Written & Submitted by AAL (08/2005);Formatted & Edited by JS (08/2005), Reformatted by JS (10/2009)
Career
- 1951-today: Member of the Phoenix Model Airplane Club in Phoenix, AZ; held all club office positions and began the Phoenix model Airplane Club newsletter.
- c. 1990: With a committee, set up a non-profit corporation to fund the Southwest Regionals Model Airplane Championship
- 1990: Began A.A. Lidberg Model Plan Service (AALmps), which produces kits and plans for Free Flight and Radio Control
- 1995: Competed at Colorado Springs, CO SAM Champs
- 2003: Competed at Claremore SAM Champs
- 2004: Competed at Muncie, IN SAM Champs
- 20 articles published in Model Aviation, 50 articles published overall
Honors
- Won first place in Hobby Shop contest for solid models.
- 1952: Built the Fubar 36 kit with Torpedo .049, his first serious attempt at a Free Flight Gas model, and won first place in Jr. 1/2A Gas at the Second Annual Southwest Regionals
- 1979-1980: Alfred and two of his sons, Michael and Paul, brought home 17 trophies. He and all three of his sons set AMA Free Flight records
- As of 2004: Alfred has been the Southwest Regional and Modeler’s Association President, Contest Manager, AMA Free Flight Contest Director, and in charge of the Southwest Regionals website.
- 2006: Alfred inducted into the Society of Antique Modelers’ (SAM) Hall of Fame at the SAM Champs in Muncie, Indiana.
The Beginning
My earliest exposure to models was during WWII. At that time, we lived near Douglas Field, where military planes were being built (Airline travelers now know that place as Chicago’s O’Hare Airport). Everyone in the world knew or had family members in the military or at work in a defense industry. My dad, who had been in the automobile service business, transferred to the near-by Do-All Saw Company, makers of band saws for the defense industries. He also taught drafting at a night school. The movies brought us newsreels about the war and airplanes that were in it. Our family saved tin cans and bacon fat for the ‘war effort’, and it seemed that everything anyone needed such as food, tires or gas, was rationed. The result of all this involvement was that all of us neighborhood kids really knew about airplanes in the war, and that was exciting! At about the age of 7, a neighbor showed me his big gas model and it was fascinating. I vowed to do that too. During the war, when gas was available, and up to 1951 or so, our family often traveled through the south side of Chicago on our way to Gary, Indiana to visit Grandma. We usually passed by a field where folks were flying models. I began to build my own, starting with the wartime cardboard formers and hardwood stick models. The first kit model that I can remember was a P-51 Comet kit that cost 25 cents. I must have built 4 or 5 of those models, yet none of these flew very well, and I still wonder if they could, being made of the heavy materials in those kits.
It has been said that the period from the end of the war to about 1960 was a really exciting time for model airplanes. Control line had been invented just before the war, but it really took off after WW II. Instead of going outside of town to fly free flight, one could fly control line models in a nearby schoolyard. Nowadays, that’s not often possible due to various noise laws and safety rules, but then, neighbors seemed to cheerfully tolerate what we did.
In 1946, we moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin. I distinctly remember wanting an Ohlsson & Rice .23 so badly that I went to a hobby shop and paid my saved up 35 cents for a prop that would fit a .23. Magazine ads and columnists really had built up the .23 as the motor to have. In 1948, back in the Chicago area, my folks got me an America’s Hobby Center mail-order ‘deal’ – a free flight kit for a “WOG” and a spark ignition Merlin .23. Can’t remember just what happened to the WOG, but the Merlin ran pretty well and eventually was fitted to a profile control line trainer. My folks were quite supportive of my airplane hobby and soon I was given a Jim Walker “U-Reely”, a special handle that contained flying lines that could be unrolled easily to 50 or 60’. On one of the first flights with that handle, the trainer kept flying slower and slower, but the engine speed was still strong. I didn’t know what to do except hang on. What happened was that the “U-Reely” had unwound more and more line so that the plane was finally flying with about 120’ lines! Fortunately, it was a big schoolyard so there wasn’t any problem with hitting anything. Once the plane landed, we mailed the “U-Reely” back to Jim Walker and he replaced it with the latest model that had a positive stop so that the lines couldn’t unwind in flight. Glow plugs arrived, and with them came an Ohlsson rotary valve .23, which offered more power and simpler operation than the Merlin. More Control Line flying followed plus smaller rubber Free Flight models. Then came the new tiny 1/2A engines and I got a Baby Spitfire. The Spitfire was used on Free Flight sport models and small Control Line planes.
