August 2009 169
IT’S UNBELIEVABLE how fast time flies
by. There was the AMA Expo in January,
the Weak Signals’ Toledo Expo in April, the
Joe Nall in mid-May, and the Red Bull Air
Race in mid-June. And of course, there are
the AMA Nats and the regular fun flys and
air shows, and in between all the fun were
two Executive Council meetings in April
and July.
I was honored by receiving the AMA’s
highest award of Fellow, presented by
President Dave Mathewson at the April EC
meeting.
The Red Bull International Air Races were
held again in the Detroit-Michigan and
Windsor-Ontario area along the Detroit
River.
What does the race have in common with
aeromodeling? It’s airplanes for one, and the
fact that some of the pilots got their start in
aeromodeling.
Attendance at the 2009 Joe Nall broke all
previous records with more than 850
registered pilots. Matt Chapman was there
again, putting on his aerobatic display
including special formation flying with
Frank Noll, piloting an Extra 580 model of
Matt’s (below).
For the past four years, the Joe Nall has
become the venue for an AMA general
membership meeting, similar to the one held
in Ontario, California, in January, to
accommodate Midwest and East Coast
members.
Till the next time, get involved with
introducing our hobby/sport to a newbie. Fly
safely and have fun. See you at the field.
C.A.V.U.
District VII
Bill Oberdieck, District VII Vice President; [email protected]
Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Bill Oberdieck
Vice President
Box 1076
Southgate MI 48195
Tel.: (734) 283-4813
Fax: (734) 283-0650
www.amadistrictvii.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Larry Brannan, Grand
Rapids MI; (616) 956-6012;
[email protected]
Ed Bucki, S. Rockwood MI;
(734) 379-4054; thebuckster@
sbcglobal.net
Bud Gorman, Knife River MN;
[email protected]
Don Held, Elmira MI;
(231) 584-2662; [email protected]
Tom Pierce, St. Clair MI; (810)
367-6450; tom_pierce_48079@
yahoo.com
Mark E. Robotti, Lindstrom MN;
[email protected]
Tom Ryan, Greenfield WI;
(414) 881-0070; tomcat@
execpc.com
Charles Spencer, Archer IA
51231; [email protected]
Frequency Coordinators
West: Al Schwartz, Roseville
MN; (651) 633-2286
East: Pete Waters, Northville MI;
(248) 486-4800
Flying Site Coordinator
Joe Beshar, [email protected]
Webmaster
Ed Kincer, [email protected]
District VII Volunteers
Above: The
2009 champions
are (L-R)
Hannes Arch,
A u s t r a l i a ,
second; Paul
B o n h o m m e ,
Britain, first; Kirby Chambliss, USA, third.
2009 Red Bull Air Race in Windsor, Ontario,
Canada. Inset: Kirby Chambliss, USA, was
the 2008 winner.
08amanews:11amanews.qxd 6/23/2009 9:50 AM Page 169
Edition: Model Aviation - 2009/08
Page Numbers: 169
