuselage design, but did not specify power. Bassett’s model put a 13-minute flight, the longest flight time in the International Wakefield event. At that time rubber and gas models flew together equally.
At the 1933 Nats, Bassett entered his new Miss Philadelphia II with a Brown Jr. and won all of the rubber events and trophies, including Mulvihill, Stout and Moffet. Shortly afterwards the NAA Competition Committee declared that henceforth gas powered airplanes would be flown in separate classes from the rubber events.
In 1934, Bassett appeared at the Nats again, flying a new Miss Philadelphia IV, a cabin model, and won the Texaco Trophy with a flight of 21 minutes. For three years planes flown by the team of Max Basset and his mechanic Bill Brown, swept all competitors before them.
By 1935 Maxwell’s interests were becoming more focused on his future career, and modeling was fading from his life’s plans. In 1935 he designed an all-new Miss Philadelphia V (and identical VI). No longer a cabin model the V & VI sported a built up box section fuselage with considerable flat side area. The wing was mounted on a wire parasol framework. The new 8’ wing had a flat center section approximately half as long as the total span, with the outer quarter panels turned up in what might be called trihedral. By this time he was enrolled in college. In 1937 Bassett flew his last contest event at the Detroit Nats, scoring an astounding 70-minute flight with Miss Philadelphia IV and a Baby Cyclone engine. Soon thereafter the Scientific Model Airplane Company in New Jersey kitted his Miss Philadelphia IV and V models and later his new 6’ wingspan, Streamliner. In 1938 Megow Model Company offered Bassett’s 48” wingspan Cardinal. After that, Bassett left aeromodelling.
Bassett graduated with an aeronautical engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1939 and went to work for Martin Aircraft Company. He worked on the B-26, the Mars flying boat, and the B-57. He also worked on the Titan missile project. He retired in 1970 and became enthusiastic about sailing. Perhaps this may be attributed to the close relationship between the principles of sailing and flying. (compiled by Charlie Reich) |
1989 |
 Mike
GRANIERI - Inducted 1990 top of this page
Born November 20, 1919 --- Died April 12, 2000
Mike Granieri grew up in the New Jersey area, and was a successful contest modeler in the 1930’s. He designed a series of airplanes named MG1, MG2 and MG3. They were all designed circa 1935. The MG2 is a nicely streamlined job with a 108 inch wing mounted on a wire cabane. It remains a popular FF Texaco model and, scaled down, is also flown as a ½ RC Texaco model.
Mike was President of SAM from 1982 to 1984, and served as East Coast Vice President of SAM for several years afterwards. |
1990 |
 Irwin POLK - Inducted 1990
Born November 22, 1911 --- Died January 27, 1995
Honors:-
-Hobby Industry Association of Americas HOF 1965
-Model Aviation Hall of Fame 1974
-NFFS Hall of Fame 1978 |
|
 Nathan (Nat)
POLK - Inducted 1990
Born 1913 --- Died August 6, 1996
Honors:-
-AMA Hall of Fame 1974
-NFFS Hall of Fame 1978
Irwin S. Polk, and his younger brother, Nathan S. Polk are one of two sets of brothers in the SAM HOF. (The other set are the twin brothers Walt Good and Bill Good.) Irwin got his start in the model industry in 1925. He wrote a column for the Newark Evening News. He formed a model aviation club. The members had trouble getting supplies, so in 1926 Irwin approached Bamberger’s Department Store and suggested it set up a model airplane section. Bamberger’s management agreed if Irwin would run the section. Irwin agreed. That put the Polk family in the hobby business. Irwin and Nat, and their sons and grandsons would spend nearly 90 years in the trade. (Polk’s Hobbies recently announced it would be closing its New Jersey hobby shop at the end of 2013.)
Both brothers had a philosophy of promoting the hobby, and their business, by teaching people how to fly, and by promoting and managing contests and leagues. While working at Bamberger’s, Irwin taught more than 4,000 modelers how to build and fly successful models. Irwin left Bamberger to work with William Randolph Hearst’s Junior Birdmen of America organization. Nat then went to Bamberger. Irwin was the Contest Director for the 1932 Nationals where Messrs. Basset and Brown made their first gas powered flights. Both brothers were contest directors for many major East Coast and national contests. In the mid 1930’s Irwin and Nat set up hobby shops in downtown Manhattan and in New Jersey. The New York shop closed in1980. In addition to running the shops, Irwin and Nat acted as manufacturer’s representatives and wholesale distributors for hobby companies. By the late 1930’s the Polk brothers would be selling model supplies to more than 350 department stores from the East Coast to the Mississippi river.
Irwin worked for a while as editor of Model Aircraft Builder magazine. Both Nat and Irwin were involved with a committee setting up a junior section of the NAA. That junior section ultimately became the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
Irwin formed a trade association for hobby dealers and manufacturers. “Hobby Industry Association of Americas” or HIAA. Both brothers were officers or directors of HIAA at one time or another, as were some of their sons and grandsons.
The Polk’s were successful businessmen constantly looking for new toys and hobbies to import or to manufacture. Shortly after WWII they brought Jetex to the United States. At the same time, they established a relationship with Ken Mabuchi, a young man in Tokyo. At the time Mabuchi had 8 employees. Mabuchi Motors grew to more than 40,000 employees and the Polk brothers directed Mabuchi’s American sales. When tether car racing became a big thing on the West Coast, the Polks introduced it on the East Coast with demonstrations at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. In the late 1950’s the Polks were active in inventing and promoting slot car racing. The Polk Model Craft Hobby Company was active in the radio control area for decades. As late as the mid 1990s the Polk’s were trying to establish an interference proof "tracker" radio system, ultimately losing out to the 2.4 GHz radios.
Aside from importing and selling toys and hobbies, the Polk brothers were also manufacturers. Their Aristo Craft Company was and is a major manufacturer of model trains and related materials. Irwin Polk formed a company called Leisure Dynamics which owned and manufactured Cox, K&B and Veco engines during the period 1970-1980.
|
1990 |
 Herbert
GREENBERG - Inducted 1990
Born October 10, 1915 ---
Herb Greenberg was born in 1915 in New Jersey and became an avid modeler in his youth. At age 19 he showed up at a 1934 meet in New Jersey and was photographed starting a motor on a model he designed that appeared to be a forerunner of the Red Zephyr. Herb, with his shock of curly red hair must have been a trademark at the old Junior Birdman meets.
Herb Greenberg was 21 years old when he finished 11th at the 1936 NATS with his "Red Zephyr". The plane had not been test-flown prior to that flight as Herb finished it up in time to leave New Jersey for the Detroit Nat’s. I let that thing go and it corkscrewed straight up," said Herb Monday, while watching the Brown Junior events at the 1993 SAM Champs at Taft, California. "I never had a chance to decorate the Zephyr, it was finished in lightweight white Japanese tissue just in time to leave for the NATS."
The (all white) Red Zephyr showed tremendous stability and looked like a real plane, properties that attracted the attention of John D. Frisoli, President of Scientific Model Airplane Company. John inquired if Herb would be interested in letting Scientific kit his design. He offered $25 and Herb let him borrow his plane. The Scientific people measured every part of the plane and produced a kit that sold in the multi-thousands in quantity over the years. Herb, of course, only received $25 for that design. Interestingly enough, Herb reports that the famous "sunburst" finish depicted on Scientific's plans was a creation of Scientific's, as his aircraft was plain white. The Frisoli family still resides near Herb in New Jersey, and the Scientific Model Airplane Company has evolved into a mail order tool firm run by the son of the founder, that company is called Micro-Mark.
Herb had belonged to the Bamberger Aero Club since 1931. The club met on an upper floor of Bamberger's Department Store in Newark, NJ later purchased by Macy's and operated today under the same name. Irv Polk ran the model hobby section of the department store and was the first president of the club 1931-32. You may remember Irv as he later left Bamberger's and started his own emporium, Polk's Models and produced products under the Aristocraft label. Later, Mike Granieri was president of the club. Speakers at club meetings included Jimmy Doolittle, Clarence Chamberlin, and Sir Fredrick Ives, famous aviators of the period. Herb has an Doolittle-autographed Shell Oil memento from that visit.
Herb attended the SAM Champs in Taft, CA in 1993 and was invited to fly an electric powered Red Zephyr. He got in several training flights and soloed the Zephyr for an additional five flights, the last of which was very special as the Zephyr took off in lift and eventually put in over 12 minutes. Herb was enthralled with the plane and the flying.
Conversations with the 78-years-young Herb (he celebrated that birthday on Monday, October 10, 1993) were an interesting mixture of old and new. Herb would be talking about engineering problems he worked on as a Navy pilot in WWII, and in the next second, remark that the twin tails on a contestant's model reminded him of another design that he sold to the Scientific kit company in 1939, the Miss World's Fair. (This time, Herb received $50 for his design!) If a listener isn't prepared for Herb's wide-ranging interests, he or she can suffer from a severe case of verbal whiplash as he careens from subject to subject.
He has a 486/33MHz PC at home and works with Computer Aided Design (CAD) programs from his work. He still works full-time and flies full-scale gliders and airplanes out of the busy Newark/NY corridor. After the SAM Champs at Taft, Herb is on his way to Lyon, France for a "total immersion" seminar in French. Herb is a prolific writer and has had stories published in soaring magazines of his exploits soaring in Germany a few years ago. He is currently working on a patentable idea for ice warning devices for aircraft and is in line for a defense department development grant to develop the idea. If you get the idea that Herb doesn't let his age have anything to do with how he pursues life, you're right! Herb doesn't endure, pass or put up with life. He attacks, relishes and pursues it with gusto. (by Ned Nevels-1993) |
1990 |
 Earl
Fred STAHL - Inducted 1990
Born 1918 --- Died Octabe 16, 2012
Honors:-
- 1985: National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame
- 1989: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
- 1990: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
- 1995: Kits and Plans Antiquitous Hall of Fame
- 1996: Flying Aces Club Hall of Fame
Earl Stahl was a prolific scale model plan creator who started modeling around the age of nine, building the elementary Baby Rise off Ground (R.O.G.) model. That success was followed by a three-foot wingspan Twin Pusher that flew well. Earl attended all the local area and national fly-offs whenever possible. In the process, much was learned about design, construction and, particularly, trimming and flying models in varying venues and atmospheric conditions.
With persistent interest in full-scale aircraft, flying scale models increasingly became the focus of Earl’s design and construction efforts. Earl acquired drawings for a Rearwin Speedster model, it had ideal proportions for a model with racy lines of exceptional eye-appeal but like most early-day scale pans they didn’t fly well. Earl re-designed the Rearwin Speedster applying some of the knowledge acquired from contest type models. It was a superb flyer. A picture of Earl’s model was sent to Model Airplane News. This brought an invitation for a construction article from editor, Charles Grant. That is his how the long list of different scale design magazine articles, in five different magazines commenced. Earl received modeler’s questions regarding the scale accuracy of his designs. His response was, “Except for the widely acceptable practice of increasing dihedral and, sometimes, enlarging tail surfaces to help create a stable, free flight model, the designs are as accurate as the sparse information available permitted”.
New plane awareness came from full-scale aircraft publications such as Aero Digest and Aviation that provided three view drawings of new crafts. Aero Digest annually published a thick edition with more than 100 tiny three-views of civilian and military aircraft plus a small photo and various specifications. In the absence of data direct from a manufacturer, those editions were absolute treasures, but the tiny plans with less than two-inch wingspreads were a challenge for Earl as this was before enlarging copy machines (or computers). Increasing the outline shapes to desired model size had to be done manually which occasionally compromised the goal of exact accuracy, but it was the best he had to work with.
In England a chapter of the Society of Antique Modelers sponsors annual events for two classes of Earl Stahl scale designs, low-wing and high-wing models.
In 2006 the SAM Champs sponsored two honorary Earl Stahl Commemorative Events with the Free-Flight event flying his 1940 designed Hurricane low-wing rubber model with 15 entries. The R/C group flew Earl’s 1941 designed WW-I Fokker D-VIII with 15 entries. A very proud, pleased and humble Earl Stahl graced this special SAM Champs honorary event with his attendance.
Earl’s career at NACA / NASA spanned 41 years. After seven years of model making he participated in operation of large supersonic wind tunnels engaged in aeronautical and space research. During his final 12 years, he was chief of operations support for the entire research center. Their responsibility was for technical support to prepare test objects (models, actual vehicles) and participate in tests, operate and maintain wind tunnels, laboratories, and simulators for the vast range of aero / space research continually in progress. |
1990 |
 Frank V. EHLING - Inducted 1990
Born August 23, 1912 --- Died August 21, 2001
Frank Ehling saw his first real model airplane in 1924 when his family moved to Jersey City. His shop teacher offered to help Frank build a model airplane if Frank would maintain an 85 average in all his subjects. Frank met the challenge. His first successful model airplane was a twin pusher, which was good for about 50 seconds. The Jersey City Recreation Department sponsored an annual model contest, including boats, planes and cars. The airplane part of the contest would be won by the longest single flight. Frank showed up with a one inch long balsa model tied to a string which went into a shoebox. As the contest was about to end, Frank asked the judges if he could fly his model. They said, “Where is your model?” Frank walked to the table, opened his shoebox, and a pigeon flew out of the box with the model attached. The judges started their watches and Frank (and the pigeon) won first prize. His fellow contestants were not amused but rules are rules, and Frank had read them closely. That attention to detail in the rules is one reason why Frank served for many years as Technical Director of the AMA.
Frank was a very competitive modeler and designer in the 1930’s. He started to make his living by selling his model designs and articles to model magazines. Many of his designs appeared in Zaic’s orange yearbooks. There are more than 25 Ehling designs on the SAM Approved Design lists both power and rubber. His most popular gas designs are the Elf Biplane and the 8 foot wingspan Contest Model. The model of his which has been built perhaps three million times is the AMA Cub, sometimes also known as the Delta Dart. Frank donated that design royalty free to the AMA. The AMA has used the Delta Dart ever since as a way to get young boys and girls interested in model aviation.
Frank was a lifelong bachelor. He designed, wrote and built at a fast pace. He sold his designs and articles to different magazines under at least half a dozen pen names. He designed planes, work tables, barbeques, boats, tool boxes, cars, seaplanes, kits, space helmets, clocks, wall decorations and such. He also designed and built two houses, including the one he lived in at the time he retired.
In 1960 Frank joined the staff of the AMA. The AMA suffered a membership slump in the early 1960’s and John Worth as Executive Director and Frank Ehling as Technical Director revitalized the AMA’s membership base.
Frank was repeatedly recognized for his service to the modeling hobby. He was named an AMA Fellow in both 1966 and again in 1995. The FAI awarded him its Paul Tissandier Diploma, and also gave him the FAI Outstanding Service Award in 1969. He went in the Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1976, the NFFS Hall of Fame in 1978 and the SAM Hall of Fame in 1990.
|
1990 |
 Ben
SHERESHAW - Inducted 1990
Born March 13, 1913 --- Died Spring 2009
Ben Shereshaw was a prolific designer of model airplanes during model aviation’s “golden age of the late 1930’s. He got his start in model airplane competition designing and flying rubber power twin pusher. He was educated as an aeronautical engineer at the Guggenheim Institute, but times were hard in the early 1930s. He became an educator, teaching mechanical drawing at Central High School in Newark New Jersey. In 1934 Ben acquired a Loutrel engine and designed his first gas model. He called it The Speedster. The Loutrel Specialty Company in Brooklyn purchased the design and kitted it. Ben had designed the first gas model to be sold as a kit in the USA. In 1939 Ben added movable control surfaces to his XP3 design—which was produced as the first RC kit to hit the market.
Depending upon who’s counting, Shereshaw designed between 20 and 25 different models between 1927 and 1941. The plans appeared in Flying Aces and Model Aviation—and of course on the SAM Approved Design List for Gas Models. Most of his designs were cabin or shoulder wing jobs with straight dihedral—his only pylon design was the Scientific Ensign. The designs were legend—Nimbus, Cumulus, Cavalier, Commodore, Mercury—all wonderful models. Several were kitted by Scientific—others were kitted by Berkeley. The Scientific Mercury was honored as Model of the Year at the 2001 SAM Champs and Ben was able to come to Nevada to see many of his Mercury designs in the air at the Champs that year.
Aside from his numerous model airplane designs, Ben was first to market with a successful design of a small Class A spark ignition engines. He developed the Bantam .16 in his basement workshop in 1937. By 1939 Ben had his Bantam .19 on the market (beating the subsequent introduction of the Ohlsson .19 and the Arden .19) and sold 70,000 Bantams in 1939. At the 1940 Nationals, Bantam .19s took six out of the first ten places in the newly formed Class A event.
After the war both Ed Chamberlin, the developer of a fuel called “Liquid Dynamite”, and Ben Shereshaw noticed that a Bantam would “run on” after the ignition was shut off. Along with Ray Arden, Ed and Ben helped develop the glow plug, and the glow fuel era had begun. Ben produced millions of glow plugs in his Miniature Motors factory selling them under the XL brand name for the OK Herkimer Company.
Ben has also been inducted into both the Model Aviation Hall of Fame and the National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame. |
1990 |
 Joseph
KOVEL - Inducted 1990
Born September 14, 1914 --- Died March 4, 2009
Honors:-
- 1998: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
- 1990 Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
I started to build model airplanes at age 13 right after Lindbergh's flight to Paris in 1927. I built several rubber models and finally was able to win a major event in 1932 at the Nats winning first place in the Stout Indoor Event with a flight of 13 minutes, 3 seconds. I thereafter received a post card from Model Airplane News notifying me that a medal I had won at a recent contest was available for me to pick up at their office where I was invited in to meet the editor, Mr. Charles Grant. During our conversation he inquired, “If I were to furnish you with a gasoline engine, would you be willing to build a model airplane for it?” I hesitated for an instant while the impact of Charlie's question hit me. How could I say no?
I soon received Charlie’s rough plans on heavy brown wrapping paper. Its wingspan was eight feet mounted on a fuselage a little over six feet long. I couldn’t start the “Gill” engine that Charlie had provided and several others also tried with no success. The model and I went by train to Mr. Grant's home in Peru Vermont, and the engine Charlie had ordered from Bill Brown had arrived. Charlie designed an engine mount that accommodated the engine and all ignition components, a power pod. It could be quickly installed into or removed from the fuselage. I modified the fuselage to nest the power module in place. Bill Brown arrived at Charlie’s home on Labor Day weekend of 1933 to help with the first flights of the model in a large field nearby. Bill Brown started the engine and Charlie Grant hand launched the model. It went up to the height of perhaps 50 feet with an inherent tendency to make hallow bank to the left and slowly spiral to the ground, breaking a prop. After three more similar attempts it was back to the shop and the drawing board. Charlie did some heavy thinking and decided the wing should be raised three inches above the fuselage to raise both the center of gravity and the center of lateral area of the model. I built the wing mount as per Charlie's specs. With Charlie’s first launch away it went in a beautiful climbing turn and the flight was timed for 14 minutes. Charlie then chased the model on foot and finally discovered it sitting on the ground, undamaged, in the middle of the forest. We had lots to talk about at dinner that night. And that is when the model was named the KG-1, designating Kovel (the builder), Grant (the designer), and 1 (our first model). A number of flights were made and observed in 1933 and we came up with a few ideas for improvement. These suggestions - to increase the wingspan to 10 feet; to increase the stabilizer span to 45 inches; and add 8% to the fin area - were incorporated into what became the KG-2. I completed the model in mid-1934, made several flights with it, and on May 25, 1935, entered it in the Eastern States Meet held at Hadley Field, New Jersey. The KG-2 made a record flight of 64 minutes 40 seconds, out-of-sight overhead at an elevation of about 4,000 feet. I went on to write several Model Airplane News’ articles. Joined the Navy during WW II, and in 1960 achieved a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering. I spent most of my career in the aviation industry as a Design Engineer. (Joe Kovel Autobiography)
|
1990 |
 David BAKER - Inducted 1990
Born July 15, 1928 --- Died February 1,1009
David Baker was the “John Pond of England”. From the mid 1960’s on David was a very active promoter of old time modeling in England. Although David was born in London, he and his family spent a few years living in New Jersey in the early 1960’s. He had a chance to meet some of the US modelers who were starting to develop the “old time model movement” in the USA
David was a founding member of the original English SAM Chapter—SAM 35. When there was a split between the RC and FF elements in SAM 35, David founded SAM 1066 devoted just to free flight models. David was the editor and publisher of the SAM 1066 Clarion newsletter which had a circulation of more than 1,000 subscribers, not only in England, but around the world. He built up a vast collection of plans, magazines and books related to old time modeling which he shared freely. After his death in 2009, SAM 1066 carried on the tradition by setting up the David Baker Heritage Library.
David was the first SAM HOF inductee from outside the USA, and remains just one of three non US HOF members. In the early 1980’s David started promoting 50th Anniversary Wakefield contests. Those contests brought American modelers to England. In alternate years, the contests were held in Southern California bringing English modelers to the USA. Many lasting trans-Atlantic modeling friendships were born in those contests which went on for more than 10 years.
A free flight modeler needs a field to fly on, and David was very active in securing permission to hold contests on various sites including Old Warden and Pinkham Field. His biggest achievement in this regard was in securing permission to hold model airplane contests at Middle Wallop. It’s still an active airport and is the home of British Army Aviation. It’s also the longest grass runway in Europe. Once the right to use Middle Wallop was secured, David and SAM 1066 started to hold the annual SAM European Free Flight Championships at Middle Wallop. During the mid-1990s that contest frequently had more than 400 entrants, and many, many more spectators. Contests at Middle Wallop continue to this day (2013 at the time of writing).
David’s beloved wife Hilda died in late 1999. After that David traveled frequently visiting modeling friends in the United States, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Eastern Europe. He was a roving good will ambassador for the SAM movement wherever he went. (mm to rewrite)
|
1990 |
 Joe
ELGIN - Inducted 1990
Born March 2, 1920 --- Died March 22, 2002
Honors:-
-1982: National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame
-1990: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
-1998: AMA Pioneer Award
-1999 Honored at the Society of Antique Modelers Championship
-2000 Model Aviation Hall of Fame
I started working for the Cleveland Model company in Ohio at age 18 in the fall of 1939. My first plans drawn were of the 7’ Condor and the smaller 4’ Eaglet towline gliders, then the 32” & 42” gassie Fleetsters’, followed by the Playboy Jr. The Playboy Sr. was next, followed by a 33-inch span Baby Playboy created for Class A using the Atom engine. There were also provisions to power the Baby Playboy with rubber by extending the nose slightly. My Itsy Bitsy was another 33-inch span for the Atom. Both 33” kits were advertised as the first $1.00 kits on the market. Later I designed the Baby ROG and two Hand Launched Gliders, the Dart and the Javelin. The Playboy Jr., the original was a 56" span under 300 sq. in, slab-sided. In 1941 it was altered to 54" span and the chord was increased to 7" and additional longerons were added as in the Playboy Sr. This I believe was an improvement. It is the version that is most commonly seen. The Playboy Sr. was quite successful, winning many local contests and Nats events. The Playboy was named by Ed Packard, as were most of the planes. At the last minute, just before the drawings went to the printer he suggested that we should let the builder have a chance to make a cabin version if the builder chose to. I hurriedly added a few lines to the plan to indicate the cabin version of the Playboy Sr. that left a lot to the builders’ imagination. It was an excellent idea, as it also became a good competitor for the OT Cabin events. Ed Packard would not allow anyone to put a name on all the ads for any of the Cleveland products. I would have been pleased if only the drawing said drawn by Joe Elgin. I toyed with the idea of putting a J.E. somewhere. My brother-in-law Dick Korda has had name all over-the place with his Wakefield design and Megow kit ads. I was an avid indoor and outdoor rubber flyer and as a result the Wakefield Gull and the Thermalier were added to the free flight program. The Thermalier is a Class C outdoor stick at just over 100 sq. in. and was a good beginning plane. It didn't take much rubber and flew quite well. The 1940 Viking cabin model was my last design before departing Cleveland Model and starting as a lithographer apprentice. I spent WWII in the Air Force as a B-17 navigator flying nineteen missions over Germany. I was shot down by an FW-190 and spent sixteen months in a P.O.W. camp. While in camp, I was able to build some simple rubber powered planes using elastic from suspenders. Even had a few fly over the fence and returned by the prison guards. After the war I went back to active modeling successfully flying in several events Internationally. Presently I’m involved in RC soaring and SAM events flying these models: 1/2A Texaco Playboy Sr., Playboy Sr., scaled up Baby Playboy, Goldberg Interceptor, Korda's 1938 Diamond Zipper, Wakefield Gull and Thermalier. (This article originally was published in the January 1989 issue of the SAM 1 newsletter)
|
1990 |
 William L. "Bill"
BROWN - Inducted 1990 - 1912-2003
Born May 30, 1911 --- Died January 8, 2003
Honors:-
-AMA Hall of Fame 1974
-NFFS Hall of Fame 1978
-AMA Fellow Award in both 1982 and 1990
Bill Brown and Maxwell Bassett (SAM Hall of Fame 1990) were the first successful flyers of spark ignition powered model aircraft. They were the first to design both the planes and the engines. As boyhood neighbors in Philadelphia they belonged to the Philadelphia Model Aeroplane Association (PHHA) building and flying contest rubber models. Maxwell was disappointed with the relatively short flights with the rubber models.
In 1929 Bassett and Brown discussed building a useful small engine for airplanes. Brown would focus on engines. Bassett would focus on airframes. Brown worked on the engine in his father’s workshop, making everything including a crude sparkplug. A photo of Bill’s .27 displacement prototype engine and airplane appeared in the Philadelphia Bulletin on Memorial Day 1931. The first engine was too small. With help from a local machinist, Walter Hurleman, Brown designed a new .60 cubic inch engine. By mid-summer 1932 he had one of his first new Brown Jr. engines. Bassett’s had a new cabin ship called the Fleetwing, powered by the new Brown Jr. engine. They entered the Fleetwing in the 1932 Nationals flown at Atlantic City, the 1932 Wakefield contest had been delayed and was flown in conjunction with the Nationals. The rules required a fuselage design, but did not specify power. Bassett’s model put a 13-minute flight, the longest flight time in the International Wakefield event. At that time rubber and gas models flew together equally.
Brown and Bassett would fly together for the next several years, generally sweeping the competition before them. After 1933 their success with gas powered models resulted in rules being drawn to have separate power and rubber classes of competition.
Brown’s father had been a successful and prosperous mechanical engineer in Philadelphia, but fell on hard times at the start of the Great Depression. While he’d originally pooh poohed the idea of a small engine for models, Brown and Bassett’s contest success and resultant publicity said that there was a business opportunity here. Brown’s father was able to obtain capital and organize a company for mass production. The Brown Junior Motors Corporation was set up. During the 1930’s, they would make several hundred thousand Brown Jr. Motors in various models. Bill worked part time at Brown Junior Motors, but also went to Penn State College for three terms until the money ran out. Ultimately the “adults” and the “kid” at Junior Motors had a falling out over the direction of the company. Bill Brown was a talented machinist, and wanted to build a smaller motor. Management didn’t agree, and Bill was given a much reduced role in the company. Brown Jr. Motors didn’t try to make a smaller motor until the Brown Jr. Midget of 1939 and by then it was too late. Competition from other manufacturers simply overwhelmed them.
Bill Brown had a second career in model airplane motors, in this case CO2 motors. He designed his first successful CO2 motor in 1940, the A 100. He continued to design CO2 motors of various types through the early 1990s. He was “Mr. CO2” in the United States. But Bill is in the SAM Hall of Fame for designing that first successful spark ignition engine for model airplanes, and for setting the .60 cubic inch displacement as the initial standard for model gas engines.
|
1990 |
 Joeph J. "Joe"
BESHAR - Inducted 1990
Born July 21, 1923 ---
Joe Beshar was one of the first Presidents of the Society of Antique Modelers serving in that office from 1975 to 1978. Joe was one of a small group that pressed to get SAM incorporated as a nonprofit corporation, in 1977. Joe was also involved in creating some of the early sets of rules for RC and FF SAM competition. Joe was an active modeler from the age of 13, and won Brooklyn Skyscraper and National competition events in 1939 and 1940. Joe was a B-17 pilot in WW II. As the “old time model” movement got started in the early and mid-1960’s, Joe was an active promoter of “old timer model contest events” in the New Jersey, New York /City area. Joe has been a prolific article writer (more than 70 articles published) and model airplane designer. He’s been President of four model airplane clubs; has served as an AM District Vice President, and has been very active in the AMA flying field program. Joe has maintained his avid interest in all things model aviation into his late 80’s as he continues to write, design, and serve. Joe is also a member of the AMA and the Vintage Radio Control Society Halls of Fame. |
1990 |
 Charles
Hampson GRANT - Inducted 1990
Born November 20, 1894 --- Died 1987
Charles Hampson Grant has been called the “Father of Model Aeronautics in America”. He built his first model airplane in 1908. He studied Civil Engineering at Princeton University between 1913 and 1918. He became an officer of the Princeton Flying Club. After a period of military service at the end of WWI he found a company that mass produced ready to fly model airplanes and operated that for three years. In order to make those model airplanes ready to fly in novice hands, he worked out what he called his Grant’s Law of Spiral Stability and designed used those principles. He then set up a boy’s camp in Vermont to teach boys how to build model airplanes and ran that for 7 years. From 1932 to 1943, he was editor of Model Airplane News. He wrote 300 articles on model aviation during that time and also published his book “Model Airplane Design and Theory of Flight”. His articles and the book were widely read by the young modelers of the day, and his theories influenced many of the original designs that now appear on the SAM approved design list. Under his editorship, Model Airplane News grew from 21,000 readers to more than 300,000. Grant helped popularize model aviation.
In 1933 Grant designed—and Joe Kovel (another SAM HOF member) built the KG 1 gas model. The model was powered by an engine designed and built by Bill Brown (yet another SAM HOF member). At the time these early gas models were designed, the national meets were set up for rubber powered models only. Some members of the Junior Birdmen of America were strongly opposed to gas powered models, saying they were “dangerous”. Grant formed an organization called the International Gas Model Airplane Association (IGMAA) which quickly grew to 6,000 members. By 1936 the squabble between competing organizations was solved when the IGMAA and other organizations merged in a single body controlled by the National Aeronautics Association, and the Academy of Model Aeronautics (the AMA was we know it) was formed.
Grant also had some early patents on the idea of multiple flaps on full scale aircraft, an idea which is still in use on modern jetliners.
Grant was inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1969, where he was referred to as a “founding father of AMA”. He was inducted into the National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame in 1979. He was inducted into the SAM Hall of Fame in 1990.
|
1990 |
 Henry
STRUCK - Inducted 1990
Born September 11, 1916 --- Died March 11, 2002
Honors:-
- 1976: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
- 1978: National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame
- 1985: AMA Distinguished Service Award
- 1990: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
- 1998: AMA Fellow
Henry Struck was born and lived in New York during his early design, building and flying years He knew Louis Garami and worked as a draftsman at Berkeley Models for a time.
He was a nationally renowned as one of the most prolific and innovative model airplane designers in the old-timer era of model airplane design and research. His passion for aviation began in his youth in the 1930’s when he began his model design and competitive flying of model airplanes. Over his 60 years modeling career Henry published over fifty designs, forty-five of which were produced as kits.
Henry was also a very successful contest flyer. He was the Grand Champion of the 1941 Chicago Nationals, placing in events in both indoor and outdoor rubber, gas and flying scale.
He started the vogue of building flying scale models of real old-timers like the Curtiss Pusher and the Caudron, which won the 1938 Nationals. Later he designed the kit model of the Buhl Bull Pup
One of his most popular and widely built models in 1940 was the New Ruler. The Class C, Brown engine powered, pylon plane had a six-foot span, one-foot chord. A cowled engine and an open cockpit with headrest aft of wing pylon were features giving semi-scale realism to a contest duration model. The American Ace, a smaller four and a half-foot, Class B version New Ruler won three of the first 10 places at the Chicago Nationals. The plane could be flown in A or C with engine changes. A three-foot span American Ace used an Atom or Madewell engine. Berkeley Model Company of Brooklyn, New York, kitted all of them.
His best-known rubber design was the 1940 Flying Cloud. The Class D outdoor rubber cabin qualified as a Moffett and a Wakefield under the prewar rules. A kit sold by Berkeley was priced at $1.Struck’s 1940 “Sinbad the Sailor,” was a very popular towline glider. His 1940 KGS design, a sixty-six inch span pylon model, was an updated, streamlined design using the same planform and moments based on the 1934-KG-II. The KG-II was built and flown by Joe Kovel. The 1935 record holder KG design was by Charles Grant editor of Model Airplane News. Henry gave recognition to all three modelers in his new KGS~ Kovel, Grant Struck.
Henry’s pod and boom, gull wing Class B gas, Ohlsson 23, “Boomer Bus” appeared in the February 1941 Air Trails.
Struck’s 1941 National Flying Scale Champion, a rubber powered, three-foot span scale Interstate Cadet averaged over two and a half minutes a flight. The model a neat tandem light plane, was featured in the January 1942 issue of Model Airplane News Berkeley produced the kit.
Hank Struck was a very humble model flyer, never the Prima Donna type. He is always a quiet, nervous flyer who could not believe that he was really a master. Struck remained an active model flyer until very late in life.
|
1990 |
 Elbert
(Joe) WEATHERS - Inducted 1990
Born
Honors:-
-1988 Model Aviation Hall of Fame
-1988 National Free Flight Hall of Fame
-1990: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Elbert J. (Joe) Weathers, for many years a flyer, designer, club leader, writer and manufacturer, left us in 1984. His legacy of creativity, energy, success, and friendships will keep him with us for generations. Joe was a teenager in the early 1930s when aeromodeling really took off. Growing up in San Diego, California, he loved model aviation right from the start and seemed to prefer his own designs to anything that was available through magazines or stores.
The earliest extant drawing, his #W-5G, is dated October 5, 1931. Later that year his towline glider #W-8G was published. This same model is included in Vic Smeed’s book, “Model Flying – The First Fifty Years”. Joe followed these early aircraft with more than 90 originals. These ranged in scope from racers to scale models, from camera-carrying airplanes to endurance models. In the National Model Aviation Museum, there is a beautiful example of his 1937 Winged Victory, built to the original drawings. There is also Joe’s original Pacificoaster that was restored by Jim McNeill. Thus did Joe Weathers fulfill a prediction made by Charles Hampson Grant in 1932 that “Mr. E.J. Weathers shows promise of being one of our future well-known airplane designers.”
Flying Aces, Model Airplane News and Air Trails magazines all published Weather’s designs. Model Builder magazine republished the Winged Victory details. Joe had a reputation for excellence, and many hundreds of his own designs were built and flown.
In 1935, Weathers co-founded the San Diego Aeroneers. This club is still an active AMA club. Joe served as corresponding secretary for five years until 1940.
When World War II began, Joe worked for North American Aviation in engineering. In 1945, he again found time for model design, and then in 1946 he started Rite-Flite Specialties. He manufactured a line of modeling accessories of his own design, including engine mounts, tank mounts, and tailskid assemblies.
Model Designs by Elbert (Joe) Weathers:-
1935 36" First Gas Design,
1936 52” Tubby,
1937 60” Winged Victory,
1939 48” Miss San Diego aka Four Foot Westerner,
1938 78” Mystery Man,
1937 96” Westerner (Wea) aka Camera Model,
1940 53" Go Getter,
1941 60" Kayoe,
1942 42" Low Wing.
(This piece about Elbert J. Weathers ran in the December 1988 issue of Model Aviation magazine after he was inducted posthumously into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame.)
|
1990 |
 Tim
DANNELS - Inducted 1991 top of this page
Born
Tim Dannels played a key role in the early days of the SAM movement. Tim lives and works in Denver. In 1960 he began to collect old time model engines. He put one of them in a Buzzard Bombshell and went out to the local contest. Other modelers saw it and started to build their own OT airplanes. Tim was corresponding with John Pond at the time, and John was starting to build and to share his collection of OT plans. In 1962 Tim organized the Model Museum Flying Club, which became SAM Chapter #1. That SAM chapter held its first regular annual Old Timers Meet in Denver on May 5, 1963. In October 1963, Tim started to publish a small magazine called The Engine Collectors Journal, which ultimately became the house organ of the Model Engine Collectors Association.
Pond started to write a “Gas-n-Oil” column in the Engine Collectors Journal in March 1964. Pond’s June 1964 column made mention of an “Old Timers League” and said that Lee Freeman would be drafting a set of rules. Space was given to Freeman in the September 1964 issue of the Journal to write about the proposed new “Antique Modelers Association”. Later, because of the AMA’s concern about name confusion, the organization was renamed The Society of Antique Modelers.
In 1965 the AMA had its first official “Old Timers Events” at the Willow Grove NATS.
Denver remained a hotbed of old timer activity. SAM Chapter 1 continued to hold its annual old timer contests each year. Plans were made for the first national SAM Old Timer Championships. That first SAM Champs was flown in Denver over the Memorial Day Weekend in 1967. A second national SAM Champs was held in Denver on July 29, 30, and 32 in 1968.
The early years in the formation of SAM and of the old timer movement involved a lot of discussion and debate about what the rules should be, both as to the types of events flown, and the eligibility of various model designs. Since there was then no national organization, local clubs made their own rules. Because of the varying sets of rules, there were some hard feelings after those 1967 SAM Old Timer Championships. Bud McNorgan, then the national director of SAM attempted to restate and amplify the rules. In the spring of 1968, the Engine Collectors Journal published an article by McNorgan with a more complete listing of rules, including engine eligibility.
Tim Dannels was a moving force in the early organization of SAM. When SAM was incorporated in 1976, Tim was one of the original 7 signers of the articles of incorporation. His Engine Collectors Journal was a vital platform in communicating information about the movement, performing the role that SAM Speaks would later play. It wasn’t until early 1969 that an official SAM Newsletter was published on a mimeograph machine with Gene Wallock as editor. In 1971 Woody Bartelt took over as editor and the newsletter officially became SAM Speaks. |
1991 |
 John
W. BRODBECK Sr. - Inducted 1991
Born September 14, 1913 --- Died November 2, 2004
John Brodbeck is the “B” of K&B Manufacturing Company. He started aeromodelling in 1936 using a Brown Jr. engine. He was unhappy with its performance, and made some modifications. John Brodbeck and a friend, Lud Kading –the “K” of K&B worked together as machinists in Southern California during WW II. Towards the end of the war they started their own machine shop, K&B Manufacturing. They purchased the rights to the old Torpedo and Bullet engines from Bill Atwood, an old friend of Brodbeck. In 1946 they began producing Torpedo .29s. But the product that “made” the company was a tiny .020 engine—the Infant Torpedo. They intended an initial production run of 10,000 engines, but within a week of announcing the engine, they had orders for 280,000! K&B then introduced .035 and .049 glow engines. Their Greenhead glow engines in a range of sizes were successful in both AMA and FAI competition during the 1950’s. K&B engines were popular and powerful through the early 1980s, competing at the end against foreign manufacturers. John Brodbeck was active in the national and Southern California hobby industry associations. K&B was a sponsor of the Nationals and many regional contests and for a time offered free engine repair services at major contests. He was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1977 and into the SAM Hall of Fame in 1991.
|
1991 |
 Jerry
STOLOFF - Inducted 1991
Born December 21, 1920 --- Died May 6, 2007
Jerry Stoloff was born in 1920 in Brooklyn and started modeling at the age of 8. After hand-launched gliders and rubber models he started designing gas models at age 14. He became a charter member of the TAMBE model airplane club at the age of 15, and also a charter member of the fameous Brooklyn Skyscrapers. In 1937 Jerry introduced the Diamond Demon and it was soon kitted by Bay Ridge Company, In 1938 the control-line model called the Presto Liner, Next was the 1939 Yehudi. The 1940 Invader was kitted by the Continental Model Airplan Company. The 1942 Spearhead Jr. and Spearhead Senior and Yogi. In the 1950's Jerry moved into the radio-control phase and designed the RC Spirit. Jerry joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and worked in the design and testing labs during his tour. The 1944 Bulldozer was designed with beginning gas modelers in mind. The low wing RC Houdini was the last Stoloff model. (by Charlie Reich) |
1991 |
 Claude
McCULLOUGH - Inducted 1991
Born May 16,1922 --- Died January 30, 2008
Honors:-
- SAM Hall of Fame 1991
- Model Aviation Hall of Fame 1979
- AMA President 1957
Claude was born on a farm in Iowa. He started competing in model airplane contests in 1935. He attended his first National Championships in 1941. When the first Nats was held after the war in 1946, Claude was there, and he attended most of the Nats thereafter until his death.
