AMA Foundation

As a recognized 501(c)3 organization, the AMA Foundation is one of the nonprofits Facebook users can choose to support through a special birthday fundraiser. We have had several people conduct these fundraisers online, including Randy Cameron, Executive Vice President on AMA’s Executive Council, and AMA Foundation Director of Development, Mandee Mikulski. How does it work? Facebook will automatically give users the option to host a birthday fundraiser right before your birthday. Simply select “Academy of Model Aeronautics Foundation” on the list of charities. The money is collected and then sent to the AMA Foundation office about six weeks later. Because of Facebook privacy rules, donor information is not supplied to the AMA Foundation team. Please contact us to let us know you are hosting a fundraiser. We can then help share your fundraiser, and provide you with a donation credit following the receipt of the funds. We are also happy to provide each donor with recognition if this information is provided to us. Keep in mind these people are contributing for your birthday, so if we do not have donor information we will credit the entire amount to you. We think this is a great way to raise money for the AMA Foundation and also a great way to raise awareness for a cause you care about. Please call us if you have any questions at (765) 287-1256, ext 277. Thank you to everyone who has supported or is planning to support the AMA Foundation in this way! We greatly appreciate your support!

The Academy of Model Aeronautics Foundation worked with the San Gabriel Valley Radio Control League to accept a collection of items, auction them off at an event, and then donate the money to the AMA Foundation.

The collection of items belonged to John Richard Polk, a member of the San Gabriel Valley Radio Control League. From the auction, the club raised $650 for the AMA Foundation. They used $150 of that to buy a brick in the AMA Walk of Fame in memory of John, and they donated the rest. "I would like to give special recognition to John Richard Polk and his family; Diane Polk, Eden Polk, Paulette Polk, Eric Polk, and Shannon Polk. They were all very kind in wanting to make a donation to the AMA Foundation. I had a great pleasure in dealing with this beautiful family. Thank you very much for your kind donation!" - President of San Gabriel Valley Radio Control League, Gilbert Lucero If you would like to know more about the AMA Walk of Fame Brick Program, you can check out our website HERE

