District V—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
Kris Dixon
Vice President
gafrfd3@gmail.com
2389 Dublin Eastman Rd., Dexter GA 31019
Tel.: (478) 484-3845; www.amadistrict-v.org
This report comes from Associate Vice President (AVP) Dave Wenzel. The Control Line (CL) Aerobatics Nats are over. I was pit boss for circles three and four as well as competed in my first Nats since 1985—RC back then, and CL this time. I won second place in Beginner. Open competition was hotly contested as usual between Paul Walker, David Fitzgerald, Orestes Hernandez, Brett Buck, and Kaz Minato. Paul won the Nats with the final standings as ordered above. Paul also won the Walker Trophy over Senior Champion Michael Paris and two-time Junior winner, Samantha Hines. The Advanced Champion was Dennis Vander Kuur. Samantha also won in Intermediate earlier in the week.
This was once again a great event, and the level of competition always seems to improve.
AVP Andrew Griffith sent in the following report.
An event has a good run when it reaches five straight years and a great run when it reaches 10. For a relatively small club, an event that is run and organized by a single person for 15 years is simply amazing.
With that in mind, it was my pleasure to be invited to attend the Southern Scale Helicopter Challenge in Dalton, Georgia, September 9-15, 2015. Hosted by the Dalton RC Flyers Club and run by past national champion, Darrell Sprayberry, the event grows larger every year. This year featured 48 registered pilots and a large number of family members and spectators. The Southern Scale Challenge is the largest such event in the country and it takes place right here in District V! This isn’t a small, local thing either. Pilots came from Boston;
Many (but not all!) of the helicopters present were placed on the flightline at the Southern Scale Helicopter Challenge during lunch Saturday so the spectators could get up close and personal and ask questions of the builders and pilots.
Patrick and Micky Vespal made the trip from Denver!
Long Island, New York; Denver; Mesa, Arizona; Kenosha, Wisconsin; Jacksonville, Florida; and even a couple from Toronto!
The helicopters were nothing short of astounding. Everything was represented from the 450-size Cobra flown by Micky Vespal of Denver, to the 45-pound Bell 206 Jet Ranger in LA Fire Department colors that Mark Smith brought from New York. Several turbine-powered giants were flown by Joe Howard of Boston, and Peter Wales of Sandford, Florida.
Mark your calendars for the weekend after Labor Day next year if you want to see some of the finest Scale helicopters in the country, or meet some of the nicest people in the hobby.
