Last Week, Tyler Dobbs, the Senior Director of Government Affairs at AMA, attended the Carl Hopkins Aviation Expo in Bridgeport, West Virginia along with AMA’s District III VP, Mark Radcliff. Also in attendance at the Expo was a member of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s congressional staff, who spent the day learning about AMA and model aviation.
The Carl Hopkins Aviation Expo was put on by AMA member Ed Waske with the support of the Flying Wing Nutz club in Saint Mary’s, WV. Activities at the Expo included free flight, control line, radio control flying and simulation, and drone and rocket flying. Attendees were also offered full scale airplane tours. The event, located in a town of roughly 8,500 brought in 1,100 attendees, with 585 of those being youth. For most in attendance, this was their first experience with model aviation.
AMA received a letter from Senator Manchin, thanking the organization for advocating on behalf of model aviation and for all the work the AMA has done to support and grow the hobby. You can read the letter below:
Overall, the trip was a great success and made for a great opportunity to showcase the model aviation hobby to Senator Manchin’s office. AMA would like to thank the following people for putting on such a great event:
Ed Waske – AMA Leader Member
Mark Radcliff – AMA VP District III
Bryan Poling – AMA Member
Ron Cockran – AMA Member
Jason Hall – AMA Member
Andrew Waske – AMA Member
Patricia Waske
Chris Van Wyk
Control Line:
Pete Klepsic – AMA Member CL Scale Hall of Fame, Traveled in from Pennsylvania
Mark Weiss – AMA Associate Vice President District IV, Traveled in from Delaware
Free Flight:
Doug Griggs – AMA Member, Traveled in from Maryland
Randy Kesling – AMA Member, From Clarksburg Model Aircraft Club, President
JD Danielson – AMA Member
Betty Danielson
Education Help:
Joel Kirk – ChiefPilot/Director Aviation Center of Excellence, Fairmont State University
Todd Ensign Ed.D.- Fairmont State University, Program Manager, NASA IV&V Education Resource Center
Raphael “Rafe” Snell M. Ed. – Harrison County Academy of Aviation Technology
To remain current with the most recent government-related news, regularly visit the AMA Government Affairs blog.
If you have any further questions or concerns, contact the Government Affairs department at (765) 287-1256 or amagov@modelaircraft.org.