Mid-America Challenge
The 1995 Mid-America Challenge was held August 16-20 at Muncie's National Flying Site. Pilots from as far away as California competed for top honors in three classes of air racing: Formula I, Thompson Trophy, and AT-6. First place in each class earned a $1,000 cash prize. Pilots competed on the site's newly completed Stage Center runways. Each race consisted of six laps around a two-pylon left-hand-pattern course. Ed Rankin took first place in the Formula I event; Roger Cirelli and Bill Bloss rounded out the top-three positions.
You're Never Too Old
Hallelujah! It's done! But not without, blood, sweat, and tears. They are necessary to make a model airplane, but they can't be found in a kit or instruction manual. It's hard to witness someone else experiencing the joy of a completed model airplane without having the urge to make one. For me, the fateful desire came while watching people having fun at the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) Flying Site. I remember my brother carving balsa wood airplanes in the 1930s; they were flown by winding a large rubber band that was attached inside of the model from the tail to the propeller. I helped him with the decoration; the covering, which was made of tissue paper, and lettering, which took much of a kid's time and patience.
If at First
It was a a perfect day for flying - sunny, with little wind. So I called Steve Kaluf at AMA Headquarters, who promised to help me launch my Piper J-3 Cub on its maiden voyage. My very first model airplane was going to rise above the earth and soar the sky like an eagle, to join those other airplanes that have received kudos at AMA's flying fields.
