Foundation News

The Cedar Rapids Skyhawks received an AMA Club Recognition Reward of $175. The club is located in Marion, IA. On July 22, the club hosted their 15th annual Warbirds Over Iowa event which was a warbird fly-in. The event had free admission but donations were accepted. The donations went to the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight. The event was covered through a local radio channel as part of a program they call "Z cause." Prior to the event, there were multiple radio ads. The club also got TV coverage from a program called "Show You Care" at KCRG TV9.  ] The AMA would like to congratulate the Cedar Rapids Skyhawks on a successful event. Also, the AMA would like to thank this club for raising money to benefit a community organization. The AMA Club Recognition and Reward Program was established to encourage clubs to promote model aviation. The AMA offers clubs cash incentives for positive local media coverage for a public event, public service, club announcement, or other coverage. Click here to learn more about this program.

Robert O’Connor was born on May 24, 1929. As a kid in the 40's, Robert built model airplanes and played stick ball. As with other families, his parents decided to move from the Bronx to the suburbs, to a little town called Mahopac, New York.   Robert’s love of flight followed him. He got the opportunity as a young adult to get flying lessons in a Piper Cub for helping out at the local airstrip. When he got married to his wife, Diane, they decided that his feet should stay on the ground. After Robert married, he decided to get into RC planes. He would come home after work to build a Top Dog, Falcon or one of the many others. On the weekends, Robert would always fly his planes. Sometimes in triumph and sometimes in disaster. At this time his friends nicknamed him "Crash n Burn". He loved it. Roberts son, Michael O’Connor, can still remember him running to catch up with a plane when Robert lost the signal. The planes they flew together had an actuator system in them that wasn't reliable. Mike remembers the days that him and his dad, Robert, would be searching for a plane or climbing a tree to get it down. Robert eventually included his son, Michael, in his hobby. He started Mike out on simple and stable models. Mike had a hard time landing the planes. He would get nervous and turn the wrong way which made the plane cartwheel into the ground. Robert worked with his son to teach him landing skills and rebuilding skills. Robert was a loving father. Michael's dad brought RC flying all together for him through the plans, pins, glue, sandpaper, hopes, dreams and fun. Robert O’Connor passed away on July 10, 2009. Michael donated an AMA Walk of Fame brick in his father's memory and honor. The brick was placed at AMA headquarters in Muncie, IN. Robert O’Connor will be sorely missed by family, friends and members of the model aviation community. Visit the AMA Foundation website or click here to learn more about the AMA Walk of Fame program.

The Atoms RC Club located in Hillsborough, NJ recently received an AMA Club Recognition Reward for $175. The club hosted their annual Swap Meet in the winter. Each year, the club gives a portion of proceeds to an organization. This year, the club donated $300 to their local food bank in Hillsborough. The club was featured in the Hillsborough Township Local access television station. This station is mentioned in the Mayor's newsletter that is sent out to approximately 40,000 residents. The AMA would like to thank the Atoms RC Club for hosting a Swap Meet and giving proceeds back to their community. The AMA Club Recognition and Reward Program was established to encourage clubs to promote model aviation. The AMA offers clubs cash incentives for positive local media coverage for a public event, public service, club announcement, or other coverage. Click here to learn more about this program.

The Koast Air Modeling Society recently received an AMA Club Recognition Reward for $150. The club is located in Vancleave, MS. The club held a “Spring Fly-In” on May 13. They used the event as an opportunity to bring modelers together. The event categories included: Sport, scale, warbird, electric, helicopter, and quadcopter. People came from three states to spend the day showing off their planes and flying skills to spectators. The event was posted in the local newspaper “Ocean Springs Gazette” and the event was covered by WLOX News. The AMA would like to thank the Koast Air Modeling club for sharing this hobby with their community. The AMA Club Recognition and Reward Program was established to encourage clubs to promote model aviation. The AMA offers clubs cash incentives for positive local media coverage for a public event, public service, club announcement, or other coverage. Click here to learn more about this program.