This month’s report and introduction is from District VI’s newest associate vice president (AVP):
Let me introduce myself. My name is Nick Ziegler, from Moline, Illinois. I am a new AMA District VI AVP for Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri. I am also an AMA Leader Member, contest director, flight instructor, turbine flier, and the club president of the Hillsdale Country Fliers in Hillsdale, Illinois.
In 2019, my brother, Jeff Ziegler, and I wanted to start a new club, so we started the Hillsdale Country Fliers. It started out as a family field with many close friends to follow. We are a primitive club, flying out in the middle of the country—low overhead and low maintenance. This land was donated to us by Black Fabrication.
Our goal was a no-drama field and just to have fun. We have members who fly anything from foamies to turbines and also helicopters. We are an FAA-Recognized Identification Area-approved grass strip, which we keep rolled as smooth as possible to give you the best place to fly. It is wide open with a 2,000 × 75-foot runway. It is a full-scale, maintained strip. We have flown in with a Stearman.
The current membership is approximately 30 members who make this club a lot of fun, like family, and not overcrowded. We have cookouts and a lot of fun here. It’s a great place to be and a lot of fun when everyone meets there on Sundays at noon.
If you’re on Facebook, my brother and I run an RC site called Radio Control Airplanes and Helis of the Midwest and Friends, which has almost 6,000 in membership and is a fun place to post your builds, learn different techniques, and just have fun all year round. We keep it drama free and well controlled.
This month, I received nothing from any club for me to put in this monthly article. I need input from your club’s activities so that I can keep this column about clubs in the district. This is important, or I will have to resort to filling this page with information that you can find elsewhere.
All you need to is send to me your club’s event or even just a fun day of flying in my column is a 150-word description of the event along with a couple of pictures. Email it to AMAdistrictVI@modelaircraft.org with the word “magazine” in the subject line. Keep in mind that pictures must be at least a 500 KB stand-alone jpg file.
Gary Himes
Vice President District VI