Born to Fly - 2009/05

I AM FORTUNATE to have known Dave Mathewson for several
years. Since the day we met, he has treated me with respect and is quick
to reply to any question. He has also been a lot of fun to hang out with at
shows across the country.
Dave and his wife, Ginger, are good people. It dawned on me that
many AMA members don’t know much about him, so I tracked him
down at the 2009 AMA Expo in California and asked him some
questions, hoping that it might help readers feel as if they know him
better.
JG: Is the position of AMA president what you thought it would be?
DM: I had a perception of what I expected it to be. As far as job
responsibilities, it has met those expectations. It has taken more of my
time than I expected. I think things are going well, and I enjoy what I’m
doing.
JG: I envision you in Muncie doing your thing, but I wonder what kind
of workload it is.
DM: Like most of us, I have a full-time job. I own a dental laboratory in
upstate New York. I spend a significant amount of time doing AMA
business. I average about 1,000 e-mails a month, and I answer them all. I
was out to Muncie nine times, and that is usually three days or four days
at a shot.
I wanted to get to all AMA districts this year [2008], which means 11
locations. I made 10 out of the 11. So I’m on the road quite a bit and
spend a considerable amount of time at home doing logistical work. I’m
pretty fortunate that my work schedule is flexible enough to allow me to
do that.
JG: When did you get into RC in general?
DM: My dad was into RC models, so I have been flying models since I
was 8 years old. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t flying RC
models.
JG: When it comes to RC, some pilots fly
everything. I am a profile-model pilot and only
focus on that. Is there a particular type of
flying style that you prefer?
DM: I always preferred RC Pattern/precision
Aerobatics, and I flew that for a number of
years. I think I’ve done probably a little bit of
everything. I used to do some Quickie racing,
and I probably still have the granddaddy of all
profile planes. I have a Sig Fazer that I built in
the ’90s. I still have it, still fly it, and I have a
ball with it.
JG: At what point did you have aspirations of
getting involved in the AMA, and did you ever
think you would be the president of the AMA?
DM: I thought one day I would be a vice
president. I didn’t really ever consider being
the AMA president. I’m probably like a lot of
folks; my involvement started by volunteering
to do some of the operational leadership in my
local club. I held every office there.
In upstate New York, we created an
association of clubs and [I] was one of the first
officers there. It’s just something I do. I think
it’s something that is instilled in you and you
grow up with. Going through school I was
always the student senate guy, and it’s just an
extension of that. I always had aspirations of
being an AMA vice president, and once I got
Born to Fly Jim T. Graham | [email protected]
Getting to know AMA President Dave Mathewson
Jim T. Graham, aka 3-D evangelist Billy Hell, accepts an award of appreciation from Dave
Mathewson and the AMA. And there’s that Thousand Mile Stare!
L-R: Dave Mathewson, Mark T. Smith, Tony Dupaquier (Pro Bro
emcee), and Jim T. Graham do the Thousand Mile Stare at NashBro.
May 2009 91
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92 MODEL AVIATION
Dave Mathewson addresses Pro Bros at the NashBro 3-D profile flying event in Nashville TN. The AMA wants to support any interest
that promotes model aviation.
involved at that level, I decided to go a step
higher.
JG: I was a big 3-D proponent back in the
days when that was a dirty word. I met you at
a trade show, and you took the time to listen
to my points and discuss my issues. That was
when I became a Dave Mathewson fan. It is
interesting that that encounter all those years
ago brings us to this point in time when you
are the president of the AMA.
I have preached the RC religion of 3-D for
years and thought that our days of being
treated as second-class citizens at certain
fields was over. I was lucky to have a very
supportive club in Nashville, but that was not
the case for my online friends. I thought that
at this point 3-D was widely accepted as an
important, vibrant part of our hobby. I am
amazed that, once again, I’m hearing stories
of 3-D pilots being run off of fields and
potentially out of the hobby. What is your take
on 3-D and what it means to the hobby?
DM: You know, I look at the activity that is
taking place in the hobby and the percentage
that is 3-D, which is obviously significant. It
has made significant inroads into model
aviation over the last few years. I don’t see 3-
D any differently than when model
helicopters or ducted fans were new, and there
will be something someday that comes out as
the next big thing.
