AMA News District IX - 2009/02

CONGRATULATIONS, Mark Smith! In
case you have not already heard, Mark has
been elected AMA’s new executive vice
president under the revised bylaws. Mark will
be working closely with our president, Dave
Mathewson, to address the challenges facing
our organization.
Mark’s focus in his new position, as
outlined in his election campaign, will be to
stimulate membership growth, grow the
number of Leader Clubs, assist with securing
flying sites, support youth education of model
aviation, and push for term limits on the
Executive Committee to ensure the longevity
of a healthy AMA.
We all wish Mark the best in his new
position and will offer him our strongest
support. He has held the position of District
IX vice president (VP) since 2005. With his
election to the new position, he has selected
me, Jim Wallen, to fill out his term as District
IX VP until full elections in the fall of 2009.
I have worked closely with Mark the last
few years as his associate vice president
(AVP) for the state of Colorado. His is a
tough act to follow, but Mark has already
pointed us down a positive path that will
make my job easier.
I have established a few personal goals
that are of major importance to me. I pledge
to be responsive to all in our district and
maintain an inclusive atmosphere. No one
likes to try to communicate to deaf ears. I will
work to bring our membership and the AMA
organization closer together.
AMA can do a better job if it better
understands the membership. Members often
are unaware of benefits available from the
national organization. I will work to make our
organization healthy through financial
integrity and stabilization of membership. I
will work to give our AVPs in District IX the
tools required to assist in meeting our
common goals. These men and women are
the basic element to improve communications
with the local clubs.
Mark was kind enough to provide me with
some interesting activity from around the
district. The first article is from Lora
Knowlton at Jefco Aeromod’lers in Colorado.
“Look who I met today at the Colorado
Aviation Historical Society’s Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony at Lakewood Country
Club. Emily was there as a past inductee.
What an honor to have met her!”
“Emily Howell Warner, born 1939 and
inducted in 2002, is a Denver native. Emily
took her first airplane flight as a teenager and
came away from that experience with a
passion to fly and become an airplane pilot.
In 1973, 67 years after the Wright Flyer made
aviation history, and 15 years after her first
plane flight, Warner also made aviation
history by becoming the first woman hired as
a pilot by a major US airline: Frontier. Three
years later she earned her captain’s wings, the
first woman to do so.
Lora Knowlton and Emily Howell Warner.
“Today, with more than 21,000 flight
hours (more than any other woman pilot in
the world), Warner is a Federal Aviation
Administration [FAA] Aircrew Program
Manager, assigned to United Airlines’
Boeing 737 Fleet. She is also the FAA
representative for United’s Flight Safety
Action Program.
“She opened the door for thousands of
women pilots and has been a personal mentor
and role model to many. Along the way she
won almost every aviation award given,
including the Amelia Earhart Award as the
Outstanding Woman in US Aviation. She
was the featured speaker for the United
Nations Kickoff Dinner for International
Women’s Year. In 1983 she was inducted
into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame and
is a 2001 inductee into the National Women’s
Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. Her
uniform now hangs in the Smithsonian
Institution’s Air and Space Museum.”
Jim Tiller, South Dakota AVP, reports that
the Propbusters Celebrated the club’s 50th
year in Rapid City, South Dakota.
“On Monday, September 15, District IX
VP Mark Smith presented an award to the
Propbusters commemorating 50 years as an
AMA club. Several Propbuster members
were on hand to receive the award, including
our president, Doc McGuigan, and one of the
original founding members, Lowell
Hamilton.
“Several other club members were in
attendance including Bob Olson, Ken Corrin,
Jim Kammert, and I. Ray Jarvi, one of the
Propbuster old-timers also stood in for the
picture. We have noted the history of the club
in the newsletter this year and this event
made it official.
“The club probably goes back about 60
years, but we have newsletters going back 50.
Several ‘lies’ about the good old days
continued throughout the afternoon.”
I want to thank you in advance for helping
me in my new position. Feel free to contact
me with comments or suggestions on any
subject you feel is important. If you have any
special event you would like to publicize in
MA, write something up and send it to me.
Pictures are nice as well.
We will chat again next month.