District IV—Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia
Jay Marsh
Vice President
jaymarsh@ama-d4.org
3227 Pine Needles Rd., High Point NC 27265
Tel.: (336) 687-0973; www.amadistrict-iv.org
www.facebook.com/amadistrictIV
On May 8, 2017, the Hampton Roads Radio Control (HRRC) in Suffolk, Virginia, lost a great club member, AMA Life Member, head instructor, and friend to many District IV clubs. Raymond I. Goodwin Jr. passed away at age 82 after a brief illness and heart issue. Ray was a friend to all he met, was always pitching in, and made his home workshop and sage help open to everyone. He will surely be missed by all who knew him. RIP old friend.
—Dale Matthews, HRRC
Drake F. Edwards, a member of the Raleigh/Durham RC Club (RDRC) in North Carolina, passed away from cancer at age 68 on July 16, 2017. Thirty-four years as an AMA member and recognized for his P-51s and warbirds, Drake was widely known, would show up at events near and far, and was a friend to all. His son, Dane, said he had a very rich life, accomplishing a lot of amazing things. We are all saddened at losing such a good friend.
Our District IV Government Relations Coordinator, Ray Stinchcomb, reported on the Westminster Aero Modelers (WAM) and the Sky Lancers of Washington (SLOW) that cohosted Control Line (CL) Fly-In on June 3, 2017. The fly-in was well attended and enjoyed by both new CL fliers and old hands.
More than 30 airplanes were brought to the event—some very new and some very old with vintage engines and modern electric power. Any type that you wanted to see was there. Flying ranged from introductory flights for beginners to several competition-level Precision Aerobatics flights.
There was an RC flier from the WAM club who hadn’t flown CL in 40 years. The spotter in the circle said he did well and made a perfect landing, although he was a little dizzy. He was later heard to say that he felt like he was 24 years old again. He designed and built his model for this event.
The gathering was a success and a Ringmaster event is planned for the fall.
This report comes from John Tate, District IV associate vice president (AVP) and the district’s CL and Free Flight contest coordinator.
District IV was well represented at this year’s Brodak 2017 Fly-In with CL fliers from the Eastern Shore Aeromodelers in Maryland, the Sky Lancers of Washington, the Northern Virginia Control Line Association, the Norfolk Aeromodelers in Virginia, and the Metrolina Control Line Society in North Carolina. The Norfolk Aeromodelers had three members attend: Garrett Sisk (our junior member), Artie Jessup, and I. We took home eight trophies.
Will Davis and District IV AVP Mark Weiss ran the weeklong event flawlessly. The contest had days that were perfect, and there were only a couple of days of wind and rain. All events were conducted and completed on time.
The Brodak Fly-In has so many events that I could not get around to see them all. Some great Combat matches took place, with CL Racing events in the adjoining circle. You could hear the Carrier engines throttling up and down. There were some screaming Fox .35 Speed events and the Stunt circles were full every day.
I was amazed at the quality of the beautiful models that were entered in the Scale classes, and particularly this year’s ½A Scale class. The entries had great detail for such small models. People are remembering how much fun ½A aircraft can be.
We all enjoyed the 50¢ hot dogs at the weenie wagon. Brodak’s hot dogs are the best on the planet. John Brodak stated that he is planning to hold the fly-in next year if his health continues to be good. It is definitely worth the trip.
Go fly and have fun safely.
