District V Report - 2003/02

February 2003 155
I ATTENDED THE 11th Annual Rally of
Eagles Fly-In for Radio Control (RC) Scale
models, Manny Souza, Contest Director
(CD). The site was the Navy Outlying Field
in Holley, Florida.
The Holley Flyers club has 40 dedicated
members. Initially this club consisted of
only five members, a spinoff from a much
larger club, who formed a committee to
initiate a rally.
Today this club has 40 active fliers and
supporters for an unsurpassed camaraderie
atmosphere in modeling. Manny is
president; Bill Hogue, Vice President (VP);
Mark Pfeiffer, Secretary; Bill Brown
Treasurer; and Warren Farris, Operations
Officer.
Our Club of the Month this month, is the
Holley Flyers.
The Commanding Officer of the Naval
Air Station Whiting Field, Captain Bryan
Watkins, allows modelers to use some of the
Navy’s outlying fields on weekends,
including Holley Field.
Bill Brown, Bill Hogue, Manny Souza,
Flaps Laffert, Ron Brouning, Ugo Ferrari,
Carlos Rodriguez, and Jim Williams.
These club officials and helpers
conducted a fine fly-in.
The airplanes looked real, sounded real,
and flew like real. Here are Roy Roberts
from Atlanta and Tobe Hart from Baton
Rouge with a magnificent Grumann F6F.
At noon Manny had all the airplanes in
the center of the spacious runway so all the
spectators could come out and inspect them.
You can see the airplanes and the
massive runways going in all directions.
Manny sure stands in good with the
Navy. (He was a Navy captain himself
once.) There were at least 100 model
airplanes there. Spectators, probably 1,000.
Some important fliers showed up at
Holley Field from my neighborhood. I’d
better show them or I’ll be in deep trouble
when I get home.
Meet some fliers from the BAMA club:
Mike Chilson, VP; Mark Mendow,
president; Jim Weems; Tom McClellan;
Jerry Bates; Bill Moore; and one other.
Tom’s Curtiss Hell Diver, front, won Pilots’
Choice.
The Holley Flyers will receive a framed
plaque for being Club of the Month. All
members will receive a nice cloth patch that
says Club of the Month.
We had a council meeting in October.
District II VP Dave Mathewson and I passed
a successful motion to delay cutting the
CDs’ membership dues in half for one year.
I asked the council to put all VP pages in the
front of Model Aviation and in color.
They’re thinking about it.
Don’t forget, we’ve started a Who’s Who in
AMA, District V. If you’ve been a member
for ten years, you qualify. Send me a resumé
of your modeling career.
I attended the Cape Coral R/Sea Hawks
Electric Fun-Fly held at the club field in Ft.
Myers, Florida. This fine club, with 250
members, hosts fly-ins and contests for a
variety of modeling events.
Pictured here, between the steel fence and
the runway, happy fliers entered the
Electric Fun-Fly on a Sunday morning.
This snap includes Lloyd Matthai, Club
Instructor (Gliders); Burnell Brocious;
Lloyd Underwood holding his 67-inch
Electric Playboy; Hank Stumps; Russ
Ostrander; Larry Lewis; and others.
The last time I was at the club field it
was in a cow pasture, complete with cows.
Now, no more cows! The club has an
excellent field with a broad expanse for
overflying. There is a paved runway, paved
access areas, a permanent pavilion, steel
fences, and everything necessary to enjoy
model airplanes.
Randy Butz, president; Gene Wagner,
VP; John Agnew, editor; and 20 other
officers and flying instructors.
Above, John Agnew (L) who has been
mailing me his club newsletter for years.
Don McGillivray, CD (C), and Jay Gaylon.
Don is a good CD.
Above, (L-R) Howard Shelow; Chris Zettel;
Ed Wierzbowski; and Tony Garbirle. Chris
is an Electric instructor and a field
marshall.
Chris explained to me that the Cape
Coral Club holds fun-flies and contests for
Giant Scale IMAA aircraft; Sport Flyer
airplanes; Electric models; Sailplanes; RC
Combat; and Helicopters.
Because of the service this club provides
for the modeling community, I asked for and
got an Award of Excellence for the
organization. This is the highest award
AMA has for chartered clubs. I also got an
Award of Excellence for the Tampa Radio
Control Club.
No fun-fly or contest can operate properly
in RC without impound officers and safety
rules. Above (L-R) Jay Gaylon; John
Warren; Ralph Brehmer. (I handed out a
couple of first aid kits.)
If you want to see a lot of pictures of the
Holley Flyers and the Cape Coral RC, look
on your District V Web site,
www.modelair.org.
District V Report
Alabama / Florida / Georgia /
Mississippi / Puerto Rico /
South Carolina / Tennessee
Jim McNeill
Vice President
617 South 20 Avenue,
Birmingham AL 35205
Tel.: (205) 322-2127
Fax: (205) 252-2654
E-mail: [email protected]
Web page:
http://www.modelair.org/
Note: For a listing of all district volunteer workers
please consult a previous issue of Model Aviation.
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