District II
New Jersey, New York, Europe
Eric Williams
Vice President
rcpilot@nycap.rr.com
4242 Amanda Ln., Schenectady NY 12303
(518) 356-2057
www.amadistrict-ii.org
www.facebook.com/DistrictIIAMA
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
Dennis Andreas, Freenort NY; (516) 902-8207; dennis66536@gmail.com
Eaton Bryce, Brooklyn NY; (917) 749-3125; subundergroundy@gmail.com
Sal Calvagna, Holbrook NY; (631) 737-6372; rcgiants@optonline.net
Frank Costello, Somerset NJ; teams3fpv@gmail.com
Chuck Davis, Sayville NY; (631) 589-7690; cjdavis60@verizon.net
Ed DeRossi, Johnstown NY; (518) 322-5172; ederossi@nycap.rr.com
Gary Fitch, Delevan NY; gm fitch@hotmail.com
Gene Gavin, Staten Island NY; (718) 967-0598; Gavin1957@aol.com
Frank Granelli, Rockaway NJ; (973) 625-4995; granellifl@aol.com
Bill Hauth, Hamburg NY; (716) 649-8582; toolmkr2000@msn.com
Tony Jensen, Binghamton NY; (607) 644-6873; tjravenpilot@gmail.com
Ron McGrath, North Chili, NY; ronmcgrath@rochester.rr.com
Anthony Rossi, Somerset NJ; (917) 320-2665; p510851@gmail.com
Leonard Max Smart, Morrisonville NY; (518) 572-6727; hotrodsbymax@charter.net
Alexander Szemere, Kendall Park NJ; (732) 821-5641; drszemere@aol.com
Michael Wong, Mahwah NJ; kingmeuw@verizon.net
Herb Ziegler, Baldwinsville NY; (315) 857-6266; herbz967@yahoo.com
RC EVENT SANCTION COORDINATORS
Tony and Trish Jensen, 23 Clarendon Dr., Binghamton, NY 13901; (607) 644-6873; tjravenpilot@gmail.com
CL/FF EVENT SANCTION COORDINATOR
AMA Headquarters, Competitions Department; (800) 435-9262, Ext. 252; pierce@modelaircraft.org
On Saturday, March 23, 2024, the Mid-Hudson RC Society, in conjunction with the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA), presented its RC Aircraft Scale Building Seminar at the Poughkeepsie United Methodist Church in Poughkeepsie, New York. The Mid-Hudson club has presented several of these seminars throughout the years.
The Mid-Hudson RC Society is the club that presents the annual Rhinebeck Jamboree at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. The club’s efforts in promoting Scale model aviation are exceptional and exceed 50 years.
The expert presenters at the event were Gerry Garing, who serves as NASA secretary, and Tom Lowrie, a Scale aeromodeler and NASA competitor. Tom displayed his SS101 Super Starduster that is a 47% model of a full-scale aerobatic biplane. The aircraft successfully completed two dozen initial flights in 2023. Tom’s approach was to complete the successful test flights and then complete final scale details—good advice for Scale modelers!
Gerry deserves credit for not just expert building but also expert rebuilding! Gerry’s beautiful and unique C-47 had an unfortunate dead-stick crash at Top Gun in 1992. Ron Chizek, of Amsterdam, New York, expertly piloted the twin-engine aircraft when an engine outage occurred. Unfortunately, when the second engine failed, Ron was out of options. According to Ron, “... as fate would have it, the left engine quit and the C-47 stalled and went down in an open field beyond the runway in front of the pilot stations. Got lucky. No one got hurt.” The aircraft was virtually demolished in the 1992 mishap, yet Gerry and Ron came back to Top Gun 1993 for a podium finish and the entry received the Critic’s Choice Award.
Congratulations to Gerry, Tom, the Mid-Hudson RC Society, and NASA for sharing the enjoyment of Scale model aircraft. I admit, my first love in aeromodeling is Scale aircraft. As I’ve said, “A model aircraft is a model of an aircraft.” Although it’s fun to fly a little of everything, consider giving Scale modeling and Scale competition a try. To learn more, visit www.nasascale.org. Thanks to Tim Haggerty for the event photos.
Remember, it’s not about what you fly, it’s about the friends that you make.
