District V—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
Andrew Griffith
Vice President
barracudahockey@aol.com
11064 Stutz Ct., Jacksonville FL 32246
Tel.: (904) 993-4956; www.amadistrict-v.org
Welcome back! Unfortunately, I have to start this month’s column by saying goodbye to a great modeler and friend. Dave Burrow of Savannah, Georgia, left us way too soon. Dave was a longtime AMA member and contest director (CD). It won’t be the same attending events at Hodges Field, most especially the fall electric event, without the southern hospitality Dave offered everyone he met, including me, starting nearly 10 years ago. In addition to RC, Dave was an amateur astronomy buff and shared his love for the stars with anyone who stopped by his camper and invited them to see something exciting in his telescopes. Fair winds, brother!
There’s been a lot going on during a busy fall event season in District V and I hope you’re getting out and about. Events are a great time to meet new friends, get help from experts, and hang out and have a great time. The Daytona Beach Radio Control Association (DBRCA) has hosted a number of events throughout the year and I was again warmly welcomed to the club’s open glider fly-in held in October 2016. The Orlando Buzzards brought winches, several people had electric and discus-launch gliders, and a number of us had tow planes and Scale gliders. Glider events are often either an aerotow, or some sort of competition, but this was a relaxing day of open flying with any type of glider. Roughly 30 pilots were in attendance and DBRCA officers and members did a wonderful job of hosting this fun event.
I made the trip up to Hodges Hobbies in Americus, Georgia, to attend Hodges Hobbies All Electric Fly-In October 13-16, 2016. This toned-down, relaxed version of the popular Southeast Electric Fun Fly event hosted approximately 140 pilots. I almost couldn’t go, but circumstances changed and I’m glad I made the trip because as I noted, it was the last time I got to hang out with CD Dave Burrow who passed just days after the event. I had the pleasure of signing off on District V’s newest Leader Member, co-CD Chris Scoggins. It’s great to see younger people getting their Leader Member and CD designations and I hope to see Chris on our future list of associate vice presidents. It was great to catch up with several friends to see what they were building and flying. The people from Flex Innovations were on hand with their offerings and it was great seeing Quique Somenzini put the products through their paces. BL Prosser, the owner of Helen’s Hobbies in Statesboro, Georgia, was in attendance with nearly a full hobby shop in his trailer and had new toys and replacement parts for whomever needed them. I also noticed that the FPV quadcopter crowd was happily integrated into the event with a course set up on one side of the flightline. I took a virtual ride through the FPV course courtesy of Clint Akins from Castle Creations who was staffing the FPV racing line. The annual rivalry between Florida and Georgia kicks off way before the football game. Each year, the two camps have a Combat flyoff for glory, a nice trophy, and most importantly, bragging rights. Considering that I live in Florida, it pains me to say that Georgia won the Combat trophy and Mark Murdoch was the overall Combat winner. Regardless of who won, it’s a lot of fun to watch!
