Darrell Watts sent a note about the Heart of America Float Fly that will take place at the end of May. This is probably the premier float-fly event in District IX. It is held in Paola, Kansas, roughly 20 minutes south of Kansas City. It is always well attended.
For more information, see the Barnstomer’s website at www.rcbarnstormer.com. I plan to attend because I want to see Darrell’s new Widgeon fly. He sent this picture and says that the airplane has a 10-foot wingspan, weighs 54 pounds, has Robart retracts, and is powered by two Moki 210s.
The District IX fun-fly will be in the Omaha, Nebraska, area this year. It will be hosted by the Western Flyers in Meade on Sunday, June 28.
This is a great event. There will be some low-key fun-fly contests, prizes, food, and lots of good flying. The culmination of the event will be the passing of the District IX Traveling Trophy to the club whose team gathers the most points in the fun-fly events. Start putting your team together and practice so you can make a good showing in Omaha.
For further information, look on the Western Flyer website or contact Jim Henley, president of the Western Flyers at [email protected].
Jerry Murphy sent some information and pictures of recent educational programs his club, the Magnificent Mountain Men, has been doing in conjunction with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) curriculum in local schools. This is an ongoing activity these gentlemen do around the Colorado Springs area.
Here are Jerry’s comments:
“The photo of the kids sitting on bleachers was taken last November at the Fort Carson Army post’s middle school. The students are working with the Guillow’s rubber-powered models obtained from AMA.
“A second group was organized in January at the Colorado Springs Hill Side Community center with a group of 16 students working again with the Guillow’s models. The picture of the kids standing on the Champions stage was taken at our field last May during our annual Kids’ Day event. We gave each kid a simple rubber model and then helped them build and fly it.”
I think the awards stage is a great idea. Well done, Magnificent Mountain Men.
In Rapid City, South Dakota, three RC clubs represented our flying community at the Black Hills Hobby Expo. The gathering showcased 10 hobby groups and drew spectators from throughout the area.
The Northern Hills Flyers from Spearfish, the Rapid City Aces, and the Rapid City Propbusters staffed a booth with two flight simulators, a station for building FPG-9 foam-plate gliders, and indoor flying in the gym. One highlight was a Realflight simulator station featuring the RQ-9 Reaper. Reaper pilots fly at Ellsworth Air Force Base and the simulator will be given to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth as a permanent hands-on display.
