Clarissa Poston interviews Michael Smith, AMA’s National Model Aviation Museum Director

Michael Smith discusses how the Park Pilot Program intertwines with the National Model Aviation Museum

As seen in the Summer issue of Park Pilot.

Michael Smith is pictured preparing Claude McCullough’s Skypirate, which was donated by Herb Rizzo, the owner of Sig Mfg., for installation in the museum. The process is intricate, and great care is always taken! Photo by Matt Ruddick.

Clarissa Poston: How did you first get involved with model aviation?

Michael Smith: My dad is a full-scale pilot and had flown CL (Control Line) models when he was young. We would attend air shows each summer and regularly visit museums. When I was about 7 or 8, I started to build plastic models, and when I was about 12, I received a Cox PT-19 CL model as a gift.

CP: How did you fi rst get involved with the National Model Aviation Museum? How long have you been the director of the museum? 

MS: I happened to see an ad in Model Aviation magazine in 1998 for the position of museum curator here at the museum and applied for the job. As we hired  additional staff, my title was changed to director in 2004.

CP: What, in your opinion, is the most interesting artifact in the museum, and why?

MS: Goodness, there are so many amazing pieces that we have in the museum and that we continue to discover and acquire. I suppose one might be the  Bing Autoplan, a compressed-air model from 1914. It is the oldest original airplane in the collection and its restoration from a basic, almost unrecognizable  wire framework to the airplane we have today, is fantastic. But then we have other FF (Free Flight), CL, and RC (Radio Control) aircraft that, as you walk the  museum, really are amazing, and we’re lucky to have them here under our roof!

CP: What is the farthest a model has traveled to be included in the museum?

MS: The farthest would be two models that we received from Japan. The first that we received was the first commercially available multirotor, while the second  as the  first commercially available electric helicopter. Both are currently on display! The museum also recently obtained Quique Somenzini’s airplane,  which came all the way from Argentina!

CP: What are some examples of items obtained by the museum that are in line with the Park Pilot Program requirements? How did the museum obtain these  items?

MS: In our research library, we have all of the Park Pilot magazine issues, and in the archives, we have examples of program information. For aircraft, we  have a number of built models and kits in the collection. Some of the built models predate the program by just a few years but would qualify. These models  include:

• Dan McClain’s Gnat, which was designed and built in 1964 and used to compete in the Valley Forge Signal Seekers, Inc.’s Smallest Radio Controlled Model contest, which it won. The Gnat was here when I began working at AMA. It had been accepted back in 1985, when the museum was still in Reston, Virginia.
• A reproduction of Chris Soenksen’s aircraft, circa 1968. It was one of the first indoor RC models and Chris flew the original at the 14th annual Toledo Show. Research led us to Chris’ aircraft, and it was built by one of our volunteers, Scott Cheslik. He had seen the original fly in Toledo.  Scott is an absolutely fantastic builder and also built several other models in our collection, including the Miss Shirley CL model, Radio Queen (the first RC electric-powered model, circa 1957), and The Zephyr (one of the first aircraft designed for the Jetex engine, among several others).
• Mattel’s Super Star, which was released in 1972. The Super Star was assembled from a kit that was donated to the museum.
• A Dan Kreigh-designed IFO, circa 1999. The IFO was built for the museum by former AMA Education Director Jack Frost.
• George Hick’s E-flite Tensor 4-D, winner of the first ETOC (Electric Tournament of Champions) at the 2004 Toledo Show: R/C Model Expo.
• Robert Larson’s AgCat, circa 2002.

Both the Tensor 4-D and the AgCat went through the museum’s donation process, being presented to the museum’s Acquisition committee for review. The committee voted to accept the models, and they were delivered to the museum.

CP: How prominent is the Park Pilot Program in the museum and the museum’s history?

MS: Park Pilot Program models represent another avenue of RC aeromodeling. They allow modelers to enjoy model aircraft in flying areas that would  otherwise not be available to larger aircraft, and they are also very conveniently sized aircraft! That makes it much easier to just throw a model in the back  seat and dash to the field for a fun afternoon or evening without having to load up everything and the kitchen sink.

CP: Is there anything else that you’d like to mention about the Park Pilot Program’s relevance to the museum, or the museum itself?

MS: In closing, I would actually like to highlight the AMA Plans Service (plans.modelaircraft.org). With the ease of enlarging and reducing model aircraft plans,  the door is open for so many beautiful aircraft to now be built within the regulations of the Park Pilot Program. The AMA Plans Service has more than 18,000  plans, so there is a lot to choose from.