In the Air
Membership news and updates
from AMA Headquarters
Ed Monteith’s Sig Smith Miniplane
On June 12-14, 2015, I attended the 41st annual RC Fly-In hosted by Sig Manufacturing in Montezuma, Iowa. I had the great pleasure of meeting First Sgt. Ed Monteith and learning about him.
In April 2006, Ed was assigned to the A Company, 1st Battalion, 108th Aviation Regiment. This company is a National Guard UH-60 Helicopter Battalion based in Kansas, Missouri. After assignment, Ed was sent to Fort Hood, Texas, in order to complete his training. During most evenings, he had some free time to spend doing something he enjoyed.
Ed loved model aviation and had already built a Sig Four-Star 40 among a few other airframes. He had his eye on a biplane for some time, so he got online and ordered a Sig Smith Miniplane.
Shortly after he began building his kit, Ed’s unit was told that it would be heading to Iraq. Ed quickly grabbed his iPad and shipped the Miniplane to the address he would be at in Iraq.
After the kit arrived, it took Ed approximately nine months to finish the construction and covering. Each time he ran into an issue where he would need a new tool or part, he had to order it online and wait for it to arrive before moving on to the next step. He told me that the build gave him something to take his mind off of what was around him and helped him get through this difficult time.
When the Smith Miniplane was complete, Ed had to make several large boxes to ship the fuselage and the wings back to Kansas. After all that work he still had to wait to maiden this beautiful aircraft, but having sent his airplane back to his family gave them hope that he would soon be returning home.
First Sgt. Monteith returned safely from his deployment and within a few weeks, he was able to get the Smith Miniplane in the air for its maiden voyage!
Ed’s story is an inspiration to me and shows how much our brave men and women who are fighting for our country give up for us to be free. It is because of true American heroes such as First Sgt. Monteith that we are all afforded the opportunity to grab a model airplane and head off to our local flying field to enjoy the day doing what we love—flying.
I thank you for your service and wish you many happy days at the controls of your Sig Smith Miniplane.
—Joe Vermillion
uawflyer@gmail.com
AMA Thanks Its Lifetime Supporters!
The Academy of Model Aeronautics recently welcomed Life Members Jesse Roberts, Blaine MN; Thomas Brittain, Lexington NC; Dan Mackin, Leonardtown MD; Raffi Chalian, Philadelphia PA; Steven Ring, Jacksonville FL; Daniel Honniball, San Jose CA; Tim Chapman, Cheyenne WY; Stefanus Malan, Amelia OH; Michael Allstott, San Antonio TX; Thomas Marcure, Corona CA; Eric B. Babineaux, Broussard LA; David Bacque, Houston TX; Daryl Roberts, Blaine MN; William Horoszko, Hinckley IL; Anthony Abeyewardene, Agoura Hills CA; Skyler Smith, The Woodlands TX; Yang Nan, Potomac MD; Charles Roberson, Redding CA; Jason Tidwell, Mountain City TN; Stephen Lindsey, Chula Vista CA; Tony Green, Crosby TX; Andrew Nelson, Mundelein IL; Jeffrey Jones, Burlington KY; Charles McBride, Fort Meyers FL; Ryan Shubin, Keller TX; David McClendon, Greenbrier TN; Mark Frydrych, Colorado Springs CO; Dale Jackson, Jacksonville TX; Bradley Bost, Salisbury NC; Steven Hinrichs, Lawndale CA; and Jason Myers, Effingham IL.
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.
—AMA Membership department
THE NORTHROP FILES
Osprey
The AMA Plans Service now houses all plans formerly sold through Model Builder magazine, Bill Northrop’s Plan Service, and the Scratch Builder’s Almanac. There are more than 1,000 plans in the collection. The Osprey, designed by A.G. Lennon, has a 70-inch wingspan and was built to have interchangeable landing gear or floats. This model was featured in a construction article in Model Builder magazine, June 1991.
You can order the Osprey, plans number 6911, for $34 by calling the AMA Plans Service at (800) 435-9262, extension 507.
