In the Air
Delivery of MA Magazine
You may have noticed a change in when you receive your issue of MA each month.
Postage costs have risen steadily in the past few years and, most recently we saw a jump in mail prices in mid‑May. This includes magazines, known to the United States Postal Service (USPS) as periodicals, which faced a postage increase of as much as 14%, effective July 15.
MA’s printer, RR Donnelley, is working with the USPS to provide new mail‑sorting technology that will move magazines through the system faster and reduce a publisher’s postage expenses. Postage is the largest expense a periodical publisher incurs other than paper, so this is a significant step in offsetting spiraling magazine costs.
We have informed Donnelley that the timely delivery of MA is important to our members and that we expect the company to work with the USPS to improve the distribution service promptly.
In the past you could expect your copy of MA to arrive within the same day or two each month. This is not true with the new mail technology, and some members are reporting that their copies are not showing up until after the first of the month or the magazine’s cover date. Others report seeing MA in their local hobby shop before they see it in their mailbox.
You can expect to receive your copy no later than the first week of the month. If it does not arrive by then, please contact an AMA Membership representative (send to [email protected]) or call (800) 435‑9262 so we can check your address and make a note of late delivery.
If you use E‑mail or leave a message, include your full name, AMA number, and address. Please include “MA delivery” in the subject line of the E‑mail message. That will allow us to create a database and track the situation more accurately.
We will continue to monitor this problem closely and are examining options in case the situation does not improve. Please check www.modelaircraft.org for further updates.
—Rob Kurek Director of Publications
In the Air
National Aeronautic Association Announces New President
Walter J. Boyne, chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), announced that Jonathan Gaffney was selected as the new NAA president, effective July 9, 2007.
“Mr. Gaffney brings a distinguished civil and military career to the organization, having served in senior posts in the United States Navy Reserve, in Congress, and most recently as vice president for Communications for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority,” said Mr. Boyne. “The visibility he has gained for his activities with the Washington Aero Club, a collaborative partner with NAA, will be an asset to our organization.”
In response to his selection, Mr. Gaffney said:
“It is such a great honor to be selected by the Board of NAA to serve as their president and I am grateful for the trust they have put in me. While I know that we have challenges ahead, I am looking forward to working with our chairman, the entire Board, and the staff of NAA to advance the goals of both our organization and the aviation community in the United States.”
NAA is the voice of the aviation community in the US and represents all segments of aviation to the international arena. NAA recognizes the outstanding and record-setting achievements of those who make aviation history.
Each year the association gives out the Robert J. Collier trophy, the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, and many awards named for outstanding and heroic men and women of aviation. NAA has been in existence since the beginning years of aviation and is dedicated to the art, sport, and science of aviation in the US.
Working with a distinguished board of directors, Chairman Boyne and President Gaffney plan to continue the historic traditions of the organization and bring NAA to new heights in service to current aviation interests and endeavors. MA
—Nancy M. Sack Office Manager, National Aeronautic Association
CAMAA RC Air Show
Saturday June 16, 2007, the Central Arkansas Model Aviators Association (CAMAA) held an RC air show at the recently closed Saline County Airport in Benton. The event was not designed to be a contest or include fun-fly events, but to have a multiclub get-together for freestyle flying, to socialize with other RC fliers from the area, to acquaint local residents with our activities, and to take advantage of the nice runway at the airport.
When I first thought about organizing the event, back when I was working for a flying service at the old Saline County Airport, I never would have thought we would have such a big turnout for a first-time event such as this. It started out as maybe a few CAMAA members getting together to use the old runway one time, and the further it went, the bigger it got.
Now, thanks to the mayor of Benton, we have an alternate place to fly anytime we want it. He even told me we could put our own lock on the west gate and that the city-owned south end of the airport is ours to use anytime.
Not only were propeller models flown at the air show, but several jet turbine pilots came in from other areas to fly. The runway was perfect for them, and they used most of it. We had approximately four times the spectators we expected, and when we do this again we will have to expand the parking area.
