ROBERT L. ‘BOB’ UNDERWOOD (1931-2024)
ROBERT L. “BOB” UNDERWOOD was born on October 16, 1931, in Plymouth, Indiana. Sadly, he passed away on June 20, 2024, at the age of 92.
In his childhood, Bob built many types of model aircraft, ranging from scratch-built Free Flight to Control Line (CL) sport models. His modeling activity halted after he reached high school, when photography, school, and running track consumed most of his time. When he returned from his time in the Army in 1956, his modeling activity resumed.
Between 1956 and 1966, Bob built a Sterling American Scout electric-powered RC cargo ship, a scratch-built Mississippi River tugboat, and an unfinished submarine. He briefly took interest in HO-gauge railroading; however, this was short-lived, and he was back to aeromodeling in no time. He spent the remainder of the 1960s learning about the hobby and becoming involved with local St. Louis modeling groups.
In doing so, Bob became president of the Signal Chasers Radio Control Club for five years and was chair of the Great St. Louis Modeling Association (GSLMA) for eight years. He believed that his time as chair for the GSLMA prepared him for his future AMA administrative duties.
In 1970, Bob was asked to attend the Nats at Glenview by then-AMA Executive Director John Worth, with the intent to work with the AMA Cub (Delta Dart) program. Bob did so and found himself, his wife, and their two daughters all working the Nats by 1975. In addition to assisting with the AMA Nats, Bob also held multiple positions within AMA Headquarters. He was elected to AMA’s Executive Council (EC) in 1983, where he served as the District VI vice president (VP). Bob served as an associate vice president under four different District VI VPs.
In addition to his time on the EC, Bob was chairman and member of the Scholarship Committee (35 years), chairman and member of the Safety Committee (25 years), coordinator and member of the Frequency Committee (15 years), and member of the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame Selection Committee (10 years). Furthermore, he created the Education Committee and served as education director, in addition to serving as AMA executive director from 1993-1994 and as technical director for 10 years.
Some of Bob’s personal competition achievements include finishing fourth in the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) F4C World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft (1975), being selected as the alternate for the team headed to Sweden (1976), receiving an individual second-place finish in England (1978), obtaining an individual fifth-place finish in Canada (1980), and acquiring an individual third-place finish in France (1984). Bob was also a contest director for five FAI World Championships, in addition to being the hospitality chairman for two FAI World Championships.
When Bob began working as AMA’s technical director, he refrained from attempting to join any more teams that involved subjective scores, such as those previously mentioned.
Bob’s outreach not only impacted AMA, but he also found ways to directly interact with the aeromodeling community. He spearheaded a Cub Scout pilot program that consisted of 18 outdoor camps, using the Delta Darts; ran newcomer classes for his club; and conducted model-building programs for fifth-grade classes in two different school districts. He founded the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers Special Interest Group in 1977, in which he served as president on various occasions (totaling nine years).
Furthermore, Bob published plans and an article in the April 1990 issue of Model Aviation for the Thingamabob—a versatile aircraft that can be flown as CL, RC, and so much more!
Throughout his lifetime, Bob obtained various honors, including an AMA Distinguished Service Award (1974), Missouri Park Board Award (1980), AMA Meritorious Service Award (1985), an induction into the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame (1997), FAI Paul Tissandier Diploma (1998), NAA Certificate of Congratulations (1988), AMA Fellowship Award (2002), AMA District Service Award (2009), and the AMA President’s Award (2009).
AMA and the entirety of the model aviation community will forever be appreciative of Bob and the time, effort, and dedication that he placed into our hobby.
To read Bob’s AMA History Project autobiography, visit www.modelaircraft.org/sites/default/files/UnderwoodRobertLBob.pdf. To read an interview that Executive Editor Jay Smith did with Bob in 2016, visit www.modelaviation.com/bob-underwood.
History Preserved
THE NATIONAL MODEL AVIATION MUSEUM COLLECTIONS KEEP GROWING
By Jackie Shalberg, National Model Aviation Museum Archivist and Historian | jackies@modelaircraft.org
WHAT A BUSY YEAR it has been for donations! This month, we’re highlighting a few more of the many items that the National Model Aviation Museum received for the archives and library. Many thanks to our kind donors!
