District V Report - 2003/05
Collier Model Aeronautics Club — Naples, Florida
I attended the Collier Model Aeronautics Club's fun-fly in Naples. Claus Mouret was the contest director (CD) and Jack Patterson is the club's president.
- The club encourages young people to get involved in flying model airplanes; persons under 18 are allowed in free. Currently the club has 15 free members.
- Members are encouraged to donate airplanes, engines, radios, and similar equipment to children just starting out.
- The club operates a liberal buddy-box system to teach young members how to fly, and holds annual fly-ins specifically for new members.
The club is 23 years old and has 175 members. The day I arrived the club was honored by the presence of Donna Fiala, a Florida county commissioner. The Collier Model Aeronautics Club desires to retain the field the members presently enjoy.
Alex Menendez flew his Edge 540T Aeroworks model, an airplane capable of hanging on its propeller in the air and performing nearly any maneuver. Everyone was bundled up that day; the high temperature was 44 degrees F with winds of 15–25 mph. It was the lowest temperature on record for Naples.
Meet Armand Mastandrea of the Naples club, who works well with children. He was there with Armand Jr. and Michaela Mastandrea. Also pictured were Melissa Ankenbauer and Casey McPherson.
A gaggle of magnificent scale airplanes waited to fly while dozens of fliers watched the action and waited for the weather to warm up.
Because of the service this club has performed for the modeling community for 23 years, it is our January District V Club of the Month.
DeLand Golden Hawks — DeLand, Florida
Here’s another District V Club of the Month for January: the DeLand Golden Hawks. I spent the day with the Golden Hawks during the club's annual Festival of Giants event. I was there the first day of a four-day show that featured huge scale airplanes and fliers from across the United States, Canada, and one from England. The two CDs were Tom Beckman and Bob Bartow.
- Five club members were in charge of security and keeping everything organized.
- I was temporarily removed from the flightline until given a small identification badge. It was a well-run affair.
- This was their 14th Rally of Giants; experience is a good teacher.
I attended on a Thursday and was told I should have been there Saturday when there were 250 registered fliers and spectators as far as the eye could see. Over the four-day spectacle there were maybe 4,000 spectators.
Have you ever seen a monster flying? Merlyn Graves dropped down from Chicago with his 90-pound Avro. The aircraft has a 134-inch wingspan and is 122 inches long. Ducted-fan powered, it flew at nearly 200 mph and looked very real.
A woman holding her dog Sugar stood beside her husband's Klotz biplane. Her husband is Don Lowe, former AMA president and currently the chairperson of the AMA Safety Committee.
The DeLand Golden Hawks club is small by Florida standards—only 90 to 100 members—but very influential in the modeling world. The week before the Rally of Giants, they hosted Jets Over DeLand, the largest and most famous jet fun-fly in the Southeast each year.
Because of the club's enormous impact on the modeling world, it is our other District V Club of the Month.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
