District IX—Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
Jim Tiller
Vice President
jtiller@hotmail.com
Box 828, Custer SD 57730
Tel.: (605) 390-3878
www.amadistrict-ix.org
www.facebook.com/amadistrictix
With the help of the AMA staff, we have a new District IX website that is part of the AMA website. Go to www.amadistrict-ix.org and take a look. Just being associated with the AMA website is a bonus.
The site was created in WordPress, so it should be easier to post current information and events. Send your club’s note, poster, or listing to me or your associate vice president (AVP), and we will post it on our District IX site. It is still a work in progress, so let me know what you think.
Thanks to your generosity, we are able to send another District IX flier to Camp AMA this June. This year’s scholarship recipient is Austin Axmann from Kansas City, Missouri. Austin is a member of the R/C Barnstormers club and was nominated by Troy Hamm. Troy says Austin is not only a budding young flier, but a tremendous asset to the Barnstormers with his strong work and volunteer ethics.
The $800 camp tuition and a travel stipend will be your gift to this fine young RC ambassador. Congratulations, Austin.
In the years that I have served AMA, promoting youth in this hobby has been a paramount theme for me, and I am always gratified to see how many of you share the same spirit of encouragement and support for young fliers in our area.
One longstanding event in District IX, that always draws a crowd is the Sodbuster’s Auction in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This year there were more than 260 items for sale and about 100 bidders. One secret of this auction’s success is auctioneer Ron Wyhre. Ron has been donating his time on this endeavor for more than 6 years. His expertise and wry humor keep the process moving and engage the buyers.
Thanks to Sodbuster President Tim Mallat and all the club members for the wonderful hospitality. I tell my long-suffering wife, Judi, that my goal is to always come home with fewer things than I take. Her look of disdain at the pile of “bargains” I couldn’t do without would tell you how that turned out, once again.
The Sodbusters were gracious enough to give me a venue to present a Lifetime Distinguished Service award to Max Hanson, a Huron, South Dakota, native. Max told me that he attended his first AMA event in 1941 and has been a part of what we do ever since.
District IX Vice President Jim Tiller presents Max Hanson with a Lifetime Distinguished Service award at the Sodbuster Auction in Sioux Falls SD.
Max has served as an AVP for South Dakota and been an active volunteer for all things AMA for too many years to count. Thanks, Max, for all that you do.
I attended The Toledo Show: R/C Model Expo this year, and one big highlight was meeting Sal Calvagna. Sal is the longtime author of the “Giant Scale” column in Model Aviation, and I have admired his modeling throughout the years.
Sal always chooses projects a little out of the ordinary. He has done a Me 163, Mitsubishi A5M, and a Polikarpov I-16 to name a few. This year he outdid himself with a Sikorsky Ilya Muromets. This is an obscure, but important, contribution of legendary designer Igor Sikorsky. More than 60 flying wires are in the tail alone. Sal’s Sikorsky won the People’s Choice Award and got my vote.
The AMA has posted Frequently Asked Questions about the FAA registration program on the AMA website. The most common question I get is whether a club should ask for a member’s FAA number at an AMA event. I have been a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association for many years, and no one has asked me for my pilot’s license at an EAA event. Similarly, I see no reason for your club to ask for FAA registration. That is between the FAA and the registrant.
