District II Report - 2004/10
Pascack Community Center Indoor Air Show
The Rockland County Radio Control Club (RCRC) of New York held its second annual indoor air show and exhibition at the Pascack Community Center. RCRC member Al Betancourt organized the event, which included flying demonstrations, a static display, and a Delta Dart building program for kids. The Dart program culminated in an "all up, last down" competition with nearly 60 Delta Darts taking flight in the community center gymnasium.
Several types of indoor flying models kept attendees interested, and the static display covered everything from park flyers to large-scale models. Recognizing the advantages of building good relations with community recreation departments, members of several clubs turned out to participate, including:
- Interstate Model Flying Club
- Metropolitan Sport Squadron
- Middlesex Modelers
- Brooklyn Skyscrapers
As a result of this show, RCRC was asked to put on an air show for the community during the summer at the club's field in Clarkstown, New York.
Great Grape Gathering (GGG)
The annual Great Grape Gathering (GGG) was held again this year in Geneseo, New York, June 25–27. The GGG is a combined event that includes both free flight (FF) competition and Society of Antique Modelers (SAM) events. Originally a Canadian contest, the GGG moved to Geneseo several years ago after the Canadian club that hosted it lost its field in Gananoque, Ontario. With the help of the Western New York Free Flight Society, permission was obtained to use the Geneseo Airport, and the GGG has been held there ever since.
The Geneseo Airport is also home to the FAC Nationals and the New York State Free Flight Championships and is one of the top free-flight facilities in District II.
Krystalyn Sadwick, 11, is a seasoned competitor at the GGG. With the help of her grandfather Vince, this was her fourth year flying in the event.
Honors and Hall of Fame
Congratulations to District II member Windy Urtnowski. Windy was recently elected to the Model Aviation Hall of Fame and received his plaque at the annual Brodak Fly-In held in Carmichaels, Pennsylvania, this past June.
Windy is well known in the CL (control line) community as a designer, builder, competitor, and author. He is a past president of the Precision Aerobatics Model Pilots Association (PAMPA), the AMA special interest group for control line stunt, and he currently serves as the District II director for that organization.
Congratulations also go to Ed Keck, who was elected to the Model Aviation Hall of Fame for 2004. Ed is a longtime AMA member, designer, builder, and competitor. His modeling career began in free flight. When radio control (RC) began to grow he moved to RC flying and became a world-class pattern competitor. Ed later returned to free flight and has represented the United States on several F1C world teams, including the team that took first in Hungary in 2003, where he placed sixth overall.
We're fortunate to count members like Windy and Ed as part of District II.
See you next time.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
