Where has this year gone? This is always the time of year to count your blessings. May the spirit of the season be in your soul!
The following is from Terry Herrin, president of the Paducah Aero Modelers in Paducah, Kentucky.
Two of our club Control Line (CL) pilots competed in the 2018 Nats in Muncie, Indiana. Jim Lynch won first place in Nostalgia Stunt competition with his beautiful Volunteer airplane. His model featured a picture of his father-in-law who was killed in World War II during hand-to-hand combat on Luzon Island in 1945.
Charles Reeves won the Spirit of ’52 first-place award for the best-appearing Old-Timer Stunt model and second place in the Old-Timer Stunt competition. Jim and Charlie assisted judging the appearance of the Precision Aerobatics models, something they have done several times throughout the previous 12 years.
The first CL Navy Carrier contest in many years was held at Buder Park in 2018. Members of the Lafayette Escadrille worked hard to upgrade the Navy Carrier area and hope to make this an annual event.
The Chicago Model Masters is a diverse group, representative of citizens throughout Cook County, near Chicago. Our base is at Kickapoo Woods in the Calumet Division of the Cook County Forest Preserve District. We focus on safety and mastering skilled model aviation maneuvers.
Although renowned for building and flying state-of-the-art model aircraft, our priorities are focused on mentoring and instructional initiatives. Through outreach efforts, we have established partnerships that involve reciprocal visits with educational institutions, churches, park districts, community organizations, and more.
The Chicago Model Masters routinely interact with youth and individuals from a variety of backgrounds. This affords us a unique opportunity to exploit their natural curiosity for the miracle of flight and link that interest to local educational objectives. In concert with the school curriculum, thematic instructional presentations have proven to be effective in associating the various nuances of model aviation with math, science, physics, vocabulary, history, geometry, discipline, obedience, responsibility, the laws of cause and effect, and more.
Our mission is simple. In addition to the love of model aviation, we fly for the hearts and futures of young people—many of whom have yet to realize that they can also fly, in countless ways. Many youth with a touched heart and an embellished confidence associated with model aviation have become much more than RC pilots. In countless numbers, the proverbial sky is the limit obstacle (pun intended) morphs with maturing imaginations and dawning potentials. Our future leaders, including teachers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, presidents, etc., are in the making.
Kickapoo Woods is an immaculately maintained, club-designed model aviation field. The site includes an asphalt 50 × 400-foot runway for fixed-wing aircraft, an instructional rotary wing pod, public and pilot parking, and a pedestrian/cycling trail. The surrounding naturally preserved areas interact in concert resulting in an oasis of inordinate beauty and serenity.
If you enjoyed this month’s submission and would like to see an event from your own club here, email me a short write-up with the word “magazine” in the subject line and attach a few high-quality digital pictures!
Gary Himes
Vice President District VI