Claude was a prolific designer of model airplanes. Seven of his designs are SAM approved old timers. He designed a number of Nostalgia gas ships as well. His design talents were put to good use when he went to work for Sig Model Aircraft in 1971. He designed a number of their modern RC models, including each of the Kadet series of trainers.
If Claude was not competing at the AMA Nats, he was volunteering. He performed volunteer work for the AMA for 59 years, and held either elected or appointed offices in the AMA for 52 years. He was President of the AMA for one year in 1957—when he was only 35 years old.
Claude was also very active as a writer of model airplane articles. He had columns in several different model magazines for many years. His camera was busy as well. More than two dozen of his photos were published as model magazine covers.
Claude’s particular passion in models in his later life was RC scale. From 1965 through the late 1990’s Claude won many major RC scale contests. As his flying skills diminished with age, Claude started to fly “team scale” events where he was the builder and a younger flyer was the pilot. He was successful in those events as well. |
1991 |
 Emilio "Mickey"
DE-ANGELIS - Inducted 1991
Born January 9, 1916 ---
Mickey was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He started model building in the late 20's. His neighbour, Frank McInar, was also a model builder. Mickey built numerous indoor and outdoor rubber ships in the early 30's. He designed 25-cent rubber-powered models which he sold to various companies, including a twin tail design for Reginald Denny.
Then along came the Brown engines and Mickey was seriously into gas-power ships. His first experimental sip was the “Misfortune X” in 1935 which had numerous variations, but was never kitted.
Then “Miss Trenton Times” and “Miss Trenton” - neither was ever kitted. Then the “Kloud King” designed for 30-second engine run and kitted by “The Hobby Shop” which was owned and operated by Mickey in Trenton in the late 30's.
Next came the “Kloud Queen” for 15-second engine run, a beautiful twin rudder design with optional single rudder. Finally came his namesake, the “Trenton Terror”, a scaled down version of the earlier “Miss Trenton”.
The “Trenton Terror” was published in the April 1938 issue of “Flying Aces” and was designed specifically for the following reason: At $21.50, the Brown motor was more expensive than most people could afford in the 30's, so Mickey designed a ship that you could build and fly even tough you didn't own a Brown. The motor mounts were designed in such a way that one screw would lock a borrowed or community-owner Brown into your “Trenton Terror” and you were ready to fly. The Trenton Model Airplane Club had jointly purchased several Brown engines and most everyone had a “Trenton Terror”. It was a beautiful idea, and gave everyone a chance to fly a gas-powered ship and fostered a 'camaraderie' within the club that was the envy of other groups.
After the Second World War, to about 1955, Mickey was away from building and flying. He did some sporadic modelling from 1955 through to about 1984.
He retired from work at G.E. Aerospace in 1978 and started a small lawn mower sales and repair shop 'to keep myself busy'. Mickey is an example to us all that, at age 73, you can still be active and excited and involved, and having fun.
Mickey's good friend, Carl Hatrak, has been very instrumental in getting Mickey back into serious building and flying again. Carl was the person who got his hands on Mickey's original plans for “Misfortune X” (drawn on wallpaper). He and Ken Sykora got the ship approved by the SAM committee. (source material John Delagrange)
|
1991 |
 James J. "Jim"
BOHASH - Inducted 1991
Born
Jim Bohash was a very competitive rubber modeler in both the prewar and postwar years. He flew his original design “U.S. Standard Wakefield” on the U.S. Wakefield team in both Paris France (1938) and Bendix New Jersey (1939). He was from Michigan. He won the Canadian National Championship in 1940 and the Michigan State Championships in 1939 and again in 1952. While the U.S. Standard Wakefield design was never kitted or published, SAM did approve the design as an authentic old time rubber model in the late 1980’s. Thereafter Jim sold plans for the design from his home in Michigan.
|
1991 |
 Dick
McCOY - Inducted 1991
Born June 9, 1907 ---- Died December 30, 2005
Dick McCoy was born in Indiana, but came to Southern California when he was 11. As a young man he found work as a drill press and lathe operator, ultimately working for a company that made tooling for the Southern California aircraft industry. Dick’s first, and only, foray into old time model airplanes occurred in 1939 when he built, and crashed an O&R .23 powered Miss Tiny. His real interest was engines and model race cars. Not impressed with the engines available, he built his own. At the end of World War Two, Dick teamed up with Fred Schott of Duro-Matic Engines located in Hollywood. The partnership lasted 35 years and produced tens of thousands of McCoy engines. The business was eventually sold to Testors, which continued to produce McCoy engines. Dick remained active to the end of his life making parts for engines and producing The Real McCoy glow plugs. Dick designed more than 100 engines, and was awarded 16 patents on his engines. The McCoy Series 20 silver case .60 spark ignition engine is the power plant of choice tor SAM RC Class C Ignition flyers. The smaller ignition McCoys are also very competitive engines. Dick’s McCoy .35 control line engine is used in the Foxacoy class event.
Dick was also inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983. |
1991 |
 Geoge
PERRYMAN - Inducted 1991
Born August 30, 1924 --- Died February 22, 2003
George was born the son of a Methodist minister in Irvington, Kentucky. At age 12, George and his family moved from Irvington, Kentucky to Griffin, Georgia. This small town had quite a number of boys who built and flew models and a 20-second flight was a time for cheering and revelry. George attended his first Nationals (Nats) in Chicago in 1941. From 1946 through 1949, he attended the Plymouth Internationals held in Detroit, at 26, he was U.S. team captain for the 1951 World Wakefield Champs held in Finland, and captained the Nordic team in Yugoslavia in 1953, and Denmark in 1954.
In 1951George was awarded honorary membership into the Society of Model Aeronautical Engineers of Great Britain.
George’s designs are distinctive. Featuring gull wings, polyhedral stabilizer, sweep-back and curved wings and stabs. He uses pointy tips on everything, even props. His models are immediately recognized as Perryman designs and have all been published in leading model magazines such as his record winning Swami towline glider in 1959, and later his Asteroid and Superasteroid, the Black Mamba and Stephanie’s Streaker and Solidifier. One of his most successful designs, his Little Daddy won the famed Mulvihill Trophy in 1969, 1974 and 1976. It was National Free Flight Society’s 1975 Rubber Model of the Year. George’s Great Speckled Bird won the Mulvihill trophy at the Nats in 1977, 1980 and 1982. It won the Canada Cup in 1976 and was (NFFS) Rubber Model of the Year in 1978. He is proud that three of his models are enshrined in the AMA museum – Great Speckled Bird, Helicopter, Speckled Bird and Giant Speckled Bird. George has won over 700 trophies and awards in his 47 competition years. He can remember winning in 56 different categories and has probably forgotten some others. He concentrated on rubber events and managed to compete in 17 events at the 1984 Reno Nats. He flies SAM rubber and AMA events and many NFFS unofficial events, which he thinks are the most fun of all. Over 150 of his wins have been at the Nats and King Orange Internationals. George is a charter member of Thermal Thumbers of Metropolitan Atlanta and Kamikaze Squadron SAM Chapter 47. He proudly sports AMA license number 514 (CD).
Lockheed hired Mr. Perryman in 1951, with a ninth-grade mechanical drawing class as his only engineering training. George advises, “Most of my 35 year career with Lockheed was designing wind tunnel models, which I’d almost paid them to be able to do. I was privileged to help design some of the world’s greatest airplanes – the C-130, C-141, C-5A and F-117 stealth fighter. I am a full believer that God bestows special blessings to modelers. Adding together all disciplines of modeling we have to do things that the average citizen is not required to do. We modelers should consider ourselves part of a brotherhood. Few, if any, organizations are as blessed as modelers, having as many fine people as we have. Most of what we know we learned from someone else, beginning with our parents, then teachers, fellow workers, family members and modelers. The things we have learned should be passed along, which might be a help to many. I’m thankful every day for my modeling friends.”
|
1991 |
 Vic
CUNNYNGHAM Sr. - Inducted 1991
Born June 27, 1917 --- Death September 11, 2001
Vic Cunnyngham Sr. holder of nine National Records and designer of the Space-Rod (holder
of 15 National Records), has been named to the AMA Hall of Fame. Vic is one of a small handful of people who
have been so honored by all three major aeromodelling organizations: AMA, NFFS, and SAM. In addition, Vic was
the first recipient of the Blacksheep Squadron Spirit Award in 1994. He is perhaps best known for his many
years of successful free flight campaigning with Al Vela's Mexi Boy design.
Vic started building models in 1927 at age 10 and the first club he belonged to was the Stix, Baer and Fuller M.A.C.
of St. Louis which had over 500 members. Vic has had a lifelong fascination with twin pushers, and has spent countless
hours authenticating and building many of the twin pusher models of his youth.
Vic moved to California in 1952, and along with his son, Vic Jr. (designer of the Geodetic Galaxy) became active
in the west coast modeling scene.
He and Howard Johnson, a former AMA president, organized the Cal-Western Model Meets in Los Angeles, which later
became the US Free Flight Champs, the west's largest contest now held at Lost Hills on Labor Day. Vic also was an
AMA contest coordinator, and in an effort to better organize activities in California, he created the Free Flight
Model Airplane Association of California, an organization composed of virtually all free flight clubs in California.
The group has had several names, and is now known as the California Unified Free Flight Model Airplane Clubs (CUFFMAC),
and is the sponsor of the USFF Champs.
Vic was also a charter member of the National Free Flight Society (NFFS), an AMA Nats Event and Overall Director,
a Contest Coordinator for ten years, and member of the AMA Free Flight Rules Committee and Contest Board. At 78 years
old, Vic may still be seen at free flight contests nationwide with his twin pushers. He is a deserving member of
AMA's Hall of Fame. Ref SS#125 |
1991 |
 Bud McNORGAN - Inducted 1991
Born October 12, 1993 --- Died October 12, 1993
J.G."Bud" McNorgan passed away October 12 1993. Private services were held
for him and he was buried in the military cementery at Riverside, CA. Bud was born in Tennesse, but to hear
him talk you would believe that he was a native of Canada. His early years in modeling were spent in Windsor
and he loved to talk about his experiences there.
Bud was the first Director of SAM and he was responsible for the Society in it's early formative years. He formed
the SCAMPS, Chapter 13, in 1964. He loved modeling and he enjoyed passing on this interest to others. He liked teaching young people about the joys of modeling and he conducted classes in model building when he was a member of the Optimist
club. Bud's proudest moment in modeling was when he was introduced into the SAM Hall of Fane at Las Vegas. Ref SS#116
|
1991 |
 Leon
SHULMAN - Inducted 1992 top of this page
Born November 29, 1920 ---
Leon was first bitten by the aviation bug one day while walking home from grade school
and the famous Graf Zeppelin flew overhead, casting it's giant shadow over him. Leon started building gas
models in 1937 when he built a 'T-D Coupe' from magazine plans. From this he began designing and building
his own. In the Depression years he worked in the C.C.C. to earn money to buy his first engine, a Brown Junior.
From this he developed his first published design, the 'Sky-Scraper', the first one wheel model that was
published by Charles Grant in Model Airplane News.
He became well known for his aggressive style models in the 1940's and had many published by the model magazines.
He is well known for his 'Wedgy', 'Banshee', 'Zomby', and 'Zoomer'. These models were kitted by several manufacturers
and were very popular. His fame spread overseas when his Banshee became the most popular design on the English competition
scene after the War.
Leon served as leader in model aviation when he worked as the contest manager and CD for meets like the Eastern States
Champs, The new York Daily Mirror Meet and the post war Plymouth Meets. He also served on the early rules committees
for the AMA. In 1946 he manufactured the Drone diesel and also produced a folding gas model prop. After several other
successful manufacturing operations he decided to expand into the hobby and he became a manufacturers representative
for a long line of other products. Leon has made his life's work in the hobby that he loves.
He has been recognized as a leader by the following awards: The Gas model Pioneers, life membership, A.M.A. Hall
of Fame, I.M.A.A. life membership, NFFS National Free flight Society Hall of Fame.
Leon served in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot and was qualified to fly 20 different airplanes. He also was rated as
a check pilot and still holds an active rating as a commercial multi-engine pilot. (SS#106)
|
1992 |
 John
WORTH - Inducted 1992
Born Febuary 20, 1924 --- Died October 23, 2011
John began modeling in 1932 at the age of 8. Later at the age of 12 (1936) he became
more successful flying gliders and rubber powered models. He got his first gas engine (a Bantam) joined AMA
in 1938 (number 6554) and started high school. Entered meets run by Haaren Hign School, and contests at Van
Cortland park, Holmes Airport, Canarsie or Creedmore. Flew against members of the Brooklyn Skyscrapers club.
Was a young spectator at the 1939 Wakefield International contest in Teterboro when Dick Korda made his famous
39 minute flight.
His first published design was the Li'l Misery tailess that appeared in the 1942 Air Trails. He and his high school
buddy, Dick Coen collaborated on this design. Upon graduation from school went directly to Langley Field, Virginia
to work for NACA. Became a member of the NACAnuts that later became the Brainbusters. Joined the Airforce in 1943
and and flew models at Alamagordo, tion by the National Aeronautic Assoc.New Mexico, while in B29 training. After
the war was active modeler in F/F and R /C. Takes a deal of pride in the fact that he designs what he flys and claims
to only have built two kits in his life.
His very distinguished career in modeling reads as follows:
Joined AMA in 1938
Free Flight Contest Board member 1948,1954
R/C Contest Board Chairman 1962
Elected AMA President 1963,
1964 Executive Director,
Feb.1964-Jan.1991 Executive Director Emeritus
since Feb.1991 Was an advisor and helped organize the National Free Flight Society
In 1966.He is the recipient of the following awards:
1964 - Awarded AMA Fellowship
1978 - Inducted into AMA Hall of FAME
1981 - Received FAI Tissandier Diploma for Intl. Aeromodeling Leadership
1986 - Named Elder Statesman of Avia 1990 - Inducted into the NFFS Free flight Hall of fame.
1967 - 1992 Twenty five years as FAICIAM Secretary
(SS#106) |
1992 |
 Carl
GOLDBERG - Inducted 1992
Born October 27, 1912 --- Died January 28, 1985
Probably the most famous modeler in history, the stories about Carl are legendary. His first model at age 15 , flew
about 65 feet. He won a certificate at the 1928 National Airplane Championships, flying a twin-pusher. He won first
place in the indoor event at the 1934 National Meet with a flight of 23 minutes, and 29 seconds and held many model
flying records during his career.
His design concepts for gas models revolutionized the flying scene at competitions in 1939 and the following years.
His designs such as the "Zipper"," Sailplane", "Interceptor" and "Mercury" were
the first to demonstrate to the world how to handle the high power of model engines and gave his models stability
in the climb. The "Pylon", on model airplanes will forever be associated with Carl Goldberg's name.
He opened a hobby shop in Chicago in 1935, then became chief designer of Comet Model Airplane Company, producing
kits of his many great designs. He started his own company, Carl Goldberg Models in 1955, which has survived and
now produces fine R/C model airplane kits. Until his untimely death, he was famous for having participated in every
National Model Airplane Championship since 1928. by Hardy Broderson (SS#106)
|
1992 |
 Wally
SIMMERS - Inducted 1992
Born 25 February, 1918 --- Died 1999
Twice Wally was the Chicago Champion in the Junior Birdmen program, sponsored by the Hearst
newspapers. As a result he traveled to the East Coast and to Texas to compete in the finals. He also held the
senior and Open Indoor hand launched glider National record.
During his younger days of competition, one could always see Wally as the mainstay of any contest in and around the
Chicago area and surrounding states. He has been a leader in the South Chicago area when it came to helping any new
modelers join the fraternity. Wally always had an eye for what was needed in the modeling game. He learned early
that if you can't get what you need, develop it yourself. And so he did - first came the hobby shop in Chicago. This
was the spot on the south side of Chicago to get really quality balsa and other competition products. As a result
he soon branched out and started to produce indoor glider kits that were truly competitive.
Who will ever forget the famous Class C rubber models with the unusual names of the Jabberwock, the Gollywock and
the Dyna-moe. These kits contained good quality contest balsa and were the first production kits featuring folding
propellors. Wally was always looking to produce the best products that were needed by model builders.
He was the organizer of Midwest Products and Midwest supply and K&B Engineering - all very notable as suppliers
to the hobbyist. Would you believe Wally is still active as a builder and competitor - well at least in indoor hand
launched gliders?
by Otto Curth (SS#106) |
1992 |
 George
ARMISTEAD Jr. - Inducted 1992
Born
George started modeling in 1936 and entered his first contest in 1938. He progressed to gas models with his first
successful Buzzard Bombshell in 1940.
He founded the Glastonbury Aero Modelers in 1970 an AMA chartered club with 80 members. He joined SAM and F.A.C.
in 1968 and became a contest director in 1973.
He has run a large number of contests including the SAM CHAMPS in 1982, 1986, and 1990 and has been a leader in the
SAM movement in the North East. He is has been very active in Boy Scouts and enjoys getting scouts involved in model
airplanes. He ran the Glastonbury Recreation Department model classes from 1969 through 1975. George is corporate
secretary and in charge of Product Development at the Merrow Machine Company and has a long list of accomplishments
in community service.
by Jim Adams (ss#106) |
1992 |
 Herb
WAHL - Inducted 1992
Born
Herb was born near Penn State where he later went to school. In 1936 he started modeling.
A little while later he heard the neighbor boy running a gas engine and he was really hooked. He quit modeling
while he attended college and served in the service.
In 1965 he attended the NATS at Willow Grove where he ran into John Pond, Tim Dannels, and Jack DuFond. His interest
was revived in models and he soon had got a plan for the Scientific Mercury from John and started looking for a Brown
Junior. That search was the beginning of another very important part of his life. After finding a few parts of engines
he started making what he couldn't find. He showed up at the 1966 NATs in Glenview with two Hurleman engines that
he had built, and of course when people saw them he was deluged with requests to make more parts and engines. He
contacted Bill Brown about 1970 and made an agreement with him that allowed him to produce the Anniversary Brown
junior
Supplying Hurlemans and Brown Juniors and later Ohlssons and Bunch Tigers to the SAM crowd has become a full time
job. Herb built 400 Anniversary Browns and then when fellows didn't want to fly the engines because they were too
pretty, he built about 1200 of the other different models of the Brown. His production of the replica Ohlsson Gold
Seal and the Bunch Tiger has been a tremendous lift to the SAM movement. Without his support in furnishing engines
and spare parts and his repair service for these old engines the SAM movement would have been very handicapped.
by ? (SS#106) |
1992 |
 Donald
(Don) LOCKWOOD - Inducted 1992
Born January 1,1912 ---
Donald set his first national record in 1923 flying a rubber powered speed model. The national
records compiled by Joseph Lucas , editor of Aeronautical News , show that Donald Lockwood held three national records
between 1924 and 1928. He flew twin pusher speed, Single propellor pusher/tractor and hand launched glider.
He was a contestant at the Mulvhill Trophy contest held at Mitchell field, New York on October 3, 1925. He placed in
tenth place along with many other I.M.A.C. members. The man who placed in first place that day was SAM's Bert Pond.
The Model Aircraft Yearbook, which recorded the results of the N.A.A. National Airplane Tournament, show that Donald
was third place with 14 minutes in the Indoor tractor event. Notable at this same meet, Carl Goldberg placed in first
place with 22 mins and 59.4 seconds.
Bert Pond's book on compressed air models records the fact that Mr. Lockwood was a pioneer in the flying of compressed
air models. In 1987, at the Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska, Donald entered a replica of the model, flown by Walter
L. Brock in 1919. This same design was flown in 1923 by William Schweitzer, winner of the 1923 Power Model championship.
Donald estimates that he has directed almost 150 model contests during his 70 years of modeling. He is a leader member
of AMA, his number is 4776.
Mr. Lockwood joined the Illinois Model Aero club in 1922 at the age of ten. Later he graduated from the Illinois Institute
of Technology (originally Armour Technical College). He worked for E M Laird at the Ashburn Field factory from 1929
through 1931. He has also been active in building and driving dirt track racing cars.
by Jim Adams (SS#106) |
1992 |
 Bob
T SOMMERS Inducted 1992
Born
In 1923 Bob and Christy Magrath were the first model builders in the St. Louis , Missouri area. His first competition
was a Mulvihill contest in Bridgeton, Missouri. In 1926 while in high school he started his own model airplane company.
In 1927 he won the Charles Lindberg trophies for single and twin propellor models at meets held in conjuction with
Lindberg's transatlantic flights. The trophies were presented by Charles Lindberg in person. In 1929 Bob and Joe Earhardt
represented the Jr. Aero Club in the second national model meet in Detroit, sponsored by the A.M.L.A. In 1930 he flew
in the first national indoor meet sponsored by the International Aircraft Exposition in St. Louis. In 1930 he started
the Stix Baer & Fuller model airplane club while running their model shop. He held saturday morning classes in
model building. The club at one time had 1200 members. The instructors were the senior and more advanced members of
the club.
In 1931 Bob started and was the CD for the Mississippi Valley Model (tournaments) that ran annually for ten years.
There were 500 contestanta at these meets, flying in both indoor and outdoor events. Along with Paul Garber of the
Smithsonian he helped create the "History of Model Aviation Display" that toured the United States. In 1933
he planned and ran the first "All Boy Scout Model Airplane contest" In 1934 he set up and ran the eliminations
in St. Louis for both the Akron Nationals and the 3rd Annual Air Races held at the Century of Progress Exposition in
Chicago.
In 1935-36 he was the organizer and CD of the N.A.A. Nationals held at Lambert field, St. Louis. This was the first
national meet where rubber and gas models were flown separately. Later that year he was on the committee that formed
the model section of the N.A.A. that later became the A.M.A. In 1937 was on the executive board of the A.M.A. along
with Carl Goldberg, Charles Grant, Al Lewis, Paul Garber and others. In 1940 developed the "Air Youth of America" program
involving the public schools, Boy Scouts, and model airplane organizations.
In 1941 he started the Sommers Aircraft Co. Inc., a flying school for full size aircraft based at Lambert Field in
St. Louis. In 1942 Bob Sommers entered the service as an aviation instructor. Bob reached the rank of Lt. Commander
in the U.S. Navy
by Vic Cunnynham Sr. (SS#106) |
1992 |
 Edward
LIDGARD - Inducted 1992
Born
Ed began building and flying models in 1928. He has been a member of A.M.A. since it
was formed. His rubber design 'Sparky' has been produced by Comet Model Airplane for over 50 years. He drew
over 80 plans for Comet through the years. Among them the Comet Gull, the Whizzer, and the Sparky.
Ed was involved in the development of the folding rubber model prop. He designed the first commercial hinge produced
by Wally Simmers for Midwest Products about 1938.
He managed the U.S. Wakefield team program for 1950 and 1951. He was the co-manager in 1953. In 1952 he almost single
handedly raised the funds to send the US Wakefield team to Europe.
He was a member of three Wakefiel teams. He went to England in 1949 an went to Sweden in 1952. He qualified fc the
team to go to Finland in 1953, bi. was unable to attend. He was a member of the Moffet team in 1935 chosen in selections
that were flown at Wayn County Airport.
Ed held indoor helicopter an ornithopter records in 1941 establishe in the Chicago armory. He has had mangy many
plans and articles published i model magazines and Frank Zaic'c yea books. Some of his most well know designs were
Eugene, Hi-Ho, Spark and his 1937 and 1953 Wakefields.
Ed is probably best known for hi knowledge of rubber model props and winding rubber motors.
by Jim Scarborough (SS#106) |
1992 |
 John
DROBSHOFF - Inducted 1992
Born --- Died 1991
John was an active model flyer from 1936 up untill his death in 1991. In 1934 he was a member of the Junior Birdmen
chapter 153 that later became the San Francisco Vultures.
He flew his first gas model in 1935 and won many first places at contests during 1938-1940. In 1939 he placed 2nd
place in Class A at the Chicago Nationals with his famous 'Advanced Challenger'. In 1940 he won Class A at the nationals
and received a life certificate in the Gas Model Pioneers from C.H. Grant. He loved free flight ROW still holds a
number of national AMArecords in ROW events.
In 1939-1940 he worked for Advanced Model Engineering at Fresno and produced The 'Vanguard' and 'Challenger' gas
models. In 1947 he left the S.F. Vultures and joined the Elmhurst Prop Busters in San Leandro. He came into old timer
flying in 1975.
In 1941 in conjunction with his brother Al, he designed the 'Little Diamond'. He had been President, Vice-president.
Newsletter Editor, and Secretary/Treasurer in several clubs.
His memberships were as follows; 1935-39; S.F. Vultures, 1939-41 Fresno Gas model Associatrion, 1946-55 Elmhurst
Prop Busters, 1960-70, SAM 1978-90, SAM 27.
by John Pond (SS#106) |
1992 |
 Peter
SOTICH - Inducted 1992
Born May 13, 1922 --- Died November 5, 1996
Pete began building models while in high school in the late '30s. He started with gliders
and rubber models, but moved on to gas models and joined the Illinois Model Aero Club. After WWII, and over a
year in a German POW camp, he came home and went back to gas and rubber models and became a member of the Gas
Model Aeronauts.
He joined the Chicago Aeronuts in 1954 and served several terms as president and several decades as secretary. He
began helping to run local contests and before long was on the NATs Planning Committee and directed several NATs
and was free flight Director at many others. He also was active in the FAI free flight program serving as Program
Administraor several times. He also served as Team manager. Pete was the contest coordinator for district VI. He
also served two terms as A.M.A. President in the early '60s. Pete probably has directed more free flight contests
than anyone in the U.S.A. and maybe the world. His hand lettered contest notices and results will be remembered by
all who attended any of his contests. He is still active and is now serving as the publicity chairman of the EAA
Chapter 15. He still takes lots of photos and works for Wally Simmers at K & S Engineering. by Charlie Sotich (SS#106) |
1992 |
 Jim ADAMS - Inducted 1993 - top of this page
Born March 12, 1921 --- Died April 23, 2003
Jim began modeling in 1932, and soon became a 'Junior Birdman' flying in rubber-powered
competition. He joined the AMA in 1939 and attended his first 'Nats' in '41. He first flew 'gas' in 1937,
and R/C in '39 while in Santa Ana High School. He was one of the many modelers competing at the famous
'Rosecrans and Western' flying site in Los Angeles. Jim flew with the Orange County Thunderbugs control
line club in the fifties.
He joined the Scamps 0/T FF club (now SAM-13) in 1964, and has worked as their Secretary/Treasurer for 27 years!
He became an AMA Contest Director in 1966, and has actively conducted many 0/T contests locally and nation-wide for
SAM. Jim is a charter member of SAM, and attended the first SAM Champs in Denver in 1966. Jim is also a member of
the Board of Directors of the Lost Hills Free Flight Model Airfield Association.
Jim's other SAM related activities include: Two years served as West Coast Vice President, SAM Speaks editor for
nine years, and Publisher/Manager for 14 years. Served under, and provided technical assistance to three Presidents:
John Pond, Mike Granieri and Sal Taibi. Served on SAM's Engine Rules Committee, and also on the Flying Rules Committee.
Became SAM President in 1988, and is currently serving in his third term. As SAM President, Jim initiated the following:-
Established the SAM concours event and sponsored the first trophy.
Established the SAM historical magazine library.
Started the SAM plans service.
Initiated the SAM Hall of Fame. >
Introduced the SAM approved design list of gas models.
Strengthened the operation of SAM by charging the Board of Directors with active functional management of the Corporation.
Was instrumental in encouraging the establishment of overseas SAM chapters.
Established SAM North America, including Canadian Chapters in the parent organization. While serving as SAM Speaks
Editor, he established the two year rules cycle, and the SAM Champs F/F and R/C Grand Champions. (Ref ss#114)
|
1993 |
 Jack
BOLTON - Inducted 1993
Born
Jack started modeling in 1939, carving out small four-for-a-nickel WWI solid models.
In 1942, he obtained a second hand Sky Chief engine, and after a year of hand cranking was finally rewarded
with two "pops" from the exhaust. In 1943 he obtained a Phantom P-30 weighing 3/4 pound due to
a steel crankcase. He eventually got a 50' flight from the Phantom in a Megow Piper Cub before it crashed.
Things finally improved, and Jack flew free flight and some control line with the Steubenville Ohio Skyhawks
M.A.C. up through 1949, when he encountered the U.S. Navy, college and marriage.
Jack got back into modeling in 1962 with a couple of free flights,
then on to R/C with an escapement-rudder only modification to his free flight Sterling Cub. He continued upgrading
the Cub with reed receivers and more channels. Numerous other R/C models followed, and finally proportional control
arrived. He was a member of the Tidewater R/C Club in Virginia Beach, VA. 1967-1968 were spent in Vietnam with a
Navy Huey helicopter gunship squadron, HAL-3. This was followed by a sea tour as Huey squadron maintenance officer
and, pilot. Home port was Norfolk, so modeling affiliation was resumed with Tidewater R/C. Next tour was in Washington
with Naval Air Systems Command, and the Chief of Naval operations. Modeling was dormant during this period. In 1972-73,
Jack commissioned and served the First Commanding Officer of the Navy's Advanced Helicopter Training Squadron (HT-18)
in Pensacola, and became active with the Northwest Florida R/C Club.
Transferred to NATF, Lakehurst, he came right back to modeling again, and in 1973 was introduced to SAM by Woody
Woodman and Joe Beshar, and became an active competitor in SAM R/C events, flying with the Old Time Eagles Club.
While at Lakehurst, he functioned as the USN-Modeller liaison and coordinator for the 1974 SAM Champs and the AirOlympics.
This was a really big bash, with the SAM Champs being followed by 5 days of FAI world championships modeling events.
Jack became a civilian again, and organized a SAM Chapter in association with the Pensacola Free Flighters, and initiated
their annual old timer meet held in October. He served as SAM Speaks Editor in 1975-76. During 1976-78, he originated
and wrote a regular R/C old timer column in Model Aviation.
During the 1980's, Jack served as SAM's East Coast Vice President, and organized SAM Chapter # 10, the Capitol Area
Antique Modeler's Association in the Washington, D.C. area. He He served as SAM 10's first president, and CD'd their
first O/T meet. Jack was quite happy when he won second place in the Spirit of SAM Concours at the 1992 Champs. Ref
SS#114 |
1993 |
 Bob
CAHILL - Inducted 1993
Born
Bob is a top model designer, with an inventive mind, whose ideas were often recognized
and used by many other modelers. Some of his designs appear in Zaic yearbooks. His first modeling interests
came from American Boy magazine in 1927. He won his first contest in 1929 with a baby ROG flight of 47 seconds
and attended his first Nats in Detroit in 1930. No wins there, but he was inspired by it all. Bob feels much
of his interest and inspiration came from meeting Carl Goldberg, Frank Zaic, and other enthusiastic modelers
at those early meets. At the '35 Nats in St. Louis, he set a national FF Class C record which stood for many
years. Bob considers his greatest contribution to be what he believes to be the first use of folding props
on rubber models. His younger brother, Jim Cahill helped refine this development and incorporated it into his "Clodhopper
II" design, which won the Moffett Trophy, and Wakefield. Bob also developed an indoor stick model with
a balsa tube fuselage, which converted from stick to cabin by sliding a small fuselage over the stick. Again,
brother Jim used the basic design to place 2nd in 1938 and 3rd in 1939 in indoor cabin at the Nationals.
When he started building "gas jobs" in 1939, he pioneered the use of alcohol-based fuels. He also developed
and built an electronic tachometer for engine testing.
Bob retired from model building in 1949. After retiring from the Chrysler Corporation in 1975, while head of their
competition and racing department, he lived in the U.S. Virgin Islands for seven years. Since moving to California
in 1982, he has constructed and flown a full-size home built plane. He says he may now be ready to return to his
first love...model airplanes. Ref SS #114 |
1993 |
 Larry
JENNO - Inducted 1993
Born 1922
Larry began building models in 1931 at age 9. He joined the AMA in 1939, and won
a spot to the Jr. Birdmen N.Y. State Finals, which started his contest flying. After attending trade school,
he built his first engine, a .14 size. He flew that engine in control liners on board ship during WW-II.
After the war, he built 5 "Jenno-60" engines and distributed some to his control line club members.
He became President of that club, and later was the only three term President of the well-known B.I.R.D.
Radio Control Club in the Los Angeles area.
Larry became an accomplished machinist and tool & die maker, doing R&D work for several major manufacturers.
He built several more engines, and helped John Targos build the repro Elfin diesel, and made dies for the Super Cyclone
reproduction project in Arizona. In his most ambitious project, he produced 500 of the Jenno reproduction Torpedo
29's and 32's. More recently, he produced 100 of the first production run of the historically interesting Irwin Ohlsson
.12 sized engines.
Larry was also a partner in the Zinger propellor company, and designed and built their original prop-building machinery.
He is very active in his local clubs. Probably his best known contribution to SAM was as Contest Manager for the
highly successful 1989 SAM Champs at Jean, Nevada, and his assistance to the Denver chapter in staging the 1991 SAM
Champs at the same location. The photo shows Larry in one of his favorite spots, his workshop at his home in Las
Vegas. Ref SS #114 |
1993 |
 Robert
(Bob) DODDS - Inducted 1993
Born
Bob's interest in aviation was kindled when his father held him up to look into the
cockpit of Lindberg's Spirit of St. Louis in about 1929. From then on, Bob says he dragged his father to
every air show, and made him stay until the last act, and hold him up to look into every cockpit. Bob's
first "model" was a cockpit mock-up he built in his basement, complete with an electric fan blowing
over the nose to give the impression of flying.
Bob soon built a number of models from plans, including finally, a 10' Nimbus at age 17. But his Baby Cyclone-powered
Miss America was the highlight. His first flights were in the street, with a 50' fishing line attached to the tail.
Bob would let it take off while running
after it, and after a 6-foot gain in altitude, pull it back down to the ground.
Along the way, Bob served as Editor for the NFFS Symposium for 4 years running, and in the '60's presented his own
paper on weight, C.G., and neutral point at the Lake Charles Nationals.
Although Bob's modeling escapades and skills are as interesting as any, his nomination to The Sam Hall of Fame is
based primarily upon his personal service to SAM. Bob has given freely of that most precious commodity, many hours
of his own time. Before Bob's term as Secretary/Treasurer, SAM had trouble retaining anyone in this critical job
for very long. Due to the man-hours and dedication required, the work fell hopelessly behind, and our records at
times got to be a mess. This was cleaned up when Bob took office, and has stayed current ever since.
We must also recognize Bob's wife Nan as a contributor in this official biography, because she has helped greatly,
and donated much of her own time, especially when Bob had some health problems in recent years.
Bob is a graduate of M.I.T. and holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. He is a WW II Navy veteran, and worked
for many years as a Sales Engineer at Vickers Hydraulics, and as a Weights Engineer for Grumman Aircraft. Ref SS#114 |
1993 |
 Carl
V. CARLSON - Inducted 1993
Born
In 1928, he set a world indoor record of 4 mins,. 19 sec. He also placed high enough in outdoor in the Chicago
Tribune Contest to win a free trip to the 1928 Nationals, where he won 1st place in Outdoor Junior. He also
had a number of wins and places in several other Nats and large contests of the era. As an Aeronautics student,
he designed and built a wind tunnel in 1928, receiving recognition by the press, and boosting model aviation.
In 1930, he developed his 'Big Crate I' a Wall, Jr. powered eleven
foot biplane, which was the first gas powered model flown in a national contest, at the 1931 Nats in Dayton, Ohio.
It was followed by Big Crates II and III. The Big Crate III won 1st, Open FF at the 1934 Akron Nationals.
He operated the Carlson Model Airplane Co, a kit manufacturing business for a couple of years. In 1932, he worked
on the "Knight" engine with Gilbert Nelson. He used another of Mr. Nelson's engines, the "Gil" in
Big Crates II and III. In 1935, he went to work for Joe Ott designing models for kits at The Whitman Publishing Co.
Carl is a Professional Engineer (P.E.). In 1937, he received a BS Aeronautical degree from the University of Michigan.
Before and during WWII, he designed armament production machinery, and was Chief Engineer at Howard Aircraft in 1946.
He operated a consulting engineering firm and was associated with R&D Construction, Chicago, designing support
equipment for the Air Force, airlines, and major aircraft companies. Carl's most recent major project was the design
of a patented paint hangar for the Douglas DC-9/MD80 at long Beach, CA.
In 1970„ Carl returned to building model airplanes with his son. At this time Carl, with help from Vic Cunnyngham,
Sr. is building replicas of the Big Crate I and III for the AMA Museam in Muncie, Indiana.. Ref SS#114. |
1993 |
 Joseph
(Joe) KONEFES - Inducted 1994 top
of this page
Born
Joe began modeling in 1927 after a Curtis Jenny made a forced landing in a neighboring
farmer's field.
In 1933, he went to work for Bill Bishop at Comet, building display models while still in high school. After graduation,
he went to work for Comet and worked there 8 years. His job was drawing plans in India ink on tracing cloth for many
of Comet's flying and solid scale models.
Comet's first two gas models were Joe's designs. One was the six foot span Curtis Robin in 1937, and the other was
the Golden Eagle done in 1938. Both were successful kit designs and have lasted many years.
He built the prototype 'Comet Interceptor' to be flown at the 1941 'Nationals', and commented that it was unsuccessful
mostly due to a lack of sleep on his part, and the underpowered ATOM engine used.
He was a member of the Junior Birdmen, Chicago Aeronuts, the Gas Model Aeronuts, and the Chicago area 'Buzzards'
club. He designed the 'Buzzard Bombshell' in a club competition to design a durable sport model to be used in mass
flight demonstrations. Eighteen were built by members of the club. The model proved to be very capable, winning the
Wisconsin State Championship and Class 'C' at the 1940 Nationals. He says that he was embarrassed when the model
beat the Zipper and the Comet Sailplane at the 1940 'Nats'. He chased the model downwind on foot for a mile, losing
sight of it, and returned to the field to find the timer still watching the model. A thermal had lifted the plane
high into the wind and returned it to the field for a flight of 49 minutes.
