President's Perspective-2011/08

ummer is here and I sure hope you
are getting to the field to enjoy some
super flying! I’ve been trying my best
to make it out to the field at least once a
week, but somehow “honey dos,” work, and
AMA issues seem to crop up at the last
minute.
So far, I’m pretty pleased with my
flying—that’s code for “I haven’t broken
anything yet!”
This past month I have been busy
helping plan for AMA’s 75th Anniversary
celebrations. As I write this column it is
early June, but I am confident all who join
us for our celebration will have an
outstanding experience.
I want to express my appreciation to the
staff members who are putting a ton of time
and energy into the celebration so that AMA
members can enjoy the event. It has been
gratifying to see how Bill Pritchett, Chris
Brooks, Jeff Nance, and their teams worked
together, along with others on the staff to
coordinate our 75th anniversary celebration.
Of course, this is all under the leadership of
our new executive director, Dave
Mathewson.
Assuming the responsibilities of AMA
president has given me a new appreciation
for the talent and dedication of our staff. I
anticipate that we have seen just the
beginnings of what Dave and our staff can
do for us. I have been in close contact with
President’s Perspective
AMA Executive Vice President Mark Smith
S
Dave to ensure the transition into his new
position is as easy as possible.
My wife, Ruth, and I have made several
moves throughout the years to various
places in the US, but Dave hasn’t. He
confided in me that he has had a tendency to
hoard things for the past 30 or so years, and
thus packing was a bit burdensome. I will
continue to work closely with Dave and his
wife, Ginger, to get them settled into their
new home in Muncie, Indiana.
I hope you are regularly checking out
information on our Government Relations
website as we had a flurry of activity during
the last couple of weeks. What, you don’t
know where to find it?
It’s really simple—just go to our home
page located at www.modelaircraft.org and
look for the official-looking government
capital building and move your cursor over it
and you will notice that it is a hot link. Simply
click on the building and there you go!
I was duly impressed with how fast our
Director of Public Relations and
Development, Chris Brooks, and Rich
Hanson, our Government and Regulatory
Affairs man, responded to the article in the
Smithsonian publication Air and Space
magazine. Chris, Rich, and Dave worked
tirelessly to craft a letter to the editor which
explains our concerns with unsafe flying.
You can appreciate that this a critical
time for model aviation with the impending
FAA regulations. I assure you that the AMA
staff and Executive Council members are
vigilant in doing everything possible to
ensure we will continue to enjoy our beloved
hobby for another 75 years.
I have the honor of making two very
important presentations. My local club, the
Hot Springs R/C Flying Club, has worked
hard to achieve the Gold Leader Club status.
As many of you probably know, only a
small percentage of our clubs achieve this
level and I urge you all to join them!
Additionally, this club won a Flying
Site Assistance Grant to further enhance its
site. I urge you to take every opportunity
to elevate your club’s presence with the
community stakeholders. The Hot Springs
club plans to accomplish this by inviting
several local dignitaries to the awards
ceremony and present them with the
awards so that the plaques will be proudly
displayed to the public.
My second presentation will be awarded
to Ron Hubbard, a teacher at Bryant Middle
School in Bryant, Arkansas, who has done
an outstanding job teaching his students
graphics and science using model aviation.
The ceiling of his classroom is covered with
beautiful models of all sizes and shapes.
AMA’s Education Director Bill Pritchett
has more about this remarkable man in his
column on page 145.
It goes without saying, getting our youth
interested and involved in aviation is critical
to our next 75 years and Ron is a prime
example for us all!
Enjoy the summer and I look forward to
flying with you! MA
Mark Smith
AMA Executive Vice President
[email protected]
August 2011 5
Mission Statement
The Academy of Model Aeronautics is a world-class association of modelers organized for the purpose of
promotion, development, education, advancement, and safeguarding of modeling activities.
The Academy provides leadership, organization, competition, communication, protection, representation,
recognition, education and scientific/technical development to modelers.
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