District II Report - 2003/09

September 2003 163
WELL, here it is—the beginning of June
and it’s been another less-than-ideal spring
for most of us here in District II. As I sit here
bemoaning the weather, I’m reminded that
last year started out the same way and the
summer gave us some outstanding flying
conditions.
Hopefully as this reaches you near the
end of July, we’ll again be experiencing
some of what we were treated to last year.
Some of you may remember the article,
“Club Field Safety Benches,” written by Joe
Di Prima and Charlie Meyer that appeared in
the August 2002 issue of Model Aviation.
Charlie and Joe are members of the
Meroke Radio Control Club that flies at the
Cedar Creek Aerodrome in Wantagh, Long
Island, New York. Charlie designed and built
the prototype bench with the intent of
improving safety during engine starting
procedures.
Both the bench and the article were an
instant success and I’ve seen similar benches
at several of the flying sites I’ve visited in
our district. If your club is interested in
building a few of these benches for your own
field, building instructions and a material list
were included in the article. You can also
visit the Meroke’s Web site at
www.meroke.com and download a set of
plans along with all the information needed
to build your own.
AMA receives several claims each year
involving accidents that occur during engine
starts. Anything we can do to help reduce
these types of claims will benefit all of us.
Besides, I gotta believe it hurts to get
whacked with a spinning propeller.
Meroke Radio Control Safety Flight Bench.
At the annual AMA General Membership
Meeting held during the Weak Signals
Toledo show this past April, AMA president
Dave Brown recognized two District II
members for their years of service to model
aviation.
Dave Gierkie was inducted into the
Model Aviation Hall of Fame. Dave is a
well-known Pylon racer, engine expert,
columnist, and author.
Model Aviation Hall of Fame member Dave
Gierkie (L) and AMA president Dave
Brown.
Norm Rosenstock was presented with the
AMA Fellowship Award, AMA’s highest
honor. Norm is a true modeling pioneer
having been active during the early years of
Radio Control (RC).
Now living in Florida, Norm is anything
but retired. He continues to serve AMA as
Historian and is also the chair of the Model
Aviation Hall of Fame Selection Committee.
Norm Rosenstock received the AMA
Fellowship Award.
Congratulations Norm and Dave, and
thank you for your life-long contributions to
our sport.
Members of District II will have a unique
opportunity this August 21, 22, and 23. The
Rochester Aero Modelers Society (RAMS)
will be hosting a helicopter fly-in at its field
in Macedon, New York, with special guest,
current Helicopter World Champion Curtis
Youngblood. Curtis is also a 14-time U.S.
National Champion and winner of the last 10
AMA National Helicopter Championships.
Whether you fly RC helicopters or are
just a modeling enthusiast, here’s your
chance to see the best in the world. For more
information you can visit the RAMS Web
site at www.rcplane.com.
The second annual AMA District II Fly-In
will be hosted by the Pennsylvania Avenue
Radio Control Society at Floyd Bennett Field
in Brooklyn, New York. For those of you
who have never been to Floyd Bennett, this
is one of the premier flying facilities in the
district featuring an unobstructed 1000 by
150-foot concrete runway.
The dates for this year’s event will be
October 4 and 5. For those of you in the
northern part of the district, here’s your
chance to get some late-season flying in
down where the weather is still pretty nice in
early October.
As the season progresses, more
information will be available in this column
and on our District Web site at
www.amadistrictii.org. Flyers will also be
sent to all chartered club contacts in the
district. I hope to see you there.
Looking down the flightline at Floyd
Bennett Field.
See you next time.
District II Report
Associate Vice Presidents
Roy A. Brown, USAE AFCENT CMR 460 BOX
585 APO AE 07903 E-mail: [email protected]
Sal Calvagna, 1335 Broadway Avenue, Holbrook
NY 11741, (631) 737-6327 E-mail:
[email protected]
Gary Fitch, 1219 Slab City Rd., Franklinville NY
14737 (716) 676-2498 E-mail:
[email protected]
Ray Juschkus, 59 Livingston Street, St. James NY
11780 (631) 862-5589 E-mail:
[email protected]
Eric Henderson, 303 Shady Lane, Marlton NJ
08053; (856) 988-9184; E-mail:
[email protected]
Jim Lewis, P.O. 61, Ogdenburg NY 13669
(315) 393-2580 E-mail: [email protected]
Tom Murray, 31 Voorhees Drive, Basking Ridge
NJ 07920 (908) 766-5656 E-mail:
[email protected]
Ernie Nikodem, 407 Willow Street, Lockport NY
14094 (716) 434-8350 E-mail:
[email protected]
Bill Poythress, 2 Hemlock Court, Saugerties NY
12477 (914) 246-8850
Adam Sattler, 41 Perry Avenue, Latham NY 12110
(518) 783-8929 E-mail: [email protected]
Peter Seiffert, 8636 Grey Birch Dr., Baldwinsville
NY, 13027 (315) 635-6370 E-mail:
[email protected]
Alexander Szemere, One Talia Rd., Kendall Park
NJ 08824-1705 (732) 821-5641 E-mail:
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator
Dan Williams, 27 Treeline Dr., Liverpool NY 13090
(315) 652-7740 E-mail: [email protected]
Webmaster
Doug Crawford, 441 Co. Rt. 1A, Oswego NY 13126;
E-mail: [email protected]
New Jersey/ New York/
Europe
Dave
Mathewson
Vice President
7271 State Fair Blvd.,
Baldwinsville NY 13027
Tel.: (315) 727-4275
Fax: (315) 635-1039
E-mail: [email protected]
District II Web page: www.amadistrictii.org