District V Report - 2003/07
WMWA Spring Rally (Tampa)
I attended the Tampa Radio Control Aircraft Club’s (TRAC) WMWA Spring Rally. The 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 generously offered its excellent flying field and facilities so the WMWA could 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 members—anyone was allowed to fly.
Club of the Month — TRAC (Tampa Radio Control Aircraft Club)
The TRAC club is our Club of the Month. The club’s hospitality enabled the WMWA to conduct a large meet.
North Shelby RC Association (NSRCA) — Club of the Month
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, named for 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. The field used for the event was the Birmingham Helicopter Modelers Association field near Tannahill, Alabama (west of Birmingham). Three members of the United States FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) team, who are going to Japan this year for international competition, were present. All proceeds from the event were donated to the F3C team fund.
Both the Tampa and the North Shelby clubs are Clubs of the Month. There are many more pictures of each on the District V website at www.modelair.org. Both clubs have been mailed a 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?
- Clubs of the Month:
- TRAC (Tampa Radio Control Aircraft Club)
- NSRCA (North Shelby RC Association)
Andersonville Peach Pattern Classic
I attended the Andersonville, Georgia, Peach Pattern Classic for classes 401–406. The Flying Griffins Club of Griffin, Georgia, sponsored the contest. The event was held at the Mac Hodges flying field, about 80 miles south of Griffin. (There was a lot of field shifting this month.) Emory Schroeter from Griffin was CD.
Mac Hodges
I want you to picture Mac Hodges. His hobby shop 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 similar to a Cub.
Chattanooga RC Club — the 15-foot blimp story
Do you like soap operas and adventure stories? Read this. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ended up with a 15-foot-long, $8,100 toy rubber blimp. They didn’t know how to fly it and 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? Of course they could.
If you have a 15-foot rubber blimp at your house and don’t know how to fly it, contact the Chattanooga RC Club. They can help you.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
