District V - 2011/04

150 MODEL AVIATION
District V
Jose Soto, District V Vice President; [email protected]
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
I HAD THE PLEASURE of visiting the
Tri-County R/C Club in Dunnellon, Florida.
This club is a Gold Leader Club and it
shows!
The meeting I attended was well
represented and the members were very
energetic and motivated. This club has been
featured in the Riverland News, a local
newspaper that serves Dunnellon and
Rainbow Springs, and the club is
community oriented, a fact that did not
escape me when I learned that they are
leasing government land.
The club leases 77 acres from the
Department of Environmental Protection,
Office of Greenways & Trails, and it
demonstrates the club’s hard work!
I want to thank all of the Tri-County R/C
Club’s board and members for their
hospitality. Officers for 2011 include Chris
Wieland, president; Mark Haggard, vice
president; John Kettgen, secretary; and
Ralph Rogers, treasurer.
Don Adkins with a Morrissey Bravo.
The Gold Leader Club presentation.
The Tri-County Santa Fly-In 2010.
The Osprey Radio Control club, sponsored
by the Ocean Reef Flying Club, conducted a
demonstration and education event on
December 9, 2010, at the Ocean Reef Club
airport on North Key Largo, Florida, to
introduce Ocean Reef residents to RC.
Dave Williams coordinated the activity
with John Berend of the Ocean Reef Flying
Club. John is the safety officer for the
airport and Dave is the Osprey club’s chief
instructor. John and Dave are both full-scale
pilots who have built and flown their own
experimental aircraft. John Berend is also an
RC pilot.
A wide variety of RC aircraft for the
visitors. Aircraft were displayed in a long
line beside the runway. We had small
electric park flyers, .40- and .60-size
trainers, sport airplanes, scale models,
ducted-fan models, and turbine jets. There
were 19 pilots and more than 50 model
aircraft on display.
A simulator allowed potential pilots to try
their hand at flying an RC aircraft on the
computer.
The pilots explained their aircraft and the
motors, engines, and electronics required to
make them work. Several of the spectators
were full-scale pilots.
Pilots were scheduled to fly by Jay
Caballero, our club safety officer. We had
between one and four pilots in the air when
full-scale traffic allowed. Student pilots
were given the right-of-way.
Bob Falk of the Ocean Reef Flying Club
announced each pilot and gave the
spectators information on each airplane as it
went to the flightline. Matthew Friday’s
small electric P-51, Dave Williams’ 540
Edge, Paul Snow’s Super Stearman, Julio
Rodriguez’s Mirage turbine, and Mario
Bonilla’s F-22 Rafter turbine were of
particular interest. The last flight of the day
was made by Jaime Reyes’ Tri-Motor.
The Ocean Reef Flying Club personnel
were gracious hosts and the event was a great
success. It introduced the members of the
Ocean Reef community to RC flying and
gave some young people the opportunity to
experience it first hand. AMA information
was provided as well as information about
local RC clubs. We all agreed that it would be
great to do this event again in the future.
—George Cullin
Jose Soto
Vice President
1930 Deanna Drive,
Apopka FL 32703; (407)
409-4795; www.ama
district-v.org
Contest Coordinators
RC: Dick Tonan, 639
Knollwood Dr., La
Vergne TN 37086;
[email protected]
FF: Bob Thoren, 10002 Bluff Dr.,
Huntsville AL 35803; (256) 726-
1051; [email protected]
CL: Bob Whitney, 456 Garvey Rd.
SW, Palm Bay FL 32908;
[email protected]
Associate Vice Presidents
Alabama:
Rick Grim, Harvest AL; (256) 503-
5847; (rickgrim@ama
district-v.org)
Florida:
Ron Van Putte, Ft. Walton Bch. FL;
(850) 243-0207; [email protected]
Humberto Pomales, Kissimmee
FL; (407) 344-9123; zen120140@
yahoo.com
Tony Stillman; Brunswick GA ;
(912) 264-8223;
[email protected]
Georgia:
Bob Dixon, Macon GA; rldixon3@
cox.net
Mississippi:
Paul Verger, Vancleave MS;
(228) 826-4892;
[email protected]
Puerto Rico:
South Carolina:
Jim Fender, Batesburg SC; (803)
532-0270; [email protected]
Roger Marshall, Camden SC;
(803) 432-2347;
[email protected]
Tennessee:
Owen Maupin, Chattanooga TN;
[email protected]
Frank Ponteri, Maryville TN;
[email protected]
For additional district officers and
volunteers, please see a previous
issue of MA or visit the District V
Web site.
D i s t r i c t V V o l u n t e e r s
Several young
pilots took
advantage of
buddy-box
flights.
Roughly 100
spectators attended.
Visitors were interested in learning about
the RC aircraft, especially the turbine jets.