RC Transmitter components on a wooden table with various colored boxes and a lamp.

A Bicentennial Blast from the Past

By Michael Smith, National Model Aviation Museum Director | michaels@modelaircraft.org

EVERY YEAR,companies use holidays and anniversaries to market products. Car dealerships have their annual Christmas sales, and furniture stores often feature President’s Day and Labor Day sales. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, and marketing departments will surely highlight this anniversary as well.

Honoring America’s 200th birthday in 1976, Kraft Systems Inc. released its bicentennial series of RC equipment. Advertisements for the system played on the patriotic red, white, and blue theme. A unique three-page, cartoon-style advertisement in Model Airplane News magazine from May 1976 highlighted the system’s features.

The museum recently acquired a complete system with all of the components from Todd Cortelli [2025.35.01.07].