Joe says that he owes much of his success to friends that he worked with at Comet: Bob Reder, Al Horbak, Carl Goldberg,
Fred Schlienz, Sid Axelrod, Ed Lidgard and others, members of the Buzzard Club, and to his brother Ed, who he says,
is a better flier than he ever was. Ref SS#120
|
1994 |
 Bill
WINTER - Inducted 1994
Born
The most prolific model airplane designer and writer for the model publications of our time, Bill Winter has been a
tremendous contributor to the style of American publications since the thirties. He has been an editor, assistant editor,
managing editor, associate editor, production editor and columnist. He has been responsible for much of the great wealth
of educational and entertaining information made available to modelers of our time. He raised a family of nine children
from the rewards of being a very industrious model writer.
Starting with Model Airplane News in 1935, he served on the staffs of all the popular model magazines, during WW-II
and on up to the present. His retirement in 1980 was his official termination date, but the articles and plans have
continued to flow from his always fresh supply of ideas. He produced 23 rubber flying scale plans and more than 200
of all types; F/F, CL, R/C and solids in his tour with the model magazines, and hundreds of articles and books. Some
of his best known were the 1941 Model Aircraft Handbook and The Basics of R/C Modelling. The latter continued selling
for 31 years, being revised by Fred Marks. He was responsible for all the Air Trails Annuals up through 1946.
He worked for all of the well known model magazines of our youth: Bill Barnes, Air Trails, M.A.N., Flying Aces, Open
Road for Boys, Flying, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Mechanics Illustrated, Airborne, Airworld, Aeromodeller
and Flying Models. In 1936, Street and Smith hired him as Assistant Editor on Bill Barnes Air Adventure, and later
he became Associate Editor and finally Editor.
He was instrumental in the sale of American Modeler to Potomac Aviation Publications and the addition of the AMA section
to American Modeler.
Probably his most popular and best liked column was his 'Just for the Fun of it', that appeared in Model Aviation for
several years. This was his last regular column, and drew thousands of monthly followers. His relaxed, easy style of
writing and humor was readily accepted by the modelers of our time. Ref SS#120 |
1994 |
Edward
KONEFES - Inducted 1994
Born
Ed started modeling following his older brother Joe. Ed says he remembers his brother
bringing home 25 cent kits to build as display models for the Comet Model Airplane Company.
Ed's first job in the model business was hand-carving the 13 1/2 inch birch props that went into the Curtis Robin
kits. He later worked the AIRCRAFT Model Company in Chicago, and designed the 'Cloudsnooper' gas model that has been
approved for SAM competition.
His first gas model was a 'California Chief', built in 1936 and powered with a Baby Cyclone. Both of these products
were produced by Major Mosely's Cal-Aero Industries, located in Glendale, CA.
He and his brother were early members of the Chicago Buzzards Club, which held a competition for a design that all
the members would build to be flown at a club project. The Buzzard Bombshell, brother Joe's design, was the winning
model. Gordon Christofer, who owned the AIRCRAFT Model Company, produced kits for the club, and Ed's was the first
model completed. He lost the plane at a contest in Indianapolis.
During WW-II, Ed got a job at the local airport because of his building experience, and worked as an aircraft mechanic
until retirement in 1987.
He returned to modeling in 1974 with a few R/C models and old time gas models. He started flying old time and modern
AMA rubber in 1980, and credits Charlie Sotich with helping him get back into modeling, also with helping him set
the current Class III Mulvihill record at the 1991 Nationals.
He has attended all of the SAMCHAMPS since 1980, and is a much-liked and respected competitor in SAM Old Timer events.
Ref SS#120 |
1994 |
 Carl
HERMES - Inducted 1994
Born
Carl first jumped into prominence as a model designer and builder when his beautiful
elliptical-winged 'Hayseed' won the Ohio State model championship in Cleveland in 1941. This successful
Class 'C' design with a 930 sq.in. wing was the forerunner to a number of similar designs, some of which
were published.
Carl was a regular contributor to Frank Zaic's yearbooks, with his design emphasis
moving toward Wakefield models. Before and during WW-II, he experimented with derivations of the original
Hayseed. He produced a Class 'A-B', a larger Class 'B' and a small Class 'A'. He built another version
that he called the Tinian Express after the island where he was stationed in the South Pacific. The
Model was last seen disappearing in a thermal over the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Carl started his modeling career in Connecticut, and was one of the founders of the Bridgeport Aeronuts MAC. He attended
New York University where he earned a degree in aeronautical engineering. After the war, Carl worked for Boeing and
Lockheed Aerospace. He owned a full-scale KA-8 glider for many years, and was also a sailboater.. His modeling interest
continued with Wakefield rubber models, and he became an active Wakefield competitor using his own designs, and was
a member of the 1953 World Championship Team, along with Joe Foster and George Reich. He later was again named to
the 1963 U.S. Wakefield Team, and wrote several technical articles on Wakefield designs, experimenting with solid
balsa wings with movable trailing edges.
Bill Wargo once wrote: Carl was one of the most unselfish people I have ever known. He was always willing to help
anyone at any time, no matter what. He was also one of the most unflappable. I can not recall ever having seen him
upset over anything that had gone wrong, and I am very proud to have had Carl as a close friend.
Don Bekins said: Carl Hermes was a quiet, modest, unassuming person with a keen interest and talent in anything aeronautical.
When Don converted his Hayseed to R/C, Carl traveled up to the SAM-27 field to see his old free flight rocket up,
powered by an Ohlsson 60. Asked if he would like to try his hand at controlling the model, he demurred saying that
he was a 'purist', a free flighter at heart! Ref SS#120
|
1994 |
 Tommy
McLAUGHLIN - Inducted 1994
Born
His interest in model aviation started in Baltimore during the late 1920's through
the American Boy magazine model section. He built rubber-powered models and competed in indoor competitions
sponsored by a Baltimore department store. Tommy became interested in outdoor rubber models, and in 1929
was the Baltimore Twin Pusher Champion, winning a trip to the 1929 Detroit Nationals. During the thirties,
he turned to power models and became very competitive, ultimately winning the Mod Kraft trophy in 1941.
After the war, he won the trophy in 1946 and again in 1947, thereby gaining permanent possession.
In the early 50's, Tom turned to FAI power, and was a member of the U.S. team at the FAI Internationals in Austria
in 1973, and again in 1979. He was very competitive in SAM Old Timer events with his Forster 29 powered Zipper, his
.020 Playboy, and his original design 'Big 01' Plane by a fellow free flighter. This design is now approved for SAM
as an Old Timer.
In 1931, Tommy started in the aviation industry when he went to work in Baltimore for Berliner-Joyce, building biplanes,
and the all-metal Y1-11 pursuit. Berliner-Joyce later became North American Aviation and one of the projects was
the T-6/SNJ prototype. He moved to Connecticut to work at Sikorsky, building the S-42 series China Clippers. In 1940,
he moved to Pensacola to work with the Naval Aviation Depot until retirement as a production supervisor.
During the genesis of the Fiesta of Five Flags Contest in 1958, Tommy, among others was instrumental in its inception,
organization, and set up the contacts, policies and procedures that exist today. Ref SS#120 |
1994 |
 James
NOONAN - Inducted 1994
Born
Jim began modeling in 1927, shortly after Charles Lindberg inspired the youth of
America with his solo flight across the Atlantic. His first models were built from any materials he could
find, such as wooden boxes and hair pins. He built models from plans in the first issues of Universal Model
Airplane News. He also built them from 1911 plans that he resurrected from model clubs that were in existence
before he was born.
Jim entered his first competition with the Junior Birdmen in 1934. In November 1935, he left high school and went
into the WPA, working with a pick and shovel. In 1936, he went to his first 'Nationals' in Detroit.
In 1937, he attended the 'Nats', also in Detroit, and placed in rubber stick and other events.
In 1938, he built his first successful Wakefield design, the Big Diamond, and his stick model, the Homesick Angel.
In 1939, his job with the WPA ended,and he then worked for the Whitman Publishing Company designing models for publication
in Air Trails, and for many years made his living as a writer for the model magazines.
In 1941, he was selected to work at Langley Field with 630 other model builders, producing models for wind tunnel
research. He left Langley for the Army Signal Corps and ended up in Casablanca.
He is best known as a teacher of model building and the model materials business that he ran for many years. His
1911 replica of Cecil Puoli's model airplane has been on display at the Smithsonian for ten years.
Jim has done so much for the art of building and flying of model airplanes, that it is hard to list all of his accomplishments.
Ref SS#120 |
1994 |
 Carl
SPIELMAKER - Inducted 1994
Born 1927
Carl has been interested in model airplane engines all of his life, attempting his
first engine while still in high school at age 17. That year was 1944. Using drawings from Popular Mechanics
magazine, he tried to make his first model engine.
Carl has been chosen because of his pioneering work in the building of SAM. He started SAM Chapter 4 in the early
days, and has been the driving force alone with his friend Bob Pattison in building the SAM legend in the Michigan
area. His other claim to fame, and probably the most unheralded support to the SAM movement, is the long list of
replica model engines he built to sustain the modelers' need for old time engines. The easiest way to describe Carl's
efforts is just to go down the list by the year:
In 1953, he designed and built his own .15 displ., front rotor engine, notable for its copper-plated head.
In 1963, he built his first 'Golden Eagle', a .53 displacement engine. 30 engines were built.
In 1964, Carl built 40 copies of the Dallaire 'Peewee'. Many modelers attending the first 'CHAMPS' at Denver bought
this engine for $40.00!
In 1965, Carl made 10 copies of the 'A' Marvin.
Starting in 1965, Carl produced Super Cyke cylinders for Ralph Morock's Remco Replicas. Over 7 years he made 1200
Super Cyke rods.
In 1965, he developed the Spielmaker-60'. Between 1968 and 1981, he made 65 motors.
In 1984, he built the Megow .19 Concept engine, and made 84 engines.
In 1986, he built 8 copies of the Edco Diesel. The last copy sold for 1200 dollars!
In 1987 he produced 35 copies of the 'Bantam-16', and 35 copies were made before production ceased.
His current project is the 'Denny' (round head) race car engine. Production was started in 1970 and is continuing.
In conclusion, let me say that Carl Spielmaker's sense of humor and his friendly smile are reason enougtto induct
him into SAM's Hall of Fame. Carl is everybody's friend! Ref SS#120 |
1994 |
 Donald G. GAROFALOW - Inducted 1994
Born January, 1915 --- Died December 27, 2013
Don started building models in 1927. These were rubber-powered, mostly scale, outdoor
stick and twin pushers. His first success in competition was in 1932 and 1933 in local contests and meets
sponsored by the Bamberger Aero Club. He graduated from high school in 1933, during the worst part of the
great depression. During 1934, he worked for the Queen Anne Novelty Company, which was attempting to manufacture
model kits. In 1934 he met John and Dan Frisoli of the Scientific Model Airplane Company.
From 1934 through 1936, he constructed models for these two companies. In all, he estimates that he made 65 model
airplanes and 30 model boats. These models were used for photographs that were placed in their catalogs. Among others,
he built gas model versions of the Starling, Miss America, Eaglet, Commodore, Red Zephyr, Mercury, Miss Philadelphia,
Streamliner and the Flagship. He also made the prototypes of the rubber-powered 50inch Monocoupe and the 60inch Waco
Custom.
His first design work for Scientific was the Red Flash. This kit was followed by the Flea, Firefly and the 24inch
Valkyrie. He later did the kit designs for Korda's Victory and Goldstar. Later, he designed other rubber-powered
kits for Scientific, such as the All American, Olympic, Zephyr, Spartan, Parachute Plane, Clarion, Fleetwing, Bullet,
30inch Miss World's Fair, Scientific ROG. Raven, Windsor, Blue Phantom, Air Raider, Skipper, Sky Scraper and Flying
Yankee.
He also designed model plans such as the Bantam 25, Monocoupe 15 and Waco Biplane that were given as premiums for
magazine subscriptions. His gas model designs for Scientific were: the Ensign, Varsity and the Larkey.
During 1938-1941, he operated the Best by Test Model Airplane Company and designed the Airflow 40, Hawklet and the
ROG Mite.
After the war, he worked in businesses that made wind tunnel models, and in 1961 he began free lance model work under
the name: Supercraft Models, and produced models for various aerospace corporations. This business continued operation
under his son's guidance. Ref SS#120 |
1994 |
 Bruce
NORMAN - Inducted 1995 top of this page
Born
Bruce contributed significantly to the development of SAM through his participation
in both free flight and RC events. Bruce (and wife Leslie) were always tough competitors who relished the
friendships that model flying made possible. Bruce's SAM flying began in 1974 when he visited Taft and discovered
the OT free flight movement. As you know, Bruce is an accomplished builder who was always striving to be
the best.
Among Bruce's major aeromodeling achievements are SAM Champs Free Flight Grand Champion in 1976, 1977 and 1979. He
was RC Grand Champion in 1980, 1982, 1984, and 1985. He was the 1987 SAM Champs Contest Director, and served on the
SAM Engine committee.
Bruce and Leslie are retired and spend a great deal of their time traveling in their motorhome up and down the west
coast visiting with friends they made over the years they were so active in model flying. Ref SS#126 |
1995 |
 Ralph
KUMMER - Inducted 1995
Born
Ralph has been building model airplanes since 1923. From age 12 to 19 he designed,
built and flew rubber powered free flights. He held 3 world records in different categories, and won many
contests. He was President of model clubs and co-director of USA's largest club (St Louis). Ralph managed
his own model shop from 1931 to 1934, and contributed model designs to several model magazines.
Ralph learned to fly full scale aircraft in1941 at St. Louis in a Piper Cub. Tha same year he became a partner in a new Porterfield airplane, which he flew home from the factory in Kansas City.
He was an Army Liason Pilot in WW II and saw more than 300 hours flying combat missions during two years in the Pacific theater. Ralph was promoted to Major and was
awarded Air medal, Oak Leaf Cluster.
Ralph was a private airport owner from 1945 to 1948. His ratings include commercial pilot and flight instructor in
both land and seaplanes. He also owned a Fairchild PT-19 trainer and a Taylorcraft seaplane.
From1946 to 1948 Ralph was Aviation Editor of the St Louis Star-Times, and subsequently was a public relations executive at Hiller Aircraft, and a marketing consultant who
developed proposals for the FAA.
Memberships have included charter member AMA, NAA, Pacific Wings club, American Helicopter Society and Aviation Writers
Assoc. Ralph is listed in Who's Who in Aviation.
In SAM, Ralph has participated in old time rubber events around the world for the past several years. Ref SS#126 |
1995 |
 Charles
Bud WARREN - Inducted 1995
Born
Bud was raised in Fort Collins, CO, and built his first model airplane in 1927 He built
his first models from bamboo calendars and the bamboo poles in carpet rolls. Propellers were carved from
spruce and walnut. He was definitely hooked by this experience and has never wavered from his hobby.
Bud joined the Jimmy Allen movement and flew in the local contests. He built both rubber and gas models during the
thirties.
He spent five years in the National Guard at various duties and locations. The latter part of his tour he commanded
a road block just outside of Inst, Austria. On may 5, 1945 when he passed a group wanting to surrender, one of the
persons was Werner Von Braun.
Bud was active in control line as well as free flight in 1948, and held the Colorado speed record for class B speed
at 139.6 MPH flown at E.F.C. (Cinderella City)
He was active in organizing the Rocky Mountain Modelers club in Fort Collins and the Boulder Aeromodeling Society.
Bud has been a member of the Model Museum Club (SAM #1) since 1960 and served as secretary for several years.
His Super Buccaneer (of which he is very fond) has flown in all of the local meets including many SAM Champs and
especially the early SAM Champs. He also flies rubber and 1/2A RC. His Super Buccaneer has survived being lost three
times in 34 years. Ref SS#126
|
1995 |
 Woody
WOODMAN - Inducted 1995 - top of this page
Born November 20, 1923. Hackensack. NJ. -- Died 1923
Woody lived in Saddle Brook. NJ and then moved to his summer home. Bayviile. in 1980. He worked for Public Service Gas and Electric Company for 32 years. retiring, as a line supervisor. A veteran of the Coast Guard in WW II, he was a past Commander of Flotilla 7-11. Coast Guard Auxiliary and VFW Post 4535. En addition to the Old Time Eagles. he belonged to the Ocean County Modelers and Pine Barren Modelers. He is survived by his wife, Evelyn, a son Michael and his wife Valerie. and three grandsons. Michael and his wife Kim., Steven and Christopher. (by Mike Cook and Joe Beshar)
Woody has been outstanding in his support of the Society as demonstrated by his record.
He has been active model builder since 1933, at a member of NAA/AMA since 1936.
Woody joined SAM in 1969, and was Eastern SAM Vice Presidet for 6 years. He was initially interested in RC, and wrote the first RC Old Timer rules. Woody was an RC OT prime mover at all
SAM Champs, and organized and ran the first RC events at the 1972 SAM Champs at Bong Field, WI. He encouraged interest
in RC Old Timer, resulting in its acceptance as a regular SAM Champs event. He also was RC SAM Champs Contest Director
at Denver and La Junta, CO, Wright Paterson AFB, Westover AFB, and Aerolympics, Lakehurst, NJ. He served as Contest
Manager at the 1978 Champs at Coyle Field, NJ.
Woody served on the SAM rules committee and became the first RC Rules Coordinator, serving until 1994, and is the
present SAM Chapter Coordinator, having held that post for the past 23 years. He has set up and manned the SAM booth
at the WRAMS show every year since 1975. Ref SS#126
|
1995 |
 Ernie
LINN - Inducted 1995
Born
Ernie started modeling in1931, when he first built solid models from pictures in the
early Battle Aces and Bill Barnes Magazines. He graduated to rubber powered flying models in 1934. He was soon
on the contest trail and was vinning prizes and awards locally. In 1938 he went to Eldorado Kansas and won first prize in rubber. He soon began designing his own Wakefields and produced several designs
in 1936, 1938, and 1939. His best works were his 1938 and 1939 Wakefields which won the Kansas state championship.
About this time he won two first places that netted him two Comet Clipper kits. With the five dollars his dad gave
him plus one of the kits, he was able to make a swap for his first gas motor, a Brown Junior.
Ernie went to work for Boeing Wichita for two years before joining the U.S.A.A.F. After the service he returned to
Boeing, and except for three months at Beech Aircraft, he worked there 41 years. He retired in 1985.
Ernie was instrumental in creating the SAM approved design handbook of gas models. His initial efforts at cataloging
all the designs of the prewar years finally became the SAM bible of gas jobs with the help of Bob Larsh, George Armstead,
Jim Adams and others. He has also started the SAM list of approved rubber model designs, which is much more lengthy
than the gas model list.
Ernie and Suzie have been married since 1949, and have two children, Earl and Diana. Earl built and flew models for
several years and entered the Nationals.
Ernie joined the Boeing Hawks model club after the war and was an officer and the newsletter editor for three years.
He served 7 years on the AMA free flight rules committee, from 1975 to 1982.
He is a life member of SAM, having joined in 1979. He was instrumental in the formation of the Kansas Historical
Aviation Museum and is a life member. He has been a member of the AMA since the days of NAA. Ref SS#126 |
1995 |
 Roy
WRISTON - Inducted 1996 top of this page
Born
Roy Wriston built his first model airplane, a pusher, in 1928. He competed successfully in numerous contests in the Midwest from Oklahoma to Ohio, flying indoor and outdoor rubber and gas. Several summers in the 1930s, Roy, and a Hudson Terraplane full of Tulsa modelers toured contests in the Midwest on their way to either the Nationals or the Mississippi Valley Meet in St. Louis which rivaled the Nationals at that time. By attending many contests each year in several states, he developed a high standard of flying and established lasting friendships with standouts such as Light, Cahill, Korda, Lanzo, Simmers, Zaic and many others. Zaic's review of the 1936 Nationals at Detroit says, in part, “The Tulsa boys were the outstanding winners in this last Nationals meet." At that contest, Roy placed second, some seven seconds behind Albert Judge, English winner of the Wakefield Cup. Roy was also a frequent winner of Jimmy Allen contests.
Roy was very active in helping other modelers, particularly beginners. He started Tulsa's first model airplane club, the Model Aeronautical Engineers (MAE), which eventually had nearly forty members. He also taught model building to Boy Scouts at summer camps in Tulsa and New Mexico, and was instrumental in organizing annual contests.
Roy Wriston along with Frank Zaic were members of the AMA Executive committee the year it was formed in 1936. The first year the organization was formed it was called American Academy for Model Aeronautics. This was later changed to Academy of Model Aeronautics. Some of his designs were published in model magazines and Zaic Year Books. He was best known for his diamond fuselage configuration. While Roy Wriston has not been an active modeler in recent years, his participation and achievements in the 1930s and early '40s place him in the front rank with other top modelers of that period. (by Allen Chapman)
|
1996 |
 Tom
McCOY - Inducted 1996
Born Detroit Michigan, February 20, 1932
Honors:-
-1944 Cooper Brothers Trophy for Indoor Championship
-1996 Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
-1998 Won 50th Anniversary Wakefield Contest ~ Copland Trophy (inducted)
-1998 AMA Pioneer Award
-2004 Model Aviation Hall of Fame
I look fondly back over 62 years of great fun building and flying model planes that began for me as a lad of ten years old witnessing a young adult flying a rubber model. I later attended a summer program that would teach model building. The program required $2.00 for supplies. This model building class really gave me the basics of how it is done and, albeit rudimentary, skills to build models. At age 12 I joined a model club, the Detroit Balsa Bugs. I thereafter won the Junior Indoor Championship and the Cooper Brothers trophy.
At age 19, the Korean War erupted and I enlisted in the Air Force. I spent four years as a flight instructor and also served as a gunnery instructor. After my military service, I attended Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
I married my high school sweetheart Millie in October 1951. In 1952, I became interested in Radio Control models and joined the newly formed Radio Control Club of Detroit. I consider myself a pioneer. With three other club members, we formed the first Radio Control model show, which is now the Toledo Show
In 1972, I discovered the Society of Antique Modelers (SAM). For the last thirty-two years, I have primarily flown antique reproductions.
I was fortunate to win the 50th Wakefield Anniversary contest the Copland trophy at Middle Wallop, England in 1988. I also won the Large Rubber event at the SAM International held in Gorizia, Italy in 1992. I was honored to win the Korda Special Event held at the AMA field (with 65 entries) in 1996. This model is now in the AMA museum. I was the Florida State Rubber Champion in 1994. I am still an active Free Flight rubber flyer and compete on a local and national level. I also fly Old Timer Radio Control SAM models. This is great fun and, as I get older, this is a less physical model activity. I also belong to the Vintage Radio Control Society. This group flies the early Radio Control designs.
I’m primarily involved with SAM models and limiting myself to recreate the old designs, although I have found time to create some of my own. One of my designs was published in Radio Modeler, an English magazine. It was a climb and glide model (Albatross), a low-cal designed indoor model. I also compete with a Mulvihill rubber model I designed called the “Bull Teaser” and I have shipped plans for the model around Europe.
I was president of the Radio Control Club of Detroit for three years in the 1960s. Beginning in 1972 I was active in the management of SAM. I have served on the design-verification committee and rules committee. I worked as an assistant contest manager for three SAM Champs and was elected as President of SAM in 2000 ~ 2004.
I have been very fortunate to win many contests, and my shop walls are full of plaques as reminders of a good time with my friends. I feel very fortunate to have received several honorary awards from AMA and SAM over the years, and honored to be adjoined within the ranks of famous modelers before me. (Tom McCoy Autobiography) |
1996 |
 William
(Bill) GOOD - Inducted 1996
Born April 25, 1916 --- Died May 18, 2001
Bill Good and his twin brother, Walt Good (inducted into the SAM Hall of Fame in 1989) are the one of just two sets of brothers in the SAM Hall of Fame. The Good brothers were born in Hillsdale Michigan and grew up in Kalamazoo Michigan. Their father was a high school science teacher. He encouraged their interest in physics as did their professors at Kalamazoo College. Both boys had started building model airplanes in 1927. Bill focused on developing radios while Walt had the stronger passion for building model irplanes. Their shared interests and efforts led to the development of the first successful RC controlled model airplane. Bill designed and made the first successful model aircraft RC system. Walt designed the airplane, known as the Guff. The Guff was first flown at a Nats in 1937. A class was opened up for RC models and the Good brothers won the 1938, 1939, and 1940 Nats flying the Guff. The two brothers competed successfully with the Guff as late as the 1947 Nats also won by the Good brothers. One of the Good brother’s original Guff’s is on permanent display at the Smithsonian.
After graduating from Kalamazoo College in 1937, both brothers went on to earn PhD’s in physics. Bill earned his PhD at the University of Pittsburgh. During the war years, Bill worked at Westinghouse on radar issues, and also in the nuclear program. He then worked for General Electric until retirement in 1977. He received 18 patents for his inventions. Much of his work involved development of color television and large scale information screens. |
1996 |
 Elmer
WASMAN - Inducted 1996
Born October 8, 1908 --- Died June 6, 2000
Honor:-
-1996 Society or Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
In 1937 Elmer traveled to Detroit Michigan to enter into the Tenth National Championship Model Airplane Meet. Roy Marquardt was his assistant. This meet featured the first ever radio control event and Elmer entered his own design of gas powered model airplane and a very complex radio guidance system.
Elmer had an industrial arts degree and was teaching aeronautics at John Gorrie Jr. High School in Jacksonville, Florida at the time. At 28, he was in the middle age group of the entries. There were six radio control entries in this inaugural event.
The following is Walt Good’s description of Elmer Wasman’s radio controlled ship as observed by Walt at that same 1937 event where he was also entered as a contestant:
“Elmer Wasman was the second to fly with a well designed system. It was called the “White Mystery” because it had a wind-driven propeller on the front of the rudder fin. No one knew what it did except Elmer”
The model, named the White Mystery, was 11-foot span and weighed 14 pounds with a wing area of 16 1/2 square feet. His radio was the most complex of the four designs that were entered in the 1937 radio event at the old Detroit airport. His system had five functions, up and down elevator, right and left rudder and engine cutoff. A set of three navigation lights was mounted on the plane and connected so that red was left rudder, green was right and white was down elevator. Thus he had a visual indication of the activated control. A small four-blade propeller near the back furnished the power for the moving controls. It did not have a wind driven dynamo/generator as many people thought. The wingspread was of the rare mid-wing design. A Forster .99 ignition engine provided power.
Elmer admitted, because of a lack of time he had not been able to test fly the plane. On its maiden flight it rose under its own power, stalled and crashed. He was awarded the third place trophy based on his demonstration of the control system on the ground, prior to the flight attempt.
At the 1994 SAM Champs Elmer presented to the AMA museum the third place award that he had won that day at Detroit.
He later earned an Industrial Arts degree and taught mechanical drawing and aeronautics in the public schools of Illinois and Florida.
Prior to W.W.II Elmer served as an Army aircraft engine mechanic at Chanute field. He later transferred to the Navy and taught mechanical drawing.
At 87, Elmer was still an active SAM competitor and usually seen at the SAM Champs.
Walter Good, also a participant at the 1937 RC contest says "I strongly agree with the nomination of Elmer Wasman to the Hall of Fame, as an early RC model pioneer. P.S. I knew him well."
|
1996 |
 Robert
LARSH - Inducted 1996
Born
Bob Larsh served SAM as Midwest Vice President and Chairman of the Design Approval Committee. He has been a tireless worker in the task of researching and approving designs that have been approved for use in SAM competitions and the rules for flying. Bob, in his position as the chairman of the approval process, insisted on the utmost authenticity and reliability in the categorizing and listing of the old-timer and antique designs. He is responsible for the revised format of the 1996-1 m SAM approved designs gas model handbook. In addition to his task of approving designs for SAM. he has been the person primarily responsible for approving designs for use in what has become known as the Nostalgia period, the models flown after 1942 and up to 1970. He was responsible for getting the National Free Flight Society to accept the job of maintaining the list of Nostalgia designs and the publishing of a booklet listing all of the Nostalgia designs, the rules for competition, and the engines acceptable for use in these.
As Midwest VP, Bob did a tremendous job for SAM, providing the leadership needed during the early formative years of our organization. Under his leadership SAM Champs were held at Bong, Wright-Patterson, Lawrenceville, and Muncie. Bob Larsh is truly one of the pioneers in the Society of Antique Modelers. (by Jim Adams) |
1996 |
 Harry (John) W ALDEN Lt. - Inducted 1996
Born May 22,1897 --- Died October 25,1951
Perhaps more than anyone person the creation and organization of the Academy of Model Aeronautics is the responsibility of Lt. H. W. Alden, U.S. Navy Ret.
The publication of Model Aviation (magazine) was initiated by Lt. Alden. He timed the first issue so that it would be distributed at the 1936 Nationals. He published both issues No. 1, and No.2, and were prepared in Frank Zaic's 10th street loft. Lt. Alden would come in, sit down in front of Frank’s Underwood portable, and type out the copy. Frank marveled at his ability to type whatever he had in mind with only one try. His first copy was good enough for paste-up. Lt. Alden paid all of the expenses, printing and postage.
Lt. Alden did not originate the Model Aviation title. At one time he mentioned that someone in Brooklyn had used it, but that he obtained permission to use the title. Whatever the origin, he must have recognized it as being just what was needed. It got us away from the "model airplane" term, which tends to have a toy connotation.
He also suggested the name American Academy of Model Aeronautics. He realized that we needed a name, which would not associate us with the juvenile atmosphere, which had been nurtured by the American Boy Airplane Model League of America. The name was long, but it did present us in an adult and dignified manner, and had an aura of the technical and educational aspect of model aviation.
It made it possible for Lt. Alden to invite influential persons to join the AMA. The Board members were outstanding leaders in their field. With their help, many doors would open for AMA to present their cause and needs.
Judging from Lt. Alden's personality and perseverance, and the wide range of friends in aviation and elsewhere, there was no doubt that he helped achieve the aims he and Frank Zaic had set forth in the first two issues of Model Aviation. By 1936, we were all united in the cause and through the magazine we were able to establish the communication among the new AMA organization and it’s members. (by Frank Zaic) |
1996 |
 Radoslav (Rado)
CIZEK - Inducted 1996
Born May 18, 1924, Kamenne Zehrovice Bohemia --- Died March 7, 2005
Rado Cizek’s reputation as a model designer in the countries behind the Iron Curtain matches that of Sal Taibi, Chet Lanzo and Carl Goldberg in the United States. Cizek designed more than 190 model airplanes, and more than 150 of those designs were published in model magazines. Photos of the designs frequently appeared on the covers of European model magazines. Cizek was born in the village of Kamenne Zehrovice in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. He built his first model airplane at age 12. Under Nazi occupation, clubs and other associations were banned. It was illegal, but Rado organized the Kamenne Zehrovice model club in 1943, and remained chief of the club until his death. Members of the club had great competition success and Rado was frequently the rubber powered model champion of Czechoslovakia. He was a frequent member of Czech teams in international model competitions, particularly in the categories of control line and RC scale. He also served as team coach and judge in these international competitions. But most of his modeling activity was devoted to educating and encouraging young people in modeler clubs.
Rado’s long time “day job” was as a draftsman in a steel plant. He developed a distinctive drafting style, and his designs and plans appeared in many model magazines. He also had a long time correspondence with Frank Zaic. Many of the drawings of Eastern European designs in Zaic’s yearbooks and publications came from Rado Cizek. Rado taught himself to read, write and speak English by studying model magazines.
Rado made his first trip to America in 1992, when the AMA invited him to be a judge at the FAI World Scale Control Line Championships held in Muncie. On that trip he came out to California to participate in the US Free Flight Championships. He was so impressed by the old time free flight activity there that he formed a new SAM chapter in 1993. SAM 95 Bohemia ‘s activities are centered in the area around Prague. Rado became President and newsletter editor of the club. He published a very informative newsletter distributed to some 250 people. Until the end of his life, he was an active promoter for SAM activities in Eastern Europe.
Two of his designs, the Kane old time glider and the XL 56 Nostalgia Wakefield model are short kitted by Bob Holman and are available today. His Kane glider design frequently places well in old time towline glider competitions both at the US SAM Champs, and at the annual national Kane Cup in the Czech Republic.
The FAI awarded Rado Cizek its Aeromodelling Gold Medal in 2000 in recognition of his lifelong activities supporting modeling.
As of 2013, Rado is one of just three Europeans in the SAM Hall of Fame, the other two being David Baker (inducted 1990) and Victor Ernest Smeed (inducted 2001) |
1996 |
 Hal
(Pappy) DeBOLT - Inducted 1997 top of this page
Born 1919 --- Died 2005
Hal was 86 when he passed away. I believe he built and flew models for over 75 years. His modeling history began at 10 years old and he built and flew models continuously. There was a park flyer-type electric autogiro on his work bench when he died. Hal began designing free flight models in the late 30's and early 40's. Three are approved as SAM Old Timers – Airfoiler, Blitzkreig and Whizzawing.
The war years he was in the Navy and began flying control line. From late 1940 through 1960 Hal designed many great innovative models. He held most of the control line speed records during this period. He went into business during this period producing model kits under the company name "Dmeco Models."
During the early 1950's Hal started tinkering with radio control. In 1952 Dmeco introduced the first Livewire rudder-only, radio model. The company went on to produce over 50 control line and radio control designs. Hal was an outstanding model flyer and keen competitor. He flew RC pattern and was on two of our FAI teams. He flew RC pylon and gliders and was a early RC electric flyer. The last 8 years he tinkered with autogiros, and for over 40 years he wrote a column for Model Airplane News. by Tom McCoy, From SS#183 pp6 |
1997 |
 James
Barney ONOFRI - Inducted 1997
Born 1919
Barney began modeling in 1934. He was active in many pioneer New Jersey model airplane clubs including the Trenton Gas Model Club, the Black Triangles, and the Quaker City Gas Model Club. He was an active designer of competition models in the 1930s. He built and flew the first successful gas model in the Trenton, New Jersey area. Barney and Mickey DeAngelis cooperated to build the "Trenton Terror" gas model. Barney joined the NAA before WW II and joined its successor, the AMA in 1944. He’s been active in the AMA continuously since then. He was a regular competitor at many SAM Champs winning first place in the .020 FF event (at the age of 77) in 1996. He’s spent a good deal of time and effort establishing model clubs and training programs to teach boys how to build, and compete with, model airplanes. |
1997 |
 Fiske
HANLEY II - Inducted1997
Born 1920
Fiske Hanley II is a native of Fort Worth Texas. In 1937 he won the Senior Texaco Trophy at the Detroit Nationals with a flight of 50 minutes 29 seconds which was a record at the time. The model had flown OOS and was recovered by people on the Detroit River 20 miles from the launch site. . His “Fiske Hanley” airplane had a wingspan of 113 inches. Fiske graduated from Texas Tech in 1943 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering. On March 27, 1945 Lt. Hanley was the flight engineer on a 504th Bomb Group B-29 named “Stork Club Boys”. He was on his 7th mission when the B-29 was shot down while laying mines in the Shimoseki Straits. Lt. Hanley and the co-pilot were the only survivors of the crew. They were taken as POWs to Tokyo and endured several months of beating and torture before the end of the war. After returning from the war, Fiske spent 43 years working for General Dynamics. He worked on programs including the B36, B-58, F-111 and F-16. He is the historian of the 504th Bomb Group, and often gives talks on his experiences as POW. In 1997, Fiske released a book he authored entitled “Accused American War Criminal”. He gives lectures on his POW experience even today (2012). |
1997 |
 Robert (Bob)
ANGEL - Inducted 1997
Born October 11, 1931 ---
Bob has been a long time modeler and a great servant of SAM. He started early as a control line modeler. In the early days of SAM he attended a free flight contest at Condor Field in Taft and joined SAM. He holds membership #217. He is a member of MECA with an interest in old time model engines and has a sizeable collection. He organized SAM Chapter #26 in Santa Maria California in 1977. He’s been the publisher and editor of the newsletter for that club to this day (2012) a 44 year record. He’s also written the Old Timer Column in Model Aviation Magazine colunm from 2007 to this day (2021). He served as SAM West Coast Vice President for six years. Directed the RC section of the SAM Champs in 1985 and 2007. In 1986 he re-wrote and clarified the SAM Rule Book. In the early 1990s, again on an emergency basis, Bob took over the editorship of SAM Speaks for one year. He served on the SAM RC Rules Committee for many years, and has performed numerous other “behind the scenes” activities to support the SAM organization. In addition he has been either the CD or principal organizer for the John Pond Commemorative SAM RC Contest which has been held annually since 1976. |
1997 |
 Lee
FREEMAN - Inducted 1997
Born 1927 --- Died 2010
If John Pond is properly thought of as the “Father of SAM, Lee Freeman was there at the conception. Freeman and Pond were good friends and flying buddies. While traveling to the 3rd Annual Stockton Gas Model OT contest in 1963, Freeman told Pond that there ought to be a regular organized old timer model movement and that Pond should head it up. Pond declined. Two months later Freeman read a column in Model Airplane News that said Freeman was starting a new organization. That item, planted by the Mighty Pond'o was news to Freeman. But Lee stepped up to the task, acting as SAM President from 1964 to 1966. The MECA Journal invited Freeman to write a column on old timer activities. Freeman wrote it for two years, outlining organizational structures, proposed rules and so on. Modeler Bob Stalick suggested the name Society of Antique Modelers, and the name stuck. After three years of hard work by many, many people Lee was finally able to assemble a basic set of OT Rules and had them published in the 1966 spring edition of the MECA Journal. SAM then had its first nationally recognized rules. In 1966 the press of business caused Freeman to step down. But by then there were 15 SAM Chapters across the country, a set of rules for categorizing old time models and contest flying with regional and national leadership in place. Lee became an active member of SAM Chapter #3, the Southern California Ignition Flyers and flew until 1987 when health problems forced him to retire from active flying. |
1997 |
 Vernon
KREHBIEL - Inducted 1999 top of this page
Born 1916 --- Died 1996
Honor:-
-1999: Society of Antique Modelers
Vernon Krehbiel was introduced to building and flying model airplanes in 1927 by articles on how to build and fly model airplanes which appeared weekly in the Scrips-Howard newspapers. In 1936 he built his first gasoline engine powered model, a Flying Quaker powered by a GHQ engine, which he later changed to a Baby Cyclone. It wasn't too long after this that he decided to try designing his own models. Armed with a copy of Charles H. Grant's book, Model Airplane Design and Theory of Flight, he designed the Challenger and the Master with which he competed in the 1937, 1938 and 1939 Nationals. He placed 2nd with the Challenger at the 1939 Nationals and was awarded the George S. White Memorial Trophy and a cash award of $75.00. These two designs were kitted by Vemon and resulted in the establishment in 1938 of the VK Model Airplane and Supply hobby shop in Buffalo, N. Y.
The first designs to carry the VK trademark were radio-controlled models that were scale-like in appearance as compared to what was offered at that time by other manufacturers. Appropriately, his first kit was named Challenger, which was followed, by the Navajo and Cherokee. VK Models soon gained a reputation for excellent quality of materials and drawings. They not only looked like their full-scale counterparts but also flew well.
Following the success of these initial kits Vernon decided to design RC scale models of WWI airplanes. The VK line was expanded to include the Nieuport 17, the Sopwith Camel and a Fokker D8. Vernon became a pioneer in the design and kitting of "museum quality" scale model RC airplanes. His WWI, one-fifth scale models are still in production to this day by Proctor Enterprises.
