AUGUST 2005 DISTRICT 1 REPORT:
Andy Argenio, District I Vice President

THE FIRST MEETING of District I officers in more than a decade will have taken place by the time you read this column. The meeting was on Saturday, June 25, in Marlboro, Massachusetts, at the Best Western hotel.

Meetings are one of the steps in the process of identifying the challenges and opportunities that we face to accomplish our mission. The officers discussed, formulated, and evaluated plans for the revitalization of the district. A written report of the meeting will be E-mailed to each District I club and posted to the Web site.

We intend to have at least two face-toface meetings of officers each year.

The district officers stayed the night at the hotel and attended the New England Scale Championships at the Gardner Airport on Sunday, June 26. An AMA booth was set up at the airport so those attending would have the opportunity to meet and talk with their district officers.

The first AMA District I Fun-Fly & Air Show is planned for September 16, 17, and 18, at the Gardner Airport in Gardner, Massachusetts. This is a district-sponsored event that is being co-hosted by three area AMA clubs.

The fun-fly will allow for public

attendance and an area will be set up to introduce young people to model aviation by participating in the construction and flying of Delta Darts and experiencing RC flying on flight simulators.

District officers will make themselves available to answer questions from those present. This is your chance to express your concerns and views on AMA district and national matters.

We had planned to have two district-sponsored events—a land event and the other a float-fly—however, because of time constraints and budget considerations the float-fly will be next year.

If your club has a suitable site for a district fly-in and would like to be considered for hosting an event next year, please contact your district associate vice president.

On Saturday, June 4, I attended the Ninth Annual Lazy Loopers RC Helicopter Fly-In in Wrentham, Massachusetts. I arrived at the site at 8 a.m. as the CD Jeremy Waltzer, Howard Moftich, and Steve London were setting up the shade structures, impound, and cooking area, and were laying out the flight stations.

Sandy Jaffe from State College,Pennsylvania, flew a Joker 2 90-sizeelectric that was fueled by two 6450 mAhLi-Poly battery packs. It was quiet, smooth,and impressive.

After weekends of rain, we were blessed with warm weather, clear skies, and a bright, sunny day. When 35 pilots were registered with more than 50 helicopters, Jeremy had a pilots’ meeting.

Since I had never been to an event exclusively for helicopters, I expected to see flying done in the typical race-car pattern. Instead, as Jeremy explained, the flightline was divided into three sections with each section occupying several hundred feet. Pilots were advised to stay within the boundaries of their section while flying their routine. Another section was set off to the side for hovering only.

All sizes and types of helicopters were flown. Only a few of the many photos taken are shown here. The other photos will end up on the district and club Web sites.

In addition to the many popular Raptors and X-Cells, several helicopters attracted particular attention.

I got to wear the video glasses and see theview from the helicopter’s cockpit in flight.This was an awesome experience.

Of course, we all enjoyed the 3-D aerobatic flying of the Raptors performed by the Rhode Island contingent of Josh Tullson and Rich Ventriglia. Food was free to all pilots and guests. A helicopter and accessories were raffled and a spot-landing autorotation competition took place.

Experience does make a difference and it showed in the work of those who organized and ran this class-act event. Plan to attend this helicopter fly-in next year. .