District VII—Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Tim Jesky
Vice President
timjesky@charter.net
2886 E. Country Ln., Monroe MI 48162
Tel.: (734) 384-6085;
www.amadistrict-vii.org
So here we are, in the middle of another winter in the Midwest. To all of the snowbirds in our district, I envy you all to the hilt.
I was returning a phone call the other day from a member in Minnesota, and in passing conversation I asked how the weather was. His reply was its beautiful, 78° and not a cloud in the sky. He just happened to be at a flying field in Florida where he spends his winters. James, if you’re reading this I know you weren’t trying to rub it in. Not to say that it didn’t sting a little bit, though.
For those of us who stay behind, I guess it’s time to hunker down and head for our shops. And for the brave souls who go out and fly off the snow and ice, my hat goes off to you.
Before I hand this column off, and at the risk of repeating myself, one of the greatest gifts of being the district vice president is the opportunity to experience so many of the different facets of our hobby. Soaring, Free Flight (FF), and rocketry are just a few that come to mind. To this day, one of the neatest models I’ve ever seen fly was a rubber-powered Ornithopter. The engineering and craftsmanship was nothing short of incredible!
This month you’re going to hear from George Bredehoft of the Cloudbusters, a metro Detroit area FF club. George graciously authored the following for you at my request. Please enjoy what George has put together for us.
I want to share a year-end report
on the Cloudbusters Model Airplane Club, a Michigan FF club. Although the Cloudbusters are sometimes known as the “Detroit” Cloudbusters, we have active members from throughout the state.
Although we support all model aviation disciplines, we are primarily a rubber-powered FF club, focusing on Flying Aces Club (FAC) events. The Cloudbusters have been active since 1939. We conduct monthly contests outdoors when weather permits and indoors the rest of the year.
To begin 2017, the club decided to initiate a search for a new FF flying site. For many years, we used Broome Park in Flint, Michigan, as our flying field. We worked around many obstacles, such as a baseball stadium, a railroad track, and various trees. Roughly two years ago, the city had planted thousands of trees in much of the open land. As the saplings grew, we could see that our time flying at the park was limited. A committee was formed, and the search commenced.
In the early part of the year, we found
a privately owned, full-scale airfield north of Flint, Michigan. The owner was willing to host our activities, as long as we respected the runways and aircraft. We have a new home field!
It is a wonderfully clear piece of ground, but it has some small challenges, including a drainage ditch across the northern part of the field, and the field entrance is on the downwind side without the ability to take vehicles to the upwind side. We are just happy to have the new site.
Our FF members are small in number, but active. We have several top FAC fliers and every September, we host the FAC Outdoor Championships at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana.
Additionally, we have a wonderful indoor flying site, the Ultimate Soccer Arenas in Pontiac, Michigan, and every May, we host an AMA Sanctioned Class AAA Contest at the facility. This arena is larger than a full-size soccer field and the ceiling height classifies it as a Category III site. We draw contestants from across the eastern US and Canada, flying AMA Indoor events and FAC events.
Take a kid flying.
Associate Vice Presidents: Bruce Baier, Oshkosh WI; (920) 233-1127; buzssr@gmail.com; Lee Frederickson, Ada MI; L1520@comcast.net; David George, Riverview MI; (734) 284-9017; indiancity5129@yahoo.com, Randall Gibson, Lansing MI; (317) 698-4346; rgibson@mmrcha.org; Bud Gorman, Knife River MN; (218) 834-5797; bgorman@frontiernet.net; Don Held, Elmira MI; (231) 584-2662; edge540m@gmail.com; Bob Johnson, Fond du Lac WI; (920) 922-6705; bobj54935@yahoo.com; Mark Robotti, Lindstrom MN; (651) 257-6792; mgrobotti@frontier.com; Marc “Doc” Shelstrom, Lancaster WI; (608) 732-4077; shelstrm@uwplatt.edu; Peter G. Van Heusden, Bloomfield Hills MI; (248) 515-1071; petervh@malibutech.com; Kent Woods, Ames IA; (515) 232-8180; woods229@msn.com. Event Sanction Coordinators: Wayne Yeager (RC Michigan), (517) 260-0132; yogi931@comcast.net; Michael J. Haller (RC non-Michigan), Fond du Lac WI; (920) 979-9452; mike.haller60@gmail.com Frequency Coordinators: Al Schwartz, Roseville MN; (651) 633-2286; alberts@comcast.net; Pete Waters, Northville MI; (248) 924-0223; petewaters@charter.net.
