District V—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
Bob Brogdon
Vice President
<REDACTED>
<REDACTED>
Tel.: <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>
Hello District V and all of you who have taken the time to join me this month. As the weather gets better, the activity in the district increases. I hope everyone is taking the opportunity to get out and enjoy his or her favorite type of modeling—it must be good for you!
I want to take a moment to point out that the AMA staff is on the job to help protect your right to fly. I received word that a city in the district, I won’t mention the name of the city or the state involved, was in the process of passing an ordinance that would be a problem to model aircraft operations.
The AMA staff was quick to point out to city officials that model flying is now covered under federal law and that the planned ordinance was in violation of that law. Things seem to be in order now. All of this happened before I was even aware of a problem. Thank you AMA Government Relations department!
Before I get into the normal areas I try to cover in my article, I would like to pose a question or two. Do you consider yourself to be a responsible modeler? Do you abide by AMA’s safety guidelines? Do you take care not to jeopardize yourself, your fellow modelers, spectators, and full-scale aircraft? Not everyone does.
Several YouTube videos were brought to my attention that showed a modeler (not a current AMA member) flying a multirotor in a manner that is considerably less than what would be considered responsible.
On one occasion, he is flying a model via first-person view (FPV) at night, and climbs into the clouds to 4,000 feet. On another occasion, using FPV, he flies out roughly 3 miles over land and sea and circles a ship in the ocean. Finally, he again flies at night using FPV, but this time it is over a city and a residential area. Please don’t be this guy!
Now, I will go on to some of the good things that are happening in our district. I want to thank the following individuals for helping you and me by becoming contest directors (CDs). Their efforts are appreciated: Richard Bressman, Cape Coral, Florida; Norman Green, Lake City, Florida; Gregory Hoke, Warner Robbins, Georgia; Wessely McAllister, Anderson, South Carolina; Jason Merret, Savannah, Georgia; Thomas Rice, Tampa, Florida; and Todd Wahl, Peachtree Corners, Georgia.
It is my pleasure to announce that the Volunteer Aeromodelers Club of Knoxville, Tennessee, has achieved the status of Gold Level Leader Club. Congratulations Volunteer Aeromodelers!
I recently attended an RC Pylon Racing event in Mulberry, Florida. The Scott Smith Memorial Pylon Race was held in memory of Scott Smith, an avid promoter of racing, and was hosted by the Imperial RC Club.
Scotty Smithwick was the CD. Scotty and the Imperial RC Club members conducted a well-run race that was appreciated by all. The event attracted more than 30 contestants from Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Minnesota, New York, and Connecticut. (I hope I didn’t miss someone’s home state.)
The event featured AMA 424 Sport Quickie, AMA 426 Super Sport Quickie, and AMA 422 Q-40 Pylon Racing.
The weather was nearly perfect with mild temperatures and a slight breeze straight down the runway. These great conditions set the stage for some very competitive racing in all three classes, and we weren’t disappointed.
There were many close heats to capture our attention. Of course, there were a few midair collisions, to the delight of some of the spectators.
After two days of racing, it was time to present the awards. In AMA 424, Conrad Wondolowski captured first place, and Trey Witte set fast time for the event. The 426 winner was Matthew Fehling with Ray Brown capturing fast time. Tim Yousey was the winner of the 422 class with Randy Bridge posting the fast time.
I also attended a float-fly event at Weiss Lake in Leesburg, Alabama. Although it was breezy, the setting was beautiful and relaxing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the day. The DeKalb RC Flyers hosted the Fourth Annual Weiss Lake Float Fly with Glenn Bond as CD.
Glenn said that there were plenty of pilots fighting the wind and waves, but it’s always good fun and fellowship, not to mention a test of piloting skills. Hey Glenn, it wasn’t so bad. I didn’t see any whitecaps on the water.
While at the float-fly, I spent some time with Glenn and we talked about the district website. Glenn is our new webmaster and has some good ideas for the site. Look for those to come soon.
I also spoke with Rick Grimm, an associate vice president from Alabama, and we traded ideas on the district. It was a good and productive visit.
Important update! We have a new email address for the district website! Do you have an idea or thought about what you would like to see on the site? Let us know. Maybe you have a special event you want to promote? We can accommodate you with a post on the website—maybe even a contest flyer.
We want to make the website nice—your input can make it great! The new email address is <REDACTED>. Glenn and I will be looking for your comments. Let’s hear from you!
That’s it for this month. I hope you can get in some flying, and if possible, take someone with you and teach him or her the joys of flying models.
Associate Vice Presidents: Alabama: Rick Grimm, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. Florida: Chuck Forman, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>; Andrew Griffith, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>; Keith Hall, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. Jose Melendez, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. Georgia: Bill Barbee, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>; Bob Dixon, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>; Nick Ray, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>; Dave Wenzel, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. Mississippi: Paul Verger, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. Puerto Rico: Edwin Medina, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. South Carolina: Robert Blackwell, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>; Don Wise, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. Tennessee: Scott Anderson, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. Dick Tonan, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>; Charles Anderson, <REDACTED>; <REDACTED>. Safety Coordinator: Red Scholefield, Newberry FL; <REDACTED>. RC Event Sanction Coordinator: Dick Tonan. FF Event Sanction Coordinator: Bob Thoren. CL Event Sanction Coordinator: TBD.