During his lifetime Vernon received many accolades from the hobby industry and his fellow modelers for his achievements. It is no wonder that he named his first design "Challenger" because he was forever challenging himself to make a notable contribution to this avocation we enjoy so much. In 1998 he was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame. (Biography from 1999 SAM Hall of Fame Honorees Program)
|
1999 |
 Edward (Dan) Daniel CALKIN - Inducted 1999
Born 1911 --- Died 1978
Honor:-
-1999 The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Dan was born in Prosser, Washington in 1911 and graduated with honors from MIT with a Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1933.
Dan Calkin devoted his life to the advancement of model aviation. He pioneered the development and manufacture of small engines and was famous for his corncob, ELF single, ELF Twins, ELF fours and ELF Six. After his career at ELF, Dan devoted himself to his new career as a rocket scientist at Douglas Missile System in Santa Monica.
He was a pioneer developer of small lightweight 1.5 volt coils in 1935, a pioneer designer and manufacturer of 1/4-32 size spark plugs in 1934, and was a pioneer designer and manufacturer of model airplane propellers.
Daniel Calkin built his first successful engine when he was 17 years old. His first ELF engine was sold in July 1935. He started building engines a short time after Bill Brown, but he built engines one-fourth the size the size of the Brown Jr.
The first production ELF, the so-called corncob, was designed specifically for the Texaco type event. It would run approximately 42 minutes on an ounce of fuel.
As the rules changed Dan Calkin designed an all-new series of engines-the slant plug engines. The new single appeared in 1939, the twin in 1940, the famous "Goose Egg" four in 1941. In 1951 six cylinder engines were produced, a truly great technical and mechanical achievement.
Dan Calkin had his ELF powered airplane featured in Ripley's "Believe it or Not' in December 27, 1936. (Biography from 1999 SAM Hall of Fame Honorees Program)
|
1999 |
 Larry CLARK - Inducted 1999
Born May 28, 1924 --- Died December 24, 2012
Honor:-
-1999: Society of Antique Modelers
Larry was born In Glendale, California. He began modeling in 1930 building solid models. This was followed by a long series of rubber powered models. In 1937 he built and flew his first gas powered model, a Quaker Flash powered by a 'Brown Junior engine.
His lifelong passion for spark ignition powered free flight model airplanes was interrupted for service in the USMC in WW II and Korea.
He returned to flying models in 1965 and built a Miss America, powered by his trusty Brown Jr. During this time he built and flew Ignition free-flight models only.
In 1971 Larry joined the Southern California Ignition Flyers club. SCIFS were chartered as SAM Chapter number three (3) located in the San Fernando Valley and flew out of the famous Sepulveda basin flying field. He was elected President of the SCIFS from 1988 thru 1989. He has served as treasurer of CUFFMAC, the organization of Model Clubs of California, for several years.
Larry was appointed by SAM president, Jim Adams, as the Secretary-Treasurer of SAM. He served from 1992 to 2003. He did a tremendous job and much appreciated by the SAM organization for those five years. When Larry took over the Secretary-Treasurer’s job, SAM was in some financial difficulty. Larry was an insurance company executive in his business life. Being both fiscally conservative and familiar with actuarial principles. Larry helped put SAM’s finances aright. Larry also created SAM’s first computerized membership record keeping system.
Larry does not win every contest he enters, but he is always one of the first on the field, and one of the last to leave. His determination is admired by all on the field. Larry is honored particularly for his dedication to the hobby and to the establishment of SAM as an entity with a solid financial foundation. (Biography from 1999 SAM Hall of Fame Honorees Program) |
1999 |
 Harry
(Pop) SCHRIBER - Inducted 1999
Born 1891 --- Died 1978
Honor: 1999: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
From about 1934 through the middle 1960’s, Pop Schriber's model shop, the "Model Aircraft Institute", at 3507 Prospect in Kansas City was the center for all airplane modelers in the Kansas City area. It was where you went to get kits and supplies, information about the pending contests, and to meet your friends. Pop was glad to see everyone and always had a suggestion if you needed help.
He cut his own balsa and usually managed to have some on hand all through WW2. Pop and his wife Ethyl first lived in a nearby house and later moved into the back of the shop.
Pop had many interests and abilities. The model shop was also the center for Erickson Radio Service. Pop also liked to hunt and fish. In 1936, he organized the Winged Motors free flight club. Club members included Winnie Davis, Carl Perkins, Frank Lilly, Dave Kneeland, and Carl Lindsey.
Throughout his active life, Pop directed the important area free flight and control line contests, and encouraged everyone to participate. He organized trips to the early nationals and to contests in nearby states. Transportation was in Pop's 1936 Pierce Arrow. A Comet Sailplane wing fits nicely into the Pierce Arrow by resting one tip on the sun visor and the other tip on the back shelf. The roof curve fit the dihedral nicely. Later trips were in his 1940 Oldsmobile.
More importantly, Pop was a positive influence on the lives of many young men as he encouraged each of them to develop their skills at model building and flying. (Biography from 1999 SAM Hall of Fame Honorees Program)
|
1999 |
 Larry
DAVIDSON - Inducted 1999
Born January 27, 1935 ---
Honors:-
-1999: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
-2006: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
As A teenager I discovered modelers flying model airplanes not too far from where I lived in Hicksville, Long Island, NY.
I met and watched many old-time modelers there. I also watched and helped chase some early radio control models that Norm Rosenstock had built and was flying. Norm was one of the pioneers in R/C and this was a great experience for me.
The first model I built was a Jasco Baby Phoenix powered by an OK Cub .049. Later I bought an Ohlsson .23 front rotor ignition motor, which I still have today, in the box. I built my models in the basement and flew many control line planes, including a Jim Walker Firebaby, Baby-Di-Doe and Some Testor U-control planes.
I won my first trophy at a contest in Connecticut held in1951, it was a second place trophy, flying a Mini Hogan 34 with a K&B .049 Torpedo. I continued to enter many east coast free-flight contests using many popular designs and engines of the time. Later I started flying radio control,
I started a retail hobby business in 1968 that I ran out of my basement. A few months later I opened a retail shop in 1969 called “Larry’s Hobby Supplies” in East Northport, Long Island, New York and later opened up another store in East Meadow, Long Island. In 1970 I opened my 3rd business, a hobby distributorship called D&D Hobby Distributors.
In August 1986 I sold my businesses and retired at the age of 51 and moved to Moneta, Virginia. I have now started a mail order hobby supply business out of my home, supplying specialized old-timer items such as spark plugs for ignition engines, solid-state ignition units, coils, covering materials, glass-fueling syringes, a video tape on “Covering with Polyspan” and other items. I realized there was a need for an adapter to reduce the thread size for the spark plugs that were on some early ignition engines from 3/8 X 24” to 1/4 X 32”. The original 3/8 (V) style spark plugs are very rare and hard to find; the 1/4 V-2 Spark plugs are still plentiful so I designed and manufactured the adapters and have sold hundreds of these around the world
I joined the Society of Antique Modelers in 1986 and became a life member. My first SAM contest was the SAM Champs in Lawrenceville, Illinois in 1987. I entered a Playboy Junior with a Cox .049 and won my first trophy by winning the 1/2A Texaco event.
Later I started building Old Timer planes for the SAM Radio Control events. In 1990, at the SAM Champs in Chicopee, Mass., I was awarded the Radio Control Grand Championship; I won that event again in 1991, 1992 and 1993.
In 1994 I went back to flying my first love, free flight, again. At that contest I built a Korda Wakefield Rubber model for that Dick Korda special FF event. I was once again hooked on free flight! I have since won the SAM free flight Grand Championship three times and won the NFFS Nostalgia Gas Championship in Muncie, Indiana, August 1999.
Now in my retirement I continue to pursue my real love of building and flying model airplanes of all types and assisting the SAM movement in any way that I can.
|
1999 |
 Carl
HATRAK - Inducted 1999
Born May 14, 1921 -- Died May 14, 2003
Honors:-
-MECA Robert Reuter Award
-1999: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Carl was born in Trenton, NJ and raised by his grandparents on a farm not far from Charles Lindbergh's home in Hopewell, NJ. He started building solid model airplanes in 1929. These were followed by the usual R.O.G.'s and hand launched gliders. His first model contest was the New Jersey State fair Scale Aeroplane Exhibition In 1935. He won a third place ribbon in the solid scale event.
In 1935, after he had moved into town, he became president of the model airplane club at his junior high school. In 1936 he joined the Trenton gas model
club, IGMAA Unit #20. He was involved with club members and senior NAA members in staging a full size aircraft show. This was held at Mercer airport, NJ, in 1938. Money from this show enabled the club to buy a 1928 school bus for $90 dollars. He and 13 other club members then made their first trip to the 1938 Nationals in Detroit, Michigan. A photo of the bus and the club members is on display at the A.M.A. museum in Muncie, Indiana.
Carl held the office of secretary/treasurer and was president in 1940 of the Trenton Model Aircraft Engineers, prior to WWII. He joined the Navy in 1942 as an aircraft metal smith 3rd class.
He was a charter member of the Patuxent Model Engineers club started by Hal DeBolt and Matt Kania. It's been said the top Navy brass got the idea to sponsor the NAT's from this club.
At the end of the war he enrolled in the Northrop Institute in Califomia to get
his A&E ticket. He joined the Inglewood Flightmasters and became a charter member of the S.C.I.F.S old-timer club which became SAM chapter number three.
While he was with the Flightmasters he introduced the event for 48" Jumbo rubber scale models. Later while in the Northrop club he started the Flying Wing contest in1966. Carl has run this event for several years. About this same time he helped John Pond run the first Old Timer events at the US Nat’s.
He was involved with the introduction of Peanut scale models and was asked to CD the first International Postal Peanut Proxy Contest, sponsored by Model Builder Magazine. Carl was a vintage aeromodeling supporter since the beginning of the old time movement, well before SAM. When SAM came into being, he worked for every SAM president and has been the recipient of many plaques of appreciation. He has sponsored and managed the annual
Flying Wing Contest at Taft since 1966. Carl was the initiator of the resolution, adopted by SAM, to honor those SAM members and other old time modelers, at our yearly meetings, that have passed on during the previous year. Carl was appointed by president Jim Adams to be our honorary Master at Arms. He is a member of the SCIF, SAM 3, of Southern California.
Carl’s aviation and aerospace industries career included work for Luscombe, Brewster, Fleetwing, Bellanca, and Northrop. He retired from TWA after approximately 38 years. He still holds NAA/AMA/SAM license #1301.
(Biography from 1999 SAM Hall of Fame Honorees Program)
|
1999 |
 Edward (Ed) SCHLOSSER - Inducted 1999
Born 1921 --- Died June 8, 2009
Honor:-
-1999: The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame Award
Ed Schlosser, was born and raised in New Jersey where he pursued his aviation interests somewhat in reverse of the normal progression from flying models to full-scale aircraft. As member of the American Model Airplane Society, his interest and talent were apparent when he designed built a 30-foot training glider when in 8th grade, and later flew a 32·foot open framework spruce and cloth monoplane powered by a three-cylinder "Anzani" air cooled engine.
He taught himself to fly at Teterboro Airport in the days before rules and regulations took over. His interest in models came along after watching the performance of various free-flight birds of that era. He quickly turned that interest into a business.
Mr. Schlosser earned a mechanical engineering degree and a degree in chemistry from Columbia University. He was a member Mensa International.
Ed co-founded the Best-By-Test Model Company with Don Garofalow. In the late 1930's, designing and marketing a line of rubber-powered free-flight models that included such successes as the Enduro, Altimeter, Stratometer, Sensatherm, and the Airflow "40". Although Don left Best-By-Test at the end of 1938, the company continued on until 1941, when the WW II and other Interests carried it all away. The American Society of Model Aero Engineers (ASMAE), that Ed helped found, came to an end and some of Ed's co-founder friends (Herb Fenster and Maxwell Seltzman) lost their lives in the war. An Interesting note Is that In 1936, before the war broke out in Europe, Ed accompanied his father on the German lighter-than-alr ship "Hindenburg" on a round-robin flight from Lakehurst, NJ, to Boston, MA, Albany, NY, and return.
Continuing to build his life on dreams and ambition after the war, Ed earned a mechanical engineering degree and later, a Ph.D. in chemistry from Columbia
University. In 1956 he incorporated Edward Schlosser Associates, Inc., dealing internationally in industrial products. While pursuing his business career in
Ridgefield, New Jersey, he also played piano with some big-name bands playing coast to coast. As with so many of us, however, the spirit of free flight was to return with gusto.
In 1956 he incorporated Edward Schlosser Associates, Inc., an international broker for industrial products.
In 1991, Ed saw a low-wing version of his Sensatherm hanging In the Munich Science Museum in Germany (Some 15O Sensatherm kits made it to Europe during the late 1930's). That experience rekindled his interest and led to the discovery of Best-By-Test "Aero-Model” items (props, front-end assemblies, plans, rubber, dope brushes, etc.) contained in barrels stored and forgotten for many years in his Ridgefield company warehouse.
It also led to the design in 1992 of his first new model in 52 years a 50-inch span super light cabin bird called the Ultra/Lite Duplex. All these items, including plans for the Duplex, are still available from Ed. He still flies his Best-By-Test aircraft, only now with the added thrust of modem rubber.
Ed’s other interest is as a pianist for the Vic Fraysee Orchestra and playing in a jazz trio in Greenwich Village. (Biography from 1999 SAM Hall of Fame Honorees Program)
|
1999 |
 Eut
TILESTON - Inducted 1999
Born June 12, 1925 --- Died January 6th, 2021
Honor: 1999-Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
At the ripe old age of four and one half, his Father's gift of a Japanese wire and silk wind up model airplane ignited an Interest in model airplanes that has lasted a lifetime. Eut received a Fairchild 24 kit for his ninth birthday, and immediately fabricated it. It didn't last too long, as the fuselage collapsed when he wound It up! Eut’s father, an understanding man, decided that this young man had a strong Interest in airplanes. At the depths of the Great Depression he invested the exorbitant sum of $1.00 for a complete model building course consisting of kits for four eighteen inch all balsa planes.
This was a great success, and started Eut on his outstanding modeling career.
In 1938, while attending public schools in Denver a rich uncle from the Philippines gave Eut and his twin brother, Gordon, the princely sum of $10.00 each as a gift. The two young men wisely invested in a Flying Quaker and a Brown Junior (this Is the same Brown Jr that powered his beautiful V-tail Swallow while winning both the Brown Jr LER and Brown Texaco at the 1992 SAM Champs. Eut and Gordon successfully flew the Quaker-Brown Jr. combination many times, and Eut was a modeler forever!
He joined the Denver Exchange Gas Model Club and continued to build and fly, designing his own Bunch powered 1940 Sylph (looks like a modernized more streamlined version of a cross between the original 1936 Waterman Arrowplane and the 1937 Aerobile) during this period of his life. Later in 1970 he designed a full size homebuilt Osprey 1 seaplane, a pilot only (no passenger) pusher design that was quite popular.
Eut has been a consistent winner with his models. One of his favorite, winning designs is his 1/2A Scale 1937 (pusher) Waterman Aerobile. He has been the RC Champion at the SAM Champs on two occasions. He was instrumental in the organization of SAM Chapter 51, a charter member of the chapter, and its past President. He introduced the SAM membership to the Spirit of SAM Electric event, which is rapidly gaining popularity. He has competed in overseas nations and has always conducted himself in a dignified and gentlemanly manner as a representative of SAM. He is one of our most famous members, having been written up in many overseas and domestic publications for his RC accomplishments. also a link to Eut Tileston’s Story" by Tandy Walker |
1999 |
 Bob
JUNK - Inducted 2000 top of this page
Born May 22, 1939 ---
Bob is an AMA leader member, Contest Director. He was AMA District Five Free Flight Contest Coordinator, and was President of the Pensacola Free Flight Team, AMA charter 203 and SAM 17. Bob began building and flying models at age nine with rubber-powered models and hand-launched gliders. At the conclusion of WWII he was working and was able to purchase his first model engine, an Atwood 60. About this time he saw his first U-control model fly. He designed and built a bi-plane, which he flew for some time in Control-line flying. About this time he became interested in Free Flight modeling. In the fifties he was married and started a family.
He kept his interest alive in control line flying by participating in the U.S Navy carrier program. He arrived in Pensacola in the mid-sixties and once again began modeling Control-line and Free Flight In mid-1980 he applied for an AMA CD license and ran the October "Gathering of Turkeys" until the death of Tommy McLaughlan, when he assumed the responsibility for both the "Gathering of Turkeys and the ~'Five Flags" meets. Bob was a major factor in promoting SAM and Old Time Free Flight activities in the Florida area during the 80’s and 90’s. Bob is best recognized as a power flyer, but he enjoys all free flight activities, including indoor modeling. As of 2013, Bob is living in Arkansas. |
2000 |
 Ron
SHARPTON - Inducted 2000
Born 14 September, 1934
Sixty-six years of modeling will be hard to put on a few pages. I am sure that I will leave out a lot. I have been modeling from the age of two, as my Uncle was a modeler and had me flying HL6 and RO6 rubber models in 1936. He helped me until he went into the Navy in 1940. I was then lucky to meet Mr. W. T. Thomas who was the president of the Daytona Beach Model Airplane Club. By the way, Mr. Thomas was the designer and builder of the World War I Thomas Movies Scout. Mr. Thomas started taking me to contests in Florida and Georgia from 1942 through 1950. During this time, he flew Free Flight and U-control. I was very lucky to have him as a friend.
My first AMA number was 1454, from about 1943 up until I became a life member. Thomas took me to the 1947 Nats and the first Plymouth Internationals, all the way from Daytona Beach, Florida to Detroit and then on to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At the age of 12, I was at a high point competition at the 1946 Georgia State Free Flight Championships. They decided on Saturday night that you had to be from the state of Georgia to win the high point because they knew no one could beat my score. Mr. Thomas protested to the AMA, but nothing ever came of it. At that age, I could not see what the big deal was. My good friend, George Perryman, was awarded high point. George said that when he met me I was just a snot-nosed kid. The only difference now is that I am older.
I flew through the 1950s and 1960s and won many high point contests during that time. In the late 1960s, I became involved with the Florida Modeler Association (FMA.) I have held all the office positions in the FMA. I have served as president most of that time and am still president currently.
I was one of the main pushers to take on the task of clearing the Palm Bay flying site. It has taken thousands of hours of donated labor and time by so many that I cannot begin to list all the names. I usually pull the sanction for about 10 to 12 contests a year at Palm Bay. We have about 20 Free Flight contest sanctions a year. I have been the Southeastern Nostalgia representative from the start of Nostalgia in the early 1980s. I have been on their “Modelers of the Year” list many times. I am now a District V Contest Board member, a Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) Hall of Fame member and am on the SAM Hall of Fame nominating committee. I have won the Power Nostalgia National Cup High Point from 2000 through 2002. I also won the KOI High Point for five different years I was the Nostalgia Power Grand Champion at the 2002 Nats. I have served as a contest director for SAM, the AMA, and worked with the FAI team finals at Palm Bay in 1994, 1998, and 2002. I am a life member of SAM, the National Free Flight Society (NFFS,) AMA (#L541), and the Model Engine Collectors Association (MECA.)
In closing, I must say if it were not for money Tom McLaughlan left to the FMA, the Palm Bay flying site would not exist as a Free Flight flying field. I believe we have more Free Flight contests a year than any other site in the United States. To you, Tom, all us modelers would like to say thanks. Although I do not have money to leave to modeling when I go, I want to do all I can to promote modeling while I am here.
Ron Sharpton, District V Contest Board Member.
|
2000 |
 Lee F.
WEBSTER - Inducted 2000
Born Febuary 2, 1924 --- Died 2010
Lee Webster started modeling at the age of 10 with Jimmie Allen models. He was interested in gas powered models from around 1935. He started a model club in high school, which competed in the Minnesota/Wisconsin area. He worked for Boeing early in WWII then entered the Army Air Corps where he was a flight engineer trainer for B-26s and B-29s. He graduated from University of Minnesota with a BS degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1954. He was second in his class.
He has been a continuous member of AMA since the late ‘30’s and also a member of SAM since its beginning. He became a contest director in 1960 and thereafter CD’ed at least one contest a year for 40 plus years.
In 1956 Lee started work at the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee as a project engineer in wind tunnel and engine test facilities. Lee had organized several model clubs prior to that in high school, while working at Boeing, and again in university. He was perhaps a charter member of the Coffee AirFoilers Model Airplane Club in Tennessee & has served in almost all of its officer positions. Lee now serves as president of the local SAM Chapter 43.
Lee has been quite successful in model aviation, winning many awards in free flight & SAM events. At the 1970 Nats, he was the Grand Champ for the SAM events. His daughter, Tricia, was honored as Miss SAM Champs at the SAM CHAMPS held in Las Vegas.
Lee served a term as District V Vice President from 1986-1990 and is currently serving as an Associate V.P. for District V. One of Lee's designs was what he called "Droop Snoot”. This was a successful but little known free flight design. His first model was the Jimmy Allen ‘‘Thunderbolt’’. His present interest is confined to RC that doesn't require chasing, mainly 1/2A Texaco, 1/2A Texaco Scale, LER, & RC Assist in the SAM events & also RC Soaring events.
|
2000 |
 Bill
BOOTH Sr - Inducted 2000
Born December 3, 1930 --- Died January 8, 2013
Bill Booth was born in Fresno. He started modeling at an early age and was a lifelong member of the Fresno Model Club. He was President of SAM from 1996 to 2000. He was newsletter editor of the Fresno Model Club for more than 40 years. He was contest manager for several West Coast SAM Champs, and a long time contest director and promoter of SAM and other model airplane contests in California’s Central Valley. He was a meticulous builder and was proud of having won the SAM Champs Concours event with a Comet Clipper. Trained as a teacher and school administrator he ultimately became Deputy Superintendent of the Fresno California school system. |
2000 |
 Bob
BIENENSTEIN - Inducted 2000
Born
Honors:-
-1985: National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame
-1990: AMA Outstanding Award, World Champs
-2000: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
-2000: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Bob has been a modeler for over fifty years and has made his mark in the history of model airplanes. He also exemplifies the type of friendly people that we find in the modeling fraternity. Early on he realized that we must interest the young people in modeling and to this end he has devoted a great deal of effort bringing young men into our hobby and teaching them the fundamentals of building and flying model airplanes. In 1956 he put together an indoor flying team from the Detroit Balsa Bugs Model Club to teach model building and flying in the Detroit Public Schools, Boy Scouts and Windsor Canada Air Scouts.
In the late 60's Bob formed a company, Craft Air Model Co., to manufacture small entry level models produced by Midwest as a no-profit way to promote Model Aviation.
Bob was instrumental in holding the Detroit Balsa Bugs Club together for fifty years. Over the years, as a CD, he has truly provided us with the fun that contest flying can bring. He has been an AMA member since 1940 (AMA#268), and leader member since 1960, a member of NFFS and SAM. He was inducted into the National Free Flight Hall of Fame in 1985. Bob's love affair with aviation is not limited to models; He holds a private single engine and glider rating for full size planes. He is well known as a full size glider pilot.
Bob is a consistent and effective competitor His major accomplishments:-
- AMA National Sr. Champion in 1947 and AMA National Open Champion in1951.
- First place Nationals wins include: Indoor Stick -1947; Indoor Cabin -1947-1954-1960; Indoor Hand Launch Glider -1947;-Wakefield Rubber -1954; Flying Scale -1951; Outdoor Stick Rubber-1947-19481949-1993; 1/2 Gas F/F -1960; Outdoor HIL Glider, 1960
- 1947 State Sr. Champion; 1949 State Open Champion;1985~1989 Indoor State Champion Perpetual Trophies Bob has won include: Mulvihill (six times)1947, 49, 93, 96, 97, 99; Wakefield Aero Cup 1954; Stout Indoor 1947,54 and 60 ; Moffett (3 times) 1992,93,96.
Bob's winning models have been highlighted in the various model magazines.
Air Trails Annual 1952: Challenger Outdoor Stick plans and article (Two time Mulvihill Winner; Senior Stick record; is still very popular in English SAM Events)
Air Trails Annual 1952: Hi Climber Rubber Cabin plans and article (Held Sr. Cabin record and is still flown in old time rubber) Model Airplane News August 1961: Low Down Indoor "C" Cabin, Set a trend for this event -Many nationals wins and three national records. Model Builder September 1984: Boston Beany Bostonian plans and article; also published in NFFS Digest 1985. Won 1985 NFFS Indoor Champs and Michigan State Champ. Model Aviation, November, 1993: Bandit Outdoor Rubber plans and article: won Moffet two years in a row 1992-1993: NFFS Rubber Model of the Year, 1993 NFFS Digest Equalizer Mulvihill: Won Mulvihill 1996-1997-1999-1998 : NFFS Model of the Year
In 1987 Bob Retired from his position as Senior Engineer at Chrysler. He started as a chassis designer, transferred into styling in 1962 until his retirement.
|
2000 |
 Bruce
CHANDLER - Inducted 2000
Born April 25, 1930 --- Died February 3, 2010
Bruce grew up in the Paso Robles California area where his father was an executive for Pacific Telephone. He went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and got an engineering degree. He worked for Marquardt Aviation (owned by Roy Marquardt) in the San Fernando Valley. Bruce was an ardent and successful SAM power FF competitor from the early 1960’s until almost his death. His SAM membership number is 59L. He was an early member of the Southern California Ignition Fliers (SAM Chapter 3). Bruce had a collection of more than 600 rare and original spark ignition engines displayed in built in cases in the home he built for retirement in Templeton California. Many of the rare ignition engines had been given to him in the early 1960’s by modelers who were “converting to glow”. Because the old spark ignition engines were fairly hard to come by in the early days of SAM (the old sparkies had been put away in the attic and collectors hadn’t found them yet; the replica engine makers hadn’t geared up) some people started to convert glow engines to spark ignition for sale to other modelers. Bruce Chandler did so with OS glow engines in the early and mid-1970. He called his engines “Black Knight Engines” and coated them with a black crackle finish. |
2000 |
 Bud
ROMAK - Inducted 2000
Born 1928
Honors:-
- 1990: National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame
- 1993: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
- 2000: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Life began in 1938 when I built my first model airplane, I was 10 and the rubber model kit cost 10 cents. From that moment on I have lived with and loved modeling. It was at the start of junior high school that I began to build hand-launch gliders, rubber models and gas jobs. My idols at that time were Carl Goldberg, Stu Bennett, Manny Andrade, Don Foote and many of the Oakland Cloud Dusters. I can remember how I was always looking in from the outside and admiring the models and fliers of the Oakland Cloud Dusters. I could not join that Club at that time of my life because they had high qualifications in order to become a member. It took me 8 years before I could become a member. It was 1958 and all I needed was five bucks. After being discharged in 1949 from my three-year hitch with the 82nd Airborne, I went back to college, got married in 1950, produced four sons (two of whom are now running Romak Iron Works), became a grandfather for the first time in November of 1989 (I now have five and expecting a sixth next year), all the while keeping my sanity with model building outdoor, indoor, and back to outdoor. I started indoor flying in 1961 thanks to Joe Bilgri, my mentor. My first model flew two minutes plus, but I was hungry and of course, I pursued indoor modeling for several years. It has been my pleasure to have met fliers from all over the world during the past 30 years or so. My first indoor team participation was in 1966. Joe Bilgri, Frank Cummings and I were the USA Team, Team Manager was Bud Tenny. We went to Debrecen, Hungary, for the World Champs. To my surprise, I found that the Eastern Europe teams had no indoor supplies like we had in the USA. The Hungarian/Romanian teams had motor sticks and tail booms made from straw. After the World Champs were over, I gave my models and model boxes to the Hungarian and Romanian teams. Since that time up to now, I still issue care packages of balsa and other indoor supplies to them. Since the sixties, Joe Bilgri, Lew Gitlow, and I have supplied them with balsa. Without our help, I'm sure they would still be lagging behind the rest of the world as far as indoor flying goes. I have, since my first experience on the team in 1966, also participated as a team member in the 1972, 1976, and 1984 Indoor World Championship contests. I was team manager in 1968, 1982, 1986, 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1998. I was Indoor World Champion in 1976 at Cardington, England. What teams and years of flying FlD !. Truly great experiences. Some personal achievements during the years for me have been:
- World's Record in 1941 - ROW Rubber C Fuselage; - World's Record in 1942-ROW Class C Gas (Foote's Westerner); - 1st Place at 1959 Nats - Class C Gas; - FlD 1976 World Champion - Cardington, England; - 1st Place at 1987 World Cup Contest 14Rounder, Taft Wakefield; - 1st Place four times, Taft -Free Flight Champs, Unlimited Rubber; - 1997 SAM Power Champion; - Flying with and helping fellow modelers’; - Receiving the NFFS Hall of Fame Award; - Receiving the AMA Hall of Fame Award. I now devote my entire time to building and flying SAM Old Time Models. It is such fun and enjoyment. (Bud Romak autobiography)
|
2000 |
 Richard
E. LYONS - Inducted 2001 top of this page
Born in 1923 in Illinois --- Died in California 2001
Dick was born in 1923 and Started modeling at age 10 with 10 cent kits from Woolworth's 5 & 10 store. His first model to fly was a Joe Ott stick ROG-what a thrill!.
He bought his first engine direct from Forester Brothers in Maywood, Illinois in1937. His first gas model was a Megow Flying Quaker. His second engine was a Baby Cyclone, which he put in a Denny plane. His third engine was an Ohlsson 23 in a Comet Mercury. When Dick was a teenager, his father was Treasurer for the State of Illinois, and pictures of the State Treasurer’s “modeling son” appeared in many Illinois news papers.
Dick's first contests were in Chicago sponsored by Chicago Park District in 1938. His first really big contest was the first Nationals in Detroit in 1939 where he got to fly and watch with the "greats" like Lanzo, Korda, Goldberg,
Taibi, and Simmers.
He Spent WW II in USAF and then college on the GI. Bill. After the war he started modeling again in a big way until he got married and called back to active duty in USAF for the Korean War. After Korea he concentrated on his career and raising a family.
When his sons got old enough he taught them modeling and the family went to many contests including the Navy Nats series. He joined AMA (NAA) in 1940 and became a Contest Director and Leader member. Dick is a charter member of NFFS and joined SAM as soon as he heard of it (SAM member #77). In the 70's he became serious about FAI events and was active in team selection program for AMA. In 1975 he made the US team in FIC power and flew in the World Champs in Bulgaria.
In 1979 he moved to California and retired in 1982. At that time joined the Southern California Ignition Flyers (SAM #3) and served SCIF as treasurer and CD for more than ? years. After joining the SCIFS Dick built only OT models, 28 different OT gas models before he passed away in 2001. |
2001 |
 Eugene (Gene)
P WALLOCK - Inducted 2001
Born January 26, 1934
Gene Wallock was born in Rochester, New York and started building models at age 5 when his mother handled the razor blades for cutting. His family moved to Southern California in 1946. Gene became an avid and successful FF model airplane competitor and a member of the Thermal Thumbers, Hi-Tailers, San Valeers and SCAMPS. He joined SAM in 1967 and is Life Member 22L. Gene became Chair of SAM’s Design Review Committee and wrote a column in SAM Speaks for many years. He also maintains the SAM library of early model airplane magazines and is a source for information on old time model designs. Gene compiled SAM’s Approved Design List for Rubber and Tow Line Glider designs. From 1973 to 1985 Gene owned and ran P&W Model Service which supplied excellent kits and plans for many different SAM legal designs. Gene still maintains both the SAM Approved Gas Model List and the Rubber/Glider List making new entries as old designs and plans are discovered. |
2001 |
 Victor
Ernest SMEED - Inducted 2001
Born October 1, 1923 --- Died January 4, 2011
Vic Smeed is one of aeromodeling's truly great achievers and proselytizers. He's been a writer, an editor, a model designer of planes, boats and cars, a successful free flight contestant, and a full-scale Spitfire pilot.
Victor Ernest Smeed was born at Heme Bay, Kent, United Kingdom. He started making models at age six, but did not make his first "serious attempt" at model aircraft until obtaining the ripe old age of eight. He won many club and regional contests in the late 40's and early 50's as part of the Queen's Cup and Bowden Trophy contests in England.
Vic joined the RAF at age 18, and was trained as pilot and flew Spitfires. At the end of the war, he became the British Air Ministry's staff glider training officer, and also helped set up Reserve Command. He also started, a model shop in Canterbury, Kent in 1946, and founded the Canterbury Pilgrims Model Flying Club.
Vic was a major force in sport free flight after WWII as the British returned from the war. He's published more than 100 free flight model designs, including the Tomboy, Madcap, Coquette, Debutante, Sea Nymph, Pushie Cat, Pageboy, Ballerina, Poppett, Golden Wings, Junior Miss, Hell's Belle, Tom Thumb, Cracker, Electra, Victoria Parker, Mamsell, Popsie and Chubby. The Tomboy, powered by a Mills .75 was the model that dominated sport FF in England in the late 40s and early 50s. Its enduring popularity among British Vintage enthusiasts is such that 119 Tomboys were entered in the Hilda Baker Commemorative Event at the 2000 European SAM Champs at Middle Wallop. That's probably a record for the greatest number of planes entered in a one-design event ever. There’s been a Tomboy event at the US SAM Champs since 2005, and some 15 Tomboys were flown at the 2013 Champs. There are ongoing RC Tomboy competitions in the United Kingdom. Vic also had published designs for CL and RC airplanes. He also had many published model boat and model car designs.
Vic spent nearly 40 years as an editor and writer on various English model magazines. He also wrote and published more than 20 books related to model airplanes, model boats and model cars. Many of those books were focused on models of the SAM era. His books and articles have been translated in German, Italian, Japanese, Hungarian and other languages: He has made four television series on model making.
Vic helped reorganize and promote the annual Model Engineer Exhibition, England’s biggest annual model show. Vic and his wife Margaret were enthusiastic and active promoters of SAM 35, SAM 1066 and SAM 1066’s annual European SAM Free Flight Model Championships at Middle Wallop. |
2001 |
 Stuart
"Stu" BENNETT - Inducted 2001
Born 1923 --- Died 2005 (dates uncertain)
Stu Bennett was the founding member and chief spark plug of the Oakland Cloud Dusters, which he formed in 1937. The Cloud Dusters remained a very active free flight club until well past 2005. Stu was old enough to fly in WW II and spent his time in the Army Air Corps as a flight engineer on transport aircraft flying over the “Hump” from Burma to China. After the war Stu joined the faculty at the University of San Francisco, teaching dramatics to college students.
Fellow SAM Hall of Famer Bud Romak got Stu interested in models again in the early 1970s and Stu rejoined the Oakland Cloud Dusters. Stu was articulate and his modeling tales kept his fellow Dusters entertained and informed through the years after he returned to the club. Stu was a master craftsman when it came to building models. His airplanes were always immaculate and flew well.
Stu’s SAM legal designs include the “BG Special” rubber model. Stu flew the model in rubber cabin with a folding propeller, and with a free wheeler in the Commercial Rubber class. (The BG stands for Blue and Gold, the colors of the University of California at Berkeley). Stu also designed the pylon old time gas ships Hedy and Norcal Special. Stu was interested in rubber models of all types. His mid 1990’s design “Little Miss Moffett” won the Moffett class at the 1998 AMA Nationals.
|
2001 |
 Fred
MULHOLLAND - Inducted 2001
Born July 30, 1929 --- Died December 20, 2020
Fred was born July 30, 1929. Ford Trimotor mail planes flying over his home piqued his interest. His first efforts at modeling were sticks fashioned together with nails and flown in and around the house. Age 12 brought Comet kits of the Puss moth and Curtis Robin, the paper covering tightened with glue. Small VECO free flight kits and others developed his modeling and flying skills. Fred started Radio Control Flying in the early 1950's and may have had the first Veco Dakota Bipe controlled with single channel RIC. As a competitor in the 50's and 60's he won numerous controline scale and RIC escapement only contests. Fred was active in organizing the Tampa Trim Tabs, FF and RIC club in 1956 and was confirmed an AMA contest director in 1958 by Dr. Walter Good.
Fred's non-modeling career entailed joining the Army National Guard in 1948 as a private and retiring in1969 as Major. He worked for GTE, now Verizon, for 38 years and retired in 1985 as Florida Project Manager. Fred, an outdoors person all his life led the development, as a volunteer, of the hiking trail system throughout Florida and is also an avid gardener. For these efforts he has received-many accolades and awards both from Florida State Governors and President Ronald Reagan.
Fred was out of modeling for several decades and after retirement in 1985, was drawn into Old Timer SAM RIC competition by his good friend Chet Lanzo. 1988 was Fred's first SAM Champs, flying the 1/2A Texaco event. Since then he has done himself proud and is a threat at any contest. With contest wins too numerous to list he has been Glow and Ignition Grand champion simultaneously and separately at a number SAM Champs.
Fred is well known for his willingness to lend a helping hand to fellow modelers; he has been heard' more than once say "Hey, come on over to the house and we'll fix that problem". Building and fixing things is a habit as Fred has constructed a replica of Walt Good's Big Guff and restored Elmer Wasman's White Mystery model, which flew in the first RIC contest, held at the Detroit Nationals in 1937. Both models are in the AMA museum in Muncie, Indiana.
Fred continues to participate in the SAM Champs annual events and volunteers as the SAM R/C Contest Director. (By Ms. Barbara Mulholland) |
2001 |
 Don
BEKINS - Inducted 2002 top of this page
Born June 21, 1931
After high school, Don enrolled at Stanford University to study aeronautical engineering combined with courses in business. The program at Stanford was long and arduous, dealing little with aeronautics and Don moved on to Colorado University (CU) where he could obtain aeronautical engineering and business degrees in five years. After some time at Stanford, he transferred to Colorado University, which had courses more in line with his career goals. He established a lifetime career in Investment Banking and Venture Capital.
Don started his modeling at age 8 with a rubber model and built his first gas model at age 12. In 1974, Don met John Pond who rekindled his interest in models, especially OTs like the ones he built and flew as a 12-year-old. His first new/old model was a Playboy Sr. finished in the same colors as its predecessor and that model, now over 25 years old is still flying in contests and winning trophies. Don’s enthusiasm grew and he joined SAM 21 – John Pond’s club. Although it was a 120-mile round trip to club meetings in San Jose, Don was an active member, serving in succession as treasurer, newsletter editor, and president. Subsequently, Don helped to form a new chapter, SAM 27, in Marin County, serving as newsletter editor, president, and contest director. During this time, he became involved with the SAM national organization and was appointed by John Pond to form a committee to rewrite the SAM flying rules. Don was appointed by John Pond to form a committee and rewrite the SAM Flying Rules. Later he learned desktop publishing and became the editor of SAM Speaks in 1991/92, the 24-page newsletter for SAM, a worldwide organization with 2,700 domestic members and another 4,000 foreign chapter members. AMA awarded Don their top newsletter editor certificate in 1993.
In 1994, he was elected president of SAM and during his two-year tenure initiated a number of changes including the formation of a SAM Web page on the Internet.
Don’s passion is OT Radio Control Assist and, in addition to competing in many local contests, has flown in most of the SAM Champs meets around the U.S. He is a five-time winner of the Radio Control National Championship, as well as four times runner-up. In 1989, he was contest director of the SAM Champs in Jean, Nevada. Don’s lovely wife Joanie, a professional arts photographer, is usually present at these meets and can always be found contributing to their efficient operation.
