CLUB PROMOTES ITSELF THROUGH DONATIONS
MEMBERS OF A PENNSYLVANIA CLUB have found a way to promote the organization while giving back to the community.
The Thermal-G RC Club of Erie donates copies of Model Aviation magazine to businesses for their waiting rooms. To promote the club, a sticker is placed on each issue, noting that the magazine was donated by the club. The sticker also lists a link to the group’s Facebook page.
Club member Tony Roussos stated, “The main hope is to place the seed of our club’s and hobby’s existence to the general [public’s] awareness. It ‘primes’ the public to take notice when the club moves forward to produce an event in the future.
“The secondary hope is to provide a fast-track for interested parties to seek and connect with the club if they just moved to the area or if they’re new to the hobby.”
JIM VAN LOO PASSES
An AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame member who also had served as the president of the now-defunct International Miniature Aircraft Association has passed away.
Vincent James “Jim” Van Loo, 88, died February 19, 2022, at the Benton House in Blue Springs, Missouri. His wife of 65 years, Ruth Ann, died approximately two days later.
Born in Clinton, Iowa, Jim served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He became an air traffic controller and intercept technician for the U.S. Air Force. He was awarded the Good Conduct medal and attended advanced military training to become a radar and facility instructor. Jim later worked as an air traffic controller for the FAA for more than 30 years. He held a commercial pilot’s license.
Jim first became interested in aviation when he was approximately 7 years old. While quarantined for the measles, he began building a Comet kit. His interest in model aircraft grew and he began doing odd jobs to earn money for his modeling projects.
According to his AMA History Project biography, the first engine that Jim purchased was a Bantam .19 ignition engine, which he put into a Strato-Kitten Control Line (CL) model. At age 15, he began competing in CL events, and in 1962, he competed in his first AMA Nats.
In 1985, Jim began competing in RC events, and by 1990, he was flying his own designs. His designs, including the Chipmunk, the Mystere II, and his Giant Scale Extra 230, were published in Model Airplane News, Flying Models, and Model Aviation. The Chipmunk was kitted by Sig Manufacturing, and the Extra 23 and another model, his 90-inch-wingspan Taylorcraft, was kitted by R/C Extra’s.
Survivors include a daughter, a son, a stepsister, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Electric-Powered Citabria
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.
From Model Builder magazine comes the semiscale Citabria, designed by Stan Wilson. The 44-inch-wingspan aircraft is powered by a brushless electric motor and LiPo batteries. It would make a great project for an electric-powered aircraft.
You can order plans for the Citabria, plans number 10832, through plans.modelaircraft.org for $9. Simply type Citabria in the search bar.
Contest” (1984). According to the family, Walter also ran an Indoor model materials supply business called Jem Supplies.
The David and Walter Erbach Collection contains memorabilia accumulated from their shared enjoyment of the hobby, such as their attendance and involvement in local, national, and international competitions. The age of the items covers roughly seven decades, spanning from the 1930s to the 2000s. There are caps, pins, buttons, decals, ID tags, ribbons, programs, flyers, booklets, receipts, maps, correspondence, magazines, newsletters, and more—things that one could accumulate while enjoying the fun of model aviation.
A large portion of the collection concerns the Nats. Here are some of their top wins at the Nats:
YEAR — NAME — EVENT — PLACE — SOURCE
1948 — Walter — Indoor Cabin, Open Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, November 1948
1957 — David — Indoor Stick, Junior Class — 2nd — Air Trails Annual, 1958
1958 — David — Indoor Stick, Junior Class — 2nd — Model Aviation, August 1958
1962 — David — Indoor Cabin, Junior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1962
1962 — David — Indoor Paper Stick, Junior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1962
1963 — David — Indoor Cabin, Senior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1963
1966 — David — Indoor Cabin, Senior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1966
1966 — David — Indoor Paper Stick, Senior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1966
1966 — David — Indoor Stick, Senior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1966
1967 — David — Indoor Cabin, Senior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1967
1967 — David — Indoor Paper Stick, Senior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1967
1967 — David — Indoor Stick, Senior Class — 1st — Model Airplane News, October 1967
1982 — David — Indoor Easy B, Open Class — 3rd — Model Aviation, November 1982
2013 — David — Helicopter (209), Open Class — 2nd — AMA website: www.modelaircraft.org/natsscores
It was hard to choose what to share in this article because there were so many great items! Here is a tiny portion of the collection:
- 1938 Nats: Cap advertising Berryloid Model Finishes (2017.37.03)
- 1939 International Model Airplane Competition: Ribbon/identification tag for helper (A2017.20.02)
- 1941 Nats: Program (A2017.20.74) and bill for the Hotel Sherman in Chicago (A2017.20.75)
- 1941 Third Annual Gas Model Airplane Meet: Identification tag for contestant (A2017.20.11)
- 1950 Nats: Program (A2017.20.140)
- 1957 Nats: Two contestants’ receipt/identification cards for Walter and David (A2017.20.160 and A2017.20.161)
- 1962 Nats: Name badge/button for Walter Erbach (2017.37.16)
You can feel the joy of the aeromodeling hobby between father and son in this collection. We are currently working to share more of these items through the museum’s Digital Collections, so please visit us online to see more! Use the phrase “David and Walter Erbach Collection” (with quotation marks) in the keyword search bar.
Do you have an aeromodeling collection representing you or your family’s involvement in the hobby/sport? Have you been thinking about donating it to a museum? Give us a call at (765) 287-1256, ext. 511, or send us an email at modelaircraft.org. We’d be happy to discuss whether the National Model Aviation Museum is the right place for your collection!
