District VII
Bill Oberdieck, District VII Vice President; [email protected] Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
As I write this month’s column, there is a slight chill in the air. It’s a reminder that fall is just around the corner, and unfortunately winter, as always, will soon follow. But for now that is another story.
We here in District VII have had a great year so far. I don’t think we could ask for a better flying season, although some days were just too hot for me.
Other good news is that Hardy Brodersen has been inducted into the Model Aviation Hall of Fame. It is a well-deserved award for Hardy for all his contributions.
District VII sponsored its first AMA fly-in/air show. The event was hosted at the Radio Controlled Club of Detroit (RCCD) flying site. RCCD put together a great team to carry out this task. Check out www.amadistrictvii.org for some pictures. Both of the above items will be covered in greater detail in a later column.
Junior Free Flight World Championships
The rest of this column is dedicated to the youngsters who brought home the gold from the FAI Junior Free Flight World Championships. I am very proud of these youngsters—especially the members of District VII and the local Detroit Balsa Bugs members.
For those who have never competed in any of the venues associated with our hobby, it may be difficult to realize what it takes to be a champion: hard work, frustration, long hours of practice, and more.
Thanks to Bill Shailor for supplying the pictures and the background information. Congratulations to one and all. It’s great to be an American.
On August 22–24, the Junior Free Flight World Championships were held in Cochstedt, Germany. For the first time ever in FAI Free Flight competition—Junior and Senior—the United States teams in the following events took gold:
- Nordic
- Wakefield
- Power
The award for best overall team performance also went to the United States. This was the first time it has ever gone to a non–Eastern bloc or non–East European country.
The team manager, George Batiuck, is to be commended for an outstanding job in getting all nine of his team members to work together as a team.
Included on the team are two members from the Detroit Balsa Bugs: Paul Shailor and Evan Simon. They come from a long line of free-flight modelers. Paul’s grandfather, Ernie, was on the US Free Flight Team that competed in Germany in 1955. Evan’s grandfather, Paul Simon, was Senior National Champion in 1951.
'Til next time, fly safely, have fun, and take a youngster to your field. C.A.V.U.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
