District IX Report - 2004/05

May 2004 177
NEWS FROM NORTH DAKOTA: The
Red River Show Team is made up of RC
pilots from around the region and does
performances for group as small as a few
dozen to groups of several thousand or more.
The main purpose of the show team is to
expose as many people as possible to RC
flying.
There are several benefits for doing this.
The most obvious is to help the hobby grow
by sparking the interest in a person to get
involved in the hobby. Other benefits are not
so direct and harder to measure. A public
meeting concerning an RC flying field could
be impacted if people involved with the
decision making process have had an
opportunity the witness a positive
performance they will know first had that the
models can be operated safely and are not
unreasonably loud.
—From the Valley R/C Flyers Newsletter
News from Nebraska: This article about
Indoor flying was written by Mike Berger
and came from the Omahawks’ Hawk Talk.
“As I trudged my way through the frigid
January air, a different shiver went through
my body. ‘I’m going flying!’ I thought. Did
the good Lord smile on me with a 50°,
windless day in the middle of this bitter
winter?
“No. I was on my way to try a completely
new kind of flying; one with a whole new set
of challenges to go with it. Walls! Ceilings
and banners hanging down to entrap or
destroy whatever may come by, but, I’m
getting ahead of myself.
“I was heading for the North High School
Gym. Galen Lillethorup, a long-standing
Omahawks member, had arranged with the
principal of North High School to open the
school’s gym twice a month to all who would
like to fly RC model aircraft indoors. The
facility is open to the public and one does not
need to be a member of any particular club or
clique to join in the fun.
“Come and fly or just come and watch. I
guarantee you will enjoy it. My experience
with indoor flying has been quite novel. I
recently won a mini IFO or “indoor flying
object” and was eager to try it out. It was a
real experience.
“The IFO is basically a kite with an
electric motor and elevons. It is quite
challenging at first. The real problem is those
things called walls. You see, they just stand
there. So when the time comes that you must
turn, you better do it.
“There is no time to consider when or
what direction. If you ponder, to get your
bearings, the airplane just flies into the wall.
And, you get to walk across the gym to
retrieve it and try again. It definitely isn’t as
forgiving as a trainer in the great outside
world. Things like walls and ceiling banners
tend to come up real fast.
“Did I say banners? Well, anyway, after
Ron Williams helped me trim out my new
IFO, I was getting the hang of flying around
in an enclosed space and was feeling pretty
good. Then, I suddenly really did get the hang
of it or (perhaps more accurately) hung up.
“I got my airplane into a corner and got
disoriented. I then hemmed when I should
have hawed and ran into one of the many
championship banners hanging from the gym
ceiling. Guess what? I didn’t just run into a
banner. I got my airplane stuck on it. When I
went to retrieve it I found it to be about four
feet out of my reach from the upper walkway
of the gym.
“As I sat there pondering my fate, Ron
hollered up at me, ‘Throw something at it!’
‘What?’ I cried. The only thing I had in my
hands was my camera and I wasn’t about to
risk that.
“‘Throw your wallet at it,’ he said, ‘I’ll
catch it!’ Well, that didn’t sound too bad, so I
thought I’d give it a shot. I pulled out my
wallet and gave it a toss. Hit the airplane just
right and it floated softly down to Ron.
Unfortunately, the airplane was the only thing
that came down. My wallet, had taken the
place of the airplane and was stuck in the
banner.
“So now I’m standing four feet away from
my wallet with nothing to throw. Luckily, we
are RC fliers, and as such can figure our way
out of anything. With a little improvisation
we rigged up a weight and a few throws later
my wallet was safely retrieved from the
ceiling and I, my airplane, and my wallet
were all back on terra firma.
“I put it to you that in all the rich and
storied history of both the Omahawks and
North High School, I am the first person to
ever get his wallet stuck on the ceiling!
“Come and fly or come and watch. You’ll
be glad you did!”
News from Colorado: From Larry Hansen
comes the following about a fundraising
event that benefitted more than just the club.
“Monday December 1, 2003, Arvada
Associated Modelers (AAM) were involved
in helping our local PBS television station,
Rocky Mountain PBS, raise public funds so
desperately needed by them to continue their
broadcasts.
“It was a new experience for our club
members who attended. Everyone had a
wonderful time, lots of laughs, and plenty to
eat. The time spent at Channel 6 was so much
fun that everyone who attended thought we
should try to make this a regular event for our
club.
“As you all know, public services such as
this for the benefit of our community are
requirements to maintain our Gold Club
standings. Events such as this and our
Dreams of Flight are not only rewarding for
the community at large, but are very
satisfying for the club members who get
involved.
“These are the kind of civic-awareness
projects that keep our good name in the
public’s eye, and keep our standings in the
area at an extremely high level. Not only does
it show AAM as the civic-minded
organization that we are, but also it lets many
people know who we are and what we do.
“We get a number of potential RC fliers
and possible new club members by keeping
our name in the public view. It’s the kind of
thing we need to be involved in.
“I have visited with the ‘powers that be’ at
Channel 6 and they were very pleased with
the Arvada Associated Modelers. Not only
was everyone very astute at the task given
them, but the willingness to help and the
courtesy shown by our members made the
folks at Rocky Mountain PBS really pleased
with our performance. They are more that
willing to make us one of their regular
organizations for their fundraising broadcasts.
“For those of you who did not get a
chance to attend this fun event, we are
currently planning to do more in the future.
No dates have been set yet, however when
those dates are set, the club will be given
plenty of advance notice, and everyone of
you should try to get involved. You’ll be glad
you did and the community will know what a
great organization we really have!”
—From Hi-Flyer, newsletter of the Arvada
Associated Modelers
Associate Vice Presidents
Max Hansen, 1909 Wisconsin SW, Huron SD
57350
H. Michael Harrington, 6112 Ashton Ct.,
Ft. Collins CO 80525
Fred Hildebrand, 4015 Somerset Circle, Casper
WY 82609-3161
Nathan Lancaster, 3597 S. Kendall Street, Denver
CO 80235
Troy Lapp, 1619 Wichita Dr., Bismarck ND 58504
Travis McGinnis, 8027 W. 81st Circle, Arvada CO
80005
Don Moden, 410 Hart St., Salina KS 67401
Jim Ricketts, 4921 Fernwood Drive, Sioux Falls
SD 57103-5573
Jack L. Sibert, 3611 Kimberly Circle, Lincoln NE
68506-4524
Mark T. Smith, 14632 W. 50th Street, Shawnee
KS 66216
Frequency Coordinator
Steve Mangles, c/o Radio Service Center, 918 S.
Sheridan, Denver CO 80226
Colorado / Kansas /
Nebraska / North Dakota /
South Dakota / Wyoming
Russ Miller
Vice President
980 N. 3rd St.
Carrington ND 58421
Tel.: (701) 652-2321
Fax: (701) 652-2994
E:mail:
[email protected]
District IX Report
Reminder
Because Indiana does not utilize
Daylight Savings Time, AMA
Headquarters remains on Eastern
Standard Time for the summer months.