{"id":4643,"date":"2020-01-15T10:44:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-15T14:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/?p=4643"},"modified":"2019-10-24T15:20:29","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T19:20:29","slug":"kwik-fli-slow-build-whos-phil-kraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/2020\/01\/15\/kwik-fli-slow-build-whos-phil-kraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Kwik-Fli, Slow Build: Who’s Phil Kraft?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kwik-Fli,<\/a>Beppe Fascione\u2019s hard at work on other projects (and maybe sneaking in some work on the Kwik-Fli Mk. II without documenting it?), so we thought we\u2019d take this opportunity to talk a bit about Phil Kraft, the man behind the designs that Beppe is building.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Phil Kraft posing with the Kwik-Fli Mk. III. Photo from Model Airplane News<\/em>, February 1968.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Phil Kraft\u2019s story is documented in his AMA History Project Biography<\/a>, but in short, Phil was a life-long modeler who \u2013 frustrated with a lack of reliable radio equipment \u2013 started his own company to design and sell said equipment. Officially incorporated in 1963, Kraft Systems, Inc. soon became one of the most reliable and popular brands in the model aviation hobby.<\/p>\n

Phil\u2019s love of model aviation meant that he didn\u2019t just confine it to the office. He was an active competitor, winning the 1967 Radio Control Pattern World Championships, various Nats, and participating in the Tournament of Champions<\/a> both as a competitor, and then the Contest Director.<\/p>\n

Over the years, Phil was responsible for nineteen Radio Control model airplane designs. The Kwik-Fli series is the most famous and influential, but his Ugly Stick<\/a> is still well-known. Phil also designed, built and flew his own full-scale aerobatic model, the Super Fli.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Das Ugly Stik, another Radio Control model airplane design by Phil Kraft (built by Beppe Fascione).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to an obituary written by his grandson, Phil kept himself busy with hobbies, which included jazz (he played the piano), photography, and restoring old Ferraris.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Phil Kraft climbing into the cockpit of the Super Fli. From the article “Super Fli Full Scale” in Model Airplane News<\/em>, April 1976.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To quote Phil\u2019s grandson, Phil\u2019s \u201clegacy lives on, and we remember you as a man who dreamed, who grabbed hold of his passions, who made us laugh, made us smile, who found joy in his family, and in life; a man who became one of the greatest success stories every told.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next post:\u00a0 February 15, 2020<\/p>\n

See all the Kwik-Fli, Slow Build posts!<\/a><\/p>\n

—————————————————————————
\nFor more information on the National Model Aviation Museum, including our location, hours and admission fees visit: www.modelaircraft.org\/museum<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beppe Fascione\u2019s hard at work on other projects (and maybe sneaking in some work on the Kwik-Fli Mk. II without documenting it?), so we thought we\u2019d take this opportunity to talk a bit about Phil Kraft, the man behind the designs that Beppe is building. Phil Kraft\u2019s story is documented […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":4236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[272,47],"tags":[276,285],"class_list":["post-4643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kwik-fli-slow-build","category-museum","tag-kwik-fli-slow-build","tag-phil-kraft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4643"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4721,"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4643\/revisions\/4721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amablog.modelaircraft.org\/amamuseum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}