District V—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
Bob Brogdon
Vice President
r.a.brogdon@comcast.net
5251 Hermitage Dr., Powder Springs GA 30127
Tel.: (770) 421-8838; www.amadistrict-v.org
Hello again District V members and guests! I hope everyone is well and enjoying a flight or two as time permits. I know that many of you are still recovering from the hurricanes and that model flying is not a priority at this time; I especially understand that being the case for our friends in Puerto Rico who were hit hard by Hurricane Maria. I still haven’t heard from them, but I certainly understand. I wish to express my concern for all who were affected.
I want to thank the following people for making the effort to become contest directors (CDs) and for supporting our activities: Eugene Lindsey of The Villages, Florida; Joshua Adair of Jackson, Georgia; Jacob Crowder of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Charles Wright of Cayce, South Carolina. Thank you! You do make a difference!
Once again I was wrong! It has come to my attention that Col. Robert (Bob) Thacker, an active modeler in San Clemente, California, celebrated his 99th birthday this past February. I should have caught this one as I was in attendance when Bob was honored at AMA Expo West in January of this year. He may well be the oldest AMA active modeler.
Some things just bring a smile to your face, and this one is no exception. George Ash sent a picture of Brinley, his 4-year-old granddaughter, showing perfect form and technique launching her airplane. George tells me that she is now 6 years old and still shows interest in the modeling—maybe a future champion? Thanks for sharing, George!
I attended quite a few events this past month and enjoyed meeting many of you. I will have to include those events in a later article because this month I want to feature reports submitted by two of my associate vice presidents, Scott Anderson and Chuck Foreman.
Scott Anderson reported that the McMinn County Radio Control Association in Etowah, Tennessee, held its first RC fly-in during the 2017 Labor Day weekend. Club President Richard Weir was the CD for the well-attended event that had 46 registered pilots.
One of the highlights of the weekend was the One-Minute Throwdown! Several pilots flying everything from Scale to 3-D airplanes tried to impress the judges, and the crowd loved it.
Although the weather was not perfect, it did not slow down the pilots. The night flying was done under the light towers and continued well into the night/morning. A raffle was held Saturday night and the prizes included airplanes, a gas engine, and many other items.
Chuck Foreman attended the 17th Annual General Chuck Yeager Fly-In at the Tri-County R/C Rainbow Air Park in Dunnellon, Florida, hosted by The Tri-County R/C Club. The pilot turnout was good considering that Hurricane Irma had just passed through Florida and a lot of areas south of Dunnellon were still under water.
John Kettgen was the CD, and he did a good job and kept the event running smoothly. John and I had a good conversation, and he shared some of the club’s history and its involvement with the city of Dunnellon and its charities. The club is active in the community, and throughout the last several years, has hosted a number of events to raise money to donate to Dunnellon charities. These events include the Santa Fly-In, the April Big Bird Fly-In, the June Electric Fly-in, and the General Chuck Yeager Fly-In. Proceeds were donated to the Disabled Veterans at the Dunnellon American Legion Post #54, the Dunnellon Little League, the Ocala Interfaith Services (food for children), and Toys for Tots.
Additionally, the club, in conjunction with the Dunnellon Fire Department, has held the Santa Fly-In for approximately 20 years so that Santa can deliver toys to needy children.
I need to close to leave space for some photos, but before I go, I want to encourage club members to go to the AMA website and check out the available club services such as Club Disaster Relief, Flying Site Development and Improvement grants, and Take off And Grow (TAG, which provides clubs assistance in involving others in our sport). You might be glad you did.
Associate Vice Presidents: Alabama: Rick Grim, (256) 502-5847; uavpilot@bellsouth.net. Florida: Chuck Forman, (352) 347-4745; timeout1932@hotmail.com; Andrew Griffith, (904) 993-4956; barracudahockey@aol.com; Keith Hall, (813) 928-3861; wing-man@verizon.net. Jose Melendez, (321) 412-3078; rcjets12@hotmail.com. Georgia: Bill Barbee, (912) 660-2155; awbarbee@hotmail.com; Bob Dixon, (478) 960-5200; rldixon3@cox.net; Nick Ray, (865) 368-3820; lasray@gmail.com; Dave Wenzel, (912) 754-9619; davevfrguy@hotmail.com. Mississippi: Paul Verger, (228) 826-4892; cpaulverger@yahoo.com. Puerto Rico: Edwin Medina, (787) 525-7768; captmedina@gmail.com. South Carolina: Don Wise, (803) 534-8164; d7wise@cs.com. Tennessee: Scott Anderson, rcfoamy@hotmail.com. Dick Tonan, (615) 995-6291; dtonan@mac.com; Charles Anderson, (423) 892-3998; canderson9898@comcast.net. Safety Coordinator: Red Scholefield, Newberry FL; (352) 331-8410; redschol@cox.net. RC Event Sanction Coordinator: Dick Tonan. FF Event Sanction Coordinator: Bob Thoren. CL Event Sanction Coordinator: Dave Wenzel. Webmaster: Glenn Bond, d5amaweb@gmail.com
