190 MODEL AVIATION
I CAN’T BELIEVE I have been in office
for a year. What an eventful year it has been.
I have been to Muncie, Indiana, four
times; to Ontario, California, for the AMA
Convention; to Toledo, Ohio; and I have
flown in every state in District VIII at least
once. I have attended 22 events and read
hundreds of club newsletters.
As I travel I see the grass roots of our
association: the club officers and volunteers
running events as well as modelers doing
what they love and do best—enjoying each
others’ company at the flying field. If it
weren’t for that, this volunteer job that I
have would be the pits.
The people who contact me by E-mail
and telephone are generally perturbed about
something and I get the feeling that
modelers are in miserable spirits. Then I go
to contests, fly-ins, swap meets, and club
meetings and I can see that the majority of
the members are still enjoying the sport and
that keeps me going.
Thanks to all who help run this volunteer
organization with your personal time and
energy; you make it all worthwhile!
On the subject of volunteers, we have a
new associate vice president (AVP) for New
Mexico. Mark Johnston has agreed to step
up and fill the position because Buzz Averill
is retiring.
Buzz doesn’t know how many years he
has done the job but says he has been an
AVP since 1972 except for the 10 years or
so that Jim Simpson did the job. No matter
how you cut it, he has put many years in that
volunteer job. Thanks for all you have done
for AMA and New Mexico modelers, Buzz!
Mark works at Sandia National Labs as a
computer systems analyst. He has been a
member of AMA since 1994; however, he
has been building and flying models and
rockets since he was young. CL, FF, RC
sport, RC Combat, Pattern, Competition Fun
Fly, Indoor Electrics, and RC helicopters
with both glow and electric have been his
interests.
Mark is a CD and is currently serving as
a club officer/board member with two clubs.
He looks forward to going to other club
events and meeting new fliers. Since he lives
closer to the El Paso area than I do, I have
asked him to cover that part of Texas, too.
Thanks to both of these fine gentlemen
for all they do to help our organization run.
The 24th Annual Big Bird Fly-In in
Shreveport, Louisiana, was a big success. I
wasn’t provided any pictures with people in
them but the airplanes are beautiful.
This Tiger 120 is owned by Mark Hoffee of
Shreveport.
An Extra 300 flown by Chuck Shaver of
Shreveport.
Pitts Python by Tony Charczeko, Ruston LA.
The Tulsa Glue Dobbers’ annual CL contest
in September was a great success. I have
included some great pictures of the modelers
and their airplanes. You can see more on the
galleries page of the District VIII Web site
at www.AMA-Dist-8.org.
Tim Tipton and his Brodak Magician.
Bob Reeves and Lloyd Gregory prepaing
Bob’s airplane for flight.
As the year ends, so ends the long and
eventful tenure of Dave Brown, president of
AMA. He has been on the Executive
Council for 28 years, the last 12 as our
president. That is a lifetime spent
volunteering for AMA.
He has helped the AMA grow in ways
and places probably even he did not dream
of. His institutional knowledge and
experience will be missed, but he can now
take a break and enjoy his wife Sally and his
hobby even more. Thanks for what both of
you have done for our association and
hobby. Godspeed.
Dave and Sally Brown.
Have fun and fly safely. See you on the
flightline! Jim
Jim Rice
Vice President
118 E. Wright Blvd.,
Universal City TX 78148
Tel.: (210) 213-0299
(evenings)
www.AMA-Dist-8.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Lester L. Barry, Bethany OK;
(405) 789-5373
Bill Fulmer, Gretna LA;
(504) 392-3620
Jack Hogan, Chandler TX;
(903) 849-4193 (Evenings)
Mark S. Johnston, Albuquerque
NM; (505) 823-0158
Jim D. Marshall, Mission TX;
(956) 585-6446
Douglas E. Powell, Wichita Falls
TX; (940) 691-8348
Doug Staines, Belton TX
(254) 780-3512
Ron Stanfield, Maumelle AR;
(501) 851-1697
Pat Willcox, Kingwood TX;
(713) 358-1750
Frequency Coordinator
North: Joe DuMond, Ft. Worth
TX; (817) 457-6685
South: Gene Kent, Tomball TX;
(281) 255-4805
AMA Display Coordinator
David Johns, Deer Park TX
(713) 476-4820
Safety Coordinator
Chuck Waller, Canyon Lake TX;
(210) 563-4246
District VIII Volunteers
District VIII
Jim Rice, District VIII Vice President; [email protected]
Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/01
Page Numbers: 190