Lakehurst Hangar 1 History
Lakehurst Hangar 1 was built in 1921 and used for the construction of rigid airships. On May 6th, 1937 Lakehurst was etched into history with the tragic fire of the worlds largest airship Germany's Hindenburg Zeppelin. Our club feels that properly accounting for the history of the base should be left to the professionals. So instead of reading accounts and writing about them here, we would like to offer the following link: www.nlhs.com
Navy Lakehurst Historical Society, Inc: This is a terrific site dedicated to preserving the history of the base. Here you will find all types of information on air ships, a detailed look at Hangar 1 and a terrific museum.
East Coast Indoor Modelers History - Horace Hagen
In 1926, a small group of modelers were given permission by Commander Charles E. Rosendahl (the father of airship development in the
Between 1926 and 1930 Indoor Modeling was able to develop in this large space. In 1931, the first major indoor FF competition was held in Hangar 1, hosted by the
Merrick “Pete” Andrews (1914-1992) was one of the originators and the founder of the club. Among the many FF records he established here, he also helped to promote Indoor Modeling throughout the
Today's competition indoor free flight models are constructed of balsa wood, carbon fiber and are covered with tissue or film. They are powered by wound rubber bands and weigh only a few grams. The international class FAI F1D models require great patience in construction and are used in local, regional, national and world championships. Some models flown in Hangar 1 have won these events. The club sponsors indoor competitions several times a year including a team selection competition prior to a World Championships. National and World records have been set in Lakehurst Hangar 1. The majority of the free flight modelers are serious competitors.
There were several gaps in our use of Hangar 1 throughout the years. The most notable were the World War II years. In 1953 a national competition was held in Hangar 1. During that event one model achieved a record flight duration of 45 minutes. The highlight for the club was the FAI F1D Indoor World Championship held in Hangar 5 in 1974. The most recent short gap occurred right after the events of September 11, 2001. More than 15 national records were set in Hangar 1 in 2007, with some models staying airborne for more than an hour on a single wind of the rubber "Motor".
In 1998 a few club members started flying small and light weight electric powered indoor Radio Control (RC) airplanes and the “ECIM RC Slow Flyers“ division was formed. The R/C models must meet certain safety standards for maximum motor size, weight and speed and typically cannot be flown outdoors. While most of the R/C slow flyers are recreational sport flyers there are a few who fly in FAI category F3P Indoor Aerobatics competitions.
Today, the ECIM club works in conjunction with several organizations to perpetuate this superb facility. Being one of the oldest indoor modeling clubs in the world, we are very proud to continue our tradition at our original flying site. Some of our present members have been flying here for over 50 years!!
Our membership consists of folks from every walk of life. We have retired professionals, retired military, military veterans and a few young people as well. The ages range from 16 to 92 with a median age of 67. At present, the club has 90 members with about 25 regularly flying R/C models in Hangar 1. We all do our best to serve as an extra pair of eyes for the base security folks.
The ECIM club is most grateful to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst for their continued support of our activities. Lakehurst Hangar 1 is a unique facility without which our club could not exist nor have accomplished the many records set here. Many of our members also belong to the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society to help preserve historical Hangar 1. For the last 10 years the club has made significant financial donations to the Navy Relief Fund and Navy Lakehurst Historical Society. More recently we have made financial donations to the Air Force Aid Society.
The following table shows how successful our country's free flight modelers have been since the beginning of official FAI F1D World Championship competitions. As shown our USA team has placed at every World Championship. These results are in no small measure due to the availability of Lakehurst Hangar 1. Most, if not all, of the team members were ECIM club members and have flown their models in Lakehurst Hangar 1.
FAI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||
F1D INDOOR FREE FLIGHT | ||
USA Results | ||
Team Members | Medal | |
1961 | Joe Bilgri, Bill Bigge, Carl Redlin | Gold |
1962 | Carl Redlin, Bill Bigge, Dick Kowalski | Bronze |
1966 | Joe Bilgri, Paul Romak, Frank Cummings | Silver |
1968 | Jim Richmond, Clarence Mather, Al Rohrbaugh | Silver |
1970 | Jim Richmond, Clarence Mather, Pete Andrews | Silver |
1972 | Pete Andrews, Sal Canizzo, Paul Romak | Silver |
1974 | Bucky Servaites, Ed Stoll, Larry Cailliau | Silver |
1976 | Paul Romak, Bucky Servaites, Jim Richmond | Gold |
1978 | Jim Richmond, William Hulbert, Dan Domina | Silver |
1880 | Erv Rodemski, Jim Richmond, Ray Harlan, Pete Andrews | Gold |
1982 | Jim Richmond, Cezar Banks, Ray Harlan | Bronze |
1984 | Jim Richmond, Cezar Banks, Bob Randolph | Gold |
1986 | Jim Richmond, Cezar Banks, Bob Randolph, Larry Cailliau | Gold |
1988 | Jim Richmond, Cezar Banks, Steve Brown, Paul Romak | Gold |
1990 | Jim Richmond, Cezar Banks, Bob Randolph, Larry Cailliau | Gold |
1992 | Cezar Banks, Richard Doig, Larry Louka | Silver |
1994 | Steve Brown, Cezar Banks, Bob Randolph | Gold |
1996 | Steve Brown,Cezar Banks, Gary Underwood, Jake Palmer | Gold |
1998 | Steve Brown, Jim Richmond, Larry Coslick, Bob Randolph | Silver |
2000 | John Kagan, Jim Richmond, Larry Coslick | Gold |
2002 | Jim Richmond, John Kagan, Larry Cailliau | Gold |
2004 | Jim Richmond, John Kagan, Tom Sova, Steve Brown | Bronze |
2006 | Larry Cailliau, Brett Sanborn, John Kagan | Silver |
2008 | John Kagan, Jim Richmond, Doug Schaefer | Gold |
2010 | John Kagan, Brett Sanborn, Steve Brown | Gold |
2012 | Brett Sanborn, John Kagan, Nick Ray | Gold |
2014 | Kang Lee, Brett Sanborn, John Kagan | Gold |
2016 | Kang Lee, John Kagan, Brett Sanborn, Joshua Finn | Silver |
2018 | Brett Sanborn, Jake Palmer, John Kagan | Gold |