Academy of Model Aeronautics · National Model Aviation Museum
The people, clubs and companies that built model aviation, in their own words.
Search 1,062 biographies of modelers, designers and contest fliers, plus the histories of 62 clubs and 26 companies, preserved by the AMA History Project.
- Histories
- 1,150
- Pages
- 4,653
- Earliest birth
- 1850
Club histories
1–24 of 62 entries ·
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4 pages Club
Air Youth of America (AYA)
Club history
Air Youth of America By Ernest Gamache, New York City Executive Director of Air Youth of America Those of you who took advantage of the opportunity to go through the NACA labs this morning - and I trust most of you did - must have been deeply impressed with the activity we were privileged to see. I, for one, have no further qualms on the threat of…
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3 pages Club
Airplane Model League of America (AMLA)
Club history
The Airplane Model League of America (AMLA) What do we know about the AMLA? Well, I’ll tell you this - it’s not much. Here, from a variety of sources - from online references to magazine articles to collections in the Museum’s Archives – is what has been gleaned about this very large group that seemed to disappear as quickly as it emerged.…
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3 pages Club
Auglaize Buzzard Baiter's Radio Control Flying Club
Club history
Auglaize Buzzard Baiters History In May 1975, an article in the local newspaper invited anyone interested in remote control airplanes to a meeting. Sixteen people attended and they decided to form a club and find a location where they could fly. By July, they had received permission to fly at the south end of the New Knoxville airport sod runway…
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2 pages Club
Brunswick Area Modelers
Since late 1960s
This Brunswick Area Modelers History was written by Edward Schmidt and submitted to the History Project in February of 2015. AMA 2235 Brunswick Area Modelers Brunswick Area Modelers (BAM, bamrc.org) has been an Academy of Model Aeronautics (modelaircraft.org) chartered-club since the late 1960s (#2235), a club of approximately 50 members from the…
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2 pages Club
Burlington Model Airplane Club (BMAC)
Since 1949
Ted Francis wrote and submitted the following history to the AMA History Project in January 2013. To read more about Plymouth Aero League clubs across the U.S., please see the AMA’s History Project club history listing. Burlington Model Airplane Club History The Burlington Model Airplane Club was started in 1949 by Jack Polson and Dr. Tom Yard.…
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4 pages Club
Cameron Dragonflies R/C Club
Since 1993
Radio Control, Airplanes and the Cameron Dragonflies This story begins for me back in the middle- to late-1950s. My brother, Jerry, and I became interested in model airplanes. We made connections with a young man that had been flying U-Control models (or ukies, as they were called.) We were debating about what would be best to fly, and he said…
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4 pages Club
Casa Grande RC Flyers (CGRC Flyers)
Club history
In the fall of 2011, two residents of Casa Grande made a request of the Parks and Recreation Department for a radio controlled air field in a city park north of Casa Grande. Due to concerns of noise for neighboring houses, injury and liability issues, and the close proximity to the Casa Grande airport, the Parks Department opposed the…
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2 pages Club
Central Ohio Free Flight Club (COFFC)
Club history
A Brief History of Free Flight in Central Ohio Around 1926, Lou Willis’ dad took young Lou, then 12, to an indoor model meet of the Columbus Model Flyers at the drill hall of the old Fort Hayes barracks in Columbus. He was immediately fascinated by a 24” Curtiss Hawk rubber model he saw fly well. He was hooked on the hobby for life and soon joined…
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2 pages Club
Chicago Aeronuts
Since 1930s
Louis G. Vargo, AMA #7098, composed and submitted the following history in 2006 to the AMA History Project (at the time called the AMA History Program.) An Early History of the Chicago Aeronuts Perhaps no other aeromodeling club had such an auspicious beginning as the Aeronuts. Carl Goldberg’s hobby shop became the focus of modeling activity in…
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3 pages Club
Cloudbusters Model Airplane Club
Since 1939
The Cloudbusters Early in 1939, a group of teenage model airplane enthusiasts from Royal Oak, Michigan gathered at the hobby shop of Jack Willett and under his sponsorship formed the Royal Oak Thermites Club. Meetings were held on a regular basis at Willett’s store, but the records of these activities have been lost through the years. Club members…
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4 pages Club
Coachella Valley R/C Club (CVRCC)
Club history
Dan Metz offered the following from the CVRC Club website at http://www.cvrcclub.com/files/The_Coachella_Valley_Radio_Control_Club_history.pdf. The Coachella Valley Radio Control Club has come a long way from a loosely knit group of model enthusiasts without a home, to an organization of well over 100 with a professional flying field. Some of the…
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1 page Club
Daytona Beach Modelaires
Club history
