District V Report - 2003/07

July 2003 151
I ATTENDED the Tampa Radio Control
Aircraft Club’s (TRAC) WMWA Spring
Rally. The new World Miniature Warbird
Association (WMWA) is a 400-plus group of
modelers who build and fly military aircraft
of all sizes—scale or semiscale—in memory
of the airplanes and pilots who flew them.
The Tampa club unselfishly offered its
magnificent flying field and facilities to the
WMWA so they can hold this colorful
event.
Wray Williamson was the skillful contest
director (CD) of the event. Wray is also a
Commander in the WMWA. Entry was not
limited to WMWA fans; anybody was
allowed to fly.
This snap shows TRAC officials and
others involved in the Spring Rally. Here’s
club president Jim Saiff, Wayne Smith,
TRAC secretary Paul Wiese, famous Joe
Piccolo, Henry Rundel, Bob Peiser, and
Jim Jones of Toronto.
Instructor Bob Peiser is on the left, Wray
Williamson, center, and Alan Yendle. Alan
is the WMWA secretary from Atlanta,
Georgia.
A picture is worth a thousand words. This
snap shows the highly detailed,
magnificently constructed models lined
up at noon so the spectators could come
out and see the airplanes up close.
The TRAC club is our Club of the Month
for this month. The club’s unlimited
hospitality enabled the WMWA to conduct a
big meet.
Here is another Club of the Month of equal
importance. The NSRCA, North Shelby RC
Association, is located south of Birmingham,
Alabama. The club’s field is Sorrow Field
after Glenn Sorrow, a former friend of mine.
Ray Antonio is the club president. Last year’s
president was Nelson Forbes.
CD Don Wade invited me to the club’s
Helicopter Challenge. It turned out that the
field they used was the Birmingham
Helicopter Modelers Association field near
Tannahill, Alabama (west of Birmingham).
Three members of the United States FAI
(Fédération Aéronautique Internationale)
team going to Japan this year for
international competition were present. All
proceeds from the blast were donated to the
F3C team fund.
Pictured here are the three US FAI team
members. Standing in the back are Wayne
Mann from Randleman, North Carolina,
Dwight Shilling from Carol Stream, Illinois,
and Len Sabato from Pesotum, Illinois.
Kneeling in front are CD Don Wade and
assistant CD Jhon Russell.
Some of the NSRCA members lined up for
a photo. Front: Bobby Pakbaz, Jhon
Russell; and Don Wade who is holding the
first aid kit I gave him for the club. Back:
Gene Powell, Jed Jacobson, Wayne Cree,
Steve Helmer, Dale Sparrow, my friend
Nelson Forbes, and Terry Burks.
Here is Jhon Russell again with his
beautiful family, Jhon, his wife Debbie,
and niece Kelly Wyatt. They are behind
Jhon’s helicopter.
Both the Tampa and the North Shelby
clubs are Clubs of the Month. There are
many more pictures of each on the District
V Web site at www.modelair.org. Both
clubs have been mailed a nice framed plaque
and cloth patches for each member.
I’m working on cloth flags for our Clubs
of the Month, but I can’t find any
inexpensive ones. Do you know any flag
makers?
I attended the Andersonville, Georgia, Peach
Pattern Classic for 401-406. The Flying
Griffins Club of Griffin, Georgia, was the
sponsor. The contest was held at the Mac
Hodges flying field 80 miles south of Griffin.
(There was a lot of field shifting this month.)
Emory Schroeter from Griffin was CD.
Emory Schroeter with his Pattern airplane.
I want you to see a picture of Mac Hodges
(above). Here he is in his hobby shop, which
is right on the flying field. It is also his
private land and farm. Mac is a very
pleasant person, a real gentleman. Under one
of his sheds on the farm are two full-scale
airplanes, a yellow Piper Cub and another
that is similar to a Cub.
Do you like soap operas and adventure
stories? Read this. The University of
Tennessee, Chattanooga, wound up with a
15-foot-long, $8,100 toy rubber blimp. They
didn’t know how to fly it.
What to do? They fiddled with it for six
weeks to no avail. In desperation they called
the Chattanooga RC Club. Could anybody
over there fly a 15-foot rubber blimp? And
the answer was of course they could.
Here is club treasurer Kevin Rogers (L),
Curtis Kistler, and club president Owen
Maupin adjusting the craft for an indoor
flight at a big sport contest.
If you have a 15-foot rubber blimp at
your house and you don’t know how to fly
it, contact the Chattanooga RC. They can
help you.
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]
District V Web page:
www.modelair.org/
Note: For a listing of all district volunteer workers
please consult a previous issue of Model Aviation.