District IX Report - 2012/05
New Associate Vice President
We have a new Associate Vice President (AVP) to help out with District IX. Bruce Ream is handing over the reins for the Colorado area to Tom Neff. Bruce has been a pleasure to work with and has helped our membership on numerous occasions. Tom has been one of AMA’s premier combat pilots. He has always volunteered to help when needed. He has been instrumental in coordinating AMA and the Civil Air Patrol, and teaching kids and adults the knowledge and values our hobby has to offer. Welcome, Tom!
Jefco Aeromod'lers R/C Club Auction
Jefco Aeromod'lers R/C Club puts on one of the largest auctions of RC model aircraft in the country. This year, as in years past, the auction was on Super Bowl weekend. The difference this year was the second-largest snowfall in recent history, which began Friday and continued until the next day. Even with all the snow, we had 330 registered sellers and buyers and more than 1,000 items at this year’s auction.
Although sales were down, there were several great-looking models and plenty of good buys. From propellers to engines and complete airplanes ready to fly, buyers and sellers were having a good time spending their money or getting rid of the models they no longer wanted to fly.
This was the first year that a new bar-code system was used at the auction. Steve Mangels, chairman of the auction, enlisted the help of Norm Berger and several other computer gurus to design the new system. People could preregister and pay the registration fee online. They also could list all the items they wanted to sell, upload photographs, and post descriptions of the items before coming to the auction. Check-in times were reduced to minutes for those who had preregistered their items, and the lines to purchase moved quickly.
Aeromod'lers is a large club, and this year’s auction saw many volunteers devote hundreds of hours to put on this fantastic event. The magic of an auction is fed by a huge supply of good values.
Wings Over the Rockies
Wings Over the Rockies is a collaboration between AMA and the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum to display model aircraft. Tom Neff reported on this year’s event:
"Amazing display of clubs in the local area and hobby shops all melded together, surrounded by a beautiful display of aviation from the past, present, and future. There were tables set up for make-and-take aircraft for the youngsters to participate in, and enjoy making and taking balsa and plastic model airplanes.
"A lot of the club members displayed their prized possessions. Most of the clubs had a computer set up with a large screen for people to fly a flight simulator simulating RC flight. The Wings Over the Rockies museum has a new, painted epoxy floor with lowered lights that allows the viewing of its exhibitions to be much nicer.
"Always anxious to talk to a passerby about the hobby, the club members love to share a story with a youngster, to talk about a beautiful model and its flight characteristics and how much fun it is to fly. They also like to talk about building all different types of flying models.
"Everyone seemed to be having a good time; the camaraderie was present, the food was good, and war stories were flying through the halls of the Wings Over the Rockies once again."
Associate Vice Presidents
- Norm Berger, Parker CO; (732) 763-0301; [email protected]
- Steve Culver, Omaha NE; [email protected]
- Zac Heskin, Garrison ND; [email protected]
- Fred Hildebrand, Casper WY; [email protected]
- Tom Neff, Aurora CO; (303) 829-5416; [email protected]
- Brenda Schuette, Auburn KS; [email protected]
- Mike Tallman, Wichita KS; [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
