In the Air
Membership news and updates
from AMA Headquarters
Award Winner Announced
Congratulations to AMA member Casey Buggeln for being named as the 2017 AMA National Youth Leadership Award recipient.
Through this award, Casey received a sponsorship to Camp AMA and a plaque that will be displayed at the National Model Aviation Museum in Muncie, Indiana. Individuals are nominated for this honor by their clubs or community members and one is selected from each AMA district. These 11 winners then compete for the national award.
The AMA Youth Leadership Award was created to recognize the accomplishments of Youth members who volunteer at club fly-ins, encourage their peers to get involved in aeromodeling, help club members improve their piloting skills, and share the joy of the hobby with their communities.
To learn more about this award, visit http://amaflightschool.org/programs/Youth-Leadership-Award.
Monthly Hobby Shop Winner
Congratulations to DWS Hobbies of Shawnee, Kansas, for being awarded $100 through its participation in the AMA Hobby Shop Program.
DWS Hobbies was the March winner. The business received the money by signing up new AMA members in its store.
Do you own or work in a hobby shop? What are you waiting for? Join the AMA Hobby Shop Program today! For more information, contact Erin Dobbs at erind@modelaircraft.org or (765) 287-1256, extension 272.
AMA at Xponential
AMA had a booth and representatives at an event that featured more than 650 robotics organizations, companies, research institutions, universities, consultants, nonprofit organizations, and others from the US and countries worldwide.
Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Xponential 2017 was held May 8-11 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas. The gathering took place in the largest exhibit hall ever dedicated to unmanned systems and robotics and featured several guest speakers, educational sessions, and networking activities.
In addition to staffing AMA’s booth, AMA Public Relations & Government Affairs Director Chad Budreau had meetings with the FAA, AUVSI, MultiGP, and other officials. Chad also had the opportunity to talk with several AMA members who are discovering that their hobby can become a career. He added that he met many commercial operators who are realizing that aeromodeling can be a fun hobby.
Aeromodeling Part of Celebration
Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, Michigan, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017. Modelers in Southeastern Michigan assisted with the festivities by supporting the base’s “Inspiring the Next Generation” programs.
The Inspiring the Next Generation activities were the brainchild of Michigan native Lt. Col. Brian Davis. He is an F-16
passive approach wouldn’t work to get more young people into aviation-related fields. He determined that students had little knowledge of the 6,000 careers available at the Selfridge base. Although there would be a huge air show at Selfridge in August 2017, Brian wanted to reach the students while they were still in school to begin planting the seeds of interest.
On three Fridays in April and May, members of the base staff, along with numerous volunteers, immersed 900 high school students from St. Clair, Macomb, and Wayne counties in all things aviation. The emphasis included women in aviation, the Tuskegee Airmen, Team Selfridge, the U.S. Coast Guard, and robotics. The students were prescreened for their interests in STEM and aviation. These were hands-on events and the youth were allowed on the airport ramps to enhance the experience.
The aeromodelers were front and center, providing FPV flying with a Vusion House Racer and allowing the students to fly a quadcopter in one of the hangars. RealFlight simulators gave even more students stick time.
Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Alexander Jefferson (featured in “A Tuskegee Airman Flies Again,” Model Aviation April 2007) gave a moving presentation at the Wayne County program.
Depending on the venue, multiple full-scale aircraft were available for demonstrations, walk-throughs, and flyovers. The Coast Guard performed a simulated helicopter rescue and a KC-135 flew low approaches.
The Misty Blues female parachute team was on-site and, when the weather permitted, performed jumps. Probably the best was the combination of a P-51 and an AT-6 Texan being on-site and making multiple flyovers.
Each of the students received a special T-shirt that provided admittance to a private reception with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team during the August 19-20, 2017, air show. There is no charge for admittance to the show. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend.
Special thanks go to Sheila and Ed Olszewski, Joe Ashton, and John Neil of the St. Clair County Propbusters; Paul Smith of the Cloudbusters; Mark Freeland of Retro RC; and Natalie Rodrigues of Hobbico for their assistance in making this a memorable experience for all participants.
—Joe Hass
Zoe’s Spider Hex Rat
At first, FPV races were flown by groups of friends who wanted to have fun. They held informal competitions and vied for the title of “best.” Rules quickly emerged, however, as the races became more formal.
During the Data X conference in May 2015, Scot Refsland organized the first AMA-sanctioned FPV race. The race, which took place on Santa Barbara (California) High School’s football field, drew fewer than 25 pilots, but it was a heated competition.
The race’s winner, Zoe Stumbaugh, commented, “Racing was frantic—after the first heat, it was a race to keep machines flying. After a race, it was a rush to do maintenance while other people had their heats. There were three groups of us rotating out for racing. Once the races started, it was a mad dash and things turned into a blur.”
The final heat came down to three competitors: Stephen, Rotor Guru, and Zoe. Stephen crashed, leaving just Zoe and Rotor Guru. Zoe maintained the lead throughout the heat, although Rotor Guru closed in at one point before Zoe laid on more speed to cross the finish line.
Zoe was flying a heavily modified version of a 290mm Blackout Spider Hexacopter design that she named Rat. Built from 3mm carbon fiber, it featured six motors and ESCs that output nearly 100 amps at full throttle—capable of propelling the aircraft faster than 70 mph.
The Rat was the largest multirotor entered, which meant that Zoe had to be extra cautious when flying the course. Her win came down to not only the speed of the aircraft, but her ability to keep it in tight, maintain precise control through the obstacles, and master the trick of getting speed through the slalom by using bursts of directed thrust.
Shortly after the 2015 race, Zoe donated the Rat, her Turnigy 9xR Pro transmitter, and Boscam FPV goggles to the National Model Aviation Museum with the added comment of, “Keep flying!” More information on the May 2015 FPV race and the Rat can be found on the museum’s blog.
Scot incorporated what he learned while planning the Data X conference drone race and used it to plan the first US Drone Nationals at the California State Fair in July 2015. More on that next month!
—National Model Aviation Museum staff
National Trophy
The museum has several Nats trophies won by competitors throughout the years, but what it doesn’t have is a National Trophy. The National Trophy was awarded to the person who won the most overall points at the national competition or who was the grand champion winner. The museum is not looking for trophies awarded to winners of individual events. If you have any information about where one of the National Trophies might be, please contact Maria at mariav@modelaircraft.org.
