District III—Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
Mark Radcliff
Vice President
mradcliff@suddenlink.net
199 Heron Dr., St. Marys WV 26170
Tel.: (304) 684-2133
www.amadistrict-iii.org
www.facebook.com/ama.district.iii
In 2016, I decided to fly RC Scale and competed in several events sponsored by the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA), an AMA Special Interest Group. Each year, the NASA organization hosts its final event, which typically moves to different areas of the country.
For 2016, the third annual NASA Scale Classic season finale was held in District III in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, at the Greene County airport. The Scale Classic encompasses not only RC, but also Control Line (CL) Scale aircraft, so it is imperative to have a large facility to handle the logistics of such an event.
The airport was closed to general aviation traffic and the airport taxiways were used to fly both RC and CL. The competition began on Friday with static scale judging for aircraft entered in the expert/designer events. The field was open for practice on Friday, giving the competitors a chance to become accustomed to the field and airspace. Competition flying began Saturday and concluded Sunday with beautiful fall weather.
On Saturday evening, a nice banquet was held at a nearby restaurant and the camaraderie among the Scale community couldn’t have been any better. Modelers from all areas of the country set aside their competitive
CL Scale CD Allen Goff and his award-winning Ryan STA. Allen indicated that the event had double the CL entries from the previous year.
These are the people who did all of the work to ensure a smooth RC Scale event. Thank you Dale Arvin and crew!
A few of the CL Scale aircraft at the NASA Scale Classic in Waynesburg PA.
spirits and enjoyed an evening of good food, fellowship, and fun.
An event of this size requires two contest directors (CD) and the NASA group provided two of the best. For RC it was Dale Arvin and for CL it was Allen Goff. These men need no introduction to anyone flying Scale competition because they both have overseen many events throughout many years.
A big shoutout goes to the person most responsible for having this event take place in District III and that is John Brodak. John is an avid CL Scale flier and a major manufacturer of CL aircraft and accessories. His manufacturing and distribution facilities are located in nearby Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.
Event organizers were pleased with the turnout and the airport manager welcomed the aviation activity at his airport. Thank you to everyone
A view down the flightline of a few of the RC Scale models at the NASA Classic.
involved for hosting such a nice event in District III.
If your club would like to host a Scale event for the first time, NASA can help. Mike Barbee, NASA president, initiated a program to give $500 to help with promotion, trophies, etc., to any club that will host a Scale event for the first time.
I encourage all District III clubs to consider hosting a Scale event in 2017, and I would encourage anyone remotely interested in Scale to go to an event and fly. I guarantee that everyone will welcome and help you. You will have an enjoyable experience.
I enjoyed myself at all of the events in which I flew, and I made some new friends in the process. I am looking forward to flying Scale in 2017.
Until next month, fly safely—fly AMA.
