AMA News: District VII

comIt goes without saying that what we do may just not be for everybody, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s hard to imagine what our hobby might look like if we had the same participation level as something such as golf. The thought of what club membership dues might be and having to book a flight time are a couple of things that would make me nervous. Although we’re outnumbered by many other mainstream hobby activities, we have the ability to leave a much larger footprint than our size because of the many visitors who come out to our fields to watch us fly. In taking it a step further, by partnering your club events with service organizations or other charitable causes, we can further cement ourselves as doers of good in the community. In planning your club events this year, please consider reaching out to a worthy cause in your area to see if you can lend a hand. In addition to the immediate public relations boost, the friendships you make along the way can reap long-term benefits down the road. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but you just can’t have too many friends.This month’s event report and photos comes to you courtesy of Neal Leeper, president of the Black Hawk R/C Pilots of Cedar Falls, Iowa. For the last 11 years, the Black Hawk R/C Pilots have sponsored the E/xpo in the UNI-Dome indoor fly-in in February. The UNI-Dome is a domed football stadium on the University of Northern Iowa campus in Cedar Falls. The UNI-Dome opened in 1976, but had an inflatable fabric roof that was held up by air pressure from several large fans. This created high velocity airflow inside the UNI-Dome that made RC flying impossible. In 1999 the fabric roof was replaced with a rigid roof structure and the fans were removed. The new roof was also higher at 164 feet above the floor (the height of a 16-story building!). The combination of a high roof and a large overflight area over the stadium seats makes the UNI-Dome one of the best indoor flying sites in the US.Early fly-ins were one-day events. The UNI-Dome was also used for basketball games, so those flying had to avoid basketball backboards. In 2004, a new basketball fieldhouse was built and the UNI-Dome was available without obstructions. At that point the club decided to go to a two-day event that would make it possible for fliers from farther away to make the trip to Cedar Falls to fly. Attendance has grown and there has been an average of 125 pilots in attendance the last couple of years.One of the challenges of an event such as this, with a large number of pilots, is finding a way to make the flying experience a good one for all of the pilots. After trying a couple of different arrangements, the club has settled on a single, 120-yard long flightline with 22 flight stations, nine 3-D and helicopter stations, eight stations for flying in a circular pattern, and five micro flier stations. In addition, there are two hover-only stations for helicopter pilots to make trim adjustments without occupying a regular flight station.The event also draws several hundred spectators. To provide entertainment for the spectators, the pilots are invited to participate in an air show that includes a history of flight, featuring aircraft from the earliest days of flight to the latest foamie jets, and 3-D and heli demonstration flights. The air show concludes with a couple of combat events, one with streamers and one where the last pilot flying is the winner.The E/xpo in the UNI-Dome is a unique event. Many pilots return annually for a chance to fly what is more like an outdoor flying experience than an indoor one in the middle of the winter. For more information go to the website at www.expodome.org.Take a kid flying!