all day to collide head-on, and would
probably not be able to do it.
Grandpa Ron Johnson took the
disaster in stride, but I sure felt bad for
them, as the boys—including grandpa—
had looked forward to some lessons. We
did get the boys up with one of the AMA
trainers, and they did get some lessons,
so all wasn’t lost. In the end I think I felt
worse about it than they did. Ron left for
home in Minnesota on Sunday with a big
grin on his face, vowing to build another
trainer and get back into the air.
Later on Saturday I wandered by the
Control Line (CL) circles, where lots of
kids had lined up for an opportunity to
fly a CL model. The guys running this
operation goaded me into taking a turn.
Now I have a lot of time flying CL,
probably more than RC, but it has been a
long time.
CL isn’t something you “forget,” so I
replaced the regular instructor for one
flight with a youngster. We did fine,
flew out the tank, and landed the model
right in front of the pit crew. Luck?
The youngster insisted that I sign his
certificate, and I quit while I was ahead.
The funniest part came the next day
when someone told me that this
youngster had stood up in Sunday school
and bragged about flying with the AMA
president! Sometimes the little rewards
are the most meaningful.
Anyone who hasn’t worked with kids
in aeromodeling is missing a great
experience. The look on the faces of the
kids who have an opportunity to build
and fly a rocket or a kite, fly an RC or
CL model airplane, or drive an RC car or
boat is priceless.
THEY SAY that the best defense is a
good offense, so I’m going to have to get
in the first licks by telling my side of the
story!
Grand Event was wonderful this year,
and the Des Moines, Iowa-area modelers
did a great job of organizing and running
it. The weather wasn’t the best, but rain
squalls on Friday and Sunday weren’t bad
enough to dampen the spirit of the event.
I arrived Friday, just in time to see the
recovery from the rain. I was told that the
crowd had been good before the weather
came in, and frankly I thought the crowd
was fine after the storm, so it must have
been great before that.
My little incident started Saturday
morning at breakfast when I met a couple
of grandparents with their three grandsons.
We made small talk, kidding about how
“boys will be boys,” and it wasn’t until
they were leaving that it was mentioned
that they were headed out to the Grand
Event where the boys hoped to get some
lessons on their Radio Control (RC)
trainer.
Once at the field, I dropped by the
AMA Headquarters’ operation then
eventually made my way out to the RC
training site, where people had already
lined up for a buddy-box experience. In a
short time, the boys’ turn came up, and I
volunteered to help them.
After a little trouble with getting the
engine adjusted, the model took off fine
and once airborne, Mathew Brocker got
his chance on the buddy box. A few passes
and Mathew was just beginning to get the
feel of it, when whack—the model
exploded as had the AMA trainer we
collided with!
After the parts finished raining down,
Mathew turned to me and asked if he had
caused that. Obviously he hadn’t, as
midairs are seldom anyone’s “fault.” I
explained this to him, saying that if this
was anyone’s fault, it was mine as the
instructor. In all of the years I have flown,
I can only remember having four midairs,
and I explained to them that you could try
Dave Brown AMA president
President’s Perspective
I understand that next year’s Grand
Event is planned to be in California. The
Iowa modelers have set the performance
bar at the top of the scale. I think one of
the people on the field showed what this
was all about when he said, “I volunteered
to do the RC boats, thinking it would be
easy. It’s twice as much work as I
envisioned, but I’m having 10 times as
much fun as I expected working with the
kids.”
I think that says it all. Grand Event is
all about the kids—of all ages—who we
are able to give an exposure to modeling,
but it is also self-satisfying for those who
choose to become involved as mentors. MA
Till next month.
September 2003 5
Sometimes the
little rewards are
the most meaningful.
Dave Brown
AMA president
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2003/09
Page Numbers: 5
