District V—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
South Carolina Associate Vice President (AVP) Don Wise submitted this report on Joe Nall Week, May 9-16, 2015.
May in South Carolina is an especially great time of year if you are an AMA member, because that’s the time and place of RC’s version of a great theme park, Joe Nall Week. This world-famous event is held at the incredible Triple Tree Aerodrome, located near Woodruff.
The 2015 Joe Nall was the largest to date, with 1,702 registered pilots. These pilots came from 46 states and 14 foreign countries to enjoy all that Triple Tree Aerodrome has to offer.
This year the 80 vendors on-site offered a little of everything and seemed to stay busy. Thursday evening, the AMA Membership Meeting was held with AMA Headquarters staff and most of the district vice presidents in attendance. They shared information on many subjects of importance. Afterward, they answered questions and heard comments from the members.
Later that evening, a build project eight years in the making came to a successful end—the Valkyrie flew. The Valkyrie was a Joe Nall project to stick build a 200% scaled-up 1937 Carl Goldberg design, resulting in a 20-foot wingspan. Hundreds of people worked on the project throughout the years, and signed the pieces they built and glued to the airframe. The maiden flight was a rewarding success. Congratulations to all who helped with the build.
Triple Tree has grass that would make many golf courses jealous, plus several ponds ranging in size from duck ponds to more than 50 acres. There are six flying areas available, for models up to an 80-inch wingspan, 3-D, electric, helicopters, Control Line, and float flying. Pilots indicate which will be their base of operation, but they can fly at any area if their aircraft meets the parameters for that area.
Jim Malek was in charge of the main flightline. He is a nice man who makes sure pilots follow the rules, resulting in an efficient and safe flightline.
Every year Triple Tree seems to add something new to the venue. This year one of those changes was a new, larger welcome center. The electric flightline had a large tent with tables for working on or building aircraft and it was in use each time I walked by.
Events such as Joe Nall Week require a lot of planning and work. At Triple Tree, most of that is done by hard-working volunteers. I am sure that everyone who attended Joe Nall Week would join me in thanking them for making it so much fun.
AVP Paul Verger sent in the following report on an event in Mississippi.
On June 12-13, 2015, approximately 50 fliers participated in the inaugural Bob Miller Memorial Fly. It was held at Harrison County Model Airplane Park in Gulfport, Mississippi, and was hosted by the Mississippi Coast RC Club. Kenny Chandler served as the event director.
Kenny did a great job on everything, but he outdid himself on publicity. In the days before, the local newspaper, The Sun Herald, ran a feature story about the event. On Friday and Saturday, the local TV station, WLOX, did many field reports. Approximately seven shows were publicized, with four airing live. The others included footage taken at the field.
Special thanks to Bobby McCaroll for feeding the group on Friday, Robbie Robinson for the food on Saturday, and Al Warburton for handling registration and raffle tickets. Thanks for your work!
The next event for the Mississippi Coast RC Club will be the Fall Fly-In in October. See you there!
South Carolina AVP Don Wise submitted this report from the Gooneybirds Model Airplane Club.
The Florence, South Carolina, Gooneybirds held its annual spring fly-in on the first weekend in June 2015. It was a beautiful day with an abundance of sunshine and little wind.
The contest director was Robert Gainey who, along with club volunteers, conducted a smooth-running event. The Gooneybirds have a nice grass field that was put to use by the 51 registered pilots who flew many types of aircraft ranging from gliders to turbines. The only time flying stopped was during the drawing for raffle prizes.
Flying, food, and good people—a great way to spend a Saturday.
