IN THE AIR
Membership News & Updates from AMA
AMA GRANT APPLICATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED
SINCE 2002, AMA has supported more than 400 clubs in their site improvement efforts, with more than $700,000 having been awarded. AMA and the AMA Foundation are proud of their record of giving, and we are eager to continue giving back to clubs across the country.
To be considered for Flying Site Improvement (FSIG) or Take-off And Grow (TAG) grants, clubs must submit applications no later than February 1, 2022. Online applications are at https://modelaircraft.secure-platform.com/a/organizations/main/home.
Applicants should review each grant’s guidelines before beginning their applications. For questions regarding the grants, contact Austin Perlee, Donor and Programs specialist, at austinp@modelaircraft.org or (765) 287-1256, ext. 518.
AMA Thanks Its Lifetime Supporters!
The Academy of Model Aeronautics recently welcomed Life Members Lee M. Ray, Cypress TX; Juan Alonzo Garcia, Edinburg TX; Glen R. Dye, Maricopa AZ; and James W. Grant, Ada MI.
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (765) 287-1256.
—AMA Membership Department
UAS4STEM CONTEST WINNERS AND MORE
ON JULY 29-30, 2021, students from across the US came together for the UAS4STEM national competition at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The student teams built their own drones and competed in various flying challenges for a shot at the national title. The challenge is designed to encourage students to learn about sUAS through teamwork, competition, and success by applying STEM principles.
The 2021 UAS4STEM first-place finisher was Some Assembly Required of Rockville, Maryland. Second place went to McIntosh Aeronautics of Peachtree City, Georgia. Finishing in third place was Creekview High School Aeronautics of Canton, Georgia.
The Dewey O. Broberg Jr. Scholarship is awarded at the national competition each year. The winning student is selected by the competition judges. The award recognizes a student who shows dedication to his or her team, determination, and adherence to the rules and purpose of the competition. Michael Pena, of Canton, was selected as the 2021 recipient of the Dewey O. Broberg Jr. Scholarship.
Registration is now open for the 2022 UAS4STEM contest, and for the first time, it is available to students outside of the US. Throughout the years, UAS4STEM has provided an exciting competition to students from across the nation, but the need for STEM programming doesn’t stop at the border. As the global leader in model aviation, AMA is proud to announce that the UAS4STEM contest is open to international competitors for 2022.
The virtual preliminary competition will be held in April 2022, from which top-scoring teams will be invited to the national competition in summer 2022. It is set to again take place at EAA AirVenture. For more information, visit www.uas4stem.org or email education@modelaircraft.org.
Build a Rick Walters-Designed Sailplane
AMA PLANS SERVICE houses all plans formerly sold through Model Builder magazine, Bill Northrop’s Plans Service, and the Scratch Builder’s Almanac. There are more than 18,000 plans in the collection.
Featured in the January 1972 issue of Model Builder, the White Trash sailplane designed by Rick Walters can be built with a 7-foot or 10-foot wingspan. The all-balsa-constructed aircraft features a polyhedral wing and uses a two-channel radio for control.
Plans for the White Trash, plans number 1723, are available for $14 plus shipping at https://plans.modelaircraft.org or by calling (765) 287-1256, ext. 507.
2022 NATS DATES ANNOUNCED
THE AMA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL has approved the schedule for the 2022 National Aeromodeling Championships (Nats). All events, except for the Indoor Free Flight (FF) Nats, will take place at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana. The schedule for the events is as follows:
Indoor FF: May 23-27, Round Valley Aerodrome, Eager, Arizona
RC Scale Aerobatics (IMAC): June 27-30
RC and Control Line (CL) Scale: July 15-17
RC Pylon Racing: July 17-23
CL Navy Carrier, Precision Aerobatics, Racing, Combat, and Speed: July 17-23
RC Combat: July 19-21
RC Soaring: July 23-30
Outdoor FF: July 25-29
RC Aerobatics (Pattern): August 1-6
RC Helicopters: August 8-11
Online registration is expected to open in March 2022. If you have questions about the AMA Nats, send an email to nats@modelaircraft.org.
Why Aren’t You a Life Member Yet?
BY BECOMING AN AMA Life Member, you show your commitment to the model aviation community and that you stand with AMA’s mission and values. You will feel confident knowing that your support will help grow the hobby and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and aerospace aviators.
You’ll also enjoy many great benefits, including:
- Avoiding annual dues and renewals
- Never paying an increase in dues
- Receiving a 20% discount from the AMA Plans Service
- Receiving a 15% discount from our AMA store in Muncie, Indiana, and in our web store (https://shop.modelaircraft.org)
- Receiving a personalized, engraved membership card
You can renew as an AMA Life Member by making a one-time payment online at www.modelaircraft.org/membership/enroll, or by speaking with our Membership staff at (765) 287-1256, ext. 129. Thanks again for your support!
WINTERING WITH OUR DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
By Jackie Shalberg, National Model Aviation Museum archivist and historian
BY THE TIME this article is in print, the museum will have already closed its doors for the 2021 season. (Don’t worry, we’ll be back open in 2022!)
Although our physical doors will be closed through the winter, we’ll be working behind the scenes for you, improving exhibits, responding to donation offers and research questions, and, of course, adding more to our virtual offerings. We still want you to be able to see our collections and learn more about the history of model aviation from afar.
If you’re a regular reader of our “History Preserved” column, you likely know about the Museum’s digital collections (https://modelaircraft.pastperfectonline.com). This month, we’ll go into more depth about using this wonderful asset that benefits both diehard enthusiasts and those who are simply curious about aeromodeling’s history.
We’ve been working hard this year to add more than 1,600 records of library, archives, and object artifacts to our Digital Collections. As of September 2021, there are 8,000 total items in our online collections, and we continue to add more.
We continue to add to and refine our search terms, also known as tags, to make it easier for you to find what you need. Click on the Keyword Search tab and you’ll first see a search box. Underneath it are search tips that will be helpful to you for a successful search. Note that the search tips section will stay on the page when you hit the search button. You’ll have to scroll down past them to see your results.
Suppose that you want to find catalogs by the Comet Model Airplane and Supply Company. If you type in the word Comet, results will include catalogs and other associated artifacts, such as cement and kits. Search using the word combination of Comet and catalog to help narrow your search. It’ll be easier to find things.
What if you type in Comet catalog, forgetting the word and? You’ll receive approximately 200 hits—all of the records with the word Comet and/or catalog in them. What if you add quotation marks? That will reveal no results because it will only search for records where that phrase is written exactly as you typed it. No records at this time have quotation marks.
Are you looking for artifacts that are related to a particular time, say when you started modeling or when you were born? You can easily search by year or decade. For instance, searching for the 1970s will bring up roughly 150 results, similar to a color slide of a national aeromodeling competition in Turkey or Dick Sarpoulus’ The Jetster, a ducted-fan RC model.
The Nats are one of our most requested topics. If you know that you want a certain type of material, you can search separate sections. Searching for Nats under the Archives tab currently brings up nearly 500 results, objects, and books. (Note: The books tab is a reference to our library materials, so you might get both books and videos in your results.) If you want to refine your search more, try the Advanced Search, where you can really whittle the search down to a specific item.
Test-drive the system with your own searches. If you have problems, call us or send us an email. If you’d first like to see some random examples of what we have in the Digital Collections, click on “Highlights.” This will show you many artifacts at the same time. Click on one to dive into the history of aeromodeling.
We still have work to do on the digital collections, but we’ve had some good reviews and good suggestions as well. Check out what we have and let us know what you think! Stay tuned as we continue to add more materials.
