April 2006 165
I attended the AMA Convention last
January and I must say this convention
was by far the best one yet. There were
wall-to-wall vendors and a constant flow
of modelers.
The highlight for me was the induction
of Burt Rutan
into the Model
Aviation Hall of
Fame. AMA’s
Bob Underwood
was the master of
ceremonies and
did a fine job.
To hear a
visionary of
aviation such as
Burt Rutan can
only stimulate a
person’s interest
more. One other
highlight was the
Gee Bee that will
adorn the roof of
a hobby shop. I
think the picture
speaks for itself.
SPRING, the Weak Signals’ Toledo Expo
2006, and the flying season are upon us.
Hopefully everyone has their projects
finished.
For the RCers, it’s time to make sure
your transmitters, receivers, and battery
packs are all checked out and ready to go
along with the engines to power that new
model. And less we forget the CLers as
well, check those lines, fittings, engine
mounts, etc.
And so I don’t leave anyone out, how
about you glider guys and helicopter folks?
And by no means should the electric bunch
be left out. Certainly this area is one of the
fastest growing segments of our
hobby/sport. And don’t forget: please be
extremely careful with the charging of
these new batteries. No fires, please.
The worst thing I can imagine is going
to the field and finding out you forgot to
fully check something and your flying day
ends before it starts. I speak from
experience, it happened to me once—yes,
so far only once.
At the last Executive Council meeting,
some serious incidents were brought to
light that were indirectly related to our
hobby. In District VII we have a large
number of people who ride snowmobiles,
dirt bikes, and four-wheelers. We also have
gates, chains, and ropes, or whatever across
entrances to our fields in order to stop
people from getting onto the field and
possibly doing damage.
When riding some of the above mention
contrivances, it is sometimes very difficult
to see a barrier in low-light conditions. It is
very important for clubs that have these
barriers in place to do
whatever is necessary to
make sure the barriers are
clearly marked.
It is a simple matter is
to use brightly colored
paint to these surfaces
where possible, or to tie
yellow or safety-orange
streamers to the ropes or
chains. Safety is no
accident and it is our
responsibility to reduce the
possibility of accidents,
whether it is flying our
models or trying to protect
our flying sites.
Dave Brown, AMA’s
president, covered this
topic in his column last
month.
One last highlight of the
meeting for me was when
Dave Brown presented me
with the Distinguished Service award for
my six years of service on the AMA
Executive Council. It has been my pleasure
to represent the membership of District VII.
That’s it for another month; see you in
Toledo!
And remember safety is no accident.
Promote our hobby/sport and introduce a
youngster to our hobby. You just might be
pleasantly surprised at how much fun it can
be when you share. C.A.V.U.
Associate Vice Presidents
Larry Brannan, Grand Rapids
MI; (616) 956-6012;
lbrannan@yahoo.com
Ed Bucki, Rockwood MI;
(734) 379-4054; thebuckster@
sbcglobal.net
Bud Gorman, Knife River MN;
bgorman@frontier.net
Don Held, Elmira MI;
(231) 584-2662; held@avci.net
Thomas D. Lazar, Marshall WI;
tdlazar@yahoo.com
Jon McVay, Mount Vernon IA;
(319) 895-6527;
togflier@aol.com
Tom Pierce, St. Clair MI; (810)
367-6450; tom_pierce_48070@
yahoo.com
Mark E. Robotti, North
Lindstrom MN; 76214.1624@
compuserve.com
Tom Ryan, Milwaukee WI;
(414) 881-0070; tomcat@
execpc.com
Frequency Coordinators
West: Al Schwartz, Roseville
MN; (651) 633-2286
East: Pete Waters, Northville
MI; (248) 486-4800
D i s t r i c t V I I Volunteers This is the Gee Bee that will adorn the roof of a
hobby shop.
I received the Distinguished Service award for six years of
service as the District VII vice president.
AMA Convention 2006
District VII
Bill Oberdieck, District VII Vice President; sgaeroinc@comcast.net
Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Edition: Model Aviation - 2006/04
Page Numbers: 165