IT IS an awesome responsibility to prepare
this column every month. The time slips
away and suddenly it’s time to prepare
another one.
This month I have a piece of sad news to
report. On December 18 we lost Jerry Miller
Sr. A lifelong modeler and full-scale builder
and pilot, he would have been 71 on
December 24.
Jerry Miller Sr. (L) received a prize for Best
Military at a fly-in from Bob Severance.
Jerry was a fixture at nearly every warbird
meet in South Texas and routinely won prizes
at the famed Bomber Field events in
Monaville, Texas. He never met an airplane
he didn’t like.
He will be missed by modelers throughout
District VIII. Jerry is survived by his wife
Trudy and sons Bill and Gerry Jr.
News about the District VIII Web site! I
mentioned last month that we had some
changes coming and webmaster Bill Lee got
them up and running faster than I expected.
Visit www.ama-dist-8.org to see the changes.
The site now has a “VP Video Corner”
where I will present matters of interest that I
am unable to put in this column. I solicit your
input for use in both places.
There is a forum for each associate vice
president (AVP) to post happenings in his or
her respective areas. Please frequent these
forums and provide input and feedback to the
AVP in your area.
We have also placed a forum on the site
for safety. As some of you know, we have
had “Safety Notes” on the Web since July
and our new safety coordinator Chuck Waller
will be continuing those notes. He could use
assistance and input from all clubs in the
district and would like to initiate an exchange
with club officers.
Please give Chuck your attention and your
support. He is a life-long modeler and while
his interests are primarily RC, he will post
safety concerns on any aspect of the hobby.
The ProBro (Profile Brotherhood) enjoyed a
weekend of hovering and flying with the San
Antonio Prop Busters (SAPB) last year. This
was the first time SAPB hosted the event but
everyone had much fun—day and night—and
it looks as though it may happen again next
year.
Hilmer “Old Guy” Merz was honored as the
oldest member of the Brotherhood at this
meet.
While violating a duck
sounds odd, it was
fun watching them hover and knock the
plastic duck over with the tails of their Profile
airplanes. ProBro pictures are courtesy of
Humberto Perez.
Andy aka “Andy ProBro” (L) and Tony
“YNot” at the ProBro weekend.
Tony “YNot” takes a turn trying to knock
over the duck decoy.
I have some quick comments on an old
subject. Most clubs operate with 10% of the
membership doing 100% of the work. Less
than 10% of the membership of AMA helps
do the volunteer work required to keep AMA
operating.
If you are new to your club or AMA, ask
how you can help. You might run a weed
eater, flip burgers, manage the registration, or
sell raffle tickets. Not every job requires a
seasoned modeler to be properly executed.
On the other hand, if you are an old
veteran at the volunteering stuff, grab
someone at your next event and ask him or
her if you can explain how to run a flightline
or scribe for a scorer. Most of us will help
and just need to be asked (or maybe
convinced) and then given a little training.
Our organization requires volunteers from
the person straightening up chairs after the
meeting to Dave Brown, our AMA president.
Please look for a way to be of assistance. It
will make you feel good and keep your
organization running smoothly.
John and Chris Hess are known for national
and international CL Combat involvement.
They routinely run RC flightlines for Tri-City
Fliers’ events even though neither flies RC.
Have fun and fly safely. See you on the
flightline. Jim.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/03
Page Numbers: 161