District XI
Black Friday Snow Fly (Mann Lake, near Lewiston, Idaho)
- Attendees: Mike Marsh and Don Hart. Walt Rozelle attended as a spectator.
The Black Friday Snow Fly at the Mann Lake flying field near Lewiston, Idaho, was held with snow-covered, slippery roads (four-wheel drive recommended). Flying conditions were overcast and cold with a light breeze out of the east.
Mike flew his CG SR Falcon on floats. Don flew his Razzle Stik on skis. There were about two inches of snow on the runway with small drifts, which made takeoffs and landings interesting. Both the floats and skis worked very well.
Mike made three flights and Don made two before giving up because of the cold and because Mike had a float mount failure when his airplane skidded into a drift.
Pictures commemorate the event.
Magic Valley Aeromodelers Club (MVAC), Twin Falls, Idaho
Gayle H. Fixsen, the secretary of the Magic Valley Aeromodelers Club (MVAC) in Twin Falls, had never belonged to an RC club before moving to Twin Falls four years ago. He produces the club’s newsletter and has compiled a synopsis of the club.
The MVAC currently has 35 members in Twin Falls; the neighboring Snake River Flyers Club has 23 members in Hazelton, Idaho. Together they represent south-central Idaho and join forces for many events. The club includes one couple and the rest are generally older men who have flown for years.
Over the years Gayle had thought about model airplanes and felt a yen to build again. After a 66-year gap, his wife encouraged him to build a couple of planes. At 81, he is a beginner pilot; his pride and joy is a 1/5-scale Cessna 182 that he spent a winter building.
A past member, Gus Williams, who passed away two years ago, told a story about a plane the club members built during World War II. It was quite large and took them two years to finish and get ready to fly. They had to build their own radio transmitter and receiver. The receiver had a small metal chassis, used tubes, and ran on two batteries. After checking controls thoroughly on the ground, they were ready for flight. The plane took off and was climbing nicely when they discovered they couldn’t turn it. Several members hopped into their Model A Fords and gave chase. They never did find the plane.
The club held a Fun Fly Day on August 28 and their annual Demo Day on September 11. To raise money this year they sold raffle tickets for two planes and two helicopters; tickets are sold over a four-month period with the drawing on Demo Day. They also run a paint-ball shoot at one of their planes and have a planned two-hour program of planes and helicopter flying for the public each day.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
