160 MODEL AVIATION
District II
Dave Mathewson, District II Vice President; [email protected]
New Jersey, New York, Europe
COULD THIS BE AMA’s best kept secret?
Recently I had the opportunity to sit in on a
meeting of the AMA Education Committee.
The committee, chaired by Gordon
Schimmel, a school administrator from the
northeast United States, includes several
dedicated AMA members from across the
country. Also serving on the committee are
AMA staff members Michael Smith, AMA
Museum Director; and Jack Frost, AMA
Education Director.
At this meeting, the committee was
reviewing a list of current projects it was
working on and developing the agenda for the
coming year. Since one part of the
committee’s mission is to promote model
aviation as an educational tool in formal
classroom settings, much of the time was
spent discussing ways to assist classroom
teachers who wish to integrate aerospace
education concepts into the classroom
environment.
In addition to its efforts on this level, the
committee creates programs targeted toward
informal activities such as after-school
programs, community activities, and summer
camp programs.
In late 2005, because of the work of our
education department and this committee,
AMA received a check for $100,000 from the
Alcoa Foundation. The foundation funded an
initial $28,000 “pilot project” as part of the
Inventing Flight curriculum produced to
celebrate the Wright brothers’ centennial in
2003. Based on the success of that effort, the
foundation subsequently awarded AMA a
second grant for $128,000.
This latest grant brings the total support
from the Alcoa Foundation to more than a
quarter of a million dollars—funds AMA is
successfully using to improve and refine
activities using model airplanes as a teaching
tool for middle school physical science.
Many clubs in our district place a
significant emphasis on creating
educational/training programs to reach out to
the younger members of our communities.
The available expertise of our education
department and this committee is a
membership benefit available to all of our
members and clubs.
To learn more about AMA’s education
programs, you can either visit our Education
Web site at www.buildandfly.com or call
Jack Frost at AMA headquarters at (765)
287-1256, ext. 515.
District II associate vice president Ray
Juschkus ran into old friend Wally Kranz at
the recent
Whitman Flyers’
swap meet.
Wally is 86 years
old and,
according to Ray,
still flying
whenever he can.
Wally joined
AMA in 1936
and flew FF for
several years.
When he returned
form the service
in 1945, he was
bitten by the RC
bug and has been
flying RC since.
That’s more than 50 years! Wally’s family
came to this country from Switzerland and
now calls Long Island home.
Ray was also a volunteer worker at the 2005
Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology
(NEAT) Fair and sent this short report.
“The NEAT Fair 2005 was held in
Peaceful Valley, New York, September 16-
18. With the threat of Hurricane Ophelia
coming up the East Coast and the thought of
another flood out like the year before,
members of the Silent Electric Flyers of Long
Island (SEFLI) club began to set up the field
for the fifth edition of NEAT.
“There were 245 pilots and 40 vendors
preregistered, and they were on their way to
Peaceful Valley. We put in long hours and
worked hard prior to the weekend to be ready
for their arrival. As it turned out, the weather
cooperated and we had four perfect flying
days. We must have done something right!
Ten-year-old Alfred Fusco earned the
distinction of logging the most flights at the
NEAT Fair 2005.
“Friday and Saturday approximately
1,200 people came each day to see what
electric flying was all about. They weren’t
disappointed. Some of the demonstrations
were breathtaking, and the Saturday night
flying was a hoot under a beautiful full moon.
“For me, one of the highlights of the fair
was when US Control Line Precision
Aerobatics team member Bob Hunt flew his
electric Control Line Stunt model. This is the
model Bob will be competing with at the
World Championships in Spain this summer.
“It was a flawless performance and
hopefully an omen of things to come.”
This is one example of the hundreds of
models flown at NEAT 2005. All are electric
powered.
See you next time.
Associate Vice Presidents:
Roy A. Brown, USAE AFCENT
CMR 460 BOX 585 APO AE
07903; [email protected]
Sal Calvagna, Holbrook NY;
(631) 737-6327; ncalvagn@
suffolk.lib.ny.us
Gary Fitch, Franklinville NY;
(716) 676-2498;
[email protected]
Ray Juschkus, St. James NY;
(631) 862-5589;
[email protected]
Eric Henderson, Marlton NJ;
(856) 988-9184;
[email protected]
Jim Lewis, Ogdenburg NY;
(315) 393-2580
Tom Murray, Basking Ridge NJ;
(908) 766-5656;
[email protected]
Ernie Nikodem, Lockport NY;
(716) 434-8350;
[email protected]
Bill Poythress, Saugerties NY;
(914) 246-8850
Adam Sattler, Latham NY;
(518) 783-8929;
[email protected]
Peter Seiffert, Baldwinsville
NY; (315) 635-6370;
[email protected].
Alexander Szemere, Kendall
Park NJ; (732) 821-5641;
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator:
Dan Williams, Liverpool NY;
(315) 652-7740;
[email protected].
Webmaster: Doug Crawford,
Oswego NY; webmaster@
amadistrictii.org. D
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Volunteers
Longtime modeler and
AMA member Wally
Kranz.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/04
Page Numbers: 160