District X Report - 2009/10
Sport fliers and events
I consider sport fliers the heartbeat of our hobby. They fly day after day, at their home fields, all across the country. It’s this type of modeler that keeps everything rolling.
I also believe that events are the heartbeat of the truly dedicated modeler. This type of modeler can be both a sport flier and a traveler. They may also be members of one or more SIG groups such as the International Miniature Aircraft Association (IMAA) or the National Control Line Racing Association (NCLRA).
The events they attend are great places for modelers and the public to enjoy our hobby together. These days I go to events either as a modeler, or as an Associate Vice President (AVP) supporting the AMA and its members.
Woodland/Davis Aeromodelers field and visits
This past weekend I attended two club events held by the same club at the same field. The Woodland/Davis Aeromodelers’ (WDA) Mavis Henson Field is in Woodland, California. I was able to attend a control line (CL) event, held July 25–26, and the 15th annual Wings of Victory, held July 24–26.
The field includes a beautiful grass runway and an asphalt runway for RC airplanes, plus five CL circles. There is also a large pond (or small lake) used for float flying when it is filled.
When I pulled onto the property, Channel 31, a local TV station, was just getting set up for a live broadcast. The event was later covered by channels 3, 31, and 58. Thank you to the stations for their coverage — it is an excellent way to promote modeling to the public.
Wings of Victory (July 24–26)
This year’s Wings of Victory event was a tribute to all WW I and WW II aircraft.
- Pilots: 35
- Airplanes: approximately 60
- Spectators: estimated 250 by organizers; I would say closer to 500
Event responsibilities were shared by Jim Adams and Forrest Barton, with lots of cooperation from WDA club members. Art Williams and his crew set up the field, making the event a great one. There were a few demonstration flights flown just before the airplanes were lined up on the runway for spectator examination.
Notable aircraft included Monty Welsh’s Dornier Do 335 — it sounded as good as it looked in the air.
Awards:
- Best Pilot: Chris Dellinger
- Best WWII Airplane: Frank Banks, P-61
- Best WWI Model: James Scott, Dr. I triplane
Control Line event (July 25–26)
The control line event was contest-directed (CD) by Jim Aron, who provided this coverage.
The ARF-OFF is a Control Line Precision Aerobatics contest that operates under the standard AMA rules except for the required use of a commercial ARF CL model. This is a tongue-in-cheek affair that was created two years ago to help diffuse some hard feelings resulting from the debate within our community on the place ARFs should occupy in our events and the “builder of the model” rule in general. We had 21 entries, which was about right for the unusual format.
In conjunction with the contest was a judging clinic held on Saturday. One of the problems we have locally is the shortage of qualified judges. Eighteen future judges showed and were instructed by Brett Buck on the fine art of judging Precision Aerobatics.
The rules of the contest on Sunday require that if you fly then you must also judge. This was accomplished by dividing the field into four pools of fliers/judges.
Precision Aerobatics, or stunt, is fairly healthy in the Bay Area and you can expect 35–45 people at a normal contest. Typically we will have between four and six local contests per year. It doesn’t hurt that we have some of the top pilots in the world: David Fitzgerald (current World and National Champion), Brett Buck (former National Champion), and Ted Fancher (many-time former National Champion and member of the US FAI Team).
Control Line stunt is alive and well in the Bay Area.
Closing
I wish I had more space. I had a great time at both events talking with pilots about the AMA and their club and watching the different types of flying. The next time you pick up your AMA magazine, look in the Contest Calendar section and find an event to attend, even if it isn’t your exact style of flying. You might find a new interest.
—AVP Mike Brown
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
