Letters to the Editor
Model Aviation, 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302
The staff of Model Aviation apologizes for the error in the advertisement on page 59 of the December issue. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused readers or Machine Works Northwest.
Top Gun / Sun 'n Fun
Due to prior commitments, I am just now trying to catch up on a huge backlog of reading. I call your attention to an error which has slipped through and I would hope that you would appreciate it being pointed out to you.
In the September 2002 issue of Model Aviation, on page 19, the first page of the Top Gun report by Mr. Stan Alexander, in the first sentence of the second paragraph (which is quoted below), an error has been stated:
"This is the same airport at which the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) holds Sun 'n Fun: its annual southern version of the Oshkosh, Wisconsin gathering."
The Experimental Aircraft Association at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has absolutely nothing to do with the management or production of the Sun 'n Fun event. The management and organization of these two events are not connected; however, they do work closely together and there is an exchange of ideas, but that is as far as it goes. No money changes hands, except funds that are charged by each organization to the other organization for booth/vendor sites at each event. Also, certain board members and officers do indeed serve on both boards of directors. This in turn makes for a much better exchange of ideas but—I repeat myself—there is absolutely no connection between the two organizations when it comes to management, liability, income, expenses, or other matters of corporate structure.
Yes, the Sun 'n Fun event is "accredited" by the original Experimental Aircraft Association at Oshkosh. Sun 'n Fun was organized over 27 years ago when a local chapter of the national EAA organization decided to put on a little fly-in. From that it has grown to become the second largest event of its kind in the world—very close behind the Oshkosh EAA event which is number one of its kind in the world.
Since we are working with three worldwide-recognized organizations (AMA, EAA, and Sun 'n Fun), all of which produce publications that are read worldwide, I hope you find in your quest for accuracy to present a "correction" in a future issue of Model Aviation at some prominent location where all readers will not miss reviewing it.
Lyle D. Wheeler Sarasota, Florida
I'm both an AMA member as well as an EAA member too. Like many members, I enjoy both organizations equally well and work at the AMA Nationals as well as AirVenture Oshkosh more often than not each year.
Having read the glowing reports in both Sport Aviation magazine and in Vintage Airplane magazine, I was surprised to see Lyle's letter.
In Sport Aviation (July 2002 issue, page 42) the page shows the Sun 'n Fun logo with an EAA symbol on it. On page 60 of the same issue it states, "At the Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In each year I make it a point to swing through Paradise City, home to ultralight and light aircraft pilots." In Vintage Airplane (June 2002 issue, page 8), the title of the article is "2002 Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In Coverage" by H.G. Frautschy. From these statements, titles, and similar past issues of the magazines, I assumed that Sun 'n Fun was an EAA event and rightly proud of it. From talking to Troy Toelle at EAA headquarters I was told that Sun 'n Fun is a separate non-profit organization that operates under license with the EAA.
Both events are similar in that both have a fly-in for full-scale aircraft, both have a museum or museums on site, both land thousands of aircraft at their respective events, both have what we would call static judging for awards in different aircraft classes, both attract thousands of people each year and are the highlights of EAA members' yearly outings (mine included), and both events are "identified" with the EAA logo and organization in several publications.
Most modelers and full-scale enthusiasts aren’t interested in the business end of their passion for aviation. From what I have read and seen there is some misconception all the way around with each organization. From what I have read, written, and seen at each place, I have to stand by my statement that the interplay and internet housecleaning of the organizations can correct any miscommunication, unintended though it might be.
I would still characterize Sun 'n Fun as a southern version of Oshkosh's AirVenture EAA Fly-In. Go sometime and enjoy both! Fair skies and tailwinds.
Stan Alexander Nashville, Tennessee
Remembrance and Loss
I just read your [November] "Modeling Spoken Here" article and was moved by the warmth that exudes from your words. I too have lost my father, and he is responsible in no small way for getting me interested in modeling. From the first balsa Spitfire rubber-band model we built at the age of six to the Thermic-50 glider we built together (I painted it with that smelly dope stuff!) when I was a Boy Scout, he was there guiding me as a teacher and leader. I think the legacies of our ancestors and fathers are carried on as we ourselves show those younger ones around us the "how tos" of modeling, just as our fathers did. Bless them.
Thanks, Miller Owen
We're about the same vintage, and after reading the article you wrote, I teared up some about how thankful and lucky I am to have had a dad to guide me as Jim did with a young Bob Hunt. Though I didn't know your father, I bet he was just the same as my father was with me. And wouldn't it be a tribute if our younger generation said the same of us? Let's make it happen. What a rich childhood we had as the recipients of our fathers' guidance and patience! Thanks for your thoughtful article.
Joe Owen Gurnee, Illinois
During my cub reporter years (1960s) at the Kansas City Star & Times, I wrote hundreds of obituaries in an effort to learn "Star style." Nearly all new reporters began this way as it also taught them how to deal with people.
