District IX - 2012/07

Tom Neff, District IX Associate Vice
President, reports:
To have an interesting and fun Takeoff
And Grow (TAG) Day, you must
begin with good instructors, good
of pizza. Then, the young Civil Air
Patrol cadets have all they need to
enjoy the day.
The cadets at the April 14 TAG
Day were from the Broomfield Civil
Air Patrol Squadron. All the flight
instructors were accomplished, AMAcertified
pilots, who had been flying for
a long time.
A few other people showed up and
were curious about what was going
on, so we let them fly. One young
lady named Amelia decided that flying
model airplanes looked fun, so we gave
her a transmitter and she did well.
Two junior candidates, Tyler Neff and
Dylan Neff, also flew.
The Arvada Associated Modelers
club allowed us to use its field for our
scheduled TAG Day, since Airpark
Elite no longer has a club field. The
weather was great and we were able
to fly night Vapors and nitro-powered
airplanes on buddy boxes.
Cadets in attendance were: Cadet
Chief Master Sgt. Donald Crowder,
Cadet Chief Master Sgt. Joshua
Christian, Cadet Airman Bryce Nelson,
Cadet Staff Sgt. Adam Nelson, Cadet
Airman Benjamin Maroney, Cadet
James Arellano, Cadet Cathey, and
Cadet Avery Hutfles.
We flew through 6 gallons of fuel,
there were a few broken propellers,
and one airplane was lost. The morning
began with a safety briefing, followed
by stick inputs. Each cadet held a
transmitter and was told how not to
use a “gaming technique,” but smooth
movements when flying and moving
the control sticks. It’s amazing how
several hours of flying can whet the
appetites of hungry cadets; we polished
off 10 pizzas and soda.
Cadet Joshua Christianson has been
coming to our TAG Days for quite a
few years. He has assumed the role
of an instructor for other cadets in
his squadron and continues to build,
construct, and design aircraft of his
own. Instructor Alan Thovson is ready
to offer his help if needed. This is what
TAG is all about.
We also had an accomplished
volunteer pilot from Arvada Associated
Modelers, Gary McGee, donate his
time and assistance. Thank you, Gary.
The day was a success—with plenty
of smiles and flying time, and no
injuries. TAG Day is an important
part of being a modeler. It’s why we
love to dedicate our time and efforts to
teaching future RC pilots.
Thanks goes to Brian Neff, Brian
Garcia, Duane Gall, Norm Names,
Alan Thovson, and Gary McGee (of
Arvada Associated Modelers) for doing
a fantastic job helping us with yet
another TAG Day.
“Give a man a fish and you can feed
him for a day. Teach a man to fish and
you can feed him for a lifetime.”
Marshall Stanton reports on the
development of new, young fliers in
the Salina Kansas area:
On March 31, 2012, the Smoky Hill
Model Club conducted an education
day for a Boy Scout troop from Salina’s
First Presbyterian Church. To educate
the boys about the theory of flight, as
well as to give actual flight experiences,
five information stations were set
up: flight concepts; display of model
airplanes, helicopters, and equipment;
CL instruction and flying (including
participation); flight simulation, and
RC flight with an instructor.
The group was split so only a few
Scouts would move through each
station of instruction/participation at
a time, with the exception of the first
two, which were entirely instructional.
Four hours were devoted to accomplish
the tasks.
The Smoky Hill Model Club has
an excellent irrigated flying field,
two open buildings for shade, a long
runway for RC and a CL circle.