Hawaii’s Back yard
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi
Paper plane museum
takes off on MauiWith a few sheets of paper and a little glue, Ray Roberts can make a child's imagination and self-confidence soar. Paper airplanes were the focal points of an innovative model aeronautics program he launched 24 years ago at Berkeley Hall School in Los Angeles.
It began with a budget crisis. "I had $5 per student to spend on materials the whole year," recalls Roberts, who was then the school's industrial arts teacher. "One day I went to the faculty room and noticed a lot of paper was being wasted at the copy machines. So I thought, Why not use that paper to make airplanes?"
Roberts requested information about paper airplanes from hobby magazines, borrowed library books on the subject and started collecting model kits for his students, who ranged from first- through ninth-graders. Every student was required to build several planes during the year.
"They never made the same airplane twice," says Roberts, "and by the end of the year, we had hundreds of them." The planes were displayed as they were completed, and every two weeks, Roberts supervised flying contests on the school's field.
"History, science, math, reading -- all kinds of lessons can be learned from a model airplane," Roberts asserts. "It's also a great motivator, especially for youngsters who are having difficulty academically. Being involved with activities such as this helps them experience success. I've always felt that any child can accomplish great things no matter what type of a label has been placed upon him. The kids see something tangible as they work with model airplanes, but, as educators, we see character being built."
NOW RETIRED, Roberts maintains an unwavering fascination for those miniature flying machines. As the founder and president of Maui's nonprofit Paper Airplane Museum, he safeguards the largest known collection of paper airplanes in the world. Only planes composed 95 percent of paper qualify for inclusion.
CHERYL CHEE TSUTSUMI / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Ray Roberts, president of the Paper Airplane Museum, displays one of his prized models.
More than 2,000 paper planes and model kits are displayed in the modest 1,300-square-foot facility at Maui Mall (one Cougar jet is barely bigger than a postage stamp). Most of the planes on exhibit were made by Roberts and two of his friends: Rob Needham, of Columbus, Ohio, and Hide Arashiro, who lives on Maui.
The kits come from all over the world, including Japan, Spain, Russia, Italy, France, Holland, England, Czechoslovakia, Israel, Peru, Colombia, Cambodia and the Philippines.
"The concept of paper airplanes is very much international," Roberts said. "That makes it so much fun because different countries produce planes with different designs, colors and decals."
Ranging in price from $3 to $400, the kits are geared for every skill level, from novice to expert. The details on some of the planes are amazing -- right down to the seats, control panels, guns and landing gear.
Also vying for attention is a wall of historic photos. The display started with six pictures; then Roberts invited kamaainas to contribute snapshots of friends, relatives and business associates who helped shape Hawaii's aviation history.
"And, my goodness, in they came!" he exclaims. "They brought in more than 350 pictures, some dating back to 1917. The gallery was a dream of mine, but local folks turned it into reality and that's what makes it special. It's something that's reflective of the community."
WITH PHOTOS mounted on cardboard and shrink-wrapped, the presentation is as humble as you can get, but the stories behind them are memorable. Roberts points out a photo of Wilbur Moline, a pilot who flew an ambulance aircraft in Hawaii during World War II. Taken in West Maui during the summer of 1944, the photo shows Moline standing next to his plane with a group of keikis. He donated the photo to the museum a few years ago, but he couldn't identify the children.
CHERYL CHEE TSUTSUMI / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Cartoon characters peer out from this vintage auto that Ray Roberts constructed from V-8 juice cans.
"Two months ago, in walked these local people," Roberts recalls. "As soon as they saw the photo, they started hollering: 'Oh, there's so-and-so! We know him! We know her!' As it turned out, they had been playmates of the children in the picture, and we were able to add the names of those kids to the caption."
The Paper Airplane Museum also spotlights current aviation-related events. One intriguing exhibit features a map of Iraq and its no-fly zone. Positioned around the map are kits of the different American and British aircraft that have been used to patrol the area.
If Roberts isn't making paper airplanes at the museum, chances are you'll find him tinkering with juice and soda cans. Recognizing aluminum is as thin as paper but far more durable, he started experimenting with the cans in 1995. Those experiments gave him a new outlet for his creativity and expertise as a draftsman -- and the nickname Tin Can Man of Maui.
Over the years, Roberts has designed and handcrafted hundreds of whimsical conversation pieces out of cans, including planes, schooners, cars, trains, helicopters, castles, motorcycles, dragons, fire engines, windmills, reindeer, rocking chairs, turkeys, whales, dinosaurs, golf carts, even ukuleles you can actually play. It took him three weeks and more than 90 Pass-O-Guava juice cans to construct the 4-foot-long Concorde that glides from the ceiling in the museum.
A sampling of Roberts' favorites are showcased in between the paper planes, kits and instructional books. Customers can order any of these products, or they can peruse the museum's Web site for more options. Roberts custom-makes every order; prices run from $5 for small, simple pieces to $700 for items like the Concorde that are larger, more detailed and rendered more to scale.
Roberts estimates the Paper Airplane Museum attracts about 12,000 visitors every year. "And contrary to what you might think," he notes, "it's not only children who have an interest in the paper planes and aluminum can creations. As many adults visit as kids -- and they get just as excited about what they see!"
Address: Maui Mall, 70 E. Kaahumanu Ave., Kahului, HI 96732, near the International House of Pancakes
Paper Airplane Museum
and Tin Can Man of MauiHours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays and Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays
Admission: Free; donations are appreciated
Call: 808-877-8916
E-mail: edyray@webtv.net
Web site: http://www.shaka.com/~edynray/pam/index.htm
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based free-lance writer
and Society of American Travel Writers award winner.