Good thing, too, as the Star's style was stiff, formal, conservative, and rigid—no deviation for anybody, for any reason. It was most difficult telling a crying widow that her husband wasn't "important" enough to rate a newsy-style obit (a paragraph short with a half-column cut). It was tougher still to tell her that we could only use his full name—no nicknames.
Fury sometimes sprang from their misery and that usually was followed by a loud disconnect. I'll tell you, patience was far more valuable than any writing ability. How we all could have used [Bob Hunt's] November (2002) column as a guide.
That beautiful piece delivered a gracious message that needs to be taped to the desks of those AMA folks who must suffer the obit task.
As a modeler, I was very nervous in taking a call from Paul Runge, then head of ACE R/C (Higginsville is about 70 miles east of Kansas City), who gave me the information about his father's death for me to write. Years later, as a reporter for the Hearst organization (I don't admit that too often), I wrote the obit of Paul Runge. Sadly, when Tom Runge died a few months ago, the obit writer for a nearby community's newspaper saw my previous Runge family obit and called me for more recent information.
That call brought back those empathetic emotions; your column keeps them at the fore where they belong.
David G. Maule Lenexa, Kansas
Letters
Naming Conventions
Great [RC Giants] article in the November issue of Model Aviation on the Model A5M Type 96, Claude, Japanese Navy fighter by Sal Calvagna. While the background he provides on the full-scale machine is both interesting and accurate, I suspect that readers whose hair isn't yet as gray as mine might wonder why it was called "Claude." It certainly doesn't sound Japanese and, after all, the Spitfire wasn't called Reggie nor was the Fw 190 called Hans. They may also wonder why the A6M came to have two names, "Zero" and "Zeke."
In the 1920s and '30s Great Britain and France were major sponsors of air shows at Farnborough and Paris where everyone who was anyone at all brought their latest and niftiest airplanes to show off and, with a little bit of luck, to sell a few.
The Japanese were regular visitors at these shows, buying up one or two specimens of each promising American, British, or Russian military airplane shown—things like P-36s, Hurricanes, I-16s, etc. It was generally thought that they were buying them to copy. That assumption resulted in a great awakening at the end of 1941. In fact, they were test-flying them to develop combat tactics in case they should ever meet head on, but they could design their own aircraft quite well without any help, thank you very much!
A strange thing, if anyone took the time to think about it, was that no Japanese airplanes ever appeared at these air shows. Indeed, the only place in which they were even on display was in combat over China. Moreover, the official designations of them were unknown outside of Japan. The movie Pearl Harbor contains this historically inaccurate dialog in referring to "Zeros." We didn't know what a Zero was at that time. Like performance data, identifying information related to Japanese aircraft was guarded in a most schizoid manner.
Having no base of reference, the American military had to come up with something to differentiate one Japanese airplane from another. So it was that code names were assigned, masculine for fighters and feminine for bombers:
- Fighters: Oscar, Zeke, Claude, Tony
- Bombers: Sally, Val, Mavis, Betty
As an aside, Japanese aircrews referred to Betty as "Zippos," after the world-popular American cigarette lighter, because it caught fire every time it was struck.
But who would call their frontline naval fighter, the best in the world when it first appeared, a "Zero?" It sounds like a putdown. Actually, it refers to the year in which its prototype first flew, just as the Type 96 does in relation to the Claude.
The Claude first flew in February 1935 and the Zeke in April 1939. These dates were in the years 2496 and 2500 according to the Buddhist calendar. Thus the Claude's official Japanese designation was Mitsubishi Model A5M, Type 96, and that of the Zeke was Mitsubishi Model A6M, Type 00, which type number easily converts to simply "Zero."
To American fighter pilots, the name "Zero" was a rather foggy term that seems simply to have meant "Japanese fighter." In the book Dear Mom, So We Have a War, a collection of Ben Zook's letters to his mother, he refers to "Oscar type Zeros" and to "Zeke type Zeros." It was all pretty much the same to him; his shoot-down bag included 22 Oscar-type Zeros and 8 Zeke-type Zeros.
Mr. Calvagna mentions in his article an interest in attending RC warbird events. The Madison Area Radio Control Society would be very pleased to have him come to our War Birds Over Dane, which is held in June. By all means, we encourage him to bring his Claude. He and readers may review the 2002 event by accessing our Web site, www.marcswi.org, and clicking on the War Birds link for pictures of some great models.
Jerry Buss Madison, Wisconsin
Lacking in Leadership?
The debate over the financial condition of the AMA and the increase in dues has lasted for several months. Despite all the debate, I think we have overlooked the real issue which is value. The question is not the level of fees but rather are we getting a reasonable value for the dues we are paying?
Organizations such as the AMA have but one purpose and that is to provide leadership to their members, something which is sorely lacking. Specifically I believe the
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