Don is always generous with his time and patience when it comes to helping newcomers to OT flying or assisting other flyers with trimming or “bugs.” SAM 27 and SAM are very fortunate to have had the benefit of Don’s many contributions. (cr-item 5 draft)
|
2002 |
 Dick
HUANG - Inducted 2002
Born Febuary 28, 1932 --- Died July 31, 2004
Dick Huang. Born Peking China 1932, emigrated to USA 1946 and began aeromodeling. BSME degree Duke University 1955, employed at Chance Vought Aircraft 38 years, retired 1933 as Director of Advanced Programs.
The year 2000 Pensacola SAM Champs had a very special meaning to us by the presence of Dick Huang on the flight line, transmitter in his hands and his oxygen bottle on wheels next to him. The determination and persistence to be with us, his SAM brothers, is the Dick Huang that I have known and respected for many years.
SAM has honored most of our childhood heroes, the great designers of the past. I know that Dick does not qualify as a great designer but his can-do spirit surely makes him a spe-cial SAM brother to me. I am sure that the rest of the SAM members feel the same as do.
Many of us are going through serious medical problems but manage to recover and attend local contests as well as the SAM Champs. But I feel Dick's presence was very special and I am sure he truly became an inspiration and role model for other competitors. I hope we can all emulate
Dick's zeal and determination to be with the brotherhood that he has devoted his life to.
Dick has served SAM as Rocky Mountain VP, President of the Engine Committee, and resident engineer for SAM-related technical issues. By John A. Sullivan. |
2002 |
 Robert (Bob)
OSLAN - Inducted 2002
Born August 18, 1929
Bob built his first solid model in1936 as a seven year-old, in1938 he built a10¢ Comet Curtiss Wright Coupe. Bob built his first successful free flight in 1941, a Sparky. Built display models for Joe Ott and occasionally packed kits for Comet. In 1943 he acquired his first engine, an Ohlsson 60 Custom, in a New Ruler. Bob lived in Valparaiso, Indiana at the time with no modelers around. A So Long followed the New Ruler and then a semi-original. With the advent of Pencil Bombers Bob switched to control line.
He joined the Purdue Aeromodelers in 1947, specializing in Speed. Left school in '48 and went to work for his father. Joined the Air Force in 1950 for four years as a radar mechanic and continued to build models. After the AF, back to Purdue and received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering in1958. He then worked for fifteen months with International Harvester before switching to the printing industry for 35 years and retired in 1995.
"I was flying U-control Scale in Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, California in 1968 when I spotted a group of free flighters flying old timers. I was instantly hooked. I acquired a used Cyclone for $25, then built a Gladiator and have been flying old timers ever since."
Bob got involved with SAM in 1969 through Bud McNorgan and wound up promoting old time free flight in model publications ~ Articles for Model Aviation, Model Airplane News, and Model Builder, plus construction articles for .020 FF, RC old-timer, and Rubber Scale. Bob was the old-timer columnist for NFFS during Bob Meuser's tenure as editor.
He started Cal Aero Models in the Seventies and produced four .020 kits and two RC Old Timers, a 50" Powerhouse and an Air Trails Sportster. The .020s were So Long, Strato Streak, Brooklyn Dodger, and Playboy, still being produced by Aerodyne. Bob was a member of the SAM engine committee, and created the alcohol fuel rule for FF. He also originated the .020 Replica rules, and a major promoter of the Old Ruler event in SAM Free Flight. His Old Ruler designs include the Commodore and the Cloud Cruiser. Bob is also an extremely accomplished rubber scale modeler. Bob is the Scale Editor for SAM Speaks and a member of the VAMPS and SCAMPS. (latest from cr) |
2002 |
 Art
HILLIS - Inducted 2002
Born - July 13, 1928 --- Died November 24, 2008
Born in Colorado Springs, raised on a small farm. In the early 1930s, the Alexander Aircraft Co. was still building airplanes, including the Eaglerock and Bullet. Art saw those airplanes and was hooked for life. A young boy during the Depression, saved pennies to buy 1O cent Comet kits. Lived on a great flying site, so FF still is his true love.
First engine, a kit Synchro B-30. Often popped but never ran. He still has it. Next engine was a used Brown E, and he could make it run, so began some success with gas models.
1945, first flying lesson in a Rearwin Sportster. Mother and father were not happy and told him to forget about flying. Dad said, "If you don't quit messing around with those damned airplanes, you will be nothing but an airport bum." In spite of their wishes, Art continued with model airplanes and flying lessons. Enlisted as Aviation Cadet and became a pilot in the USAF. After the Korean War, Frontier Airlines hired him and after three years as a co-pilot, became Captain. Retired February 1st, 1981 after 25 years.
May 1967 flew in the first SAM Champs at East Colfax Airport. Joined SAM 1 in 1982. President, 1992 for five years. FF CD at the 1991 SAM Champs at Jean NY. 1994, SAM Rocky Mountain VP. While president of SAM 1, club voted to host the 1995 SAM Champs. Intends going to the SAM Champs every year as long as he is able.
|
2002 |
 Allen (Al)
HEINRICH - Inducted 2002
Born 1946 --
An avid fan of the free-flight Old Timers. I really enjoy finding a design that no one else is using, then making it fly well starting with a Veco Dakota at age of five and about age seven with control line models, and a few free flights, but was not successful in getting them to fly during this time”.
He discovered the Old Timer movement in Boulder CO, while an A&E student, constantly pestering instructors for the reasons that our models did what they did. Al found out how far outside of the full size aircraft envelope our models were flying. He joined the Model Museum Flying Club in Denver, which met in Tim Dannels' basement. This is the same group that started the first two Old Timer Championships in 1963 and 1964, prior to SAM's existence.
The seed for a national organization was planted at the first Old Timer Champs. During the second, most of the organizational items were hashed out in Tim's basement. SAM came into existence later in December when The Model Museum Flying Club received the first SAM charter and became SAM Chapter 1 in December 1964. Al participated with Tim Dannels and others to work out the flying rules and bylaws, as he came in with a different perspective being the youngest member and had not been around when these models originally flew. During this time Al also began competing in FAI power.
In 1973 Al moved to San Diego and joined the SCAMPS, and currently Vice President. In the early Nineties Al was chairman of the SAM Engine Committee, and now on the Design Review Committee. Al is a contest director, and current Secretary/Treasurer for the Lost Hills Free Flight Model Field Association.
Al is the owner of Aerodyne, a model supply business that started part-time in 1967. It became a full-time endeavor in 1991 and caters mostly to the Old Timer and Nostalgia market.
Al's dream is to start a free flight museum to preserve our past and to show people what free flight was and is about. (cr-oct 2013) |
2002 |
 Joseph (Joe)
DALLAIRE - Inducted 2002
Born June 15,1919 -- Died 2000
As Joe Dallaire locked the door of Dallaire Models for the last time in 1990 one wonders what thoughts went through his mind. He may have remembered the day in 1927 when as a lad of eight he joined Bill Stout's Airplane Model League of America headed by Detroit manual training teacher, Merrill Hamburg.
Under Mr. Hamburg's supervision, a group of 20 to 25 youngsters met once a week in a church basement and learned to build model airplanes. Perhaps he thought about the family business that was started to supply young Joe and the neighborhood kids with balsa and other model supplies. Little did Joe realize that his interest in model airplanes would lead to the creation of Dallaire Model Aircraft Company. The only source of model airplane supplies at the time was Downtown Model supply, a long trip from the Dallaire's northwest Detroit neighborhood. Young Joe's father, Joseph, and Joe's older brother, Frank had been in the mill business, Joseph Dallaire Millwork. When they closed the mill business they ended up with a garage full of woodworking equipment. They then started a family business; father Joseph, mother Margarete, and sons Frank and Joe. Their first store was in the basement of their home basement store. They started cutting balsa wood for the neighborhood kids and Dallaire Model Aircraft made its modest beginning.
In 1938, at their new Dallaire's Detroit Model Shop they made their own glue, cut their own wood and kits. If they didn't have it in stock, they would get it or make it. Everyone in models around Detroit knew the Dallaire’s.
The early success of Dallaire Model Aircraft was assured by the manufacture of machine cut propeller blanks, using a fixture Frank designed for a band saw, and balsa wheels which they used in their kits and sold to other kit manufacturers. Dallaire cut all of the balsa they sold. A scratch builder could have wood cut to custom sizes. They also sold and distributed Berryloid airplane dope and a full line of model airplane supplies and engines. In addition to selling model supplies they produced their own print wood and assembled kits. They produced over 60 kits, flying and solid models, from about 1935 to 1948. Dallaire Model Aircraft is best known for their nine-foot Dallaire Sportster. Frank designed the Sportster in 1935 and flew it to second place at the Stix Baer Fuller National Contest in St. Louis. The Sportster kit was essentially sold locally in limited numbers. Joe estimates they only sold about 100 kits.
As war rolled over Europe, America mobilized for the inevitable. In 1941 Joe enlisted in the Navy and trained at Navy Pier in Chicago. He went to Aviation Machinists School and upon graduation shipped to San Diego to acquire practical experience on PBY-5 flying boats patrolling the West Coast. After two months, he was transferred to Pearl Harbor.
Joe achieved the rank of Chief Petty Officer as an airplane. propeller specialist while attached to FAW 14. He later served with Fleet Air Wing 2 as crew chief in Test Flight Group in the Pacific servicing PBNs, PBYs, 2Y3s, B-24s, PB4Ys, and PB5Ys. At wars end, after 50 months of service Joe returned to civilian life and Dallaire Model Aircraft. While Frank and Joe were in the Navy, their father, Joseph, kept the business going with the help of neighborhood kids.
After the war, trade association requirements forced Frank and Joe to divide the business into two separate companies. Frank moved the wholesale operation to a shop on Joy Road in Detroit and retained the Dallaire name as Dallaire Models. Joe stayed at the old Wyoming Avenue location and changed the name to Joe's. A decade later Joe sold the business and Joe Dallaire rejoined Frank at Dallaire Models. They continued producing rubber and solid kits until they ran out of plans and kit boxes.
The brothers operated the wholesale business, handling a full line of model supplies, until Frank's death in 1970. Joe and his wife, Anita and some of their children continued Dallaire Models until early 1990 when Joe retired.(By Bud Manning Source SAM Speaks #164 Mar/April 2002)
|
2002 |
 George
TALLENT - Inducted 2002
Born January 21, 1923 --- Died June 10, 2011
George was Born 1923 in Los Angeles, Ca. He competed with rubber models during high school from 1937 to 1940. Placed second in the El Paso contest of 1939 flying a Guinn Aero powered Miss America. After two years of college, worked for Consolidated Aircraft Co. in Roswell, NM as a tool and die maker.
Drafted in 1943, George was assigned to the Navy Construction Battalion (Sea Bees). He served in the Alaskan Aleutian campaign of 1942-1943, rebuilding the Japanese runways on the island of Attu. Found some crated Reginald Denny Radioplane drones. The radio equipment was missing so George flew the giants by control line. After the war, a machinist all over the world, including Mexico, Greenland, Jamaica, Alaska, New Mexico and Nevada. 1961 served as foreman of a team building a siphon under the Colorado River in Mexico.
He performed Nuclear testing at Indian Springs NV for twelve years. Built and drove full sized racing cars. With AI and Bobby Unser, produced many winning racecars. Known for his ability to convert a V-8 to either a V-6 or V-4 for racing.
George rode rodeo until the accumulation of injuries resulted in Lucille, his wife of 60 years, telling him to get off. His electronic timing devices are widely used at rodeo events. He is currently experimenting with Lithium cells for RC transmitters and receivers.
Probably the accomplishment for which he is most noted is his ability to dismantle the welded-together O&R engines, replace parts and weld them back together. He made new Ohlsson 60 pistons by turning them on a lathe from Ford 430 cu. in. V8 camshafts. He still makes castings, chromes pistons and cylinders, and refits engines of several types. (from cr oct-2013) |
2002 |
 Harry
KLARICH - Inducted 2003 top of this page
Born Taft, CA. 1926 --- Died Aug 2016
Honors:-
-2003: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Harry was born in Taft, California in 1926. His parents bought a dairy in Bakersfield about a mile from the Kern county airport and sold milk to the U.S. Army Air Corp during the depression. Harry saw his first scale model at the airport restaurant and was hooked; building models after his everyday chores on the dairy farm were done. He acquired his first gas engine about 1939 and joined the AMA. Modelers in the Bakersfield area he flew with included, John Werts Sr., Dick Wood and Vern Oldershaw. Harry flew both Free Flight and U-Control.
Harry joined the Navy at age 18 and served in the South Pacific. He was wounded and spent five months recovering, in a hospital, in "beautiful downtown" Yosemite.
After the war and in college Harry met his wife Marilyn. They had five children, later moving to Sacramento where they operated several photographic studios. After retiring from these businesses, he thought he would stay home and build and fly models full time.
Retirement did not last long. Harry took over Old Timer and Giant Scale kit manufacturing business from Loren Schmidt about 1985. Harry continues to expand the line of models available. The short kits are hand cut and sanded to high quality. They include plans, all curved sheet parts and formers, a plywood firewall, and a pre-formed wire landing gear. The plans came from John Pond plan service. Harry and John were very good friends exchanging ideas and encouragement.
Harry and his wife Marilyn always bring a pickup truck full of a couple hundred or so old-timer kits to the SAM Champs and usually head home empty ready to start building their inventory for next years trip. They leave behind a bunch of happy SAM guys ready to start building their newly purchased Klarich kit(s) for next years Champs.
Harry belongs to SAM 30 and has served as president and newsletter editor several times. Harry continues to promote model aviation and SAM through his kit business and we are all the better for it.
|
2003 |
 Ed
HAMLER - Inducted 2003
Born
Honor:-
-2003: Society of Antique Modelers
Ed was born in 1938 in Henderson, Kentucky. Ed calls Georgia his home because that's where he grew up and graduated from Georgia Tech. His interesting engineering and management career has taken him on assignments through Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia with the Coca-Cola Company and the Chattanooga Glass Company. He and his SAM Sweetheart wife, Mary, moved to California in 1980 when Ed became president of Taylor California Cellars. He retired in 1997 after twelve years as Operations Vice-President for Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley.
At three years of age Ed wandered into a neighbor's backyard, enthralled by the sight, sound, and smell of a running model engine! Around the end of WWII, Ed started to glue and paint small solid pine scale models. His first attempt with a built-up model came at the age of nine or ten when he was given a scale rubber powered kit of a Fokker Triplane! It was almost a disaster. Ed remembers that with his Dad's help it was completely framed, but since they had glued everything together, it was impossible to cover. This became his first "bare bones· display.
With his sons and friends over the past 50 years Ed has built and flown rubber, gas, Jetex , towline glider, control line stunt, combat, and rat race models. With W4AD as his mentor in 1954 Ed built his first amateur radio station, K4EJK, and that same year built his first radio controlled model. Engine vibration made radio operation erratic but the project was a partial success flying as a glider down steep slopes in Georgia. Years were spent with free flight and control line models before acquiring a decent radio outfit in 1984. It was installed in a full size Megow Quaker so that Ed could relearn his rusty RC flying skills. He's been hooked on Old Timers ever since and joined SAM after attending the SAM 27 Crash & Bash contest In 1987.
Ed is a keen competitor and can be found among the winners at regional, national, and international SAM RC contests. He is now building "suitcase" models that can be carried on airlines and, with engine changes, entered in multiple events. His first model of this type, a scaled Lanzo RC-1, was entered in nine separate RC events at the 1997 through 2001 SAM Champs. His latest model, the Lanzo Airborne, garnered medals at the 2002 Muncie Champs and the recent Euro SAM RC Champs in Italy.
Since 1989 Ed Hamler has organized and served as CD of the annual SAM 27 Crash & Bash, arguably the premier Old Timer RC contest of Northern California. He has also served three times as SAM Champs RC CD, two terms as SAM 27 President, and three terms as SAM Western VP. Since 1991 he has maintained an arrangement with Domaine Chandon for the SAM 27 flying site on Lakeville Road in Sonoma County. Ed is an extremely valuable asset to SAM and we look forward to many more years of his continuing contributions.
|
2003 |
 George
Albert REICH - Inducted 2003
Born January 18, 1921 --- Died June 19, 2008
Honors:-
-1941: Awarded AMA Scientific Membership
-1965: Awarded by Cleveland Balsa Butchers club, Championship Certificate
-1964: AMA Fellow
-1983: National Free Flight Hall of Fame
-1998 AMA Pioneer Award
-2000: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
-2003: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
My model airplane career began when I was about 9-years-old when my older brother, Bob, and I built two Cleveland Model kits that we won for delivering Cleveland newspapers. We soon became so interested and involved in models that we opened a model supply shop in our parents’ basement as a way to defray our model expenses.
In high school I studied drafting and mechanical drawing, which provided the training to create my own plans. In my senior year I attended the Tech Class that offered an Aeronautical course and gave me the desire to continue a career in aeronautics.
My very early years of model building were spent building scale models, microfilm and U--control models. However, after building and flying twin pushers, single pushers and single tractors, my interest turned mainly to the wonders of Free Flight.
The Cleveland Balsa Butchers model club came into being in 1937, and I was elected as the first treasurer. The club sponsored outdoor Free Flight events for rubber and gas engine powered models.
A list of my most noteworthy model events follows:-
1937:- At age 16, I entered my first national contest – the Scripps Howard Junior National Races in Akron, Ohio, winning the Senior Commercial Rubber Event with a time of 13 minutes, 2.5 seconds.
My first original designed gas model, called the Cloud Hopper, was built and flown in 1939, and has been approved for flying in SAM Old Timer events.
1939:- At the 12th National Model Airplane Championships held in Detroit, Michigan, I established a national record of 22.51 minutes in the Senior Outdoor Cabin Event. This earned me a berth on the American team to compete in the Moffett International Competition, and was the runner-up in the finals. The plans were published in Air Trails, April 1940, and called the Double Feature, and is an approved design for SAM Old-Timer events.
1941:- The plans for a Class C gas model called the Albatross were published in Air Trails magazine, April 1941. In September 1944, this model established a national record of 11 minutes, 51.4 seconds (average) in Akron, Ohio. This is an approved design for SAM Old-Timer events.
In 1948, I married Doris Korda, sister of Dick Korda, the 1939 Wakefield champion.
1948:- My new Wakefield design, the 1948 Wakefield, was published in Flying Models, April 1948.
Without a doubt, winning the coveted and most famous trophy in model aviation, the Wakefield Cup in 1961, was the highlight of my model career. The 1961 Wakefield winner, my Max Maker, was named one of the top 10 models in the 1962 Model Airplane News magazine annual edition.
I went on to win many prestigious awards throughout my modeling career, my complete biography can be found on file in the AMA’s website biographies.
The skills I developed in model building proved to be extremely helpful during my employment at NASA as an experimental metal model maker. I am now retired after 37 years of fulfilling and rewarding work at NASA. (Autobiography by George Reich)
|
2003 |
 Don
BLACKBURN - Inducted 2004 top of this page
Born February 5,1932 --- Died April 24, 2009
Whilst Don had no schooling beyond high school, nor any war service (he was too young for Korea and too old for Viet Nam! LOL) he was self-taught (and brilliant!)
Model airplanes and bass fishing were his two main passions. he was involved with all areas of model aviation (which often bled over into his career choices) - he designed and drafted model airplane kits for DeBoldt Manufacturing in Buffalo, New York during the late 1950's early 1960's (not sure of the dates), and then later when he retired from his insurance agency.
He continued his own side-line business of restoration of antique model engines. He won countless trophies and awards in national and local competitions, but probably was prouder of helping fellow flyers improve their running times by tweaking their engines.
Dad had NEVER flown in a commercial or private airplane - he said it was because of WHAT he knew about flying that kept him on the ground ("it ought not to work"! isn't that a hoot?)
As a fisherman, he followed the competitive circuit for several years and won countless trophies and awards. He even fished professionally one season with Bill Dance, then decided it wasn't for him. He was pure catch-and-release (unless it was big enough to justify mounting and it had to be really really big).
Dad was an avid reader, loved war and mobster movies, and treasured his friends. I don't think he ever met a stranger, and would do anything for anyone if possible. He could fix or build anything, and he loved animals and had a tender heart for them. (Bio by his daughter Mo Wassell) |
2004 |
 James "Jim"
ROBINSON - Inducted 2004
Born 1925 --- Died December 7, 2011
Jim Robinson was born and grew up in Ohio. He was a model airplane builder and flyer from an early age. When he graduated from Lakewood High in Ohio in 1943, he worked as an apprentice mechanic at NA.C.A. He’d finished his first year at Ohio State University when he was drafted in the Army shortly after WW II ended. After completing his service he went back to Ohio State and earned an engineering degree in 1950. He then went to work for Standard of Ohio as a fuel and oil development engineer. His work took him to Central California, and he retired in Paso Robles in 1986.
Jim was president of modeling clubs in the Cleveland area. He helped form the Northern Ohio Free Flight Association in 1964. Jim’s modeling efforts were focused on F1C power in the 1960’s, and he earned a spot on the US team in 1965, flying in the world championships in Finland.
Upon retirement in California, Jim turned to old time gas models. He was a frequent and successful competitor in SAM FF contests in Southern California, and flew in many SAM Champs. His particular love was the Gas Scale event and his SE-5 and Fokker D-VIII made many a “dawn patrol” flight in the early mornings at SAM contests.
Jim was a member of the AMA, the National Free Flight Society and of the Southern California Ignition Flyers—SAM Chapter #3.
|
2004 |
 Jim A WALSTON - Inducted 2004
Born March 7, 1933 --- Died February 16, 2021
Inducted NFFS 2004
Born in Smyrna, Georgia, USA, he was made made famous for his Walstron Retrieval System, It is a two channel Transmitter / Receiver system used to locate lost model aircraft after a flight that may have taken them OOS or drifted off field.
|
2004 |
 Bruce
AUGUSTUS - Inducted 2005 top of this page
Born 1936 --- Died June 29, 2019
Bruce Augustus served as editor of SAM Speaks from 1995 to 2006. That’s still the longest period of time that anyone has served as Speaks editor. During his editorship he brought the magazine from a 20 page or less black and white newsletter to a highly professional 32 (or more) magazine with lots of color photographs. My first models were Strombecker, Comet and Berkeley kits. I built my first gas model in about 1946 at age 10. I can't recall exactly which airplane was my first. But I do recall trying unsuccessfully to fly a Bill Winter Wog. At the base of a telephone pole I found a soldering iron and some solder abandoned by the linemen, and used it to wire my ignition systems. It was the outdoor kind that had to be heated over the gas flame of the kitchen stove. You can imagine the quality of my connections, and this experience led to my lifelong fascination with diesels. My first diesel was a fixed compression Mite which was difficult to manage because I lacked the ability to vary the fuel mix.
My Korda Powerhouse was a fine performer, and when it finally hit the ground, I used the wing and tail on a huge cross section fuselage for my first RC airplane. It was powered by a Mills 1.3 diesel and controlled by a 2 tube radio built from plans published by Ed Lorenz in Air Trails. Had big striped Burgess Batteries and a rubber powered escapement. The transmitter sat on the ground in a massive olive drab army surplus steel box with an 8 foot antenna and a power cord attached to the car battery. You remember the sequence - push the button once for each movement of the rudder. We flew free flight, RC, and control line on weekends off the runways at Curtiss Field on Long Island. The Great Contest was sponsored by the New York Daily Mirror, with its huge attendance and carnival atmosphere, complete with cotton candy vendors. I flew controline with a Super Zilch that had a Super Cyclone in it; the same one that's now in my Rambler. Couple of D cells, lots of whacked fingers and I learned to do loops, eights, and even managed a few laps inverted. The thing flew so well and lasted so long .I finally removed the wing and tail from the oil soaked fuselage and crafted a graceful octagonal open cockpit fuselage complete with pilot and white scarf. Even put flaps on the wing. Then came the Drone and the deBolt Bipe. What a prescription for sheer fun.
I flew models through high school along with band, football, riflery and track. Then in 1954, it was off to Cornell and Aero engineering, Business at San Diego State, five years in aerospace science on the Atlas/Centaur and Apollo projects. Raced sports cars, motorcycles, skis and sailboats. Retired to sail full time. Sailed from Los Angeles to Honolulu in the 1966 TransPac race. Bartending and teaching sailing paid for Doctor of Laws at UCLA. Twelve years private law practice in So Cal. and retired again to ski Idaho. In 1977 started Augustus Airlines, commercial pilot until 1997. Retired still again to ski, run and build model airplanes full time. Wife, two daughters, switched to snow boarding; haven’t skied since.
Finally, back up to1983, my friend of 10 years Stewart Emery, revealed to me that he was an RC modeler and had, among other things, a Quaker with a spark ignition engine. With his encouragement, I again began building airplanes and attending contests. Joined AMA, SCAMPS, MMM, WMC and SAM. I learned to fly SAM RC at the feet of Otto Bernhardt, free flight at the feet of Sal Taibi, two giants. Designed two NFFS Models of the Year, CUFFMAC Champion, FAI Americas Cup winner, construction articles published in Model Aviation and Flying Models, honorary life member of SCAT and The Really Great SAM 8. In 1995 SAM President, Don Bekins, inquired if I’d like to be editor of a newsletter. It was SAM Speaks. You know the rest.
All of the plans continue to be available through the Northrop Plans Service of Henderson, Nevada. Bill was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1988. |
2005 |
 Hank
COLE - Inducted 2005
Born 1922 - Died Jan 12, 2023
My long fascination for flying models began in the mid-thirties when I built a cabin model by Frank Zaic from plans in Popular Mechanics. I flew the model in a vacant lot and was soon known as that Crazy kid down the block whose plane was landing on the top of houses and in back yards. I got my Materials from a jewelry store that carried model supplies but I didn't know any other modelers in town until 1938 when the Tacoma Public Schools and News Tribune sponsored a contest at Meuller Harkins airport. There I met Chuck Hollinger and other members of the Tacoma Gas Wings and saw gas models and hand launched gliders for the first time. My scaled down cabin won 2nd place in junior cabin and I was hooked. Chuck ran a model shop and got me started in gas models and hand launched gliders. I also got a copy of Frank Zaic's 1938 model aeronautics yearbook and it opened up the whole world of model flying.
The club was very competitive. We flew hand launch gliders almost every day after school. On weekends we would pile into Chuck's Model A and fly rubber jobs and gas models at Harts Lake Prairie. We attended contests in Seattle and Yakima and flew all kinds of models. Also, I spent a lot of time at the library reading NACA reports which led me to design a hand launch glider which had sweptback tips which was unusual at the time. At the 1939 Tacoma News Tribune contest the glider won with a time as high as the winning times in the gas and rubber events. The sponsors didn't believe that a glider could fly that long so they held up the award until the times were confirmed. The model won many contests before WW2, and afterwards won open class at the 1955 Nat's.
In 1940 our dreams came true and 5 of us drove 2000 miles to attend the Chicago Nationals. Chuck took some pictures along the way and I wrote an article "National or Bust" which was published in Air Trails. I flew my C-cabin, "Stratosphere". The model had an unusually large prop, which with a large motor gave a very high climb. The feedback has been positive and some builders have come up with ingenious ways to pop up the stab mounted on the rudder. At the 1941 Nat’s Bill Winter asked me for an article on the "Smoothie." The plans drawn by Douglas Rolfe were a work of art. This has been my best-known model and quite a few have been built around the world. Mine was last seen heading west at the 1946 Nat’s where I placed second in outdoor cabin.
In 1942 I was studying aeronautical engineering at the U of W and working part time in the wind tunnel. The Davis airfoil (used on the Liberator in WW2) came in for a test. I found that the airfoil was generated by a set of equations and by changing the constants I could generate all kinds of airfoils, some of them pretty weird. I selected 5 airfoils suitable for models and they were published in Air Trails. The Davis 5 has been popular on gas models and long rubber jobs. The Davis 3 has been very successful on Wakefields and Nordics. At the same time I was experimenting with flying wings and generated an airfoil called the Albatross section and it worked very well on my flying wing high-start models. After WW2 I used the thickness distribution of the Albatross section to generate the CH407 and it was widely used on Nordics and Wakefields in the sixties and seventies.
In 1942 I was flying an Ohlsson "23"-powered gas model with floats on Lake Washington. I called it the "Dry Duck" because the engine was used as a pusher and could not be dunked even when it flipped upside down. At the time we had hopes of going to a 1942 Nat’s, and I worked hard to develop a small cabin called the "Cirrus Cruiser" which was a test model for a Wakefield. In my tests I tried various angles of incidence for the wing and found that the glide was improved with an incidence of 8 to 10 degrees. The Nat’s were cancelled but I sent information on the models to Air Trails. The Navy called me to active duty on July 1, 1943 and that ended my free flight activities. However, some details of the models were published and I had enough photos and plans to qualify the "Cirrus Cruiser" as an old time model. After the war, the Wakefield version was flown to 3rd place at the 1947 Nat’s. |
2005 |
 Gil
MORRIS - Inducted 2005
Born August 8, 1925
Gil’s uncle taught him to whittle solid models at an early age. A poor student, his grades improved dramatically when his father awarded him a solid model kit for each A or B he received at school. He built his first “stick” model at age 8 and was hooked on flying models ever since. When he was 14 and making a little money working at a hardware store, he bought a kit of a Scientific Eaglet and a Brat engine. With the experience gained flying the Eaglet, Gil decided to try designs of his own which he flew in the 1941 Nationals held in Chicago. During the following winter he built three Kerswaps all of which were lost out-of-sight (OOS) during the 1942 contest season.
Gil graduated from high school in 1943 and immediately went off to college and soon into the Army Air Corps. After World War II, he entered Ohio State University graduating in 1949 with B.S.M.E. and B.S.E.E. degrees. Raising a family of five children with his wife Irene and working as an engineer occupied the next several years with little time for model airplanes. As his children grew up he began teaching them about models and his own interest was rekindled with new vigor. Getting back into the swing of things, he built a couple of gas model kits but decided again to design his own. It didn’t take long for his design genius to reemerge. Notably among his successful designs are: Toothpicks, ABC Toothpicks, Matchsticks and Two Timer F1C Flapper. In recognition for these creations the National Free Flight Society (NFFS) presented Gil with five model-of-the year awards. Gil is not only a noted designer but also a serious Free Flight competitor. Gil has supported model aviation as an AMA Contest Director, club officer and chairman of the FAI Free Flight Team Selection Committee.
Through his creative genius, we are able to fly his Kerawap model design in every conceivable size in both free flight and R/C. The design has been especially popular as a SAM ½ A Texaco model.
Other writers have also published articles about Gil’s design:
Kerswap ½ A Texaco Old-Timer by Bob Isaacks, Model Builder November1985
Kerswap by Bob Aberle, Flying Models November1986
Kerswap.020 Replica Old-Timer by Dick Lyons, Model Builder July 1992
His current winnings are too numerous to list here but just to mention a few:
Set 5 AMA National Records In Free Flight , 1978, 1980, 1982 & 1985(2)
America’s Cup Winner in F1C 1997
Won individual F1C Bronze Medal, World Championships in Hungary, 1995
Won team F1C Gold Medal, World Championships in Hungary, 1995
Won team F1C Gold Medal, World Championships in Hungary, 2003
His modeling articles have appeared in several publications:
NFFS Symposium Reports:
1981 “Some Thoughts on Designing and Trimming”
1984 “Getting a Handle on CG (Center of Gravity)”
2001 “Solutions to an Erratic Vertical Climb”
Model Aviation:
Toothpicks June 1979
ABC Toothpicks July 1981 |
2005 |
 Charlie W REICH - Inducted 2006 top of this page
Born December 11, 1934
Charles Wm. Reich was born in Mishawaka, Indiana on December 11, 1934. Shortly thereafter
his family moved to a small farm in Granger Indiana. The aviation bug bit hard because there was a small
airport nearby where young men got primary training prior to enlistment in the Army Air Corps. The farm was
also under the flyway from the Detroit aircraft factories to the West Coast, and new bombers and fighters
passed overhead each day. At age 8, Charlie started building solid aircraft models; at age 10 he saw a silk
covered Playboy with an Ohlsson .60 and the die was cast. He saved for a year to buy his first model kit,
a Playboy Jr., and the only engine he could afford, a Thor. Fortunately Santa realized that the Thor just
didn't cut it, and a new Ohlsson .23 showed up in the Christmas stocking, so the Playboy saw the air for
the first time shortly after Christmas.
Charlie's career was in the parts divisions of various automotive companies; he wound up as the National Vice President
for parts for Mazda North America. The Japanese connection led to frequent travel to Japan where he visited the local
hobby shops for motors, models and radios. Mazda North America was headquartered in Orange County, and Curt Steven's
wife was the realtor who sold Charlie his house---and Curt then introduced Charlie to SAM. Charlie took early retirement
in 1989 and moved to Oregon; in 1993 Curt called him and said 'come on down' to the 1993 SAM Champs at Taft.
At Taft, Charlie saw the Playboys and Comet Clippers of his youth, met John Pond and Don Bekins, and bought a trunk
load of Klarich kits. The hook was firmly set. Charlie is a consummate public relations and publicity guy; his new
friend Don Bekins became SAM President in 1994. Bekins, and all subsequent SAM Presidents, have called on Charlie
to take photos, write articles, work trade shows, develop promotional materials to build SAM membership and assist
in maintaining contacts with SAM chapters. The Editor of SAM Speaks has relied on Charlie for a stream of small 'Ol
Charlie' articles and photographs of SAM contests. Charlie has written articles for national model magazines for
three different SAM Champs each such article has spurred a small burst of new SAM members.
From 2003 to 2006, Charlie was Secretary of SAM. In that role Charlie worked on implementation of a new and updated
computerized membership system. He also wrote a History of SAM booklet. He's worked on updating and publishing the
Approved Designs List-Gas Models. He's published several SAM Member Roster booklets.
Charlie also played a leading role in the editing, drafting and publishing of the new 2006 SAM Rule book. As Secretary,
Charlie has been the 'go to guy' for members whose Speaks subscriptions have gone awry in the mail. He's also been
the first SAM officer to have contact with new SAM members. For the last dozen years, Charlie has been one of the
key guys who make SAM work for all of us. |
2006 |
 Al
LIDBERG - Inducted 2006
Born December 7, 1936
Alfred A. Al Lidberg was born December 7, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois. His family lived near what is now O'Hare Airport.
At the age of 7 Al started to build wartime kits made with cardboard formers and hardwood sticks. He kept building
the Comet P-51 kit which cost 25 cents, but he had to build several before he could get one to fly. When he was 12,
his parents gave him an America's Hobby Center 'deal'-a WOG kit with an ignition Merlin .23
The family moved to Phoenix when Al was 15, and he started his long association with the Phoenix Model Club and the
Southwest Regional FF contests. His first serious gas FF ship was a Fubar 36 with a Torpedo .049-he placed 1 st in
Jr. 12 A gas with it at the second ever Southwest Regional FF contest. Al has been a contestant, an official, or
organizer at virtually every Southwest Regionals since then. In high school Al started to design his own planes;
one of them, the Fleebo, is now qualified as a Nostalgia legal ship.
After high school and college, Al took a nine year modeling break for service in the Navy and starting a family.
His three sons and a daughter helped him fill the family workshop with many gas, rubber, and Jetex free flight models.
Al and his three sons each set several AMA records in various classes.
Starting in the 1970's Al drew plans and wrote construction articles which appeared in many national model magazines.
His plans for .020 Replica designs of the Rocketeer A, the Eastern States Champion and the Wahoo. He had a particular
interest in small electric and CO2 powered versions of OT or Nostalgia FF ships, and plans and construction articles
for the Taibi Powerhouse, the Civy Boy, the deBolt Airfoiler, and the Ray Heit Scrappy all appeared.(along with perhaps
two dozen other plans and articles). In 1990 Al started his own model plans mail order business. Shortly afterwards,
he reasoned that he might as well sell the print wood for the plans, and his model kits business was born. Many of
his plans and kits are reduced size versions of OT models, and they help keep the OT idea alive by being able to
fly on small fields and in city parks. Along the way Al added CAD to his skills and now offers some of his kits with
laser cut parts.
About 1990, the Southwest Regional Model Airplane Championships (SWR) was in danger because of lack of funds and
support from the local model airplane clubs. Al, along with fellow Hall of Fame inductee Bob Angus, and others, stepped
in and formed a non-profit corporation to keep the SWR going. Al is now President of the SWR Association and in his
'major domo' role, serves as Contest Manager, AMA FF Contest Director and is in charge of publicity and the SWR website.
Al became involved as a SAM competitor after attending the 1995 Colorado Springs SAM Champs. |
2006 |
 Jim
O’REILLY - Inducted 2006
Born on August 7, 1932
Jim O'Reilly was born on August 7, 1932 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His love for
model aircraft began when he was six years old. He went on to get a BSME degree from Oklahoma State University
in 1957. He married Marty in May of that year. After graduation and marriage he went to work in the aircraft
industry. Jim returned to model aircraft competition after a change from engineering to a sales engineering
job, where he had more control of his schedule. He had worked as a mechanical systems and propulsion engineer
at Aero
He began competing in 1974 with Coupes, 1/2A Gas, F1H towliners and Unlimited Rubber. He won Wakefield at the Nats
in 1986, 1987 and 1994, and P-30 in 2002. Jim also designed a number of rubber and power FF ships along the way and
has his designs and plans published, including the 'Tubesteak' rubber ship and 'Sudden Sam', a hot AMA gassie.
Jim joined the Society of Antique Modelers in 1981 and has competed in most of the rubber-powered events and in gas
free flight. Successes included a win in Class A Gas Cabin with a Cabin Ruler at Bong in 1983 and Rubber Cabin at
Madera in 1985 with an Altimeter and a Eugene.
After years of sales calls in various engineering departments where computer aided design (CAD) was being used, CAD
looked like enormous fun to Jim. He started his model plans business in 1993, initially as a means of drawing his
own plans. Shortly before the 1998 Champs, Charlie Reich spoke with Bob Holman and suggested that he should find
someone who did CAD who could draw a plan of that year's one design model, the Ernie Linn Kansas Wakefield for use
with Bob's laser cutting business. This was a happy relationship all the way around; Ernie Linn and Jim O'Reilly
had been longtime friends and competitors in Wichita, and the O'Reilly Cad plan/Holman laser cutting business has
produced numerous short kits for OT models. While it was and is a 'labour of love' on O'Reilly and Holman's part,
the kit list grows. O'Reilly's plan catalog now is in excess of 240 plans. The number will grow in the future.
Jim's goals include the highest quality and accuracy of airplane model plans he can produce. He draws plans incorporating
current practice by competition builders, as opposed to 'museum quality' plans. For example, dethermalizers, tubular
rear motor nchors, injection molded engine mounts are routinely shown on plans as being legal deviations from actual
1940-era models.
