This month’s submission is from Barry Mizes of the Midwest Air Wing RC club in Pontoon Beach, Illinois, near St. Louis.
We held our annual Frozen Finger Fun Fly on January 1, 2020. The event was coordinated by our club’s vice president, Stan Marmuziewicz. We were extremely lucky that the weather cooperated this year with a sunny sky and temperatures in the mid-50s. Roughly 40 members came out to celebrate the New Year and get in their first flights of 2020.
In addition to a general fun-fly, we had a chili cook-off, potluck lunch, and a cumulative flight time contest. The winner of the flight time contest managed to fly more than 1 hour 40 minutes of the 4-hour event, using just 2 batteries for his FPV flying wing.
It was a great start to the events we have planned for this year.
I want to take a moment to let you know that District VI has a webpage at https://amablog.modelaircraft.org/amadistrict-vi and a Facebook page. If you haven’t looked at either of these, please take time to check them out!
The Facebook page is full of events happening throughout our district. Also, the latest AMA news is always posted there. These posts are possible through Donald Way’s efforts. Donald is a District VI associate vice president as well as the district’s webmaster. Thank you for your service in supporting District VI, Donald!
Although I am writing this on the day after New Year’s Day, you won’t read it until nearly March. The weather is great, with daytime temperatures reaching nearly 50.
It should be obvious that I am lacking material for my article this month. Some of you send me your club’s monthly newsletter, so I will fill the rest of this column with material from newsletters. My problem is that I don’t have a way to get the pictures from the newsletters into this posting.
The Dope Can newsletter of The Suburban Aero Club of Chicago reported that former club president John Kallend was replaced by Devin Tornow. Flier of the year honors went to Al Myers, Greg Stevens, and John York. The February Raffle was a big one as three airplanes were raffled off including a Hangar 9 Twist 40, an FMS F3A Explorer PNP, and a FMS Zero A6M5 PNP.
From the newsletter of the Sentral Illinois Radio Society of Bloomington, Illinois: The club held its 2019 banquet and it was was a great success. Nineteen members plus spouses and family attended. After a great meal, there was an auction that put more than $1,000 into the club’s coffers. Also, new club officers were installed into their positions during the banquet.
From The Printed Circuit newsletter of the Fort Wayne Flying Circuits: Many clubs hold a an annual January 1 event and the Flying Circuits held its Polar Bear Fly. This year, more than 30 pilots showed up to socialize and fly in the 13 mph wind. There was some snow in the area so floatplanes and skis were necessary to battle the cold and fly.
Remember, to see your club mentioned in Model Aviation, simply send me a submission of your club’s event from this past year!
I encourage you to email me at AMADistrictVI@modelaircraft.org with the word “magazine” in the subject line and attach some pictures! This is the time of year when submissions are nonexistent, so get to writing!
Don’t forget to introduce someone to model aviation!
Gary Himes
Vice President District VI