President’s Perspective
Summer 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!”
AMA 75th Anniversary
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 the following people and their teams worked together to coordinate our 75th anniversary celebration:
- Bill Pritchett
- Chris Brooks
- Jeff Nance
- Others on the staff
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.
Transition and settling in
I have been in close contact with AMA Executive Vice President Mark Smith and 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 U.S., 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.
Government Relations
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:
- Go to our home page at www.modelaircraft.org
- Look for the official-looking government capitol building icon
- Move your cursor over it — you will notice that it is a hot link
- Click on the building and you will be taken to the Government Relations pages
Response to Air & Space article
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 & 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 is 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.
Club recognition and education
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 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 community stakeholders. The Hot Springs club plans to accomplish this by inviting several local dignitaries to the awards ceremony and presenting 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 future.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
