District X
Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah
Greg Stone
Vice President
gstone4@outlook.com
5345 Paseo Caliente
Yorba Linda CA 92887
(949) 413-0920
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
Forrest Barton, Woodland CA; (530) 383-9019; cbarton328@aol.com
Jim Bonnardel, San Diego CA; (858) 292-5518; nitroblast@hotmail.com
Alan Friedman, Eloy AZ; (520) 876-0232; pooralan@aol.com
Bob Hunter, San Tan Valley AZ; (714) 273-1419; bobh@huntershome.com
Dan Johnson, Preston ID; (435) 619-3112; daksjohnson@gmail.com
Tim Johnson, Mission Viejo CA; (949) 444-7520; timothy@johnson.us.com
Mike Lee, Redlands CA; (909) 792-8424; mlee8249@msn.com
Barry Mattison, Las Vegas NV; (702) 218-3827; mr.brabbit@gmail.com
Jim Mohan, Phoenix AZ; (623) 434-1351; jmohan351@cox.net
JR Schiager, Folsom CA; (916) 705-7778; jrstuff88@gmail.com
Gil Terzo, Las Vegas NV; (702) 523-9897; gterzo@aol.com
Peter Vogel, Santa Clara CA; (408) 569-7067; vogel.peter@gmail.com
Roger Willis, Murrieta CA; (951) 249-9688; willisasoc@aol.com
EVENT SANCTION COORDINATORS
Forrest Barton (CA north of Bakersfield), Woodland CA; (530) 383-9019; cbarton328@aol.com
South California and Arizona, Greg Stone, (949) 413-0920; gstone4@outlook.com
Free Flight: AMA Headquarters, Competition Department, (765) 287-1256, ext. 252; competition@modelaircraft.org
This month’s update is brought to you by District X Associate Vice President Jim Mohan, from Phoenix. Jim recently spent some time at a few of the Phoenix-area winter events. Winter is event season in the Southwest desert. February was packed with some outstanding flying events again this year.
The Arizona Model Aviators presented the 19th Annual Arizona Electric Festival (AEF) on the weekend of February 3-5, 2023. It was a perfect weekend for flying, with mild temperatures, calm wind, and a clear, blue sky. Nearly 70 pilots enjoyed a great weekend, and Contest Director (CD) Shannon Gallagher’s team put on an excellent event. Nineteen years of practice showed.
The AEF flightline was packed with a variety of electric aircraft.
CD Shannon Gallagher welcomes pilots at the Saturday morning pilots’ meeting.
The Arizona Model Pilots Society (AMPS) hosted its first annual Winter Jet Jam on February 18. This inaugural event brought together roughly 20 registered pilots. As with the AEF, the day was beautiful, with light wind and moderate temperatures.
Although there were a couple of turbine-powered airplanes, most were EDFs of all shapes and sizes. I noticed this same trend at the AEF, where I’d estimate slightly more than 50% of the airplanes were EDFs. Those are clearly a popular choice right now. CD Kyle Girardo and AMPS hosted a nice first-time event.
There were lots of jets on the Winter Jet Jam flightline.
My last visit was to the Desert Jet Storm hosted by Speed World Flyers on February 23-26. This event had been in hiatus for several years, but CD Terry Buckley and the folks at Speed World Flyers resurrected the event and hosted a great weekend of flying. Friday and Saturday morning’s weather proved excellent, but a storm front provided some wind on Sunday. That same front brought snow to northern Arizona and Southern California, resulting in some of the Colorado and California jet guys staying home. Even with the storm, approximately 20 pilots made good use of the Speed World facilities and flew some amazing jet aircraft.
Pilot Don Corum and his beautiful F-16 made the trip from Southern California.
Feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, recommendations, or issues. There is much to share across the district.
Enjoy everything you build and fly.
