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The new wing ... is
scheduled to
be completed before
the end of this year.
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Most
of our members, especially those who have been involved in
model aviation for any length of time, will recognize the
name Claude McCullough. Claude's modeling career began early
in his life and was an important part of his life until his
death in 2008.
Beginning in 1935, Claude participated in all types of
competitions including Indoor, Hand-Launched Glider, Free
Flight Rubber, Free Flight Scale, all sizes of Free Flight
Power, ROW (rise-off-water), Control Line Stunt, Control
Line Scale, and RC Pattern. However, his first love was
Radio Control Scale modeling and competition.
Claude's extraordinary designing and building skills,
coupled with his piloting ability, led to his becoming one
of the most prominent Scale aeromodelers in the United
States. His long list of accomplishments includes winning a
number of RC Precision Scale competitions and FAI Large
Scale events at AMA's National Aeromodeling Championships.
During the 1980s through the 1990s, Claude participated
in dozens of QSAA and Scale Masters competitions, winning
numerous awards including best scale model, best
scratch-built model, best civilian scale model, and best
biplane scale model. Most of these awards he won several
times.
Claude was a longtime employee of Sig Manufacturing.
Countless modelers learned to fly with his Kadet series of
trainer aircraft that included the Junior, Senior, and
Seniorita designs. His other designs such as the Komander,
Kougar, and Kavalier helped pilots transition from trainer
models to more advanced flying.
Claude was an ardent supporter of the AMA and served on
a number of committees and contest boards during his career.
His first appointment to an AMA committee was in 1948, and
in 1957 he was elected AMA president. After his retirement
as AMA president, he returned to a supporting role and was
appointed chairman of the Scale Advisory Committee, which
became the Scale Contest Board in 1970.
At the time of his death, Claude was still an active
member of the Scale Contest Board representing District VII.
His 53 years of continuous volunteer service to the AMA is
believed to be the longest of any AMA member.
Claude believed strongly in the Academy and its
mission. Because of this, he made a significant donation of
over $150,000 to the AMA at the time of his death. The only
stipulation placed on his bequest was that it be used to
improve the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie,
Indiana.
A number of possibilities were considered, and it was decided
that the best way to honor Claude, and something that would
benefit all of our members, would be to build an education
wing onto the National Model Aviation Museum. Claude had a
deep interest in introducing model aviation to young people
and, like many of us, believed that aeromodeling could serve
as an excellent stepping-stone to careers in the aviation
and aerospace industries.
This addition will allow the AMA to do more outreach in
the area of education, which will ultimately reinforce our
position that model aviation is a valuable educational
activity. The credibility we gain from doing this will pay
dividends for all of our members and clubs.
The new wing will be named the Claude McCullough
Educational Facility and is scheduled to be completed before
the end of this year. A page on the AMA Web site has been
created so that members can follow the construction
progress.
As most of you know, the FAA Aviation Rulemaking
Committee's (ARC) recommendations to the FAA for
consideration as a regulatory basis for small unmanned
aircraft systems (sUAS) activity in the National Airspace
System (NAS) have been released for public viewing. It's
important to note that what has been released are just
recommendations. They are not regulatory policy.
The FAA will now evaluate what has been submitted and
ultimately develop new proposed regulations that will define
how sUAS may operate in the NAS. The proposed regulations
will eventually be released for a period of public comment
as a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
There are some parts of the ARC's recommendations that
relate to model aviation that concern the AMA. Over the next
several months, we will be working directly with the FAA to
address these concerns.
Many of you received an e-mail from the Academy in
mid-May, alerting you to this process. In addition, a
section has been created on the AMA Web site that will be
used to keep our members apprised of and updated on this
issue.
Included in this section is a video of Rich Hanson,
AMA's Government and Regulatory Affairs Representative,
giving a presentation at our general membership meeting,
which was held recently at the Joe Nall Fly-In. He provided
a good overview of the ARC process, what has taken place so
far, and what we should expect going forward.
We will continue to keep our members updated through
our Web site and in MA.
Later this summer, from August 2-11, the AMA will
host the 2009 FAI World Championships for model helicopters
at the International Aeromodeling Center. Teams from nearly
two dozen countries will be in the United States to compete.
This will be a great opportunity for our members to
witness some of the world's best precision RC helicopter
flying. I hope to see many of you there. MA
See you next time ...
Dave Mathewson, AMA president
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