Model Aviation Online - View from HQ (June 2009)

Let us remember what the real important things are in life the next time we think we're inconvenienced.

You're reading this in May, and I hope your flying time has increased with the longer days and warmer weather.
     As I write this, the 55th annual Toledo Weak Signals R/C Expo has just concluded. Although it's the first week of April, snow pelted us on the way home.
     The Toledo Weak Signals has a long history of support to the AMA Scholarship Fund. The club has donated more than $70,000 throughout the years from its annual raffle held during the show.
     This year was special because the club purchased 10 bricks in the AMA Walk of Fame to honor the 10 founding members of the club. It was my pleasure to present one of the founding members, Joe David, with the letter announcing the bricks' purchase during the awards ceremony at the show.
     If you are interested in honoring a club member or family member at the AMA Headquarters in Muncie, Indiana, information can be found under "AMA Programs, AMA Walk of Fame" at www.modelaircraft.org/brickad.aspx or call Angie Martin at (765) 287-1256, extension 261.
     If you're in the area this time next year, Toledo is a must for every modeler. During the show, AMA is busy staffing an information and museum store retail booth. We also conduct a number of committee meetings.
     The Safety Committee, chaired by Jim Rice, District VIII vice president, the Electronic Technology Committee, chaired by Peter Young, and the Insurance Committee, chaired by Keith Sievers, all met and worked on a wide variety of topics during the three-day show. Recommendations and proposed actions from these groups will be forwarded to the Executive Council for review and approval.
     The Academy also held a press conference at the show announcing a $152,500 donation from the Claude McCullough Estate and the official launching of the inaugural AMA national membership drive: Bringing Modelers Together Begins With You. More details can be found on the AMA Web site at www.modelaircraft.org/membershipdrive.aspx.

I recently attended an American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) meeting in Washington D.C. It was one of those quick trips where you fly in early in the morning, attend briefing meetings into the early evening, plan visits on the hill the next day, and leave on a red-eye flight that night.
     My father, a Pearl Harbor survivor and Korean War veteran, is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. If time allows, I always try to visit his grave when I'm in town.
     Finishing my visits early, I struck out for the airport and a visit with dad before heading back to Indiana on an earlier-than-planned flight. The taxi cab driver waited patiently while I walked the correct number of rows back in section 19 of the cemetery.
     Time had taken its toll on his headstone; the black letters were not nearly as bright as I remembered them to be from my last visit.
     When I go to Arlington, I have mixed emotions. I think of those who served in our armed forces and gave the ultimate sacrifice, and of others, such as my dad, who served and went on to live a full life.
     Standing at the ticket counter at the airport, I heard an announcement. A group of 150 World War II veterans were arriving at Gate 28. They were part of a program to let those of "The Greatest Generation" have an opportunity to see the new World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. The announcement mentioned that if you had some time between flights ... I was standing at Gate 27.
     There were red balloons and banners everywhere. The anthem of each branch of service played as I walked up to the gate. A woman dressed in red, white, and blue handed me a small American flag. Utilized to honor VIPs and retiring airline pilots on their last flights, fire trucks formed an arch of water as the airplane taxied down the terminal way.
     A luggage cart, bearing the flags of all the services, was leading the way. The ground crews were all waving flags as the airplane taxied to the gate.
     It takes a long time to unload 150 World War II veterans. The most mobile of them came out first, followed by those with canes, then those using walkers, and finally the ones being pushed in wheelchairs.
     A good-size crowd had gathered at the gate by that time, and as each veteran appeared, another round of applause rose from the group. It is not a pretty sight to see a grown man cry, but there weren't many dry eyes at Gate 28 that day.
     Let us remember what the real important things are in life the next time we think we're inconvenienced. MA

Gary Fitch and Rich Hanson answered questions and offered complimentary
copies of Park Pilot magazines.

AMA staff members Ilona Maine (L) and Rob Kurek (center) staff the booth
during the show.

Andy Argenio converses with Ron and Joan Liska. Joan is a member of the
AMA Insurance Committee.

In the spirit of flight.

Jim Cherry, Executive Director

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or call Model Aviation Editorial offices: (765) 287-1256, ext. 224.
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Address: 5161 E. Memorial Dr., Muncie IN 47302