One of the 55 clubs that received a Club Training Day Starter Kit from the AMA Foundation is AMA District IV's Westminster Aero Modelers. Club Secretary Brian Daerr provided the following write-up about his club's successful event held on July 14, 2025:
"The event was called FlyWAM at Wakefield. It was in partnership with the Westminster Recreation and Parks department on July 14th. The month of July is their parks and rec month, where they promote different activities and locations in the city. We never have had an official club trainer and normally used whatever the introductory pilot trainer happened to have. But, in this case, now with the AeroScout, it made things easier to get as many folks in the air as possible.
"The size really helped as the area was more constrained by trees, so being the size it is, we were able to fly it safely. We also passed out the balsa planes, and those were a big hit. In addition to this, we had simulators set up and also did some demonstrations of other aircraft, such as drones, helicopters, and gliders. The hands-on flying with the Aeroscout was the most popular station for sure! In addition to the kids, two of the folks from the city got in the air!
"Also, we won a grant from a local chapter of a nonprofit. They sent a professional videographer to shoot the event, and that video should be coming in the next month or so. Additionally, we had discussions with the city, and the plan is to make FlyWAM at Wakefield a yearly event."
Thank you, Brian, for providing this write-up! We at the AMA Foundation couldn't be happier that the Westminster Aero Modelers found such great success with the Club Training Starter Kit. The community engagement and outreach shown through this event is wonderful, and we're thrilled to hear that the effort put into planning FlyWAM at Wakefield paid off!
We're eager to hear how other AMA Introductory Pilot Program clubs have utilized their Club Training Day Starter Kits. If you club received a kit, let Chief Communications Officer Clarissa Poston know how your training efforts have been impacted by emailing clarissap@modelaircraft.org.
