HI FOLKS! I’m writing this month’s
column from my in-laws’ 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.
“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 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.”
Mike Harrington (R) accepted AMA Gold
Leader Club award.
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 I 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 to assist the Omahawks club
with becoming 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 and met with 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. Then I presented
club president Steve Culver with the AMA
District IX Award of Appreciation for
demonstrating his outstanding leadership
skills when transitioning the club to an
AMA chartered club.
I presented the District IX Merit Award to
Steve Culver (L).
Up early the next morning, Don and I
had our longest stretch ahead of us—
roughly 8 hours to Bismarck, North Dakota.
(Actually, it took us slightly longer because
we crossed paths with a tornado but 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!
Flying with new friends (L-R) Tom Meyers,
Ted Stockert, Rod Matzke, and AVP Troy
Lapp from Bismarck, North Dakota.
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.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 162