DIY Network

RC Parks: The AMA's Model Aviation Museum From "Radio Control Hobbies" episode RCH-211

Guest Michael Smith, curator of the Model Aviation Museum.

In this program, Chris Chianelli visits Muncie, Indiana -- home of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA). In this segment he visits the AMA's Model Aviation Museum. This facility houses the largest collection of model airplanes.

advertisement

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F

The AMA's Model Aviation Museum

Model aviation has a long and surprisingly rich history. Not only has the Academy of Model Aeronautics in Muncie, Indiana established a 1,000-acre flying facility, they also have created the Model Aviation Museum which documents the history of the hobby from it's earliest beginnings to the current day.

According to curator Michael Smith, the museum covers the entire history of model aviation from the earliest pull-string-top airplanes to scale-model jet aircraft. The museum was founded in the early 1980s with the intent of preserving the history of the hobby. Some of the biggest names in modeling donated some of their artifacts and historical pieces to the museum's collection to help in this mission.

The museum has multiple displays (figure A) and around 250 model planes suspended from the ceiling.

There are engine displays (figure B) as well as electronics and radio displays (figure C) spanning much of the hobby's history.

One of the objectives is to give museum visitors an overview of how model aviation has progressed through time. Displays are grouped according to era to create "time capsules" representing the hobby at given periods of time (figure D).

For example, the silhouette models of the WWII-era were carved by school children as part of an educational effort to train coastal watchers how to identify enemy and allied aircraft. Also included are modern trainer-versions of unmanned drones (figure E) like those used by the US military.

From its early days, full-scale aviation design has relied heavily on model aviation. One impressive display at the museum is a model of the 747 that carried NASA's space shuttle Enterprise. These actual RC models (figure F) were built by two NASA engineers as part of the design development for shuttle. The functioning, separate RC models were once used to practice the separation maneuvers mimicking (in advance) their full-scale counterparts.

RESOURCES :

Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA)
Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA)
Website: www.modelaircraft.org