AMA News: District IX-2007/03
Hi, folks! I’m writing this month’s column from my in-laws’ home on Christmas Day. I hope you have been good girls and boys and Santa left some cool airplane goodies under the tree for you!
This month I want to continue sharing my adventure to Minot, North Dakota, but first I attended a great event in Fort Collins, Colorado, that Mike Harrington reported on.
Rocky Mountain Big Bird Festival — Fort Collins, Colorado (report by Mike Harrington)
The 13th Annual Rocky Mountain Big Bird Festival was attended by 88 registered pilots from as far away as Texas and Minnesota. The Saturday-morning drizzle probably reduced the attendance from the Front Range of Colorado because it was raining heavily to the south. Many modelers from the Longmont, Boulder, and Denver areas decided to stay home.
In spite of the early rain there was a good crowd on Saturday with roughly 3,000 spectators. Sunday dawned clear and sunny. The good weather brought out nearly 5,000 spectators early in the day to enjoy the festivities.
Mark Leseberg Jr. was again the guest pilot. In spite of having some initial difficulties with his airplane, he put on a great show both days. Mark also offered assistance to many pilots.
The noon air show was good each day with many pilots participating to the commentary of Neil Miles. As always, Bert Sutton put on a great show as did Brian O’Meara, Egil Wigert, Dan and Greg St. John, Tom Yamada, Dennis Spencer, Jerry Farmer, and Mark Dennis. The grand finale was Mark Leseberg Jr., who wowed the crowd and pilots alike with his mastery of the sticks.
Many people pulled together to make the 13th Annual Rocky Mountain Big Bird Festival a great success. Congratulations to all on a great event!
At the end of Saturday’s air show, AMA vice president Mark Smith recognized the club’s five years as a Gold Leader Club and presented Love Air with a special Certificate of Merit. The inscription reads, "In recognition of outstanding community service and support of aeromodeling to a level by which others are measured." All members should take great pride and satisfaction in this recognition.
Odyssey to the Northern Plains — August 23–29, 2006, Part 2
If you remember from last month, it took Kansas City flying bud Don Oppliger and me half a day to simply leave my neighborhood, but once we headed north, there was no turning back!
One of the most significant accomplishments I have had in the last two years has been assisting the Omahawks club to become a fully chartered AMA club. This was accomplished by a club vote late last year, and words can’t express how pleased I am with the membership’s work, so it seemed logical that our first stop would be in Omaha.
By approximately 2 p.m. we arrived at Hawks’ Field, met some Omahawks, unloaded the van, and soon Don and I were boring holes in the sky with our friends from Omaha. Late in the afternoon we packed up and headed for our motel to clean up and get ready for dinner with several of the members at a local restaurant. After a hearty meal, I presented three special awards of recognition.
I wanted to publicly thank Ward Neesen and Dick Behrens for their help in introducing me and AMA to the Omahawks. I also presented club president Steve Culver with the AMA District IX Award of Appreciation for demonstrating outstanding leadership when transitioning the club to an AMA-chartered club.
Up early the next morning, Don and I had our longest stretch ahead of us—roughly eight hours to Bismarck, North Dakota. Actually, it took us slightly longer because we crossed paths with a tornado; we simply pulled off I-29 and watched it blow and rain.
When we arrived in Bismarck, I called our North Dakota associate vice president (AVP) Troy Lapp about hooking up with him and the president of the Mo Slope Model Aero Club, Rod Matzke, for breakfast and then off to the club field for some serious flying the rest of the morning.
I enjoyed my time with Troy, who is an accomplished chopper pilot. Troy even helped Don trim his helicopter while I flew my P-6E Hawk. Time flew and all too soon it was time for us to head north again, this time to our final destination: Minot!
Next month I’ll share with you the experiences Don and I had at one of the premiere events in the district: The International in Minot, North Dakota. Until then, have fun and keep in touch!
Mark Smith
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
