District VIII-2011/08

August 2011 155
I TRAVELED to Greenville, South
Carolina, but never got out to the Joe Nall. I
spent two days in a conference room with
Rich Hanson and his work group in a faceto-
face discussion with the FAA.
We made some real progress on the
standards for model aircraft but some sticky
issues remain. I am told the FAA people’s
visit to the event went well. They have a
better appreciation of our flying operations
and their participation in the general
membership meeting that evening was well
received.
The publication date for the Notice of
Proposed Rule Making has slipped to the
last quarter of 2011; late in the year we
should see what the rule says and have a
better understanding of what the standards
need to cover.
I left South Carolina for the great state of
Oklahoma to spend time with my 93-yearold
mother and my sisters. While I was
there, I attended the Warbirds Over
Oklahoma event which was ably CDed by
Steve Keesey, the Oklahoma safety
coordinator, with assistance from Bill
Holland, our associate vice president in
Oklahoma.
It was terribly windy and unseasonably
cold but more than 45 pilots braved the
conditions and entered the event. The heavymetal
guys seemed to have little trouble but
the World War I aircraft were generally
grounded while I was there.
Grant Stephens’ beautiful WACO was
selected Best of Show.
This paint job on Grant’s WACO rivals any I
have seen!
The spectators enjoyed some great
flying, but perhaps the most exciting show
was by Michael Deloney whose turbinepowered
Eurofighter Jet was a real
showstopper. He had no problem with the
grass runway or the high winds.
Here you see Michael Deloney servicing his
airplane before the flight.
Bill and Sharon Holland with Bill’s Corsair.
The beautiful radial did an engine run-up,
but it wasn’t quite ready to fly.
The 5th Annual Ringmaster Roundup was
held in Houston with 17 pilots, all flying
some version of the venerable old
Ringmaster CL airplane.
Here is a group photo of the happy
participants.
Richard Staight, who submitted this
report, says the trophies carved by another
member of “The Brothers of the Ring” are
even prettier than the photos indicate. I wish
I had one just to display in my home.
They are really beautiful with great detail
down to the cooling fins on the engines!
I have appointed Randy Brown from
Kemah, Texas, as the new District Safety
Coordinator. Randy has several stints as a
club officer, is an AMA Leader Member, is
a Large Model Aircraft Inspector, attends
dozens of events every year, and is an active
CD. He is a private pilot and is the
transportation coordinator for a nationally
franchised corporation.
Randy is a good RC pilot too!
I was sorry that David Oates had to step
down but work and life, which are often
synonymous, sometimes win out over
volunteering with AMA. If you run into
either of these fine gentlemen, you know the
drill: shake their hands firmly, look them in
the eye, and tell them thanks for helping our
organization from the ground up!
Have fun and fly safely. See you on the
flightline.
District VIII
Jim Rice, District VIII Vice President; [email protected]
Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Jim Rice
Vice President
4810 El Gusto
San Antonio TX
78233
Tel.: (210) 213-
0299
For a complete listing of district
officers and volunteers, please visit
the District VIII website at
www.AMA-Dist-8.org
District VIII
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