It’s not the mind-set of AMA the
association, but it is the mind-set of some of
our members. I was never exposed to a lot of
this until I became an AMA officer. My local
club is probably like a lot of other clubs: to us
it doesn’t matter what you fly as long as you
fly. I think that is the goal we should all try to
aspire to.
JG: This year you surprised me at my own
event that I host every year. I have put
together a profile model 3-D-based event in
Nashville, Tennessee, called NashBro, for the
last six or seven years. Mark T. Smith, the
AMA executive vice president, has shown up
at a lot of Pro Bro events and always
supported us.
I looked up on Saturday afternoon and
realized that you were on our field walking
toward me! I was totally blown away; I had
no idea you were coming. And if that wasn’t
enough, later in the day you presented me
with a plaque from the AMA and blew my hat
off! I wanted to thank you for all of that and
taking time to visit a bunch of 3-D profile
pilots having fun in a field. I was also excited
that you actually got to see what a Pro Bro 3-
D event was all about.
DM: Well, obviously we gave you the plaque
because we wanted to thank you. That was
planned months and months in advance, by
the way. I knew in early spring of last year
that we were coming down to NashBro. You
know, it’s an event. I didn’t hear any “3-D” or
“profile”; it was just a fly-in, and it had a
camaraderie that went along with it.
I think that is the way we should all
participate in this hobby, whether you’re
flying helicopters, sailplanes, or IMAC
[International Miniature Aerobatic Club]. We
are all in this hobby because we love model
aviation, and that’s the way we should treat
each other.
JG: Many of us have families, jobs, and
things we need to do. The Pro Bros and the
RC hobby in general have allowed me to
make lifelong friends. The amazing thing is
that this was done through a Web forum. We
meet up with one another across the country
and fly together, and there is no way to put a
value on that.
DM: There’s not. And as someone who has
been in model aviation all my life, 90% of my
friends are probably model aviation
enthusiasts. I don’t know anything different,
and it’s been such a big part of my life and an
important part of my life. You ask, “What’s
the value of clubs and what’s the value of
AMA?” You hear all the time: it’s bringing
modelers together. It’s as much about the
friendships as it is about the flying.
JG: My goal, when I go to a show or cover an
event for RCGroups.com, is to have a good
time and make sure everyone around me is
having a good time, and I hope that’s what we
all do.
DM: Absolutely! You know I love this stuff.
It doesn’t matter what you’re flying. I love
going to events, whether they are for warbirds
or whatever. When I get to those events, I
love watching things fly and talking about
them. The hobby is all-encompassing.
JG: The goal of this month’s column is to let
the membership get to know you better. Is
there anything you would want to say if an
AMA member were standing in front of you?
DM: The Executive Council and those of us
who are the leadership of the AMA are
modelers just like everybody else. We fly our
model airplanes or our helicopters. Some of
us are 3-D pilots or turbine fliers, but we’re
active fliers like all of our members.
We have worked hard this year to become
an association that is more progressive and
does more to advocate for our members, and I
think that will benefit all of us in the long run.
JG: When I came up, the AMA was a bad
word in my group. I always felt on the fringe
or outside of RC. I never felt a part of the
AMA as a 3-D pilot. It’s great to now have
been around long enough to feel that the AMA
defends and supports us. I think it’s great that
you and the other officers are so accessible.
The fact that I have an AMA shirt on would
have been unthinkable a few years ago!
DM: Well, that’s exactly right. Again, model
aviation is more than the airplane that you fly.
I spoke with some of the folks down at
NashBro, and each niche of the hobby thinks
of themselves as rebels or radicals. The truth
is, and I’m a little older than you, when I was
your age, we were doing the same things you
guys are doing. There were probably
members back then who thought I was a rebel
as well.
The fact is, we aren’t rebels; we just all
enjoy model aviation. I’ll leave you with this
comment that my friend, Dean Pappas, used
to start his columns with: “If it flies, I’m
interested in it.” That epitomizes how I feel
about model aviation. MA
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