Recent Museum Acquisitions
The following artifacts have been recently donated to the museum, and added to the museum's permanent collection.
James Ricketts donated a modern Control Line Team Racer with an installed Rossi .15 engine. An example of the current height of Control Line racer technology, the model is constructed of a built-up balsa wing with internal carbon composite supports. The fuselage was built using a three step process to reduce drag, and the fuel tank was streamlined into a “pocket,” also with the goal of reducing drag.
Picture credit: National Model Aviation Museum Collection, 2011.51.01.
Ken Jennings used the helicopter he recently donated to set a world speed record under FAI regulations, class 203 in October 2005. According to the specifications given by the donor, “the helicopter is a custom designed electric helicopter with a 2-Stage gear box driven by an in-runner motor. The motor turns greater than 42,000 RPM and the Main Rotor head speed was 2,500 RPM.” Powered by a 10 cell Lithium-Polymer 3,000 mah pack (42 volts DC) battery, the helicopter achieved a speed of 75.32 mph (121.22 kmh). Ken donated the helicopter in honor of his loving daughters, Jena and Kennedy.
Ken Jennings poses with his record-setting helicopter. Credit: National Model Aviation Collection, 2011.52.01, photograph provided by the donor.
John D. Fuqua donated an “electro-static auto pilot” that he received from his friend Jim Duckworth. According to John, in the 1980s, Jim worked with the University of Georgia Agriculture Department to develop RC Aircraft for agricultural applications. He purchased this unit, apparently from Maynard Hill, so the models used would have semi-autonomous flight. The auto pilot was donated by John D. Fuqua In Memory of James (Jim) Duckworth, a true modeler.
Picture credit: National Model Aviation Collection, 2011.44.01, photograph provided by the donor.
Joseph S. Wargo donated a silver loving cup trophy won by Hubert Grove Dorsey, Jr. at the 1929 American Model League of American National Contest. The trophy is for the Senior (ages 16-20) National Outdoor Contest. According to the August 1929 American Boy Magazine article on the contest, Dorsey won the trophy (valued then at $100), $200 in cash, a gold medal, and a week-long trip to a football camp. Joe received the trophy as a gift from friends who found it in an antique store.
Picture credit: National Model Aviation Museum Collection, 2011.45.01.
Other donations include:
Ivan Minglin donated 3 kits from Whitman Publishing Co. kits and Hi-Flier Manufacturing Co.
Scott Cheslik donated a Digital Commander transmitter, assembled from a kit sold by Ace R/C.
Raphael Wolff and Debbie Wolff, children of the designer, Raphael Wolff, donated one of the Wolff-Pak Swift 500 kits that their father designed, manufactured and sold from his garage.
Steuben Model Aircraft Klub (SMAK) of Angola, IN donated a club patch to the permanent collection. Earlier this year, the club donated a patch to be exhibited in the patch display in the gallery.
L.W. Taylor donated an Enya .06 engine which he purchased in Fukuoka, Japan between July 1960 and February 1961.
Richard Sprague donated two carved balsa static models, a P-39 and a Grumman F4F Wildcat. He also donated a Free Flight “Ike” racer, he built from Cleveland plans in the late 1940s.
(PS – Want to share your club’s patch? Please send two to Maria’s attention. One will be placed on exhibit, and the other will be placed in the permanent collection. You'll also get the reasons on why they aren't both placed in the permanent collection if you give her a call.)
Picture, left - the Grumman F4F Wildcat carved by Richard Sprague. Picture, right - the S.M.A.K Club Patch.
Picture credit - National Model Aviation Museum Collection, 2011.50.02, and 2011.53.01 (respectively).
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When the Museum Registrar Maria VanVreede is asked how many artifacts the museum has, the answer is generally, “about 8,000.” That’s going to have to change now that she cataloged the 9,000 artifact into the museum's collection the morning on July 20, 2010. Granted, this is the combined total of artifacts in the Permanent Collection and the Education Collection, but still 9,000 is a lot – and that’s not even counting the undocumented materials that Maria is slowly working her way through cataloging. Here's a screenshot of what the record looked like when complete. Note the (barely readable) "Record 9,000 of 9,000" in the bottom left corner.
So, what was the lucky number 9,000? Mark Radcliff’s Super Fli Radio Control model, built by his father George, and flown by Mark in the 1978 Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas. The 1978 T.O.C. is important because it was the first where pilots were flying stand-off scale examples of full scale stunt airplanes. Flying this airplane, Mark took 11th place at the event and won $800.
Mark “kissed his airplane goodbye” (literally!) on Sunday when he formally donated it to the museum. He also included so much documentation and photographs that it took Maria over two hours to sort through it and make sure it was all properly marked and filed. Thanks to Mark for the Super Fli, and to all of the museum's donors who have contributed to making our collection as historically significant and complete as possible.
Above: Mark Radcliff's Super Fli, 2010. (Source: National Model Aviation Museum Collection, 2010.38.01. Photograph provided by donor.)
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