District VIII—Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Mark Johnston
Vice President
districtVIIIVP@modelaircraft.org
6608 Beck Dr. NE, Albuquerque NM 87109
Tel.: (505) 823-0158;
www.amadistrict-viii.org
During the past couple of months, the weather has not been kind to the Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston areas, as we have all seen on the news. The weather has affected or caused the cancellation of many events in the district. As you can see from the photos, the rain that was needed in places across the Southwest all ended up in one place. Of the clubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, there are at least four clubs that look more like
float-flying spots than air fields. The Fort Worth Thunderbirds are out of business until the water recedes
enough to get to the field and assess the damages. All of the clubs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have been offered a place to fly by the Richardson club. It is an AMA Leader Club and its members have stepped up in support of the four clubs that were in need of help.
A big thank you and kudos to the Richardson RC Club!
We had two entries for the AMA Youth Leadership award for District VIII. Both are outstanding young men. Robert Thomas was the first-place winner, whose name was submitted for the national award. The runner-up was Christopher Quinn.
Both young men are outstanding in all they do for the areas in which they live and the clubs they participate with.
Thanks to both Robert and Christopher for helping the district and your clubs!
I attended the annual Joe Nall Week in May. It is nice to see so many District VIII members attending the event over the past couple of years. This year, I saw members from every state in our district. The event garnered roughly 1,600 to 1,800 pilots and seems to grow every year.
One of our own, Larry Hultman, was part of the noontime demos, and I have included, online and in the digital version, a nice video that was taken from his aircraft.
On May 18, 2015, Beard Elementary School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, brought its fifth grade class to the Flightmasters Model Airplane Club field for a day of aviation fun. Teacher Darin Choate and three additional adult chaperones assisted in teaching the theory of flight and maintained great discipline.
The 21 children were very interested in the model aircraft presentation and thoroughly enjoyed watching the club members put their skills to the test. Larry Scheer and Hardie Jefferies gave buddy-box instructions and all of the children got to fly. The school district furnished a pizza lunch for all participants and Larry flew three candy-drop missions for the kids after lunch. It is debatable whether the children or club members enjoyed it the most.
This marks the third time Flightmasters has hosted a school group. A Cub Scout den is scheduled in June 2015 and is sure to be enjoyable for all.
Hope to see you all at the field!
