District II
Gary Fitch, District II Vice President [email protected]
Regions: New Jersey, New York, Europe
Call to action
The March MA cover and the accompanying articles about where we stand with the FAA should have grabbed your attention. This is a call to action for every AMA member—not just RC fliers—to help secure the future of all model aviation.
Talk to your friends, relatives, and workmates and ask them to help. We need you to visit AMA’s website and download the materials provided: a letter template, talking points, and the addresses of your elected federal representatives. Then send a letter to each representative. This first round needs to be completed in April. We may need a second round of letter writing after the FAA publishes the NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking), possibly in June or July.
It is vital that you participate and that we act as one unified body of modelers. If you don’t have Internet access, ask a friend to get the information for you, or call AMA and we will send you what you need.
Recommended steps:
- Visit the AMA website and download the letter template and talking points.
- Find your elected federal representatives’ addresses.
- Send personalized letters urging support for model aviation.
- Be prepared to send follow-up letters after the FAA publishes the NPRM.
PARCS response — a local example
Heroes are typically regular people who rise to the occasion in a crisis. Most of you have seen the FPV video over New York City. I won’t glorify the pilot by listing his name; it’s important to note he wasn’t an American citizen and he didn’t consider how his flights would impact modeling here.
Enter Mike Casey, president of the Pennsylvania Avenue Radio Control Society (PARCS). Because of the FPV flight, the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) Aviation Unit and the FAA contacted PARCS. In a knee-jerk reaction, they nearly shut down model flying at Floyd Bennett Field and throughout the five boroughs of New York.
The FAA requested a meeting with Mike to discuss the situation. Mike turned to AMA and we enlisted the help of Rich Hanson, AMA’s Government Affairs Liaison. Mike used information from AMA’s website along with PARCS club rules and background to make a verbal presentation to the NYPD Aviation Commander. The NYPD has a long history with PARCS and recognizes that they fly professionally and safely.
When the FAA Regional Administrator contacted the NYPD and the JFK Tower, PARCS was highly recommended. PARCS Vice President Vinny Caratozzolo also provided significant assistance. As a result of these efforts, the FAA no longer saw a need for a meeting and instructed PARCS to carry on.
For his efforts and level of service, we awarded Mike Casey AMA’s Distinguished Service Award at the Westchester Radio AeroModelers (WRAM) show. Mike Casey exemplifies what a hero is in our community. Thank you, Mike!
In memoriam
I learned from The Fly Paper, the newsletter of the Tri-County RC Club in New Jersey, that its last charter member, Robert “Bob” Mackey, passed away Tuesday, November 30, after a long battle with cancer. He leaves a loving wife, Joyce, and many friends.
Bob and approximately six other men formed the club in March 1968. From that time on, Bob held every club office—some multiple times and some for many years. As an active and involved member, he served as contest director (CD) at our Scale and Pattern contests.
Until next month, secure our future and take a youngster flying.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
