Transcribed & Edited by SS (11/2002)
Career
- Taught high school math in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and organized a high school chapter of the Philadelphia Model Airplane Association (PMAA)
- Early 1930s: Sponsored the Northeast chapter of PMAA; the chapter won the PMAA championship in 1933 and 1934
- 1934-1935: Won the open fuselage event at the Nationals
- 1934: Placed first in the open endurance event at the Eastern States Indoor
Championships
- Around 1934: Got interested in gas models
- Set a new open world’s record with a gas model at a meet held by Gordon Light; flight time was 22 minutes and 51 seconds
- Mid-1960s: Began working on creating a Radio Controlled model
Jesse Bieberman
(Sponsor, Northwest Chapter, Philadelphia, Model Airplane Association)
Quoted from Model Aircraft Yearbook, 1936, by Philip Tell, with author’s permission. “He attempted to build his first model 18 years ago (1918) from dowel stick and cardboard. It was a remarkable failure. Modeling activity was thus terminated until 1928. He was teaching mathematics in a Philadelphia high school and still is. He organized a high school chapter of the Philadelphia Model Airplane Association (PMAA). He tried organizing a girls’ club several times, but gave up in disgust.
“He was asked to sponsor the Northeast chapter of PMAA in 1932. This chapter won the PMAA championship in 1933 and 1934. Among members of this famed Northeast chapter are Maxwell Bassett, Mayhew Webster, John Haw, Jesse Jenson, Mike Lichstein, Robert Jacobson, Stanley Jonik, and Mathew Kania. The club’s strongest bid is indoor competition.
“In 1934, Jesse won the indoor open fuselage event. He was the only entry! He built the ship at 5 a.m. on the morning of the meet. He won indoor open fuselage again at the 1935 Nationals. He had competition this time. He placed first in the open endurance event at the 1934 Eastern States Indoor Championships. Jesse has long since realized that he will only be able to equal Carl Goldberg’s flights about three years after Carl makes them.
“He does not care for rubber outdoor flying and has little time for scale models. He became interested in gas models two years ago (1934) after continually inferring that he would have nothing to do with them. His first ship had an all-balsa wing with span of six-feet, five-inches. He brought the ship to one of the early Hadley Field meets, but had motor trouble and did not fly. He built a new fuselage for the ship and crated it to the Saint Louis Nationals. His best flight was over three minutes. He returned home and increased dihedral. After that, all flights were good.
“Jesse entered the same ship at Gordon Light’s Lebanon meet and set a new open world’s record of 22 minutes and 51 seconds with fuel allowance of one-eighth ounce to pound weight. A few weeks later, he flew the ship at the Bamberger Meet at Hadley Field. The weather was bad with a ceiling zero. The model was lost in the fog and was not recovered to date (1936). Mrs. Allen Turner, incidentally, won the contest. Jesse advises other gas modelers not to fly a ship in the fog.
“Jesse is still very much sold on all-balsa construction for gas models. He believes ships of this construction can take much abuse and with little weight.
“Personal statistics: Mrs. Beiberman so continually insisted that gas models took too much of his attention away from her that she finally became interested herself in self-defense. Jesse likes Ford V-8s and Brown Junior motors and has both. His is one of our most popular open class contenders and never misses a national meet. He prefers removable motor mount of his own design for gas ships. Jesse values his gas model at $60 complete with motor. He is a radio ‘ham’ and is working on a radio-controlled model. His ides for radio control method is the most plausible one we’ve heard yet.”
Addendum – Jesse has retired from teaching (1965) and puts a lot of time in his amateur radio work. He is manager of the QSL Bureau for the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Third Call Area. Recently he was elected by a big majority for a term as vice director for ARRL Third Call Area. He is as effective hard worker in amateur radio as he always was in model aeronautics.
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