MODEL AVIATION
District II
Dave Mathewson, District II Vice President; [email protected]
New Jersey, New York, Europe
I HOPE everyone’s outdoor flying season is
going well.
I had an interesting experience over the
July 4th holiday. A member of the club I fly
with—for lack of a better description—
belongs to a virtual online “club” on one of
the popular Internet forums. This club has
members across the United States and even a
few in other countries.
A couple of its members—one from New
Hampshire and the other from California—
decided that it would be nice to travel during
the summer vacation to meet and fly with
some of their online peers. They passed
through central New York and visited our
field.
We spent most of a day flying in some
rather difficult conditions, talking modeling,
and just generally shooting the breeze as we
would on any other day at the field. I even
received a little advice from one of our
guests on how to improve the setup on my
electric T-Rex helicopter.
What makes any of this worth mentioning
is the fact that these men fly models that we
commonly refer to as electric-powered Park
Flyers: Strykers, Slo-Sticks, GWS Corsairs,
Accipiter Badiuses, etc.
As it turns out one was an AMA member
and the other wasn’t. We talked about their
perception of AMA and why one chose to
join and the other didn’t since they both
could, if they wanted to, get along quite
nicely without belonging. The answer was
both eye opening and a little concerning.
The cost of membership wasn’t an issue.
Nor was the fact that AMA offers several
benefits of membership that they might not
take full advantage of. The difference between
one joining and the other not was the result of
the reception they each received when they
first visited an AMA club where they live.
The club that welcomed a visitor got
itself a new member. The club that didn’t not
only lost a potential member, but also may
have given all of us a bit of a black eye. The
camaraderie, social aspects, and sharing of
knowledge among others who have a
common interest was well worth the cost of
AMA and club membership to the individual
who joined.
The visitors told me about an active
thread on one online forum discussing the
definition of a modeler and how some felt
that you’re not a “real” modeler unless you
grow your own balsa trees to harvest and use
in your next model.
I can tell you that after spending a day
flying with these guys, they are as much
modelers as you and I. They’re active,
involved, and obviously successful. They can
hold their own flying and would surely be an
asset to any club they chose to join.
Please try to keep this in mind the next
time a newcomer visits your field. We all
might have a little different definition of
what makes a true modeler. The common
denominator is not whether we all approach
our hobby the same way, but that we all have
this universal affection for model aviation. In
the end, that makes us all the same.
In early June, I visited the first annual
Capitol Area Warbirds Over Schenectady
Fly-In. It was hosted by two local clubs: the
Flying Knights Model Airplane Club of Troy
and the Thundervolts RC Club. Frank
Allverez was the event director and Art Arro
acted as CD.
Terrible weather had a dramatic impact
on the event which kept entrants to a
minimum. Saturday was a complete washout
with the area receiving more than 1.2 inches
of rain. The few brave pilots who flew on
Sunday had to contend with threatening
weather and standing water on the runway
and in the pit area.
Of those who flew, World War I models
dominated the entries. There were some fine
examples of World War II heavy-metal
warbirds. These included a Wescraft B-17
Flying Fortress by Mitch Epstein and a Ziroli
F-4U Corsair, built by Frank Gitto and flown
by Ralph DeLeon.
Mitch Epstein won both Critic’s Choice and
Pilot’s Choice trophies with this beautiful
Wescraft B-17.
Trophies were awarded in each class in
addition to People’s Choice and Critic’s
Choice awards. Model Aviation Hall of
Fame member Henry Haffke helped decide
the Critic’s Choice award.
After expenses, all proceeds were
donated to the Empire State Aerosciences
Museum (ESAM) to support its aircraft
restoration and education programs. ESAM
is located at the airport site where the fly-in
took place and is regularly a recipient of the
generosity of our members in the area.
Frank Gitto was awarded the People’s
Choice trophy for this outstanding Ziroli
Corsiar built by Frank and flown by Ralph
DeLeon.
Many of the clubs in our district have
programs to introduce model aviation to
younger members of our communities. Many
of us have found that there’s more of a
connection with a younger audience when
some of our younger members are part of the
presentation.
Ray Stacy, MA helicopter columnist, and
his son Kyle recently completed their third
year of presenting their program Why Things
Fly to Kyle’s fifth-grade class in the Fairport
Dudley School District. Performance
Hobbies of Webster, New York, supported
the session by donating balsa airplanes for
the students.
The presentation has always been a big
hit with Kyle’s class and this one was no
different. The program began with a short
talk on airplane and helicopter aerodynamics
and finished with Kyle doing demonstrations
with his airplane and helicopter. This year
Kyle flew a foamy EPP model built by
David Playfair and his Align T-Rex
helicopter.
The presentation received coverage from
the local papers. I’d bet that many of the
clubs in our district have junior members
who’d jump at the chance to introduce their
friends to our hobby. This would be a terrific
way to create a positive relationship with our
neighbors—a relationship that may someday
pay dividends when we might need help in
saving or finding a flying site. Give it some
thought.
Kyle Stacy introduces his friends and
classmates to model aviation.
See you next time.
D i s t r i c t I I
164
For a complete listing of
District II officials and
volunteers. please see a
previous issue of MA or check
out the District II Web site.
Dave Mathewson
7271 State Fair Blvd.,
Baldwinsville NY
13027;
Tel.: (315) 727-4275;
Fax: (315) 635-1039
www.amadistrictiii.org
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/09
Page Numbers: 164