The Indoor Free Flight Nats will be held June 8-12, 2015, in the Colorado Springs City Auditorium. This will be the first time that the Indoor Nats will be downtown near motels and restaurants. It is a setting that more closely resembles the venues most people fly in across the country. One special feature will be the smooth ceiling in the auditorium. No models trapped in the beams here.
On Wednesday, June 10, 20 preselected middle and high school science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students will have the opportunity to build an indoor duration model under the guidance of local area modelers. On the following day they will fly the aircraft with their mentors in what will be known as a Pro-Am event.
Sid Gates, a longtime member of the Denver R/C Eagles, was formally inducted into the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame on Wednesday, January 21, 2015, at a club meeting. District IX Associate Vice President (AVP) Tom Neff presented the award. Club member Bob Brelsford nominated Sid for this award.
The AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame award recognizes aeromodelers who have made significant contributions to our hobby. Induction into the hall of fame is determined by a selection committee composed of past presidents and a member from each AMA district.
Sid’s biography leaves no doubt that this selection was appropriate. At the winter club meeting, I had the chance to meet Sid and would only add my congratulations to this wonderful ambassador of our community.
The following report comes from Jim Henley of the Western Flyers in Omaha, Nebraska.
On Saturday, January 24, the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska, held its annual indoor fly-in and static display in the museum restoration hangar. All of the Omaha area clubs are invited to participate.
Along with some outstanding models on display, there were plenty of micro aircraft and foamies filling the air. Some of the participating clubs were the Western R/C Flyers, the Omahawks, the Lincoln Sky Knights, the Cobras, and the Midwest Performance Flyers.
Let me introduce my new Colorado AVP, Rick McCaskill. Rick has 50 years of modeling history going back to single-channel escapement models. Rick has been an active flight instructor for three flying clubs that he has belonged to for the past 30 years, training more than 200 new fliers—22 in this past year. Rick’s service to these clubs is notable, holding offices in all. He is currently the Longmont Electric Aircraft Flyer’s secretary, chairman of the board, and lead flight instructor.
Welcome to our ranks, Rick.
