District III
Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
I started my travels to flying sites in May. My first trip was to Butler, Pennsylvania, to visit the Butler Aircraft Modelers Society (BAMS) at the invitation of longtime member, Ron Hemphill. The club is roughly an hour’s drive north of downtown Pittsburghand has been in existence for more than 40 years. This weekend, the club held its annual flea market at the field. Unfortunately, the weather forecast kept the attendance low.
The club is blessed to be using land formerly owned by the late Charles Eugene “Gene” Waite, who donated the land for the primary purpose of promoting model aviation in all its forms.
The club is blessed to be using land formerly owned by the late Charles Eugene “Gene” Waite, who donated the land for the primary purpose of promoting model aviation in all its forms.
The club enjoys a beautiful grass runway situated on top of a knoll with ample flyover area, a club house with public facilities, a workshop, and a shelter for picnics, and other outdoor events. The property is managed by an LLC; each year, the LLC makes improvements to the facility. This summer, it is adding additional sites with electric hookups for campers and a small pond for model boating activities.
Social organizations, such as Scouting, private schools, veterans’ organizations, and club members’ families, use the facility for weekend camping and learning about nature. They have an active beehive that is used for teaching youth how to handle honeybees.
The BAMS is holding the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers Scale Classic on September 13-15. This will be the club’s second time holding the event. The club’s other activities include community outreach for Wounded Warriors, the Pennsylvania State Police, and flight instruction.
I traveled for the first time to Woodruff, South Carolina, to attend the annual AMA Membership Meeting and work in the AMA booth at the spring model aviation version of the Oshkosh AirVenture called Joe Nall Week, located at the historic Triple Tree Aerodrome. Much has been said throughout the years about this event, but it lived up to its hype. I was able to meet some fliers from District III and make new friends from other parts of this great country.
The highlight of the Membership Meeting was AMA’s presentation of a Lifetime Fellowship Award to founder Pat Hartness for his endless support of AMA and model aviation.
