Author: Jim Tiller
Edition: Model Aviation - 2014/09
Page Numbers: 151

District IX—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming

Jim Tiller — Vice President

Heart of America Float Fly (May 31–June 1) — Lake Miola, Paola, Kansas

I attended the Heart of America Float Fly, held May 31–June 1 at Lake Miola in Paola, Kansas. The event was spearheaded by Darrell Watts and hosted by the R/C Barnstormers. The club’s president, Pat McGee, served as the CD; he and his crew produced a fun, well-organized event.

More than 30 pilots made good use of the water flying field during the two days of flying. A little wind kept some of the more delicate aircraft grounded, but there was no shortage of airplanes in the air. The retrieval boat had a light workout and there were only a couple of major mishaps.

On Saturday night, Darrell gave me a quick tour of five local clubs and their flying fields. Thanks to everyone who stayed late and shook my hand. To all who made the trip memorable—you have my gratitude for a great time that included some excellent barbecue. I can’t wait for next year.

Warbirds Over Denver (June 6–8) — Chatfield State Park

Warbirds Over Denver, held June 6–8 at Chatfield State Park, is a longtime annual production of the Jefco Aeromod'lers RC Club. I put the event on my calendar after receiving an invitation from Lora Knowlton, the event CD. Unfortunately, I broke my PT-19 while testing a couple of days before the event and was forced to be a spectator.

Lora and the Jefco members have this event down to a science. Each of the 84 registered attendees received a Warbirds Over Denver 2014 T-shirt and a big bag of goodies. The flightline was busy all day; the crew did a great job of orchestrating the constant requests for airspace for everything from a 1/3-scale Fokker D.VII to a small electric Mosquito to a huge F-22 turbine jet.

Lora’s new Japanese Kate torpedo bomber was a big attraction, piloted by her husband, Doug. All eyes turned as it made a low run, dropping the torpedo in front of the crowd. Doug and his buddies also put on plenty of multi-airplane shows with their other World War II fighters. What a treat! I can’t wait to sign up again next year.

District IX Fun Fly (June 28) — Mead, Nebraska

This year’s District IX Fun Fly was hosted by the Omahawks RC Club of Omaha and held at the Western R/C Flyers’ field in Mead, Nebraska. Torrential rain in the Midwest and a forecast for rain and wind kept some people away, but the event turned out great. The rain was brief, the wind was light, and plenty of good flying took place. What more could you ask? The bratwursts, hotdogs, and homemade red cake were the icing on the event.

I was delighted to meet Team Sucha at the June 28 event. According to Thaddeus Sucha, his grandfather Don gave him his first RC stick time while holding him on his lap at age three. Now 12, Thaddeus is a competent pilot and the grandfather-grandson team flew several airplanes at our fun fly, including a big Cub, an AT-6, and his 3-D Yak. I’m sure we will hear more about this dynamic duo in the future.

For more pictures or information about these events, visit the District IX website at www.amadistrict-ix.org or our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AMADISTRICTIX.

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.