AMA Member Serving in Iraq
 Promotes Aeromodeling

Model and full-scale helicopter pilot Cory M. Grochowski serving his
country in Iraq.

     Cory M. Grochowski is an Apache helicopter pilot by trade and is an active-duty soldier currently deployed to Iraq.

    When he arrived at the base, he found a well-established plastic scale-model club, but initially he didn't find many RC fliers. He located three on the post he is assigned to, and he wrote that " ... more are coming out of the woodwork every day."

    According to Cory, something about seeing a miniature helicopter fly around gets people excited about the hobby.

    He is trying to work a little more of the powered aspect in the model club—the newly named Speicher Freedom Flyers—prior to his coming home.

    Cory wants to try to get a relationship of sorts established with MA and some of the hobby shops across the states so that the club's replacements will have the contacts in place and possibly work something out to save some costs for the modeling troops.

    "It really is all about keeping morale high for a year at a time and planting new seeds into our hobby," wrote Cory.

    When he wrote to AMA he was working with one of the civilian contractors to establish a flying field where he was stationed. He requested promotional materials and/or anything that would help make the field look better (i.e., something that could be used to better separate the two flightline pilots' stations from the pit area). Cory believed that would help with AMA recruitment.

    "It's not just about exposing new bodies; it's about exposing them to safe flying from the get-go," he wrote. "Then the seeds of safety and of flying hobby aircraft will mature together."

    When Cory wrote about his mission, he reported that the modelers had a worktable and two 3 by 3-foot helipads set up. He was planning to groom out a runway for his "airplane brothers and sisters as well."

    Cory was also fabricating a kind of wind sock, and his club had plans to put shade netting up as soon as they constructed a support frame.

    "All in all, if I can get some good relationships with some of you all that are APO friendly and support us, there should be a decent flight club established in short order," he wrote.

    His address is:

CW2 Cory M. Grochowski
Alpha Company, 3-101 Aviation regiment
101st Airborne Division
FOB Speicher, Tikrit, Iraq
APO, AE 09393  MA

—AMA Headquarters

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