Those
who have been involved in flying in any aspect
have come to know that there are two places
they have to visit before that "final flight"
of life. For full-scale flying the
Experimental Aircraft Association's annual
event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July is
essential, and a visit to the National Air and
Space Museum in Washington DC is equally so.
If AMA's International Flying Site and National Model
Aviation Museum in Muncie, Indiana, are the
mecca of aeromodeling, a trip to the Joe Nall
Giant Scale Fly-In has to be the number-two
place to visit.
If you have been involved in modeling for any length of
time, Joe Nall in May is that event every
aeromodeling enthusiast hears of and yearns to
attend. I fell into that category until I
finally made it to the 25th anniversary of the
gathering at the Triple Tree Aerodrome in
South Carolina. Located just southeast of
Spartanburg, in the small community of
Woodruff, it is within easy reach of many who
live in the eastern states.
This event is open to AMA members. As stated on the Web
site, spectators must be an AMA member, guest,
or family member of an AMA member. The
facility has to be one of the best flying
sites in the nation; it has a runway built for
full-scale aircraft and a huge lake to
accommodate any size floatplane.
For many years the Academy has had a presence at the
event, but this year for the first time we had
a booth with items from the museum gift shop.
AMA held a membership meeting and
approximately 250 members attended. The
AMA-sponsored hotdog supper that followed
helped attendance and made for a short
business meeting.
A special thanks to our host Pat Hartness for
accommodating the Academy and providing the PA
system and chairs for the meeting. It was
presided over by Doug Holland, AMA's executive
vice president. (Dave Brown, AMA's president,
was recovering from back surgery and unable to
attend.) Six district vice presidents were
also in attendance.
Almost everything that flies in the IMAA (International
Miniature Aircraft Association) category was
there. I'll leave the reporting of the events
and demonstrations to other areas of the
magazine.
Joe Nall is one of those events to put on life's to-do
list.
Regarding things experienced recently,
the "rocket guys" were on-site in June. The
Rocketeers of Central Indiana (ROCI) staged
the 2007 National Sport Launch the first
weekend of the month.
AMA should be envious of the number of youth
participating in this event. Having gone to
many fly-ins, fun-flys, and other
noncompetition events, the lack of youth
involvement has always concerned me. Unless
the flying event was specifically targeting
youth, the average age of those attending was
much higher than what I witnessed at the
rocket launch.
At times there were 15 or more Rocketeers waiting to
set up their rockets on the 30-plus launch
pads. My unofficial observation put the
percentage of youth and adults at roughly 50%
each. We must involve the youth of today for
the future of modeling tomorrow. The challenge
is, how do we do it?
The first reports coming back in on the
Take off And Grow (TAG) program have been
encouraging. Many clubs are utilizing the
AMA-provided trainers and flight simulators.
MA has recapped one club's TAG program
success on page 10. If your club did not
participate this year, look on the new AMA Web
site for the opportunity to apply for 2008.
Many clubs that did not need the trainers or simulators
requested the public relations materials and
information to stage their own version of the
TAG program. Either way the outreach to
attract new participants in our hobby/sport is
commendable.
On a final note, the hospitality shown
to me on a recent visit to Kansas City and the
Shawnee Mission Radio Control Club at the
Shawnee Mission Park and a related visit to
the Omahawks in Omaha, Nebraska, was
outstanding.
The visit with the Omahawks allowed District IX Vice
President Mark Smith and me the honor of
presenting a Gold Level Leader Club award to
club president Steve Culver. Thanks for the
hospitality and keep up the good work.
Remember: Someone helped you get
started. Help get someone else started in
enjoying our great sport!
In the spirit of flight.
MA
Jim Cherry, Executive Director
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