HI FOLKS! This month I want to share one
of the great events of the district from
Colorado, and continue with our trip to
Minot, North Dakota. So, as they say, on
with the show!
The Arvada, Colorado, “You Too Can
Fly” model air show was reported by Chris
Bart. Photos are by Lee Jay Fingersh of
Stories in Pictures Photography.
“What does a club do when the
community it lives in gives them a fantastic
flying site and then supports them in every
way possible? That’s the situation that the
members of the Arvada Associated
Modelers in the suburbs of Denver,
Colorado, found themselves in.
“They decided to put on a free local air
show with a focus on the local townsfolk.
This meant many novelty acts and a strong
patriotic theme. They topped it off with a
full afternoon of “come one, come all”
buddy-box flying.
“The site has two complete runways a
quarter of a mile apart, so one gets used for
the grandstand air show, while the other
features the buddy-box line up. In addition,
the club charges nothing for any of it and
sells food for very low prices.
“‘That attracts the families and that’s
what we’re interested in,’ said air-show
chairman Chris Bart. ‘We’re looking for all
sorts of members, so we want the whole
family to try their hands on the sticks.’
“Rain slowed things down a bit this year,
but the crowd last year was roughly 2,000.
They already have the air show scheduled
again for September 8, 2007.”
One of the exciting acts at the Arvada
airshow.
Many tried their hands at RC at the event
hosted by the Arvada club.
And now, part three of my odyssey to the
Northern Plains, August 23-29, 2006.
Picking up from last month, Kansas City
flying bud and traveling companion Don
and I headed north from Bismarck, North
Dakota, to the northernmost point of our
travels: Minot. After a short drive, we
arrived at the Minot field.
Now folks, I’ve gotta tell you, you ain’t
seen anything like this flying field! Would
you believe they even have wireless Internet
service broadcast to the flightline? The
hospitality displayed by the Minot folks—in
particular club president Dick Winje and
spark plug Lanny Wade—is second to none
and Don and I felt like we were life-long
members of their club. Why, even Russ
Miller, my good friend and past District IX
vice president, stopped by to say hello!
On Saturday night, Don and I were
treated to a superb barbeque. Now here’s a
real complement to the club. Don has been a
judge at the third largest barbeque contest in
the nation in the Kansas City area for
decades and he told the Minot folks that
their barbeque was simply outstanding!
After dinner, we met under the shelter
house and I put on a short PowerPoint
presentation about AMA and answered
questions. We loaded things in the dark and
headed back to the hotel because we had a
long trip to begin heading back home on
Sunday—but not without more stops and a
bunch more flying!
We left the next morning from Minot for
roughly an eight-hour trip to Rapid City,
South Dakota, and next month I’ll tell you
what we missed. You won’t believe I did
this (but I bet many of you have done the
same thing!).
President Dick Winje and Vice President
Lanny Wade of the Minot club.
That’s it for this month. I have been
working on developing some videos for
AMA and continuing other committee work.
This year, we held our January Executive
Council meeting at the AMA National
Convention in Ontario, California. I hope I
had the opportunity to meet several of you.
Take care, keep in touch, and have fun!
Mark.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/04
Page Numbers: 175