Congratulations to James Gager (left) and Danny Kane (right) who were both inducted into the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) Hall of Fame during the NMPRA Nats banquet Monday, July 15, 2019. James, who has spent much of his life very active in model aviation wanted to give back to the hobby after receiving the award. He decided to make a very generous donation of $2,000 to the AMA Foundation and $500 to the NMPRA. We asked James for his story on how he got started in the hobby, and the following is what he had to say: I’ve been asked to reflect on my participation in modeling and Quarter Midget racing in particular, so here are my recollections, obviously, so things may be remembered differently by others. My first modeling experience was at five years old and I still have the scar from it. My older brother who was twelve at the time was into building gas powered free flights and his work area and tools were completely off limits to me. One day he forgot to lock the little room that he used as a shop and while he was out I decided to build a little hand glider. Inexperience with using a very sharp X-acto knife led to a very deep cut to my left thumb and profuse bleeding. There was no way to hide it, so I had to show my mom, and then off to the doctor we went to get stitches. After a period of time, maybe months or a year of pestering my brother to show me how to work with modeling tools, he began to teach me how to safely build models. The next recollection of a highlight occurred when I was ten. One of the local grocery stores in the Chicago suburb that I lived in held a model building contest. There were several classes and I fit into the 8-12-year-old group. The store provided the model kit, most likely a Comet kit, of a high wing monoplane built with stick and tissue fashion. Other than using the kit and no adult help allowed, there were no rules. So, I built the kit and instead of using tissue as covering, I covered it with a 1/32” balsa sheet, and I finished it with automotive lacquer that I borrowed from my brother’s stash/ I don’t recall how the winners were picked, but I won my class. Not without controversy though, as some adults thought I cheated by using balsa sheet instead of covering. None the less, I was awarded the first prize for my class, a .35 powered U Control Kit, which I believe was called the Continental. Since I was ten and my only source of income was picking up discarded pop bottles along the highways, there was no way I could afford to build it, buy an engine or fuel for it, not to mention the support equipment to be able to fly it. I walked down to the local hobby shop and managed to convince them to trade me a ready-to-fly Cox Kit for the Continental. So started my U-Control flying. It’s a good thing that Cox plane was plastic, as it took a lot of abuse while I learned to fly. I continued to build U-Control until my mid-teens when I noticed other things were holding my interest more and more and I gave up modeling. A number of years later, now married, I was on my way home from work when I noticed my younger brother and his friend in that same grocery parking lot attempting to fly a Cox model plane. So, I stopped to help and that night the modeling bug bit again. I went to the hobby shop, bought a U-Control kit and started building it that night on the kitchen table. I flew U-Control for a number of years at the Chicago U-Liners field at the Kickapoo Forest Preserve field in Harvey. This would have been the mid-sixties at which time U-Control was falling from favor for R/C models. At the south-side of the forest preserve there was a group of few R/Cers, I watched them over a period of time and took the plunge. I bought a used Orbit radio (big mistake, there was a reason it was used) the next mistake was the airplane choice, I bought a popular bi-plane kit, not a good choice to learn on. After getting it built and setup I went out to the field to get some help in flying it. Nobody else showed up that day. Same the the next time I went out. After hanging around the field awhile (bored) I thought I’d just fire it up, tune the engine and taxi around a bit to check things out. Everything seemed fine so I gave it full throttle and I took it off. It was magnificent! A beautiful takeoff, airplane climbing at a steep angle, throttle back to level off and BOOM, into a stall and then a spin. I had no thought as to how to get out of the spin and so watched it smash into the ground. A total wreck. Shortly after that I moved to Kankakee, IL and there were no active R/C flyers that I could find. I’d built a new trainer plane, talked the local park folks into allowing me to fly out of and unused portion of the park and manager to teach myself to fly. From then on it was flying what were commonly called pattern planes and I participated in some competition flying. In 1969 I moved my family to Fort Wayne, IN and shortly after discovered the Fort Wayne Flying Circuits Model Airplane Club. Sometime in the early 70’s, QM .15 racing started across the nation and my interest in racing perked up. The first plane I built was a Rivets from what I believe were RCModeler magazine plans. I attended my first race in Lafayette, IN and from then on that was my all-consuming passion. Unfortunately my flying skills weren’t quite up to the performance level of the airplanes and I went through a lot of airplanes. By this time there were a number of fiberglass and foam airplanes on the market, but the quality and cost were onerous, so I decided to make my own kit. With the help of my best friend and flying buddy, Allen Booth, we developed a .15 size model of the scale ESTRELLITA. Allen carved the first fuselage plug and helped me make the molds. We then learned how to cut foam for the wing cores and with that it became the first GAS (Gager Aircraft Sales) model kit. The airplane proved to be a success and soon I was being asked to sell the kit, which I began to do. The Estrellitawas the first on nine different .15 QM kits I produced over the years. I also produced a couple of Formula 1 kits and some Sport Scale Kits. By this time I had become a Contest Director and through the Flying Circuits we were having annual QM and F1 contests at our Fort Wayne field. In the mid-70’s I believe we had the first money race ($1,000) split among QM and F1 winners. The money races continued for several years. At some later point, probably the late 70's or early 80's, QM .15 race attendance was declining across the country.  There were numerous reasons proffered for the decline, but a part of the decline was that there was only one viable engine and with the straight through exhaust, noise complaints were starting to limit airfields available to racing and the available airfields were also in decline. The contest board, (of which I was a member) at the request of the majority of QM racers and race sponsors, looked into making changes in the rules to try to reinvigorate the event.  It was decided to look into up-sizing the engine and airplane specifications to allow the use of the then Q-500 engine.  There were a couple of different motors available to Q-500 and they all had tuned mufflers to keep noise down. I built a test airplane to the newly up-sized proposed specifications and debuted it at that years Rough River QM .15 Championship race.  That size plane and engine combo was squarely in the speed range of the Q-500 and the majority of contest attendees thought the event should feature faster airplanes, so the airplane specifications were downsized slightly.  The thinking being, Q-500 would be the starting event for newcomers to racing and they could then progress to the faster Q-40 event and then progress to the premier F1 event. Once the new rules were passed, I started producing 3 different QM 40 kits. One of the highlights of my kit business took place at the prestigious Silver Cup race sponsored by the Toledo Weak Signals. This race was always held at the end of the Mid-west racing season and was always well attended by QM .15 racers from around the country.  At this particular race there were 51 entries and 29 of them were from kits I had produced. Along with participating in racing, I also wrote the Pylon column for Model Builder Magazine for about eight years.  I also wrote several columns on pylon racing for Model Airplane News. For several years I did some consulting work for the then Top Flight Models Company in both kit development and advertising. I continued modeling until about 2005 when I gave in to my long buried desire to work on old cars and trucks. With time for only one all consuming hobby, I gave up model airplanes. One thing that continually surprises me is the parallels in modeling and old car/truck restoration, and actually, in life itself. The AMA and AMA Foundation thank both James and Danny for their years of great service to the hobby. James has earmarked his contributions to purchase 5 bricks in the AMA Walk of Fame for himself, his son's, and his late wife, with the additional funds earmarked for AMA's educational programming. We would also like to thank the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association for it's continued support of the AMA Foundation with donations to the Cliff and Nancy Telford Memorial Scholarship.

