District VIII Report
Arkansas / Louisiana / New Mexico / Oklahoma / Texas
Vice President
Dr. Sandy Frank 105 N. Brazos St. Weatherford, TX 76086-3207 Tel./Fax: (817) 599-7131 Web: www.AMA-Dist-8.org E-mail: [email protected]
Associate Vice Presidents
- Buzz Averill — 11608 Singing Arrow Rd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87123; Tel.: (505) 298-6870
- Lester L. Barry — 4808 N. Rockwell Ave., Bethany, OK 73008-5373; Tel.: (405) 789-5373
- Max Blose — 1001 N. Betsy, Waco, TX 76706; Tel.: (254) 662-5587
- Bill Fulmer — 356 Bellemeade Blvd., Gretna, LA 70056; Tel.: (504) 392-3620
- Bill Lee — 601 Van Zandt County Road 4815, Chandler, TX 75758; Tel.: (903) 852-5599
- Jim D. Marshall — Box 90992, Mission, TX 78572; Tel.: (956) 585-6446
- Douglas E. Powell — 5218 Kingston Dr., Wichita Falls, TX 76310; Tel.: (940) 691-8348
- Randy Randolph — 4873 Fallon Pl., Dallas, TX 75227; Tel.: (214) 381-7624
- Jim Rice — 118 E. Wright Blvd., Universal City, TX 78148; Tel.: (210) 945-8221
- Ron Stanfield — 26 Oak Ridge Dr., Maumelle, AR 72113-6846; Tel.: (501) 851-1697
- Charles Stevens — 226 Delta St., Pasadena, TX 77506; Tel.: (713) 473-4995
Frequency Coordinator
- North: Joe DuMond — 6731 Bridge Street, PMB-224, Ft. Worth, TX 76112; Tel.: (817) 457-6861
- South: Gene Kent — 19531 Stamford Dr., Tomball, TX 77375; Tel.: (281) 255-4805
AMA Display Coordinator
- Karen Hopkins — 5515 Bridgeton Avenue, Arlington, TX 76018; Tel.: (817) 467-9211
RC Contest Sanctioning (Douglas "Chief" Powell, RC Contest Coordinator)
Douglas "Chief" Powell, District VIII's RC Contest Coordinator, sent the following suggestions to help you navigate the event-sanctioning process.
"I have been wearing this particular volunteer hat now for nearly nine years. There have been some changes in the sanctioning procedure that are intended to help people get sanction applications processed as easily, completely, and correctly as possible. I want to share some of those changes with you.
"AMA began accepting fee payment for sanction applications via MasterCard and Visa a while back. With that came the ability for people to fax their completed applications directly to me. This saved the hassle of making out a check and sending it and the application forms to me via snail mail for district contest coordination before I send them on to AMA for the issue of the actual sanction and CD event package.
"Is this a help? I have to say that it is, since I must process applications in the order that I receive them.
"I routinely advise contest directors (CDs) during telephone or e-mail conversations of the availability of the dates on which they wish to hold their events; however, I cannot hold the dates open for them unless I have the hard copy of their application in my possession. The ability to fax the application directly to me — with or without payment included — means that within minutes, I can confirm their event date for them.
"Some opt to mail a check for the fee payment at a later date. The credit card number and expiration date confirms the fee payment and essentially, the process is complete.
"This sounds good unless the CD does not have fax capability. Then what do you do?
"Lately, several CDs have started using e-mail to send their applications to me almost instantly. They are using the PDF file of the Sanction Application form (302) downloaded from the AMA Web site.
"Using their Adobe Acrobat program to fill in the information, they include the credit card number and expiration date on the form. They then save the completed PDF document and e-mail it directly to me.
"Since I have high-speed Internet capability, receiving and downloading these sometimes large files presents no problem. I print out the application at my end and again, it's a done deal! I can readily verify the sender's e-mail address as that of the CD, and therefore the electronic signature is entirely acceptable.
"Both of these methods can ensure the virtually instant confirmation of a requested event date and lock it in for a club. This allows the club members to start advertising their event immediately. With the standard sanctioning process, confirmation of the requested event date(s) and subsequent advertising is delayed until the snail-mail process has run its course, and I mail, call, or e-mail confirmation of the requested date(s) back to the CD.
"Whichever method you use to submit your sanction application is fine with me, but please, use only the latest version of the application form. Trash all of the older forms you may still have stashed away because they are outdated and do not reflect current events.
"If you are unable to download form 302 directly from the AMA Web site, please just call or write to me and I will be glad to provide you with a few copies from which you can make additional copies as you need them.
"I realize that this information may be of little interest to those readers who are not CDs; however, there are some people out there who have been considering becoming one.
"I hope this information will enlighten some of those people as well as current CDs and help simplify the process for them. I also hope that this gives the rest of you a bit of insight to the event-sanctioning process.
"If you have any questions or concerns regarding your event dates or the applications, please feel free to contact me at any time by snail mail, telephone, or (preferably) e-mail. My contact information is listed in each issue of MA in the Competition Directory, and I have included it here:
Douglas "Chief" Powell 5218 Kingston Dr. Wichita Falls, TX 76310 Tel.: (940) 691-8348 Fax: (940) 691-8348 E-mail: [email protected]
"I shall look forward to hearing from y'all as the need may arise."
District VIII Event Calendar (Webmaster reminder)
District VIII's webmaster, Bill Lee, sent a reminder: the District VIII Web site has a very good, continually maintained calendar of events. The calendar contains sanctioned events often before they appear on the AMA Web site and always months before they appear in MA.
However, the district does not have a good handle on non-flying events such as swap meets, mall shows, and unsanctioned flying events.
Every club needs to notify the District VIII webmaster when such an activity is scheduled. Sending the information about these events will get them added to the District VIII Event Calendar. Please send event information to Bill at [email protected].
Safety Coordinator Note (Don Nix)
This note is from Don Nix, District VIII's Safety Coordinator.
"Sandy Frank asked me to take this job a year ago, and it's been interesting.
"Here is my background: I got my first model engine in 1948, started in RC 20 years ago, found PowerMaster Fuel in 1986, and sold it in 1998. I have been a full-scale pilot since 1961, holding a Commercial License with Instrument, Multi-Engine, and Glider ratings.
"Having owned businesses that manufactured 'hazardous materials' for many years (including one before PowerMaster), and managing to survive as a full-scale pilot for 44 years, by necessity I have spent much time giving close attention to safety.
"For decades, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has made information on full-scale accidents a matter of public record. Having read numerous such reports has been a major factor in my still being alive after thousands of hours of flying. Often I have found myself considering 'pushing the envelope' just a little too far, but then remembered where some pilot had died doing the same thing. It almost always changed my mind in a hurry!
"I want to see the AMA publish similar reports in the hope they would have the same effect on modelers when they are about to do something foolish. The reports wouldn't have to include the person's name, or even his or her location (although the NTSB's reports do). There would be nothing gained by embarrassing someone.
"I invite modelers everywhere to contact me to exchange information. My e-mail address is [email protected]."
Flying, fun, and fellowship, Dr. Sandy Frank
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
