Heart of Texas Grand Event
BY MICHAEL RAMSEY
AMA's hands-on modeling spectacular is enjoyed by hobbyists and community members from hundreds of miles around, in a place that is like a whole other country right here at home
AMA'S GRAND EVENT is special for a number of reasons. It's a carnival of modeling that is brought to a community in an effort to make kids and parents "wide-eyed" and excited about modeling.
The weekend of August 26-28 the Heart of Texas Miniature Aircraft Club (HOTMAC) welcomed more than 3,000 guests and hundreds of volunteers from There is no continued article text on this scanned page — it contains only photos with captions. No primary-article paragraphs follow the prior page's text. No primary-article text appears on this scanned page; it contains only photographs with captions. No primary-article text appears on this scanned page — it contains only photographs with captions. There is no continuation of the "Heart of Texas Grand Event" article on this page.
Grand Event 2005 Sponsors
The following individuals, companies, and groups donated their time, money, products, and equipment to help make this year’s Grand Event a success. Their generosity is truly appreciated!
- Allen Samuel Chevrolet
- American Red Cross
- Anderson Production
- Aquacraft
- Bank One
- Baylor University
- Boca Bearings
- Bosque Springs Ranch
- Brady Ware
- Brodak Manufacturing
- Buzzard Billy’s
- Castle Creations
- Cheddars
- Clear Channel Communications
- City of Waco
- Cricket’s Bar and Grill
- CTWP
- Diamond Backs
- Estes-Cox
- Four Pi, Inc.
- Fox Manufacturing
- Gordon Swanson
- Great Planes
- GRS Models
- Harry A Koch Company
- Heart of Texas Miniature Aircraft Club
- Hitec RCD USA
- Hoosier Kitefliers Society
- Ikarus USA
- Ikon Office Solutions
- Iron Bay Model Company
- Jerry Stevens Firestone
- J & Z Products
- Kiona Publishing
- Larry and Judith Johnson
- Lindsey Construction
- Lowe’s
- Masterfoods USA
- Model Rectifier Corporation
- Muncie Model & Hobby
- Poppa Rollo’s Pizza
- Powermaster
- Precision Cut Kits
- Premier Karate
- Providence Internal Medicine Associates
- RAM
- ReadytoFlyFun.com
- Rendigs Fry Kiely & Dennis
- Rick’s Casual Dining
- Sherwin-Williams Paint
- Shipley Do-Nuts
- Sig Manufacturing
- Subway
- Teriyaki Park
- Traxxas
- Tri-City Brokerage, Inc.
- TYMCO, Inc.
- VeriClaim, Inc.
- Waco Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Waco Fire Department
- Waco Hobby Shop
- Waco Tribune-Herald
- Waste Management
- Wildcat Auto Sales
more than a 200-mile radius to the 25-acre facility in the Speegleville Park just outside of Waco. August was not kind temperature-wise, but the smiles and hospitality were plentiful.
This was the eighth year this "welcome-to-modeling" event has been held, and the first that I've ever attended. To pick a single element of the whole show as the number-one reason for its happening would be impossible. Not only do the visitors benefit from the Grand Event; the community and most certainly the host and surrounding model clubs were rewarded as well.
My hope in writing this article is that it encourages other AMA clubs to apply to host a future Grand Event. To find out more about that, contact the Special Services Department at AMA Headquarters at (765) 287-1256, extension 250.
"It's brought all the members of the club closer together," said C.C. Adams of the HOTMAC association.
The purpose of hosting an event such as this is to welcome the community and the surrounding model-airplane clubs into the facility.
"Sure it was a lot of work," said C.C., "but since we began preparing I've seen members of the club I hadn't seen in years."
It was encouraging to find that every member of the club understood how valuable the opportunity was to have AMA host the Grand Event at their site.
"The club members gladly put a lot of effort into bringing this show together," said HOTMAC President Bobby Hill when asked about getting volunteer support.
AMA is the primary sponsor, and with the help of community and manufacturer contributions it was able to welcome visitors to the event so they could enjoy all the activities free of charge. Even the raffle was free, and there were some great prizes for the parents and kids. Volunteers who came to help weren't left out either; there was a special raffle with some great top-brand hobby items for them too.
During the three-day weekend visitors were challenged to fully experience what Grand Event had to offer because there was so much to see and do. The goal is to promote modeling as a hobby for the whole family.
