IN THE AIR
BOB BALDUS
1938-2021
A LIFELONG AMA MEMBER and a model aviator for roughly 75 years, Bob Baldus, of Windsor Heights, Iowa, died January 26, 2021, at the age of 82.
Bob was not only my friend, he was also my mentor in model aviation. When I was 11, he found me at a local park trying to fly my 1/2A Control Line (CL) airplane. He showed me how to run the engine and fly. That was the start of a 65-year friendship and model aviation experience.
We were still flying together and discussing building and flying just before he passed. Bob competed at local, regional, and national levels—mostly flying CL Stunt, Combat, and Scale. He had been a contest director for at least 50 years.
Bob taught technical education at Amos Hiatt Junior High School in Des Moines, Iowa, for 38 years. Early in his teaching career, he also owned and operated a hobby shop in Des Moines, Iowa. He built street rods and spent many days at car shows, mostly showing his ’49 Ford, which is an amazing car. He also enjoyed NASCAR, a round of golf, and was a prolific watercolor painter.
A graduate of Iowa State University (ISU), he was seldom seen without an ISU hat or shirt! He was a member of the Mid-Iowa Control Line Model Airplane Club, and when he was not flying at the club field in Polk City, Iowa, you could find him on a mower, grooming the flying circles.
Bob was preceded in death by his wife, Jane. He is survived by his four children, 12 grandchildren, several great-grandchildren, a brother, Jerry Baldus; a sister, Mary Kay Brooks; and several nieces and nephews.
Everyone in model aviation should have the opportunity to meet someone like Bob. I can truly say that my model aviation was not only shaped but also guided by my mentor and friend, Bob Baldus.
Bob leaves behind many friends not only in the model aviation hobby, but all of those whom he taught and guided through teaching. Keep your lines tight, Bob.
—Jim Ricketts, Leader Member, AMA Fellow
AMA Thanks Its Lifetime Supporters!
The Academy of Model Aeronautics recently welcomed Life Members Ronald W. Anderson, Winchester VA; Todd H. Smith, Yorktown VA; Josh S. Smetanko, Lincolnville SC; Neil M. Beese, Oakdale CA; Matthew Higgins, West Hartford CT; Daniel Cormode, Tucson AZ; Samuel F. Corlett, Fort Worth TX; Nathan J. Stott, West Point UT; Cortney N. Jones, Patterson CA; and Ben T. While, La Mesa, CA.
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.
—AMA Membership Department
Build a 1940 Nats Winner
AMA PLANS SERVICE houses all plans formerly sold through Model Builder magazine, Bill Northrop’s Plan Service, and the Scratch Builder’s Almanac. There are more than 18,000 plans in the collection.
Leon Shulman’s Class A 1940 Nats winner, the Wedgy, had a deep, triangular-shaped fuselage and a 42-inch wingspan. Purchase plans number 10830T for $9 to build and fly your own Wedgy.
Plans can be ordered by visiting https://plans.modelaircraft.org and searching for “Wedgy.”
TOP RETAILER INCENTIVE PROGRAM PERFORMERS NAMED
CONGRATULATIONS TO Hot Rock Hobbies and Sky Eye Network for being our top performers in the AMA Retailer Incentive Program for the first quarter of 2021. Collectively, they referred 60 new members to AMA.
Would you like to start earning $25 for each Adult/Senior and $10 for each Park Pilot Program member who joins from your referral? What are you waiting for? Join the AMA Retailer Incentive Program and start earning cash today! For more information, contact Kenny Cassidy at kennethc@modelaircraft.org or (765) 287-1256, ext. 297, or visit www.modelaircraft.org/programs/ama-retailer-incentive-program.
THE MUSEUM OPENS FOR THE SEASON
By Michael Smith, National Model Aviation Museum Director
SUMMER HAS ARRIVED
SUMMER HAS ARRIVED at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center, and with it, the museum has reopened. The hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, until September 17. We will be closed a few additional Saturdays, as well as Monday, July 5, so check the museum’s homepage, www.modelaircraft.org/museum, before you plan your visit.
Museum Gallery Enlargement
We are excited to announce that this past spring, with the help of Museum Patron funding, we undertook the first gallery expansion since 2012. By repurposing space and combining it with the current gallery, we have created a new gallery of nearly 900 square feet for the museum’s Miniature Aircraft at Work collection. This includes aircraft such as Maynard Hill’s Atlantic Ocean-crossing TAM-5, Reginald Denny’s OQ-2A World War II target drone, and the NASA Mothership and X-33 models.
The new, larger space will make it easier for visitors to see the models from more angles, plus allow us to display more aircraft, such as a Yamaha RMAX remotely piloted agricultural helicopter and a solar-powered Sig Riser-100SW flown by Purdue University’s Team SunWing. The aircraft were relocated before the museum reopened in 2021, but there will be more exhibit work done this fall.
Can’t visit the National Model Aviation Museum? Stop by the website and take a virtual tour.
Model Aviation LIVE!
I had a great time as a guest on Model Aviation LIVE! with Model Aviation Executive Editor Jay Smith. We discussed how to navigate the National Model Aviation Museum’s virtual tour, the online Digital Collections, and the AMA History Project webpage. That program can be viewed by going to https://youtu.be/a7yUrslBl04.
We have posted a wealth of information, including 1,000-plus biographies, 60 club and 26 company histories, 40 Fly Bys highlighting museum objects, and Nats results since the 1920s. We encourage you to take a look!
The virtual tour is located at www.modelaircraft.org/museum/visit/museum-virtual-experience.
Models in the Movies
Are you looking for something to watch on a rainy afternoon? How about a couple of good, old-fashioned B movies on YouTube from 1941 that feature model airplanes?
Power Dive is about a geodetic aircraft design undergoing stress tests. During the film, a model appears in numerous sequences, and although it’s not a flying model, it clearly highlights the aircraft’s construction. The aircraft is a Plxweve CT-6A trainer, and Plxweve Aircraft Corporation is acknowledged for its assistance in making the film. Amazingly, this actual model survived, and we have it in the museum’s collections courtesy of Eddie Gustafson, an engineer who worked at Plxweve.
The second movie is Emergency Landing, aka Robot Pilot. In this movie, “Doc” Williams has invented a wireless system to control an airplane and has tested it on a model. The model just so happens to be a Jim Walker Fireball, and
The National Model Aviation Museum has several Fireballs in its collection, including a reproduction of the first type that was offered by American Junior Aircraft in 1940.
