District VI—Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri
Randy Cameron
Vice President
flyrcam@gmail.com
2134 S. Hillcrest Ave., Springfield MO 65807
Tel.: (417) 830-9211
www.amadistrict-vi.org
www.facebook.com/AMADistrictVI
I’d like to announce that Dale Arvin has joined the District VI team as an associate vice president. He brings a lot of modeling experience to the table and is a welcome member of the team. Dale has a long history with Scale modeling, is a Nats competitor, and a contest director, with experience running events including the Mint Julip and much more.
If you run into Dale, please congratulate him. Thank you, Dale, and welcome aboard.
The following was written by Craig Anderson and submitted by Greg Ellison, president of the AeroPilots club in St Louis.
“We’ve had the best time this week with the AeroPilots! First was our meeting at Buder Park on Wednesday, then on Saturday morning we got to host the boys visiting us from Cub Scout Pack 474 of Arnold, Missouri.
“By invitation of our club president, Greg Ellison, these fine young men came to the park excited and eager to learn about planes and RC. They arrived promptly at 10 a.m. and from there our team took over. With the aid of a box full of older units, each Scout was issued a transmitter that he could hold in his hand in order to teach him about how flight controls work, and our club treasurer, Scott Watts, gave the kids interesting and detailed instructions on how the gimbal controls operated and why, while our club vice president, Lance, held a demo plane in the right attitude to demonstrate for the boys how the plane would be affected by each action. That was fun to watch!
“Next the rest of our members, like Ed, Beth, Don, George, and Paul, gave them instructions on the rules we have in place in the park, about where to stand, and how the flying pattern works. They explained about safety, especially about moving props and instructions and vocalizations used while on the runway for takeoffs and landings, so everyone could understand the actions of the other pilots flying.
“Finally, Mort and Craig took on the buddy-box duties for the Scouts with an ever-ready T-28 trainer, and off to the skies they flew. Each boy was given a long flight to make his first inputs on the live controls. As we expected, some boys had left-right issues at first, some were overwhelmed by the excitement and were watching the wrong plane, and some flew the plane right into the bright sunlight, but that’s what first-time flights are about!
“Almost all of the boys got the hang of what they were doing after flying a while and got to end their flight by doing a big loop in the sky on their own, while their proud parents and Scout leaders took photos.
“We followed with hot dogs on the grill that Robert and Emily had prepared for everyone, and each boy proudly shook our hands with a huge ‘thank-you’ and a smile! It was a proud moment for all of us, and we posed for some excellent group pictures.
“Many of us remember belonging to Scouts and other great clubs when we were kids, and I know these boys will remember this day they had with us for a long time. Now if you ask who had more fun that perfect Saturday morning between the club members and the Cub Scouts, I’d say it was a perfect tie.”
Just a reminder that it isn’t too late to celebrate National Model Aviation Day on August 13. If nothing else, just go out, fly, and have a good time.
If you are up to having a fundraiser (not required), feel free to make a donation to any charity you and your club desires. AMA’s preferred charity is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). If you choose DAV, you can send a donation directly to the organization or it can be done through AMA Headquarters. For more information, including submitting press releases, etc., go to nationalmodelaviationday.org.
Happy flying! ✈️
Associate Vice Presidents:
Luther Akemon, Scottsburg IN; (812) 595-9114; akemon3@msn.com;
Dale Arvin, Jefferson IN; (812) 284-0162; darvin8094@aol.com;
Dennis Beack, Bowling Green KY; (270) 783-4004; dennishbeack42@gmail.com.
Gary Bussell, Muncie IN; (765) 288-3541; Gary.Himes, Kansas City MO; (816) 550-1205; rcflyr52@gmail.com;
Mike Mueller, Hoffman Estates IL; (847) 507-4373; mike.mueller@sbaunlimited.com;
Leo Rodriquez, South Bend IN; (724) 396-2700; Bob Underwood, St. Charles MO; (636) 939-3394; bobrae53@shglobal.net;
District VI Webmaster: Donald Way, Hobart IN; (219) 614-6218; belar36@hotmail.com.
Contest Coordinators:
RC/CL Contact AMA Headquarters at cpierce@modelaircraft.org.
FF: Charles Markos, 655 Carlisle Ave., Deerfield IL 60015.
Safety Coordinator:
Walter Voyt, Joliet IL; (815) 725-4677.
Frequency Coordinator:
Mel Ziska, Naperville IL; (630) 357-7350.
