District III - 2012/02

February 2012 163
HELLO DISTRICT III!
As you probably know, much has
changed in terms of AMA officers for the
new year. The biggest being our own Bob
Brown is now AMA president. In addition
to Bob being elected our new president, he
also was reelected as vice president in
District III. Holding two offices at the same
time isn’t allowed, so someone must attempt
to fill Bob’s large shoes. That’s where I
come in.
My name is Mark Radcliff and I was
appointed by Bob to be the interim District
III VP. I will be assuming the duties of the
office for 2012 until the fall when an
election will be held. Please allow me to
briefly introduce myself.
I have been involved in this hobby for
more than 50 years. I was introduced to the
hobby by my father as a young child and he
taught me to build and fly U-control (CL)
and RC. I became interested in RC
aerobatics at a young age and flew my first
Pattern contest in 1969 and won my class.
During the next few years, I flew more
contests and eventually competed on four
US Aerobatic Teams (F3A) in the late ’70s
and early ’80s and flew in the Tournament
of Champions seven times (’74-’82).
I was influenced by many great District
III modelers and events. After the ’82
season, I retired from competition to devote
more time to my family and profession. For
the next 18 years, I was inactive in model
aviation.
In 2000, AMA had a flying event called
Homecoming so I made the trip to Muncie,
Indiana, to see the AMA Headquarters and
museum. After that weekend, I was hooked!
All the advancements throughout the years
in airplanes and equipment amazed me and
the AMA facility and museum were also big
inspirations.
It made me think, “What can I do for the
betterment of model aviation since it had
been so good to me?” I contacted then-
District III VP Bob Brown and he
immediately made me an associate vice
president for the district. Since then, I have
been actively involved in our district doing
what I love to do, and that’s fly model
airplanes and meet others with the same
interests.
Moving forward, I assure you I will do
my best to serve the modelers of District III
as VP and I look forward to meeting you in
the future. Thanks to all the modelers of
District III for making model aviation a
great hobby.
Phoenix models I flew in the World
Championship.
Friends of RC Fly-In: On September 3,
2011, the Clarksburg Model Aviation Club
(CMAC) of West Virginia hosted its
inaugural Friends of RC Fly-In. This event,
spearheaded by club member Garry Spar,
invited all area clubs to come and enjoy a
nice day of flying. The event also honored
longtime member and model aviation
advocate Randy Childers, who passed away
earlier in the year.
The weather was nearly perfect with no
wind or rain in sight, which allowed for
plenty of flying the entire day. There were
more than 25 fliers from the state of West
Virginia, and the club arranged with a local
television station to film some flying and
conduct interviews, which aired later that
evening. Overall, the Friends of RC Fly-In
appeared to be a big success and a big
thank-you goes out to Garry and his club.
Hopefully, there will be a Friends of RC
event next year.
The flightline at the CMAC Friends of RC
Fly-In.
Steve Pumphrey taxis out to fly.
Young Branson Matheny flew his helicopter
for the noontime demonstration.
District III
Mark Radcliff, District III Vice President; [email protected]
Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
Mark Radcliff
Vice President
199 Heron Dr.
Saint Marys WV 26170
Tel.: (304) 684-2133
District Website:
www.amadistrictiii.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Randy Adams, Fairfield
OH; [email protected]
Mike Barbee, Delaware OH;
(740) 362-5545;
[email protected]
Jeff Black, New Oxford PA; (717)
965-5634; [email protected]
Dave Brown, Hamilton OH; (513)
738-1576; dbrown@
dbproducts.com
David H. Ellis, Cross Lanes WV;
(304) 776-1408;
[email protected]
Nelson Gould, Macungie PA;
(610) 395-9159; [email protected]
Ken Karpinski, Philadelphia PA;
(267) 474-3575;
[email protected]
Dan Luchaco, Sayre PA;
(570) 888-1856;
[email protected]
Jim Martin, Franklin OH;
(937) 260-0143;
[email protected]
Leo Rodriguez, New Stanton PA;
(724) 925-0159;
[email protected]
Matthew Turowski, Nescopeck
PA; (570) 379-2014;
[email protected]
Joseph S. Vislay, Monclova OH
(419) 878-8843;
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator:
Ron Morgan, Scotland PA;
(717) 264-7425;
[email protected]
D i s t r i c t I I I V o l unteers
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