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AMA Home
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You
know you're a modeler
when ...
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As
I write this in the last full week in July,
the summer is half gone and the National
Aeromodeling Championships—or Nats as it is
referred to at Headquarters—is past the
midpoint.
Being a sport flier/builder, I never
participated in any serious competition other
than the fun-fly goofy stuff we would perform
once a year at the field. We'd compete in
things such as the shortest flight or attach
Dixie cups to the fuselage with six beans in
it and require the pilot to take off, do a
loop—an inside loop—and land with all six
beans still in the cup. That type of stuff is
fun but not real competition in any measure of
flying.
This is my first Nats. I have had a
number of members come up to me and say this
was their ... year at the Nats and they had
watched their own families as well as others
grow up coming to the events.
The Academy had
an early start to the summer with the XFC
(Extreme Flight Championships) in mid-June,
followed the next week by hosting the World
Championships F3D Pylon races.
Teams from the
16 countries that participated in the F3D
event were not even home yet when the Nats
Pylon competition began, closing out the month
of June. RC Scale Aerobatics took over the
flying site after July 4.
During the week of
July 8 the CL people had center stage—and most
other fields on the site! In mid-July RC
Combat pilots filled the sky with wild bunches
of airplanes that looked and sounded more like
a swarm of mad hornets than something
controlled by transmitters!
Now the sailplanes
with their quiet and graceful flight dominate
the skies in full competition. The last week
of July and first of August we will welcome
the RC Electrics and FF members back to the
National Flying Site. August also brings the
RC and CL Scale competition to end the Nats.
The big finish for the summer is the IRCHA
(International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association) Jamboree.
Walking the different
fields and observing the staging of the events
has truly driven home the aspect that AMA is a
volunteer membership organization. The
individual Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that
handle the various competitions during the
National Championships represent the true
strength of AMA. If it were not for the many
volunteers who plan vacations around the Nats
and provide the leadership and management of
these events, none of this would happen.
Listing the people who volunteer to help stage
the Nats is a no-win proposition, but at the
risk of omitting someone I want to thank some
of those who make the Nats possible.
Since
1960 Ron and Jane Morgan have participated in
the organization of the Nats. Ron is the
director/manager of the Nats, which is to say
he oversees all the field operations and
coordination with the SIGs. This is no small
task when you have the CDs and everyone else
coming at you with their needs.
Wayne Yeager
is our RC category director, Al (Handy Andy)
Williamson is our RC category manager as well
as the on-site "Mr. Fix-It," and Joe Vislay is
the assistant RC director. Brenda Schuette is
the CL manager and keeps everyone from getting
tripped up during the summer. Phil Sullivan
serves as FF category manager. These
individuals and hundreds of others make the
Nats possible.
While I was walking the flightline and parking lots with their
assortment of trailers, trucks, cars, and
campers, I found the number of ways we
transport our aircraft amazing. From huge
motor homes to compact cars that defy physics
of what came out of them, every conceivable
type of transportation was employed. The
resourcefulness of our membership is also
evident as you tour the site.
It got me
thinking about the comedian Jeff Foxworthy and
his famous "You know you're a
fill-in-the-blank when ... " line that has
been used by so many throughout the years. I
was wondering if anyone had ever put together
a "You know you're a modeler when ... "
litany? It could start out as You know you're
a modeler when ... :
1) You're as excited
about the packing materials of the box that
new whatever came in because it will make
great receiver padding in your next airplane.
2) Every time you pass a golf course you think
about how a great flying site was ruined with
sand and trees.
3) Everything you throw away
is looked at with a
"could-I-use-this-somewhere-in-my-next-project?"
eye.
4) Your spouse notices mood swings when it's a beautiful flying day and nothing you
have is flyable.
5) You speak in strange
tongues and languages when you're around other
modelers.
6) You're as upset as your flying
buddy is when his airplane goes in.
7) You
know never to ask another modeler how many
airplanes he or she has in front of his or her
spouse.
Well, you get the idea. How about it? What's your best
"You know you're a modeler
when ... " line? Send it in and I'll share the
best ones in future ED columns. MA
Al Williamson
(L) and Ron and Jane Morgan are three of many
who volunteer their time and expertise to make
the Nats run smoothly.
In the spirit of flight.
MA
Jim Cherry, Executive Director
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