My first order of business as your new vice president (VP) is to say thanks to Jim Wallen for his service as District IX VP. Jim has certainly been a mentor to me and I will continue to rely on him for advice as I learn this new job.
Jim has been a great representative for District IX and his seat on the Executive Council has been one of quiet confidence and good judgment. His efforts have had a great influence on the direction of the AMA. Jim’s retirement from the EC will now give him more time for modeling and his grandkids. I hope to see a lot of him in the future.
As I start my new adventure as your VP, my commitment to you is that I will do my best to follow the example of those that have come before me. Russ Miller, Mark Smith, and Jim Wallen have all shaped my view on AMA and I will continue to ask them for advice as I go. I also want to encourage all of you to play that same role. Your support and encouragement will be critical to my success.
From my campaign statement, you know that I see the AMA education activities as being a keystone for building membership. I also know how critical it is to keep the AMA infrastructure strong and financially healthy. These will be areas I will place my efforts for you. Beyond that, I hope your input will give me direction in addressing important issues.
I know some of you and want to know many more. Because I live here in what I call the Outback of the US, I have not had the pleasure of visiting many of the clubs and members in some parts of District IX.
I hope to rectify that and get around a little bit during the flying season to meet you, get your advice and fly with you. In the meantime, keep in touch. Send me your newsletters, event schedules, and other club happenings. I will trust my associate vice presidents to be my liaison on these matters, so send a copy to them first, but I do want to hear from you too.
One of the premiere events in District IX is the Warbirds Over the Rockies at Love-Air field in Fort Collins, Colorado. Here are a few words from Mike Rossman who attended the event.
“This year’s Warbirds Over the Rockies turned out to be an adventure in travel because of heavy rain and flooding along the front range of the Rockies. The weather only allowed a day and a half of flying during the three-day schedule. It still was a great event to attend! “Warbirds Over the Rockies is in its 10th year and donates all the proceeds to Colorado Mental Health. This year, $25,000 was raised for this worthwhile charity.”
“On my travel day, I-25 was closed, so I pushed up the back roads trying to beat the flooding. Seven miles south of Greeley, Colorado, I was stopped at the South Platte River. I talked with a volunteer fireman who told me of a route 20 miles downriver that was still open. After dashing down to the crossing and backtracking, I made it to Warbirds at 2 p.m.
“Team Vegas, aka PropNuts R/C Club of Las Vegas, has been my nest at this event for the past few years. Team Vegas leases a large tent to hangar the airplanes. With the weather, this was money well spent. My good friend, Greg Thomas, was gracious enough to let me fly his Top Flite P-47 for this event. I was able to get a couple of rotations in on Friday.
“On Saturday, the weather was perfect—calm winds and mostly clear skies. Even with I-25 still closed because of flooding, there was still a full flightline of aircraft and pilots. The flying started after the safety briefing. Sam Wright did an outstanding of announcing the event and giving the crowd a little history of the airplane and the pilot. The flying program started approximately 10 a.m. with World War I aircraft, then on to pre-World War II, World War II, the Korean War era, and then modern jets. The ‘World War II Gaggle,’ was interesting with no less than eight aircraft in the air at once.
“Because of the weather, only a couple of full-scale flybys happened about noon. Shortly after, a mass launch of foamie warbirds accompanied by the Benny Hill theme was a hoot. There were several midairs and crashes amidst the foamie flurry.
“Next was an A-10 flyby with pyrotechnic gun and bomb runs. Brian O’Meara’s Giant Scale P-47 and a gorgeous A-26 flew to end the formal show. Open warbird flying continued until weather, once again, intervened. It was perfect timing anyway because it was time for the banquet.
“After cocktails and a prime rib dinner, we listened to the guest speaker, U.S. Air Force’s last combat air ace, Steve Richie. After that there were some awards and a large auction with proceeds going to Mental Health of Colorado.
“Sunday greeted us with soaking rain and the event ended early. It was a mad rush to get packed and out of the parking lot before mud sucked us down, but it won’t deter me from going back again next year.”
