District X Report - 2010/05

152 MODEL AVIATION
THIS HOBBY wouldn’t be what it is
without its volunteers. From every chartered
club up to the AMA Executive Council,
AMA is filled with them. These volunteers
spend countless hours helping the hobby that
they, and we, all enjoy.
They don’t get paid and not only does it
take time away from their flying, it takes
time away from their families. This hobby,
among many others, couldn’t exist without
its volunteers.
Occasionally an award is given to
someone who goes above and beyond, a
person who gives continuous service to his
or her organization.
This year’s AMA Expo in Ontario,
California, is in the books. Although you will
be able to read about it in various places, I
felt it was still worthy of additional coverage.
Sunday seemed a little slow, but Friday
and Saturday were packed. Although I stayed
in the District X booth quite a bit, Saturday
afternoon I went looking for something for a
friend, and it was all but impossible to get
through the aisles. Several vendors I talked
with said they had done great; only one’s
sales were down.
For those who have never been to a trade
show, there are many things to enjoy, such as
getting to see all the new products, and
taking advantage of show specials, and no
shipping charges. There were two areas for
kids where they could build rockets or
gliders, and an indoor flight area for small
airplanes, helicopters, and other aircraft.
This year’s show was special because of
the addition of several guest speakers
including aerobatic champion pilot Matt
Chapman, NASA Shuttle commander Robert
“Hoot” Gibson, Nemesis NXT designer Jon
Sharp, engineer Dan Kreigh, Captain Tom
Huff, and the famous Burt Rutan. I was able
to attend a couple minutes of Burt Rutan’s
talk and it was packed with interested
listeners far beyond the seating area.
From everything I heard and saw, I’d say
the show and the guest speakers were a huge
success. If you were not able to attend this
year’s Expo, next year’s will be January 7-9,
2011. Don’t forget to start saving early; you
are going to want to bring a bunch of neat
stuff home.
At the request of Jim Giffin, AMA
president Dave Mathewson presented the
distinguished service award to District X
associate vice presidents (AVPs) Greg
Clemson and me during the AMA Expo.
Greg Clemensen with Dave Mathewson.
Greg works very hard for the district and
especially the clubs and AMA members in his
area.
This 1/3-scale F-117A Nighthawk was at the
show so kids could get in and have their
picture taken. Here a father and son enjoy
the experience. That boy has a huge smile on
his face. I think the dad does too!
The Silent Electric Flyers of San Diego,
California, have proposed the Electric
Miniature Aerobatic Club (EMAC).
The International Miniature Aerobatic
Club (IMAC) has been growing the last few
years. IMAC is patterned after the
International Aerobatic Club, which is for
full-scale fliers. IMAC started in the 1970s
and has 1,100 US members and many
foreign countries are emulating the club.
The Basic Class is for beginners,
followed by Sportsman, Intermediate,
Advanced, and Unlimited, as the program
becomes increasingly more difficult. The
maneuvers are written with special symbols
called Aresti and the pilots try to fly them as
accurately as they can on each of the 10
figures in their sequence.
Four years ago, several people from San
Diego decided to propose an electric version
of IMAC and called it, as you might expect,
EMAC. The first event consisted of 15-20
pilots flying in a one-day contest. Only
electric-powered airplanes could be used.
The Silent Electric Flyers of San Diego
sponsors the series (five to seven contests are
planned each year) and keeps standings for
the contests. They use the IMAC rules and
sequences. The flying site is near Sea World
on Mission Bay and the first contest of 2010
has already been held.
Approximately 15 pilots flew two rounds.
Two sequences were flown in front of
trained judges and surprisingly, the whole
contest took roughly five hours. The contest
started at 10 a.m. and continued until 3 p.m.
Steve Dente was one of the originators of
the series and is the chief administrator and
CD of this year’s series. Pedro Brantuas
handles the posting of results and pictures.
John Forester is in charge of the scoring.
At the end of the series, the standings will
be derived by taking the best four out of six
contest results for each pilot in each class to
determine the winners for 2010. It’s easy, it’s
fun, and it is electric precision flying that all
can enjoy and look forward to doing every
six weeks or so a year.
—Tim Attaway,
Regional Director of IMAC .
District X
Mike Brown, District X Vice President; [email protected]
Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah
Mike Brown
Vice President
Box 69,
Bella Vista CA 96008
Tel. (530) 549-3005
[email protected]
www.ama10.org
Associate Vice
Presidents
Tim Attaway, Chula Vista CA
(619) 427-6392
Denny Baker, Brentwood CA
(925) 513-1224
Darwin Barrie, Chandler AZ
(480) 946-8955
Greg Clemensen, Las Vegas NV
(702) 870-6242
Wayne Hamada, Honolulu HI
(808) 521-7733
Kevin Houser, Oro Valley AZ
(520) 490-7657
Marc Karpowich, Logan UT (435)
232-1873
John Lockwood, Clovis CA
(559) 298-1606
Rick Maida, Morgan Hill CA
(408) 778-6885
Scott Malta, Merced CA
(209) 723-4202
Bill Malvey, Ladera Ranch CA
(949) 481-8624
Jerry Neuberger, Santee CA
(619) 258-4477
Jon Wilson, Ryde CA
(916) 776-2797
Contest Coordinators
Ellis Hall, Fair Oaks CA (North);
(916) 217-6302; [email protected]
Tim Attaway, Chula Vista CA;
(619) 427-6392;
[email protected]
Wayne Hamada, Honolulu HI;
(808) 521-7733;
[email protected]
Roxanne Cottrell (Utah and
Arizona only), Mesa AZ; (602) 321-
7955; [email protected]
District X Volunteers
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