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
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
Charles (Chuck) Barnes, Santa Maria CA; (805) 886-7921; chbarnes10@comcast.net
Forrest Barton, Woodland CA; (530) 383-9019; cbarton328@aol.com
Stella Bennett, San Pedro CA; (310) 357-4570; bennettblueagleusa72@gmail.com
Jim Bonnardel, San Diego CA; (858) 292-5518; jimbonnastel@hotmail.com
Alan Friedman, Eloy AZ; (520) 876-0232; pooralan@aol.com
Craig Haslebacher, Springville UT; (509) 518-0243; craigsrcr1@aol.com
Bob Hunter, San Tan Valley AZ; (714) 273-1419; bobh@huntershome.com
John Johnson, Silver Springs NV; (775) 287-3652; johnorama@gmail.com
Tim Johnson, Mission Viejo CA; (949) 444-5420; timothy@johnsonms.com
Mike Lee, Redlands CA; (909) 792-8424; mlee8249@msn.com
Barry Mattison, Las Vegas NV; (702) 218-3827; bm.brabbit@aol.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; willisassoc@aol.com
EVENT SANCTION COORDINATORS
Forrest Barton (CA north of Bakersfield), Woodland CA; (530) 383-9019; cbarton328@aol.com
Southern 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 column comes from Steve Manganelli of the Silent Electric Flyers of San Diego (SEFSD).
University of California San Diego (UCSD) students shine, and SEFSD hits the TV news!
SEFSD proudly hosted its third UCSD Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Capstone Design Fly-Off, with seven student teams competing in a high-density/low-density cargo carrying contest. Piloting duties were split between me, Dennis LeBerge, and Jim Bonnardel, who was in his element offering his trademark mix of folksy charm and unshakable optimism: “Yes, everything will fly, no matter how bad the controls!”
Believing the event had real community value, past member Larry Kosta alerted local media—and it paid off! KUSI-TV’s Jason Austell came out early, filming interviews with me and UCSD Lab Manager Paul Arcoleo for Good Morning San Diego, with a second segment airing at 5 p.m. SEFSD was prominently credited, which was a great win for our community outreach efforts.
My May 13 talk to the class on RC modeling mishaps helped somewhat, although most teams still needed tweaks. The Col. El Pollo J. Rosso team, led by Frenchman Johnpierre Khachi, was one of the few that was ready early, allowing test flights the week before. After some nose weight and control adjustments, it flew—until the motor mount gave out on approach. (3D-printed ... not ideal.)
Scoring was based on the cargo box volume and high-density payload. All eyes were on Team 7, with a box three times the size of the others. Nervous whispers of, “If that flies and deploys, we’re screwed!” rippled through the field—and fly, it did! Jim B. nailed the drop almost dead center to wild cheers. Only two other teams managed to deploy at all; mine, not so much, despite five tries.
Professor John Hwang wrapped things up with awards, marking another exciting and impactful SEFSD community adventure.
Enjoy everything you build and fly.
