District I—Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
On Saturday, August 17, more than 160 AMA clubs, including five District I clubs, celebrated National Model Aviation Day. This inaugural event helped raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. As of September 4, $43,998 in donations had been collected.
Associate Vice President Steve Brehm and I were invited by Rick Heaton, president of the Lazy Loopers Flying Club in Wrentham, Massachusetts, to attend the club's event. We arrived as the sun peeked over the tops of the surrounding trees. As a former member of the club in the early 1990s, I had forgotten how beautiful this park-like site is—with its pristine grass runway, pit and spectator area, benches, and trails.
On August 4, 2013, The Boston Globe featured the club in a multipage article with photos describing RC activities and National Model Aviation Day.
Scale, sport, warbirds, aerobatic, and fun-fly airplanes were flown for the enjoyment of all. We talked about aeromodeling with many attendees, while others experienced RC flight on a simulator and with a buddy box and instructor. The new Horizon Hobby Apprentice airplane, along with one year of club membership, was raffled.
Steve and I had a great time and thank the club members for their hospitality and for promoting this AMA event. Please check www.lazyloopers.com for other club activities.
After leaving the event, we headed west for the second day of the Hampshire County Radio Controllers' Scale and National Model Aviation Day gathering, which will be covered in next month's column.
District II—New Jersey, New York, Europe
Club president Bruce Leach and the club members have worked tirelessly to forge a great relationship with town officials to utilize the former town landfill as a flying site. The air show is the culmination of the club's efforts.
I can't think of a better way to reuse a landfill or a better way for a municipality to give back to the community so families can enjoy the day—not to mention raising money for America's wounded warriors while promoting model aviation!
The annual District II Fun-Fly was hosted by the Top O' New Jersey RC Club on August 24-25, 2013, at the Trinca Airport in Green Township, New Jersey. Congratulations to the club for a great job. The event included all categories of model aviation, even a few hand-tossed gliders. Seeing the disciplines of our hobby flying together was a joyous celebration.
Event CD Scott Geller and the club did a fantastic job promoting and running a first-class event. Eighty pilots enjoyed two days of fun and camaraderie, with three dedicated flight areas for open flying, helicopter, and CL. Registered pilots received commemorative T-shirts, pilot lanyards, and complimentary lunches. Pilots enjoyed raffle prizes including Foam-Tac glue from Beacon Adhesives.
As club president Pat Rizzutto put it, "This was the best event Top O' New Jersey ever had." I can't agree more!
Roman Pirozek Jr.
On September 5, 2013, we lost District II member Roman Pirozek Jr. as a result of a tragic model aircraft accident. Roman was an accomplished RC helicopter pilot. He will be deeply missed by his fellow aeromodeling enthusiasts.
The worldwide outpouring of love and caring for the Pirozek family was remarkable, yet not surprising from our close-knit modeling community.
Roman had a passion for model aviation. As I say at the close of each month's column, our hobby is about people and the friends we make. In Roman's honor, let's not forget that.
District III—Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
Mark Radcliff Vice President
<REDACTED> <REDACTED> Tel.: <REDACTED>; www.amadistrict-iii.org
On August 17, 2013, model aviation history was made with the implementation of National Model Aviation Day (NMAD). For the first time, model airplane clubs across the nation joined to celebrate our passion for this great hobby/sport. Clubs were asked to raise funds for a worthy cause. The Wounded Warrior Project was chosen by AMA as the recipient of the funds.
By all accounts, it appears that the event was a nationwide success. District III was well represented with excellent participation across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The following District III clubs participated and raised more than $6,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project: Hill Hoppers Flying Club, Wally’s Squadron, Alliance Balsa Bees, Westerville Model Aeronautics Association, Celina Flying Sportsmen, Defiance Prop Floppers, AirMasters RC Flying Club, Ross Area Flyers, Keystone Clippers Radio Control Club, Laurel Highlands Model Airplane Club, Lehigh Valley Radio Control Society, Johnstown RC Club, Cocalico Prop Busters, Cloud Kings RC Club, Fairview R/C Flyers, and York Area Radio Control Club.
As District III vice president I want to thank every club that participated. If your club didn’t participate this year, I encourage you to become a part of this fantastic event next year. I will now let the pictures of District III clubs participating in National Model Aviation Day do all the talking. Go fly and have fun!
