TAKE TIME TO PLAN
By Rachelle Haughn, AMA Foundation Donor & Programs Specialist | rachelleh@modelaircraft.org
IN INDIANA, August marks the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. You might not know that August is also a great time to create your estate plans online for free!
August is National Make-A-Will Month. The AMA Foundation offers a free resource to help you make your estate plans through FreeWill. The website also provides an option to set up your beneficiaries and indicate whether you plan to include a nonprofit in your will. Learn more about planned giving at https://amafoundation.modelaircraft.org/legacy-giving.
To hear why one AMA member, Steve Betts, decided to leave a bequest to the AMA Foundation, check out this video: https://youtu.be/6JP7qSJ-EqA.
There’s no better time than the present to plan for the future!
CARL & BETH GOLDBERG VITAL PEOPLE AWARD
By Katie Perry, AMA Administrative Assistant | katiep@modelaircraft.org
THE GOLDBERG NAME is one that nearly every model airplane enthusiast has heard. Carl Goldberg began his aeromodeling career just as many of you did—in his backyard, with bits and pieces that he worked tirelessly to turn into working models. He went from backyard building at the age of 15 to running his own business, Carl Goldberg Models Inc., at the age of 43 with his wife, Beth.
Beth worked at the Comet Model Company as a secretary when she met Carl, who was the company’s chief designer. She eventually took a dive into aeromodeling herself in 1984, and built and flew a model in the 1984 Nats under the watchful eyes of Carl.
Carl and Beth came to AMA with the hope of creating an award specifically for the people who work behind the scenes, help set up events, produce club newsletters, help to educate newcomers, and more. As a result, the Carl & Beth Goldberg Vital People Award was created in 1983 for modelers who might not get as much recognition as they deserve. If you know someone who is hardworking, dedicated, and has a true passion for model aviation, this could be a great way to thank them.
To keep the tradition alive each year, a committee composed of one AMA member from each district comes together to choose the winners of the Carl & Beth Goldberg Vital People Award. Nominations are due by September 15 each year. If there is someone who comes to mind as you read this, feel free to nominate them for the 2024 season. If sent in after September 15, the nomination will not be included in the 2024 list. The winners receive an engraved plaque, along with a $200 check to thank them for their dedication.
If you have a person in mind, simply email nominations@modelaircraft.org with your nomination and the reason that you believe they should receive the award. The winners will be announced after November 10. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Katie Perry at katiep@modelaircraft.org.
TIM DANNELS (1935-2024)
Tim Dannels is shown accepting his 2018 AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame plaque.
TIMOTHY “TIM” DANNELS, born in Denver on December 7, 1935, took his final flight in 2024.
Tim started modeling at roughly the age of 8, and he continued to partake in the hobby for the rest of his life. Throughout his time in the hobby, Tim was instrumental in the founding of the Society of Antique Modelers and the Engine Collector’s Journal. Furthermore, Tim was active in the earliest days of the Model Engine Collectors Association, and he was the editor and publisher of volumes one and two of the American Model Engine Encyclopedia.
On the flying side of the hobby, Tim became a member of the Martin Model Masters in the late 1950s. In roughly 1960, he took an interest in Old-Timer (OT) Free Flight—this interest sparked the creation of The Model Museum Flying Club (MMFC) in the early 1960s! The MMFC, composed of Tim and his flying friends in Denver, held OT meets once in 1963 and twice in 1964. It is said that these meets were the start of the OT movement!
In 1965, Tim and a friend attended the Willow Grove Nats, held in Philadelphia, where OT was “officially” flown for the first time. At this meet, he flew a Carl Goldberg-designed Valkyrie.
Tim was inducted into the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 2018, after being nominated by Bill Mohrbacher. AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame members John Brodak, Larry Davidson, Clarence Lee, Jean Pailet, Larry Scarinzi, and Richard Lyle Barlow supported his nomination.
Jean said the following about Tim: “He has demonstrated many years of dedicated (and generally thankless) service and support to the model aviation community!”
Through all of his nomination-based support, it is clear that Tim was a crucial member of the hobby. His contributions to model aviation will forever be appreciated.
To learn more about Tim’s model aviation journey, read his AMA History Project Biography at www.modelaircraft.org/sites/default/files/DannelsTim.pdf.
AMA Thanks Its Lifetime Supporters!
