District VIII Report - 2003/10

October 2003 169
PLEASE NOTE below the new date for the
Southwestern Aeromodeling Conference,
October 3-4, 2003. All AMA members are
cordially invited to attend this event. Keynote
speakers will include Wes DeCou, AMA
Flying Site Assistance Coordinator, and
Special Services Director Carl Maroney.
Each speak Friday, October 3, 2003, from
8 a.m. until 10 a.m. whereupon the trade
show will open to the public. Other seminars,
workshops, and symposiums will include one
for club newsletter editors (Saturday at
approximately noon) and a safety seminar for
model aircraft (times yet to be scheduled).
This will be the largest gathering of model
aircraft enthusiasts in the region. It will be a
modeling trade show of major proportions, a
swap meet, a modeling auction, a static
display of models, and it will be the largest
indoor flying activity within the region. It
will be a place to interact and network with
other enthusiasts nationally and
internationally!
All of this is made available by the
volunteer workers from within District VIII.
It is available for the modest admission of $5
per day. All profits will go to AMA projects.
Mark your calendar and please plan to
attend the Southwestern Aeromodeling
Conference, October 3-4, 2003. I promise
you will have an excellent experience at this
tremendous gathering of model aircraft
enthusiasts.
The Academy of Model Aeronautics is the
glue that bonds model aircraft enthusiasts
together!
If it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it! AMA is
an organization of, by, and for the model
aircraft enthusiasts! It is an organization
that—for the most part—operates through the
volunteering of numerous national, regional,
and local workers. There is an office staff
located in Muncie, Indiana, at AMA
Headquarters. Much of the staff’s work is
clerical and administrative.
It is the activities of literally hundreds of
volunteer workers that really make the
programs and activities of the AMA function.
District vice presidents (VPs), your
representative to the AMA Executive
Council, associate vice presidents (AVPs),
contest coordinators, district Webmasters,
Contest Board members, district librarians, as
well as educational coordinators, publicrelations
display coordinators, and contest
directors are but a few of the numerous
volunteers who make it happen.
Several people have asked me why not
just shuffle around and arbitrarily change
these individuals? My typical response is, “If
it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it!” To
arbitrarily replace individuals who are
volunteering their time and effort to support
your modeling activity just because you
would like to see someone else (new blood)
or yourself in that role, would be a terrible
way to say thank you to those volunteers!
If you have a complaint with any service
rendered by any volunteer worker associated
with the AMA, please bring it to my
attention! If you would like to volunteer to
perform an activity or service which would
benefit all of modeling, please contact me.
There are many opportunities and many tasks
which are still to be confronted by our
volunteers!
To change people and programs just for
the sake of changing things around? I
reiterate, “If it isn’t broken, then don’t fix it!”
May 30-June 1 in North Little Rock,
Arkansas, the North Little Rock Sky Tigers
hosted the 13th annual S.M.A.L.L. (Small
Model Airplane Lovers League) 2003. Ron
Stanfield, District VIII AVP, was the contest
director (telephone: [501] 891-1697). This
fly-in was limited to .26- or smallerdisplacement
engines and electrics were
welcome. There was also indoor flying on
Friday evening.
This event was cosponsored by a major
modeling publication. There were more than
100 registered pilots and, due to the nature of
this event, each entrant brought several
models. At times there were several hundred
models on the flightline.
The following photos are from this North
Little Rock event.
Ron Stanfield being inducted into the
District VIII Dirty Dozen Society, a program
of recognition for the numerous hard
workers at the local level!
The indoor flying on Friday evening at
North Little Rock saw some interesting
models. Here is a scaled-up Delta Dart. It
flew well!
Indoor pilots at the North Little Rock event.
Keith “Sparky” Sparks from Ft. Worth,
Texas, with an all-electric C-130. It was an
awesome flier.
Pat Trittle from Albuquerque, New Mexico,
was at the North Little Rock event with his
scratch-built (from plans) 1914
Ingram/Foster biplane. It is truly museumquality
construction.
Flying, Fun, and Fellowship! Dr. Sandy
Frank, your representative to the AMA
Executive Council (Board of Directors).
For a listing of district-level volunteer workers,
please consult the previous issue of this publication
or the above Web site.
Arkansas / Louisiana / New
Mexico / Oklahoma / Texas
Dr. Sandy Frank
Vice President
105 N. Brazos St.,
Weatherford TX 76086-3207
Tel./Fax: (817) 599-7131
E-mail: [email protected]
www.AMA-Dist-8.org
District VIII Report