One of Jim’s goals is to produce model airplane plans for all 'one-design' events possible, with sufficient
lead time for a builder to show up at the Champs or other contest with a complete and tested model. |
2006 |
 Bob ANGUS - Inducted 2006
Born 1928 ---
Bob Angus was born in 1928 in Tarrytown, New York. During his early school years, he
was active in Boy Scouts as well as beginning to show interest in model airplanes by building the 25 cent stick
and paper models.With money earned on a paper route, he acquired a Phantom P-30, and built a Scientific Coronet,
followed by a Buccaneer B Special. In 1945, he became an Eagle Scout, and in 1946 he successfully flew a GE
Cabinette with a Super Atom. In the late 1940's and the early 1950's Bob was
busy with college. In 1950, he received a BS from Cornell University. In 1954, he acquired a MS from Pennsylvania
State University. Also in 1954, Bob married his wife, Mary and was called to active duty in the U.S. Air Force.
His service in the Air Force was from 1954 to 1957. As a first lieutenant he was assigned to the Operations
Squadron at Torbay, Newfoundland, Canada.In 1959 Bob began his career at the University of Arizona as an Assistant
Professor of Agricultural Economics. In 1960, he received a PhD from Pennsylvania State University. His teaching
assignments included basic economics, price theory and basic statistical methods at the upper division and
graduate levels, and his research was published in professional journals. His family expanded to three children,
Jean, Walter, and Jay. He retired as a full professor in 1994.Model airplanes
became a part of his life again in 1958 with a DEMCO payload model powered by a used Atwood .049. It was RC
with a Citizenship radio and escapement. He then designed a rudder only model with which he placed fifth at
the NATS in 1964. During the early 60's he competed in the U. S. free flight team trials for A-2 towline gliders.
In those years, he competed in the Southwest in Pattern contests, and for the last three years, he has competed
in the Gunsmoke Scale Qualifier in Phoenix. He also CD'ed several of the Winter National contests that were
held at Marana Air Park during the 1970's.In 1984, Bob began flying with SAM at the Southwest Regionals in
Buckeye, AZ. He won the Robert's Cup and placed 1 st in B ignition LER at the 1987 Champs at Seguin, TX. Since
then, he has competed in fourteen SAM Champs.Bob Angus has given much back to the modeling community. He
was a founding member of the Tucson Radio Control Club in the mid 60's. He served two terms as president of
that club, and was on the board of directors for several years. He is currently on the board of directors for
the Tucson Modelplex Corporation. He has served as the secretary of the Southwest Regionals Corporation. Along
with fellow HOF entrant Al Lidberg, Bob has been a major factor in the continuation and expansion of the annual
Southwest Regional Contest now held at Eloy each January.For fifteen years, Bob Angus has been the CD for the
RC Assist side of the Southwest Regionals at Eloy AZ, assisted many times by his oldest son, Walter. Bob Angus
was also the RC Contest Director for the 2005 SAM Champs held in Las Vegas. He is an accomplished organizer
of, and competitor in SAM contests.
|
2006 |
 Bob
HOLMAN - Inducted 2006
Born November 10, 1931 ---
Bob Holman was born November 10, 1931 in San Bernardino California. His interest
in model airplanes was kindled by a visit to his cousins in Indiana in 1943. They were flying rubber
scale models. Bob's first modeling effort was an attempt to build a Stahl Blackburn Skua; Bob can't remember
if he ever finished it. He then built a rubber scale Ryan Fireball (in 1945) which crashed on its first
flight. By now Bob was 12, and he started to build kit after kit. His first motors were an OK CO2 motor,
and an Ohlsson .23, followed by a McCoy Redhead .19. In high school, Bob saw a fellow flying a Zeek-and
that led to the building of many Zeeks in all sizes. After service in the United States Marine Corps
from 1951 to 1954, Bob moved to Florida, where he continued to fly Zeeks. In
1956, Bob came home to San Bernardino and joined the local FF club. Bob has run a plans business since
1960 when he set it up as an 'after work garage business'. It started shortly after Bob came home and
found that his nephew had sold Bob's extensive collection of model magazines to a local resident-the
sale was unauthorized and Bob went to the buyer and got his magazines back. But the buyer got Bob interested
in drawing up model plans, so Bob took a drafting class at the local college. For Bob's final exam, he
was supposed to turn in a drawing-Bob turned in a Fokker DVII. Most of his classmates turned in drawings
of a house! Bob drew more plans and they started to sell well. As he did that, he got in contact with
other fellows who were drawing plans including renowned scale designers Brian Taylor and Dennis Bryant
of England. Bob started selling their plans in the United States. He also started cutting kits on a bandsaw
for the various plans he had in stock, and learned how to make fiberglass parts from Bob Palmer, one
of the first modelers to start building planes from fiberglass. Bob added more plans from more sources.
Through the late 1980's many of Bob's plans and kits were for .60 sized scale ships.
In 1993, Bob decided to retire the old band saw and got a laser cutter, followed
by a second, more powerful laser cutter in 1996. Bob realized that usin g a laser cutter made it
possible for him to easily cut kits for the OT and Nostalgia era rubber and power ships. Bob started
to redraw the plans for many of the popular OT designs, and then enlisted the aid of a fellow modeler,
Bill Kaminsky, who is a CAD expert, for assistance in turning them into CAD designs to drive the
laser cutters. In 1998, Bob met Jim O'Reilly, and started the relationship which has led to so many
OT 'model of the year' plans and kits for the SAM Champs. Bob continues to sell the scale plans and
kits, but OT plans and kits are half of his business today. You can find Bob at the many trade shows
he attends, in each case manning a booth stocked with a large selection of Old Timer partial kits
and plans. He's also an active competitor at SAM Champs and SAM contests in the West. |
2006 |
 Bill
NORTHROP - Inducted 2007 top of this page
Born 1922 ---
Bill Northrop was born in 1922. His first contact with “Old Timer” models was when they were “New Timer” models. At age 14 he built and flew a Henry Struck diamond-fuselage rubber powered model published full size on several pages in the July 1936 issue of Model Aircraft Builder. A little over a year later, Northrop built and flew a Scientific Maxwell Bassett “Miss Philadelphia” soon after it was first advertised in the July 1937 issue of Model Airplane News. Northrop had had three years experience in building solid models and ten and twenty five cent stick and tissue Megow models before tackling the Miss Philadelphia. Northrop powered Miss Philadelphia with a Baby Cyclone with the stamped metal engine mount, including the gas tank. Northrop did this with no more help than he could obtain by reading the current model magazines available at the time (Flying Aces, Model Airplane News and Bill Barnes Air Trails). Things became more understandable when Northrop met Steve Kowalik, who had opened a hobby shop located in the young men’s department of Mullins Clothing Store, in Wilmington Delaware, fifteen miles from Bill’s home.
Northrop’s first flyaway of a model involved a Jim Walker folding wing catapult glider in about 1935. In early 1940, Northrop built Korda’s famous Wakefield from a $1 Megow kit and experienced his second flyaway. It happened at a contest in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Although it was the longest flight of the contest (18 and one half minutes), it was unofficial. The flight occurred on a “test flight” with only 100 turns on the rubber. The prop folded, and the model caught a thermal and bounced around until it went out of sight. Northrop recovered the model when he received a post card a week later from a small town 25 miles northeast of Lancaster where the model had been found.
During the 1950’s and the early 1960’s, Northrop was an architectural engineer for Hercules Chemical—and also an active RC modeler. He was a regular contributor of articles for Model Airplane News and Air Trails, including contest reports and construction articles. He had also opened a small advertising business in the model airplane trade. His customers included Swanson (glow plugs) Pettit Paint (Hobbypoxy) and DB Engineering (Don Brown’s Quadruplex R/C systems). He had a heart attack in April, 1964, which caused him to rethink what he wanted to do. He decided he wanted to focus on the model airplane hobby. At that time Walt Schroder, the Editor of Model Airplane News, was beginning to look for a new R/C Editor for the magazine—and the job was offered to Northrop. His first column as RC Editor was in the January, 1965 issue. He stayed there until August of 1969. After Northrop left Model Airplane News, he came out to Southern California to work as a sales representative for Bob Dunham’s Orbit Electronics.
During the 1960’s Northrop remained active in the R/C field. He placed 3rd in the R/C Scale event at the 1965 Willow Grove AMA Nats flying his 3 inch to the foot scale model of the Gipsy Moth (this was in the days before “Quarter Scale”). He not only took 3rd place in the event, he earned the first Best R/C Scale Achievement award, donated by Sterling Models. In September, 1965, Northrop entered the World R/C Record Trials at The Dahlgren Naval Weapons Laboratory in Virginia. Northrop set a new “absolute” world record for all model aircraft of 16, 610 feet. The previous record of 14,000 feet had been set by a Russian FF aircraft.
Northrop first met John Pond at the 1962 Chicago Nationals, where their discussion came around to OT model activity. They renewed their acquaintance at the Los Alamitos Nationals in 1963. While Northrop was R/C editor at Model Airplane News, he’d occasionally make a reference to OT FF in his R/C column.
Out in Southern California in 1969 and 1970, Northrop still had the itch to get back into model aviation publications—but wanted to do something different than the existing magazines. Model Builder Magazine was born from that itch—with the first three issues published in 1971. Model Builder magazine started coverage of OT modeling activity in a column that Northrop named “Plug Sparks”. Plug Sparks first appeared in the January, 1973 issue. Jack Transue wrote the first six Plug Sparks columns. John Pond swung into the Plug Sparks saddle in August of 1973, and made Plug Sparks a “bully pulpit” for the promotion of SAM and of OT modeling in general. Pond ran with it through 274 columns with the last one published in September of 1996 when the then owners of Model Builder “threw in the towel”. Over that period of time, Model Builder magazine published 194 Old Timer model plans.
Northrop is proudest of a plan and fairly long Model Builder article concerning Joe Raspante’s famous model “Snow White”, a winner of the Berryloid event. There had been quite a bit of confusion and incorrect claims about the origin of the design. The article settled it for good. The author and creator of the new plan, Al Holmes, was able to contact Raspante. After getting Raspante’s permission, Holmes dismantled the original Snow White and made new drawings (right from the parts!) to replace the long gone original drawings, which were actually done on taped-together brown paper bags. Those original drawings had been trashed after the original ship was completed.
Northrop was one of the modelers responsible for separation of RC OT from FF OT events. In March of 1974, Northrop wrote and published a Model Builder article recommending ways to modify FF Old Timers for R/C using his Taibi Powerhouse as an example. Shortly afterwards, Northrop won the Winter Nats Texaco Event at Taft, flying his R/C modified Powerhouse for a total of 54 minutes and 22 seconds. Later that day Northrop buzzed the field with the Powerhouse (powered by a Brown Jr.) flying inverted at 25 feet for two complete circles around the field before landing—much to the shouted amusement of Sal Taibi.
For two years prior to 1974, the FF Texaco models had beaten the RC Texaco models. Immediately following the 1974 Winter Nats Texaco contest (or maybe even immediately following the two inverted “buzz jobs” with the Powerhouse) the event was separated into two categories—F/F and R/C.
In 1978 Bill Northrop and his wife Anita founded the International Modeler Show (now the AMA Ontario Convention). From the earliest days of the show, Northrop gave SAM and FF modelers a free booth at the IMS show. Jim Adams, Sal Taibi, Mike Myers, Larry Clark, Carl Hatrak, Bill Booth, Ron Boots and other SAM stalwarts manned that IMS booth over the years soliciting new converts to the SAM movement. When Bill and Anita Northrop sold the IMS show to the AMA in 1998, one of the stipulations was that the AMA would continue to provide booth space to SAM at either free or reduced cost each year and that has continued to this day.
After the discontinuance of Model Builder by its new owners, Northrop was able to rescue all of the Model Builder original plans from the bankruptcy court. He started a new plan book, titled “Scratch Builder’s Almanac”, which includes 37 more OT plans, in addition to the 194 OT plans published by Model Builder.
|
2007 |
 Bob LAYBORNE - Inducted 2007
Born June 22, 1929 ---
Bob Laybourne was born in Springfield, Ohio on June 22, 1929. His first model airplanes were the Strombecker solid models. After cutting his teeth on the Strombecker models, he moved on to the Joe Ott and Guillow rubber powered scale models. After several efforts, Bob finally got a Guillow’s Staggerwing Beech to fly all the way across the living room. It was a great flight, but ended in a fatal crash landing on the sofa.
At age 9, Bob joined the Howie Wing Flying Club, sponsored by Kellogg Cereals. Bob ate a lot of corn flakes. He saved all the box tops. The corn flakes and the box tops allowed Bob to send off for a Quaker Flash kit, which, he’s sorry to say, he never completed. The first gas model that Bob completed and flew was an Ohlsson .23 powered Cleveland Korda Champion. This was followed by a Scientific Flagship, powered by a Brown “D” which was Bob’s first truly successful gas model. Bob’s first big contest “win” occurred at the 1948 AMA Nationals at Olathe, Kansas where he won 7th place with a Comet Sailplane, powered by a McCoy .49.
Bob married his wife, June, in 1950. June is a Sweetheart of SAM and continues to be his strongest cheering section as well as a strong supporter of SAM. Marriage meant that Bob followed different pursuits for a few years, but he eventually got back into free flight, building and flying contest rubber models.
While Bob was still working for IBM, he started a hobby shop, the Hobby Hangar, in 1976 in Donnelsville, Ohio. He said he started it in his house, in an addition he’d built on to his basement. It took a while to gain credibility with his suppliers, but Bob built the business up. He only stocked model airplanes, both FF and RC. While most of his trade was R/C, he made a special effort to stock everything he could for FF, and especially rubber FF, including good wood and hardware. The shop drew FF modelers from great distances who took the time and trouble to find out just where Donnelsville, Ohio was. Bob ran the shop for 22 years and cherishes the friendships he made among his customers and his SAM rubber competitors.
Bob was Midwest SAM Vice President from 1998 to 2002, neatly bridging the presidencies of Bill Booth and Tom McCoy. Bob was the Contest Manager for the 2002 SAM Champs at Muncie and was Co-Manager, with Bob Bienenstein, for the 2006 Champs. He was instrumental in getting the SAM perpetual trophies put on permanent display in the AMA Model Museum at Muncie, Indiana. Bob continues to see to the upkeep and annual engraving of those perpetual SAM trophies. In recent years, Bob has been chairman of the SAM Booth at the Toledo R/C Show, an important recruiting venue for SAM.
|
2007 |
 Joseph Henry EHRHARDT - Inducted 2008 top of this page
Born 193 --- Died 1978
Joe Ehrhardt is the sole inductee into the Hall of Fame for 2008. Joe started the Ehrhardt Model Airplane & Supply Company in Saint Louis with his two brothers in 1927. He was an active competitor and model designer. He was also a leader and instructor in model airplane techniques. He toured in the 1930’s teaching others how to build and fly models.
He was the only American to win the Wakefield International Cup two years in a row. He won the Cup in 1930 and 1931. He also was won the National Outdoor Champion award for both 1930 and 1931 in the Airplane Model League of America (AMLA) national meets.
Ehrhardt won the Mulvihill Trophy at the 1930 AMLA contest using an A-frame or twin pusher model. In the same year, he won the Stout Trophy flying his Wakefield Cabin.
Ehrhardt was an innovator as well as a competitor. One of the prizes for being AMLA Outdoor Champion in 1930 was a steamship trip to England to fly in the Wakefield International Cup contest to be held at Halton Aerodrome outside London. English Wakefield models of the time were heavy, made of hard wood, wire and doped muslin. Ehrhardt, like the other two members of the US team was flying a balsa and tissue covered model. The models had problems with the wind gusts, rain and “beastly weather”. The other two members of the US team had their models destroyed in crashes. Ehrhardt prevailed to win the contest with a flight of 155 seconds.
That win brought the Wakefield International Cup contest to Dayton Ohio for 1931. Ehrhardt beat two other future SAM Hall of Famers, Gordon Light and Carl Carlson. Ehrhardt won the Wakefield Cup with a flight of some 264 seconds. His model had one of the first free wheeling propellers in Wakefield Cup competition. He also led the way in use of balsa and tissue for Wakefield models, and stretch winding the motor outside of the fuselage. |
2008 |
 Mike
MYERS - Inducted 2009 top of this page
Born 1943 -
Mike was born in Mesa, Arizona in 1943 and did a bit of FF and controline as a teenager.
That all stopped for high school, college, a family and a career. He jumped back into modeling in the early
1980s. Tony and Addie Naccarato introduced him to OT free flight. Ken Sykora introduced him to David Baker
on a business trip to England, and he developed strong friendships with David and with many English OT models.
He has a fondness for ugly and unusual models such as Col. C. E. Bowden's.
Mike has flown or participated in 12 SAM Champs from 1991 to 2009, many of those in a management capacity.
He has been the legal counsel for SAM under presidents Bekins, Booth, McCoy and O'Reilly and continues to this day.
Mike has been the Contest Manager or Co-Manager for the US Free Flight Championship (USFFC) at Taft and Lost Hills
on five separate years from the late '80s to the mid-90s. The USFFC has OT, FAI and AMA FF events and is the largest
FF contest in the western USA. At that time, the usual number of USFFC contestants was in the 200-225 area.
He was president of the Southern California Ignition Fliers (SCIF) for the two years, 1988 and 1989. He was contest
manager at least once a year for SCIF including the Los Angeles portion of the Charles Hampson Grant Memorial Mass
Launch of Cloud Tramps.
Mike received the Radford Trophy at Middle Wallop in 2004. This is the European SAM Champs organized by SAM 1066. It
was presented for Mike's efforts in promoting Tomboys and the Tomboy event world wide. He received the "Contributor
of the Year" award at Middle Wallop in 1999.
As SAM President, Mike originated the "Miss Seldom Seen" concourse event for rare and unusual old tome models.
The event is intended to encourage the building of such models.
Mike edited the SCIF "The Flight Plug" from 1996 to 2008. He currently writes the "Old Timer Topics" column
in Flying Models magazine. His column started with the January 2008 issue and appears 6 times a year. It promotes SAM.
Mike has attended and flown in multiple contests in England, including the Anglo American Wakefield Recreations, the
European FF SAM Championships at Middle Wallop and the contests at Old Warden. Through a combination of frequent business
and family travel to England, attendance at contests and correspondence with various SAM leaders in England,
he has served as a roving ambassador of good will between SAM USA and members of SAM 35 and SAM 1066 in England since
1984. |
2009 |
 Ron BOOTS - Inducted 2009
Born July 2, 1931 ---
I was born on July 2, 1931 at New Richmond, Ohio, a small riverfront town near Cincinnati.
A vivid early childhood memory occurred during the great Ohio River Flood of 1937. The river rose from 13 feet
pool stage to 79.9 feet flood stage. My father lifted me over a second floor window sill to put me into a rescue
boat.
My modeling career began around 1939 with a Cub-type model. I promptly glued everything down onto the plan with the
result that the wing, rudder, stab and one side of the fuselage was paper plan covered. Profile model anyone?
During the Great Depression years, I financed modeling by scrounging around the "Bloody Bucket Saloon", looking
for empty quart beer bottles which were worth a nickel deposit. (Glue was a nickel a tube!) Straight pins came from
Mr. Lutsky, a Polish, Jewish immigrant who owned a men's clothing store. He saved the pins from the shirts he sold
and gave them to me!
Around 1943, we moved to Cincinnati when Dad got a job at the Crosley Corporation making wartime radio equipment. (Also
of Shelvidor refrigerator and Crosley car fame.)
My modeling experience was greatly enhanced when 25-cent kits replaced the cheaper ones and seemed easier to build.
Soon I bought my first engine, a Phantom P-30 for $9.95, so U-Control joined my rubber powered fleet and I don't recall
ever making a solid scale model again.
The next major happening was Korea! I served as a weapons instructor, followed by a 9-month combat tour in Korea and
finished my 4-year hitch loading nukes into RB-36s.
After discharge I went back to Ohio to go to college in the evening, while pursuing a career in retail merchandising
and raising a family. The college degree was via the G.I. Bill, so thank you Korea. During the 'family raising years'
I made and flew lots of gliders and small rubber models. Fast forwarding to the late 70's, I was single and really
plunged into heavy duty modeling. Best of all I could now afford all the straight pins I wanted!
It was the exposure of flying at Taft that did it. I joined S.C.I.F., the Southern California Ignition Fliers, (SAM
3) and S.A.M. And I was on my way.
I served seven years in SCIF's, first as Treasurer, then as President for over five years, the longest of any president.
I also served four years as Treasurer and later as president of C.U.F.F.M.A.C., an organization dedicated to organizing
yearly competition calendars and facilitating the running of the U.S. FF Champs.
I became SAM Treasurer in 2004 and plan to continue serving in this capacity as long as I am needed.
I had the great pleasure of organizing and facilitating the SAM Matching Funds Drive which resulted in raising almost
$52,000 for the treasury.
I have organized three Engine Raffles for SAM Champs, all of which have been successful.
My favorite flying events in Rubber are: Jimmie Allen, Commercial Rubber, Scale and Twin Pusher. In Power they are
Gas Scale, 1/2A Texaco and Fuel allotment.
I am an avid collector of model engines and just about everything related to model or full scale aviation. (My 8 room
house needs two outdoor storage areas to ALMOST hold everything.)
S.A.M. Has rewarded me with almost 25 years of happy flying and many fine friends.
|
2009 |
 Loren
SCHMIDT - Inducted 2009
Born June 1, 1939 --- Died Feb. 27, 2005
Loren was born in Elk Grove, California on June 1, 1939 and died there on Feb. 27, 2005. He
trained as an aircraft airframe and mechanic (A & E) and worked at that trade until retiring in 1999.
Loren obviously loved airplanes and soon devoted his spare time to model airplanes and later to "old timer" models.
Since he lived on a ranch with a "big backyard," (63 acres in grass or alfalfa) he had a great place to fly
his models. In 1968, in the early days of the Society of Antique Modelers, Loren got the idea to build "short
kits" of all the popular old timer designs such as Bombers, Sailplanes, Zippers, Clippers, Playboys, etc. and
sell them to his friends and other OT enthusiasts. Response was good but there was a downside: After spending a full
day at work, he had to come home, eat dinner and get out to the shop and start cutting balsa to fill orders. Often,
Loren didn't make it to bed before midnight. Then, in 1987, he sold the kit business to Harry Klarich. Harry has carried
on the short kit business ever since, but it was started back in 1968 by Loren Schmidt.
Another project that Loren had for a time was the production of Y&O props, an old timer favorite.
If for no other reason, Loren will be remembered for using his own property as a venue for OT contests. Along with
providing a great place to fly, Loren saw to it that the contestants had breakfast, lunch and sometimes even dinner
available. Car parking and eating were all done under a stand of shade trees. How good can it get! At one time, three
OT clubs (SAM 21, 27 and 30) all held their annual contests at Schmidt's Ranch. Per Loren's wishes, Schmidt's Ranch
continues to be the number one venue for OT contests in California and will continue to do so, according to Miriam
Schmidt.
For many years, Loren was the Contest Director for the OT events at the Northern California Free Flight Council contests
at Waegell Field near Sacramento. This even included hauling his grass mower from home to cut the grass for both the
Free Flight and Old Timer take-off areas at Waegell Field.
Loren was the SAM Master-at-Arms for a couple of years but had to give up the position after he became ill. He had
been appointed to this position because he seldom if ever missed a SAM Champs. Loren had a ten-foot homemade trailer
(filled with several dozen models) which he towed to Muncie and most other SAM Champs sites. Were it not for Loren
and his trailer, several people would have been unable to attend several SAM Champs.
Loren Schmidt accomplished many things in his life which ended much too early. He was a maker of OT short kits, an
avid contest flier, a prop manufacturer, a SAM officer, a Contest Director and the provider for many years of an OT
contest site. But, mainly, Loren was a good friend to everyone who ever met him. When Loren died, not only did SAM
lose a great member but we all lost a good and helpful friend. |
2009 |
 Ken SYKORA - Inducted 2009 top of this page
Born 1928 --- Died 1995
Ken Sykora was born in Waco, Texas in 1928. He became a modeler when he was 5 years
old and continued to be a modeler until his death in 1995. A graduate of Baylor University he decided to
leave Texas and come to California because "the modeling was better." Ken was a life long modeler
from his early days until his death in 1995. Ken was an all around free flight modeler flying both gas and
rubber models. Ken's distinctive contest attire included a drill sergeant's campaign hat, and he was a strong
OT FF competitor in Southern California for many years. Ken arrived in California just in time to meet and
work with John Pond in the early 60's. Ken's wife reports that Ken kept every model magazine he ever bought
.Ken and John Pond were avid plan collectors, and they exchanged letters and plans to build up what became
the Pond Plan Service. Ken joined the Southern California Ignition Flyers, SAM Chapter Number 3 in the mid`60s.
Ken was the newsletter editor of the SCIF Flightplug from 1974 until his death in 1995. The Flightplug was
widely distributed and quoted, with a new old timer plan published every month. SAM HOF member David Baker "borrowed" liberally
from the Flightplug articles in those years for use in the newsletters that helped to get SAM 35 and SAM
1066 off the ground in England. That connection led to a series of Anglo American 50th Anniversary recreations
of the Wakefield Cup from 1983 until the late 1980s. In alternate years Americans would travel to England
to fly, or English modelers would come to Southern California to fly. Many trans-Atlantic friendships ensued.
In his "day job", Ken was a technical writer for a major engineering company. Upon retirement in 1982, Ken
bought the Old Timer Model Supply Company, which was started by fellow SAM HOF member Jim Noonan. Old Timer Model Supply
Company was a mail order "cottage industry" business. Ken ran the business out of his home. He supplied old
time model plans, prop blanks, wheels, rubber prop shafts, silk, tissue, nitrate dope, and "bits and bobs" associated
with OT rubber modeling. Each day he'd gather the materials to fill the orders he received and go to the post office
to mail them. Fittingly, for a native born Texan and a guy who loved his campaign hat, Ken "died in the saddle".
He was in his workroom, filling orders when he collapsed and died. Ken belongs in the Hall of Fame both as one who
publicized and promoted the OT model movement, and as a vital cottage industry supplier. |
2009 |
 Jim COFFIN - Inducted 2009
Born 1930's --
I started building in the 1930's in Colorado and saw my first gas model in a hardware store
window. It was a Zipper with an Ohlsson 23. It was a beautiful model in my youthful mind. I later learned it flew
away and was lost. But I was impressed and set my mind on having one of my own.
Our family moved to Long Beach, California in 1943 to follow the WWII aircraft industry. I wanted an engine and saved
my allowance to buy the only one available, a GHQ. Fortunately, my Uncle Smitty had a Bunch Tiger that my father bought
for a Christmas present, saving me the disappointment of fussing with a known loser.
I continued model building through the late 40's and into the 50's under the tutelage of our Long Beach Thunderbugs
mentor, Frank Swaney. During this period I flew a Sailplane with a McCoy 55 with some success until I lost it in 1949
at the SW Regionals in Phoenix, AZ. Also, an Arden .099 powered Accord Champion that I lost at Bakersfield. Among my
mementos from this period is a second place ribbon in A gas from the Taft Condors, dated 1949.
Later I designed a series of models that Swaney named "Crazy Checks" for the red and black checked silk I
used for covering. The first of these set an AMA Class C ROW record at the 1952 "Earthquake" Nats at Los
Alamitos NAS. This design continued into 1953 where it set AMA records in Class C ROG and Class A ROW. It was approved
as a Nostalgia design in 1998. I still fly it in these events, but with less than competitive results.
I was introduced to SAM at the AMA Nats at the Olathe NAS in 1968. I was trying to fly a Midwest Dyna Moe. A gust of
wind knocked it down and it hit John Pond's long bill ball cap. John picked up the model and handed it to me. He said, "If
you want to compete with that thing you gotta join SAM," which on the spot I did as member 63.
As a new member of SAM, I finally had a reason to build that Zipper but powered it with an Orwick 32 converted to ignition
that I put together when I worked briefly for Henry Orwick in early 1952. It flew in several contests, winning some
and doing poorly in others, especially when I used other engines to save the Orwick. It met its demise at the Chicopee,
MA SAM Champs in 1988, striking the concrete runway smartly but with little damage to the Orwick.
Also, in about 1988, Jack Bolton, Ernie Green, Marty Schindler and Hurst Bowers invited me to become a founding member
of the Capital Area Antique Modelers Association that became SAM Chapter 10. In this club I have served as contest
director, secretary, president and newsletter editor. We have sponsored several free flight events until our available
flying sites dwindled, but we have some possibilities we are working on.
Later, I became Life Member 63, was Eastern VP of SAM from 1996 to 2001, was involved in the1996 and 2000 Champs (though
Jack Bolton did all the work), managed SAM Champs 2004 at Muncie, was registrar for the 2006 SAM Champs and was Co-manager
(with Tom McCoy) of the 2008 Muncie Champs. In addition, I served as AMA District IV FF and CL Contest Coordinator
for 1 bout 15 years.
Other interests have included racing sports cars, flying our Piper Cherokee and a fifty-plus year career as a professional
engineer specializing in cargo and weapons handling systems on U.S. Navy ships. |
2009 |
 Charlie
BRUCE - Inducted 2009
Born 1928
I was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1928, just after Lindberg's flight, and have no memory of not being interested in aircraft. My first memory
of model airplanes is watching my uncles fly twin pushers in 1933.
I started with solid models and after several attempts at flying models, completed a Curtiss Robin about 1935, in Sedona, Arizona.
In 1942 I bought my first gas motor, a " Perky" which never ran beyond a few seconds at a time. I later bought a "Super Atom" from
AHC, N. Y., trading-in a useless GHQ. It was an instant success, starting on the second flip and running out the tank. My first power model was a
Capitol Cub Coupe powered by the Atom. It flew free flight quite well and later as a control liner with a very tired Ohlsson 19. I converted the
Cub when my first attempt at control line, Stanzel's Baby Shark, would taxi madly but not take off in the thin air of Albuquerque.
My first organized club was the Duke City Modeleers in Albuquerque in the mid-1940's. In High School shop, we made recognition solids for the Air
Corps and FF and C/L models. I dabbled in early R/C with a buddy who was a radio "Ham", building our own barely successful radio system.
During World War II one of our star club members was Frank Hoover, an R/C pioneer and AMA Hall of Fame member. Frank was an Air Corps instructor
at Kirtland Field and a great model instructor. We spent hours in Frank's garage learning to build model planes. I began competition flying and later
became club president.
In 1947 my best friend Don Yearout and I won the trip from New Mexico to the Plymouth International model meet in Detroit MI. We got to see famous
modelers we'd only read about. Jim Walker was there with his Three-At-Once Fireball flying show.
I had the first jet model in New Mexico. I was first in the state to break 100 MPH with a C/L model.
I joined the New Mexico Air Guard so I could work on and fly in real aircraft. My 188th Fighter Squadron was activated for the Korean War in 1951.
We were sent to California to guard the West Coast. There I met two modeling greats, Duke Fox and George Aldrich.
The modeling hiatus continued as we returned to New Mexico University to complete a degree in Chemical Engineering. In 1963, we were transferred
to Los Angeles for a major project. I met Sal Taibi in person and renewed contact with Bob White, from the 1947 days in New Mexico.
Returning to Texas, I continued to dabble in model flying since my two boys were now old enough to build and fly. In 1966 I became a charter member
of the National Free Flight Society.
I retired from Celanese as Director of Major Projects, in 1985, and returned to active modeling. I joined the Tri-City Model Club.
In the late 1980s my interest was in FAI free flight. I built the models, attended and officiated at the USA team trials and became FAI regional
coordinator . At this time I attended several free flight world champs as a U.S. team supporter and was able to assist Bob White as he won the Wakefield
Cup in France in 1987.
In 1992 I volunteered to write an antique engine analysis column for "SAM Speaks", the SAM news magazine. This ongoing column, popular
with SAM members, will be incorporated into a book on the subject at some time in the future. I have been for several years a member of the SAM Engine
Review Committee. I have awakened a desire to build and fly the antique models of my youth. My major interest in modeling is the construction and
flying of those old-time designs that I remember but for one reason or another was not able to build in my early days.
I have tried many hobbies but I keep coming back to aeromodeling. I met the best people there. |
2009 |
 Addie
Mae NACCARATO - Inducted 2009
Born October 29, 1926 --- Died March 4, 2007
Addie Mae Naccarato was born in New Orleans. Her first connection with model airplanes involved
completing model airplane kits that her older brothers had started, but not finished. Addie's family moved to Los
Angeles when she was a teenager. She was still interested in model airplanes. She saw a hobby shop; she went in and
asked for a job. The owner of the hobby shop was Tony Naccarato Sr.. She got the job and a few years later they were
married.. Los Angeles was a hotbed of model aviation and model airplane engine manufacturers in the 40's and 50's.
Tony Sr. and Addie were friends with, or worked with Duke Fox, Jim Walker, Howard Bonner and Bob Dunham among others.
Young Mrs. Naccarato proved to be a very competitive pilot in a number of disciplines including control line, RC
pylon racing and electric free flight. She was also a master builder, both of flying scale model airplanes and of
corporate display models.
The Naccarato family hobby shop was "T&A Hobby Lobby" in Burbank, California.. The "T" in T&A
was originally Tony Sr. but upon his death the "T' became Tony Jr. Addie, along with both her husband and then
her son, spent tens of thousands of hours over nearly 60 years from the mid 1940's on teaching other people how to
build and fly model airplanes of all types. It started with teaching people how to fly control line in Griffith Park
in the early 1950's and continued through the formation of the Black Sheep Squadron which teaches young kids how to
build and fly model airplanes to this day.
T & A Hobby Lobby was a mecca for OT model flyers, rubber and electric flyers and FF flyers. English and Australian
OT modelers had "T&A" on their "must visit" list when they came to the States. Good wood, paint,
silk and tissue were always available as were kits. A modeler could fmd all of the little bits and pieces in the shop
that would make a model fly, whether it was a winding hook for a rubber model or a gasket for a 35 year old glow engine.
Models of all types hung from the walls and the ceilings, and there was always at least one model under construction
by Addie. Addie worked behind the shop counter until she was in her 70s, and after that stayed in the shop building
models and dispensing building advice until a few months before her death. Many of the SAM modelers in Southern California
got their start in the hobby as a result of walking into T& A Hobby Lobby. As someone who owned and ran an "old
time model shop" for almost 60 years Addie Mae Naccarato rightly belongs in the SAM Hall of Fame. |
2009 |
 Louis
GARAMI - Inducted 2010 top of this page
Born 1898 -- Died 1950's
Louis Garami was born in 1898 in Budapest, Hungary and died in the 1950's in this country. His older brother Joe introduced
him to modeling in 1908 at age 10 and he built model airplanes until he died. He migrated to the United States in 1922.
He is known in modeling as the very prolific designer of small free flight gas and rubber-powered models, and also
as the long time salesman and technical adviser at Polk’s Model Craft and Hobbies in New York City. He did everything
from designing kits to overhauling old engines to promoting the “Mighty Atom.”
During the 1930s, he and Henry Struck banded together for a mass-production blitz of all-balsa fuselage models. Their
products were sold at Macy’s. Their line became obsolete when Ideal came out with a molded fuselage model.
At this late day (2010) Louis’ best known design is the Strato Streak small pylon gas model. The Strato Streak
came in two sizes, a 52 in. wingspan model for Class A and a 40 in. wingspan model for the Atom .09. Both sizes are
in the forefront of SAM Gas Model competition. In fact, many Garami designs were small gas models for the Atom .09
because of his friendship Ray Arden, the designer of the Atom. The Atom was promoted by Polk’s and Louis was
the chief proponent.
Louis’ design tastes were truly omnivorous. They ranged from the Strato Streaks mentioned above, to the Skylark, Molecule, Garami’s Gyro and Colibri, all gas jobs, to a whole assortment of small rubber-powered types. Spunky
was a small monocoque fuselage rubber job and his Duck was a scale-like amphibian resembling a single-engine Grummen
Widgeon. Louis was a truly innovative designer and flier.
His designs and his contributions to old time modeling have been overlooked for these many years because he died before
SAM was founded and he had been dead some 40 to 50 years when the SAM Hall of Fame was established in 1989.
The models and work of Louis Garami
1. Garami's Gull Wing. A small rubber-powered all balsa beginner's model AT 3-1939.
2. Phone Booth Special. A small indoor-type rubber model. FA 4-1938.
3. The Duck. A small rubber powered anphibian. AT 8-1939.
4. The Cabineer. Sm. Rubber. Powered cabin job with monocoque construction. AT 11-1938.
5. Garami's background. Flyoff, Rd. 42, Winter 2001.
6. Colibri: Sm. Fuselage gas model, MAN 9-1939.
7. Model Motor Manual: A collaberation with Howard McEntee.
8. Molecule: Sm. Gas model. AT 12-1939.
9. Garami Bipe: Sm. Rubr powered bipe. AT 3-1948.
10. Strato Streak: Cl. A pylon gas model. AT 12-1941.
11. Skylark: Class A/B gull winged beauty.
12. Garami's Gyro: Sm. Rubber-powered true autogyro. AT 2-1946.
13. Spunky: SM. Rubber model with monocoque fuselage. AT 9-1945
14. Half Pint OT(wm)
15. Knockabout OT(wm)
16. Sly Lark OT(wm)
17. WaHoo OT(wm) |
2010 |
 Ernie
SHAILOR - Inducted 2010
Born July 18, 1923 --- Died 1966
Born in Greenfield (Dearborn) on July 18, 1923, son of Ernest Shailor, sign maker. One of three children, Dorothy,
the oldest, Ernie, and Bill.
When World War II broke out, he avoided the draft since he was blind in his right eye. This occurred earlier when,
experimenting with a single-bladed propeller, it flew off, striking him in the eye. His brother, Bill, was not so
fortunate. Bill was killed in Germany in 1944. This devastated Ernest, Sr. Ernie left school and opened up a sign
making shop in their garage, “Shailor & Son Sign Company.” He also worked testing top turrets for
B-25’s.
Early on, Ernie was an avid modeler, starting first with rubber-powered models and then gas. His first engine was
a Phantom and he eventually preferred Foresters.
Ernie’s favorite class was B Gas and he, like most young men in the Detroit area during that time, spent his “movie” money
and time at Joe’s Hobby Shop, owned by Frank Dallaire. He competed at early National model airplane championships
all across the country and competed and placed at the legendary Plymouth Internats in the late 40’s and early
50’s.
Noted for tip dihedral, one of his first successful designs was the “Happy Medium”, a “B” ship
that won a number of contests including the Texas Nationals. It was originally called the “Wombat”, but
the editor at Airtrails suggested something different.
Ernie made the 1955 World Championship Power Team. This was the first to have all three events held at the same meet.
The World Championships held in Weisbaden, Germany saw such notable US Team members as Hank Cole, Bob Champine, Harry
Gould and Bill Hartill. Ernie lost his number 1 model and was not able to make it back for the next round, getting
a zero. He had made the team, and wanted to do it again.
The following program, his chances for a repeat membership ended with an overrun. Then, with kids and work, the FAI
program seemed to lose its importance.
I remember his last NATS in Chicago in 1966. By that time, he was fully involved in flying old timer models and winning
contests with his “American Ace”. He was one of the early members of Michigan’s Sam Chapter and
became an avid ignition engine collector. One of the highlights of his collection was when he acquired an in-the-original-box
Hurleman Aristocrat, which I still have. Old Timer events brought my dad fully back into model flying and my brother
and I still enjoyed chasing for him and socializing with folks like Karl Spielmaker and others who enjoyed flying
Old Timer models.
Ernie Shailor passed away on November 15, 1966. He had suffered a heart attack while working a night job fixing the
sign atop the Gilewski Funeral Home not far from Lasky recreation and my grandmother’s house.
