District V
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
Andrew Griffith
Vice President
amadistrictv@modelaircraft.org
12258 Bucks Harbor Dr. N.
Jacksonville FL 32225
(904) 993-4956
amadistrict-v.org
Welcome back, everyone! If you attended Joe Nall Week 2026 in May at the Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina, you were treated to the best weather in recent years—maybe the best since I started going 15 years ago. The runway was dry, the wind was mostly favorable, and the flying was plentiful. Triple Tree Executive Director Robb Williams informed me that they had 1,100 registered pilots and twice that many spectators. Despite the chamber of commerce weather, I think that attendance was probably down some because of the gas prices at the time.
The view I look forward to every May: Joe Nall Week at the Triple Tree Aerodrome!
Rick Cawley, from Fuquay Varina, N.C., won the Bob Smith Award at Joe Nall with his radial-powered Hall Bulldog. The Bob Smith Award trophy will come back next year to be awarded again, and Rick’s Bulldog will be featured on the entrance banner for the 2027 event.
AMA leadership, including President Greg Stone, Executive Director Tyler Dobbs, myself, and several of the district vice presidents, was in attendance, along with Retail Manager Wendy Neal and Government Affairs Manager Lucas Rodden from AMA Headquarters. If you don’t know Lucas, he has taken over Government Affairs duties since Tyler transitioned to the executive director position and is doing a fantastic job dealing with issues that clubs might have with the FAA and local governments.
The Thursday night AMA Membership Meeting is your opportunity to learn what’s happening firsthand from AMA staff and leadership and to have questions answered. There is also a dinner that takes place afterward overlooking the beautiful float pond, and it’s a chance to walk around a hangar stocked with full-scale classic aircraft.
The 3D line at Joe Nall is very, very popular! The talent displayed by both team and non-team pilots is phenomenal!
I want to touch on burn bans and turbine jet flying. As a former firefighter, I can promise you that nothing is scarier than how fast a brush fire can spread when the humidity is low and the underbrush is dried out from a consistent lack of rain. AMA doesn’t have any “rules” regarding turbine jets and burn bans, but common sense should prevail.
While post-crash fires are possible with LiPo batteries, they aren’t nearly as common as a hot turbine and a ruptured fuel tank that has plunked the ground at 100 mph. There’s also the difference in trying to run three blocks with a 5-gallon water extinguisher versus having a fully-equipped crash cart (like some serious jet clubs have) with plenty of water and the ability to get to a scene quickly before a fire can spread.
Use your common sense because you don’t want to be the reason a fire starts and burns down peoples’ houses (or worse), or the reason your club loses its field because you couldn’t wait until a burn ban was lifted after sufficient rain to fly your jet.
Until next month, stay safe and fly a lot!
The featured youth this month is Donald Baxter, a new RC pilot from Green Cove Springs, Fla. Donald is shown here at his science fair with his project about the powered flight revolution and how it has changed the world. He won his category (of course!) and is advancing to district-level competition. He used his RC airplane to demonstrate to the judges how it works. Great job, Donald!
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
Mickey Avery, AL; (334) 247-7123; district-V-AVP@email.com
Rick Grim, AL; (256) 656-0859; uavpilot@bellsouth.net
Joe Dolliver, FL; (239) 218-2677; Joe33914@gmail.com
Keith Hall, FL; (813) 928-3861; wing-man@verizon.net
Randy Leapley, FL; (813) 277-6862; randy.leapley@yahoo.com
Jose Melendez, FL; (321) 412-3078; rcjets12@hotmail.com
Andre Smith, FL; (850) 980-3724; andresdsmith@gmail.com
Bill Barbee, GA; (912) 660-2155; awbarbee@hotmail.com
Nick Ray, GA; (865) 368-3820; lasray@gmail.com
Darrell Sprayberry, GA; (706) 280-5848; darrelluhb@optlink.us
Paul Verger, MS; (228) 826-4892; cpaulverger@yahoo.com
Edwin Medina, Puerto Rico; (787) 525-7768; captmedina@gmail.com
Scott Anderson, TN; patternpilot1@hotmail.com
Tim DiPeri, TN; (615) 591-7399; caseco@comcast.net
Dick Tonan, TN; (615) 995-6291; dtonan@mac.com
RC, CL, AND FF EVENT SANCTION COORDINATOR: Dick Tonan, (615) 995-6291; dtonan@mac.com
WEBMASTER: Glenn Bond, d5amaweb@gmail.com
