District X Report - 2009/09
There are good events and good places to fly, and once in a while you get both at the same time. Associate Vice President (AVP) Rick Maida traveled with his wife Merriam to the Camp Far West seaplane event and sent in this report. The float fly was hosted by the Associated Modelers of Sacramento (California) May 13–17.
Camp Far West Seaplane Event (Rick and Merriam Maida)
“There was food, flying, fun, and lots of sun, friendship, a raffle, and a big old lake all for us. Wow, what a fantastic fly-in these guys put on. Very relaxed and very enjoyable. Hats off and a job well done to John Sorenson and John Hainlen.
“This event has been going on since 1976. It’s a hidden secret. The camping facilities were great. There were lots of shade trees and we had the whole area for just the pilots’ families and friends. Pretty cool.
“Total count for entries came to 39 pilots, so if you have a plane swinging from the garage rafters, slap a set of floats on it and come join the fun next year. The date is always the weekend before Memorial Day. It’s close to Roseville and Lincoln or Rocklin, California.
“Until next time, Rick and Merriam Maida.”
- Host: Associated Modelers of Sacramento
- Dates: May 13–17
- Location: Camp Far West (near Roseville / Lincoln / Rocklin, CA)
- Entries: 39 pilots
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Fresno Radio Modelers 2009 Memorial Day Fly-In (John Lockwood)
This story starts in late March or early April of 2009 when I got a phone call from Jim Giffin, the District X vice president. He started the conversation with “I’ve got some bad news.” The West Coast IMAA (International Miniature Aircraft Association) Festival at Chowchilla had been canceled because of an edict from the FAA. He then asked me if I thought Fresno’s flying site was sufficient to host such an event.
I said that with a little work on the field, I thought we could pull it off. He then suggested that I have it sanctioned through AMA so that we could draw more entries by not restricting it to just IMAA members. I agreed and immediately applied for an AMA class “C” sanction. Being a longtime IMAA member, I patterned the event along IMAA-size guidelines and started planning.
The cooperation from the Fresno Radio Modelers was phenomenal, to say the least. I asked the club if we could buy 100 event T-shirts and was told in no uncertain terms that we would need 150. Several club members got their bosses and friends to donate needed things to use for the weekend. We got a water wagon, a large electric sign, and eight 110-gallon, lidded trash cans to use for the weekend. We also had two six-passenger golf carts to shuttle spectators in and out of the parking lot.
I can’t thank the club enough for making this event a great success not only for us but for the 55 giant plane modelers who chose to come. We had a gentleman from Canada and one from Sweden attend and fly. This truly made this our first international event.
I had six awards to hand out on Saturday at a ceremony that turned into a “who’s who” from AMA because the Fresno Radio Modelers was being honored by AMA as the very first club in District X to be a Gold Leader Club for 10 years in a row.
Awards handed out:
- Best WW I: Quang Ngo — Aerco DH-2 (beautiful model that I own and was flying)
- Best WW II: Frank Banks — 114-inch P-38
- Best Civilian: Nigel Tarvin — Lockheed Vega
- Best Military (post WW II): Mark Taylor — F-100
- Farthest Traveled: Goran Girenander — from Sweden
- Pilots’ Choice: Mike Brown — B-36 (which I got to fly)
In all, we had the best weather on a Memorial Day weekend that we have had in a long time. It’s usually the first weekend of summer here in central California that goes over 100°, but this year we were spared by Mother Nature and the thermometer barely topped 90° all four days.
Thanks to Mike Brown for these great pictures of the planes and people at the event.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
