146 MODEL AVIATION
Times Are a Changing: As we move
into spring and summer, there are a couple
new things at hand we’re all going to be
really happy with once they’re
implemented. Both have to do with
converting what used to be handwritten,
Technically Speaking ...
Greg Hahn
Technical Director
[email protected]
Focus on Competition
National Record Updates
INDOOR AMA CEILING CATEGORY IV
HL Glider (212)
Open 3:24.8 Stan Buddenbohm 11/22/09
STD Class Catapult Glider (218)
Open 3:45.3 Stan Buddenbohm 11/22/09
CONTROL LINE
21 Proto (306)
Open 145.51 Jerry Rocha 12/05/09
Jet (309)
Open 205.16 Pilot: Joey Mathison 9/20/09
JH Rhoades/John Newton
As of February 2010
Are you trying to find an aeromodeling club
in your area, state, or district?
Log on to www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx
to find an AMA chartered club near you!
snail-mailed forms to a completely online
form that requires much less time and
effort, and also saves money and lessens
the chance for mistakes.
At the time of this writing, we have just
gone live with the new event calendar. It’s
completely searchable, with several new
search fields and a printable PDF for each
listing. It will be much easier to find your
specific interest or category and narrow
the field, so fiddling through all the
listings will no longer be required.
For those who are still attached to the
old calendar, it will be left up on the Web
for a short while, until everyone gets
comfortable with the new format. But it
will eventually go away, making room for
more new content. The listings will also
eventually be leaving Model Aviation
(midsummer), but the supplemental ads
will remain in the printed version and will
also be available as an attachment to the
online listing.
The new online calendar was an
important first step in the complete change
in the sanctioning system that is getting
close to completion. This change will
revolutionize the entire AMA
Competitions Department and how it
works with the Contest Coordinators and
Contest Directors in getting events
sanctioned, listed, insured, and reported.
I made a presentation to the full
Executive Council meeting in January,
showing the storyboard and the steps
required to complete a sanction. All
seemed to be very receptive to the changes
and especially the savings in postal costs.
A sanction as completed now requires
five full mailings to pass through the
system. The new system will cut that down
to one mailing or less. We complete
between 2,500 and 3,000 sanctions per
year, times five mailings; that’s a very
significant savings.
Another added benefit, of course, is
less handling and less chance for error or
loss. This should be a complete win-win
for all involved.
As you are working with the new
systems, there will be a Q&A e-mail
address to hopefully help you with
navigation issues or if you just need a little
help. It will be listed with the official
announcements and be available online
with the new sections.
By the time you are reading this, both
systems should be up and running, God
willing and the creeks don’t rise!
Considering the snow we’ve had up here
in the tundra this winter, seeing the creeks
rise wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Just keeping you up on what’s new at
the AMA. MA
04sig5.QXD_00MSTRPG.QXD 2/23/10 9:55 AM Page 146
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/04
Page Numbers: 146
