President’s Perspective - 2010/10
"I'm going to do this again someday."
AirVenture and the EAA model exhibit
On Sunday, July 25, AMA participated in a reception at EAA's AirVenture Museum to help dedicate the organization's new model aviation exhibit. A large turnout of EAA and AMA members was on hand to take part in the dedication.
AMA also participated in EAA's annual AirVenture aviation celebration after a two-year absence. Our booth was in the museum on the mezzanine, directly across from the model exhibit. It was a perfect spot for us as thousands of people stopped by during the week.
Many were AMA members visiting AirVenture, many were AMA and EAA members, and many were EAA members who simply wanted to know a little more about today's model aviation. Among the comments we heard from EAA members were, "I used to do this" and "I'm going to do this again someday."
Those who had an opportunity to walk through the model exhibit were impressed. The exhibit does a great job of telling the story and history of model aviation. It is interesting to note that many of the models on display are on loan from EAA members and many have AMA numbers on their wings.
Captain Tom Huff
As part of the dedication, Captain Tom Huff, AMA and EAA member, spoke about how an interest in aeromodeling led to his career in aviation. Captain Huff graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and went on to become a fighter pilot, flying operational tours in the F/A-18. He was deployed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and the USS Enterprise (CVN 65), and has accumulated more than 600 carrier landings participating in combat operations in Iraq and Bosnia.
- Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School
- Commander, Naval Test Wing Atlantic
- Based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland
Captain Huff flies models as a member of the Pax Aeromodelers, an AMA-chartered club, and has served as both club president and vice president. He spoke enthusiastically about his club's outreach efforts in partnering with his local EAA chapter to support Young Eagle rallies and air-show demonstrations at the naval base. He incorporates control-line (CL) and radio-control (RC) aviation into his Boy Scout Aviation Merit Badge Counselor program, his after-school modeling club, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) instruction. Captain Huff's excitement was clearly evident, and he's a wonderful example of what we all need to do to get young people excited and involved in aviation.
NASA partnerships and education outreach
In the August 2010 issue of Model Aviation (MA), I wrote about AMA's work with the Indianapolis Children's Museum in applying for a Competitive Program for Science Museums and Planetariums (CP4SMP) grant from NASA. That effort paid off when NASA awarded one of only nine grants in the country to informal education providers. Several new educational projects and programs will be created as a result of this grant.
There is more good news. AMA and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreeing to work together on classroom education outreach efforts for the purpose of earth science data collection. Although some of our AMA-chartered clubs have been involved in this effort, this agreement formalizes the partnership and opens the door to increased participation in the program.
- NASA trains a number of teachers each year to participate in the program; there is high demand with a backlog of teachers waiting to take part.
- AMA's involvement will provide the model aviation expertise and flying experience needed to make the program successful.
- As the program ramps up, we will notify our members and clubs about how they can become involved.
This is another example of a collaborative partnership that offers a tremendous opportunity for AMA to reach out to younger members of our communities and introduce them to model aviation.
FCC Part 95 NPRM
In that same issue of MA, I wrote about the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to "simplify, streamline, consolidate and update" Part 95 of its rules by replacing Part 95 in its entirety with a new Part 95. Frequencies set aside in the 72 MHz band for model aviation would be regulated under Subpart D of the new Part 95.
The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on August 4, 2010. As a result, the deadlines for filing comments and reply comments regarding the notice have been established as September 3, 2010, for comments, and September 20, 2010, for reply comments.
Our FCC attorney and our Electronic Technology Committee have reviewed the NPRM and see no obvious threats. However, there are some minor issues and clarifications we'd like to address, and we will be submitting our formal reply before the September 3 deadline. Once complete, the remarks will be posted on the AMA website for review.
Membership renewals and elections
AMA renewal notices will begin arriving about the same time as this issue of MA. Included with your membership renewal will be your 2010 election ballot and candidate campaign statements. Please take a moment to read the information and exercise your right as a member to vote.
See you next time.
Dave Mathewson AMA President [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