This gathering is not just for airplane enthusiasts. Attendees are welcome to try RC boating, RC car racing, CL flying, and, of course, RC model airplanes. In addition to that, there is a huge area of the facility devoted to "make-and-take" activities. Much as it sounds, that's where the roots of modeling do begin because there's a lot of cool stuff to build.
Probably the most popular activity was model-rocket construction. The tables were filled all weekend. When these micromachines were finished, off in a safe corner of the property was an area where launch pads were in waiting for America's future astronauts.
Also under the big tent were other introductions to modeling that included building a kite and building a great-flying airplane from a Styrofoam plate. If you wanted to get an idea of what the Wright brothers had to do, there was even a craft area where porch-seat whittlers could chew through some wood and hone skills in tool handling and craftsmanship by carving a 20-inch propeller.
AMA promotes the event with a campaign spread in the radio, television, and newspaper media. Following upon the first year of that advertising, the first day of the event was bombarded by the top-rated radio stations—97.5 FM and 99.9 FM—reporters from the local newspaper, and even a local TV news crew.
The people from the media were so excited about the activities that reporters including Mike Anderson of the Waco Tribune-Herald and Darren Taylor of KWKT radio had to try flying one of Sig Manufacturing's LT-40 RC trainers and launching an Estes Gnome rocket they built that day.
The first thing visitors received when they arrived at the Grand Event were raffle tickets. Everyone in the car got one, and the prizes ranged from local business and restaurant gift certificates to hobby-related ready-to-run prizes such as model boats, cars, and airplanes.
The first thing they saw were the huge party tents filled with displays from local special-interest modeling groups, major hobby manufacturers, and static displays of the hottest models including jets and helicopters, Giant Scale International Miniature Aerobatic Club (IMAC) aircraft, and RC boats that go faster than you can imagine.
Of course AMA had its booth, and every once in awhile there would be an indoor helicopter demonstration with one of Model Rectifier Corporation’s Sky Robo electric-powered models.
Learning to fly an RC model airplane is a major feature of the Grand Event. The hands-on experience was initiated with flight orientation on one of the six Great Planes RealFlight G3 simulators. There was a lot of laughing there, but the knowledge gained proved to be valuable because the next step was to fly a model airplane for real.
Three flightlines were equipped with Hitec-guided Sig LT-40 aircraft. Along with a dedicated pilot to command the master transmitter, a dedicated flight instructor stood close by to mentor the student pilots as they became acquainted with the buddy box.
Behind the scenes was the harmony of men and machines as nine of the 12-model fleet got the special treatment as they were rotated through service in a series of crosschecks and preflight regimens. At least three aircraft were in the air at all times, which worked out to almost 20 hours of flying and hundreds of flights.
The RC boat pond was a refreshing venue. The 20 x 40-foot, crystal-clear, man-made pond was approximately 2 feet deep. Visitors used Hobbico Hammer boats to scoot around the wake. These are great ready-to-run boats with electric motors that took the abuse of running constantly all weekend. Every now and then local boat-modeling experts would demonstrate their beautiful scale ships and submarines.
The RC cars were kicking up dirt and burning rubber at the specially made motor-cross track filled with challenging jumps and winding turns. Electric-powered Duratrax off-road cars from Hobbico were used. Three cars were allowed on the track at once, and the 12-vehicle fleet pounded it nonstop. There were also regular demonstrations of the latest in giant scale and nitro cars.
CL flying is a great way to get into the hobby, and two flying circles were custom-built just for the Grand Event. It’s a good thing, too, because it proved to be one of the most popular things to do, not just for the kids but for the grown-ups as well.
Instead of flying 1/2A models, full-size Precision Aerobatics, or Stunt, models were used because of their slower lap speeds and smooth handling. Special “dual grip” control handles were employed so that the instructor could easily assist the student while flying.
In addition, some of the expert pilots demonstrated advanced Stunt patterns with their latest competition models or joined other club members to mix it up in a CL Combat demonstration.
Saturday was special. It was the day when noon flight demonstrations were scheduled, to show off some of the more spectacular aircraft that are available to the hobbyist. During the roughly hour-long show, people were treated to a turbine-powered jet, state-of-the-art electric-powered FAI Pattern aerobatics, Giant Scale IMAC Freestyle maneuvers, and 3-D helicopter mastery.
I want the pictures to tell most of the story and give tribute to the manufacturers that donated product and the people who tirelessly kept the cars tuned, the boats running, and the airplanes flying all weekend long.
The location for the 2006 AMA Grand Event has yet to be decided. With any luck it will be in your area. MA
Michael Ramsey [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
