AMA News District II - 2009/02

I WANT to thank all of you for your vote of
confidence and support in the District II vice
president (VP) election. I look forward to
working with you and being your
representative on the AMA Executive
Council.
The ninth annual Northeast Electric
Aircraft Technology (NEAT) Fair was the
venue where Dave Mathewson, AMA
president, District III VP Bob Brown, and I
had the honor of presenting Mr. Electric and
Model Aviation Hall of Fame member, Tom
Hunt, with one of AMA’s highest awards:
the Distinguished Service Award.
Tom, along with Bob Aberle, founded
the NEAT Fair concept and, together with
the Silent Electric Flyers of Long Island
(SEFLI) as host club, are responsible for
organizing the largest electric modeling
event in the county. Congratulations, Tom,
and thank you for all you do for model
aviation!
I would like to thank Bob Aberle and
Ray Juschkus for their help in scheduling
the award presentation and your photos and
content on the NEAT Fair.
Rick Ruijsink, of the Netherlands,
received the Technical Achievement Award
for his incredible tiny 3.07-gram Ornithopter
that includes an onboard micro TV camera.
This tiny airplane flies well and broadcasts
TV images back to the ground. An
incredible achievement.
Tom and Eileen Hunt with Dave Mathewson
in the background.
Tom Hunt with Rick Ruijsink holding his
Ornithopter.
Three generations of Weigand pilots: son
Curt, father Paul, and grandson Spencer.
Rich Landis and his electrified CAP.
Finger Lakes Air Pirates’ 1908 June Bug.
The Long Island Skyhawks, together with
Roy Vaillancourt, sponsored the Scale
Masters Qualifier in August 2008. For any
Scale buff this is a very interesting event to
attend, especially for aspiring Top Gun
contestants. One of the outstanding aircraft
in this event was a Westland Wyvern, built
and flown by David Wigley, which included
a scale torpedo drop. The flying venue is a
sod farm which is a great place for these
skilled pilots to compete.
Dave Wigley and his Westland Wyvern.
At the invitation of Joe Ciraulo, I had a
chance to meet a few of the Pine Barren
Modelers of Barnegat Beach, New Jersey.
The purpose was to get together and fly, and
a couple of fellows did just that in 25-knot
winds on a blustery October morning. The
rest of us stood talking about flying fields
and what can be done to secure them, and
AMA programs that benefit clubs.
Pine Barren members Pat Lovenstein,
Tommy DeGuilio, Frank Darmochwal, Joe
Ciraulo, Hank Cadorette, Hank Swieder, and
Charlie Grafton.
On a sad note, Terry Terrenoire, associate
vice president in Endicott, New York,
notified me that longtime Aeroguidance
Society member Bill Underkofler passed
away on Halloween after a lengthy battle
with Alzheimer’s.
Until next month, keep ’em Three in the
Green.