1947 – 2021

The ASM model display at the 2021 Air Force Anniversary Ball was a big success. The event, held on Friday, October 15 at Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB), celebrated the 74th birthday of the USAF. The USAF became a separate service on September 18, 1947 with the passage of the National Security Act of 1947. The theme of the event was “Casino Night.” There was no secondary historical anniversary theme this year. Therefore, we decided to include the “71st Anniversary of the Korean War 1950-1953” display that we had done at the 2021 New Mexico State Fair alongside the “USAF 1947 to Present” model display as we had set up at the 2018 and 2019 events.

This year we had two large tables set up in the main ballroom that the attendees would pass by as they entered into the event. ASM arrived with 26 tubs and boxes of models and set up a total of 76 models on the tables in a multitude of scales. They were arranged in chronological order from the right end starting with 1947 to the left end at 2021, to go with how the people would walk by the tables. See the pictures posted below.

For some variety and humor the far right end started with my “You Are Leaving New Mexico” diorama with a flashing UFO levitating a cow on a beam of light – that was a big it – and the P-38H Lightning of New Mexico’s fighter ace Capt. Danny Roberts who scored 14 victories in the South West Pacific theater. Next in the lineup were some early test aircraft including the X-1, XF-82, and X-15. The Korean War section was next with 34 total models covering all aspects of the conflict. We had a mix of models from all the U.S. services, including some armor and US Navy beach assault models from the Inchon Landing, a Sea Fury from the United Kingdom, and six aircraft flown by North Korea. The Mercury-Atlas “Friendship 7” model included in the Korea section had a tie-in with the awesome “F-86 Sabre versus MiG-15” diorama done by Glenn Bingham that depicts Major John Glenn downing his third and last MiG-15. So we did have a space exploration model in the display and we did get some questions from the attendees about the availability of space models.

The next section covered aircraft from the Viet Nam war (11 models) including John Tate’s A-1E Skyraider flown by Medal of Honor winner Major Bernard Fisher, and aircraft in the Strategic Air Command and Air Defense Command. These were followed by modern aircraft from the Gulf War through the present time. This area included 1/144 and 1/200 scale models of large aircraft such as bomber, attack, reconnaissance, and cargo/airlifters. Finally, capping off the far left end were models of an F-51D and an F‑16C from the New Mexico Air National Guard’s 150th Fighter Wing “Tacos” in 1/48th scale by Glenn Bingham and Dave Epstein for some more local flavor in the display.

Lots of people stopped by and asked questions about the models and the subjects, and we were thanked for putting on the display by the Kirtland AFB Commander and the AF Ball POC. The POC remarked that the display was great and a visual reminder to all the attendees of the mission of the Air Force. He also mentioned that we should be a part of every AF Anniversary Ball event and that he would pass the word for next year. We did hand out some ASM flyers so maybe we will get some new members in the club.

Mike and Matt Blohm set up the display and manned the tables during the event. Thanks to the following ASM members who loaned models for the display: Frank Randall, Glenn Bingham, Steve Brodeur, Ken Piniak, John Tate, Scott Jaworski, Bob Henderson, Dave Epstein, Victor Maestas, and Mike and Matt Blohm. Note that there were additional models provided by the members listed above that could not be displayed due to space limitations.