District IX Report - 2005/05

THIS MONTH I’ll touch on several topics
including the world-record flight of the
Global Flyer and a brief article about a super
mall show. Before I begin, please join me in
congratulating the following clubs for
earning AMA Leader Club awards:
• Arvada Associated Modelers, Gold
• Beresford Aero Radio Flyers, Gold
• Jefco Aeromod’lers, Gold
• Love-Air RC, Gold
• Mile High RC, Gold (2005)
• Minot Aircraft Modelers, Gold
• Hutch Bunch RC Club, Silver
What? You don’t know anything about
this award? Please visit the District IX Web
site at www.amadistrict-ix.org/ for details.
You can link to these clubs’ Web sites
from our district site! Please send them a
congratulatory note!
And now, as reported by one of District
IX’s associate vice presidents, Don Moden
from Salina, Kansas:
“On March 3, thousands of people
packed the streets and highways leading to
Salina, Kansas, hoping to see Steve Fossett
set a world record. The Global Flyer made it
around the world—23,000 miles—in 67
hours, 2 minutes, and 38 seconds, and made
a perfect landing.
“Steve Fossett did a great job on a cold
night here in Salina as he took off on the
8,000-foot runway. When the aircraft left the
runway, the wings bowed from the load of
fuel he carried. Fosssett lost roughly 2,000
pounds of fuel on takeoff which is why he
got to his 45,000-foot altitude in such a
hurry.
“His team thought he would have to land
in Hawaii, but Fossett said he wanted to
press forward to Salina. He made it all the
way with fuel to spare. When his tanks were
checked, he still had enough fuel remaining
to fly another 10 hours!
“This was a historic event for Salina and
really put us in the eyes of the world. It
won’t be official for several weeks but it
appears that Steve Fossett will add three
more world records to his long list. Now
everybody who flies composite model
airplanes knows what composite material
can stand in the way of stress because those
wings on the Gobal Flyer withstood the
stress with no problem.”
The top picture is of the Global Flyer.
Below shows Steve Fossett receiving
congratulations from the crowd.
Thanks, Don, for the informative article
from a modeler’s perspective.
I want to turn your attention to what I think
is the hottest area of modeling: electrics! I
understand from a couple of sources that
park flyers are outselling 40-size trainers by
a substantial margin. We need to encourage
and nurture this fast-growing segment of our
hobby.
The following was sent to me from Ron
Evans, featuring the newly formed allelectric
Rocky Mountain Electric Flyers
located in the Denver area:
“We completed our club charter on
February 1, 2004, with four members and
now boast 59 AMA members. We are an allelectric
club—mostly sport fliers, with some
3-D, sport scale, heliopters, Hotliners, and
powered gliders. Roughly half of our
members weren’t AMA members before
joining our club and the rest flew glow RC,
FF, or RC gliders.
“Our stated goal is to fly safely and have
fun! We’ve had great support from local
hobby shops including Thompson’s Hobby,
Hobby Giant, and Colpar West as they have
donated four trainer models. We fly every
Sunday morning—weather permitting—in
Arvada, Colorado. Guests are welcome.
There is no field fee and we will train new
fliers on the buddy box without an AMA
membership, otherwise an AMA card is
required.”
Please see the District IX Web site for a
link to this great club.
Phil Trowe from the Arvada Associated
Modelers in Colorado sent me the following
report about the club’s mall show:
“The mall show was held at Westminster
Mall, January 20-23, 2005. This was a firstclass
show where the club displayed models
of various sizes. The pictures are just a few
of the many excellent airplanes on display
that weekend. The club always looks
forward to this annual event.”
I ran out of room for Phil’s pictures.
These great shots can be viewed on our
District IX Web site. Please take a look and
also link to the Arvada club to let them
know you saw their pictures!
What a great way to say thank you! Shortly
after I returned home last month from the
Jefco auction in Denver, Colorado, I
received a copy of the club’s newsletter
which contained the following:
“Our auction received AMA national
attention with a visit and coverage by
president Dave Brown and staff. On
Saturday night of the auction, Dave hosted
an AMA District IX special event to
introduce the 2005 leadership team.
Outgoing District IX vice president Russ
Miller was properly roasted with deliciously
funny stories about his many escapades.
Apparently, this Harley-loving modeler cut a
wide swath serving his many years of
service to AMA.
“Crowd control was contained by doorprize
drawings held at intervals along with
food and beverages. Those of us who
mustered the energy to attend after a full day
at the auction, were pleased to meet Russ’s
successor. Mark Smith is a fine gentleman
with a solid history of management
expertise.
“It is a pleasure to see AMA suits up
close and on the floor with the rank-and-file
membership. The agenda in the coming year
is to grow the AMA and better serve the
more than 170,000 members. What with the
constant advances in technology, park
flying, land use, noise concerns in urban
sites, and liability, these issues will test their
mettle.
“Jefco AeroMod’lers extends its thanks
to the team for attending our event and
wishes them success in their mission!”
In closing, I want to paraphrase the Arvada
club president Jim Wallen who said it best.
“It is the local club’s responsibility to
implement programs to stimulate growth.”
I hope all clubs emulate this thinking.
Until next month, have fun and keep in
touch!
Associate Vice Presidents
Max Hansen, Huron SD
H. Michael Harrington, Ft. Collins CO
Fred Hildebrand, Casper WY
Troy Lapp, Mandan ND
Travis McGinnis, Arvada CO
Don Moden, Salina KS
Jerry Tuttle, Olathe KS
Frequency Coordinator
Steve Mangles, Denver CO
Webmaster
Jim Shaw, E-mail: [email protected]
Colorado/Kansas/
Nebraska/North Dakota/
South Dakota/Wyoming
Mark T. Smith
Vice President
14632 W. 50th St.
Shawnee KS 66216
Tel.: (913) 568-4347
E-mail:
[email protected]
District IX Web site:
www.amadistrict-ix.org
District IX Report