Moving to Arizona in about 1951, as a high school sophomore, I really discovered serious free flight models because of all that open space. Closer to home, friends and I flew a lot of Control Line models in schoolyards. A couple of Control Line projects that were fascinating involved multi-engine scale models with 1/2A engines. Both were original designs – a twin Cessna 310 and a B-36. The Cessna project showed me how to vacuform plastic for the windows – a technique that I still use now for my kit business. That Cessna was very practical and easy to fly. The B-36 was less satisfying because it was quite large and heavier than it should have been. It was scaled to allow use of homemade sheet aluminum 5” pusher props on the mostly well used Baby Spitfires. There were 6 engines installed, although one was worn out and would not run at all. Once, at a contest, we even got all 5 good engines running well at the same time. On a paved circle, the B-36 just taxied and was not able to get airborne. Still, it was quite a project for a 15 year old.
Competition
Early recollections of competition include a hobby shop contest for solid models, the carved wooden models that predated plastic scale models, as well as my first serious Free Flight gas model.
I learned from my father how to put a good dope finish on models. My dad was not a modeler, but he had some training at the Chicago Art Institute and later demonstrated excellent craftsmanship by making silver jewelry. His job before and after the war was that of an automotive service manager, so he had knowledge of car refinishing. He showed me how to use wood filler and how to wet sand the dope. I won first prize in that hobby shop contest and the judges seemed convinced they were looking at a plastic model, not a solid wood plane, until I described how the dope finish was done – including final polishing with a buffing wheel plus rouge compound.
In Arizona in 1951, I quickly found the Phoenix Model Airplane Club. PMAC had grown out of a club that began in Phoenix in 1934, with modelers flying their gas models at a dirt airfield out in the country called Sky Harbor. Phoenix’s Sky Harbor is now one of the busiest airports in the US, and it is near the center of a metropolitan area that covers an area probably 40 miles wide and 30 miles north to south. PMAC in the 50s had a lot of junior flyers as well as seasoned grownups. There were more than a few AMA record holders, too. Our club members flew all of the free flight and control line events, and some were also getting started in radio control. PMAC was quite an inspiring group with members always placing well at the AMA Nationals contests.
A kit FUBAR 36 with a Torpedo .049 was my first serious attempt at free flight gas. On one of its early flights, with my nervous jitters caused by the noise and excitement, the timer stuck and the DT fuse didn’t get lit, so the model flew away. Feelings about a first fly-away/lost model can be quite interesting. I was excited that a model I made could do that. As my children grew up and flew models in the 70-80s, I saw both excitement and dismay at their first lost models. The excited ones kept building, while the discouraged boy went on sooner to other interests. Anyhow, my lost model was found only a few days later – it had flown maybe 10 miles and was found on a ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona by 2 young boys. Their parents didn’t want a reward, but we took the boys some Jim Walker “Ceiling Walkers” and the boys were quite happy with that. The FUBAR placed first in Jr. 1/2A Gas at its first contest in 1952 – at a time when we had numerous juniors involved in the hobby. That contest was the Second Annual Southwest Regionals – more about the SWR later in this paper.
I had some involvement with Radio Control during this time [early & mid-50s]. The equipment wasn’t very expensive, often being homemade from kits or based on magazine circuits, but it was not very reliable and I did not pursue that interest for very long. At that time, radio operation and construction was very technical and a number of radio hams were helping to sort things out. My first transmitter was ground based with a 9’ antenna, and had been built by a ham. It ran on 6 volts from a car battery. Operating an Radio Control plane meant having to tune the receiver at each trip to the field. I remember launching one fortunately slow flying model and having it lose control/go out of range about 100’ out! I ran after the model, got it back under some semblance of control and getting it turned around just as the engine died. These planes were usually just rudder-only, but that gave flyers plenty to worry about.
