District V Report - 2003/10

166
TWO CLUBS ARE Clubs of the Month this
month. First the Columbia RC Flying
Modelers in Tennessee. I attended the club’s
big, three-day Tennessee Jets meet. What I
saw there I almost could not believe. I still
can’t believe it.
The Columbia club sponsored the jet fly.
Here are some of the club officials: (L to R,
rear) contest director (CD) Mike Grant; Tom
Chism; Roscoe Brannon; Darral Teeples,
club secretary; John Buford, club
president; Al Dieterle; Brian Polkinghorne;
(kneeling) Joe Graham; Bill Zinger, club
treasurer.
The jet meet was held at the Maury
County Airport between Columbia and Mt.
Pleasant, The airport was shut down for three
days to full-scale airplanes so the model jets
could use all the runways. (Occasionally a
full-scale airplane would take off or land.) In
addition, the mayor of Mt. Pleasant sent a
firetruck with five firemen who stood by for
three days right at the field.
Mayor William Boyd also donated free
orange plastic fences to keep spectators away
at the required distance. Mayor Boyd also sent
two on-duty policemen to patrol the spectators
and fliers.
Seeing is believing. Here are the five onduty
firemen and behind them is the
firetruck. Services provided by the two
cities, Columbia and Mt. Pleasant, were at
no cost to the club. The five firemen include
Tim Smith, chief; Lance Smith; Charles
Thomason; Jeremy Finley; Scott Axsom.
These three were doing the important
impound work to keep everything running.
Meet Mike Cole (L), Marie Echols, and Joe
Graham.
Here is a typical turbine-powered jet. Tom
Dodgen and Bob Violett, both from Winter
Springs, Florida, are readying their big jet
aircraft for flight. Tom explained to me that
the speed control limiter device that
protrudes from the front of the aircraft
regulates the speed of the airplane in the air
and can be set on the ground first. Tom
says they are made in Germany.
On your District V Web site are 25
pictures of this Columbia jet blast, including a
picture of Bob Ballard, the Maury County
Airport manager who closed the field for three
days. The address is www.modelair.org.
Check it out. Not enough square inches on
this page for everything.
The Hill Top Flyers in Loganville, Georgia,
is our other Club of the Month. The club
conducted its second annual Combat meet
called Hot Atlanta Combat.
RC Combat is tying a long string on the
end of the airplane then gyrating through the
skys trying to cut an opponent’s ribbon and
protecting ones own. SPAD aircraft are
common, costing very little to make.
This snap shows almost all of the Hill Top
Flyers members present and some of the
other contestants who dutifully lined up for
this priceless picture. Back row (L-R
generally): Buck Kennedy; Rich Trommer;
Jim Grizzle; Dick Hart; Mike Davis; Steve
Clevenger; Don Pruitt; Don Grisson; Joe
Tarpley; Dick Kumin; Ben Callaway. Front
row: Chris Davis; Richard Trommer; Dave
Eaton; Bruce Greenwood; Michael
Imboden; John Johnson; David Moore; CD
Rick Scheula; David Morgan; Wayne
Thomason.
Above is club president John Johnson with
his .15-powered SPAD airplane preparing
for flight. The fuselage is plastic gutter pipe.
Not long after this picture was taken, John
suffered a mid-air collision with another
aircraft and lost the wing from his model.
He said the other airplane was cut in half.
Pictured above: David Morgan and Lou
Melancon. Lou is the District V Contest
Board Coordinator for RC Combat. Lou
should know; he’s involved. Here he is with
one of his Combat airplanes. The District V
Web site has many pictures of the RC
Combat contest (no room here).
Both clubs, as Clubs of the Month, will
receive cloth patches, a flag to fly, and a
framed plaque.
These five ladies are all members of the
Ocala, Florida, Flying Model Club. These
ladies actually fly model airplanes. They
have formed a club within a club. They call
themselves The Pink Squadron. (L to R)
Lisa Lameka; Jodi McDaniel; Jan Minogue;
Juli Johnson; Judi Dunlap. Judi is the
District Contest Coordinator for Florida.
District V Report
Frequency Coordinator: Jim McNeill
Associate Vice Presidents
James Alvis, Jackson MS (601) 956-4978
Sherwin Arculis, Huntsville AL (256) 883-9838
Malcolm Boartfield, Marietta GA (770) 977-4126
Ron Chidgey, Pensacola FL (850) 476-8639
Judi Dunlap, Summerfield FL (352) 347-5852
Rod Gier, Cocoa FL (321) 636-2148
Michael Gregory, Greenville SC (864) 244-8660
Louise Izzo, Wintersprings FL (407) 699-4929
Richard Jackson, Charleston SC (843) 744-4575
Bob Laine, Goldmine GA (770) 466-5336
Richard MacEntee, Palmetto FL (941) 729-1524
Joseph Micalizzi, Fajardo PR (787) 863-9163
Fred Mulholland, Tampa FL (813) 962-7020
Nancy Riley, Lake Placid FL (863) 699-1215
Melvin Sires, Aiken SC (803) 649-4073
Manny Sousa, Gulf Breeze FL (850) 932-6383
Jim Stewart, Gardendale AL (205) 631-6968
Ward Van Duzer, Gainesville GA (770) 718-0122
Lee Webster, Manchester TN (615) 728-3283
Bud Williams, Gray TN (423) 477-0772
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/