District IV Report - 2009/08

August 2009 171
ARE YOU LOOKING for a great program
to present at your club meeting? Darrell
Watts, reporting from the Shawnee Mission
Kansas R/C Club, suggests you try inviting
a World War II veteran to tell about his
experiences.
“On Thursday evening, April 9, the
Shawnee Mission R/C Club (Shawnee
Mission, Kansas) had a nice turnout for our
final meeting of the winter season.
Approximately 60 people were present to
hear an interesting and entertaining
presentation by Lieutenant Colonel Leonard
Porter, who was a B-24 pilot in the Pacific
in World War II.
“We had advertised our program and
were pleased to have guests from seven
other clubs from around Kansas City.
Colonel Porter told about how he was
selected to be a pilot, about his training, and
about his combat experiences.
“His story about a ‘near crash’ during
training was hair-raising as were some of his
stories relating to specific bombing
missions. He also told of a couple of
‘mission’ experiences which turned out to be
very funny. One I can relate here.
“On one mission, his aircraft was under
heavy Japanese fighter attack. The top turret
gunner was quickly tracing and firing at a
fighter when two bullets pierced the top turret
bubble, passing on each side of his head.
Simultaneously, the gunner had quickly
shifted the gun position and the recoil of the
gun had hit him between the eyes.
“The gunner started yelling, ‘I’m hit, I’m
hit. Blood is running down my face and
down my legs.’ As soon as they cleared the
attack, Captain Porter instructed his
navigator to go check on the gunner. Soon
he heard loud laughter.
“It turns out the gun recoil had cut a
minor gash in the gunner’s forehead, which
was bleeding rather profusely, but what was
running down his legs wasn’t ‘blood.’”
Before adjourning, we had a nice break
to visit personally with Colonel Porter,
check out the beautiful P-47 model that
Craig Williams had brought, and to enjoy
the nice refreshments.
Colonel Porter enjoying Craig Williams’s
model.
The Joe Nall Fly-In event, held annually at
the Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff,
South Carolina, is the premier RC flying
event held in the US. It was originally called
The Giant Scale Meet but was renamed by
Pat Hartness to honor Joe Nall who passed
away in a tragic airplane accident in 1989.
The event is held in May of each year
and is a great opportunity to see great
exhibition flying, check out spectacular
models, meet old friends, and new folks as
well at the AMA hospitality tent. If you
have never been able to attend, put it on
your calendar for next year!
Quique Somenzini signing autographs with
the new aircraft called The Beast.
Quique shows off the model version of The
Beast.
A vast array of aircraft with the float-fly lake
in the background.
Reminder: keep the sunscreen on and keep
the cancer off!
Club Corner: Have you noticed that your
club membership roles have been showing a
decline? People drop out of clubs for
multitudes of reasons. Some move away,
health issues become a problem, or perhaps
members just lose interest.
You will find that the more dynamic
clubs in AMA are aggressively taking on
this issue. You will always be losing
members, but you need to be proactive in
finding new ones to take their places.
Become visible to the public by
participating in community events. Ask your
club members to bring a friend to the
meeting or flying field. Put out some flyers
at your local hobby store. Visit some schools
and put on a simple flying exhibition or air
show. Put on a mall show to show the public
what we are all about.
Take the time to think about what
approach is best for your club and then go
make it work!
’Till then …
Jim Wallen
Vice President
7322 E. 82nd Way
Arvada CO 80003
Tel.: (303) 421-9061
www.amadistrict-ix.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Steve Culver, Omaha NE;
[email protected]
Fred Hildebrand, Casper WY;
[email protected]
Troy Lapp, Bismarck ND;
[email protected]
Bruce Ream, Highlands Ranch
CO; [email protected]
Brenda Schuette, Auburn KS;
[email protected]
Mike Tallman, Wichita KS;
[email protected]
Jim Tiller, Rapid City SD;
[email protected]
Webmaster: Jim Shaw,
[email protected]
Contest Coordinator:
Mac Strader, Overland Park KS;
[email protected]
Frequency Coordinator: Steve
Mangles, Denver CO;
[email protected]
District IX Volunteers
District IX
Jim Wallen, District IX Vice President; [email protected]
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
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