Throughout high school and early college, I was quite active in contest flying; both free flight and control line, in the Phoenix, AZ area, plus a contest in El Paso, TX, and twice at the AMA Nationals at Los Alamitos, CA. There was a break of about 9 years while I was in the Navy, and then, as my children grew, my family began competition free flight and control line flying. In about 1976, I designed a control line Mouse Racer for the two oldest boys, Michael and Paul. They were quite successful with it and I put together a construction article about the plane for Model Airplane News. Michael was both pleased and dismayed about the article, saying that he didn’t want me to give away all of our secrets. I responded by telling him that if we did give away the secrets, we’d just work harder and develop some more. Three sons and one daughter helped fill the workshop with lots of gas, rubber, and Jetex/rocket Free Flight models. At one big 1979-80 contest in Arizona, Mike, Paul, and I brought home 17 trophies that covered the kitchen table. During this period, Mike, Paul, youngest son Chris and I all set AMA records in various free flight events. Soon after that, my contest activities became more of a supporting role for the children’s efforts as I began a lengthy period of contest directing. At times, I often wondered about the children’s activities at free flight contests. Were they enjoying the flying, or were they really enjoying riding the small, lawn mower-engined chase bike more? As time progressed, we acquired a small Yamaha motorcycle for chasing. After that acquisition, I usually had to chase my flights on the little bike. That small bike has been in the family since it was bought for my future brother-in-law in1958 when he was 12 years old.
In the late 70s/early 80s, I was quite serious about flying hand-launched gliders [HLG]. At one contest, I launched a glider for an easy max flight, but the plane continued to climb and was soon lost to sight. About 6 months later, I got a call about a found model, and had to ask the caller to describe what she found as I had lost more than a few through the years. It turned out to be that HLG and she said that the weather and her cat had not treated the model very kindly. I drove to her home, a long way from the flying field and picked up that tired model. Plotting on a map just how far it had flown disclosed that the HLG had gone about 30 miles! That glider hung on my workshop wall for years with a made up tag that said, “World Record Long Distance HLG flight.” After that long retrieval, I stopped putting my name and address on HLG and catapult gliders. More recently, I have become active in SAM free flight and Radio Control contest events. There’s not much success so far, but the challenges of spark ignition and keeping the old engines going is quite fascinating. Trips to the 1995 Colorado Springs, 2003 Claremore, and 2004 Muncie SAM Champs have resulted in meeting new and old friends for some exciting flying.
Experiments
It’s safe to say that any attempt to build a flying model must be considered an experiment, especially when the modeler has limited experience. For me even today, taking out any new model for testing brings out the “Will it work?” feelings. I began designing models while in high school and had some successes. One summer, with a big contest coming up in the fall, I designed and built both 1/2A and A gas models plus a magazine plan B gas Free Flight in 9 days. It was a marathon effort in an uncooled Arizona garage and all 3 models did well at the contest. Experimenting also included trying out control line speed and combat, indoor models, and even Radio Control boats.
The process of developing a model design for publication or kit production is definitely a kind of experimentation. One model is hard to forget. It was a good-looking free flight scale model of a very early Aeronca, the C2. The plane was scaled to 36” from a 3 view and set up for a Cox .010 engine. I very often will test fly a scale model before adding all the details such as dummy engine, panel or control surface outlines, etc, but a few weeks of bad weather prevented flying, so the details were finished. At the flying field, things looked promising at low power levels and low altitudes. The tiny .010 engine required a plastic circle to be fitted to blank out part of the prop to minimize power – seems like that engine only has 2 speeds: off and 27K rpm! Adding power to achieve altitude resulted in seeing the model fall off into a spiral dive, to either side. I had not learned enough about the interrelated effects of wing dihedral and rudder/fin area to understand the problem, so I kept trying little trim adjustments, with no success. The last time out, the model took off and got to about 150’, slowly leaned into a turn and spiraled down to an impact inside the open trunk of my car! I closed the trunk and went home. That was the last try for that design. Now, I understand that some models, especially scale planes, can have too much rudder/fin area, which needs to be reduced in size [or the rudder can be made to hinge freely so it can act smaller]. That model design, and a few others that didn’t work well, will not be offered in my catalog.
Leadership and Contest Leadership
As a member of the Phoenix Model Airplane Club for 50 years or so, I’ve held all of the club’s offices more than a few times.
