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
As your AMA District III vice president, I am honored to visit and fly with many model clubs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. One thing I have learned is that many clubs in the district have flying fields that are provided by city, county, state, and national parks.
The Mon Valley RC Club flies at Cedar Creek Park in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania. The club held its annual Giant Scale air show on August 27-28, 2016. This event has been going strong for many years in western Pennsylvania.
AMA Flying Site Assistance Coordinator Tony Stillman and I arrived Friday afternoon to get set up and were greeted by club president Mike Eiben and contest director (CD) Al Kozusko.
The club members invited Tony and me to attend their meeting Friday evening to discuss current AMA business and flying field safety. Also discussed was how to integrate a new flying area the park had given them into their current flying site.
After some discussion, it was concluded that the additional land would be a great place to set up an FPV racing course and could also be utilized for smaller park-flyer-type aircraft. What a good problem to have for a club to be given more land to fly
The beautiful sign and planter greets visitors as they arrive at the Mon Valley RC field.
A view down the flightline of some of the aircraft that flew during the Mon Valley air show.
models!
The Mon Valley club is blessed that the county park works proactively with it to address anything the club wants to do to enhance its presence in the park. This excellent relationship did not happen overnight. The club has been flying at this park and promoting model aviation there since 1967.
On Saturday afternoon, Westmoreland County Public Works Director Greg McCloskey arrived and was pleased with the attendance at the event and thanked the club for doing such a great job of utilizing the park.
The Mon Valley RC Club is an excellent example of how working with the county park system has not only benefited the club, but also helped the county to better utilize the
Club vice president and CD Al Kozusko (L), and Greg McCloskey, director of Public Works for Westmoreland County, express their approval of the annual event.
This pavilion, used for club meetings and more, is just one of the amenities provided by the county park.
park facilities for the citizens of the surrounding counties. For additional information about Mon Valley, visit the club’s website at www.monvalleyrc.com.
Congratulations Mon Valley RC Club and Cedar Creek Park on a great partnership. If you would like additional information about establishing a flying field within a county or city park, please contact Tony (fsac@modelaircraft.org) at AMA Headquarters. He works with park officials throughout the country to help clubs obtain flying sites.
Until next month, fly safely—fly AMA.
