District XI—Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
Chuck Bower
Vice President
cbower@whidbey.com
6075 S. Coles Rd., Langley WA 98260
Tel.: (360) 632-9211; www.amadistrict-xi.org
Boy Scout Troop 591, led by Scoutmaster Tom Scaggs, visited the Redmond, Washington, Marymoor Radio Control Club’s (MAR/C), field to experience the Tuesday night training program. Twenty-two Scouts took turns with buddy boxes and five instructors, while other members charged batteries and organized the troop.
Below: MAR/C instructor, Brian Kelly, addresses the troop on the activities of the training session.
Above: Ken Elgin and Nate Ragsdale perform an air show for the Scouts.
Below: Mike Scoles impresses the Scouts with the display of his Jet Legend Yak-130 turbine jet.
Last month I wrote about modelers who fly super lightweight Indoor Free Flight aircraft. Let’s talk jet modelers this month. Light the fire, check the tires, and turn and burn!
Take a look at Bill Rietzel’s Jet Legend Viper—clean and fast looking on the outside; then there is the inside! The JetCat 120 makes the push, but there’s a lot more to this hot rod! Fuel tank system, air tanks for the retracts and wheel brakes, turbine engine control unit, air valves for gear/doors/wheel brakes, a battery for the engine control unit to power the fuel pump, start-up and cool-down motor, and fuel ignition system.
On the hot side of the engine is the double-wall thrust tube that keeps the airplane from burning up! Add to that list another battery or two for the radio system to power the strong digital servos that control the airplane and an advanced transmitter to program all of the mixes that make the airplane fly like a dream.
Just as a modeler builds a 1.4-gram airplane that can fly for 30 minutes, it’s the attention to the details that makes these jets successful! These two groups of modelers may be on the extreme ends of the speed spectrum, but they have modeling in common.
We love to make things fly.
You might have noticed that my name is not on the ballot for District XI Vice President. I believe that being an AMA vice president is one of the best honors an AMA member can experience. The other AMA Executive Council members have helped me become more than I ever would have expected. They are an exceptional group of volunteers whom I now call my flying buddies!
It’s been my privilege to be your District XI Vice President. Thank you. I hope to share this experience with the next vice president.
See you at the field.
George Sisti’s F9F-8 Cougar is an example of the complexity of a turbine model.
