AMA News: District XI-2012/11

AMA and District XI recently lost a
longtime modeler, Pattern champion,
past National Society of Radio
Controlled Aerobatics president,
associate vice president, and MA
contributor, Rick Allison. Rick did much
to further the sport of model aviation,
especially Pattern competition, and our
general enjoyment of the sport. Rick will
be remembered with a brick in the AMA
Walk of Fame and AMA’s Distinguished
Service Award among other tributes.
AMA and the district are proud
to announce that one of the 2012
scholarship award winners was Gordon
Sabin of Federal Way, Washington,
who was awarded a $5,500 scholarship.
Congratulations Gordon!
He will be studying mechanical
engineering at Brigham Young University
by the time you read this.
I was present at a recent warbirds event
when a couple of incidents occurred that
easily could have been catastrophic. One
of the competitors had several aircraft
in the startup area, ready to fly in the
various classes of competition. Airplane
one (electric) was flown and brought
back to the startup area. Airplane two
(also electric) was then brought to
the takeoff line and the throttle was
advanced.
Aircraft one’s motors started nicely
and it took off toward the pits and
spectators. It hit a fence, fortunately.
What happened? Its power system
had not been shut down, either by
disconnecting the battery or via an
arming switch. The main problem was
that an electric airplane not intended to
fly was left in a powered-up state. Be
careful folks! This could happen to you!
If that wasn’t enough, another
experienced modeler was going to tweak
the carburetor on a 35cc gas engine.
This is okay on some engines in which
the needle valves are exposed and clear
of the propeller (there are not too many
like that), except the individual tried to
reach through the propeller arc to make
the adjustment. He was lucky—cuts
and stitches only. Pilots need to keep
their minds on the tasks at hand and
when possible, make those adjustments
at home where there are not a lot of
distractions.
Royce Tivel reports that each year, the
Thurston County Miniature Aircraft
Association (TCMAA) holds a float-fly
at Lake Isabella in Shelton, Washington.
This year’s event was held on Saturday,
July 21. Earlier in the week, there were
some dramatic thunderstorms and some
heavy rain. Everyone kept fingers crossed
for a good flying day, and we got one.
Although there were some clouds in
the sky and an occasional gust of wind,
the flying conditions were good and
there was plenty of sunshine. Members
of the Lake Nahwatzel RC Float Flyers
club, a local club, joined with the
TCMAA pilots for a great day of flying
and socializing. There were 17 pilots
flying a mix of gas- and electric-powered
aircraft.
Among the beautiful aircraft that flew
during the event was Thom Martin’s
E-flite DHC-2 Beaver. Another E-flite
favorite was Gordon Osberg’s twinengine
Deuces Wild. More than one
pilot flew the E-flite Pulse XT.
Dick Robb entertained the spectators
with flights of a Balsa USA Phaeton 90.
As in previous years, a favorite at the
event was Mark Anderson’s realistic
World Models 1/3-scale Cub.
One of the most amazing airplanes
flown was the tiny UMX Carbon
Cub distributed by Horizon Hobby.
The Carbon Cub is a great model and
features the new AS3X stabilization
technology by E-flite.
There were a few problem flights
during the day. Some aircraft had to be
retrieved by boat. One special delivery of
a downed model was made by friendly
water-skiers. Gordon Osberg retrieved
his airplane with some expert casts with
a fishing pole rigged with a tennis ball
at the end of the line. Good luck trying
that!
All pilots look forward to the next
float-fly that will be hosted later this year
by the Nahwatzel club.