June 2009 163
HOPE EVERYONE is enjoying the
summer weather and having fun flying. As I
write this in March, it is hard to talk about
summer. I just came from Fort Worth,
Texas, where the wind chill was in the 20s
and there were folks flying RC Combat!
The day I traveled to Greater Southwest
Aero Modelers field for the Lone Star
Nationals Combat event, the temperature
was 85°. By that evening it was in the 30s
and windy. I didn’t have clothes for that.
A late night trip to the store discovered
they had taken winter clothes out and
stocked summer so a windbreaker was the
best I could get. Saturday morning dawned
with 36° and winds of 25-35 mph. Some of
the guys reported seeing spitting snow.
I nearly froze at the pilots’ meeting but
CD Ed Kettler drove on and had a great
safety discussion. Jack Hogan, associate
vice president for north and east Texas, and
I watched in amazement as they prepared to
fly Slow Survivable Combat (SSC) with .15-
size airplanes. The launches were the most
exciting part of the event with numerous
incidents with terra firma in every heat.
Ed Kettler (L) receives Top Prop award for
excellent work as CD, and yes, I was cold!
Despite the cold and wind, a lot of fun
and camaraderie was had with some pretty
good aerial wars as well. The three-day
event had good weather on Friday and
Sunday but the day I was there was
miserable at best.
Attendees were from across the district,
as well as brave souls from Denver and Ohio
who come in annually to participate.
Planning is already underway for Lone
Star Nationals 2010. Hope they have ordered
better weather! Plan to attend even if you
don’t fly Combat. You will enjoy watching.
SSC winners: first place, Evan Wenger;
second place, Gil Hernandez; third place,
Dane McGee.
2548 Class winners: first place, Tom Neff;
second place, Lee Liddle; third place, Ed
Kettler.
3696 class winners: first place, Lee Liddle;
second place, Lester Haury; third place, Dane
McGee.
Open B winners: first place, Evan Wenger;
second place, Tom Neff; third place, Lee
Liddle.
I attended the annual Texas Indoor New
Year (TINY) event in San Angelo, Texas. It
was well organized by CD Mark Greer.
Everyone loved the size of the facility and the
great fun. There was balloon busting, fullcontact
Combat, Pattern, and Freestyle.
Rick, Brandon, and Brian Chitty flew a
formation demo with Mike Hammel of Fancy
Foam. They flew the little Euro-Jet and did a
great job. (The picture was too dark to print.)
Twelve-year-old Johnathan Jennings
really blew me away with the improvement in
his flying since the last time I watched him.
He placed second in Freestyle with some
serious competitors. I have no picture of
Johnathan because photos are a little scarce,
but Brian Chitty provided this one of Pattern
winners Rick and Brandon Chitty.
Entry Pattern F3P-C winners were: first
place, Rick Chitty; second place, Johnathan
Jennings; and third place, Mike Hammel.
F3P-A Pattern: first place, Brandon Chitty;
second place, Brian Chitty; and third place,
Dennis Robbins. Freestyle: first place,
Brandon Chitty; second place, Johnathan
Jennings; and third place, Brian Chitty.
Have fun and fly safely! See you on the
flightline.
District VIII
Jim Rice, District VIII Vice President; [email protected]
Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Jim Rice
Vice President
118 E. Wright Blvd.,
Universal City TX 78148
Tel.: (210) 213-0299
(evenings)
www.AMA-Dist-8.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Lester L. Barry, Bethany OK;
(405) 789-5373
Pete Boudreaux, Franklin LA;
(337) 836-5478
Jack Hogan, Chandler TX;
(903) 849-4193 (Evenings)
Mark S. Johnston, Albuquerque
NM; (505) 823-0158
Jim D. Marshall, Mission TX;
(956) 585-6446
Douglas E. Powell, Wichita Falls
TX; (940) 691-8348
Randy Ritch, Magnolia TX;
(281) 701-3121
Doug Staines, Belton TX;
(254) 780-3512
Ron Stanfield, Maumelle AR;
(501) 851-1697
Pat Willcox, Kingwood TX;
(281) 358-1750
Frequency Coordinator
Gene Kent, Tomball TX;
(281) 255-4805
AMA Display Coordinator
David Johns, Deer Park TX;
(281) 476-4820
RC Contest Coordinator
Douglas E. Powell, Wichita Falls
TX; (940) 691-8348;
[email protected]
CL/FF Contest Coordinator
Bill Lee, Chandler TX;
(903) 852-5599 [email protected]
District VIII Volunteers
06amanews:11amanews.qxd 4/21/2009 12:11 PM Page 163
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/06
Page Numbers: 163