After he passed away, several modelers sponsored the “Shailor Memorial Trophy” which was presented by
my brother, Paul, at the first Sam Champs held in Colorado in 1967.
I will always remember his easy style and sense of humor.
By Bill Shailor
|
2010 |
 Bill
(William) HALE - Inducted 2010
Born
Bill Hale was born and raised in the south end of Columbus, Ohio. He became interested in model
airplanes at an early age with the small Megow rubber powered planes as so many kids did. In 1939 he acquired a Phantom
27 engine and ordered a Phantom Flash model kit from California. This was just the first of hundreds of gas models
Bill was to build over the next 70 years. Bill’s father started a hobby shop beside their home while Bill was still in his teens, and
Bill managed the shop through his school years. During World War 2, Bill was a proud member of the Marines, serving
as an aircraft mechanic in the South Pacific. Returning to his beloved hobby, in 1949 he attended his first Nats at
Olathe, Kansas and also the Plymouth International at Detroit. This was the start of a steady stream of Nats where,
always competitive, he won many awards. A member of the Columbus Model Flyers, Bill helped to start the Central Ohio
Free Flight Club and today is still the backbone of the club. In 1965, the club applied for a SAM Chapter, formed the
COOTS (Central Ohio Old Timer Society) and became Chapter 6. While Bill has built and competed with all types of free
flights, his first love has always been old timers. His planes have always had a distinctive color scheme, all yellow
with black stripes on the wing. This has earned him the nickname, “Old Yellow.” He has designed many airplanes,
the most popular being his Basic Yellow, a PeeWee 30 design. A prolific engine collector, Bill was a longtime member
of MECA and for years could be seen manning their booth at the Toledo Show. An engine expert, Bill could be counted
upon to always help any modeler with engine problems. Many modelers owe their flying success to Bill’s trimming
tips. With increasing health problems, he has been forced to liquidate his huge engine collection and curtail his flying
activities. The 2008 Nats was his finale and one of his most enjoyable as his three sons traveled to Muncie to be with
their dad on his final flights. Bill Hale is well known and loved by free flighters all over the country. |
2010 |
 Carl
REDLIN - Inducted 2011 top of this page
Born January 28, 1931 --
Carl Redlin was born January 28, 1931, in Detroit, Michigan. He became interested in model airplanes during his grade school years building stick-and tissue, rubber-powered models, and Hand-Launch gliders.
Carl was a Junior member of the Detroit Balsa Bugs. When Carl won his first contest, he was hooked on model airplanes. During his junior and senior years of high school, Carl went on to win numerous events in Indoor, Outdoor Rubber, and even CL Speed, holding one record briefly in Class A Speed and one of the first seniors to break 100 mph officially.
Carl received his engineering degree from the University of Detroit in 1954. After working in Detroit for a few years, he joined the US Coast Guard as a reserve officer for a three-year tour of duty. In 1961, he was offered a job in Southern California working for McDonnell Douglas in the aerospace division.
In 1960 and 1961, Carl was a member of the US Indoor Team competing at Cardington, England. In 1960, the US won the team championship. In 1961, Carl won the bronze medal, posting a single flight high time of 45 minutes and 17 seconds. From 1966-1971, Carl campaigned his original design A1 Nordic glider, called High Drifter, on the West Coast, winning first place seven times, including the 1967 Nats.
After a hiatus from modeling, in 1992, Carl traveled through Vegas and stopped to observe a Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) championship. Carl soon thereafter joined AMA and SAM, and began building models again flying in mainly Mulvihill and Moffett events. At the 2004 Nats in Muncie, Indiana, Carl shared in winning the Mulvihill trophy with Bob Perkins and Bud Romak. Then, at the 2006 Nats, he was on the Moffett event winning team. His interest them turned to the AMA Dawn Mulvihill event. To date, he has won the event five times with a high of 14 minutes, 58 seconds, achieved in 2007 with a lightweight version of his Mulvihill winner called Day Break. It was also nominated Model of the Year in 2008.
Carl’s annual attendance since 1993 at the SAM Champs has won him many top places in rubber events. As an example in 1998 Carl won the Grand Champion Award by winning 1st
in Small Rubber Fuselage flying a Double Feature, 2nd in Large Rubber Fuselage flying a Dethermalizer, 4th in Large Rubber Stick flying a Smith-Mulvihill and 1st in Small Rubber Stick flying a Korda Class C. He continues to be a top SAM competitor in all the rubber flying categories.
|
2011 |
 Bill
ATWOOD - Inducted 2011
Born July 22, 1910 --- Died April 28, 1978
Honors:-
- 1979: National Free Flight Society Hall of Fame
- 1982: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
- 2011 Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Bill Atwood was one of the most prolific model engine designers of all time. He was a fierce competitor, a holder of model aviation state championships and holder of many world records. At age 15, he built his first aircraft, a 20-foot Wright Brothers' hang glider, to fly with the Riverside California Glider Club. Developing his flying skills, by 1930 he had earned some flight instruction in Curtiss Jennies and completed (in 16 months) a winning sailplane with a 60-foot wing. In 1928 bill became interested in model boat racing and designed a 15cc water-cooled boat engine was made with parts cast by Atwood in his backyard while still in high school. In 1932, Bill built a nine-foot span model of spruce covered with butcher paper and used his newly designed Baby Cyclone .36 engine. His model flew for a 26-minute flight, even before Maxwell Basset gained notoriety with his gas model. Unpublicized was the fact that Atwood's plane made the flight carrying his neighbor's cat as cargo. 1935 was the year Bill Atwood won the California State Championship using his newly designed Baby Cyclone engine. In1938 Bill went to work for Phantom Motors Division. Here and made significant design innovations and improvements to the Phantom engine. In 1939, he built a 10 cc model racecar engine, the Crown Champion, which he installed in a Bunch car and amazed the car buffs. Bill continued development and production until World War II intervened when he became a glider pilot instructor for the Army Air Corps. In mid-1945, Bill established Atwood Motors where he produced magnesium casting Champions Model H and Model J. Soon thereafter many different engines were designed and produced at Atwood motors and other companies.
The following lengthy listing is a record of his achievements:-
1934, Baby Cyclone, 1938 Phantom and Hi-Speed, 1938 Silver Crown 15 c.c. marine racing engine casting kits, 1939 Hi-Speed, Bullet and Torpedo, 1939 Atwood Wasp and Wasp Special Race Car, 1940 Silver Crown engine kits, Blue, Green, Red and Purple Crown engines and Champion race cars, 1941 Champion Engines, 1941 Phantom, Torpedo, Bullet and P-30 engines, 1942 Champion, Phantom, Bullet, and Torpedo, 1945 Champion and Bullet engines, Atwood Bullet, Atwood Torpedo, Champion Model H and J, 1946 Phantom P-30, 1946~1947 Champion Model H, J, Super Champ JH and Champion Model I, 1948 Super Champion, Glo-Devil, Super Champion DR, Glo Devil DR, Triumph 49 and Triumph 51, 1949 Triumph 49 & 51 and Holland Wasp .049, 1952 Wen-Mac .049, 1953 Triumph 49 & 51, Atwood .049 & .051, OS 29, 1954 Cadet, Signature .049, outboard and inboard 1955 Signature .051, 1956 Atwood Shriek .049 & .051, 1958 Jungle Queen Steam Boat, 1958 Atwood Shriek .049 1959 Atwood Shriek .051 & Super Cadet; Pagco XF-9 (redesigned by Atwood from Pogo .09) 1959 Bill joined L. M. Cox Mfg. Co. and designed; Olympic and Sportsman .15, TD .010, .020, .049, 051, .09 and .15, MK II .15, Concept .35 & .40 and Conquest .15 & .40.
Bill Atwood worked for Cox until his death on April 28, 1978.
Atwood invented, discovered, designed or however you want to class it, the rotary valve intake for these miniature engines. He was constantly working on the engines of the future and managed to stay one jump ahead of many of his competitors. He was always trying something different. It did not always work, but the many different designs proved he was not afraid to try. (Model Airplane News article January 1979 & Dr. T. C. O’Mears (condensed version))
|
2011 |
 Hal COVER- Inducted 2011
Born 1937 ---
Honors:-
- 2012 AMA Hall of Fame
Hal’s first contest was in 1948 at age 11 with a Pacific Ace rubber model, with which he won 2nd place. At the '52 Nats he set a national record in Al/B Payload. In 1954 his Submarine Sparrow was his first published magazine article.
By the late '60s, Hal had become firmly entrenched in the Old-Timer movement. He still flies his 4O-year-old Taibi Powerhouse with which he won the SAM Champs Grand Championship title at Taft in1970. Hal expanded into Nostalgia era models as well. In recent years, Hal has mostly flown old timer and nostalgia gas and in rubber events.
In rubber Wakefield events he has flown a '39 Korda Wakefield, a Goodrich 1941 Trophy Winner, a Zaic's New Yorker and a Wakefield 1936 4 oz. Judge winner. Hal is proud of having won the prestigious "Bob White" Gollywock contest in 2007 through 2011.
Hal has published several articles on his beautiful Chet Lanzo 1939 designed Puss Moth rubber model with Edo floats. He also has published more than 20 articles in model magazines including Model Airplane News, Flying Models, Model Aviation, American Aircraft Modeler, and Model Builder.
In 1949 he entered the Southern Ca. Plymouth Internationals in A/B Gas and won 3rd. Hal's first SAM old timer was a Buzzard Bombshell with a Madewell .49 Ignition engine. In SAM’s gas events he currently flies his Powerhouse, the Foote Westerner, a Miss Tillie, an "A" Ranger and a Brooklyn Dodger. His current glider of choice is a Thermic 100. In Nostalgia Free Flight Hal flies a 108” w/s Gool powered by a Fox .59 glow engine. He won 1st place at the 1949 Nat’s flying this model.
Hal has been a member of the SCAMPS, Thermal Thumbers and
Flightmasters. He has served as president or director of seven clubs or organizations, including the Lost Hills Free Flight Model Airfield Association.
Hal has shown a deep and sincere involvement in model aviation, particularly SAM and the NFFS Nostalgia era oriented activities.
Hal has many lifetime achievements both personal and professional including receiving two commendations from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for work on the Centaur Launch Team, and for his work on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather satellite program. (Biography from 2011 SAM Hall of Fame Program directory)
|
2011 |
 Barbara MULHOLLAND - Inducted 2012 top of this page
Born 1942 ---
Barbara began her building and flying career in 1999. She showed unusual talent in the flying of SAM Old-timers. She was soon recognized as a challenging competitor. To support her increasing participation in SAM contests she studied for and received not only her FCC am license but her AMA Contest Director certificate in 2001. The final Championship Trophy of SAM 93, Tulsa, OK was awarded to Barbara in 2007. Barbara has a fondness for flying ignition old-timer models and at the 2006 Muncie SAM Champs she tied for the R/C Ignition Championship. Then, at the 2008 Champs, she on the R/C Ignition Championship outright. She is the first woman competitor to have done so. At this same SAM Champs she was awarded the Carolyn Persson Sweetheart of SAM award.
Barbara has served as the secretary of the Florida Flyers Club for seven years. She has served as the Assistant R/C CD at the 2002 SAM Champs. For the last six ears she has served as the Assistant R/C CD for the Florida Winter-Fly SAM R/C Contest. She has appeared on the cover of SAM peaks in the July/August 2002 and the January/February issues.
Barbara is the distributor of the SAM Speaks magazine around the world to all who occasionally miss an issue. She has served in this capacity for eight years and continues to do so. A side light to this work is corresponding with man SAM members who have over the years become her friends. |
2012 |
 Tommy GRAY - Inducted 2012
Born 1947 ---
Tommy was born in 1947 and started modeling at age 6. He started out flying in competition in about 1955 when he joined the AMA. When he would attend contests he had a keen interest in Hand Launch gliders and power Free Flight, as well as control line. Today he adds R/C as an interest to those and competes on both sides of SAM regularly. Tommy has been a regular competitor in meets all across the nation, since he began modeling and has won numerous awards.
The first Nats he competed in were in 1960. Due to the support of a strong local club with a competitive spirit, he became an avid competitor and designer, never flying kit planes, but almost always his own scratch built designs.
Tommy went on to be an officer in several clubs and national modeling organizations. He served as Webmaster, Secretary, and
President of several clubs. He is currently President of SAM 15. He has served as Executive Committee member (VP) for the VR/CS covering the entire 7 state South Central region.
He took over the position of Secretary for SAM in 2007 and has since that time, rewritten the SAM software system to improve it and make it more functional. He is currently in the process of migrating the entire SAM membership and Event system to a new online system that will give SAM great flexibility in handling renewals, new members, Bookstore and Champs registration.
Tommy is a staunch competitor having won numerous awards at the SAM Champs and has sponsored SAM events as well. He has a passion for modeling and SAM in general. |
2012 |
 Woody BARTELT - Inducted 2012
Born 1929 --- Died April 14, 2018
Elwood "Woody" Bartelt was born in 1929 in Hartford, WI and has built models since 1938, He has been an AMA member since 1938. He and Gloria were married in 1950. He served in the US Army in Korea and resumed modeling in 1958. Woody sold cars until 1965 when he went to work for Cessna as multi-engine district manager. In 1969 he went to work for Cal Aero. In 1976 he started and worked his fixed-base operation, Bartelt Aviation until his retirement in 1995. His son now runs Bartelt Aviation.
Woody has owned Bartelt Travel Co since 1982.
Woody started Micro Model Engineering Co. in 19XX and sold it in 1988 when he started his present company, Aero Electric. He is a cottage industry supplier of reproduction antique ignition model engines and parts.
He was SAM President in 1972 and 1973 and has been Secretary/Treasurer and Midwest VP.
As President, Woody was instrumental in getting radio control into SAM. He is still an active builder and flier of antique free flight models and has successfully competed all over the US. He has missed only two SAM Champs.
Woody was President of the Model Engine Collectors Association for 10 years. He is a member of the National Free Flight Society. He has hosted many old timer meets in Michigan. Woody founded the bi-annual Midwest Champs.
A partial list of Woody's engines available today includes the following:
Two Atoms, a Fox .60, a Bungay 60, a Circle .30, four Doolings, an Elf Corncob, two Hornet .60s, a Lykens Brown .12, four McCoys, a Ranger B .29 and a Yellow Jacket. These are in addition to many, many engine and system parts.
Woody Bartelt is overdue as a member of the SAM Hall of Fame. |
2012 |
 Dr. George
SHACKLETT - Inducted 2012
Born August 29, 1926 ---
Dr. George Shacklett, SAM 3774L, was born in 1926. He began modeling in 1936 with a 50-cent Comet Curtiss Robin kit. Thus began a love of model aviation which has lasted a lifetime. After the Robin he built many models until WWII intervened. George was drafted into the US Navy and became a Pharmacist Mate Third Class. In 1946 he entered pre-med at the University of Tennessee. He managed to build and campaign an Ohlsson 60 Comet Sailplane during his college years. Upon completing his medical training he returned to Rockwood, TN to practice Family Medicine. He was later offered a faculty position at the University of Tennessee. He started and directed the Family Medicine post graduate program. In the late 1960s he discovered that old time free flight models could be flown with R/C and began competing in SAM contests. George had been an AMA CD for several years and began to organize SAM contests in Tennessee. He is recognized as the CD who keeps SAM alive in Tennessee. George's full size Goldberg Valkyrie is a familiar sight at the Champs and is flown with both gas and electric power. His may have been the first electric Valkyrie.
George has published extensively in Model Airplane news, Model Builder, RCM & E (England), SAM Speaks, Model Aviation and many, many club newsletters.
Dr. Shacklett was President of the Knox County R/C Society and procured their site in 1972. It continues to the present. He has given numerous SAM-related seminars to the KCRC and the TN Eagles. In 2010 he reactivated SAM Chapter 43 which was dormant. It now has 15 members and a slate of officers. |
2012 |
 John "Trevor" BOUNDY - Inducted 2013 top of this page
Born Melbourne, November 11, 1939 ---
Honor:- - 2013: The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
I was introduced to control line flying in1952 while attending Oakleigh Technical College, Victoria, Australia.
I joined Elsternwick-Caulfield MAC in about 1956 and flew control line under the guidance of the late Monty Tyrrell.
Winner of the Short Bros and Harland Trophy in 1956.
I competed in the MAAA 1958 Australian Nationals at Eagle Farm in Queensland and won Junior Champ of Champs flying control line B Class Speed and B Class Team Race. I was introduced to the wonders of SAM RC flying by Grahame McDonald in 1983.
The highlight in my model flying career would probably be winning the Australian SAM Eastern States Gas Champs Grand Champion in 1998 and 1999.
I created the developed the web based FlyNet (the SAM Model Recognition Program) from Allan Laycock's paper system. I was editor for SAM 600 Thermaleer Newsletter from 1995 to 1998 and then Webmaster for SAM 600, from 1998 to 2011. I took over being Webmaster from Dave Harding for SAM International in 2007.
I created the data base for the SAM Approved Design List for Rubber, Gas Models and Hand Launch and Towline Glider for Gene Wallock from sources compiled by authors like John Pond, Danny Shields, Vic Smeed, previous paper SAM approved lists, including Allan Laycock's lists and lots of aircraft magazines.
Graduated as a Professional Mechanical Engineer and have worked mainly in design and manufacture fields, my employment career includes working for the Aeronautical Research Laboratories in design of aircraft testing machines and in manufacturing workshops. (Biography mostly from 2013 SAM Hall of Fame Program directory)
|
2013 |
 Tandy WALKER - Inducted 2013
Born 1934 ---
Honor:- 2013: The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Tandy is a private pilot and has a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Oklahoma, and a registered professional engineer. Tandy is married, has two children, and retired from the LTV Aerospace & Defense Company in 1993, after a successful 34 year engineering career.
Tandy started trying to build stick and tissue models around the age of eight and soon began flying gas powered control line models in elementary school. He was introduced to the free flight designer Ray Matthews of Oklahoma City. This launched Tandy into free flight with the building and flying of several sizes of Ray's Fubar design. However, Tandy never developed into a successful free flight modeler.
After college graduation, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where he began flying radio control models. It was during this time that he met Richard (Dick) Huang who introduced Tandy to the SAM movement. Tandy attended his first SAM Champs with Dick in 1994. He has competed and placed in most of the SAM Champs Ignition LER events as well as the Pure Antique and Texaco events starting back in 1994 up to the present time, winning first C-Ignition LER event in 1998 and winning the 2010 RIC Concours event with his McCoy 60 powered Comet Sailplane. Tandy has served on the SAM Design Review Committee for over 12 years.
Over a period of some 14 years Tandy has written and documented over 1,150 step-by-step detailed construction reports for building many SAM Old Timer and Nostalgia models, which he has shared with the SAM membership and the SAM web site. He has contributed a number of "How To” articles to the SAM official web site. He developed and documented a 16 page instruction booklet on the restoration of Ray Arden's .099 and.199 model engines including how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble these delicate vintage engines.
Tandy wrote and published A Review of Ray Matthews' Free Flight Designs in 2001. The book deals with Ray Matthews life and presents extensive detail about his many design contributions to the nostalgia free flight period. Tandy was able to get all of Ray's 19 free flight designs approved for NFFS Nostalgia competition.
Tandy has recently developed and implemented his web site "Tandy's Model Aircraft" which is located at http:// tandysmodelpIanes.com/. This web site makes available all of the construction reports for all of his SAM Old Timer model projects. (Biography from 2013 SAM Hall of Fame Program directory)
|
2013 |
 Bob ABERLE - Inducted 2013
Born ---
Honors:-
- 1981: AMA Distinguished Service Award
- 1982: AMA Fellow
- 1982: Vintage Radio Control Hall of Fame
- 1982: Howard McEntee Award
- 1998: Model Aviation Hall of Fame
I started in this wonderful hobby of model aircraft back in 1950 (63years ago). My efforts in supporting our hobby has blessed me with some wonderful awards, such as the AMA Hall of Fame, AMA Fellow and the Vintage RC Society Hall of Fame. And now I'm able to complete the "triple crown" of modeling, the SAM Hall of Fame.
Over my 63 years in the hobby I have designed and published over 100 aircraft. Many were revivals of old timer and antique designs. In addition to that I've published probably over ten thousand pages of articles concerning every aspect of our hobby. I've often felt of myself as an "educator” I always tried to explain the "technical tricks" of our hobby to make it easier for others.
Back in the late eighties, my long time friend and fellow Long Island Gas Monkeys club member, Larry Davidson, convinced me to get into SAM competition flying. For the next ten years I built literally dozens of old timer and antique aircraft, with glow, ignition, diesel and electric power. That was only ten of my sixty three years in our hobby. I have to tell you that ten year period was my very best in our hobby. It is why I respect SAM flyers so very much. Today I'm surrounded with a load of trophies that I won while flying in SAM competitions. That is something that I am very proud of.
In more recent times I began a series of reduced size old timer models. All were around 200 square inches of wing area, weighing approx. 7 to 10 ounces and always with electric power. These designs have all appeared since 2006 in the pages of RC Micro World, which is edited by Roland Friestad. At this writing the number of reduced size old timer aircraft that I published totals 13. It was always my hope that a modern day SAM competition could be developed around this size of aircraft. I'm hopeful that that will happen. I thank everyone in the SAM organization for presenting me with this wonderful award. (Biography from 2013 SAM Hall of Fame Program directory)
|
2013 |
 Van HEREFORD - Inducted 2013
Born ---
Honor:- - 2013: The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Before his involvement with SAM, Van was a dedicated free flight modeler. Decades ago he competed using his own designs in local, regional and national contests. Many of his models were derivatives of Ramrods and he corresponded with Ron St. Jean about design and trim factors. Van entered his vintage years with a solid foundation in modeling via free flight design and flying.
Van became a force in the early 1990's in model contests in Texas and Louisiana. His major interest then was in SAM radio control and other radio control events using .049 and .15 engines. He was hard to beat using his own
Shadow design in both sizes. From the start he was a worthy competitor in these events and frequently placed in the top five. As he grew more involved in national SAM competition, Van became a trusted source for unusual and competent RC 1I2A Scale designs.
When the interest in his design work grew, he explored the process of publication. Preparing drawings and developing coherent construction articles worthy of publication in a major model magazine is not a trivial undertaking.
He has accomplished this feat at least twenty times. His published works are a mixture of competition models, chiefly RC Scale, and a variety of sport models. The sport designs include both rubber powered and small engine powered FF and RC models. Many entailed contacts across Europe and the United States to acquire background information.
Van Hereford's Published Design and Construction Articles
- AM Annual 1962 Ed, IS" Handlaunch Glider FM 3/00. Klemm.133 - RC 1/2A Scale
- Frank Zaic Year Book. Handlaunch Glider FM 6101. Habicht - RC 1/2A Scale
- MAN 3/63, Ladybug - Cox.02O Profile Bipe FF FM 3102, Erla 6A - RC 1/2A Scale
- MAN 11/63, Corky-Cox .020 Semi Scale Bipe FM PM 1/03. Dewoitine D1 RC 1/2A Scale
- MAN -4/64. Poncelet Vivette-Cox .020 SS. FF FM 1/03. Jack’s Plane - Rubber ROG
- MAN 8/92, Shadow-Cox .049, RC Duration FM 2/04 Lindsay’s Racer 17” Rubber FF
- MAN 4/93, Big Shadow - Fox.l5 RC Duration FM 8/05, Stahlwerk Mk lll b - RC 1/2AScale
- MAN 6194. Messerschmitt M.17 RC 1/2A Scale FM 2/06. B.R. Sportster- 17” Rubber FF
- FM 8/98, Erla 5A - RC 1/2A Scale FM 4/07 Lindsay's Racer 430 - Electric
- FM 6/99, Trey Boy- I7'" Rubber FF FM9/08 Poncelet Vivette RC 1/2A Scale
- FM 6/99. Trey Boy-47" OS Max .10 Sport RC
At the SAM Champs from 1995 through 2010, Van's published designs scored in the top five 19 times and in the top three places 12 times. Five different designs achieved top places.
Through his excellent design work, and his eagerness to share it, Van
Hereford has helped create many special moments for a lot of SAM flyers.
(Biography from 2013 SAM Hall of Fame Program directory) |
2013 |
 Otto BERNHARDT - Inducted 2013
Born November 1, 1919 --- Died November 6, 1998
Honor:- - 2013: The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Otto Theodore Bernhardt was born of European immigrant parents. From early childhood, he was both exposed to and trained in basic machine shop procedures in his father's home machine shop. Drafted into the army in 1944, he served with the U.S. Army of Engineers on the island of Tinian. After the war he readily found skilled machinists work with a number of southern California major industrial complexes.
Otto's father was heavily involved with model boats-high-performance tethered racing boats powered by his own homemade flash steam engines. Otto also became involved with boats, but he found model airplanes more to his liking.
Otto's first gas-free flight model was a Dennyplane Jr, powered by-what else…a Dennymite engine. This was Otto's first and possibly the only kit he built. Instead, he later scratch built from printed plans, or he often built his own designs.
Otto's modeling career was put aside during his army stint, then the time and effort to raise a family (plus Otto had been building a 32-foot boat in his backyard). His oldest son's interest in model airplanes helped him to become re-interested in modeling. He was especially enthralled that people were building
and flying the old-time designs of his youth, with equally old-time spark ignition engines.
Otto joined the Southern California Ignition Flyers (SCIFS), the second
SAM chartered club. He flew in his first SAM Champs in Denver in 1967 with his Lanzo Record Breaker that later became a cover model for Model Builder Magazine.
During the late 1970s the allure of radio control flying took over and Otto and a group of fellow RJC flyers formed SAM Chapter 49. Otto recognized the severe shortage of spark ignition engines during those early days of SAM flying and began to experiment with adding ignition points to glow engines, much like Bruce Chandler of the SCIFS and Jimmy Dean of the SCAMPS were doing.
Ultimately, he developed a custom-built breaker point design that could be sized and adapted to a wide variety of engines. The polished brass timer body became his trademark and is still widely used today.
Otto then began a cottage industry that became known as 77 Products. He offered ready-to-run converted OS engines and then it expanded into coils, condensers, timers and various items that were listed in his published catalog. 77 Products was a small company that had a significant effect on helping SAM grow by providing much-needed products and machine shop work. (Biography from 2013 SAM Hall of Fame Program directory)
|
2013 |
 Ray HEIT - Inducted 2013
Born July 29, 1920 ---
Honor:- - 2013: Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Ray Heit was modeling from the age of 8. He got a Brown Jr. engine at the age of 14. He competed at Hadley Field in New Jersey, and at Creedmore, Long Island, Van Courtlandt Park in the Bronx, and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. He's modest about his contest success record - mostly second and third places. But, then he was flying against, and knew Ben Shereshaw, Sal Taibi, Maxwell Bassett, Joe Kovel, Frank Zaic and Frank Ehling. He flew in early nationals at Akron, Detroit and Saint Louis. On one of those nationals’ trips, he was partially sponsored by Irwin and Nat Polk. He was an early member of the Brooklyn Skyscrapers.
Back in those days kit manufacturers would approach successful modelers and ask to buy their designs. which then would be kitted. By the time Ray was 16 he was selling designs to the Bay Ridge Model Company. He was dating his future wife Shirley - who was 14 years old. He wanted some money so he could take Shirley out to nice places - and designed and sold the Thermal Magnet to get money to do that. It must have worked because he married the lady and they spent almost 60 years together before she passed away.
Ray designed and built the original Scram for Flying Aces magazine. It was published in the July 1938 issue. In addition Ray designed Scrappy, Bay Ridge Mike, Thermal Magnet and Bullet, all excellent designs and still being built and flown in SAM contests. John Pond was involved with Tyro Models and he selected the Bay Ridge Mike as one of their first 1/2A Texaco kits back in the late 70's. In addition to his gas model designs, Ray designed several rubber scale models for the Capital Model Company of Brooklyn.
After the war, Ray came out to California and got involved as a banker in real estate finances. He owned and flew several private planes and held instrument and commercial pilots ratings. His involvement with model aviation tapered off. When Ray retired they moved to Bear Valley Springs in the Tehachapi Mountains. After Shirley passed away Ray became depressed. At the 2007 SAM Champs at which Ray was honored, his daughter commented "that model airplanes saved her dad's life' ~ She let him be depressed for a while, and then told him to buckle down and start building model airplanes again. He did that. He still misses Shirley, but building and flying old time model airplanes helps Ray make it through the day. (Biography from 2013 SAM Hall of Fame Program directory)
|
2013 |
 Richard TANIS - Inducted 2013
Born 1926 ---
Honor:- - 2013: The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Richard Tanis was born in Hawthorne. NJ, and has lived in that area all his life. His father introduced him to aviation at age 2 with a ride in a Curtiss OX-5 powered biplane, and taught him to make paper airplanes at age 5.
Megow kits became his first source of built-up models. and he soon began to design, build and fly his own simple ROG models. Time brought forth more advanced kits and designs in both rubber and glider types. Capitol, Cleveland, and Dennyplanes all became part of Richard's modeling world.
Richard's father had taught naval cadets to fly, so it was only natural that later he would teach Richard to fly. He flew L-4s, PF 19s and later a Bonanza. Later, Richard entered the air force as an aviation cadet-and took his model activities to Texas with him. He took first place in both a glider and a rubber event in a base-sponsored contest.
After the air force, Richard became a teacher and formed model clubs while in college and at the various schools where he taught industrial arts. Radio control modeling was in its infancy and Richard took to it with enthusiasm. His first endeavor was a five-foot wingspan Berkeley Sinbad. Later he built six- and eight-foot wingspan models.
His friendship with John Pond was cemented by their interest in this early RIC movement. John Pond gave a lot of credit to Richard as being an early pioneer of RIC old-timer competition on the east coast. The WRAMS Static Old-Timers' Display was built by Richard in 1970 and is in constant use today.
Richard ran the 1971, 1972 and 1973 RIC contests at Lakehurst Naval Air Station. In 1974 he had been rated in the top ten sailplane flyers in America and was selected to be on the USA. Soaring Team. Richard went on to win many honors for his flying and innovative work in the RIC field.
Mostly unknown by RIC flyers today, the basic format used was the result of Richard offering 3 formats for competition. After the contests, polls were taken to decide which format was favored. The format as used today in RIC flying originated from those early 1970s contests.
Among Richard's other old-timer accomplishments was his SAM approved 1937 antique fuselage model design, the Yankee Clipper. He has been a constant promoter and provider of time and materials for many decades to the old timer movement. (Biography from 2013 SAM Hall of Fame Program directory)
|
2013 |
 Kevin SHERMAN - Inducted 2014
Born 1966 ---
Honor:- 2014: The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Unlike most of us in SAM, Kevin Sherman wasn’t raised in the Golden Age of Aviation. You see, he’s only 48 years old but an outstanding modeler enthusiast. It seems the stimulus came from his father, Gary Sherman, an accomplished modeler, and Sal Taibi and a host of modeling friends. His free flight interests are broad covering designs from SAM, Nostalgia, AMA and Vintage FAI; particularly gas models but includes rubber.
Kevin has a BA degree from California State University and a private pilot’s license, but because of a medical condition he no longer flys full scale airplanes. He has won the FF Grand Championships at SAM Champs in 2001 and 2005, and was US Free Flight Grand Champion and Old-Timer Champion at the 2011 USFFC. He won the first SCAT Black Cup contest, and has won the SAM Concourse de Elegance for best built model. He is CD each year for the Taibi Annual memorial contest, Sec/Treas for SCAMPS club as well as its Past President and past news editor, and Chairman of the SAM Engine Committee in addition to having written numerous articles for magazines. He particularly enjoys machining, repairing and souping-up model engines. He has recently designed an AMA gas model called Mavstar and Dawn Mulvihill called Morning Glory. But, above all, he counts his many friendships as most important.
|
2014 |
 Harry MURPHY - Inducted 2014
Born 1929 --- Died 1999
Honor:- 2014: The Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame
Harry was the prime mover of free flight in the Midwest with a decided leaning toward Old-Timer and Nostalgia. As one of the founders of the Central Indiana Aeromodelers in the 1970’s, he and others originated a regional annual award points program that covered Indiana and surrounding states. The National Cup System of reward points is based on that format. He was a prolific writer and was editor of the Duration column of Model Aviation on an alternate basis with Bob Meuser and later Louis Joyner from 1985 to 1995. He was also editor of the CIA Informer for about 15 years that covered the Midwest. His most memorable series of articles was “The Zeek Chronicles” which he researched and was published in the 2002 NFFS Symposium report, after Harry’s death.
Bob Larsh related that he and Harry both qualified for and together attended the 1949 Plymouth Internationals in Detroit. Both finished in the top 10 in Class A in a field of several hundred. Harry attended as many contests as possible, not only to compete but to also give support to the organizers. He began designing his own models, culminating in winning a first place in Class B at the 1961 Nationals with his Sun Buster design, a 3-view of which was published in the Feb. 1962 American Modeler. Soon he came out with his Sun Liner, Lunar-Tic, Max-A-Million, Pay-Triot with which Gene Bowers won several National Payload championships and Nit Wit designs. Harry was instrumental in the formulation of the Nostalgia movement in the Midwest and the hammering out of the new NFFS rules with other clubs.
Bill Hale related that Harry flew at most of the AMA Nats and SAM Champs around the country as far back as he knew. Bill and wife Doris first meet Harry and Phyllis at the 1969 Denver SAM Champs (then known as Old-Timer Championship). He CD many of CIA’s contests with one each year being exclusively OT’ers and Nostalgia. They were held at various sites in Indiana until Wright Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio became available on a long term basis and that included the 1976 Dayton SAM Champs. Harry won Hi-Point Champion at one Champs.
Jim Haught related that Harry’s principal interest was in the Old-Timer and Nostalgia Gas classes. His Comet Zipper was a constant winner and he believed he had built or created every size Zeek known to man. Jim said Harry had no greater joy than when he spent time in his work shop with grandson Bryan, teaching him all the good things Free Flight had to offer.
Despite all of his involvement, Harry was a good family man and with his devoted wife, Phyllis, raised daughter Susan and son Dan. Harry was elected to NFFS HOF in 1993. He died in 1999 at the age of 70. |
2014 |
 Herb KOTHE - Inducted 2015
Born ---
Herb Kothe’s modeling career covers almost 70 years. Herb’s beginnings were in the Omaha, Nebraska area in the mid-1940s, and covered both gas- and rubber-powered modeling events.
In the late 1940s Herb qualified for three expense-paid trips to the famous Plymouth International Competitions held in Detroit, Michigan. He won several rubber-powered events. In 1948, Herb entered his first AMA Nationals and flew his own designed model in the Pan American Airways sponsored Pay Load event. Herb won first place and his model was featured in an Air Trails magazine article. He continued his highly successful 1/2A Pay Load activities into the early 1950s.
Also during the 1950s, Herb devoted his time and efforts to winning a place on the USA Wakefield team. From 1955 to 1969 he qualified for six Wakefield teams. His personal best place was second, in Sweden in 1956.
In 1959, the American Wakefield team was comprised of Joe Bilgri, Bob Hatschek and Herb. This team won the Team World Championship in Brienne Le Chateau, France.
In 1961, Herb was team manager for the American team when George Reich won the World Wakefield Championship in Leukrich, Germany.
In 1969, Herb retired from modeling to devote full time to his job career and to raise a family. He returned to modeling in 1989. After reviewing the many changes that had taken place during his hiatus, he became a devout Flying Aces fan, and a trip to the F.A.C. Nationals at Genesee, NY, launched Herb into a new aspect of his modeling career.
In the early 1990s, Herb expanded his flying into SAM rubber events and won nine Rubber Championships at the SAM Champs. Currently, Herb flies various AMA, FAC and SAM rubber events.
For his outstanding contributions to our great hobby, Herb has been honored with Hall of Fame awards by the Academy of Model Aeronautics, the National Free Flight Society, and now the Society of Antique Modelers.
Herb continues his active career in rubber events and is easily recognized on the flying field wearing his colorful Hawaiian-style sports shirts.
|
2015 |
 Giovanni “Ninetto” RIDENTI - Inducted 2015
Born 1930 --- Died 30 July 2012
Giovanni “Ninetto” Ridenti was born in Rome, Italy in 1930 and lived his entire life there. He died shortly after participating in the SAM Euro Champs held in Slovakia in 2012. Ed Hamler relates he first met Ninetto along with sixteen other Italians and their wives at the Pensacola SAM Champs in 2000. Ninetto’s Duchessa won best in show in the Concours d’Elegance that year. He also brought a second model, his Movo M-18, which was equally beautiful. He placed well in the five RC events in which his models qualified. Don Bekins met Ninetto several years earlier when he competed at many local Italian SAM contests before the Euro Champs were inaugurated in 2003.
For 70 years Ninetto participated broadly in FF rubber, gas, and gliders, Controline scale and speed, RC gliders, pattern and scale, before returning to the historical and vintage designs of SAM later in life. He was a top contender on the Italian aeromodeling scene for at least 50 of those years. Ed Hamler relates “I last stood on the awards podium with him in June 2012. In my opinion, Ninetto’s record at the annual SAM Euro Champs 2003 – 2012 qualifies him for the SAM HoF by itself. He was always one of the top competitors, a grand champ in 2010, and along with Luigi Binelli practically dominated the Texaco category for six years”.
Several models were of his original design. His craftsmanship was legendary. A signature touch on many of his models was an inlay of dark hardwood along the trailing edge as protection against dings. He had a collection of over 400 model engines and sometimes traveled to give clinics on engines including demonstration of his Morton M-5.
Ninetto raced motorcycles as a professional factory rider in his younger years. His profession as telecommunication engineer/technician took him on many travels around the world. In this capacity he consulted for a time with NATO.
In 2001 he was among the promoters of the foundation of the Chapter “SAM 2001 – L’Aquilone” of which he was, until the day of his death, the President. Even before taking office as president, Ninetto always tried to bring modelers to join the SAM movement. His two daughters, Giovanna and Gina, along with Paolo Montesi, his good friend and fellow founder of SAM 2001 and successor to Ninetto as President, and nominator Gabriele Montebelli along with many the world over support Ninetto Ridenti in this tribute.
|
2015 |
 Allan LAYCOCK - Inducted 2015
Born December 8, 1943 ---
Born Newcastle Australia December 8, 1943, Allan is a 7th generation Australian. His original Australian ancestor arrived as Quartermaster for the British Army unit that accompanied the Second Fleet that brought convicts to Australia in 1791. Shortly after Allan was born, his family moved to Canberra, the Australian capital, and Allan has been there ever since except for a six year stint in the Australian Air Force.
He is an international SAM competitor. The 2015 SAM Champs will be the 14th US SAM Champs he has flown in. He’s proudest of his 2011 Champs win in the A Texaco class. He’s flown several times in European SAM Champs at both Middle Wallop, England, and in Italy.
He has a knack for making friends and has served as a goodwill ambassador for SAM both in Australia, the US, and Europe. He’s brought fellow Australians along to several US SAM Champs, and his international network of friends and correspondents help spread the word about the SAM movement. He’s used that network to help locate and retrieve plans for previously undiscovered Old Time models.
Allan is of course a frequent competitor in SAM competition in Australia. He’s competed in Australia for 50 years. Allan also wrote (and has since rewritten) the Australian SAM Old Timer Rules and Antique Rules. Allan is a fast builder and over the course of the years, he’s built and flown some 60 different OT model aircraft.
