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
Happy holidays! Time flies when you’re having fun.
Don’t forget that it’s time to apply for AMA Scholarships, Take off And Grow (TAG) grants, and Flying Site Development and Improvement grants. Applications are being accepted now and will be awarded early in 2018. Apply today if you qualify for any of these programs by going to the AMA website (www.modelaircraft.org).
Our report this month is from Doug LeRoy, event director and president of the Holly Springs Skyhawks in Holly Springs, North Carolina.
If you were anywhere near central North Carolina on Friday evening, September 1, 2017, you would have been certain that the weather conditions would not recover in time to allow hosting a major fly-in the following day. Driving rain, lightning, 3-inch hail, tornadoes, and high wind terrorized the area throughout the night. Things appeared dire for our event, but daybreak dawned on Sugg Farm Park at Bass Lake to a calm, soggy, and foggy morning, but the Wings Over Springs Charity Model Aviation Day Fly-In and Swap Meet was on!
This was the first organized event the Skyhawks have hosted. Club members started arriving early to lend a hand in final preparation for the event. They had registration and the welcome desk operational on time at 8 a.m. when pilots began to arrive. Following a brief pilots’ meeting, the flightline was opened. The
The Wings Over Spings Charity event in celebration of National Model Aviation Day.
The swap meet.
The prizes for the pilots’ raffle.
The Hard Luck Award went to Bob Wesley for flying into the lone tree on the field.
fog was not cooperative early and most pilots needed to keep aircraft within 50 feet of the ground.
At 10 a.m., the event was opened to the public—free for all to attend. This portion of the gathering was designed to present the public with an opportunity to be introduced to what RC flying is all about. An auxiliary field adjacent to the main event field was set up with a drone racing course operated by the local MultiGP chapter. This was a big draw and of a lot of interest to the public.
The fog lifted completely as noon approached and the noontime demos were the big entertainment on the main flightline. During the show, we permitted wet fuel power systems and were afforded a good mix of gas and glow in addition to electric. Some noteworthy participants were a Magnum PI Hughes 500D replica, an aerobatic 3-D quadcopter, and a replica of the German “secret weapon” aircraft from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Closing our noon demos was District IV Associate Vice President Rick Cawley and his multi-award-winning ½- scale Jungmeister! Rick flew an amazing sequence of maneuvers that captivated and entertained everyone in attendance.
Blue skies and plenty of sun gave the pilots perfect flight conditions for the rest of the day. The event concluded at 4 p.m. and was a resounding success! Fifty-two registered pilots relaxed, socialized, and flew, entertaining hundreds of spectators. Most importantly, $400 was raised to support our sponsored charity, Meg’s Smile Foundation (www.megsmile.org), and we raised $1,000 in support of the Parks and Recreation Department that sponsors our flying site with the park complex.
Planning is underway for Wings Over Springs 2018, so don’t miss out! We look forward to welcoming you next year to what will become an annual event in Holly Springs, North Carolina!
Go fly and have fun safely.
