View From HQ - 2009/10
It was a good day for cashing a "psychological paycheck."
October and the flying season
October keeps us on our toes as we head into the holiday season. It still offers enough warm weather that those in northern areas can squeeze in a few more flying days before winter and the building season begin.
Our members in the southern areas who fly year-round still question why people live where it gets so cold. Building season in the south is when you have to stop and build because you don't have anything else to fly. Either way, the holiday season will soon be here with limited flying for everyone.
Membership renewals
You will be receiving your AMA membership-renewal information soon. More than ever, we need your continuing support of AMA and your prompt attention to the renewal form.
Many in colder areas wait until the next flying season to renew. Taken at face value, that seems sensible: why renew when I won't be flying until spring? In reality this practice costs the AMA money—approximately $16,000—because those members receive second or third renewal notices. I hope you agree those funds could be better used elsewhere.
District II fly-in and Clapp Field
In July I had an opportunity to meet District II Vice President Gary Fitch at the annual District II fly-in in Olean, New York. Although the fly-in was held at the Cattaraugus/Olean Municipal Airport, Gary gave me a tour of Clapp Field, the club-owned flying site. It is one of only two sites in the nation designated as a National Aeromodeling Landmark; the other is Torrey Pines in California.
Less than 80 miles away, in Geneseo, New York, the Flying Aces Club (FAC) was holding its annual fly-in: the Flying Aces Nationals.
The Flying Aces Club (FAC)
FAC is a national organization devoted to free-flight (FF) models flown in competition using rules aimed at making competition flying fun. The principal focus of FAC is scale models. Club members are dedicated to promotion of FF model aviation—indoor, outdoor, competition, FAC meets, or just for fun.
- Acceptable power types: rubber, gas, electric, or other.
- This organization is not for nonflying or radio-control models.
- If the full-scale airplane being modeled had fixed landing gear, the model must have fixed gear. If the full-scale aircraft had retractable gear, the model may present the gear in the up position.
An impressive array of rubber-powered airplanes, some electric-powered models, and tissue-built aircraft with some of the finest workmanship I have ever seen were flown in the contest.
The history of how FAC derived its name from the old Flying Aces magazine can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Aces_(magazine)
A psychological paycheck: the scholarship award
Many of you know my use of the term "psychological paycheck"—the mental reward you get when you're affiliated with a positive event of great importance to others. During the FF portion of the National Aeromodeling Championships, AMA awarded a check for $13,900 to Kyle Jones, a 17-year-old from Avon Lake, Ohio, as part of the AMA/Charles H. Grant Scholarship Program.
Unaware that he had been awarded the scholarship, Kyle and his father were competing in the Nats when members of AMA's Marketing Department approached them for an impromptu interview about "family flying." Kyle's mother, who had driven from Ohio, was part of the deception and the surprise.
When the discussion turned to Kyle's future and education, Bob Brown, District III vice president from Bradford, Pennsylvania, stepped forward bearing an oversized check made out to Kyle for $13,900. The expressions on the father's and son's faces were priceless. It was a good day for cashing a "psychological paycheck."
In the spirit of flight.
Jim Cherry Executive Director [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