District IV—Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia
Bliss Teague Vice President
<REDACTED> <REDACTED> Tel.: <REDACTED>; www.amadistrict-iv.org
Bob Scott submitted a report about the Macon Aero Modelers’ activities.
The Macon Aero Modelers took part in the annual April Fool’s Trail Days festival on March 30, 2013, in Franklin, North Carolina. The Town of Franklin sponsors the event to welcome hikers to the downtown to meet locals and to have a good time. The festival features various programs and this was the first year the Macon Aero Modelers have participated.
The mix of hikers, visitors, and locals was a good fit and several participants told club members that they were fascinated with learning about RC. Club members had boats, airplanes, and vehicles on display as well as two flight simulator stations, which were popular.
Macon County has hundreds of miles of trails as well as 60 miles of the famous Appalachian Trail and Bartram Trail, which draw people from across the US and the world to hike in the Nantahala National Forest and the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The club has a landing field in Otto, south of Franklin, and sponsors several annual charity events and participates in the Macon County Fair each fall.
Jerry Buckley reported his club’s outreach efforts:
Community outreach can be one of the hardest things for an aeromodeling club. To reach as many people as possible, the Kent County AeroModelers (www.kcam-de.org), of Dover, Delaware, set up a static display each year at a couple of community events in the local area.
The largest of these is the Dover Days Festival. This event draws nearly 50,000 each year. Dover Days is one of Delaware’s longest-running events and celebrates its history of being the first state. The event was started in 1933 as a home and garden tour and is now celebrating its 80th anniversary. This jam-packed weekend of fun for the entire family includes a kid’s zone, a classic car show, and 350 artisans, crafters, and food vendors. There’s something for everyone!
Visitors can see children and adults in colonial attire dance around a maypole at this May event.
Club volunteers arrive at our assigned spot early in the morning to set up a few popup sun shades and exhibit numerous airplanes so visitors can see a variety. This year, we had everything from a micro electric warbird to a pair of gas turbine jets!
The club members answered questions from passers-by. The most frequent question was if aeromodeling is an expensive hobby to get into. Members also handed out copies of various RC magazines with a club business card and flyer. One club member (thank you, Steve) even went the extra mile and picked up small foamie gliders for the kids.
In years past, our flyer announced an upcoming open house at the field. The problem was that the open house was a few weeks after Dover Days and people forgot. This year, we set up the open house for the next day and invited people to come out and try RC flying. In the past, only a few showed up. This year, 36 people came to fly and some joined the club!
So, the next time there is a big community event in your area, set up a display and invite people to come join you in the fun of RC flight.
District V—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
Don Wise, AVP from South Carolina, sent in this report:
August in South Carolina is when RC events tend to slow down. The heat and humidity cause many clubs to schedule activities in the months of September, October, etc.
The month of August saw three club events in South Carolina, and as luck would have it, all took place on the same weekend. These gatherings included a fly-in near the North Carolina state line, a Giant Scale warbird event, outside of Camden, and a float-fly in.
I attended the float-fly in because it was the closest for me and meant less driving time. Roughly 20 people attended the float-fly and the aircraft varied from Scale to designs by the pilots, many out of foam. These aeromodelers represented at least three clubs.
Everyone appeared to have a good time, even those who required the services of the retrieval canoe (myself included). On the bright side, the water was cool. RC boats were brought by the pilots and although my father built and ran nitro boats, the speed of some of the electric boats was somewhat of a shock (pun intended).
District VI—Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri
Randy Cameron Vice President
<REDACTED> <REDACTED> Tel.: <REDACTED>; www.amadistrict-vi.org
Wow, what a huge success National Model Aviation Day has been! More than 170 clubs signed up nationwide. That is impressive for a first-time event. Of those, 19 were District VI clubs.
As of September 19, more than $50,000 had been raised for the Wounded Warrior Project by this event, and the donations are still coming in. I believe that more than $10,000 was raised in District VI. I'm not sure if it has all been submitted at this point, but that is what has been reported to me by the clubs involved.
For most clubs, this event was more than a fundraiser, it was also about getting involved with communities, inviting people to our flying sites, and attempting to interest them in what we do by letting them fly simulators and get a feel for flying with a buddy box. This was done with hopes of increasing membership and getting new blood into the hobby.
The weekend of National Model Aviation Day generated a lot of positive publicity for our hobby across the country—more than any other single event. The positive news coverage is worth more than all the funds raised.
