AMA News District III - 2009/03
WINGS ACROSS America 2008 (WAA-08)
WINGS ACROSS America 2008 (WAA-08) is a project involving pilots in the lower 48 states. The goal is to fly an electric park flyer in all the states. The model will cover approximately 14,000 miles. The unique aspect of this project is that the airplane must be personally handed over to the next pilot to form another link in the national chain.
The following District III clubs are signed up to participate:
- Clarksburg Model Aviation Club
- Columbus Aero RC Club
- Frederick Model Aircraft Club
- Flying Hawks R/C Club
- Greater Pittsburgh ARCS
- Hill Hoppers Flying Club
- Jackson County Aeromodelers Club
- Keystone Clippers
- Model Aircraft Recreation Society
- Oil Creek Flyers
- Thermal G Eagles R/C Club
- Princeton Area Radio Kontrol Society
- Prop Floppers
- Ross Ohio Radio Kontrol Society
- Willard R/C Fun Flyers
Thermal G Eagles (Erie, PA) — Flight 72
Jack Graham reported on the Thermal G Eagles Club of Erie, Pennsylvania, and its experience with Wings Across America. Flight 72 was on November 30, 2008. The first choice was to fly outside, but the snow was deep and the field was closed for the winter. The County Vo-Tech School parking lot was considered, but 20–30 mph winds terminated that plan.
A little brainstorming led to utilizing the Golf Dome. Jack wrote, "We got to the Dome at noon and I went in and explained the RC flight in all 50 States of America. The Dome had a youth football program coming in at 3 p.m. that afternoon and the golf driving range was closing at 2. Wow, a window of opportunity presented itself."
The staff at Family First Sports Parks were great. The playing surface of the facility is 50 x 75 yards and roughly 80 feet in height. The pilots included:
- Jack Graham
- Dale Edinger
- Jay Raydo
- Cliff Bendig
- Greg Rubin
Pittsburgh Area — Pine Community Park (December 13, 2008)
The WAA-08 airplane was flown in the Pittsburgh area at Pine Community Park on December 13, 2008, under less-than-favorable wind and temperature conditions. The pilots were:
- Dave Walker
- Ataç Türkay
- Aydin Türkay (8 years old)
- Terry Wisniewski
The flights went rather smoothly, given that the maximum wind gusts exceeded 15 mph. The flying site is historically notable: it used to be a farm where Dr. Jonas Salk kept his research animals while he was at the University of Pittsburgh.
West Virginia — Jackson County Aeromodelers
By late December, the model had progressed into West Virginia. Two members of the Jackson County Aeromodelers and the Academy of Model Aeronautics, Chuck Westfall and Scott Donat, wrote themselves into the record books by participating in Wings Across America.
Jackson County Aeromodelers Thanksgiving/Christmas Party (November 22, 2008)
On Saturday, November 22, 2008, the Jackson County Aeromodelers held its annual Thanksgiving/Christmas party. The theme for this year’s event was to honor the youth and new members who are currently buddy boxing.
Club president Chuck Westfall invited Mark Radcliff, AMA District III associate vice president, to be the guest speaker. Mark presented a slide show of his travels with the U.S. F3A flying teams in which he participated between 1975 and 1981.
Mark began flying at an early age and was inspired by his father and top RC pilots of the time, such as Phil Kraft, Don Lowe, Miles Reed, and Dave Brown. Through hard work and goal setting he was eventually on four USA Aerobatics Teams.
Highlights of Mark’s travels and competition history:
- 1975: Bern, Switzerland — toured Europe
- 1977: Competed in Springfield, Ohio
- 1979: Competed in Johannesburg, South Africa — placed third in the world
- 1981: Team trip to Acapulco, Mexico
Mark showed slides of various TOC events in Las Vegas, which included meeting celebrities such as singers Roy Clark and Robert Goulet, and four-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Sr. His presentation illustrated that with something as simple as model airplanes one can travel the world and make many friends.
Mark concluded, "Model aviation has been very good to me and I hope I have been and will continue to be good for model aviation."
At the conclusion of the presentation, the club had a great time with a gift exchange for the children and adults in attendance.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
