District II Reoprt - 2009/08

SINCE THE ARC recommendations have
been made public by the FAA, there has been
much conversation and some concern within
our modeling community, and justifiably so.
It is much too soon to know what the final
rules and regulations will look like. AMA is
actively pursuing this with the FAA and we
will keep you posted if we need the help of all
of you in the district.
Russell Rhine, editor of the Meroke RC
club’s newsletter, Smoke Signals, sent this
report about how AMA’s Take off And Grow
(TAG) program has helped the club promote
aeromodeling.
One of the groups the club works with is
the Boy Scouts. Junior member Joe
Cieslewicz is a very determined young man
working to earn the rank of Eagle Scout.
The “Meroke Bench” has put our club on
the map all across the United States as well as
abroad. As part of his community service
work toward his Eagle Scout badge, Joe put
together a plan to make a number of benches
for use at the field. He, along with a few of his
fellow Scouts, collected bottle deposits and
contributions to obtain the necessary funds.
With the assistance of his father Tom, Joe
built six benches, making a few modifications
and adding wheels to make them easier to
move. On April 26, Joe’s father brought the
benches to the field. I have included a photo
that shows the new bench and a few of those
involved in the project.
(L-R) Joe Cieslewicz, Tom Garcia, Joe’s
brother Tom, and Nassau County legislator
Dennis Dunne.
Chris Sarnowski from District I reported on
The Middlesex Modelers’ Control Line club
season opening Combat event, which was
held at Mountain View Park in Middlesex,
New Jersey.
The Middlesex Modelers.
“The Middlesex Modelers have a nice
paved circle for racing and stunt, and they use
a field behind the circle for combat. Paul Brill
performed the CD duties with Roy Glenn as
acting primary circle marshal and Phil Cartier
backing him up.
“The events flown included 1/2A where
Roy Glenn placed first, Al Ferraro second,
and Pete Sofko third. In Super Slow/Speed
Limit Louis Lopez was first, Roy Glenn
second, and Phil Cartier came in third.
“Pull testing was performed on each ship
at the start of every match. This particular
procedure is dictated in the AMA Control
Line Combat rules. It only took a few seconds
per match to do the testing, and did not seem
very intrusive. It helped to have a circle
marshal to do one end of the test, but it could
just have easily been done by the pit man.
“Thanks to Al Ferraro for providing lunch,
and the Middlesex Modelers for the cut
judging, club field, and hospitality.”
It is my pleasure to announce two associate
vice president (AVP) appointments. Both
gentlemen are well spoken and will make
great additions to our AMA District II team.
Bill Hauth, of Hamburg, New York, will
be taking the position held by Ernie
Nickodem, and will be responsible for Ernie’s
former territory. Bill is well known in the
region as a skilled
pilot and Pattern
flier, not to
mention a silvertongued
auctioneer.
Gene Gavin, of
Staten Island, New
York, will be our
representative for
Staten Island and
western Long
Island. Gene is a
familiar face in the
downstate New
York and New
Jersey areas as a
regular fun-fly and
Giant Scale
attendee flying his
Eindecker and
Fleet Biplane.
Welcome to
becoming an AMA
volunteer. I know
you will do a great
job representing AMA in our district!
It is my sad duty to inform you of the passing
of Adam Sattler, District II AVP emeritus.
Adam served in this capacity for many years,
covering the Albany, New York, area before
retiring at the end of 2007.
He was a member of the ThunderVolts
R/C Club, and was a mentor to AMA
President Dave Mathewson when he was
young. Adam leaves behind his wife of 30
years, Elizabeth, and will be missed by all
who knew him.
Till next month, keep ’em three in the
green.