By John Worth
Photos courtesy of the author
As seen in the November 2005 issue of Model Aviation.
Aeromodeling lost one of its greatest pioneers and a key figure in the establishment of the Academy of Model Aeronautics in the mid-1930s when Frank Zaic passed away in May 2005 at age 93.
Frank was born in Slovenia (in Europe) in 1912, where he built his first model airplane at age 4. World War I prevented him from doing any further modeling until 10 years later. Frank arrived in New York City with his brother John in 1922 and settled there, and they began building model airplanes again in 1926.
When Charles Lindbergh amazed the world with his pioneering nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean from New York to Paris in 1927, the feat inspired many youngsters—including Frank and John—to lead lives involving aviation related to their modeling interests.
Although this article will primarily be about Frank, it will be intertwined with his relationship with John. Together they started a supply company for modelers in 1933, which became famous with the name JASCO (Junior Aeronautical Supply Company).
The company continued to operate through the 1941-1945 years of World War II, with Frank and John’s sister Christine and their father operating it while Frank was in the Army Air Force. He served with a B-24 bomber group and was in Italy when the war ended.
Before World War II Frank was among the founders of AMA and an active leader in pursuing its establishment. In 1932, when John H.W. Alden and William Enyart of the National Aeronautic Association were involved with a junior membership plan for their organization, Frank got to know them and generated interest in ideas for a separate organization “of, by, and for” modelers.
When the first executive committee was formed in 1935 for the creation of what was then called the American Academy of Model Aeronautics (AAMA), Frank was a member. He worked with John, William, and other committee members to formalize the establishment of AAMA.
Details about the formation of AAMA were published in a booklet that Frank produced in 1936. It was Volume 1, Number 1, of AAMA’s first publication—Model Aviation—which was distributed at the 1936 National Model Airplane Championships, or Nats, in Detroit, Michigan.
Frank and John Alden produced the Number 2 issue of Model Aviation after the 1936 Nats. It included further details of AAMA’s progress.
In 1937 the name of the organization became simply the Academy of Model Aeronautics. It was roughly this time, too, that Frank and John Alden retired from active participation in the organization. Frank was satisfied that others were carrying on the work he had devoted so much time to, and John Alden’s health had greatly deteriorated.
During those years of AAMA/AMA volunteer work Frank had also been busy producing a series of annual Model Aeronautic Year Books, beginning in 1934. He continued this through the 1968 edition and then produced a few other related books afterward.
These volumes are so highly regarded, in documenting the state of the aeromodeling world during those years, that they are considered historical collector’s items.
Frank received many honors for his contributions to modeling throughout the years. He was the first American to receive the FAI Tissandier Diploma in 1956; only approximately a half dozen other Americans have received that honor in the almost 50 years since then.
He was made an AMA Fellow in 1960, was inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame in 1969, was inducted into the National Free Flight Society’s Hall of Fame in 1978, was inducted into the Society of Antique Modelers Hall of Fame in 1989, and received the AMA Pioneers Award in 1998.
Frank earned various other awards, including special recognition from the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) in 1991. This Certificate of Honor was significant in that it was given to Frank for:
“ … his inspiration, leadership, and extraordinary assistance in establishing the Academy of Model Aeronautics in the mid-1930s. His stature and support as an aeromodeling pioneer and leader, international ambassador, model designer, technical writer, editor, and publisher gave credibility to the birth of AMA and helped it gain national and international recognition.”
Last year the FAI presented Frank with its highest individual award—the FAI Gold Medal—showing that the organization still recognized his contributions to world aeromodeling many years after his first FAI award in 1956.
During the many years that Frank was famous, his brother John was heard from less frequently although he designed and had published models of his own. John stayed in the New York area when Frank moved to California; however, they were always close.
Frank often acknowledged getting good advice and guidance from John. They were constantly in touch and often consulted with each other on personal and modeling matters.
In 2002 Frank and his wife Carmen, who had lived in California for many years after closing JASCO in New York after World War II, moved to Guatemala to be closer to her family, where they could be better looked after with their declining health.
I knew Frank and John from those early years in New York when, as a high-school kid, I bought modeling supplies from JASCO. Later when I worked for AMA for almost 30 years, I got to know Frank well. We often discussed details of AMA’s beginnings and subsequent history.
My wife Lillian and I often visited with Frank and his wife Carmen when we were in California, and we stayed in close touch with the Zaics by mail and telephone. We developed a close relationship with them beyond the modeling world.
Therefore, I was happy to help when Frank asked me to initiate and administrate a special program by AMA called the John Zaic Memorial Award. When John died in 2001 he left Frank a sum of money that he wanted to be used to honor others who had contributed much to aeromodeling. Frank and I arranged with AMA to conduct this program, which has resulted in three annual awards to date and is to be continued indefinitely.
Since Frank’s passing, at Carmen’s request and with an additional donation to AMA in Frank’s name, we have renamed the program the Frank and John Zaic Memorial Award, effective with the presentations to come in the next year.
There is much more about Frank Zaic’s life that is important and interesting. You can find much of it on the internet by going to Google, or other search engines, and typing in “Frank Zaic.”
Among the many items about Frank are those compiled by Jim Bennett Jr. They include a biography, with many pages from Frank in which he describes his early life in Europe and later in New York, his World War II service, and much more, written in his unique style.
SOURCES:
The AMA History Project Presents:
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