There were three state proclamations recognizing National Model Aviation Day. Two were in our district—one in Indiana and the other in Missouri, submitted by Dusty Riley of the Kansas City Northern Knights. Thanks, Dusty. Your efforts are appreciated.
My hat is off to all who participated. Great job, and let's do it again next year. Listed are some of the District VI clubs that signed up, in order of registration: Screaming Eagles R/C Club, Blacksheep Squadron, Ozark Mountain Barnstormers RC Club, Deep River R/C Flying Club, Pekin R/C Club, Kansas City Northern Knights Model Airplane Club, Hagerstown Indiana RC Club, Springfield RC Club, Suburban AeroClub of Chicago, Johnson County Radio Control Flyers, Monroe Country RC Club, Evansville RC Model Aircraft Club, Signal Chasers RC Club, Fort Wayne Flying Circuits, Farm Friendly Fliers, Tri County Aero Club, Bolivar Sport Flyers, and the Kansas City Radio Control Association.
If your club is not a Leader Club, National Model Aviation Day is a great event to help get your club started in becoming one.
On July 12-13, the Lafayette Cloud Jockeys club held its annual Hoosier Heli Rumble in Lafayette, Indiana. Twenty-six participants from Indiana and surrounding states came in for the all-helicopter event. Participants flew an incredible array of aircraft from Scale to the latest rage: quadcopters and hexacopters. They were powered by nitro, electric, and there was even a Wren MW44 turbine.
Spectators and pilots were entertained by the quality and quantity of flying at the five flight stations spread across 20 acres of freshly mown field.
The Lafayette Cloud Jockeys would like to say thank you to all participants, members, and the Lafayette Parks Board for their support.
Brian Goodner and his father, Richard, pose next to Brian's Agusta 109 and MD500E.
Program of the Month: Life Membership
For a contribution of $1,500, you can become an AMA contributing member with Life Membership privileges. Your Life Membership provides automatic annual renewal of your AMA membership which includes a model flier's license, Model Aviation, a permanent bronze license card, and continuing recognition of your contribution through issuance of a special "L" AMA number. Call Kristin Etherington at (800) 435-9262, ext. 296, or email her at <REDACTED> for more information.
Happy flying! ✈
District VII—Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Tim Jesky Vice President
<REDACTED> <REDACTED> Tel.: <REDACTED>; www.amadistrict-vii.org
I'm writing this column after returning from vacation in South Africa. My wife and I went there to support the USA F3A Team that participated in the Radio Control Aerobatics World Championship that was recently held in South Africa's Gauteng Province.
It was with great pride that I watched our team capture the gold medal in the team event and bronze in the individual. Congratulations to pilots Brett Wickizer, Jason Shulman, Andrew Jesky (yep, I'm his proud father) and Junior Member Joseph Szczur, along with callers Bryan Herbert, Dave Stoddart, Vern Koester, Don Szczur (another proud father) and team managers Mark Atwood and Kevin Young.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the competition side of our hobby, World Championships are held every other year and include disciplines such as Racing, Soaring, Control Line, helicopters, Free Flight, and more.
The events are held by host countries worldwide under the auspices of the FAI, which is the governing body for all air sports. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and was founded in 1905.
The championships have an Olympic feel to them because the pilots are there to represent their countries and compete for medals, trophies, and the right to proclaim themselves as the best of the best on the world stage. All of our teams admirably performed this year and should be a source of pride.
Kent Woods, our District VII associate vice president from Iowa, is going to step in now and tell us about the Ames, Iowa, multiengine fly-in that was held this past September.
As most modelers know, when you plan an outside event you are hoping that the weatherman has been included, and made aware of your request. This time, it worked! When you have pilots who come to central Iowa from Minnesota, Nebraska, and of course, across the state of Iowa, they trust that you will get it right.
We had 34 registered pilots for the E-vent, with the youngest being age 7. Although it was slightly hotter than we would have liked, everyone had plenty of time to get in several flights, and the best part: no major crashes and hardly any landings that were less than perfect.
Aircraft varied from a large B-29 to four B-17s to wingspans of less than 2 feet. All were flown at the same time, which was impressive and is a rare occurrence at larger events.
We changed the format this year. Instead of limiting the aircraft to multiengines, we allowed warbirds and classics. This appears to be what the pilots want, so we plan to have the same format next year.
We also had a helicopter demonstration during the lunch break. Sam Sutter, who is a student at Iowa State University, put on a routine that had the crowd in awe, with maneuvers that didn't seem possible!
