District XI
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
Hi all. Another month is already behind us. Time is certainly not linear; it goes faster as we get older.
AMA elections are over and I want to thank all of you who voted for your support. I will continue to do my best to represent you.
It’s building season in our district. I’m working on repairs and the Der Jager. It is not going as fast as I’d like—again, it’s that time thing. I’ll keep plugging away and maybe someday ...
The Northwest Model Hobby Expo has been rescheduled for May 22-23, 2021. I plan to attend and I hope to see you all there.
I was moving some airplanes around and putting them away for the winter when I came across an old friend. This airplane was bought by a late friend, Ned Minzel, in 1990, and it was the biggest thing we had seen at the time.
It is a Chuck Cunningham-designed Tequila, a 72-inch sport biplane. We flew it for our show team shows and for fun regularly in the ’90s, and I’ve flown it almost every year since. It is a great flier and still gets lots of attention at the field. It was great to dust it off and fly it again.
Associate Vice President (AVP) Joe Miller went to the longtime 37th Annual Father’s Day float-fly event earlier this year.
The Umpqua Valley Modelers put on quite an event at Platt I Reservoir in Sutherlin, Oregon. This has been going on for 37 years and it has never been in a magazine. It has only been advertised by word of mouth in the southern Oregon area. There were 42 registered pilots and I counted 88 airplanes on the ground. There were many more in the trailers and RVs.
Pilots came from California, Washington, Idaho, and across Oregon. At least 10 clubs were represented. The grand prize of the raffle on Saturday was an assembled, ready-to-fly 1/4-scale Balsa USA J-3 Cub. It was won by Bruce Harlow, from Myrtle Creek, Oregon.
Dry camping is available for RVs and tents.
Get there early because the spots go fast. There is a large strip of manicured grass, with trees and benches for comfortable flying. A large, covered area served as the setup area for the event’s prizes, registration, and for meeting other fliers. Contest director Alan Rader had a well-organized and well-run event. If you can find time to attend this wonderful event, you will not regret it.
Here’s a reminder about charging lithium batteries from AVP David Agar. He had replaced his transmitter battery with a LiFe battery and forgot. He charged it using a standard charger, and see the picture for the result! He was lucky and was not injured. Please always know what you are charging. Take time to check!
That’s all for this month. Remember that the AMA Northwest Jamboree is coming in June. I hope to see you there. Keep building and flying!
Phil Tallman
Vice President
AMADistrictXI@modelaircraft.org
28910 W. Hallett Rd., Medical Lake WA 99022; (509) 220-6513
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
David Agar, Battle Ground WA; (360) 721-1963; kamannhusky@aol.com
Rick Crow, Garrison MT; (406) 559-6662; rwcrowjr@gmail.com
Bryan Diffendaffer, Meridian ID; (208) 841-7358; bryandiff@cableone.net
Michael Ingram, Wenatchee WA; (509) 699-3034; firercer@cs.com
Joe Miller, Dallas OR; (503) 798-7241; dragonriders54@yahoo.com
Chris Rankin, Bend OR; (541) 330-5692; oregonraven@earthlink.net
Robert Stephens, Anchorage AK; (907) 440-0478; rfstephens@hotmail.com
Jay Strickland, Central Point OR; (541) 830-7976; strickdog@q.com
Tom Strom, McCleary WA; (360) 791-7729; flyboy23e@aol.com
Bryan Wood, Meridian ID; (208) 412-3254; bw5493@yahoo.com
FF/CL EVENT SANCTION COORDINATOR
Mike Hazel, P.O. Box 505, Lyons OR 97358; zzclspeed@aol.com
RC EVENT SANCTION COORDINATOR
Michael Ingram, Wenatchee WA 98802; (509) 699-3034; firercer@cs.com
