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National Model Aviation Museum Blog

The Museum is dedicated to the preservation of flying model aircraft and features exhibits on Free Flight, Control Line and Radio Control models.

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White flag with red border, Flying Aces in black and Nat's Mk II in red.

New Addition: FAC Flag

  • Museum
  • New Addition
  • thank you!
July 16, 2018July 13, 2018 mariav

The Flying Aces Club, an organization dedicated to stick and tissue model airplanes, holds their own Nats contest every other year. To mark the second FAC Nats in 1980, Dorothy Moses, wife of FAC member Jack Moses, created this flag. At each subsequent FAC Nats this flag was flown with […]

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4x a Grand Champion: From the 1962 Nats

  • #SifleetFriday
  • Exhibits
  • Museum
  • NATS
July 13, 2018July 10, 2018 mariav

The 1962 Nats program tells you everything you need to know about what was going on at Glenview Naval Air Station during July 23-29, 1962 – including performances by the Navy’s steel drum band and trampoline group. But, if you want to know who was there (or at least some […]

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A trophy on a wooden base with a wooden column topped by a loving cup topped by a model airplane. Column has a gold plate engraved with black and white checks and text about the 1962 Nats.

4x a Grand Champion: 1962 Nats Trophies

  • #SifleetFriday
  • Exhibits
  • Museum
  • NATS
  • Trophy
July 6, 2018July 9, 2018 mariav

Robert K. Sifleet was pretty lucky in 1962. The Nats were held at Glenview Naval Air Station in IL, which was only 15 minutes from where he was going to school. That meant he didn’t need to bother with staying on base and could commute to compete in between his […]

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The program cover of the 1960 Nats is hand drawn line art that was copied and re-printed. It proudly shows off the state of Texas and a flying model airplane.

4x a Grand Champion: From the 1960 Nats

  • #SifleetFriday
  • Exhibits
  • Museum
  • NATS
June 29, 2018July 10, 2018 mariav

In late July 1960, almost 1100 modelers descended on the Dallas Naval Air Station. Bob Sifleet, of course, won Grand National Champion, but what else was going on? The museum’s collection gives some clues! The contest’s program gives a pretty good overview of what all the contestants expected to happen. […]

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Scanner, mainly black plastic with yellow, blue and gray buttons and silver knobs. Taped to the top is a sheet of printed paper with instructions.

New Addition: 1980s Frequency Scanner

  • Museum
  • New Addition
  • Radio Control Equipment
  • thank you!
June 23, 2018June 22, 2018 mariav

Flying Field safety is important, which involves making sure that the radio frequencies in use are clear. To that end, it is good to add this Tandy Corp. Realistic PRO-2004 frequency scanner, used by the Northwest Radio Control Club, AMA #261 (Arlington Heights, IL) to the collection. But, truthfully, the […]

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This black and white image, as scanned from a magazine, shows a Navy Admiral wearing a pith helmet. He's presenting a trophy to a young man in a white shirt.

4x a Grand Champion: 1960 Nats Trophies

  • #SifleetFriday
  • Exhibits
  • Museum
  • NATS
  • Trophy
June 22, 2018June 25, 2018 mariav

In 1960 the Nats were held at the Naval Air Station in Dallas, TX. Robert K. Sifleet had turned 21 a few months before and it was his first time competing in the Open age division. It was also his first time winning the Grand National Champion, as well as […]

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A gold-colored metal transmitter with side handle and retractable antenna sits wiht a large brick receiver, battery pack and three servos.

New Addition: Radio Systems

  • New Addition
  • Radio Control Equipment
  • thank you!
June 20, 2018 mariav

Two radio systems have been recently added to the collection. Walter C. Throne AMA# 408L donated an ACL system, which was designed and manufactured by some engineers from IBM. Another AMA member donated a Heathkit GDA-1205S system in In Memory of Gerald Linebaugh. Neither of these particular systems had been […]

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An engraved clock is flanked by two pen holders. A metal "75" stands in front of the clock. Everything is set on a wood base.

New Addition: Cassella’s Trophies

  • Museum
  • New Addition
  • thank you!
  • Trophy
June 18, 2018 mariav

In 2015, Tom Cassella donated his grandfather Norman Cassella’s Pulsar RC model to the museum. Flying the Pulsar, Norm won the first IMAC event at the 1977 Nats (among many other wins). Some of the Pulsar’s other wins (and one of Cassella’s Steen Skybolt) – as well as the development […]

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Three very large trophies, all varying examples of wood bases and loving cups. The largest is more vase than loving cup and quite tall.

4x a Grand Champion: What it Takes

  • #SifleetFriday
  • Exhibits
  • Museum
  • NATS
  • Trophy
June 15, 2018June 15, 2018 mariav

It is all well and good to say that one has been a Nationals Grand Champion four times, like Bob Sifleet. But, how does one get to be Grand Champion in the first place? According to the Official Model Aircraft Regulations for 1959-1960, as published by the AMA, want-to-be-Grand-Champions had […]

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Four trophies, ranging in size and design, all awarded as Open National Champion trophies.

4x a Grand Champion: Introduction

  • #SifleetFriday
  • Exhibits
  • Museum
  • Trophy
June 8, 2018June 5, 2018 mariav 1 comment

Meet Bob. Robert K. Sifleet (Bob) has been modeling since 1945 (he was 6) and competing since 1951. He attended his first Nats in 1954, where he placed 6th in Class B Free Flight. Six years later, in 1960, he won Grand National Champion at the Nats– a title he […]

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Recent Comments

  • Spinned on New Addition: Topping 100
  • Robert Wright on Scenes from the 1967 Nats
  • John landolfi on New Addition: RC Berkeley Bootstraps
  • Carol on International Tournament of Champions: A Timeline
  • NMAM on 1894 Twin-Pusher added to National Model Aviation Museum Collection

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"model aviation" #FantasyFreeFlight #NatsHats #PatchTuesday 4x-a-grand-champion 1967 Nats annoucement archives artifact artifact care Bing Autoplan Bob Sifleet book club Club History Club Patches control line Engine event patches exhibits Free Flight hours & other info kit Kwik-Fli-Slow-Build library model airplane museum NATS nats summer 2018 new addition old magazines old photographs patches pith helmet Preservation week radio control radio control equipment Scale Space Shuttle thank you! trophies trophy Villard Trophy WAA-08 SQuiRT World Champs

Recent Posts

  • Every Museum Artifact has a story to tell
  • Zipline’s Sparrow on Display
  • The History of the National Aeromodeling Championships
  • AMA National Model Aviation Museum Is Open for the 2023 Summer Season
  • Museum Accepts Two Models from Sig Manufacturing

Recent Comments

  • Spinned on New Addition: Topping 100
  • Robert Wright on Scenes from the 1967 Nats
  • John landolfi on New Addition: RC Berkeley Bootstraps
  • Carol on International Tournament of Champions: A Timeline
  • NMAM on 1894 Twin-Pusher added to National Model Aviation Museum Collection

Archives

Categories

Tags

"model aviation" #FantasyFreeFlight #NatsHats #PatchTuesday 4x-a-grand-champion 1967 Nats annoucement archives artifact artifact care Bing Autoplan Bob Sifleet book club Club History Club Patches control line Engine event patches exhibits Free Flight hours & other info kit Kwik-Fli-Slow-Build library model airplane museum NATS nats summer 2018 new addition old magazines old photographs patches pith helmet Preservation week radio control radio control equipment Scale Space Shuttle thank you! trophies trophy Villard Trophy WAA-08 SQuiRT World Champs
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