1930s/1940s Company and Club Materials
In April 2024, the museum received several items originally collected by Laurence “Larry” Elma Andrus (1907-1979):
- An Andrus Model Club banner.
- A photograph (reprint), identified as being originally taken at the 1936 Utah State Fair, that shows an Andrus Model Club sign, a trophy, and what appears to be ribbons attached to posterboard (assumed to be the club’s fair booth).
- A photograph (reprint) of Larry holding a Free Flight (FF) model.
- A 1930s hand-drawn plan of the FF rubber-powered Stout Boy, stamped “Andrus & Son No. 3.”
These items were donated by Larry’s daughter, Susan Chilberg, and have been placed in the museum archives. According to a biography about her father that Susan provided for the AMA History Project, Larry began the first hobby shop in Salt Lake City in 1932; he called it Andrus Models. The business began in his basement but grew to a physical storefront and had a name change (to Andrus Hobby House).
It expanded from just balsa to plastic models, Control Line and RC model airplanes, model trains and cars, and more. According to Susan, he also had a balsa model airplane kit manufacturing operation from 1938 to 1942. The family-run hobby shop business continued through a move to Southern California, and it was open for more than 60 years, last run by Susan herself.
Pictured below is the collection’s Andrus Model Club banner, circa 1930s/1940s (A2024.09.02, Laurence Elma Andrus Collection, #0526, Credit: Donated by Susan Andrus-Chilberg). According to Susan, the aeromodeling club ran from 1933 to 1944, and it had a booth at the Utah State Fair from 1934 to 1940. Although the banner is fragile and in three parts, the gold paint of the winged club logo still gleams. Names appear at the top of the banner—presumed to be club members—under the pasted words “Honored” and “Aces.” The two “Aces” look as though they were cleverly clipped from the covers of Flying Aces magazines of the period! Names include (top left corner, left column) Walter Staff, C. L. Davis, Charles Olson, (top left corner, right column), Harwood, Ed Olson, (top right corner, left column) Fred Adams, Wesley Keller, (top right corner, right column) Robert Doudle, Melvin Coombs, and George Oqubo. The banner also features pasted images of biplanes and aircraft insignia.
Along with the donated material, we received a clipping of the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper, hand-marked June 1933 (unknown publication day), about an endurance model contest that Larry sponsored. Some of the names that appear on the club banner were mentioned in the article as winning prizes in the contest: Fred Adams (first prize), Wesley Keller, Ed Olson, and Walter Staff.
Do you know any of the “honored aces” that are named on the banner? Contact us at museumarchives@modelaircraft.org.
1910s Magazines
Published material continues to be donated to the library. With 48,000-plus issues in our library, you would think that we would have every issue of every modeling magazine, but amazingly, we still have gaps in our collection.
So far, the oldest magazines donated in 2024 arrived at the museum in May—a donation including almost 70 Aerial Age Weekly magazine issues, running from March 19, 1917, to August 4, 1919, and an issue of Aero and Hydro magazine from July 25, 1914. Donated along with these were three issues of Aeromodeller that we needed to fill gaps in our collection from the years 1944 and 1950 (LIB2024.09, Credit: Iver U. Penttinen and Kris R. Penttinen).
Per information received from the donor, these magazines were originally part of a large collection started by Iver Penttinen. Both he and his brother, William, were World War I aviation enthusiasts. The collection was later expanded by Iver’s son, Kris Penttinen.
All of the magazines mentioned above are stored in our Special Collections storage and can be accessed upon request when you visit the museum. The Aerial Age Weekly issues are stored in special drop-front boxes to both ease access and help protect the fragile items.
Visit Our Digital Collections
We continue to add items every month to the museum’s Digital Collections website. Images and descriptions of some of our most recent donations are on our list to upload, so you might see them appear online soon. You can view our collections from the comfort of your home at https://modelaircraft.pastperfectonline.com.
