ABOUT US
Ours is a very small organization attempting to do a rather large job. Anyone who can do it better is welcome to do so, or to join with us in this good cause. See below, for example, how you may become a guest contributor of articles or exhibits.
The focus of the Radio Control Hall of Fame® and Museum is on the radio control itself – not the wonderful airplanes, cars, and other vehicles which employ it (and are very well covered by other museums and sites).
OTHER HALLS OF FAME
Other Halls of Fame and Museums exist which are better than this one. For example, the AMA Museum is professionally managed and run by an outstanding organization. But as excellent as it is, the AMA cannot be expected to cover each narrow subdivision of its domain to the degree that a specialized organization can.
As another example, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is also in Cleveland and is by far the best in its field. Nevertheless, this has not stopped the emergence of independent, specialized halls of fame including halls of fame for heavy metal, soul, R&B, country, rap, blues and so on.
AMERICAN EMPHASIS
For now, the emphasis of this site will be on American RC. This may change as our collection of systems from other countries continues to grow. Many great radio control systems have come from other countries. However, when it comes to the formative history of radio control, the US should be the focus, even if the museum and its organizers did not happen to be based here.
The development and initial history of radio control occurred overwhelmingly in this country just as certainly as more recent history has been dominated by other countries. U.S. radio control was so pre-eminent that – even as late as the 1965 Internationals in Sweden, 77% of all contestants from around the world flew US equipment. Even the leading Japanese competitor, who owned a Japanese RC company, used a US radio!
Initially, only American manufacturers/systems will be presented. What constitutes “American” is subjective or uncertain in some cases. For example, Aristo-Craft is included despite the large percentage of its equipment made in Japan. This was done because Aristo-Craft was a U.S. company which heavily marketed and sold products in the U.S. and actually manufactured some of its radio control systems in the U.S. (in addition to Japan and other countries).
Once such facts are known, the basis for including companies like Aristo-Craft is obvious. In a few other cases its not obvious at all. What is a pure British line like E.D. doing here? Can you guess?
MODEL AIRPLANE EMPHASIS
For now, the story will be told from this perspective since this particular field of radio control is most familiar to us and was so instrumental in early development efforts. Nevertheless, the evolution of high quality reliable control has been no less important in other sectors such as model cars, model boats, military drones and myriad other applications.
This site may expand into these other areas in the future.
MUSEUM
Our “museum” is just our private collection of equipment and other artifacts, together with our “encyclopedia” of radio control, this website, and other books, literature and documents.
The collection (over 1600 transmitters and many more receivers and actuators) has grown to where it may now be the largest in the world. The encyclopedia has a chapter for each manufacturer, even many obscure ones, containing a chronology of advertisements, product reviews, schematics, historic photos and other documentation. Each page is laminated to reduce further deterioration. While clearly an amateur production, the encyclopedia is a very useful reference which now comprises over 40 volumes totaling more than fourteen feet wide.
Although private, the museum is “open” to interested parties by special arrangement. By means of this website we are making the museum available to people around the world without having to travel to Cleveland. Over time we hope to show more of the museum on this site.
See our Contact Us page for Contact information
See our Website News page for the latest updates to RCHallofFame.org
