October
is the month that keeps us on our toes
regarding the upcoming holiday season. It
offers enough still-warm weather that those
in the northern areas can still slip in a
few more flying days before the crush of
winter and the building season begins.
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.
Alas, either way, the holiday season will
soon be here with limited flying for
everyone.
You will be receiving your AMA
membership-renewal information soon. More
than ever, we need your continuing support
of AMA, and prompt attention to your renewal
form.
Many in the colder areas wait until the next
flying season to renew. Taken at face value,
that seems like a sensible thing to do. Why
renew when I won't be flying until spring?
In reality this practice costs the AMA
money, approximately $16,000, because you
will be one of the members receiving a
second or even a third renewal notice. I
hope you agree that those funds can be
better off used elsewhere.
In July, I had an opportunity to meet with
District II Vice President Gary Fitch for
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 only one of
two 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. FAC is a national organization
devoted to FF models flown in competition
using rules aimed at making competition
flying fun.
The principal focus of the FAC is scale
models. The club members are dedicated to
the promotion of FF model aviation—indoor,
outdoor, competition, FAC meets, or just for
fun. Any power is acceptable: 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, then the landing gear
must be fixed on the model. If the landing
gear on the full-scale aircraft is not
fixed, a model can 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 best
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).
AMA was
represented at this year's Flying Aces
Nationals in Geneseo, New York, by
(L-R) Dave Mathewson, AMA president; Gary
Fitch, District II vice president; Bob
Brown,
District III vice president; Ross Mayo,
event CD; and Bob Clemens.
Those who make it to this back page
regularly know of my use of the term
"psychological paycheck," and the sensation
one has when it is cashed. It's a feeling
that makes up for all the things that go
wrong in the day—a mental reward that you
get when you're affiliated with a positive
event or happening of great importance to
others.
During the FF portion of the National
Aeromodeling Championships, your AMA awarded
a check for $13,900 to Kyle Jones, a
17-year-old from Avon Lake, Ohio, as a part
of the AMA/Charles H. Grant Scholarship
Program.
Unaware that he had been awarded a
scholarship, Kyle and his father were
competing in the Nats when approached by
members of AMA's Marketing Department for an
impromptu interview about "family flying."
Kyle's mother, a part of this grand
deception, had driven here from Ohio, and
was also a part of this mock—but
real—interview.
When the discussion turned to Kyle's future
and education, Bob Brown, District III vice
president from Bradford, Pennsylvania,
stepped forward bearing an outsized check
made out to Kyle for $13,900.
The expressions on the father's and son's
faces were, as the saying goes, priceless.
It was a good day for cashing a
"psychological paycheck."
MA
In the spirit of
flight.
Jim Cherry, Executive Director
|