About 15 years ago, the Southwest Regionals Model Airplane Championships (SWR) contest, held every January, was in danger of disappearing, due to a lack of club interest and a shortage of funds. SWR has always been a significant contest with a large variety of events, and so big that it needed the participation of modelers from other states. At that time, it was one of the longest continuously running contests in the country, having begun in 1951, and we didn’t want to lose it. A small group of us got together to see what we could do. We set up a non-profit corporation and took the contest responsibility away from the club. Funds were raised and we have been extremely successful in keeping the contest going. As this is written in October 2004, next year’s SWR will be the 55th annual and it is one of the very few contests that have been running that long. The rest of the original group is gone now [two deceased, one no longer interested] and I am currently the president of the Southwest Regionals Modelers Association, the contest manager, AMA free flight contest director, and in charge of publicity plus the SWR website. See www.aalmps.com/swrintro.htm , which is a site linking from my business website. Now, the SWR is actually three contests [AMA Free Flight, FAI Free Flight, and SAM RC Old Timers], held on the same site at Eloy, Arizona [about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson], on the same weekend. Others are involved in the contest, of course, and we have two other CDs plus assistants, plus someone in charge of flying site maintenance. SWR also includes a MECA [Model Engine Collectors Association] Collecto at a nearby hotel. It’s a very busy weekend and many folks look forward each year to SWR. This event brings together about 150 flyers, their helpers, plus spectators and engine collectors for an enjoyable time in Arizona when much of the rest of the country is cold or wet. The SWR will continue for as long as we can possibly keep it going!
Publishing Experience
Part of my involvement with the Phoenix Model Airplane Club was the origination of a club newsletter and its publication for the first 5-6 years.
As I grew more confident with designing models, I became interested in seeing if my work could be published. Model magazine construction articles have three parts – the plans, the ‘how-to’ information, and photographs. Drafting was an old skill, learned in high school, but the magazines needed professional looking plans. Drafting with ink on Mylar, plus a LeRoy lettering set provided that look as I developed my own plan drafting ‘style’. As a plan draftsman, I studied the works of the masters – Paul Plecan, S. Calhoun Smith, H. A. Thomas, and many others to see what made their efforts ‘work’. My style slowly evolved to where I thought it was time to submit something for publication. Regarding the plans’ style, more than a few customers have reported that they hang up my plans as wall decoration.
Writing model construction articles is like telling a story. A good article should follow the routine that says – tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell it, and then review what you told them. If there’s some new innovation in materials or method involved, then the article will be more interesting. I always included descriptions of notable failures as well as successes. Sure, it’s fun to talk about winning contests, but the builders will always want to know about parts or methods that don’t work, as well. Even better, is to present solutions for the failures. I often go into considerable detail about how to build each model, trying to understand the builder’s concerns, especially if he/she was a beginner. Later, with a simple P-30 rubber model that was presented in that level of specifics, I opened with a paragraph that said something like,” If you are an experienced builder, don’t bother with all these how-to details. Instead, here are 3 things you need to ensure: (1) Make the body with 2-3 degrees of right thrust as shown on the top view; (2) Take out all warps; and (3) Move the wing back and forth to achieve the proper balance then glue the wing platform in place.” As a result, that model has achieved quite a bit of competition success for builders in the US, England, and Australia.
Photography was another hobby and came in handy for the articles, enabling me to handle all three parts of a magazine model construction article.
The first construction article I submitted to a magazine was a free flight .020 replica of the “Rocketeer,” a 1940 competition old-timer design. This was in 1976. It was absolutely amazing to find out that Bill Winter, the editor of Model Aviation had accepted my article! Bill, of course, was truly the grand old man of the model magazines, so that acceptance was really flattering. Bill really did edit the articles and at times made suggestions for improvements to the models. It was the first of 20 articles for Model Aviation and these can be seen by doing a search for A. A. Lidberg in the MA article archives. One article was a collaborative effort with my oldest son Michael on a P-30 rubber model. Almost all of my articles include pictures of my children, building, holding or launching the models or operating the related equipment. My sons and daughter enjoyed the publication of their pictures, and always told me that I owed them $1.00 for each picture that was published. With the last of those pictures published about 15 years ago, people still remember seeing the children in the magazines. They often tell this to my daughter Annmarie who is now one of the official SW Regionals photographers. Construction or other ‘how-to’ articles were also published in Model Airplane News, Flying Models and one in RC Modeler. All of the articles are free flight, control line, or equipment related. One article was published by a collector car magazine and concerned vacu-forming plastic dome light lenses, quite like what we do for model cowls and canopies. There have been about 50 articles published under my name.
I have also written contest reports for various Arizona contests, primarily the SW Regionals, and had them published in the NFFS [National Free Flight Society] Digest and in SAM Speaks, the periodical published by the Society of Antique Modelers (SAM). Hobby Industry Involvement
In about 1990, I decided to start my own model plans mail order business. There were a number of my plans being held by the magazines before publication, and I wrote to each editor asking that they be returned to me for the business. Bill Winter offered to buy what he was holding, with the unusual step of paying in advance of publication. That was a nice thing to do. With plans that were on hand and the ones that were returned, the “A. A. Lidberg model plan service” [AALmps] began with about 20 plans. My name and my plans were fairly well known and the business grew slowly. After a while, I again wrote to the magazine editors and received permission to publish a few of my plans that they had used that fit in well with my current efforts.
