Hello District VII members. The temperature outside might still be cold, but the district is heating up with indoor and outdoor flying, large swap meets, and community activities. From what I see, 2025 is going to be an exciting season.
Before I get too far along, I want to again thank all of you who share your events and let me know about them. I really enjoy visiting and chatting about the wonderful hobby we share, but on to the good stuff.
I had the opportunity to visit the Rock River Aero Modelers Society (RRAMS) in Janesville, Wisconsin, for the club’s swap meet. The facility where they had this was phenomenal, as were the items for sale. There were some top-quality things for sale and I must admit, there were a few that caught my eye.
A unique item, made by a local member, was on display and for sale. If you fly gassers, this is a definite must-have. I promised that person I would not publish their name, because they don’t have the capacity to manufacture large quantities of this part. That means if you want to see it and buy one, you will just have to attend the club’s 2026 swap meet!
I also had a chance to visit the RRAMS flying site (cold as it was), and the club has a site to be proud of. As I have written in past columns, they have great support from the community and have benefitted from it.
Two upcoming club events are the Pat Ryder & Tom Stevens Memorial Fun Fly on June 14, 2025, and the 10th Annual Flying Circus Fun Fly on September 20, 2025. If you can, come out to one of the club’s events and support them. You never know—you might see me out there flying!
District VII did not slow down. February 1 saw the 48th annual Twin Cities Radio Controllers (TCRC) auction. The club has the auction process down to an art. While in attendance, they averaged 40 seconds per aircraft sale. One of the members, Shareif Eisais, is a professional auctioneer. Shareif was assisted by John Berner and Jordan Lorenz.
Even with the pace of the auction, it was 4:30 p.m. when it concluded. The aircraft present covered a wide range from trainers to Giant Scale. So many beautiful aircraft … the eyes desired more than the wallet could support.
I want to also thank Ken Weddell, Jim Ronhovde, Jim Cook, Bob Breisemeister, Scott Anderson, and the other TCRC members, as well as members from the other District VII area clubs. I thank you all for welcoming me and I thoroughly enjoyed talking about model aircraft and sharing the many stories. If you want to read more details about the auction and get details for 2026, visit the TCRC newsletter at https://tcrconline.com/documents/newsletters/February2025.pdf.
Keep an eye out next month for more activities that I had the opportunity to attend. If the winter is ending with this much activity, I can hardly wait until we get outside to the flying field.
Until next month, keep the updates coming in and, of course, share the passion!