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HELLO! My name is Tony Stillman and I
am your new District V vice president. Thank
you to everyone for your support during the
last election.
My job as vice president is to attend the
Executive Council (EC) meetings and make
informed decisions that will benefit all
modelers. I am not representing any one
specific modeling interest but all types of
modeling from Indoor FF to Giant Scale RC
and everything in between!
I am writing this in early January, shortly
after assuming the position. You will read
this in late February and by then things will
be underway.
I am looking forward to improving
communications between District V members
and I am in the process of selecting associate
vice presidents (AVPs). As noted in my
campaign statement, I am looking for people
who actually want to do something for AMA.
The AVPs will be tasked to contact every
AMA club within their geographical area. I
want them to meet with members of each
club and create a relationship such that the
club members will feel free to contact them
for any issue that might come up. By the time
you read this column, the task will be
completed.
I will be hosting an open meeting of the
District V membership and AVPs at the
Southeastern Modeler’s Show 2005 in Perry,
Georgia. If you are going to be there, look us
up on Friday night. The meeting will be at 9
p.m. in a meeting room onsite.
We have a huge district with many major
events held each year. It will be impossible
for me personally to attend all of them;
however, I will be at as many as I can make.
Keep in mind that I’m a modeler too, and I
am active in the sport! I will be competing
both regionally and nationally.
When I am not competing, I plan to attend
events in the district from local fly-ins and
competitions to swap meets and club
meetings. I will be active and my AVPs will
be attending events and meetings, taking
pictures, and writing articles that you will
read in upcoming issues of Model Aviation.
With the huge number of events held in
our district, there will not be room on a single
page each month to put in every report. I will
have to choose from the reports that are
submitted and try to cover all types of events.
These reports will be posted on the AMA
District V Web site—www.amadistrictv.
org—that will be updated nearly every day!
If your event does not make it in the
magazine, you will be able to read about it
online.
The Web site will be one of the best ways
to contact me and see what is going on in the
district. There you will find EC meeting
reports, event reports, and much more. I am
working to add an official District V
discussion list to the site where you can sign
up and post to the discussion. This will be a
great source for information pertaining to the
district, as well as a place to get help with
modeling issues. I hope to have many notable
modelers from District V active on this
discussion list to make their expertise
available to you!
I am working with every AMA Special
Interest Group (SIG) to create a “cabinet” to
assist me when issues arise. Each SIG
president will appoint the representatives.
I attended the annual Northwest Florida
Modelers, Inc. (NFMI) Christmas banquet in
December. I had just received the AMA
election results, and the club asked me to
make a presentation to a great friend and
modeler: Gordon Dey.
Gordon was the club’s president when I
began flying back in 1971, and he has always
built wonderful Scale models and many
others of his own design. He even had a
Flying Doghouse from the early 1970s!
Club president Bobby Franks asked me to
present Gordon with a special plaque in
recognition of his military service and his
service to aeromodeling. President Bush and
his wife, Laura, signed the plaque! It was a
big surprise, as evident on Gordon’s face!
You deserve it, Gordon!
Tony Stillman (L) presented Gordon Dey
with his achievement award.
Gordon and his wife display the award.
The NFMI club has done so many things!
It has held two F3A RC Aerobatics World
Championships and three different Team
Selections (F3A twice and F3C once) to
determine who would be on our USA Team
competing in the World Championships. It
has sponsored numerous fly-ins, electric
events, and even helped with the SAM
Champs when it was held at one of the club’s
eight flying fields!
The NFMI club is one of the older and
larger clubs in the district with roughly 275
members in 2004. Many of these members
come from military backgrounds because the
primary training facility for the Navy, Marine
Corps, and Air Force is located here. The
large number of flying fields and warm
winters make it great place to fly.
The following pictures are from various
NFMI events including Scouts’ Day at Fritz
Field.
Here is the Scout troop with its leaders.
Jim Hartley assists a young Scout on the
buddy box while Albert Burton handles the
airplane.
I have much to do, so look for one of the
AVPs or myself around the district this flying
season!
District V Report
Alabama / Florida / Georgia /
Mississippi / Puerto Rico /
South Carolina / Tennessee /
U.S. Virgin Islands
Tony Stillman
Vice President
3702 N. Pace Blvd.
Pensacola FL 32505; Tel.:
(850) 324-5832; E-mail:
[email protected];
District V Web site: amadistrict-v.org
A complete list of district officers will be published
in the April edition of this column.
NFMI club member
Rich Herrmann
helps a Scout with
his first flight.
Rae Fritz and
grandson Phillip
enjoy some Indoor
electric flying
during an NFMI
electric event.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2005/03
Page Numbers: 156