June 2009 157
ERNIE NICKODEM, District II associate
vice president from Lockport, New York,
attended several of his club’s events this past
year and sent the following report.
“On August 16-17, 2008, the Great
Electric Fun Fly took place in Rochester,
New York, with 28 pilots, many aircraft, and
a lot of spectators. Greg Covey brought an
enclosed trailer loaded with electrics.
Electrics have become mainstream in our
district!
Greg Covey’s aircraft.
Don Steeb of Rochester with his S.E.5a and
Icarus.
“September 19-21, 2008, saw The Great
Grape Gathering in Geneseo, New York, for
FF enthusiasts. There were 35 contestants—a
third of them from Canada—attending. One
of the Canadians was none other that Richard
Barlow, president of the Model Aeronautics
Association of Canada (MAAC).
“This is a terrific event for fun flying, and
an afternoon social where attendees wore hats
with a Great
Grape
Gathering
theme.”
Right: Sally
and Roy
Smith—nice
hats!
Above: MAAC
President Richard
Barlow photographs
Vic Nippert putting
in the turns.
Right: Brad Bane of
Lyndonville NY and
a 1/2A Geef-powered
model a .049
Holland Hornet.
Left: Bonnie
and Don
Meyers of
Burlington
NJ with his
SST.
Mark Rzadca of Fairport NY launches his
Flying Aces Moth.
The AMA booth at the Westchester Radio
AeroModelers (WRAM) show in February of
this year was the venue for the induction of
the late Donald McGovern into the Model
Aviation Hall of Fame. Jim O’Brien was the
sponsor of prestigious award.
McGovern was well known for being
editor of Flying Models magazine from 1953
to 1979, as well as a model designer and
competitor.
Dave Mathewson, AMA’s president,
presented the award to McGovern’s daughter
Donna McGrann while her family looked on.
Right: Donna
M c G r a n n
receiving the
the Hall of
Fame plaque
from Dave
Mathewson.
L e f t :
D o n n a ’ s
family, Dave,
and award
sponsor Jim
O’Brien.
The District II Fun Fly will be here
shortly. For the first time, it will be held in
western New York and hosted by the
Southern Tier Aero Radio Society
(STARS) at the Olean/Cattaraugus
Municipal Airport. The dates are July 18-
19, with July 17 set aside for flying small
electrics.
The airport features a 2,500-foot
manicured grass runway and a beautiful
camp site. Weekend camping is $10; no
hookups. There will be a free lunch offered
to registered pilots on Saturday.
This is the airport’s 50th anniversary and
there will be a full-scale static display,
including warbirds, and hundreds of
spectators. Saturday afternoon, between
noon and 2 p.m., will feature the flight
demos and fun-fly events.
This should be a great weekend and I
hope you can make it.
District II
Gary Fitch, District II Vice President; [email protected]
New Jersey, New York, Europe
Gary Fitch
1298 Slab City Rd.,
Franklinville NY 14737;
Tel.: (716) 341-2813
www.amadistrictii.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Tom Bickford, Tupper
Lake NY; (518) 359-2218;
[email protected]
Sal Calvagna, Holbrook NY;
(631) 737-6327; ncalvagn@
suffolk.lib.ny.us
Ray Juschkus, St. James NY;
(631) 862-5589;
[email protected]
Ernie Nikodem, Lockport NY;
(716) 434-8350;
[email protected]
Joe Sarbello, Woolrich Township
NJ; (856) 491-8481;
[email protected]
Alexander Szemere, Kendall
Park NJ; (732) 821-5641;
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator:
Kevin Coleman, Middletown NJ;
(212) 975-2988; kcoleman@
cbs.com
RC Contest Coordinator:
Jim Goodemote, Allegany NY;
(716) 372-1137
Safety Coordinator: Al Kanser,
New Lisbon NY; (607) 293-7974;
[email protected]
For a complete listing of
district officers and volunteers,
please visit the District I1 Web site
or see a previous issue of MA.
Di s t r ict I I Volunteer s
06amanews:11amanews.qxd 4/21/2009 12:05 PM Page 157
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/06
Page Numbers: 157