Author: Kris Dixon
Edition: Model Aviation - 2014/12
Page Numbers: 141

District V — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands

District V Vice President

Don Wise, District V Associate Vice President (AVP) — Reports

#### Flying Tigers RC Club — Event of the Year (September 19–20) The Flying Tigers RC Club hosted its Event of the Year on September 19–20 in Scranton, South Carolina. The club allowed flying on Friday afternoon for early arrivals. After dark on Friday, lights were used for night flying, which ended at 10 p.m. Saturday began cloudy with a breeze, which did not prevent pilots from flying.

  • The field has two parallel runways with parking located between them: one side for sport flying and the other for 3-D.
  • About 80 pilots attended, representing several states, and approximately 350 spectators watched.
  • Nearly every type of aircraft and power system was represented.
  • CD Tony Turner and many club volunteers ensured the event ran smoothly.

Raffle and community involvement:

  • The club had more than $5,000 in raffle prizes, divided into three raffles: a general raffle, a pilots-only raffle, and a women-only raffle.
  • In each raffle, the person whose ticket was drawn chose any prize until all prizes were gone.
  • Before the raffles, the club recognized several members for work done on behalf of the club.
  • Food was provided by the Grace Free Will Baptist Church youth group, which kept all proceeds from food sales — a good example of an AMA club working with the local community.

#### Triple Tree Aerodrome — Fourth Annual eWeek (September 24–28) Triple Tree Aerodrome, best known for Joe Nall, hosted its fourth annual eWeek outside of Woodruff, South Carolina. The five-day event started with clouds and wind, but by the weekend the sun and blue sky returned.

  • Any electric-powered aircraft could be seen flying at Triple Tree.
  • All sites were open, including the main site, 3-D site, park flyer area, floatplane area, helicopter site, and CL area.
  • Pilots could go fishing while batteries were charging.
  • Vendors sold hobby items and demonstrated and answered questions about their products.
  • Many pilots camped on-site in tents and RVs.

If you did not make it this year, plan to attend at least one event at Triple Tree Aerodrome next year — it is a premier venue for anything that flies in the hobby.

Florida AVP Andrew Griffith — Southern Scale Heli Challenge (September 11–14, 2014)

On September 11–14, 2014, in Dalton, Georgia (south of the Tennessee border on I-75), 44 pilots with more than 80 scale helicopters attended the largest scale helicopter gathering in the country. Now in its 14th year, the Southern Scale Heli Challenge is hosted by the Dalton RC Club and presided over by CD Darrell Sprayberry.

  • The event drew pilots from as far away as Boston, Long Island, Arkansas, Texas, and Toronto, Canada.
  • Scale helicopters ranged from micro size to the Red Bull BO-105 and the mammoth 1/4-scale Bell 47 flown by Stan Kopreski.
  • There is no competition; anyone interested in scale helicopters is welcome to attend.
  • Experts were on hand to help with setup and operation of turbines, three-axis stabilization systems, radio systems, electric power systems, and batteries.
  • Experienced modelers shared knowledge about building interiors, painting, and detailing — attendees only had to ask.

The event wrapped up with a Southern barbecue dinner provided for pilots by Unique Aircraft, and a rib-eye steak dinner on Saturday provided by East Coast Scale Helicopters.

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.