We got the mayor and his 11-year-old son on a buddy box, and he is extremely enthused about our using the airport. The area will eventually be used for commercial development, but it is ours to use until that time. My plan is to check on the paperwork with AMA to get the airport designated as our club’s alternate site.
You can view pictures of the RC Air Show at www.camaa.org or contact me at [email protected]. MA
—Bob Richardson, CAMAA president District IX
TAG Event at PMAC
When the Pontiac Miniature Airplane Club (PMAC) of White Lake, Michigan, saw AMA’s invitation to participate in the Take Off And Grow Program (TAG) in October 2006, it took the announcement as an opportunity to kick-start the club’s 2007 training season.
Although PMAC solos roughly a dozen RC pilots annually, mostly on its dedicated “Thursday ‘trainer nights,’” the members believed that holding a TAG Program event was the thing to introduce many area citizens to RC aviation. More than 100 people attended the all-day event, with 80 flying a club trainer including 70 newly registered AMA Introductory Pilot students.
If departing students’ comments are a measure, the TAG kickoff was a huge success. Students were overheard saying “I always wanted to try this” and “I’ll definitely be back on training night.”
A common reaction was that the participants didn’t realize they could learn to fly fairly inexpensively and easily by using the simulator and/or the buddy boxes, without high crash repair or replacement costs.
Event publicity included distributing flyers and posters to area hobby shops, local scouting campouts, and the neighboring state-park campground. The local newspaper featured a half-page story with a photo layout inviting the community to attend.
At the event senior club members welcomed the students to the PMAC field, gave a brief safety talk, and directed them to registration. At registration guests learned more about the day, received club and AMA literature, applied for AMA Introductory Pilot status, and signed photo releases. The instructors then directed guests/students to the various training stations, computer simulators, static displays, flightline, and free refreshments.
The simulator ambience consisted of four constantly busy RealFlight G3.5 setups. Club instructors provided basic “ground school,” followed by a simulator session. Students learned to enjoy flying when a good outcome was promised and with the push of the reset button.
PMAC presented a static display that included the diversity of the club’s models. There were small electrics, sport fliers, Scale warbirds, and Giant Scale aircraft.
A midday air show further demonstrated PMAC’s RC flying personality. The guests and students watched (and listened) to a turbine demo flight, a warbird sortie, a Giant Scale 3-D exhibition, foam combat, and a wonderful aerobatic flight by an ARF trainer.
The flightline was the hit of the day. PMAC’s “air boss” managed the queue of students who wanted a buddy-box flight on one of the seven club trainers. Introductory Pilot students flew for eight to 10 minutes with one of the club’s 10 AMA Introductory Pilot Instructors. Club “crew chiefs” serviced the models, quickly refueling and recharging, keeping four or five airplanes in the air all the time.
PMAC and AMA presented a wonderful training experience. We not only shared our hobby with the community, but we will probably bring new fliers to area clubs. It was a memorable day for students and club members. For more info visit www.pmac.us. MA
—Ed Kincer, PMAC chief instructor District VII
Aeromodeling Gets Junior ROTC Flying
In August 2005 San Antonio, Texas’s Alamo Radio Control Society (ARCS) took on a new and formidable community project. The group developed an RC training program for the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) cadets of Clark High School.
AFJROTC’s mission is to teach high school cadets to be better leaders by promoting community service and instilling responsibility, character, and self-discipline. It’s also designed to provide instruction on air and space fundamentals. What better way to teach air fundamentals than through RC flight?
According to the AFJROTC Web site, the Air Force administers the program, so it’s “grounded on the Air Force core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do.” Being an active-duty Senior Master Sergeant, I know the AF and AFJROTC are deeply committed to living up to those values.
The Web site also reads:
“Co-Curricular Activities are an important part of AFJROTC. They serve to augment AFJROTC classroom and Leadership Education requirements. Cadets participate in summer leadership schools, Aerospace and Technology Honor Camps, drill meets, dining-ins and dining-outs, model rocketry programs, flying model programs, static model programs, Kitty Hawk Air Society (KHAS), and the Tuskegee Airmen Program.”
