Hello District VII members. The season is in full swing, but oh, the wind. I don’t remember having such consistently high wind, but we are still getting models airborne and, most of all, having fun. I regret the time delay from when I write this to when you get to read it. I hope to keep the excitement going.
I was a part of an exciting program working with youth. I taught club involvement in youth programming as part of creating programming and guides that you and your clubs can use as guidelines within your community.
At AMA Headquarters, I was involved in supporting a program working in conjunction with the Muncie Children’s Museum. What a fantastic program it was. Families were invited to AMA Headquarters where they were treated to a morning of fun. Upon arrival and checking in, the youth were initially introduced to aviation, which led to them building and decorating their individual gliders. Each child, with the help of their parents, assembled the gliders, and many were quite artistic.
After all were finished with their builds, we went outside, and I enjoyed watching them running around, laughing, throwing their gliders, and the amazement in their eyes as they watched something they built with their own little hands fly.
After enjoying the flights, the youth and their parents were invited to tour the National Model Aviation Museum. Not only did they have the opportunity to learn about and see the development of model aircraft, but they also then tried the various simulators there and even played with the vertical wind tunnel. Watching their excitement was great.
I visited the Circle Masters Control Line (CL) Club of Milwaukee. It is a great club with an excellent group of people, and at this event, they had incredible food: brats (it is Wisconsin, of course), tasty potato salad, and, remembering from me attending last year, my favorite pineapple upside-down cake!
The real show was about to come. Although I am not a CL flier, I enjoyed taking a go at it with their assistance. I prepared the model that they provided as my trainer, and my "RCer" side was about to show up. We got the airplane fired up and Club President Chris Sterner, my instructor, and I started to fly it. All was good—initially.
As we flew, I got dizzier with each lap. Chris asked me how much fuel I had put in the tank. I said, "I filled it up, of course. Why wouldn’t I?" He laughed and said, "We don’t normally do that." With the fuel load I put in, he told me that it would take 7 or 8 minutes before it would run out. Oh no, am I going to hang on that long? What have I done to myself!?
It was suggested to do a loop, which would stop me from spinning, and I was good with trying it. It didn’t work as planned. With a little up-wrist, the model climbed quickly. I looked up suddenly and down I went. Chris maintained control of the airplane while I lay on the ground, laughing. CL airplane: 1; me: 0.
It just goes to show the skill that those CL pilots demonstrate, when it looks so easy. The club members and I had great laughs. I would come back and do it again without hesitation. Thank you again, Circle Masters, for inviting me, and I so enjoyed the time and sharing stories.
More stories will come from sharing time with you in the district this season. Until next time, keep sharing the passion.