District VIII
Contact
Jim Rice, District VIII Vice President [email protected]
States
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Texas
Vice President's Report
As I write this, I am leaving in less than two weeks to enjoy AMA’s 75th Anniversary Celebration in Muncie, Indiana. It should be a great time, sharing modeling activities and stories with modelers for four straight days.
I received this note from Rick Frysinger in Austin, Texas:
“A great day indeed! Hill Country AeroModelers held an auction with 100% of the proceeds going to Fisher House. We raised $2,000 so Fisher House–Fort Hood and Fisher House–Brook Army Medical Center will each get a $1,000 check next week.
“The Hill Country AeroModelers has a lot of veterans and we had great member support in attendance, auction bidding, and airplane/flight-gear donation as auction items! This is just a great deed. Fisher House is such a wonderful organization taking care of America’s military families. We are proud that we could help. I just had to share the good news!”
The World Championships for FF F1A, F1B, and F1C were held in Embalse, Córdoba, Argentina. Faust Parker, who is an active competitor in F1C, a contest director (CD), and a great ambassador of the sport in District VIII, was on the U.S. team. He is from Houston and he led the team in points, helping the U.S. earn the silver medal.
The American F1B team took the bronze medal in its category. What an honor to represent your country in international competition and then to win a medal. It is just super.
Jack Matlock and I traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, for the Thunderbirds’ Old Farts Four-Stroke Rally. It is held the middle Wednesday of June every year. I guess that is when old farts have time to fly.
It has been going on for years and I have tried to go for the last six or eight years, but somehow I was always sidetracked. The only restriction is that you must use a four-stroke engine. You can really be any age to fly in it (or we might have been run off as too young to compete!). There were 24 pilots flying all kinds of aircraft and we had a great time.
I held roughly an hour-long town hall meeting to discuss FAA issues and any other items of interest to attendees. It was a lively session and I think we all enjoyed it.
Woody Lake was the contest director and he did a super job! Woody received the Making a Difference award and seems excited about it.
I was glad I attended because without me their event may have been considered incomplete. You see, they had an award for the best biplane and I had the only one there. Without me their awards ceremony would have been lacking. Glad I could be of assistance.
Thanks to Joe Jopling for making sure Jack and I had lunch. What a great sandwich.
The Thunderbirds have a beautiful site right on the lake, but will be relocating in the next few months. The Corps of Engineers is moving them to a different part of the lake and has built new runways, pavilions, and parking for them. Wish we all had that kind of support.
I am writing this in June when it seems half of the country is on fire and the other half is flooding. I know modelers take care of modelers and this may be another time to demonstrate that bonding. Hope all members were spared!
Have fun and fly safely. See you on the flightline.
Jim Rice District VIII Vice President
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