The Academy of Model Aeronautics recently welcomed Life Members Chris Ross, Bargersville IN; Nathan Cation, Peoria IL; Ted A. Wilmes, Maryville MO; and Jeremy A. Woodle, Gridley IL.
For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (765) 287-1256, ext. 129.
—AMA Membership department
Model Builder Plans
AMA PLANS SERVICE now houses all plans formerly sold through Model Builder, Bill Northrup’s Plan Service, and the Scratch Builder’s Almanac. There are more than 18,000 plans in the collection.
The Super Pup was designed by Michael Parenteau, and it made its appearance in Model Builder in October 1975. The plans were drawn by Phil Bernhardt. The Super Pup is a Control Line Profile Stunt airplane, and, according to Michael, it’s “so simple to build that no instructions are really needed for the average ‘scratch builder.’” The airplane spans 41.5 inches, has a 30-inch length, an area of 9 sq. ft., and was designed for .29 to .36 engines.
Plans for the Super Pup, plans number 10753, can be purchased for $12 by visiting https://plans.modelaircraft.org/ or calling AMA Plans Service at (800) 435-9262, ext. 507.
History Preserved
MODELS IN THE CLASSROOM
By Michael Smith, National Model Aviation Museum Director | michaels@modelaircraft.org
MODEL AIRCRAFT have long been a valuable tool in the classroom, used by schools, parks, and YMCAs, to name a few.
Some of these organizations even published books. In 1928, the Playground and Recreation Association of America released Building and Flying Model Aircraft, written by Paul Garber of Smithsonian Air & Space fame. The Boy Scouts of America were involved with Model Airplanes: How to Build and Fly Them, by Elmer Allen. In 1941, the Air Youth of America released Building and Flying Model Airplanes: An Air Youth Handbook.
For models themselves, we certainly can’t forget the AMA Racer, designed in 1966 by Frank Ehling and later renamed the Delta Dart, according to the April 1967 American Aircraft Modeler, and the AMA Cub, released in 1968. Both have been used to introduce thousands to the joy of modeling since their inceptions.
In these programs, building and flying a model was the goal. The earliest model airplane in a classroom setting, however, might have been a static Blériot XI that was used to highlight the working features of an airplane.
In 1911, Alfred Moisant opened the Moisant Aviation School near Garden City, Long Island, in New York. In the school’s first class that was taught by Andre Houpert, a graduate of the School of Blériot in France, was Shakir Jerwan. Shakir and his brother, Fuad, became infatuated with flight after attending the Belmont Aviation meet in 1910. While Shakir received his pilot’s license on August 26, 1911, Fuad, who was deaf, became an aviation mechanic.
After receiving his license, Shakir’s strong interest in aircraft led Alfred to name him chief pilot, instructor, and general manager of the Moisant Aviation School. In this position, he offered lectures with a special addition, as noted in an advertising flyer: “The feature of the lecture is unique and specially attractive: The audience is led into a miniature aviation field where the lecturer, interspersing his lecture with interesting personal incidents, demonstrates with a six-foot working monoplane model (equipped with electric motor), in a clear and comprehensive way, the working mechanism of the flying machine.”
Fuad, a mechanic at the Moisant Aviation School, built the Blériot XI for his brother in 1911. From brochures and letters thanking Shakir for his lectures, it appears that he used the model through 1915. He then left for Guatemala, serving as the director of military aviation from 1915 to 1919. Upon returning to the US, it appears that he took a job at the Hotel Warwick in Philadelphia, passing away in 1942.
Shakir S. Jerwan Scrapbooks Collection, Acc. XXX.0231, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
As for the model, in 1917, the Clarke School for the Deaf hosted an exhibit highlighting students’ accomplishments in celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary. Fuad loaned the airplane to the school for the display but, for some reason, he never retrieved the model. We know that he was still alive until at least 1941.
The model was moved into storage until approximately 2010, when it was sold at auction. In May 2024, the model went up for auction again and was purchased by Arnie and Megan Gaus, who donated and personally delivered it to the AMA National Model Aviation Museum.
SOURCES:
The New York Times
The New York Times, New York, August 27, 1911
Shakir S. Jerwan Scrapbooks Collection
Shakir S. Jerwan Scrapbooks Collection, Acc. XXX.0231, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
1911 Blériot Training Model Airplane
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAI2vqb0EV0
The Early Birds of Aviation, Inc.
www.earlyaviators.com/