During the AMA Foundation RC Resale, Kerry Sterner and his grandson, Tyler Hill, bought a 1/4 scale Concept Fleet Biplane and fixed it up. They fully stripped, repaired, upgraded the electronics, and fully recovered the plane. On Sunday May 19, Tyler entered it in their local club (LVRCS) "Builder Event" where he placed first in scale and won Best of Show. The event was his very first outing. Kerry said it was a great time working with his grandson and that Tyler is now fully engaged in the hobby and they both look forward to working on many more projects together.

After 50 years and some tough decisions, the Cleveland Free Flight Society disbanded and donated their remaining funds to organizations who supported them throughout the years. Rich Weber, former President of the Cleveland Free Flight Society, stated: "When our club members made the difficult decision to disband the Cleveland Free Flight Society after a fifty year run, we had to make some more decisions on what to do with the funds left in our treasury. We made a list of ideas at our final meeting, and then sent out a questionnaire to all of the club members, asking them to vote on where they wanted the donations to go. The results of the membership survey showed that CFFS membership wanted to see that the funds went to the organizations that supported our activities over the years, and to help insure that aeromodeling remained strong for many years to come. The AMA Scholarship Fund and the AMA Foundation were natural choices. We hope the donations will aid those organizations in their work." The AMA Foundation thanks CFFS for their generous donation and wishes the best for everyone involved with CFFS in their future endeavors.

Thirteen students awarded a total of $50,000 for academic pursuits The Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) has helped graduating seniors achieve their dreams since 1970, with individual scholarships ranging from $500 to $8,000 each year. This year, $50,000 total was awarded to students. Student scholarships are awarded each year thanks to the generous support of AMA members and AMA Foundation patrons across the country. AMA has awarded more than $1.1 million in scholarships since founding the scholarship program. AMA is happy to announce that 13 high school graduates from across the nation will benefit from the AMA scholarship fund this year. The scholarship money is generated through donations by model aviation organizations, individuals, and AMA members, and a portion of AMA member dues. Award designations are set by the AMA Scholarship Committee, which is made up of model aviation pilots and enthusiasts. The committee evaluates each application and ranks it based on GPA, community involvement, model flying experience, and model flying competition participation. AMA and its foundation want to thank each family that has contributed to the memorial scholarships, as well as the hundreds of other donors to the scholarship program. Without their generous contributions, these gifts would not be possible. AMA would like to congratulate the following students who have been selected this year to receive the Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship and others:

1. Robert Van Zyl (Peachtree, GA): $7,000 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship; $1,000 Weak Signals Club Scholarship

1. Stoil Avramov (Elkridge, MD): $2,000 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship; $5,000 Clifford and Nancy Telford Scholarship 

1. Sparsh Desai: $6,000 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship; $500 Weak Signals Club Scholarship

1. Thomas Holcomb (Marietta, GA): $5,000 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship, $500 Weak Signals Club Scholarship

1. Jacob Pulsipher (West Richland, WA): $4,500 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship, $1,000 Ryan Sherrow Memorial Scholarship

1. Joseph Thibodeau (Appling, GA): $4,000 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship

1. Trevor Burke (Dallas): $3,500 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship

1. Kyle Albrecht (Fenton, MI): $3,000 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship

1. Darius Rieger (Cape Elizabeth, ME): $2,500, Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship

1. Julia Minicozzi (Babylon, NY): $2,000, Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship

1. Linda Markham (Carrollton, GA): $1,000 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship

1. Joshua McCreary (Suffolk, VA): $1,000 Basil and Dorothy Cooper Memorial Scholarship

1. Edward Bukowski (Parkland, FL): $500 Charles Hampson Grant Scholarship

The Palm Beach Radio Control Association is our featured Flying For Good submission for April. Located in Boca Raton, FL, the club raised $10,500 for charity from November 2018 to April 2019. The club sponsored five fundraisers to benefit three local organizations as well as two national charities, Toys for Tots and The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The club’s local fundraising efforts benefited the Alexander “Sandy” Nininger State Veterans Nursing Home, Ziggy’s Haven Bird Sanctuary, and the Hepzibah House for victims of human trafficking. In addition to raising awareness for each charity, many events featured fun flys, food and beverages, and raffle prizes. The AMA Foundation wants to know how your club has given back to charity. To learn more about the Flying For Good Program, click here.  

Congratulations to the 2019 Flying Site Development/Improvement Grant recipients. Each club has been successful in its efforts to increase the value the club’s property and member experience.

A total of $32,542.54 has been awarded among 44 AMA Chartered Clubs.

AMA established the Flying Site Development/Improvement Grant program to invest in the continued improvement and growth of AMA chartered clubs. Grant funding is provided through an allocation of membership dues each year. This year, thanks to the support of AMA Foundation donors, enough funding was available to award grants to all qualified clubs. These clubs are making a difference in the model aviation community, and the communities in which they operate.

