Happy birthday, United States of America! If my math is correct, this is our 248th birthday! Be sure to celebrate with family and friends. Just please celebrate safely and responsibly!
First up this month is Ralph Doyle, who wrote about a club workday. Saturday, March 23, was fix-up-and-repair day at the Spirits of St. Louis R/C Club.
The members, led by Dave Brown, put their backs into it and repaired the asphalt runway, replaced the landing around the water pump, painted the benches, and sharpened the blades on the mower to get ready for spring.
Bill Horoszko tells us about the Kishwaukee RC Flyers aircraft educational activity with a local school district in support of the school’s STEM program.
On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, 60 students from the Hinckley-Big Rock school system came out to the Hinckley Airfield in Northern Illinois, where five members of our club—Ted Stone, Dick Secrest, Denny Stiles, Al Kleinstiver, and I—along with the sponsors of the event, the Windy City Soaring Association, provided a show-and-tell about full-scale and RC aircraft, discussed aircraft aerodynamic principles, and finally flew multiple flights of our RC aircraft, aligned with the school district’s STEM education program.
There were lots of oohs and aahs from all of the students, as well as a boatload of questions about the RC airplanes. Of course, the ever-popular “How much do they cost?” was at the top of the list. The day could not have been better—a blue sky, a breeze from the north across the runway, and temperatures that called for a light jacket, until the sun beat down on you for a while.
After all was said and done, the students and teachers gave all participants a round of applause and many thanks for putting on this event. If this is what we need to do to get the “younger crowd” into RC flying, then so be it! We had loads of fun and hopefully inspired a future generation of fliers!
I need your input to include your club’s event or even just a fun day of flying in my column. Simply write a 150-word description of the gathering, along with a couple of pictures. Email it to me at AMAdistrictVI@modelaircraft.org with the word “magazine” in the subject line. Keep in mind that pictures must be at least a 500 KB standalone JPG file.
For my last words this month, I want to inform you about how your club could have AMA help pay for an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) device. All AMA chartered clubs and chapters are eligible to apply under the following guidelines:
You must have already purchased the AED within the last 2 months (at the time of application submission), and you must have and provide a photo of the receipt of purchase.
Awards for the Al Kanser AMA AED Save A Life Grant are based on a first-come, first-served basis. When the allotted budget for the year is reached, awards will be discontinued for the year. Clubs can receive a maximum of $200 per year.
Gary Himes
Vice President District VI