December and January seem to be slow months for events in District VIII. I have started to fill my schedule for the year and am looking at events that I plan to attend.
Associate Vice President (AVP) Jack Matlock presented a Superior Service award to Ed Valls of the Tri-City Flyers for his hard work and dedication to the club and to AMA.
Ron Stanfield has served District VIII for the last 13 years as an AVP in Arkansas and has decided it was time to step down and do other things such as building and flying more at home. We will miss Ron. We thank him for all of his hard work and dedication to District VIII and AMA. I want to wish him the best of luck going forward.
Cecil Collum will be taking over as the AVP in Arkansas. He has been building model airplanes since 1950. Cecil enjoys scratch-building and all types of models. He has served the district as a state safety coordinator for Arkansas for a year or two.
Cecil served in the U.S. Army in the 1990s. Please help me welcome him to the District VIII team.
For New Year’s Day I went out to one of the local fields to get in my first flights of the year. The temperatures were in the low 40s with the winds of 5-8 mph. I figured there it would be a fairly big crowd, but that was not the case.
I found a group of roughly 12 people who had come out to get a few flights in. It was a good day for flying until 11 or so when the winds kicked up to 15-20 mph, which ended the day for everyone.
Marlin Smith flew some 3-D with his 3D Hobby Shop fleet.
Marlin, Mike and I usually try to fly together when we can. Marlin has been much help to many people at the field, helping them break in new aircraft.
At the last AMA Executive Council meeting, a new National Aeromodeling Historic Landmark was approved. This one is the North Blimp Hangar Building #28, in Tustin, California, at the Marine Corps Air Station. The site has a listing in the National Register as well.
The site hosted the 1952-1967 Indoor Nats, as well as the location for several indoor records. This year it was the only location that was nominated for the National Aeromodeling Heritage Program.
The reason I mention it in the District VIII column is because there is a site in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the same designation. Below is a photo of the signage that goes with the site. The Albuquerque Radio Control Club, along with the City of Albuquerque, built the stand and motor.
The requirements for a site to be recognized are on the AMA website. As of now there are only four sites in the country. In 2003, Torrey Pines in California was selected; in 2005 Clapp Field in New York was so designated; and in 2006, Maloof Airpark in New Mexico was chosen.
Nothing has been nominated or approved since.
Hope to see you all at the field!
