District IV
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland,
North Carolina, Virginia
Jay Marsh
Vice President
amadistrictiv@modelaircraft.org
3227 Pine Needles Rd.,
High Point NC 27265
(336) 687-0973
www.amadistrict-iv.org
www.facebook.com/amadistrictIV
www.facebook.com/groups/
amadistrictiv
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
Nic Burhans, VA; (540) 219-9646; nic@ama-d4.org
Bob Burnett, Washington, D.C. SERA; (703) 742-9682; bobburnett04@gmail.com
Rick Cawley, NC; (919) 630-1649; racbyc2@yahoo.com
Jack Hamilton, NC; (828) 206-5281; scorpionjacks@hotmail.com
Rusty Kennedy, VA; (757) 812-2812; rustyk716@gmail.com
Richard “Rick” Moreland, MD; (301) 261-7366; rmoreland1@verizon.net
Mark Smith, NC; (704) 798-2776; marksmithmitty@yahoo.com
Terry Terrenoire, VA; (412)760-4593; amad2terry@juno.com
Mark Weiss, DE; (302)547-4917; ama2824@yahoo.com
EVENT SANCTION COORDINATORS
CLAVP: Jack Rosemere, 609 William St., Cambridge MD 21613; (410) 330-4663; jrosemere@verizon.net
FF AVP: Bob Sowder, 84 Misty Hills Ln., Troutville VA 24175; (540) 525-7086; bobsowder1@gmail.com
RC: John Bergsmith, 1438 Piney Church Rd., Concord NC 28025; (704) 699-6977; RCcoordinator@ama-d4.org
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AVP
Ray Stinchcomb, (443) 618-8998; govrelations@ama-d4.org
WEBMASTER
Jack Upchurch, webmaster@ama-d4.org
SOCIAL MEDIA ADMINISTRATORS
Doug LeRoy, Alan Goodman
social@ama-d4.org
If you haven’t joined our Facebook Group, AMA District IV-Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, and North Carolina, at www.facebook.com/groups/amadistrictiv, you are missing all kinds of interesting topics, events taking place in the district, club reports, personal projects, and more. Join today!
Associate Vice President Rick Moreland reported on the return of Pylon Racing at Prince George’s RC (PGRC).
Prince George’s RC, in Upper Marlboro, Maryland (https://pgrcclub.com), has been associated with Pylon Racing since the early 1970s. We held Pylon Racing events until approximately 2015. Our racers moved away, passed on, or just moved onto other venues within the hobby (like me), so we stopped racing. Because of our history of running quality races and having a great field from which to fly, many in the Pylon community have been asking PGRC to start racing again, especially since the loss of the field at the Old Julian Airport Model Aircraft Club field in Liberty, North Carolina.
With the membership of PGRC, and especially Club President Steve Baker and fellow Pylon racers, we made a commitment to race once again. What immediately became apparent was that we needed an upgrade of our course equipment. We talked to Tom Melsheimer, who has been designing and building some great electronic course equipment.
Tom sold us the latest version of his equipment, but it was expensive because of the components and the many hours of labor to build the best-ever course equipment. The PGRC membership put up half the money needed, and AMA District IV Vice President Jay Marsh helped get us a grant from AMA for the rest of the funds needed.
On May 3, 2025, PGRC went racing again! Tom, along with Mark Zeal, who came from Ohio, showed us the proper setup and use of the equipment. They worked tirelessly before the race to make sure everything was working properly and that we were comfortable running the equipment. At 8:45 on Saturday morning, the first heat went off!
We had 27 contestants with some coming from as far away as the U.K., California, Texas, and Florida. We ran eight rounds and 72 heats on Saturday without any reflies or problems with our new equipment.
We owe many thanks to many people for allowing us to race again, especially the membership of PGRC, Jay, AMA, Lee Von Der Hey (who purchased the fuel), Tom, Mark, and the contestants who participated.