Club Name

 Amount

Bridgerland RC$381.00

Central Alabama Sportflyers$240.30

Circle Masters Flying Club$37.01

Corning Tri Rivers RC Modelers$237.54

Dallas Wingdingers$346.51

Derby Radio Control Club$1,828.35

East Coast Swamp Fliers$2,400.72

Erie RC Club$49.58

Fairgrounds Flyers$214.43

Florence Aeromodelers$1,324.92

Fraser Flying Club$97.89

Harvey County Radio Control Club$1,336.19

Horizon City Flyers$257.00

Hudson Valley RC Club$245.00

Huntington County Modelers$551.01

Inland Empire Radio Control Club$150.00

Island Flyers RC Club$670.16

Johnson County RC Flyers$160.49

Maricopa AMA RC Club$120.81

Miracle Strip RC Modelers$551.68

North Georgia Model Aviators$698.96

Northeast Aero RC Club$350.00

Ocean County Modelers$717.77

Olympic Radio Control Association$269.29

Omahawks, RC Inc$3,000.00

Osceola Flyers$70.00

Owatonna RC Modelers$429.46

Penn Ohio Radio Kontrol Society$306.00

PROPS$570.57

Radio Control Society of Marine Park$838.75

River City Radio Controllers$2,636.20

Robin's Flying Field$1,249.44

Rochester Aero-Modeling Society, inc$160.02

Seaview Rotary Wings$175.00

Shadetree RC Club$401.79

Smith Lake Fliers$848.62

Somerset RC$29.53

Southwest Area Park Modelers$243.07

Sun Valley Fliers$3,000.00

Top O' New Jersey$783.56

Tumecula Valley Fliers$741.60

Tuscarora RC Flying Club$290.20

Washington County Model Aviation Association$532.12

Western Carolina Radio Club$3,000.00

Congratulations tot he Newport News Park Radio Control Club for raising $1,764.00 for the AMA Foundation! What an accomplishment! The Newport News Park Radio Control Club formed a committee and drafted up a proposal on how their club can contribute to the AMA Foundation in support of our mission and vision. The AMA's Mission is “to advance the organizational goals of the Academy of Model Aeronautics through the financial support of its charitable programs.” The AMA's Vision is “to inspire financial support for Aeromodelling as a hobby, sport, and scientific pursuit – a legitimate part of our communities and a necessary component of the aeronautical continuum.” The NNPRCC committee came up with a program called the “AMA Foundation Challenge.” This challenge consists of three primary objectives:

• Promote awareness of the AMA Foundation’s mission and vision
• Provide annual financial support to the AMA Foundation General Fund
• Challenge individuals and organizations to support the AMA Foundation

The first part of the challenge is to promote awareness of the AMA Foundation. To do this, the proposal calls for developing and maintaining a small supply of printed materials to have at club events. These materials will provide information about the AMA and ways to join the club. In addition to the printed materials, electronic materials will be hosted on the club website. This material would provide an overview of how the AMA benefits all model aviation enthusiasts and hyperlinks to the AMA Foundation website. Part two of the proposal is to provide annual financial support. Using club funds, the committee would purchase a “grand prize” item to sell raffle tickets for. The committee will sell raffle tickets for a period of time and after completion of the raffle, the club’s treasury will be reimbursed and all remaining proceeds will be allocated to the AMA Foundation General Fund. In addition to the grand prize auction, featured items will be raffled off exclusively during the club's National Model Aviation Day celebration including a completely ready-to-fly electric trainer, a 1-year club membership, and more! Lastly, the proposal suggests having a sponsored cookout for club members and guests, with prominently placed containers soliciting donations. All proceeds from the sponsored cookout will be allocated to the AMA Foundation General Fund. The final part of the AMA Foundation Challenge is to challenge others. The proposal calls for development of a brief report, to be used for post-event promotion. This report should include images or videos from the AMA Challenge activities before and during an event, a note of appreciation for participants and volunteers, and disclosure of the total proceeds raised. This report should encourage individuals, clubs and other organizations to meet or exceed the efforts put on by the club. The post-event report can be shared with various local and national media outlets. The AMA Foundation encourages other clubs to use the proposal made by the NNPRCC committee as an example to raise money for the foundation.

We would like to thank JAG RC, owned by Greg and Jenni Alderman, for contributing a portion of the sale of Showtime smoke oil back to the AMA Foundation. The smoke oil will be available at different shows throughout the country this flying season. "Showtime" Model Aviation smoke oil is formulated from the same base stock used by the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds and now by several well-known pilots in the RC jet pilot community. Supplies are limited: $70 for 4-gallon case (four 1-gallon jugs @ $17.50 per gallon) $20 for a single 1-gallon To learn more visit JAG RC on Facebook.  Or visit the JAG RC website, https://jag-rc.com/.