The ARCS members began teaching 36 students under the direction of club vice president Buck Murray, with the help of more than a dozen ARCS flight instructors and with generous donations of several trainer aircraft, engines, radio gear, and simulator software packages from the membership and local hobby shops.
Many of the original corps of cadets earned their solo wings by late in 2006 and began to “pay it forward” by teaching the new underclassmen. It all came to fruition May 12, 2007, when the ARCS, with more than 20 volunteers, hosted the AMA sanctioned First AFJROTC/RC Jamboree and Fly-In.
The original plan was to pit six Texas high school ROTC programs against one another. However, as the competition loomed nearer the other five schools, which were still in their first year of the program, no longer had operational aircraft for their students.
Clark High School was in the same predicament a week earlier, when the cadets crashed their three remaining trainers during competition practice. But because of Buck Murray and several other club members’ generosity, Clark cadets had four operational trainers the morning of May 12.
Club member Harold Sautls spent the week building a new LT-40 that Buck Murray donated to the team, and Buck spent the entire week rebuilding the two LT-40s and a Hobbistar 60 that had “kissed” the Southern Texas earth one too many times the Saturday before.
The students showed their appreciation to the ARCS members in multiple ways, one of which was to purchase an aluminum sign with “Alamo Radio Control Society” on it to hang on the ARCS building and replace the aging wooden sign.
During the summer the students cleaned and painted the building and the runway markings. And before any practice flights the week before the competition, the entire cadet corps mowed and edged the field, filled in the ruts on the access road, and cleaned the shelter from top to bottom.
A total of nine students competed in team and individual events May 12 that lasted from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. The competitors formed three groups of three for the team portion. Each student completed a grueling ground-proficiency demonstration covering preflight checks, range checks, engine-starting procedures, and taxiing proficiency, while one of the ARCS judges observed and quizzed him or her.
The aircraft were set up the same for each student. Judges included several “errors,” such as loose servo screws or clevis clips the eagle-eyed students had to find.
Each cadet also completed a written test based on AMA rules and recommended general safety practices taken directly from the Academy’s Web site. No teamwork was allowed on the written test because the points determined who would win the grand prize; a Hangar 9 P-51 ARF.
The students also completed a flight-proficiency demonstration consisting of 11 maneuvers including takeoff, landing, missed approaches, touch-and-goes, simulated deadstick landings, figure 8s, and stall entry and recovery procedures.
This was where the ARCS membership realized how far the program had come and what they and the ROTC cadets had accomplished. Several club members quietly whispered that they couldn’t do those procedures as well as most of the students did.
The proudest moment was at the end, when everyone realized that nine students flew four trainers for more than six hours and that none of the airplanes were damaged except for a few scraped wingtips and propeller blades.
Event CD Jim Agnew selected and coached the judges and oversaw the final score tabulation. The judges—JD Smith, Jim Noblett, Colin Gipp, and Phlt Everman—had the most difficult task; they spent nearly six hours in the hot Texas sun, meticulously grading each maneuver.
Harold Sautls, the flight coordinator, became the students’ personal caller as he directed them through the series of proficiency maneuvers in checklist order. Between proficiency flights the students, parents, and observers were treated to 3-D demonstration flights by ARCS members Brian “3D” Chitty and Josh “Bone Doc” Young.
The audience was in awe of the pilots. They made Inverted Harriers, Inverted Flat Spins, Waterfalls, Avalanches, Knife Edge Spins, Rolling Circles 3 feet above the ground, and Knife Edge Loops look easy.
At the end of the day cadets Zach Murray, Karen Montague, and Peter Seo walked away with first place in the team competition. In the process they won an LT-40 for their school.
A maximum of 275 points was available for each participant in the individual contest. Zach Murray earned third place with 197, Frank Martinez finished second with 215 points, and the first-place trophy and the Hangar 9 P-51 ARF went to Taylor Jacobson with 220 points.
For more information about the AFJROTC, go to www.maxwell.af.mil/au/afaoafas/AFJROTC. You can find out more about the ARCS at www.alamoradiocontrolsociety.com. MA
—David Bailey, SMSgt, USAF, ARCS webmaster District VIII
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
