District VII—Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Tim Jesky
Vice President
timjesky@charter.net
2886 E. Country Ln., Monroe MI 48162
Tel.: (734) 384-6085;
www.amadistrict-vii.org
Let me start off this month by congratulating the District VII clubs that were awarded field improvement grants for this year. We fared well with grants awarded in both the amount of money and the number of clubs named as recipients.
For the clubs out there that are not aware of AMA’s Flying Site Improvement Grant Program, it’s an opportunity to have a portion of the costs of your project paid for by AMA. Improvements to your flying site that qualify include runway installation, lawn maintenance equipment, and nearly anything else that helps make your club a better place for your members to fly.
Information about this program and many other member benefits can be found by visiting www.modelaircraft.org. Again, congratulations to all of the recipients on a job well done.
On matters regarding the FAA, the interpretive rule, and any potential effect on hobbyists, little information has been coming out of Washington, D.C. The FAA Reauthorization Bill is again up for renewal this year.
Although I’m not good at reading the tea leaves, my personal belief is that, with all of the other legislation that Congress is dealing with, I think the bill is more likely to come up later rather than sooner. In the meantime fly safely, fly smart, and enjoy the hobby. Be assured that preserving our right to fly for hobby and recreational purposes remains AMA’s top priority.
The following words and pictures come from Denis Roy of the Des Moines Modelaires in Des Moines, Iowa. Thanks to everyone responsible for this outstanding community outreach event.
On April 25, 2017, the Des Moines Modelaires hosted a large group of homeschooled children and their parents. There were approximately 21 kids and nine adults at the event, plus a tremendous turnout of club members who displayed countless gas, glow, and electric-powered models of all shapes and sizes. This event came about from contacts made during a Modelaires static display of warbirds last Veterans Day at a local grocery store.
During the event, club members gave a presentation about the club and made some noise with a gas-powered Yak 54. They discussed drones and held flight demonstrations, taking several children on FPV experiences with a racing drone. More than 15 guests tried flying with the club trainer.
After watching us fly, and getting to fly our club trainer, many of the older children and adults became so interested in our hobby that they asked about learning to fly RC. This gave us the opportunity to talk about our weekly training night during the summer. We fully expect to see some of them again.
This day showed us that participation in one event can lead to great contacts and relationships within the community, expose our hobby to young people, and can bring new members to our wonderful hobby. We also found that the more club members who get involved in these types of community events, the more they enjoy being a part of them. After all, most of us love to talk about our models and demonstrate them in flight!
A big thank-you to everyone for putting on a great show and sharing our hobby with the community!
Take a kid flying.
