The Buzz About AMA's Appreciation Day

      You may remember the Homecoming event that was held each June at AMA's International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) in Muncie, Indiana. It was a weekend of open flying for all members, and it included a Saturday-night picnic dinner and an AMA general membership meeting. This gathering had a decline in attendance in its last few years and was discontinued in 2005.

     Since then, AMA has received several requests to bring Homecoming back. That prompted us to try again and host a weekend of informal, open flying at the IAC for our members. Thus AMA Appreciation Day was born.

     It will be held July 4-6, 2008. There will be all-day flying Friday and Saturday, and it will end at noon on Sunday. Free camping Friday and Saturday nights will be available to all AMA members.

     The fly-in will be low-key, with no organized events. It will be a weekend to visit, and fly at, your national flying site and an opportunity to meet and socialize with AMA members from across the country.

     The National Model Aviation Museum will be open during the weekend. It is one of the premiere model-aviation museums in the world and holds many of aeromodeling's most significant artifacts including the Guff, which was Walt and Bill Good's first RC model, and TAM5: the model that was flown successfully across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada to Ireland.

     AMA Appreciation Day is a come-one, come-all event. No matter what your special interest, you are welcome to join the fun. If things go well this year, we hope to be able to expand on this get-together in the future.

     Go to www.modelaircraft.org  or call (765) 287-1256, extension 200, for more information. MA

—AMA Staff

Find Your Club on AMA's Web Site

The AMA Web site's new page features chartered-club rosters.

          The Academy has made additions and updates to its Web site, including a new page in the Members Only section; the Information Systems (IS) Department at AMA Headquarters has added a club roster. It has listings for all AMA chartered clubs that include each member's name, AMA number, membership expiration date, and any position the person holds in the club.

     This page allows club presidents or contacts to view and print their club rosters at once, which is much easier than the old way of looking up each individual one at a time.

     IS is also working to update the chartered-club locator section of the Web site. Several clubs have updated their information and flying-site-specific data to include topographical maps of the their fields.

     The chartered-club updates are a continuous process. Go to www.modelaircraft.org/clubsearch.aspx  to see if your club's information is available. If you don't see it, talk to your club president about providing the information to the AMA club secretary, Lois Mock, at loism@modelaircraft.org, to get it posted online.  MA

—AMA Staff

2008 TAG Program Recipients

     Take off And Grow (TAG) is an AMA support program that is designed to help chartered clubs introduce model aviation to friends and neighbors. Hosting an AMA TAG Model Aviation Day is a great way to promote what we do as model-aviation enthusiasts.

     The TAG program began in 2007. Clubs selected to host events were supplied with trainers and flight simulators.

     Unlike last year, this year AMA provided cash grants of as much as $1,000. The amount awarded to a club was based on a budget it included with an application to hold a TAG event. This change was a direct result of input from clubs that hosted TAG events last year.

     They indicated that although they appreciated the equipment, most already had equipment available. They thought funds could be used for such purposes as promoting the event or hosting an event picnic, which would help them be more successful.

     The rewards are great! Hosting a TAG Model Aviation Day is a great way to reach out to your community to give it a taste of the family-oriented recreational activity we enjoy. It creates positive relationships with neighbors that can help when the time comes to keep or acquire a new flying site.

     Following are the recipients of the 2008 TAG program monetary awards.

• District I: South Shore RC Club
• District II: Meroke R/C, Sky Rovers
• District III: Greater Cincinnati R/C Club
• District IV: No clubs applied.
• District V: Flying Tigers
• District VI: Tri-County Aero, Millersburg R/C Modelers, Somerset MAC
• District VII: Four Seasons R/C Flyers
• District VIII: Alvin R/C Club
• District IX: Arvada Association of Modelers, Missouri Slope, Crosswinds R/C Club
• District X: Sacramento Area Modelers
• District XI: No clubs applied.  MA

Welcome, AMA Life Members!

     The Academy recently welcomed new Life Members Adrian Marshall (Ellensburg WA), William Rahiser (South Bend IN), Kenneth Averitt (Carmel IN), Scott Lounsbury (Palmyra VA), Michael Hudson (Nashville NC), Russ Thompson (Torrance CA), Richard D. Jackson (Nashville TN), and Joe Garcia (Pecos TX).

     For information about becoming a Life Member, contact AMA Headquarters at (800) 435-9262.  MA

—AMA Membership Department

Also in this month's In the Air section in Model Aviation:

• An AMA First: A Chartered Park Pilot Program Club!

• Modelers get USAF Thunderbirds' Attention

• SEFF Annihilates Guinness World Record

• Wings Across America 2008

• Frequently Asked Questions About AMA's Model Aviation Hall of Fame

• 25 Years Ago in MA: July 1983