District VIII — Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
I am writing this between Christmas and New Year’s. With weather in the 70s and light winds, I should be out flying, but I have to get this sent off before I leave for the AMA Expo in California.
District VIII Celebration — Venues and weather
I have a little catching up to do. The District VIII Celebration of AMA’s 75th Anniversary had several venues to allow CL (control line), RC (radio control), and FF (free flight). All free flight was held at Randolph AFB Auxiliary Field in Seguin, Texas. Wildfires in the state had FEMA trailers positioned at the site, so flying and retrieval had to avoid those areas. We have flown at that site for more than 40 years and it is a wonderful free flight venue.
Reid Simpson Memorial FF — contest report
Faust Parker, Contest Director (CD) for the Reid Simpson Memorial free flight venue, reported that at start time the consensus was that a 120‑second max was required, especially since the drift was directly toward the trailers. Throughout the day several aircraft left the field and Tom Bell lost his F1P near the road outside the gate. When thermals were good, many had to make off‑field recoveries.
Both days had some extremely large thermals in the afternoon. In all, it was a great meet with plenty of good flying and banter.
Juniors
We were especially pleased to have three juniors in attendance:
- Gina Barron
- Colby Fedor
- Cade Fedor
They had a great time and kept us all entertained. Gina had perfect rounds both days, but lost in a flyoff with her dad, Aaron, in F1A. They came from Connecticut for the event. Gina is on our FAI team for next year.
Scale fly-in
The Alamo Escadrille of the Flying Aces Club had a coincidental fly-in at Randolph during the event. Roughly a dozen modelers flew scale rubber‑powered aircraft over the two days.
TRIC — Trip to the North Pole
The Texas Remote Control Indoor Club (TRIC) flew again this year for the Trip to the North Pole event, sponsored by Valero Energy Corporation. The event is conducted to give local children with cancer an opportunity to meet Santa and enjoy games, festivities, and food. TRIC provided flying demonstrations, and club members truly enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the children.
Closing
Have fun and fly safely. See you on the flightline!
Jim Rice Vice President
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