I became convinced by friends that kits would sell better than plans so that was the next direction to pursue. Peck-Polymers had shown us that print wood kits can sell and this was/is a practical approach for small runs of kits. Silk-screening seemed to offer an easy way to produce print wood at home so it was back to experimenting to learn another skill. Before very long there were 21 AALmps kits in the line.
While most of the plans that were listed in my catalog at that time were scale models, there was a strong interest in creating small replicas of the pre-WW II gas models. Eventually, there were about 30 of the old timer designs offered. CO2 and electric power were chosen for these models, and plans/kits are now offered for both free flight and Radio Control.
In the early 90s, a computer was added to the shop equipment resulting in AALmps’ presence on the Internet – at www.aalmps.com - listing all of the products. AALmps is very much a cottage industry and that is possible because I’ve been able to draw the plans, take pictures, and manufacture kits on my own, in very little space. All of my plans until recently have been hand drawn with ink on Mylar. It’s a traditional process and one that can produce very good-looking plans. Hand drawing leads to difficulties in arranging model parts on the plans, and especially in duplicating the shapes of curved wing and tail tips from one side to the other. CAD [Computer Aided Design] had become a practical reality by then and a change to that process allows me to make plans that are more accurate as well as providing more opportunities to do better arranging of parts and components of a model. CAD is probably no faster than hand drawing for me, but does allow accurate duplication of curves from side to side, and the production of a well arranged plan.
About 3 years ago, I began to have model parts laser cut, working from parts laid out in CAD. Builders have become used to cut out parts, but they are often unhappy with what we’ve often called “die crushed” parts. Laser cut parts are consistently the same shape and very accurately match the plans because that is their source – parts are copied from the plans and placed in another CAD file. The parts are laid out in that file just as they will be cut from sheet wood. AALmps has 3 laser kits right now, with another coming soon.
There are two steady dealers for AALmps products, and both are in England. SAMS Models and Mike Woodhouse sell free flight products from their homes, at contest sites and from the Internet. Mike is also an active FAI flyer and has been competing at the Southwest Regionals for a couple of years now.
About 4 years ago, a request came from Germany to have my plans represented in a plan book published by Verlag fur Technic und Handwerk. Their plan book brings together model plans for airplanes, boats, cars, trucks, trains, and model engines, for customers all over the world. It is an honor to be represented in the VTH Planbook. The latest Planbook has about 12 AALmps plans listed. Three or four times a year, VTH requests plan prints for their stock and fills orders from their facility.
A friend places AALmps kits in hobby shops in the Seattle area, but distribution like this has not been seriously done. Recently, a supplier in Indiana has asked to feature some of my products in his line, however, so it will be interesting to see if this might help ‘grow’ the business. I’ve recently become semi-retired which means that more time can be spent developing kit projects and exploring the expansion of the business.
AALmps began, and continues as a cottage industry, with as much production as possible taking place on the premises. It started as a direct mail order business plus sales at the SWR and recent SAM Championships, and has evolved into an Internet business. The direct contact with customers has been great. I enjoy hearing about successes and to receive photos of the customers work. At the ’04 SAM Champs at Muncie, IN, a customer came up to me to tell me that he had won the electric old time free flight replica event at the FAC [Flying Aces Club] National contest with my CAVU replica, a Ken Willard design – and asked me to sign the plane!
Recognition
In 1955, I designed a 1/2A free flight model called the FLEEBO [Who knows where I got that name?]. The model flew very well, but was soon lost and I went back to concentrating on college classes. Quite a bit later, NFFS [National Free Flight Society] developed a class of models called Nostalgia for gas models that had been designed, published, or kitted between 1946 and 1956. I had forgotten about my FLEEBO when I received a letter from a long ago modeler friend who was present when I lost the plane. He described finding the model and putting it in his car. The next day, he went on vacation and while he was gone, he sat down at a motel and measured the good flying model so he could draw a 3 view for his records. More than 30 years later, he sent me that 3 view, drawn on motel stationery and dated. With that evidence, I had my model approved for Nostalgia competition. Also with that 3 view, I was able to draw FLEEBO plans which were added to the AALmps catalog.
