In the Air

2024 AMA Nats National Aeromodeling Championships graphic

REGISTER FOR THE 2024 AMA NATS!

By Toby Silhavy, AMA Director of Competitions | tobys@modelaircraft.org

2024 AMA Nats Schedule:

Indoor FF—July 1-5; Moscow ID
RC Pylon Racing—July 7-12
RC/CL Scale—July 11-14
RC Scale Aerobatics (IMAC)—July 16-19
RC Soaring—July 20-28
Outdoor FF—July 22-26
RC Aerobatics (Pattern)—July 29-August 2
RC Helicopter—August 4-7
CL (all disciplines)—August 4-9
F2ACD Cup (CL)—August 8-9
FAI F2 CL World Championships—August 11-17

AMA INVITES YOU to compete in, spectate, and enjoy the 2024 AMA Outdoor Nats in Muncie, Indiana. The AMA International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) prides itself on being one of the premier flying sites in the world, and it will welcome the Fédération Aéronautique International (FAI) F2 Control Line (CL) World Championships this year as well. The IAC will be a hotbed of competition fun for Outdoor Free Flight (FF), CL, and RC.

Let’s not forget about the Indoor Nats, which will occur at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho. The Kibbie Dome is a 93,550-sq. ft. facility that boasts a center height of 144 feet from the surface of the turf. The Kibbie Dome has been used for several past Indoor FF Nats and has proven to be a great venue.

As with all Nats—whether it is Indoor, Outdoor, CL, FF, or RC—it’s the competitors, the friendships, and the experiences that will bring a smile to your face. If you have been on the fence about coming to the Nats, this is your year to change that! This could be your year to be a national champion!

Get out there, practice, and start preparing for a lot of great memories to be had at the 2024 AMA Nats. Registration is now open at https://nats.modelaircraft.org/nats/register.

SIGN 3 FLY FREE!

DID YOU KNOW that you can receive a one-year AMA membership credit when you recruit three new AMA members? This is a great way to gain more flying friends and extend your membership. You can even earn more than one free year!

To qualify, the new members must provide your AMA number at enrollment by entering it in the online referral field on the website. All three new members must enroll as full Adult or Senior memberships and cannot be current or former AMA members.

Learn more about the Sign 3 Fly Free program at www.modelaircraft.org/membership/sign-3-fly-free-program, email membersupport@modelaircraft.org, or call (765) 287-1256, ext. 129, for Member Services.

FREE AMA EDUCATION MATERIALS

By Kyle Jaracz, AMA Education Director | kylej@modelaircraft.org

DID YOU KNOW that the AMA Education team can provide you with free materials for your upcoming event? Share your love of model aviation with gliders, projects, magazines, and more!

You can reach out to education@modelaircraft.org to inquire. Simply share what kind of event you are presenting/attending, the number of people that you are expecting to share our hobby with, and the age of those individuals so that we can customize a package that meets your needs!

As an added bonus, if you find that you’ll need a large number of materials, we offer at-cost pricing for many of our items, such as balsa gliders and FPG-9 project aircraft.

For those of you who would like to host a Delta Dart build party, reach out to the Education team! We have exactly what you’re looking for at the lowest price possible.

Example package of AMA Education materials — This is an example of the materials that you could receive from AMA’s Education team! Contents might vary.

IN 1928, American Boy magazine started the Airplane Model League of America (AMLA) and began sponsoring the National Model Airplane Contest. For the first time in the event’s history, a Scale event joined the indoor and outdoor contests. Throughout the first years, the event was for static models only.

Rules stated that the model had to duplicate a man-carrying airplane and have a wingspan of exactly 24 inches, but no part of the model had to function. Judging was based on “workmanship, originality in obtaining the desired resemblance to the man-carrying ship, the exactness of which the model is scaled, and any other points which are, in the opinions of the judges, important in such a contest.”

Seventeen-year-old Bill Chaffee posing with his Boeing P-12B model — Seventeen-year-old Bill Chaffee poses with his winning Boeing P-12B on June 16, 1930. Photo courtesy of the Chaffee family.

Silver trophy from the 1930 AMLA Championships — Bill won this silver first-place trophy for the Senior Scale Model Contest of the 1930 AMLA Championships. Photo by Cecilia Pettigrew.

Before the national contest, articles in American Boy supplied approved three-view plans for models that could be entered: a Ford Trimotor, a Curtiss P-1 Hawk, and a Ryan NYP. Full-size 30 x 36-inch plans could be ordered for 20¢.

According to the April 1928 issue of American Boy, modelers could enter other aircraft; however, if they did, the models had to be accompanied with “scaled drawings, giving dimensions, airfoil sections, and such other details as may be considered necessary by the judges to construct a model. The drawing must be one supplied by the manufacturer of the airplane after which the plane was modeled, or be accompanied by a letter from the company building the plane, stating that the manufacturer or his representative has checked the drawings and found it to be correct.”

William Dennis built the Hawk in 1928 to win first prize and a trip to the Los Angeles National Air Races. In 1929, Louis

Bill Chaffee’s 1930 Scale-winning Boeing P-12B model — Bill’s 1930 Scale-winning Boeing P-12B. Photo courtesy of the Chaffee family.

Ray Thompson, Bill, and Joseph Ehrhardt, along with George Shairer (second place in Scale, whose father paid for him to join) and Mark Haas (chaperone), depart on board a train for Montreal. Photo from the September 1930 issue of American Boy.

Hal Chaffee showing a scrapbook to Museum Director Michael Smith — Hal Chaffee loaned his father’s 1930 winning model to the National Model Aviation Museum in 2016. Here, he shows his dad’s scrapbook to Museum Director Michael Smith. Photo by Cecilia Pettigrew.

Boeing P-12B construction plans — The Boeing P-12B plans used by Bill to build his 1930 Scale-winning model. The plans could be purchased from American Boy for 20¢. Photo courtesy of the Chaffee family.

on the Canadian Pacific Liner Montcalm for England.

In London, they went sightseeing and competed in the International Wakefield Cup contest for rubber-powered models, which Joseph won. He was the first American to do so. They then traveled to Belgium and France, seeing some of the World War I battlefields, followed by 10 days in Paris before finally returning home in the middle of August.

In 2016, the National Model Aviation Museum was fortunate to have Bill’s 1930 winner on loan, but on March 10, 2024, Bill’s son Hal delivered the aircraft to the museum for donation. We thank Ellen Earle-Chaffee, Henry Chaffee, and Clark Chaffee for offering this unique piece of aeromodeling history to the museum. The aircraft will be placed on display in the museum’s new Scale exhibit.

As an aside, in the June 1930 issue of American Boy, aviation artist and illustrator William Heaslip, who had been one of the Scale judges at the 1930 event, said, “Someday these Scale models built by contestants are going to find their way into museums.” We are only too happy to oblige!

Static Scale continued as an event through 1936:

1931: Gordon Lamb, Boeing Mail Plane
1932: J.F. Roche, Stinson
1934: Louis Casale, Waco Taperwing
1935: Louis Casale (tied for first), Waco Taperwing
1935: Bronik Soroka (tied for first), Curtiss Goshawk F11 C-2
1936: Louis Casale, Waco Taperwing

In 1937, Free Flight Scale was introduced as an event at the Nationals. Leo Baily won with a rubber band-powered Corbin Super Ace.

The museum has three blog posts on the Chaffee model:

SOURCES:

American Boy magazine
Model Airplane News magazine

The boys set sail for England on the Canadian Pacific Liner Montcalm.