Like any event, it would be nothing without the pilots, and we are appreciative of their attendance. With many activities to choose from, and not enough time to do them all, we're glad y'all came!
Mark your calendar for next year in September. Watch our website, www.centraliowaareamodelers.weebly.com, as the date draws near. Don't forget to check it now—your picture may be on it!
Take a kid flying! ✈
District VIII—Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Mark Johnston Vice President
<REDACTED> <REDACTED> Tel.: <REDACTED>; www.amadistrict-viii.org
In August the AMA held National Model Aviation Day and raised funds for the Wounded Warrior Project. During that event, on Saturday, August 17, numerous clubs in our district held events.
I spent the day with the Jetero R/C Club in Houston. Gus Pasquini was the CD and the group raised more than $1,700. Pat Willcox and I flew a trainer that we put together at Randy Ritch's hobby shop. We also flew another airplane that had a battery problem.
I visited and talked with Horace Cain and Hollis Gassen. Thanks to Horace and Hollis for making me laugh all day.
The following day I visited the Alvin RC Model Airplane Association and the Texas City RC Club.
I had the associate vice presidents (AVPs) take pictures at the events they attended across the district and the ones I received are in a slideshow as part of the free Model Aviation app for members. You can see them on the magazine's website as well. National Model Aviation Day raised more than $50,000 and 176 clubs participated.
Early in August, I went to a Quickie Race in Albuquerque run by Chuck Andraka. I came in second to last but I had fun racing and want to thank Chuck and his wife, Janet, for all that they did for the race.
Also in August, I attended a Scale meet hosted by the Rocky Mountain Flying Machine. The CD was Howard Chapman, assisted by Brian Regan, and there were approximately 30 pilots. We had two good days of flying.
During Labor Day weekend, I attended the West Texas Warbirds meet, CDed by Bryan McLarty.
A 50% Corsair was brought out of one of the hangars and parked near the flightline. It was a neat full-scale aircraft. Bill Holland, AVP from Oklahoma, also attended. We flew on Saturday and went back on Sunday for a short time before heading to Fort Smith, Arkansas, to visit the Flightmasters Model Airplane Club.
While in Fort Smith, the club opened its field for its first event. Mark Smith and Randy Cameron were there. The gathering had roughly 35 pilots and some news media on-site. All of the proceeds went to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The Flightmasters hosted a great event.
Hope to see you all at the field!
The JEFCO Aeromod’lers and the Arvada Associated Modelers organized a Vintage Fun-Fly at Chatfield State Park in Littleton, Colorado. Jim also submitted the following comments by co-CD Norm Berger:
“We had a perfect day of flying for our first Vintage Fun-Fly. The turnout for this event was strong at 23 pilots registered with around 30 aircraft presented.
“We ran four events including Climb and Glide, which was won by Jerry Thompson featuring a $25 prize; Class 1 Pattern, which was won by Monte Peecher who took home a $50 prize; One-Minute Flight, won by Sid Gates who received a $25 prize; and Spot Landing, won by Jim Eide who received a $25 prize.
“Lunch was provided by Tom and Patty Hooser and included some terrific burritos and chili. (Patty is famous for her knockout chili.) Next year, Arvada Associated Modelers will host this event, so look for the date.
“As CD I was overjoyed with the strong turnout. I really appreciate the support we got for this first-time try at this. The highlight was the Class 1 Pattern event. I don’t think too many people had previously tried to fly Pattern.
“The Vintage RC Society Class 1 Pattern has a bunch of straightforward maneuvers we tend to do every time we fly and has almost nothing that is particularly difficult to accomplish. My hope is that this will spark some interest in this type of event and that we can organize more similar pattern events in the future.
“Again, thanks to everyone in the club for helping with this and to Tom Neff for assisting with the Pattern judging.”
Chatfield’s first Vintage Fun-Fly was indeed a hoot; most pilots flew vintage aircraft. Norm and Mike Boyer had briefed the membership that we would be gentle with the definition of “vintage,” to encourage participation; after all, the Spitfire was actually designed in the late 1930s. And there was one there, flown on its maiden by Leo Hrdlicka.
Mike Blake installed a sound system in this excellent EP model (by Kyosho, I think), which turned heads. The Spit was beautiful. It was slightly out of trim with a misaligned elevator, but Leo gamely flew the pattern with Mike at his elbow calling out the maneuvers.
