Welcome back everyone! A big AMA welcome and thanks to all of the new club officers in the district! Thanks for volunteering, thanks for stepping up, and thank you for giving your time, energy, and sweat to make our clubs amazing places to learn and pursue our great hobby. Also, thanks to last year’s officers who volunteered to stay on another year!
Welcome and thank you also to any new contest directors, event directors, Leader Members, AMA Leader Clubs, and Large Model Aircraft or Helicopter inspectors!
There has been much discussion during AMA Executive Council (EC) meetings, on our email threads, and on EC conference calls about "outreach" to spread the love of the hobby. In District V, I would really like our outreach to start the moment a visitor walks up to your club. Please take a moment to smile and say hello.
I know it might hurt, but try it. You never know, you might just ignite that same spark in someone that gave you a lifelong hobby. If everyone tries that just once, think about how much we could grow clubs and, as a result, AMA.
"But what does that mean to me?" you might ask. The larger your club and AMA are, the louder our collective voice is when dealing with everyone from the FAA and Congress on a national level to local city governments at the club level. Politicians listen to numbers, and the math is simple: The more people behind a cause, the more attention it gets.
Flying sites are getting harder to both obtain and retain. Urban sprawl, noise complaints, and the lure of big dollars for landowners turning open pastures and flying fields into real estate development are all conspiring against us. Having a great relationship with your neighbors, landlords, and city officials can go a long way to mitigating issues when complaints happen or when you go to a city manager or county commission with your hat in your hand looking for your new field.
A quick note on events: I love going out to events, but if you’re going to invite me to a gathering, please plan ahead and let me know as far in advance as possible. I have commitments to several events yearly, and I try to get around as much as possible, but I still work full-time and need to carefully plan my time off and trips.
This year, you will find me, along with representatives of the AMA staff and other AMA vice presidents (VPs), at the Southeastern Model Show (aka, the Perry Swap Meet) in Georgia, and Joe Nall Week at Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina. Stop by and say hello. One of the favorite parts of my job as VP is getting to know the members.
Robert Tetro (L) of Lake Mary FL, with his new BVM 1/7-scale F-18 Super Hornet in the VFA-102 Diamondbacks scheme, prepares with BVM’s Rob Lynch for the maiden flight at the Bob Violett Memorial jet event, in Apopka FL.
My FMS 90mm A-10 is ready for a sortie at the Bob Violett Memorial jet event held at Don Lowe Field in Apopka FL.