The Daytona Beach Modelaires On October 19, 1961, the Daytona Beach Modelaires held their first meeting with just 10 interested hobbyists in attendance. During the first year of life the outfit grew to 23 members and now, due to recent activities, the club is growing again - and is prospering in many other respects. Like most clubs, the Modelaires…
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8 pages Club
Decatur Model Airplane Club
Club history
Club History of the DECATUR MODEL AIRPLANE CLUB Written by CG & PH (2014); reformatted by JS (06/2014) Below is The History of the Decatur Model Airplane Club, written by Carl Grover and Pat Helpingstine, sent to the AMA History Project in June of 2014. Austinville Model Airplane Club 1937 c. 1960s 2009 The History of the Decatur Model Airplane…
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11 pages Club
Deep River R/C Flying Club (DRRCFC)
Since 1990
Deep River R/C Flying Club Hobart, IN In 1989, a local radio control flying club, the Griffith Barnstormers, was looking at the possibility of losing their flying site. A subdivision was being constructed right next to their field. After an exhaustive search of Northwest Indiana, an open unused field at Deep River County Park was found as a…
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5 pages Club
Detroit Orbiteers, The
Since 1960
Profile of an A.M.A. Club The Detroit Orbiteers There is no such thing as an average person and the same rule applies to AMA clubs. But if the Detroit Orbiteers were “average,” our club program would be in good shape. “We feel we have something to be proud of,” says John F. Kilsdonk, President. “At least 60 per cent of our members participate in…
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5 pages Club
East Coast Indoor Modelers (ECIM)
Club history
In 1926, a small group of modelers were given permission by Commander Charles E. Rosendahl (the father of airship development in the U. S.) and base Commanding Officer E. S. Jackson, to use the newly finished Hangar 1 at Lakehurst for Indoor Free Flight (FF) aero modeling. Merrick “Pete” Andrews (1914-1992) was one of the originators and the…
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2 pages Club
Emerson Model Airplane Club
Club history
Model Planes Come to Emerson Junior High School Starting from scratch this Niles, Illinois, program grew into highly successful activity. The Emerson Junior High is in Niles, Ill. Joseph Patrick Flint is a Shop Instructor – and AMA member. To this add some typical American seventh- and eighth-grade boys and the stage is set for a…
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6 pages Club
First State R/C Club
Since 1974
First State R/C Club History In 1994, I wrote a brief history of our club to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This year our club will celebrate 36 years of existence, which in its own right seems rather remarkable. Throughout this time we have, for the most part, held to the single most important precept upon which our club was founded. That was to…
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5 pages Club
Flying Aces Club (FAC)
Since 1930s
On May 21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh successfully completed his historic 33 ½-hour flight from New York to Paris. Charles was an unknown man of modest means who flew a tiny, single-engine aircraft against formidable odds. Millions were thrilled by his accomplishments and enthusiasm for aviation (and model aviation) skyrocketed. Flying Aces…
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1 page Club
Fresno Gas Model Airplane Club
Club history
AMA National Newsletter Club of the Month By Jim McNeill This month we honor the Fresno Gas Model Airplane Club in Fresno, California. Club Senior Advisor, Russ James, claims it is the oldest club in the United States. If you apply Russ’s yardstick – continuous uninterrupted meetings and newsletters all the way through World War II, then maybe it…
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10 pages Club
Gallup Model Airplane Club (GMAC)
Club history
The Air Fair Day flightline on June 30, 1957. (L to R): wearing a dark fedora, Ed Shibata Sr.; squatting and wearing an AMA cap, Edward Cousins; working on a Ringmaster, Bill Bickel; standing with no hat, Walter Shibata; wearing a white fedora, Warren Wakefield; wearing a dark baseball cap, Steve Meza; and wearing a plaid cap, Foster Batt.…
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1 page Club
Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club
Since 1958
In 1958, the Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club (GCRCC) formed. (Cincinnati modelers started the club under the name Queen City Radio Control Club, but that changed in 1960 when the club became incorporated.) Meetings were held at St. Gabriel church in Glendale, OH. Its purpose was to “among other things, promote the hobby of model aviation…
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8 pages Club
Greater Detroit Soaring and Hiking Society
Club history
This document or story will be presented in a couple of steps. The first will be a well written summary of the club by Bud Manning, one of the clubs founders. Bud’s history includes a lot of the items AMA asked for in their writing guide. The history concerns the very early formation of the club and some details until the 1980 time frame when Bud…
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4 pages Club
Guildhall Fun Flyers RC Club
Since 1988
Rusty Scott, Club Secretary, composed and submitted the following history. The Guildhall Fun Flyers It all started with two guys and a conversation at a small repair shop called Ed’s Place on North Road in Guildhall Vermont. Ed Robbins and Kevin Boswell were the architects of what would become the Guildhall Fun Flyers. Kevin worked for Ed in a…