District V
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands
Welcome back, everyone! It’s the dog days of summer as I write this, so there aren’t many events going on, but I did manage to attend a warbird fly-in at the North Georgia Model Aviators (NGMA) in Dawsonville, Georgia. Its field sports an amazing vista of mountains in the background that us flatlanders in Florida don’t get to see every day.
While I was there, I learned more about the club’s youth training program. This club “gets it” when it comes to promoting youth in model aviation. It also hosts a show-and-tell every other year at a local community center since the field isn’t in a place you’d likely come across unless you’re looking for it.
As a bonus, because of the elevation in the foothills, it wasn’t 127° in the shade like it was at home. To NGMA, thank you for the hospitality, and keep up the great work!
NGMA’s Krystian Schmitt is this month’s featured youth. He was enjoying the warbird event at the NGMA field in Dawsonville, Ga.
Contest Director Bernie Jagger, with his wife, Kim, ran the registration and raffle ticket sales at the NGMA warbird event.
I want to take a moment to recognize the contributions of Jim Rice to the AMA Safety Committee. Jim has had a long and storied career in model aviation, including an AMA Fellowship Award and an AMA Model Aviation Hall of Fame induction. He has given years of service to the hobby and to AMA. It’s been a pleasure learning from his experience and counsel since I joined the Safety Committee, and I wish to thank him once again for his service to AMA.
Lastly, I received a copy of the Airmasters RC Club’s newsletter from the club’s vice president, Conway Bolt. The club, located in Sebastian, Florida, has formed a true partnership with the leadership of Indian River County that goes beyond just landlord and tenant.
The Airmasters hosts and promotes youth through the City of Sebastian Parks and Recreation department and emphasizes this relationship in its newsletter. This is precisely the building of reputational credit that I’ve been writing (harping?) about, and it makes me happy that it’s being put to practical use with positive results! Great job, Airmasters!
Airmasters RC Club member Greg Triolo supervises students who are flying RealFlight RC simulators during the club’s youth outreach.
Gateway RC member Bruce Anderson, of Jacksonville, Fla., is shown with his Alchemy Pro RC Aerobatics airplane. Bruce just wanted his picture in the magazine, so here you go!
Until next month, stay safe and fly a lot!
Andrew Griffith
Vice President
amadistrict@modelaircraft.org
12258 Bucks Harbor Dr. N.
Jacksonville FL 32225
(904) 993-4956
amadistrict-v.org
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS
Mickey Avery, AL; (334) 247-7123; district-V-AVP@email.com
Rick Grim, AL; (256) 856-0859; uavpilot@bellsouth.net
Joe Dolliver, FL; (239) 218-2677; Joe33914@gmail.com
Keith Hall, FL; (813) 928-3861; wing-man@verizon.net
Randy Lepley, FL; (813) 277-6862; randy.leapley@yahoo.com
Jose Melendez, FL; (321) 412-3078; rcjets12@hotmail.com
Andre Smith, FL; (850) 980-3724; andresdmit@gmail.com
Bill Barbee, GA; (912) 660-2155; awbarbee@hotmail.com
Jeffery Holland, GA; (770) 871-8045; jaholland35@gmail.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
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