Through the years, I have received favorable and frequent recognition of my plan and kit efforts from a variety of magazine columnists. Whenever a new plan or kit was released, I’d send pictures and a press release to new product editors and free flight columnists.
Their free publication of the pictures and information allowed me to operate a business for many years with no paid advertising. Favorable kit reviews continue to appear in English model magazines, resulting in increased international sales.
Conclusion
I have been a modeler for 60 years. This has been an extremely important part of my life and my family’s life. The family has its own private joke – Dad’s going to “Get rich and famous as a model airplane designer and manufacturer!” Riches certainly have not come my way through model airplanes. In fact, AALmps often loses money, but there is still the motivation to continue as the customers are always looking for ‘new’ products. A kind of fame has arrived, however, and a lot of modelers know who I am. I enjoy talking with them and seeing their modeling efforts materialize, and I am flattered that they seek me out.
Attached: Listing of AALmps plans in the model magazines A. A. Lidberg plans in the model magazines
Before starting AALmps, I wrote articles for most of the US model magazines. Plans for these models are available directly from the magazines. Copies of the related articles are available from the AMA Library and the SAM Librarian. The magazines are: MA: Model Aviation; MAN: Model Airplane News; FM: Flying Models; RCMOD: RC Modeler Type CO2
Model or Subject
Magazine
Issue
OT/Powerhouse
MAN
Sep-78
Scale/Dormoy Bathtub
MAN
Jan-80
OT/Super Skyrocket B
FM
Jan-80
Scale/Sorrell Guppy
FM
Oct-80
Sport/Boom Boom
FM
Dec-80
OT/Scrappy
FM
Apr-81
Sport / comp. Little bit
MAN
Jul-81
Scale/Davis D1K
MA
Sep-81
Nostalgia/Fubar
FM
Jan-82 Rubber scale
Rubber competition
Hand launched glider
Nostalgia/Civy Boy
MA
Aug-84
Nostalgia/San de Hogan
FM
Sep-85
Nostalgia/deBolt Airfoiler
MA
May-87
Nocal/P39
FM
Oct-82
Nocal/P40
MAN
Jul-83
Nocal/ Swee' Pea
MA
Aug-83
Nocal/P51
MAN
May-84
Nocal/Beech Staggerwing
MB
Oct-85
Nocal/Tipsy Junior
MB
Mar-86
Nocal/Ballerina
MB
Dec-86
Pnut/Gen Western Meteor
MB
Jun-77
Pnut/Timm Collegiate
MAN
Aug-77
Pnut/Arrow Sport
MA
Apr-78
Pnut/Deperdussin
MB
Aug-78
Pnut/Ryan M1
MAN
Jun-79
Rub/Sperry Messenger
MAN
Nov-83
Rub/Cessna Airmaster
MAN
Aug-83
P30/Little Devil
MA
Feb-79
P30/Juiblex
FM
Oct-81
Embryo/Embryok
FM
May-80
Embryo/Cruiser
MA
Apr-84
Sweepettette 14
FM
Nov-79
Rocketeer A
MA
Mar-78
.020 replica Eastern States Champ
FM
Nov-80
Wahoo
MAN
Mar-81
MAN
Oct-79
Annie
MAN
Aug-81
Control line profile scale
A1H Skyraider
MA
Apr-81
Misc. Subjects
Proportional Dividers for Scale MB
May-76
Balsa Stripper
MA
Feb-78
Sander Table/Dremel saw
RCMOD
Jun-78
Engine Starter Ideas
MA
Sep-78
Rubber Torque Meter
MA
Dec-75
Three Stooges
MB
Mar-80
Country Boy FF Kit Review
MAN
Jul-80
Timer for Electric/Ignition FF
MA
Aug-80
Lathe for Wheels
MA
Feb-81
Heathkit Thumtach Review
FM
? 70s - 80s
Control line mouse racers Bad News
Al at work at the AALmps 'factory' - the living room of his apartment in Tempe, AZ.
c. 1976: Al with sons Paul, Chris and Mike.
Jan 1991 NFFS [National Free Flight Society] Digest cover: daughter Annmarie launches her One Nite 28 P-30. The guys had been telling her to really give the model a push, so there she is about a foot off the ground herself! That model was lost in a thermal.
Four guys who put together the AMA, etc Free Flight side of the Southwest Regionals at Eloy, Arizona every January: Steve Riley, Al, John Patton, and Greg Tutmark.
This page is a text transcription of the original document, made automatically and may contain errors. .