July 2006 159
CLUB ICR: On Saturday, April 29, 2006, in
Russellton, Pennsylvania (20 minutes outside
of Pittsburgh), Club Indoor Camp Ronnie
(ICR) celebrated its grand opening with an
early evening flying session from 7 p.m. until
10 p.m. Local RC pilots came out for the
ceremonial e-powered flight session with an
additional 25 spectators who showed up to
watch the indoor flying festivities.
ICR is a new AMA-sanctioned club
dedicated to the advancement of e-powered
RC model helicopters but it welcomes e-plane
pilots to participate in the flying fun too.
ICR’s home field is the Pittsburgh Indoor
Sports Arena (PISA) which features three
indoor fields with nearly perfect illumination
for great indoor flying.
The main field is 210 x 150 feet with 65-
foot ceilings. The other two fields are both
200 x 80 feet with 40-foot ceilings. For
comparison most indoor golf dome flying
sites have 55,000 square feet while PISA
boasts 100,000. There are two bleacher
sections for guests and a concession area for
foods and snacks.
Club ICR was founded by Team JR
helicopter division pilot Ron “GMRO”
Osinski, Kenny Martin, and Jim Diorio. Club
ICR and Team JR helicopter pilot Erik
Anderson traveled all the way from
Connecticut to attend this grand opening
flying session. According to Erik, the indoor
facility is awesome. So good, that he traveled
507 miles to attend the first fun-fly.
All three ICR fields are great for today’s epowered
micro and mini RC helicopters,
according to ICR president Ron Osinski. “We
have had a blast here tonight and will host
monthly flying sessions all year long. We also
plan to host clinics and training sessions for
RC e-helicopters, too. It is refreshing to have
such a great facility and management to work
with to better enjoy this facet of our hobby.
Kenny, Jim, and I knew it would work and we
have implemented everything we could to
organize a well-run, safe-flying venue for epowered
enthusiasts.
“The AMA was very helpful and directed
us to set up the required organization and
filing of paperwork for our new club. Who
knows? In a year’s time we could host a large
indoor e-powered event similar to other cites.
The site is beautiful; it speaks for itself, once
pilots fly here,” said Ron.
Several Pennsylvania hobby shops came
out for support. Each participating pilot got a
free raffle ticket and walked away with a
prize. The shops include J&C Hobbies, Penn
Hills; Hobby Express, Cranberry Township;
and Steel City Hobbies, Bridgeville. Steel
City Hobbies also provided the pictures for
this article. Thank you, Mike! Horizon Hobby
provided free t-shirts to the pilots for this ICR
ceremonial event.
For the most up-to-date information about
scheduled ICR flying sessions, safety rules,
landing fees, and approved model and Li-Poly
requirements, please visit www.clubicr.com.
ICR founders (L-R) include Jim Diorio, safety
officer; Kenny Martin, vice president; Erik
Anderson; and Ron Osinski, president.
IRC pit area.
Ron and Erik chatting about the next session.
The Upper Valley Fun Fliers of Piqua, Ohio,
held its annual mall show March 3-5. Club
members had nearly 50 airplanes of all shapes
and sizes on display with everything from
small electrics all the way up to Giant Scale
warbirds.
The mall show was well received by
spectators all weekend and it seemed to
generate much interest. A new highlight this
year was RealFlight G-3 on a large screen. It
gave everyone a great view of how much fun
this hobby can be.
The club has roughly 30 active members
and is looking forward to a full season of
flying at its new field. Doug Manson,
president of the Upper Valley Fun Fliers,
provided the information and pictures.
This Giant Scale P-51 Mustang was built by
Gary Webb.
A pair of electric warbirds were built by Todd
Walker and Steve Silverthorn.
This is a great view of the Upper Valley
display.
Bob Brown
Vice President
35 Sanford St.
Bradford PA 16701
Tel.: (814) 368-7655
www.amadistrictiii.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Randy Adams, Fairfield
OH; (513) 858-3154;
[email protected]
Mike Barbee, Delaware OH;
(740)362-5545;
[email protected]
David H. Ellis, Cross Lanes WV;
(304) 776-1408
Nelson Gould, Macungie PA;
(610) 395-9159
Dan Luchaco, Sayre PA;
(570) 888-1856;
[email protected]
Jim Martin, Franklin OH;
(937) 260-0143
Leo Rodriguez, New Stanton PA;
(724) 925-0159;
[email protected]
Matthew Turowski, Drums PA;
(570) 788-0661;
[email protected]
Joseph S. Vislay, Maumee OH;
(419) 893-9537;
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator:
Ron Morgan, Scotland PA; (717)
264-7425; [email protected]
D i s t r i c t I I I Volunteers
District III
Bob Brown, District III Vice President; [email protected]
Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/07
Page Numbers: 159