Ladies Only
My name is Susan Brassner and I am the current president of the Palm Beach Radio Control Association in Delray Beach, Florida. On April 25, 2015, I hosted a ladies-only event. As far as I know this is the first event of its kind in the Southeast.
Thirty-five women—yes, 35!—attended, and all successfully flew RC aircraft on buddy boxes. The business end of those buddy boxes were manned (no pun intended) by Mike Wargo, Mike Knight, Hans Kahlert, Andy Alamia, and Seth Sterling. We received sponsorship support from HobbyKing, Precision Aerobatics, Radio Control Revolution, and Tri-County Hobbies.
We had women ranging from the very young to the very young at heart, and everyone had a great time. Are these perhaps future AMA members?
You can see more photos on the club’s website at www.palmbeachrc.com. I hope you enjoy them!
—Susan Brassner
susan@artlinkinternational.com
Wanted: Early Model Aviation Issues
In the September 2012 issue of Model Aviation, we reported that the National Model Aviation Museum’s Lee Renaud Memorial Library needed some of the earliest of issues of Model Aviation to complete its collection. We were able to acquire a few of those issues, but we’re still searching for some of the rarest ones. It’s possible some of the ones listed no longer exist, but we want to try again. The following are issues of Model Aviation we are still looking for.
1937: Possibly missing Vol. 1, No. 4, 6, 10-19, and any other published after No. 20 (No. 20 we have, dated June 23). It appears that AMA tried to print the newsletter-type publications weekly in the beginning of 1937.
1945: Any issues that may have been printed between September and December 1945.
1946: If printed, the January issue (Vol. X, No. 1).
1948: Possibly Vol. XI, No. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. If any of these were printed, they would have been printed between January and February.
1949: Vol. XII, No. 1 and 2. If this had been printed, it would have been between March and April.
1951: Vol. XIV, No. 7 and 8. These might have been combined into one newsletter, and printed between July and October 1951.
1953: If an issue was printed in December 1953, we need that issue.
1954: Missing a duplicate of the October issue (Vol. XVII, No. 10). We only have this issue in a bound volume.
1955: Missing a duplicate of the January issue (Vol. XVIII, No. 1). We only have this issue in a bound volume.
Early Model Aviation issues were much smaller (some physically smaller, all smaller in content) than what you currently receive each month. They were comparable to newsletters or bulletins—generally describing what had happened at AMA Headquarters, offering competition information and results, and sharing what clubs across the country were doing.
The first two issues (June and August 1936) were 5½ x 8½ inches in size and had a well-developed look, but the following issues for the next few years were less formal. Headlines were written by hand (though article content was typed) and they ranged from letter to legal-size pieces of paper stapled together.
Throughout the 1940s, AMA experimented with size and appearance, jumping back and forth between smaller issues (9½ x 6 inches) to legal-size pages and between professionally produced booklets and stapled pieces of paper. A few 1941 issues were folded like a napkin, unfolding into a large, 18 x 24-inch poster-size paper.
The look of the publication began to solidify in the late 1950s, as membership (and the number of AMA employees) grew, reaching approximately 20,000 members.
In October, the museum’s blog will reveal examples of these sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious, early issues of Model Aviation. We hope you’ll enjoy seeing how far we’ve come, or perhaps feel that we should try a few of those fun ideas again.
If you have any of the Model Aviation issues listed and want to donate them to the National Model Aviation Museum, please contact us. For any other magazines you’d like to donate, send us a list of the titles you have, such as Model Aviation, Air Trails, or Flying Models, etc. We will let you know if they are needed. Please call Jackie at (800) 435-9262, extension 511, or email at jackies@modelaircraft.org.
We also have a file on our website that lists issues we need of some of the more popular model aviation and full-scale aviation titles in our library: www.modelaircraft.org/museum/wishlist.aspx.
This list is regularly updated as magazines are donated, so please check back often to see if we need an issue you have!
—National Model Aviation Museum staff
