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Aircraft Miniatures at Embry-Riddle Make Guinness Book of World Records


Three Miniature AircraftPrescott, Ariz., July 8, 2003 -- The Kalusa Miniature Aircraft Collection, the world's largest to-scale collection of airplane models, will be inducted into The Guinness Book of World Records at a special ceremony on July 18 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The event will be held in the university's library at its Prescott, Ariz., campus, where the collection is housed.

The Kalusa Collection is composed of more than 5,829 preflight, private, commercial, military and rocket aircraft models built by the late John Kalusa over his lifetime. The miniatures are constructed of balsa wood and built to a 1/8-inch-to-foot scale. Consistent use of this scale ensures that all aircraft in the collection are accurately sized in relation to each other. Each model is also painted with the detailed markings characteristic of the aircraft.

An official Kalusa Miniature Aircraft Collection Web site that will be searchable by various categories will be unveiled during the ceremony.

Guinness World Records, the global authority on record holding, collects, confirms, accredits and presents world records. The Guinness Book of World Records was first published in 1955 and has since sold more than 94 million copies in 100 nations in 37 languages.

For the Kalusa Collection to be considered by Guinness World Records, curator Linda Eisner provided photographic proof of the existence of all aircraft in the collection and secured written statements from objective witnesses qualified to comment on museum collections. The Kalusa family filed the request for inclusion in The Guinness Book of World Records.

Kalusa's hobby began in 1936, when at the age of 14 he made World War I models for a war game he played with a friend. In 1939, when Germany invaded Poland, he turned to building more-modern airplane models. During World War II, Kalusa served as an aerial photographer with the 36th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron in the South Pacific and was also a mechanic. He then toured Australia until the United States occupied Japan. Kalusa earned seven Battle Stars and an honorable discharge in January 1946.

After World War II, Kalusa resumed his hobby, gradually building his comprehensive model aircraft collection. In 1962, Kalusa and his wife, Bernice, moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, where he worked in the purchasing department at Rocketdyne. Kalusa procured items for ground-support equipment for the F-1 engines used on space-launch missiles.

In 1985, he retired to Mesa, Ariz., where he continued his model aircraft hobby. He was also a docent at the Champlin Fighter Museum and a volunteer at the Southwestern Museum.

Kalusa passed away at the age of 81 on Feb. 17, 2003, at his home in Mesa, Ariz.

Private tours of the Kalusa Collection may be arranged by calling Linda Eisner at (928) 777-3811.

Embry-Riddle, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates more than 25,000 students annually through the master's level at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., at more than 130 teaching centers in the United States and Europe, and through distance learning.