An AMA Gold Leader Club
October, 2002
No. 425
From the President,
Warren Barrick
September has been a busy month! I was able to get away
for a week's
vacation, Marilyn, our editor, is either in China or
Japan and Al Campana,
who usually fills in for her, is motoring toward the
Dakotas. That leaves me
to try to cobble together this edition. Bear with me.
Thanks to Carl Sutton for managing the Sept. 10th general
meeting and to Dee
Messina for coordinating the Wings Field and Pottstown-Limerick
events.
Park Appreciation Day was wonderful, nice weather, a
breeze down the runway;
plenty of good food and lots of fun was had by all!
Tbere are many people
who help to make such days possible and I think the
entire club is
responsible and I am grateful. Key people are Mike Estock
who sets
everything up and knows where each nut and bolt is stored,
John Matt and
wife Haine who make the food purchases, and our invaluable
cooks this year
led by the return of Jim Campana who was the originator
of the concept of
having food at our funflies. Walt Pierzchala purchased
and delivered the
hoagies, and Alex Primas contributed the desserts. Ed
Moore, Walt and I
manicured the field. Pat Taggart did a little of everything
and made it much
easier for me to enjoy the day. The Signal Seekers are
becoming so good at
arranging and participating in this type of affair that
all the president
needs to do is place a few phone calls or send some
e-mail and everything
"falls" into place. There was not much Park
participation in the event but
we really do appreciate the Park's stewardship of our
activities and that is
what Park Appreciation Day is all about.
Thanks again to Handibond for providing us with 1/2-ounce
bottles of CA,
which we gave to the first 35 pilots to impound their
transmitters. That
makes two successive fun-flies that Handibond has been
our corporate
sponsor. We are glad for their support.
We need at least 6 more volunteers for the 2003 BOG.
Don't sit back and "let
somebody else do it!" We are a large diverse organization
and we need
members to participate in this worthwhile leadership
role. BOG meetings are
scheduled monthly but only occur when the president
has necessary club
business to act upon. Thanks to Howard Peyton, Clarence
Evans, Harry Lawton,
Al Marcucci, Joe Weizer, Joe Yalove and Steve Kolet
who have already offered
their services and expertise. Please let me know if
you are interested. I
will repeat my plea at the October meeting.
October's meeting will feature the cutting of foam wings
as well as
Show-N-Tell and the Raffle. We will also have news of
our annual Flea
Market. Plan to attend.
Several new members have requested instruction on how
to build a model from
a kit and how to repair an ARF. Our November meeting
will feature some of
our homegrown experts with advice and counsel on how
to do these mysterious
things.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WINGS FIELD ANTIQUE AIRCRAFT DAY &
POTTSTOWN-LIMERICK PILOT'S BREAKFAST FLY-IN
By Dee Messina
September 7th was a perfect day for full-scale aircraft.
Hundreds of types
were on display at Wing's Field. Civilian, military,
homebuilts, biplanes
and autogyros were all there. We were surrounded by
history. There were lots
of vendors. The Confederate Air Force had a great presentation
and
fortunately it was located next to us in the hangar
and it helped to draw
people to our display. Two automobile clubs showed priceless
cars and
trucks, everything from Stanley Steamers to vintage
T-Birds.
At midday a beautiful L-39 Albatross jet with Russian
markings made low
passes over the field with smoke. Rides were offered
for 900 dollars! A very
exciting jet.
September 8th, Sunday we traveled to Pottstown-Limerick
Airport for their
full-scale fly-in and pancake breakfast. They offer
a great breakfast for 5
dollars. The sun comes up, the grass is wet with dew
and airplanes are
buzzing overhead waiting to land. The atmosphere cannot
be beaten. Bob
Cenci, a member of the sponsoring group, gave a rousing
introduction to the
crowd extolling the virtues of VFSS. Many aircraft were
on display filling
the airport to capacity. Helicopter and fixed wing rides
were available. A
Waco biplane was one of the featured ride providers.
VFSS was well represented by Alex Primas who brought
his Tigermoth Biplane,
Ed Moore with a Corsair, Mike Estock with his too pretty
"Skylane" and both
"Joes" Weizer and Yalove who brought Kaos
sportfliers. All members took
turns working the crowd and providing answers to questions.
All in all, two
good days for those of us who love to commit aviation!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NO LONGER HAZY
By Russ O'Brien
As a subscriber to the Smithsonian Air & Space magazine,
I receive frequent
mailings about the expanded Air & Space Museum being
built at the Dulles
International Airport.
The name of the new museum is the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center. This name
was puzzling because it was never explained and I could
not relate it to
anything I had ever read in aviation history.
A check via the Internet revealed the answer; Steven
F. Udvar-Hazy donated
60 million dollars as seed money to get the project
started.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
F.Y.I.
By Russ O'Brien
There is a new Hobbytown USA store in our area. Location
is:
Cutler Plaza
150 Baltimore Pike
Springfield, PA 19064
(610) 544-7007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CLUB CALENDAR
Saturday September 21st -
Fun-Fly Park Appreciation Day.
Tuesday, October 1st -
BOG Meeting at the church at 7:00 P.M.
Tuesday October 8th -
General membership meeting at the church at 8:00 P.M.
Raffle, Show-N-Tell
and a speaker. Announcement will be made concerning
club Flea Market in
November.
Feedback or comments to:
Marilyn Ayres , HearYe editor
Michael Myers, Webmaster
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