District III
Joe David — AMA District Service Award
At the recent Weak Signals R/C Expo (Toledo Show), Joe David was presented the AMA District Service Award. Joe is the only surviving charter member of the original nine people who started the Weak Signals. The original members were:
- Joe David
- Wes DeLong
- Marv Ellsworth
- George Flick
- Don Gall
- Jim Gall
- Ray Gall
- Gary Gordon
- Jim Howlington
Joe recognized the need for another RC model club and thus began the Weak Signals. The first club name was the Toledo Model Manglers. As a reflection of the times, Joe picked the name "Weak Signals" because the radios were not very reliable. The other members agreed, and the name and club continue.
Joe was the first Weak Signals club president. His modeling career started when he was eight years old; his first successful airplane was a Megow Bipe. As RC modeling developed, Joe devised a system that converted reed tones into pulses, thereby converting a reed system to a proportional system — a new breakthrough at the time. Joe was a seasoned pilot in the early 1960s, winning many pattern contests with his advanced full-house system.
In 1969 Joe moved his family to New Jersey and remained actively involved in the hobby. In the mid-1970s he moved back to Ohio and has since lived in the Columbus metropolitan area. Joe is currently an honorary member of the Weak Signals.
Toledo Weak Signals R/C Expo — history
The Toledo Weak Signals R/C Expo was originally called the Mid-Winter RC Convention. The RC Club of Detroit started the event in 1954. In 1956 the convention was jointly sponsored in Detroit. In 1957 the Expo was moved to Toledo and was held in the Trilby Log Cabin.
In subsequent years the event was held at:
- a Toledo Express Airport hangar
- the Lucas County Recreation Center
- the Toledo Sports Arena
- the SeaGate Convention Centre
Joe David has dedicated his life to the advancement of the RC hobby, being an integral part of forming several clubs over the years. His early devotion to the Weak Signals facilitated the building of the Expo and the club to its current national status.
Scale Contest Board and acknowledgements
A special thank-you is offered to Bill Carper for his many years of service as the District III Scale Contest Board representative. This year, Jim Rediske is our new Scale Contest Board representative.
For the past 14 years, Jim has participated in the Scale National Championships as a volunteer, judge, or event director. He has also been an active member of the National Association of Scale Modelers and the AMA Special Interest Group (SIG) for Scale for the past 10 years. This SIG supports all scale modeling, not just RC. If you have concerns within the Scale world, Jim can be contacted at [email protected].
Please remember that free flight (FF) and control line (CL) scale are also governed by this contest board.
Philadelphia associate vice president
The need for an associate vice president in the Philadelphia area has been resolved. Ken Karpinski has returned to the area and wants to continue as the local representative. Thanks are extended to those who volunteered to fill the position.
Ken's contact information:
- Address: 3850 Woodhaven Road, Apt. 2001, Philadelphia, PA 19154
- E-mail: [email protected]
- Telephone: (267) 474-3575
Ken provided the following report about a recent event he attended:
"The Bucks County RC Club held its annual flea market and swap sale on Friday, April 17, 2009. There were many good deals on airplanes of all sizes plus parts and accessories of every type and price range.
One of the club's junior members put on a display of 3-D indoor flight with a Vapor airplane and a miniature helicopter. The hot dogs and donuts at the concession stand were top-notch. A fun time was had by all."
Club grants and awards
The Academy recently recognized two clubs with grants to better model aviation:
- Willard R/C Fun Flyers (Willard, Ohio) — awarded the District III Take Off And Grow (TAG) stipend for 2009. The group will use the funds to introduce model aviation to the local community. More information: www.willardrcfunflyers.com
- Blennerhassett Area RC Club (Belpre, Ohio) — an AMA Gold Leader Club awarded the Flying Site Assistance Grant. The funds will help reconstruct amenities at the field lost in a recent flood. More information: www.barrc.us
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
