For Openers
Publisher's Note
As this was written, Bill Winter had about 10 days to go before his "retirement." But he was on board during the development of this September issue, and so it is fitting for his name to stand as editor.
Many of you already know from reading the August issue that Bill was retiring—his last day as part of the staff was July 3. But fortunately that doesn't mean his wonderful writing will disappear; we have signed him on to do a regular special feature, starting next month. Bill's words which follow will tie up some loose ends and also, I think, whet your appetite for next month's beginning "Just for the Fun of It."
Preserving the Record of Early Modelers
For some time now, and in occasional discussions with John Worth, I have raised the matter of preserving information about the really old-time modelers. I suggested that this data should pre-date the Lindbergh flight to Paris after which hundreds of thousands became modelers. At 68, I am, nevertheless, not a qualified old-timer under those terms. I am thinking of people like Joe Ott (80), Charlie Grant (85) and others—known, dead or alive—who go way back to the days of the Wrights. To give point to this, one of many companies of the day (1920) had a production of 2,000 flying model kits a day. It was even then a fairly big business. Among those early hobbyists were many who made contributions to what we now enjoy.
I have offered my services without remuneration to get this program started on a simple basis. It should not be difficult. All we can promise at the moment is to build and preserve the record.
How to Contribute
If you are a real old-timer, from before July 1, 1927, write me at:
4330 Alta Vista Dr., Fairfax, VA 22030.
We are concentrating first on the real pioneers. If you can write an informative letter about yourself and things of your day, and give a phone number and address, we will do the rest. Specifically, I will make up file cards and forward both card and letter to Headquarters, where folders will go into a special file cabinet. If you have pictures, include them. Obviously, I may be slow to answer you.
Anyone who is not an old-timer but knows of one, get him to respond, or write about him yourself—though he be at an unknown location for the moment; a file card and folder will be created for him. We will fill in these folders as time goes by, and other modelers contribute on-going information.
Since, after this issue, you may be looking for my address, you can always direct your mail to:
- Old-Timers, c/o Academy of Model Aeronautics, 815 Fifteenth St., N.W., Washington, DC 20005.
If any of you should comment on other matters while so doing, I cannot promise an answer. As editor it was my policy to answer every letter as quickly as possible—but I, too, have to make a living.
For Sport Fliers
Now, let's discuss sport fliers. The great majority of AMA members are sport fliers, and more should be done for them. This has been a frequent topic at Headquarters. "Just for the Fun of It" is a new monthly feature—it begins in the October issue—in which I will round up interesting developments, profiles of people, and sorts of odds and ends calculated to please and inform you.
Since none of you knew about it, and therefore could not contribute, it is my headache to prime the pump. Therefore, I have to depend temporarily upon things I must generate. While I can tell as many stories as the Arabian Nights, it is obvious that the well could run dry. If it does, of course, the effort was for nothing by sport fliers.
We would like to quickly see your name in print, and the names of your buddies—not just mine. Look over next month's feature and be clued. It can go more deeply into new designs, crates, sketches and pix of all kinds, in all aspects of sport model flying. We need to know more about each other and each other's doings.
Once, the competition men (especially in RC) spun off developments we all took advantage of. These days they focus narrowly on their own specialties. As with the Indianapolis 500, which once contributed so much to cars, our experts aren't as helpful to us as they used to be. The new and spectacular things are coming from the sport fliers. Let's tell the world about them.
I will be given all material that reaches Headquarters, marked "Just for the Fun of It."
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
