District II - 2010/12

RED BULL is a household name today.
AMA has been cultivating a relationship
with Red Bull, initially from the efforts of
Bill Oberdieck, AMA’s District VII vice
president, MA Assistant Editor Jay Smith,
and most recently with AMA’s Marketing
Director Jeff Nance. Because of this, AMA
was invited to become one of the select few
vendors to participate in the Red Bull over
Manhattan full-scale race last June.
With the help of several associate vice
presidents (AVPs) and club members, we
staffed the booth with two flight simulators,
and Jeff Phillips and his AMA RadioActive
Air Show Team brought their air
conditioned trailer with two flight
simulators.
We had a Make-N-Take for assembling
and coloring balsa gliders for the kids,
giving away almost 4,000 of them at this
event, and promoted model aviation as a
family activity in the New York City area.
Our new AMA Education Director Bill
Pritchett was super enthused with the
outcome. I want to thank everyone who took
the time to help make this a great event!
AMA’s booth at Red Bull.
The infamous “Peanut” of the RadioActive
Air Show Team.
Two of the spectator stands at the Red Bull
air race.
Many clubs have an AMA liaison-type
person. John Tucker is that guy for the
Wellsville Area Small Plane Society,
affectionately called the WASPS. This
relatively small, but generally harmonious,
club is very active in its community.
The members hold a community cannedfood
drive in December, a static display and
flying demo at the local airport in July for
the community, a fun-fly for the area clubs,
and even a static display in March at the
local library.
This club is what I call community
outreach rich and it pays off. The WASPS’
field is a local reclaimed refuse site.
John, who has interesting wit, sent along
this joke: “Two old 72 MHz antennas got
married. The ceremony was lousy but the
reception was excellent!”
Ben Kirk launching a EDF Crusader. John
Tucker photo.
On the topic of AMA liaisons, AMA
Leader Members are or should be just that.
AVP Eric Williams is working with regional
clubs in the Albany, New York, area to see
that each has at least one Leader Member.
Being a Leader Member means you are
the go-to guy when it comes to the
dissemination of AMA information and
programs. You are our eyes and ears at the
local level, working with your AVP and me.
Leader Members are also the people
AMA depends on to ratify any AMA bylaws
changes that the Executive Council
recommends, receiving the EC agenda a
couple of weeks before each meeting via email
so you have a say in your organization!
We are also looking at other ways that
Leader Members can be more involved.
Does your club have a Leader Member?
Capitol Jets 2010.
AVP Eric Williams’ booth at Capitol Jets with
Red Bull girls.
The year 2010 sure flew by, no pun
intended. I hope you had your share of
flying this year! Happy Holidays to all
AMA members and I hope you get all of
your modeling-related wishes this season. I
look forward to seeing you next year!
Until next month, Keep ’em Three in the
Green.
District II
Gary Fitch, District II Vice President; [email protected]
New Jersey, New York, Europe
Gary Fitch
1298 Slab City Rd.,
Franklinville NY 14737;
Tel.: (716) 341-2813
www.amadistrictii.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Frank Granelli,
Rockaway NJ; (973)
625.4995; [email protected]
Tom Murray, Basking Ridge NJ;
(908) 766-5656;
[email protected]
Tony Rossi, Somerset NJ; (908)
420-6901; [email protected]
Peter Seiffert, Baldwinsville NY;
(315) 635-6370;
[email protected]
Terry Terreniore, Endicott, NY;
(607) 748-8246; amad2terry@
stny.rr.com
Eric Williams, Schenectady NY;
(518) 356-2057;
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator:
Kevin Coleman, Middletown NJ;
(212) 975-2988; kcoleman@
cbs.com
CL and FF Contest
Coordinator: Dave King, South
Plainfield NJ; (908) 769-5149
Webmaster: Ray Kappes,
Clifton Park NY; webmaster@
amadistrictii.org
For a complete listing of
district officers and volunteers,
please visit the District I1 Web site
or see a previous issue of MA.
District II Volunteers
170 MODEL AVIATION