The Vintage Pattern is a series of ordinary stunts, done as precisely as possible, without your model crossing the pilot side edge of the runway, resulting in a zero.
Maneuvers
- Takeoff
- Straight flight out
- Procedure turn
- Straight flight back
- Figure 8 (horizontal)
- Barrel roll
- Inside loop
- Immelmann turn
- Split “S”
- Rolling 8
- Wingover
- Landing pattern
- Landing
It was a terrific event! Thanks to Norman and Mike!
District X—Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah
The Orange Coast RC Club (OCRCC), of Irvine, California, has roots at Mile Square Park. This is a place I fondly remember reading about as a child in modeling magazines that covered the many events the club had at that Southern California institution. Sadly, Mile Square is long gone but OCRCC is still at the former Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, now known as The Great Park. OCRCC had the honor of being the first District X club to mark 20 years as a Leader Club.
OCRCC emphasizes bringing in new members. If you go there on a typical morning you'll see many newbies.
Club members held a barbecue to mark the 20-year accomplishment. I was glad to be there.
The last ceremony I was privileged to attend was to present the Five-Year Leader Club award to the Miramar Radio Control Flyers. This club has forged a strong relationship with the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, where the club's field is located.
This San Diego, California, organization has a mix of military and civilian members who run the club with the skill and precision of a military operation. I've been lucky enough to compete in a Pattern contest there and had a great time.
Congratulations to these three clubs. In addition, the Santa Fe Dam RC Modelers, of Southern California, and the Cedar City Radio Control Club, of Cedar City, Utah, celebrated five years as Leader Clubs. If your club is not participating, start today. It will help you build strong roots in your community and build your membership.
I have more photos from the events at www.ama10.org. Take a look at them, and until next month, may you have nothing but happy landings.
District XI—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
Mike Mosbrooker Vice President
<REDACTED> <REDACTED> Tel.: <REDACTED>; www.amadistrict-xi.org
I can tell its flying season because there is more material than this column has room for.
I attended the spring float-fly in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, the annual Big Bird event in Bellingham, Washington, and the Rally of Giants in Center Point, Oregon, which I will report on in a later issue. There have also been Scale qualifiers in Washington and northern Idaho and several events where the proceeds went to charity. Washington Wings for Wishes was a major success.
Gerry Becker reported that the Bell Air RC Flyers Club of Bellingham sponsored its 23rd annual AMA sanctioned Big Bird Fly-In June 1-2, 2013. Bill Schnobrich was the CD and also provided on-the-job training to two new CDs: Mike McMillian and Jay Schoening. The Bell Air RC Flyers Club members provided strong support as usual.
One can tell much about a club by the way it runs a large event. It takes a village. One-hundred and twenty-seven pounds of food and $526 in cash was collected to be distributed to area food banks. A great half-time show was put on by Kevin Klockes' helicopter team and the Bellingham Heritage Air Museum, and the EAA blew the socks off the spectators and pilots with their flybys featuring three 3/4-scale Nieuport 17s, Cessna, J-3 Cub on floats, and on Sunday a sky-writing Decathlon. The pictures were taken by John Vanderhaege.
There were Northwest Scale Qualifiers at Snohomish, Washington, and Athol, Idaho. Roly Worsfold reported that the annual Cascade Scale Rally and US Scale Masters Qualifier took place in Snohomish on May 17-19, 2013. CD Bob Bailey had Randy Smithisler as co-CD.
Fliers participated from Washington State, Idaho, Oregon, and British Columbia. There were 21 entries and some of the notables attending included AMA Hall of Fame member Bob Benjamin, Mike Brewer, and Ward Emigh, all of whom are longtime national Scale participants. Mike Ardy, Mike Ingram, Ward Emigh, and the team of Mike Ingram and Mike Brewer were the winners. I'm not sure how Ward got in there with the wrong first name.
The next qualifier was the northern Idaho event at Athol. Tim McGee was the CD and also the driving force behind the creation of the Silverwood flying site. There were many of the same attendees, but this time the winners were Mike Ingram, the team of Mike Ingram and Mike Brewer, Duane Kassa, Mike Brewer, and Del Herring. Pictures are courtesy of Mike Ingram.
I have a couple of corrections to my report on the Northwest Control Line regionals. It was at the Eugene (not Salem) airport and the Flying Lines website can be found at www.flyinglines.org. Hmmm, people do read this stuff ...
Until next month.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
