I attended the Central Valley Radio Control Club’s (CVRC) Fall Soaring Festival held in Visalia, California. CVRC was formed in 1970 for the purpose of promoting RC Soaring. This was the club’s 43rd annual event.
There was a huge turnout for this event. There were more than 200 entries this year split between the Two-Meter, Altitude Limited Electric Soaring, Open, Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler, and Woody classes.
In addition to three great days of soaring, CVRC raised $1,000 for the Miracle League. The Miracle League constructs baseball fields so children with disabilities can play ball.
Claude Turner, CVRC president and the event’s CD, said, “Everyone had a lot of fun over the weekend. There was great lift and very close scores.”
I’d have to agree. Please enjoy some photos from the event.
I attended the Arizona Free Flight Championships in Eloy, Arizona. The contest is hosted by the Phoenix Model Airplane Club (PMAC). PMAC has a long history in District X. It originated in 1934. The club holds a number of FF and Old-Timer RC contests each year, of which the Southwest Regionals is the largest.
I went there ostensibly to show the AMA flag and to cover the event for this column, but I had a secret mission. Elmer Nelson, PMAC president, had been selected to receive the Carl and Beth Goldberg Vital People Award. This award recognizes modelers who have made a large impact on our sport at the local level, and Elmer certainly fills that bill. It was my pleasure to surprise him with the award during the contest. Congratulations, Elmer.
Larry Wolfe is a 2013 inductee into the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame. Larry was a pioneer in the effort to produce Scale models of jet aircraft. In the 1970s, he and Bob Violett produced the first successful Scale ducted-fan kit in the US, which was the A-4 Skyhawk.
He and his wife Tracy went on to found Jet Hangar Hobbies. He perfected the use of glow-powered ducted fans to give a true jet look to models. He later worked with turbines and today’s electric-ducted-fan propulsion systems.
Larry produced a number of proof-of-concept models for the aerospace industry, as well as models used in motion picture production. He is a noted Scale model competitor and judge, and conducts youth outreach in support of aeromodeling.
Congratulations Larry and welcome to the AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame.
I again have more photos to show than space allows. To see all of them, go to the District X website at www.ama10.org.
Until next month, may you have nothing but happy landings.
