On November 10, 1935, the circulation department of the Portland Evening Express, Press Herald, and the Sunday Telegram began a series of model airplane meets at the Armory on Milk Street, which would culminate in a statewide contest. Meets were scheduled throughout the winter, and were open to model airplane builders throughout the state of Maine, free of charge. The Gannett newspapers hired Wallace Adams, a local model expert, to teach the children the craft of building model airplanes, again, free of charge.