In addition to writing the Australian SAM Rules, Allan promoted the growth of Australian SAM by collecting Old Timer plans and making them available to his fellow Australian. He first started by buying plans from John Pond, solely on the basis of the model’s name. When he had 100 full size plans, he started to collect them in three ring A4 sized binders (the size of plan that used to accompany John Pond’s Plug Sparks column in Model Builder magazine). Allan ultimately collected some 400 Antique and Old Timer plans, some 600 Nostalgia plans, and 300 Rubber Scale plans, all in A4 format. Allan put these plans in binders and made them available to all 6 SAM Chapters in Australia. This service to his fellow Australians was a big factor in promoting the spread of the SAM movement in Australia.
And that service also helped USA SAM. One set of Allan’s notebooks went to SAM 600 and Trevor Boundy. Allan had prepared an index or list of the hundreds of plans in his notebooks using an old data base program. Trevor worked with that list, and with the plans in the notebooks to create what we now know as the Old Timer Model Recognition Page posted on the SAM Website. Now someone who is new to the old timer movement, and doesn’t know what a particular design looked like, can go to the website and see a three view or a photo. That work, consisting of Allan’s beginning, and Trevor’s polishing, benefits SAM modelers all over the world. Allan is both a prolific and a speedy builder, and has a preference for unusual or seldom seen models. He’s brought many a rare model to the “light of day” for others to see
|
2015 |
 Bill VANDERBEEK - Inducted 2015
Born 1947 ---
Bill Vanderbeek was born in 1947 and mechanically inclined from the start. He was introduced to modeling at age 8 and by 11 he was flying control-line followed by free flight. Bill’s first FF contest was at the 1963 Nats at Los Alamitos NAS in Southern California when he was 15. He flew junior indoor HLG placing 2nd and A1 Nordic placing 3rd. Bill’s first Old Timer competition was at the 1968 Nats at Olathe, KS. This was before SAM started, and John Pond was promoting the concept. He placed 3rd in Pylon with an Aerbo powered by a TD .049. He didn’t fly Old Timer again until 1986 when he then did some 1/2A Texaco and Electric LMR R/C competition. He had good success, but he preferred FF. His first SAM Champs was in 1996 in Colorado Springs. The next year Bill and Bud Romak started attending the SAM Champs together and since then he has attended as many as possible. Bill has done well in competition, winning many of the special One Design events, both Ignition and Rubber. Bill has been FF Gas Champ, and was Overall Concours winner several times. Bill’s “My Coupe” design was selected in 1972 by The National Free Flight Society for “Model of the Year”.
Bill sponsors and directs the 2 day Oakland Cloud Duster contest in Sacramento. This is the 25th year that it has been held. He instituted the “One Design” concept, which later became a NFFS institution. He has been a leader in sponsorship and CD of many free flight contests and the Champs and helpful with the Junior FAI Power Free Flight Team. One supporter noted “I have known Bill for some 30 years, most of my modeling career. During that time he has been a leader on the free fight side of old timer modeling as a competitor, builder, designer, trophy creator and maker, contest director and promoter of OT modeling”. Bill is a long time member of the Oakland Cloud Dusters (SAM 27) and Black Jack Club (SAM 21).
The 80’s was significant as Bill came down with a very severe bout of Valley Fever, contracted on a journey to Taft. The result was that he had to ban himself from competing anywhere south of the Bay Area, including Nevada and Arizona.
Bill is an entrepreneur. Immediately following high school graduation in 1965 he was hired by NASA Ames Research as an apprentice, sheet metal maker: ducting, wind tunnel repair, animal centrifuge, aircraft repair, space flight equipment. Four years of training then Journeyman, 16 years at Ames. During the last two years he also started doing precision sheet metal production in his garage, nights and weekends. This turned into full time business and he left Ames and Vanderbeek-Bend Manufacturing was born in 1981. It has grown to 500 employees and a new 200,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility. He and his wife Jo have been married 40 years and have two sons and four grandsons.
|
2015 |
 Peter M BOWERS - Inducted 2016
Born May 15, 1918 --- Died April 27, 2003
Peter grew up in the “Lindberg Era” of aeronautics and began building rubber-powered scale models, mostly from the great Cleveland Models line in late 1932. The advent of gas-powered models had begun, and Peter got his first engine—a Baby Cyclone. This was quickly installed in a Modelcraft Corben Super Ace, and was followed by a California Chief. By 1936, Peter began designing and building his own gas-powered designs such as
The “Airmail” was his first endeavor. This model was so named because it was entered in a contest to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the U.S. Airmail Service
Peter’s first published design was the now well-known Pursuiteer, appearing in August 1939 Flying Aces magazine. Following were “Duck” (Zaic yearbook and Flying Aces Aug. 1939), “Fly Away” (Air Trails Oct. 1943), “Fly Baby” (MAN April 1945), “Udets Flamingo” Zaic reprint), and his crowning achievement, the “Rebel” (Zaic and Flying Aces Sept. 1940).
The “Rebel” was Peter’s ninth power model. It is unique for its very clean, streamlined design. It featured advanced construction techniques. It would ultimately be revised seven times—including one on floats! Mind you—all of this was accomplished while Peter was in high school!
In 1940 he enrolled in the Boeing School of Aeronautics in Oakland, CA. Peter completed this four-year course in just two years. He was commissioned in 1943 into the U.S. Army Air Corps. He served in the China-Burma-India theater as a maintenance and intelligence officer.
After discharge, Peter joined Boeing as an engineer. He enjoyed a long career at Boeing, where his talents for photography and writing were put to good use. Peter wrote and supplied photos not only for the Boeing Co.’s newsletter, but also for many outside sources such as Wings and Airpower magazines, and for over 50 years his work is included in Janes’ All the World Aircraft.
Peter built full-size replica historical airplanes like the Fokker Triplane, Wright Model EX911 (the first aircraft to cross the continental U.S.), and a Detroit G-1 primary glider; he helped with the building of several others.
Peter’s crowning achievement came from his own designed “Fly Baby.” This is possibly the most homebuilt airplane ever built, and it won the Experimental Aircraft Association’s design contest of 1962. Peter was elected to the EAA Homebuilder Hall of Fame in 2004.
|
2016 |
 Dave HARDING - Inducted 2017
Born Dec 1939 (London Eng.) ---
Dave Harding, Aeromodeller and Engineer was born in the London Docklands area (which became a prime target for the Luftwaffe). His family moved to the Potter’s Bar area in North London just before the Blitz. Dave and his family lived through the V-1 attacks. They survived a very near miss by a V2 rocket. The DeHavilland and Handley Page factories were near Potters Bar, so aviation was all around Dave. He heard many Mach bangs in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Dave started modeling in the late 1940s, as a pre-teenager. He bought ether, castor oil and amyl nitrate at the local chemists to make fuel for his ED Comp Special diesel. During the 1950s he flew control line A Team race models in many meets, including the UK Nationals. His planes were powered by ED and Oliver Tiger diesels. He was a member of the Enfield model club, and later joined the famous Croydon club. He flew A-2 towline gliders at meets on Epsom Downs.
Dave started his career in full size aviation as an apprentice at Hawker Aircraft. Hawker Chief Designer (and early modeler) Sir Sidney Camm presented Dave with the “Best Apprentice of 1960” award. That excellence on the factory floor led to engineering school. Dave got a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Kingston University, and had a year of graduate study in aerotechnology with a specialty in aerostructures at Imperial College, London.
Dave and his wife Jean emigrated to Canada in 1962. Dave’s next career move was to Vertol (now Boeing) Helicopter in Philadelphia. He held increasingly responsible positions at Boeing Helicopters, retiring in 2001 as Director of Future Programs. During the 1960s Dave organized the Boeing Balsa Choppers model airplane club. He CD’ed U Control competitions in the company parking lot. He also flew free flight competitions of all kinds. He flew Goodyear Team Race and Carrier at the 1964 Willow Grove and 1965 Grandview Nationals.
Dave took a break from modeling from the late 1960s until the early 1990s—doing the usual family and career things---but he also got involved in motorcycle racing, applying the modeling lessons to two stroke motorcycle engines.
In the early 1990s Dave took a Boeing Helicopter team out to Southern California to work on a several month long project at Bert Rutan’s Scaled Composites in Mojave California. All of Rutan’s people were modelers. One of Rutan’s employees gave Dave a then recent copy of Model Aviation where Dave learned about new glues, electric power and application of the very composites Dave had been applying to “real airplanes”. He was hooked again. Dave started with RC slope gliders near his temporary home in the Tehachapi mountains. He built his first electric powered airplane and joined the Bear Valley Springs Club (home of fellow SAM HOF member Ray Heit). Dave also made his first trip to Lost Hills.
When the Scaled Composites project ended, Dave returned to Philadelphia and joined the local sport RC Club “The Propstoppers” (SAM Chapter 76). He flew mostly electric powered airplanes, many of them his own design.
Dave became the SAM 76 newsletter editor, serving in that capacity for 15 years. He generated numerous original articles about electric flight and modeling aerodynamics. Many of those articles were subsequently published in Model Aviation, RC Modeler and Silent Flyer. The club newsletters are archived at http://propstoppers.org/newsletters.htm . Those newsletters, and Dave’s articles in them, are a great source of technical information. Dave has also written numerous articles for SAM Speaks.
Dave joined SAM in 2002, and has flown at every SAM Champs since. He flew in the SAM Contests at the Southwest Regionals at Eloy for 14 straight years. He also has flown at numerous East Coast and West Coast SAM meets. He specializes in the electric events, but has also had success in flying Texaco with his full scale Boehle Giant. He is a member of SAM’s Electric Rules Committee and is the current SAM East Coast Vice President
Dave was SAM Webmaster from 2004 to 2008, and still manages the SAM Champs portion of the SAM website.
Dave was contest manager for the 2010, 2014 and 2016 SAM Champs at Muncie, and has assisted with several Boulder City SAM Champs.
When not busy with his SAM duties, Dave spends time assisting senior engineering students in the Society of Automotive Engineers Aero Design International Competitions. During the last ten years he has served as adviser to teams from Lehigh, Widener, Drexel and Delaware universities.
Dave lives in Philadelphia with his wife Jean. |
2017 |
 Peter MICHEL - Inducted 2017
Born 24 June, 1932 (Portsmouth, Hamp. Eng.) ---
As a boy and young man in England in the late 40s, Peter had the usual modeling experience flying rubber and towline gliders. After Peter left school, he started work as a journalist on a local paper. By the 1960s, Peter was a journalist for The Rhodesia Herald in what is now Zimbabwe. The political situation got sticky in Africa, and Peter and his wife returned to London where he worked for the Daily Mirror and other newspapers and magazines until he finally retired at age 80. Along the way in his “day job” Peter learned all the parts of production journalism—page layout, editing, headline writing, and revision. Those skills proved to be a gift for the growth of SAM in England.
In 1982 at age 50 he decided to return to modeling. He built a 1928 return gear Wakefield, all spruce and silk (just as it was done in England before balsa showed up on English shores). The man, his skills, and the moment were about to meet. Peter took his Wakefield to a model rally at Old Warden, which, unknown to him would become the heartland of the SAM UK movement. Future SAM Hall of Fame member David Baker took one look at Peter’s model and said, “Join us!”
It was early days for SAM 35, and sparkplug David Baker needed a typist and rewrite man for the SAM 35 newsletter. Peter was that man. When Baker broke away to form SAM 1066, Peter followed, continuing to employ his skills on the newsletters for that organization. Those hard copy newsletters, published and distributed through the 80s and 90s helped build SAM 35 and 1066 to an eventual membership of more than 1,000 modelers. The groups were and remain SAM’s largest overseas chapters.
Peter’s magnum opus was his editorship of 13 of the 15 volumes of the SAM 35 Yearbooks. David Baker was an enthusiastic collector of modeling material and literature. But that mountain of material needed somebody had to organize it and whip it into readable shape. Peter was the man for the task. Volume One was published in December 1982. The 15th volume was published in 2012. The fifteen volumes run to more than two thousand pages of material—and when you put them on your bookshelf, they are almost if the complete Zaic Orange Book collection. And in fact, that is what the SAM 35 Yearbooks are a latter day set of Zaic books.
Peter is not just an “editor/writer”. He continues to be an active modeler flying rubber and towline gliders. Over the years he has written several articles for various model magazines and newsletters. He will have a piece published in SAM Speaks in 2017 on micro RC for rubber and towline gliders.
In addition, Peter has been very much a goodwill ambassador on the Anglo-American front. David Baker and the late SAM President Jim Adams organized a series of Anglo-American 50th Anniversary Wakefield contests starting in 1983 or 84. In alternate years groups of English modelers would bring their Wakefield models to Southern California and Taft to fly; and in the next year large groups of Southern California and East Coast modelers would go to England to fly at Old Warden or Warwick Race Course. Peter came to Southern California for one such contest in 1986. He also flew at the SAM Champs at Jean in 1991. This Anglo-American camaraderie ultimately led to the David Baker organized European SAM Free Flight Championships at Middle Wallop—enjoyed by so many American SAM modelers.
At age 85 Peter keeps his modeling hand in, enjoying the use of infield at the Epsom Downs race track just south of London. He flies rubber models and 36-inch towline gliders there. Clever fellow, he purchased his retirement home just a few miles from the track. |
2017 |
 Tedson R FIRSTER - Inducted 2017
Born August 26, 1937 (Franlin, PA, USA) ---
First Model Airplane memory at age 6 my cousin built me a P-38 stick and tissue model and did not have it covered when he first showed it to me, I thought it was the most wonderful thing in the world. All those stringers were just beautiful, unfortunately I don’t remember seeing the finished model.
Late Forties in Georgia I got an Air Trails Magazine and fell in love with the free flight models and even built a Pod & Boom model that actually looked pretty good but could not figure out how to mount the engine. So I reverted back to whip control.
Early fifties back in PA I joined the PAL Aero League which was sponsored by the Plymouth Motor Corporation. We kids flew Jim Walker AJ Hornets and Fire Babies (with an aluminum prop). Ended up building a Super Brigadier for my O&R Glow 23. The local club took some of us kids to the PA State Championships where the Counselor installed a Forester .29 in my Brigadier. I started it up, launched it and it shot up like a bullet and went into a straight downwind glide. Because of a physical ailment I couldn’t chase so my Dad chased for me. Summer of 1953 attended my first Nats at Willow Grove, PA and was able to qualify for a sponsored trip to the International Competition in Detroit sponsored by the Plymouth Motor Corporation.
Following this we moved to California and I met Lee Hines and others flying free flight in his granddad’s back yard in Hawthorne. Also flew at Vessel Ranch. Due to family health problems we returned to PA where I finished school, college, married then returned to CA.
I then joined the Long Beach T-Bugs and flew with Sal Taibi, Howard Johnson and Vic Cunningham Sr. Just a humorous note typical of my luck, flying at Lake Elsinore before the water and thought I had set a national 1/2 A record when another flyer decided to fly for 2nd place late in the day. He launched his model then turned to me and said, I forgot to light the fuse, his plane went up, out and back 3 times and landed within a 100 feet from where he launched it and beat my record by a couple of minutes. During this time, I became President of T-Bugs and was able to move our meeting place from Lynwood Community Building to the K&B Manufacturing Plant in Downey. I was also the CD of the 1/2 A Free Flight and I believe it was the 1962 Nats held at the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station in Orange County.
Flash forward to recent times, started flying with the SCAMPS meeting with flyers Sherman, Thomas, Cover, Heinrich, Taibi and many others. I became the SCAMPS Safety Officer and approximately ten years ago two things occurred. Someone decided that Lost Hills Free Flight Model Airfield Association should be reorganized. We met at Hal Cover’s house and after some discussion we decided to give ourselves some high sounding titles. I took the title Director of Operations since that sounded pretty neat. I sent an email to my fellow directors and told them they had left me alone too long and I was taking over, that made everyone happy that someone was doing something. I served 32 years with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and retired as Captain. LACOFD was one of the more innovative fire departments at the time and was probably the first department in the world to have the paramedic program in service as it is today. I had the privilege of being on the rescue when we saved the first life with this program. Approximately 20 years later I was making a fire inspection when a lady stopped and told me that her son was the first person ever saved by the paramedics. I described the incident to her and told her I was there. I asked what her son was doing today, he’s a longshoreman. Makes you feel good. During my career I went through two major riots, a major earthquake, been burned, poisoned, fell through a roof and stuck a fire engine on the edge of the cliff, but I must say the story the mother told me was one of the best highlights. Served as the acting Fire Protection Engineer on the Metro Rail Project downtown Los Angeles. I was also a golf course superintendent for several years and owned a golf course maintenance company. For four years was a member of the Government Relations Committee for the National Golf Course Superintends Association. For 10 years my wife Sandra and I were Field Supervisors for 18 Mobile Home Communities throughout CA.
Currently living in Wyoming where I am one of two free flighters.
HOF Committee Comment: Ted belongs in the Hall of Fame because of his good work in organizing and running SAM free flight contests. He was contest manager for the United States Free Flight Championships at Lost Hills for eight years. He was the Contest Manager for the 2005 SAM Champs at Boulder City. He has served as the Free Flight CD at four SAM Champs.
|
2017 |
 Domenico “Nick” BRUSCHI - Inducted 2018
Born Nov 6, 1936 (New York City USA)
Nick Bruschi was born in New York City on the 6th of November 1936. His family moved to North Bellmore, Long Island in 1940 where he could see and hear the roar of the Wildcats and other war birds from the nearby factories of Grumman and Republic. Those were exciting years and often he would ride his bike to get a closer look at those famous fighters taking off.
Nick built his first airplanes from the kits of small rubber powered models costing ten cents. He bought Model Airplane News, Flying Models, and Air Trails, and they became part of his learning to read. There was no club in the area so most of his instruction in building model airplanes came from those magazines. He did make friends with older fellows flying gas free flight and control line models in a nearby field.
Nick’s first engines were a CO2 and a Perky that he was never able to start, even with his father’s help. They bought a Bullet spark engine at the hobby shop and his mother kicked him and “that noisy, stinky engine” out of the basement and into the garage when it finally started. The Bullet powered his first gas free flight models, a Spearhead Jr. a Wilco, and then a control line Zing after converting it to a glow plug. The Bullet went on to power more models and survived many crashes.
In 1948 the Bruschi family returned to their original home and since then Nick has held dual citizenships in the USA, the country of his birth, and the Republic of San Marino, the country of his parents. It didn’t take long for Nick to find other modelers near his new home. One day his father drove him to the nearby ex-military strip in Rimini where a glider contest was being held among the bomb craters on the airfield. They stopped the contest to watch the eleven years old “Americanito” with a gas free flight. The model jumped off the ground, made a huge loop, and crashed. His father told him not to worry, that he would build another one.
And indeed, Nick built, flew, and competed with many more model airplanes. He went to his first national contest in 1952 placing fourth in Gas Free Flight at the age of fifteen and continued competing in gas free flight events for many years. He also flew control line models and founded the GAS Falchi Flying Club over which he still presides. He was grand champion at the International Scale Model Contest in Milano in 1988 and captured the Coppa Italia Tournament for scale models the same year.
During the decade of the nineties he returned to Old Timers at many Italian contests winning Gas Free Flight at the Nationals in 1994, 1997, 1998, and 1999. During the same period he won six contests in the Texaco and 1/2 A Texaco events and won the SAM Open Power event at Old Warden in 1998 with an Atwood 49 powered Playboy.
In 1999 Nick met the then President of SAM, Don Bekins, while competing at Old Timer contests in Italy. Later that same year he visited California to compete at the fall contests at Taft and Waegell Field. Returning home with increased enthusiasm for Old Timers he organized a large group of Italians to attend the 2000 SAM Champs in Pensacola.
Nick flew his Bomber and Kerswap in seven events; SAM Hall of Fame member, Ninetto Ridenti, flew his Movo M-18 and his Concours Grand Champion, Duchessa, in five events; Gabriele Montebelli; Evandro Femminella, Gaetano Fratini; Mario Gialanella; and Paolo Montesi also flew many events and represented Italy well.
At the Italian SAM Champs later that year Nick met with Leo Bussmeier to discuss organizing a SAM Championship for all of Europe. Up until that time all SAM contests had been limited to the local or national level. Together they began to contact the national clubs in Europe promoting the concept and enlisting sponsors.
Over the past sixty-six years Nick has compiled a distinguished record participating in international aeromodeling competitions. But that is not the reason for his being honored as a member of the Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame. It is instead because he is cofounder of the remarkably successful European Championships for Old Timer Model Airplanes. Now known as the SAM Euro Champs, the contest is a major annual event in the Old Timer movement and will be a tribute to the foresight and leadership of Nick Bruschi for many years to come. |
2018 |
 Leo BUSSMEIER - Inducted 2018
Born Jun 18, 1933 (Greven, Germany)
Leo Bussmeier was born in Greven, Germany on June 18, 1933. When he was ten years old and a member of the national youth movement he built his first model airplane, a hand launched glider named “Jungvolk”. He remembers that the model flew quite well but the original was lost over the years. Later in life he built the model once more.
As a teenager, Leo’s interest in model airplanes continued to be in gliders and sailplanes. In 1953, at the age of twenty, he entered his first competition in Borkenlierge and placed second with a glider of 2.4 meters wingspan. Afterwards he won many more trophies in Münster, Vermold, and Borkenlierge, always in the free flight towline glider events. The Antik Models of Deutschland (A.M.D.) was an organization that sponsored many of the contests at that time. With Leo’s support and assistance, A.M.D. became the basis for a SAM chapter chartered in Germany in 1991.
In 1959 Leo purchased his first radio control outfit and later began to build and fly powered RC models. In the late eighties he learned more about the Society of Antique Models and began to build and fly gas Old Timers as well as old German glider designs for the RC events. He soon completed several small Playboys and a Red Ripper that he entered in regional and national contests in Europe.
Leo attended his first SAM Champs in Colorado Springs in1995 with his friend, Holger Menrad and a small Nostalgia model. At subsequent SAM Champs in Muncie, Muskogee, and Pensacola he won trophies in the 1/2 A Texaco, Ohlsson Sideport, Old Time Glider and the Commemorative events. A large contingent of Italians was also in Pensacola in 2000 when Leo began to think about having a SAM Champs in Europe.
Later in 2000 at the Old Timer Championships in Italy Leo and Nick Bruschi discussed how a SAM Championship for all of Europe might be organized. Up until that time all SAM contests had been limited to the local or national level. Together they began to contact the national clubs in Europe promoting the concept and enlisting sponsors.
Leo Bussmeier is being honored as a member of the Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame for his contributions as cofounder of the European Championships for Old Timer Model Airplanes. Now known as the SAM Euro Champs, the contest is the major annual competition for Antique and Old Timer model airplanes in Europe. It will be a tribute to the foresight and leadership of Leo for many years to come.
The first SAM Euro Champs were organized and directed by Domenico “Nick” Bruschi at the Sports Park in Vergiano, Italy in June 2003. Eighty-nine flyers representing Italy, Germany, San Marino, Slovakia, Switzerland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and the USA entered over one hundred models in seven Old Timer events. Rules were based on then current Italian, German, and American SAM competitions.
The second SAM Euro Champs were organized and directed by Leo Bussmeier in Bad Neustad, Germany in 2004. One hundred sixteen pilots entered over 130 models in the same seven events. During the week of the contest a SAM Euro Committee was formed with one representative from each country. Nick Bruschi was elected chairman of the committee and the Czech Republic was approved to host the 2005 championships. Italy was again host in 2006, and Slovakia followed in 2007. At the time of this writing in 2018, SAM organizations in Hungary, Belgium, and the Republic of San Marino have also been hosts to the annual competitions.
Now in its sixteenth year, the European Championships welcomes over 150 competitors from Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain in addition to representatives from the original eight countries. The organizers now expect and plan for over 500 model entries in eleven popular Old Timer events. |
2018 |
 L A JOHNSTON - Inducted 2020
Born Dec14, 1930 (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA)
LA’s father was a medical student at the time, so he lived with his grandparents. In 1935 L.A.'s uncle gave him a small hand launch glider. When he broke it, as five-year-old boys will do. he asked for another glider. He was told, "You'll have to build your own." L.A. then used wood from an apple box for the fuselage and wood from an orange crate for the wings and stabilizer. He flew his new crate box glider by running around the yard holding his model aloft and making engine noises. That first "own design glider" started his involvement with building and flying his own designs. Eighty-five years later he is still at it. He was ten when he built his first powered model, a Spook. It crashed on its first flight.
He. was studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Oklahoma when he dropped out to go to work for Douglas in 1954. He did engineering work on the C5-A. the Convair 880 and 990, the L-1011, the RB-66c, the B-47, the B-70, the B-2, the F-22, and the Osprey VF-22At one time or another L.A. worked for most of the major aerospace and aircraft companies in the country.
In Tulsa, he was a member of the Tulsa Glue Dobbers, whilst there he flew against competition like Sal Taibi. He has been a competitor in SAM events and at SAM Champs since 1985. He retired to the Nashville area in 1994. He kept on building and flying his SAM style model airplanes. He organised a new “SAM Chapter 1806" named for the year Nashville was founded.
After a bit less than two years of retirement, L.A. found he needed something more to do. His club met at Hobby Lobby in Brentwood Tennessee. At one club meeting he realised he was bored and asked Jim Martin, the owner of Hobby Lobby, for a job. Martin hired him on the spot to work as the senior technical adviser in the store. He worked there from 1996 until 2007. His work at Hobby Lobby made a second great contribution to SAM. Which was Electric powered model airplanes. He identified motor and battery and propeller combinations that would power a particular model and get the results the builder wanted.
Link to L.A.Johnston Induction artice by Tom Boice
|
2020 |
  Colin BORTHWICK- Inducted 2021
Born1933 – Died 5th January 1996, Brisbane, AU.
Colin Borthwick will always be remembered as the friendly Aussie clothed head-to-toe in white protective garments strolling the flight lines on dry lake beds, spreading good cheer to SAM fliers and friends at competitions during the 1980s and early 90s.
His last SAM Champs attendance was at Taft, California, in 1993. Colin Borthwick was born in 1933 and was a native of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. His interest in model air planes developed at an early age and remained throughout his life. He was an avid promoter of the Old Timer movement in Australia and played a large role in the debates that established their rules for competition.
For five years in the late 1980s he wrote the Old Timer column in Australia’s Model News magazine and utilised that platform to suggest improvements in their rules.
His views were sometimes considered controversial by the dominant SAM chapter 1788 in New South Wales, and in response, he founded the Queensland chapter, SAM 84, known as the Vintagents.
For much of his life Colin was plagued by his sensitivity to sunlight and other health issues. A kidney transplant was not particularly successful and deteriorating health forced his retirement from IBM Clocks as Sales Manager of their Brisbane office for many years. Nevertheless, his enthusiasm for SAM endured until his death in 1996 and his life made a lasting imprint on SAM in Australia.
His philosophy emphasised the importance of friendships and relationships formed in the Society in addition to the competitions. These contributions along with his reputation as SAM’s Good Will Ambassador warrant his posthumous induction to the Society of Antique Modellers Hall of Fame.
|
2021 |
 Tom BOICE- Inducted 2021
Born June 7, 1959, Toledo, OH, USA
Tom got his modeling start at the age of seven, building control line airplanes in the Toledo Ohio YMCA craft shop. The instructor flew the planes for those too young, or as yet unskilled in control line flying. In his youth Tom flew free flight (the Sniffer and the Joe Wagner designed Dakota and Sioux were favorites) and kites and rockets. But as happens with most of us, when we discover girls, high school and college, along with marriage, starting a family and career, Tom put modeling on hold for many years while he built a successful wood manufacturing company,
In 2008 Tom turned his business over to another vendor. Tom did so in order that he could spend more time with his father Bill Boice. Bill’s favorite hobby in the later part of his life was building and flying SAM models with his SAM 114 chapter. Well Bill Boice hooked Tom Boice on SAM and we are all the better for it. Tom and Bill built and flew old timer models with the group on every Thursday for the next four years. Bill Boice passed away in 2012 but Tom thought the four years he spent with his father pursuing the SAM hobby were “priceless”.
Shortly after his father passed Tom was offered the position of Midwest VP for SAM. Tom is one of those guys who “do”, and boy has he done. Since becoming Midwest VP Tom has travelled to all the SAM Champs, always with a trailer full of models ready for both Tom and other modelers to fly. His planes, flown by other SAM members have won 2 glow and 3 spark ignition overall Champion awards at the SAM Champs. Tom is an accomplished competitor himself, having won a total of 7 glow and ignition Champion awards at the SAM Champs.
If you’ve been to a recent SAM Champs, you will have frequently seen Tom out on the flight line giving assistance to other contestants. He’s been a real “spark plug” at those events. He was Contest Manager for the 2018 50th Anniversary SAM Champs and was Contest Manager again for the 2021 Champs. He refurbished the SAM perpetual trophies on display at AMA headquarters. He made the Walnut awards plaques for those Champs and he and members of his family cooked all the food for those Champs. It’s a Boice family effort in many ways.
Tom is not only a very successful competition flyer, but also a tidy builder. While helping run the SAM Booth at the Toledo Show for the last several years, he’s won 7 concours plaques at the Show for his old timer and sailplane models.
One of the traditional ways for a SAM modeler to get named to the Hall of Fame is success as a competition flier. Another way is through service to SAM and furtherance of its goals. Tom scores in that way as well. He is a vigorous recruiter for SAM in the Midwest and Ohio. He recruits at contests, swap meets, the Toledo Show, at local contests and on his farm where he holds regular get togethers and old timer fun flying sessions for those in the area. Tom counts his opportunity to recruit for and promote SAM as a blessing.
SAM is lucky to have such a member. (Nov2022) |
|
 Marvin MILLER- Inducted 2021
Born October, 1930, Montana, MT.
Marvin Miller was born in October 1930 in Miles City, southeast Montana, and grew up on his family’s dry land farm 42 miles outside of town.
At ten years of age he built his first model airplane. In September 1941 he persuaded his mother to buy him a subscription to Model Airplane News. His first copy featured an article by Sal Taibi. Marvin became a big fan of the Taibi models, he built and flew most of his designs.
In 1946 he soloed a Piper Cub, and following graduation from high school he joined the Navy on his eighteenth birthday, to become an airplane engine mechanic.
After service, Marvin worked at the Oakland, California Airport, studied at the Aero Industries Technical Institute, and became a flight engineer for TWA in 1956. He was promoted from first officer to captain in 1970 and flew most TWA airplanes, including the Lockheed L1011 TriStar before retiring in 1986.
The following year he joined SAM 21 and began the highly successful project that merits his membership in the SAM Hall of Fame. In 1987 Marvin Miller acquired from Carl Carlson the dies and tooling for the original Anderson Spitfire, first produced forty years earlier. He eventually produced 402 beautiful new hand assembled Spitfires that Mel Anderson had designed in 1932, and as World War II ended, he formed his manufacturing company to begin production of his new engine design, the Spitfire.
The Spitfire was marketed in 1948 just as the glow plug was replacing spark ignition and 1/2 A engines became the new rage. Nevertheless, all Anderson operations were suspended in 1955 and the dies and tooling for the Spitfire were sold in 1958.
Over the ensuing years ownership of the tooling changed hands six times before Marvin Miller obtained them. Two years were required for Marvin to repair the dies, machine new parts and castings, and create a new injection mould for the fuel tank, before the new Spitfires could be assembled. The first ones became available in 1989 and one was donated as a prize at the 1989 SAM Champs. Marvin’s engines are recognise as a continuation of the original 1948 Mel Anderson production. They are easily identified by the winged M stamp on the right mounting lug. Serial numbers with four digits indicate a lapped piston; three digits indicate the ringed version.
Today (2022) Marvin Miller and his wife, Shirley, make their home in Soquel, California. They have one son, three daughters, and two grandchildren. He still enjoys building miniature engines, sometimes of his own design.
|
|
 Andrew LATOWSKI- Inducted 2021
Born August 26, 1968, Battle Creek, M
Andrew John Latowski, “Andy,” the son of the avid and lifelong aeromodeler Lawrence “Larry” and Mary Latowski, was born August 26, 1968, in Battle Creek, Michigan. Andy was six years old when he learned to fly control line with a 1/2 A Ringmaster he built himself.
Two years later he was flying a Kwik-Fli MKIII with Kraft equipment and a mode 1 transmitter. For years afterwards his interest remained with RC sport/scale with additional forays into control line stunt, RC sailplanes, and RC boats, Larry introduced Andy to SAM Old Timer competition around 1997. Andy and Larry organised themselves as “Team Latowski” to begin a highly successful career at SAM contests throughout the country. In 1998 Andy had only one Old Timer to fly at the SAM Old Fort Flyers competition in Ft. Wayne IN. With extra time on his hands he gave chase to a 1/2 A Playboy that had lost its receiver battery. The model circled then caught a thermal and flew beautifully until Andy was able to retrieve it almost a mile away. He returned it to its owner, a happy Joe Elgin, and they became great friends.
Thereafter, Andy was hooked on SAM and competed along with Larry, his father, partner, teammate, and best friend, while garnering numerous trophies at SAM contests for years to come. His most notable awards include SAM Spark Ignition Grand Champion in 2006 and 2011 and SAM Glow Grand Champion in2008 and 2013. Andy is also a three-time winner of the prestigious Ohlsson 23 perpetual trophy presented annually at the SAM Champs.
His contributions to the Old Timer movement include serving two terms as Midwest Vice President and multiple years as SAM contest director in Sturgis, Battle Creek, Muncie, and Las Vegas. Andy and his father promoted Old Timer modeling through their organising and managing of the SAM booth at that trade show before its closing. Andy worked at Aero Electric for over ten years under Woody Bartelt casting, forming, and machining the parts needed to keep antique spark ignition engines running. Today many old engines in collections and Old Timer competitions owe their good conditions to the efforts and dedication of these two gentlemen. Andy Latowski stands out as the youngest member to date in the SAM Hall of Fame and thanks to his father, one of the most versatile and well-rounded members ever. |
|
 David Charles OWEN – Inducted 2022
Born 15th July 1943, Wollongong, NSW – Died 17th March 2016 at home.
David Owen passed away peacefully at home with his family around him. After his family, David's great love was model flying and particularly model engines. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of these model engines, and was always generous and willing to share his vast knowledge.
The model engine world introduced him to like-minded people, many of whom became lifelong friends, not only here but all around the world. Overseas holidays with Celia were often spent visiting people like Emidio Gattafoni and Alessandro Ambrosi in Italy, Jose Manuel Rojo in Spain, Benno and Hanna Schlosser in Germany and numerous engine makers and enthusiasts in the UK, including John Oliver, Peter Chinn and Ken Croft.
David was a superb engineer and a wonderful raconteur with a keen sense of humour. In addition to selling, servicing and repairing a wide variety of engines, he was involved in the production of a number of different projects. Notable examples including his collaboration with Gordon Burford to produce the GB 5cc diesel (a replica of Gordon’s original ’GB1’), and his remarkable high-performance, piston-ported Owen 2.8SP.
David will for evermore be remembered for his last major project, the Owen T2.5 diesel engine, based on the Mk3 Taipan 2.5cc Diesel from 1957-59 by Gordon Burford. It will be treasured by collectors and competitors alike as a truly a great engine.
The model engine fraternity has suffered a sad loss as has his many relatives and friends. His name and good reputation will remain in model history for many years.
David, we will miss your fellowship. |
2022 |
 Gordon BURFORD - Inducted 2022
Born 3rd August 1919, Adelaide, South Australia – Died 12th March, 2010, Currumbin Queensland.
Gordon Burford was Australia's premier model engine designer and manufacturer. The thousands and thousands of engines he produced and sold under the GB, GeeBee, Sabre, GloChief and Taipan names encouraged and sustained aeromodelling in this country for over 50 years.
Gordon was a modeller too, starting with rubber in the early 1930s and progressing to become a very competitive Indoor and Wakefield flyer prior to the Second World War, along with his lifelong friend, Boyd Felstead. Following the war, Gordon (VH-155) pioneered control-line flying in South Australia, alongside other luminaries such as Bill Evans, Jack Black, and Mal Sharpe.
He was a well-known and respected free-flight contestant for many years, before turning his interest to old-timer flying in the mid '70s. He built specialist engines for old-timers and was always on hand to offer advice and assistance to other modellers. Gordon was known around the world for his engines and modelling expertise, having made several overseas trips to England, France, Italy, and the United States.
Gordon Burford was born in Adelaide on the 3rd August 1919. He grew-up during the Depression years, aiding his father who was a beekeeper. Prior to the outbreak of WW2, he then trained as an aircraft instrument fitter.
In 1942, Gordon married Josie Harding and, into the stable family which ensued, four sons were born. Following the cessation of hostilities, Gordon could see an opportunity to manufacture model aircraft engines in Australia.
He initially made just three 5cc diesels based on the Sparey design design which had recently been published in England.
In 1973 he took the position of Federal Secretary and Treasurer to the Model Aircraft Association of Australia (MAAA)
Gordon loved overseas trips and made friends with people such as Ron Moulton, Peter Chinn, Ron Irvine, Henry Nicholls, John Brodbeck, Duke Fox, Sandy Pimenoff, John Pond and others.
In 1983, Gordon and Josie were granted MAAA Life Membership for their work with the organisation. In 1985, Gordon was awarded the prestigious Paul Tissandier Diploma by the FAI for services to aeromodelling. He also provided unstinting assistance and advice to Aling Li, of the Thunder Tiger company in Taiwan and to smaller engine builders such as the writer. Josie passed away in 1998, ending for Gordon a marvellous marriage which had lasted for nearly 56 years. Finally, Gordon embraced CO2, compressed air and electric power and in his latter years flew small models in a local reserve. He never lost his interest in model engines though, and was always ready to discuss and quietly advise people with a similar interest.
Gordon Burford passed away on the 12th March, 2010, following a fall at his home in Currumbin, Queensland, Aust. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him, who knew of him, or who merely flew models with his engines. We extend our condolences to his sons, Peter, Don, Richard and Mark, to their wives and partners and to Gordon's grandchildren and their families. See also at Wikipedia.
Valedictory speech by David Owen 14th March 2010.
|
|
Yaroslav RYBAK - Inducted 2022.
Born
|
|
 Roland FRIESTAD - Inducted 2022.
Born
|
|
Walter ANGUS - Inducted 2022.
Born
|
|
|
|
SAM Hall of Fame Nominations
Nominations for the SAM Hall of Fame are open until April 30 each year. Please consider the following criteria when nominating candidates:-
1) The candidate is well known as a model airplane designer, engine producer, competitive flier, or otherwise significant contributor to aeromodeling during the Golden Age years of 1925 through 1942.
2) The candidate made significant contributions to the formation of SAM and to the revival of Old Timer aeromodeling.
3) The candidate has been remarkably successful in SAM competitions, regionally, nationally and/or internationally.
4) The candidate has made significant contributions to the Society at the local, regional, or national level to include service as a SAM officer or as a SAM Champs manager.
5) The candidate has made significant contributions to the SAM movement as a writer, publisher, or promoter of Old Timer aeromodeling, or as a cottage industry supplier to Old Timer aeromodelers.
Three letters of recommendation are requested.
Nominations must be received by April 30 of the nominated year.
Please send nominations to SAM Hall of Fame Committee Chairman
|
|