Flying for Fun
THIS IS BEING written in mid-September-the peak season for fun-flys, fly-ins, rallies, or whatever you want to call them. The events I've attended so far have experienced record-breaking attendance. There were nearly 100 fliers for the Labor Day 49th Jumbo in Kansas City, Missouri; 75 at the Wichita IMAA event; a local fun-fly with nearly 50; and I read of 267 pilots at the Joe Nall Memorial, held in Greenville, South Carolina.
Flying for Fun
FLYING BUDDY John Riggs-who will fly in anything short of a hurricane or blizzard-invariably calls once or twice every winter to invite me to go fly with a bunch of guys using skis on the snow. My response is always "John, I can't see any way to fly off snow without standing in it. Call me back in April." Winter: Like some of you, I despise that season between fall and spring. The only possible positive aspect of winter is that it provides concentrated model-building and maintenance time to prepare for flying weather. (Of course, this doesn't apply to those fortunate souls who live in the sunbelt.)
Flying for Fun
SAP IS RISING, birds are singing, grass is growing, trees are budding, and evenings are lengthening. Obviously, we've survived another winter and it must be spring! Just as the sap rises in plants, the flying sap seems to surge within modelers each spring, stimulating a call from the flying fields to renew contacts with our flying buddies, check out our old models, test our new ones, and determine what mental and physical skills have been dulled by winter's cold.
Flying for Fun
What's in a name? George Myers' April column discussed AMA's evolution from a primarily scientific study group of the 1930s to a sport fliers group of the 1990s. His well-thought-out treatise traces AMA's change in emphasis and perceived mission. Reading his column made me ponder the difference between an academy and an association. My old dictionary defines an association as "an associated body of persons formed for a common objective; a society." Academy is defined as "a school for instruction in special subjects: an association of men eminent in literature, science, and art."
Flying for Fun
SOME OF MY LIFE'S greatest moments have been spent watching free flight models lock into thermals and climb as if they were being moved by the hand of God to become mere specks in the sky. Some of my happiest days were spent flying free fight with my sons at events all over the US. Unfortunately, as my sons grew up, retrieving free flight models became increasingly arduous. The mile markers got farther and farther apart.
