Dave Mathewson Vice President 7271 State Fair Blvd., Baldwinsville NY 13027 Tel.: (315) 727-4275 Fax:(315)635-1039 E-mail: [email protected] Web page: http://www.amadistrictii.org Associate Vice Presidents Roy A. Brown, USAE AFCENT CMR 460 BOX 585 APO AE 07903 E-mail: [email protected] Sal Calvagna, 1335 Broadway Avenue, Holbrook NY 11741, (631 (737-6327 E-mail: [email protected] Gary Fitch, 1219 Slab City Rd., Franklinville NY 14737 (716)676-2498 E-mail: [email protected] Ray Juschkus, 59 Livingston Street, St. James NY 11780 (631)862-5589 E-mail: [email protected] Jim Lewis, P.O. 61, Ogdenburg NY 13669 (315) 393-2580 E-mail: [email protected] Tom Murray, 31 Voorhees Drive, Basking Ridge NJ 07920 (908)766-5656 E-mail: [email protected] Ernie Nikodem, 407 Willow Street, Lockport NY 14094 (716)434-8350 E-mail: [email protected] Bill Poythress, 2 Hemlock Court, Saugerties NY 12477 (914)246-8850 Adam Saltier, 41 Perry Avenue, Latham NY 12110 (518) 783-8929 E-mail: [email protected] Peter Seiffert, 8636 Grey Birch Dr., Baldwinsville NY, 13027 (315)635-6370 E-mail: pseiffe 1 @twcny. rr.com Alexander Szemere, One Talia Rd., Kendall Park NJ 08824-1705 (732)821-5641 E-mail: [email protected] Frequency Coordinator Dan Williams, 27 Treeline Dr., Liverpool NY 13090 (315) 652-7740 E-mail: [email protected] Webmaster Jack Sugameli, 1308 Wikapecko Dr., Wanamassa NJ 07712 (732)988-0775 E-mail: [email protected] DISTRICT II is having a fly-in! Some of you may remember the question placed on our District Web site a while back asking what one thing AMA could do to benefit the sport flier better. We received several good suggestions. One suggestion was that we hold a district fly-in where members could get together, meet each other, fly, discuss how other clubs operate, and generally relax and have a good time in a noncompetitive atmosphere. 1 ran this idea past our District Associate Vice Presidents (AVPs) who thought it was a good idea, so that's what we're going to do. I hope to be able to make this a yearly event and move it around to different parts of the district. This year, AVP Peter Seiffert and his club, the Syracuse Thunderbirds Aero Radio Society, have generously offered to host the fly-in with their annual air show planned for August 31 and September 1, 2002. Site restrictions will limit this to a Radio Control (RC) event this year. Nevertheless, we're also kicking around a few similar concepts for our Control Line (CL) and Free Flight (FF) members, and eventually hope to find a site that could accommodate a combined fly-in. By the time you read this, all of our district clubs will have received detailed information about the event. If you haven't seen the information or need more, visit the District II Web site, www.amadistrictii.org, or contact me and I'll send you a flyer. I hope to see many of you there. It will be a good place to start planning for next year's district fly-in. Some of you may remember reading the letter to the editor printed in Model Aviation several months ago, written by Vince Aprea. Vince is a District II member and a member of the New York City Police Department. Vince wrote about his experiences during the morning of September 11, 2001, and how his model Corsair was destroyed in the back of his vehicle as he rushed to the World Trade Center to help his fellow officers try to rescue civilians from those burning buildings. Vince received several letters of support after his letter was printed. He even received offers from manufacturers and AMA members to help replace his lost equipment. One club that almost made it a mission to help Vince was a District II club, the North Country Flying Tigers. This club, led in its effort by Phil Camp and Joe Kruger, not only offered to replace Vince's lost model, but invited him and his family up to their field in the Glens Falls area of New York for a little rest-and-relaxation when he had an opportunity. District II member and NYPD officer Vince Aprea (L) and North Country Flying Tigers member Phil Camp. As progress continued at Ground Zero, Vince was finally able to take a couple days off and made the trip upstate to fly with the Tigers. This all took place in early May of this year and as you can see from the pictures it turned out to be a great day for all involved. I was in Muncie for Homecoming, June 7-9, and I stopped and looked at the first group of engraved bricks that have been set in the AMA Walk of Fame in front of the administration building. I recognized the names of several District II members, and noticed that some of our clubs have purchased a brick as a "club project." Thanks to all of you who have considered this an appropriate way to support AMA. If anyone would like more information on the Walk of Fame program, let me know and I'll be happy to send it to you. A5V8A ATLANTIC SKYBLAZERS N, j Tom Mills, Phil Camp, Vince, Steve Thayer, and Nick Dinacola, between flights at the Flying Tigers' field. Four District II clubs to have bricks placed in the initial set include Atlantic County Skyblazers, Flying Knights of Hamburg, Mid Hudson RC, and the RC Club of Rochester. I need to pass along some sad news. AMA District 11 Education Coordinator George Yatsko passed away Monday, June 3, 2002, after a battle with cancer. George was one of the most enthusiastic people I have ever met, and was totally engrossed with his efforts to introduce model aviation not only to the youth of his community, but to children throughout the District. I know he enjoyed teaching kids to fly as much as the kids enjoyed flying. George was actively involved in a program he created in Hillsdale NJ, to teach model aviation to children using Electric Control Line models. His efforts with this program made him and his club, the Hillsdale Flyers, the topic of a feature article written by Bob Hunt that appeared in the May 2002 issue of Model A viation. See you at the field.