AMA News District VII - 2012/10

Having returned home from spending
two-and-a-half days at the July EC
meeting, I came away amazed at the
amount of work being done on behalf
of all of us. From youth educational
outreach, flying site assistance, the
FAA issues, museum upgrades, to the
bringing of Model Aviation online—the
list goes on and on.
If you think of AMA as being only
about insurance, please take another
look. From the staff at Headquarters
to the many, many volunteers in the
field—these dedicated folks work hard
every day to ensure that our hobby
is not only here for us today, but for
future generations.
Executive Council meetings are open
to all AMA members and I encourage
all who can to attend. I’m sure you’ll
walk away being amazed, too.
The following comes from newly
appointed Associate Vice President
Marc “Doc” Shelstrom from the great
state of Wisconsin. Doc recently
retired as a professor of construction
management from the University of
Wisconsin and has agreed to help out
in the district. He is a lifelong modeler
and all-around great guy. Please join
me in giving him a warm welcome and
be sure to stop by and say hello if he’s
at an event you’re attending.
During the week of July 9-13, I had
the privilege of serving as a flight
instructor at a Take off And Grow
(TAG) event sponsored by AMA
for the Civil Air Patrol cadet camp
Associate Vice Presidents: Bruce Baier, Oshkosh WI; (920) 233-1127; [email protected]; Lee Frederickson, Ada MI; [email protected]; Randall Gibson, Lansing MI;
[email protected]; Bud Gorman, Knife River MN; [email protected]; Don Held, Elmira MI; (231) 584-2662; [email protected]; Noel Hunt, Shelby Twp. MI; (586) 677-
1540; [email protected]; Bob Johnson, Fon Du Lac WI; [email protected]; Ed Kincer, Fenton MI; (810) 610-7791; [email protected]; Thomas Pierce, Saint Clair MI;
(810) 367-6450; [email protected], Mark Robotti, Lindstrom MN; [email protected]; Lloyd Swanson, Cedar Rapids IA; (319) 373-0947; [email protected]; Kent
Woods, Ames IA; (515) 232-8180; [email protected]. Contest Coordinators: Wayne Yeager (RC Michigan), (517) 260-0132; [email protected]; Michael J Haller (RC
non-Michigan), Fon Du Lac WI; (920) 979-9452; [email protected]. Frequency Coordinators: Al Schwartz, Roseville MN; (651) 633-2286; [email protected].
att.net; Pete Waters, Northville MI; (248) 486-4800.
Tel.: (734) 384-6085;
www.amadistrict-vii.org
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www.ModelAviation.com OctOber 2012 Model Aviation 149
held at the Fond du Lac (Wisconsin)
Aeromodelers Association field. The
Fond du Lac club has a beautiful field
encompassing more than 20 acres.
Hobbico provided a 58-inch Flyzone
Sensei Sport Trainer EP RTF for the
cadets’ use. Also, each cadet took
an airplane home at the end of the
week. The Sensei Trainer’s transmitter
has a radio link in it so no trainer
cable was needed to connect the
instructor’s transmitter to the student’s
transmitter. This was the first time I
had trained anyone with a radio-linked
system, and it worked so much better
than the cable system.
Each day started at 9 a.m. and ended
at 3 p.m., with a half-hour lunch
break. During the noon break, local
club members came to the field to put
on flight demonstrations for the cadets.
The demonstrations included flights
by a turbine jet, a Pattern airplane,
and a four-engine 200-inch wingspan
C 124 Globemaster. Another noon
demonstration consisted of a tethered
hot air balloon. The cadets would
rise up 50 feet in the basket and then
return to the ground.
Thirty-five cadets from across the US
attended. They ranged in age from 12
to 20. The days were intense because
none of the cadets had previous flight
experience, so the flight instructors had
to be constantly on watch.
Our first task was to teach them to
fly in a circular pattern. The instructor
would do the takeoff and the cadet
would fly the trainer airplane for five
minutes. The cadet would then hand
off the student transmitter to another
cadet, who would fly for five minutes.
Finally, the instructor would then land
the airplane. While the electronics in
that aircraft cooled, another airplane
was launched and the cycle continued.
After the cadets mastered flying in
a circular pattern, we worked on right
and left turns as the airplane flew
toward the pilot. We then worked on
takeoffs and, lastly, landings where the
size of the field was a huge asset to the
novice pilots. When the cadets were
not on the flightline, they spent time
on flight simulators.
By Thursday, one young man was
doing exceptionally well so I told him
to climb to a higher altitude, fly level,
go to full throttle, go into a slight dive,
and then pull back on the elevator. As
he finished the loop, I asked, “What
did you think of that?”
“That was so cool.”
“Do you want to do it again?”
“You bet!”
Since this was the first camp of this
type, not everything went perfectly,
but, basically, it went well. It was
a great opportunity to work with
some amazing young people who will
hopefully be future members and
leaders of AMA.
Take a kid flying.