District X
Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah
Greg Stone
Vice President
amadistrictx@modelaircraft.org
5345 Paseo Caliente
Yorba Linda CA 92887
(949) 413-0920
I had the opportunity to head to the Chino Valley Flyers club in northern Arizona. I was welcomed by Mark Lipp, the event coordinator, and Randy Meathrell, the club president, to the Annual Steve Crow Fun Fly. This annual event is promoted throughout the community and brings many spectators to the field to see all of the various facets of model aviation, all of which made for a very impressive display for the community: Golden Age, warbirds, jets, aerobatic aircraft, helicopters, and Control Line. There was a great turnout from the club and members from the Kingman Golden Eagles RC Club, who flew with them. Moreover, member John Myers flew his ultralight in for display.
Let me share some excerpts from the Biography of Stephen Crowe by Chuck Colwell (2002).
“This story is about a young man flying light airplanes in the San Fernando Valley just out of his teens and having pretty much the time of his life. There is a war going on over in Europe and there comes an opportunity for him to meet a man at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel who flew in World War I in the Lafayette Escadrille. He would arrange for Stephen to leave the country and join the RAF Eagle Squadron 133.
“He was only 21 when he arrived in England. He was shown the operations manuals on the Spitfire, he was taken aloft for gunnery practice, and then he moved into his business office, the cockpit of a Spitfire in combat.”
Here is a short synopsis of his long aviation career: 1) He shot down four enemy aircraft; 2) He met the King and Queen of England; 3) He came back to the US as a flight training instructor for our pilots; 4) After the war, he became a bush pilot in Alaska; 5) He has been a modeler all his life; 6) he was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in 2002.
Let’s not forget this hero and all of those heroes who are currently serving.
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.
