AMA News: District VII - October 2016

Written by Bob Kane / Tim Jesky National Model Aviation Day, club visits, and the 8th Annual Toledo Weak Signals Precision Aerobatics Contest As seen in the October 2016 issue of Model Aviation.

Club visits and National Model Aviation Day

Here we meet again. I’m writing this fresh off a road trip that took me to Iowa for a National Model Aviation Day event hosted by the Ottumwa RC Flyers, and a visit to the Madison Area Radio Control Society (MARCS) of Madison, Wisconsin. I can tell you that a 1,500-mile ride will put you back in touch with all the stuff that you knew ached on your body, plus a few new ones that you didn’t. I’m glad my good buddy and Wisconsin associate vice president, Marc “Doc” Shelstrom, traveled along to keep me company. It’s always a good time for me to visit clubs, reconnect with old friends, and make a few new ones. Before I forget, a big thanks to Mike Anderson of the MARCS for letting (and trusting) me to wiggle the sticks on his airplane. I’m happy to report that the model was in the same number of pieces when I gave him back the transmitter as it was when he handed it over to me. Getting back to the National Model Aviation Day event in Ottumwa, all I can say is thank you to the club, pilots, and the entire town for coming out and supporting the event. There will be plenty more to share with you in a future column. Just for a quick teaser, here’s a photo of Navy Lt. Kevin Schaeffer (Ret.) and Army SFC Steve Workman (Ret.) speaking at the Ottumwa convention center as part of the celebration. They were both at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, when American Airlines flight 77 was flown into it.

Rather than running from the danger, SFC Workman ran back into the flames and carried critically injured Kevin to safety, saving his life. It’s really not possible for me to fully describe what an inspiring and emotional moment their talk was. As I noted earlier, there’s more about this event to come. Take a look your event calendars and consider holding a National Model Aviation Day event at your local club. It’s a great way to celebrate a day of flying with your friends and family.

The 8th Annual Toledo Weak Signals Precision Aerobatics Contest

Moving on, my longtime friend Bob Kane put together a Precision Aerobatics contest this summer and reports on it:
The 8th Annual Toledo Weak Signals Precision Aerobatics Contest was held August 6-7, 2016, at the club’s field in LaSalle, Michigan. We had 26 pilots at this year’s event from several states and Canada. The events flown were AMA classes Sportsman, Intermediate, Advanced, Masters, and also FAI, the international class flown at world competitions. We used the Peter Vogel Pattern Scoring System for the first time at this contest. Peter’s system uses WiFi-connected iPad Touch devices, which the judges use to track deductions during a pilot’s flight. The scores are recorded on the iPad and transmitted at the conclusion of a flight to a scoring laptop running Scott Smith’s Master Scoring software.

Mother Nature served two beautiful days for the contest. There were blue skies, temperatures in the mid-80s, and a light crosswind just strong enough to make wind correction important for a good flight. We were able to get four rounds in on Saturday and two rounds in on Sunday, making it a full six-round contest.


We also had three father-son combinations this weekend: Bill and Greyson Pritchett; Bryan and Matt Finley; and Mark and Sean Atwood. It is always great to see aircraft activities spanning generations. I want to thank the Toledo Weak Signals club members for graciously hosting the contest and Tim and Linda Jesky for their support and for opening up their home for a Friday evening reception. Thanks also to Joe and Robert Jesky for assisting during the weekend.
Take a kid flying.

Intermediate

1)	Jay T Snider	4000.00
2)	Lucky Macy	3908.00
3)	Bryan Finley	3809.42
4)	Valentin Kieriechenko	3590.74
5)	George Gordon	0486.42

Advanced

1)	William Pritchett	4000.00
2)	Mike Gaishin	3955.74
3)	W. Anthony Abdullah	3880.04
4)	Mike Murphy	3848.59
5)	Lewis McNickle	3788.78
6)	Ronald Hansen	3781.66
7)	Lynn Morgan	3669.39
8)	Steve Stricker	3587.28

Masters

1)	Daniel Landis	3992.85
2)	Verne Koester	3980.40
3)	Greyson Pritchett	3943.42
4)	Brenner Sharp	3889.02
5)	Sean Atwood	3787.14
6)	Matt Finley	3760.62
7)	David Johnstone	3755.25
8)	Charles Edwards	3700.72
9)	William Kutchell	3503.09
10)	Robert Kane	3415.16

FAI

1)	Mark Atwood	2000.00
2)	Ken Velez	1990.87
3)	Harry Ells	1921.84