District VIII Report - 2010/06
Author / Contact
Jim Rice, District VIII Vice President [email protected]
States:
- Arkansas
- Louisiana
- New Mexico
- Oklahoma
- Texas
San Antonio centennial celebration
As Fort Sam Houston (the birthplace of military flight), the U.S. Army, and San Antonio celebrated the 100th anniversary of military aviation, the San Antonio Prop Busters (SAPB) club was invited to participate in a day of activities at the Institute of Texan Cultures, a museum in San Antonio. Through its collections, exhibits, and programs, the facility serves as a forum for the understanding and appreciation of Texas and Texans.
The plan included a static display of military aircraft, a flight simulator for visitors to experience RC flight, and flight demonstrations. Charles Strang, SAPB president, handled the static displays and simulator but requested assistance from the local indoor club, Texas RC Indoor Club (TRIC), to run indoor and park-flyer programs. Rick Doucette, TRIC president, joined Charles for a visit to the museum and determined indoor flying would work best. On March 6, 2010, several Prop Busters and TRIC members spent the day displaying, flying, and talking to visitors about modeling.
TRIC members were tired after six hours of flying; only four pilots managed to keep airplanes in the air continuously.
Globe Trotter project (WattFlyer)
Fort Worth Thunderbirds members Gene Lord, Jason Meadows, and Gary Nelson participated in the worldwide Globe Trotter project in February. Orchestrated by WattFlyer, the project has been more than three years in the making. The idea is to fly an electric model airplane by shipping it from pilot to pilot around the world. The aircraft, known as Wiggy, is resilient and user-friendly. I visited the project’s website (www.wattflyer.com) to review some of the effort. It is quite an undertaking and an honor for these folks to participate.
Wedding
A great pilot and good friend got married this week. Jason Danhakl, a former San Antonio resident now living in Illinois, returned to San Antonio to marry Lauren. His wedding party was full of modelers and many attendees were fellow pilots. I’ve seen Jason more comfortable landing a dead-stick, out-of-trim, tail-heavy airplane than he appeared to be at the altar — just kidding. Since he is well known around the country, I included a picture of Jason and his beautiful bride in the column.
FAA meeting
In March, Dave Mathewson, AMA president; Rich Hanson, AMA Government and Regulatory Affairs; and I met with Rick Prosek, the new manager of the Unmanned Aircraft Program Office at the FAA, and members of his staff in Washington, D.C. We are still trying to nail down what is acceptable to the FAA and what is fair and equitable to modelers. There is a lot of work to be done, but we are hopeful that mutually acceptable positions can be found.
Closing
Have fun and fly safely. See you on the flightline.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
