District VIII - 2010/08
There is much to report this month, so I'll jump right into it.
Fort Worth Warbird Fly-In
The Fort Worth Thunderbirds held a Warbird Fly-In. Terry Thorpe reports that 60 pilots attended and the weather was better than expected.
Here are a couple of pictures.
F2D Event at JETERO
Pat Wilcox held a world-class F2D event at JETERO Field near Houston. The field included 36 entrants, with at least 10 from outside the U.S., including two world champions from Europe.
Igor Dementiev from Moldova, the 2009 European Champion, won the event. Mark Rudner and Mike Wilcox finished second and third, respectively. The great supporting cast from JETERO made the event a true success.
Central Texas Jet Rally
The Austin Radio Control Association held its 21st Annual Central Texas Jet Rally in May. Twenty-five pilots experienced bad weather on Friday but enjoyed a great Saturday of flying. Ken White CD'ed the event again and had a great supporting cast.
One of the favorite participants was Commander Sam Snyder, USN (Ret.). He served from 1950 to 1973 and flew most of America's carrier-based war aircraft during his Navy career.
Sam's own-design, 96-inch-span RQ-16 SYZYGY UAV weighs 22 pounds.
Amarillo ARKS Annual Spring Fun-Fly
Jack Matlock and I attended the Amarillo windblown ARKS Annual Spring Fun-Fly. Winds were 15–20 mph at the pilots' meeting and reached 30 mph with gusts nearing 40 during the fun-fly.
At the event I announced the appointment of Cliff Town as the new Associate Vice President for the Panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma. I also presented Making a Difference (MAD) awards to:
- Event CDs Brian Schwarz and David Reighley
- Club President Dwayne Brown (not present due to illness)
- Cliff Town, for accepting the position after an extensive search
Fly'n D Ranch
We spent the night at the Fly'n D Ranch in Glen Rose, Texas. The property is under development but will have hosted a major event by the time this column is printed. The cabin was brand-new and more than adequate for its intended purpose.
Ron Wedel, the resort director, gave us a personal tour with running commentary on what the final product will look like. It will be a nice facility upon completion and will likely host many events. For more information, visit www.theflyndranch.com
Joe Nall
My wife, Linda, and I attended the Joe Nall fly-in again and were impressed by the improved facilities, the attendance at the general membership meeting, and the number of attendees and aircraft. You have to go to it at least once just so you can say you did!
Have fun and fly safely. See you on the flightline.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
