Greetings everyone! I hope this month’s article finds you finishing those winter builds and getting your radios and batteries cycled and charged for the great spring and summer weather ahead. AMA held its 2018 AMA Expo West show January 5-7. During the show, it was announced that it will be changing venues to the Fairplex Exposition Center, in Pomona, California, and the dates are moving to November 2-4, 2018. This is great news! We will now have eight acres of land for outdoor flying exhibitions that will include multirotor racing and night flying up until 9 p.m. The new facility has 105,000 square feet of space for vendors, a swap meet, and indoor flying events. Additionally, there will be ponds for boat demos, a large outdoor model train area, and an outdoor RC car track will be on hand as well. The new venue location features a KOA campground right next to the Fairplex, and a Sheraton hotel on premises.
AMA District XI will again be joining forces with District X, and we will have our associate vice presidents in attendance for a meet and greet, as well as a joint district meeting to discuss topics of the day. The reason for the move is to hold show before the holiday shopping season, and no longer compete the same week with the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I hope to see you there.
Thank you to the Nampa Model Aviators in Idaho for hosting its annual Polar Bear Fun Fly on New Year’s Day and inviting me out to fly.
I believe the club that takes the cake for heartiness is the Gallatin Eagles of Bozeman, Montana, as clearing several feet of snow just to get to the field was in order just to get in the parking lot! The hearty guys in Wasilla, Alaska, are running a close second! The 2018 North West Hobby Expo is in the books, and the turnout for the swap meet is always a welcome site. Although I was unable to attend because of both AMA Expos this year, I look forward to next year’s event.
As always, happy flying!
Bryan
Bryan Wood
AMA VP District XI
AMADistrictXI@modelaircraft .org
Associate Vice Presidents: David Agar, Battle Ground WA; (360) 721-1963; kamanhusky@aol.com; Chuck Bower, Langley WA; (360) 632-9211; cbower@whidbey.com; Michael Ingram, Wenatchee WA ; (208) 573-5542; fi rercer@cs.com; Joe Miller, Dallas OR; (503) 798-7241; dragonriders54@yahoo.com ; Jay Schoening, Lynden WA; (360) 220-0407; jjschoening@msn.com; Robert Stephens, Anchorage AK; (907) 440-0478; rfstephens@hotmail.com; Jay Strickland, Central Point OR; (541) 830-7976; strickdog@q.com; FF/CL Event Sanction Coordinator: Mike Hazel, P.O. Box 505, Lyons OR 97358; zzclspeed@aol.com. RC Event Sanction Coordinator: Michael Ingram, Wenatchee WA 98802; (208) 573-5542 firercer@cs.com.