District V — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
Kris Dixon, Vice President
Savannah, Georgia — Report from Associate Vice President Bill Barbee
The Tri County RC Flyers club of Savannah, Georgia, was invited, for the second year, to visit Savannah Country Day School. The purpose of this invitation was to help educate teacher Andy Wiley’s eighth-grade science class about flight and RC aircraft.
Bill Barbee, Ted Hammond, and David Peabody were on hand to explain how models fly and to give details about the hobby and the AMA safety rules we follow. Although there was great interest in the airplanes and the flight simulator, David Peabody’s multirotor really piqued student interest. We flew a few airplanes at the school’s soccer field and even got some aerial video of the school using the multirotors.
After the education portion was over, the students tried their hands at building AMA balsa gliders and participated in some friendly competition. We had two winners; each was given a Tri County RC Flyers T-shirt. A great time was had by all, and we hope to be invited again next year for another class of potential new RC pilots.
Biloxi, Mississippi — 2015 Keesler Air Force Base Air Show (March 28–29, 2015)
Kenny Chandler, event coordinator for the Mississippi Coast RC Club (MCRCC), reported that the 2015 Keesler Air Force Base Air Show in Biloxi, Mississippi, was a huge success. It was wonderful to have the support of the AMA and to be treated like pilots from full-scale civilian, aerobatic, and military fields.
There were approximately 155,000 spectators throughout the weekend. The event was run by David Schultz Airshows, LLC, with Greg Witmer as air boss and Howdy McCann Jr. serving as announcer. Lt. Col. Ryan Conner, the Keesler AFB event coordinator, was instrumental in getting the RC side involved.
Key participants included:
- Event organizers and staff: David Schultz Airshows, LLC; Greg Witmer; Howdy McCann Jr.; Lt. Col. Ryan Conner
- MCRCC members assisting in the club booth: Steve Burton, Jim Farned, Dick Clark, Jim Eskridge
- Vendor: Jason Munns, owner of Orange Grove Hobby Shop
Demonstration pilot Mike Sauls from Team Horizon Hobby flew a 43% Carden Edge 540 powered by a DA 150. Kenny Chandler was team pilot for Orange Grove Hobby Shop.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a group of RC fliers. It was truly an honor to work with everyone, including members of the military, and to share what we do with such a large audience.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
