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The Flying For Good featured December submission is the Heart of Texas Miniature Aircraft Club, Inc. The club is located in Waco, TX. The club provides a $1,000 scholarship for one local student from the county or immediate surrounding counties attending Texas State Tech College Aviation Pilot program who demonstrates financial need. In 2017, the club wanted to start a community charity and later came up with the idea to fund a scholarship. The Waco Chamber of Commerce, Aviation Alliance Division, helped the club announce the new scholarship to the local press and community at their first quarterly luncheon of 2018. In January 2018, the scholarship was awarded to Hunter Anderson, a local student from the immediate area. In mid-February, Hunter and two aviation instructors from TSTC attended the clubs monthly meeting where he was presented as the first HOTMAC scholarship recipient. The club hosts their Annual Greater Southwest Jet Rally to help raise money for the scholarship fund. Also, donations from the clubs Big Bird event and Spring Club 40/EF1 races contribute towards the scholarship and the clubs maintenance. The scholarship program is set to continue in 2019. The AMA Foundation wants to know how your club has given back to charity. To learn more about the Flying For Good Program, click here.

Patrick W. Beagan, of Arlington, Massachusetts, passed away at the age of 45 in June 2017. Patrick studied mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder and pursued a decades-long career in software design and development. He founded a small software company in the late 1990s and then held senior positions at several software companies in the Boston area. Most recently, he was awarded a patent for an innovative software design at Oracle Corporation. Complementing his professional career and long-held interest in flying, Patrick discovered the art of flying and the science of building multirotor FPV racing drones in 2014. He was immediately captivated by this hobby that combined the reward of designing and building his own aircraft, the analysis and problem solving of debugging issues, and the thrill of first-person flight—not to mention the camaraderie of the local FPV flying community. Patrick was a founding member of the Boston Multi Rotor Club in 2015, and at one time, was one of the top-ranked pilots in the New England area. He made a nice group of friends in the local racing community and was always willing to lend a hand or spare parts. In addition to his professional life and newfound passion in all things drones, Patrick pursued many outdoor sports in his lifetime including skiing, snowboarding, windsurfing, kitesurfing, and cycling. He and his wife of nine years, Andrea, were also ardent travelers and nature lovers—having traveled together across the US and in 30-plus countries around the world. Patrick's wife is sponsoring a scholarship for the 2019 UAS4STEM program in her husband’s memory. She is keen to acknowledge how this hobby touched Patrick's life through continual learning, competition, and fun. Her hope is to help promote the same enthusiasm and learning opportunity for the next generation. The UAS4STEM drone challenge was designed by the AMA to encourage teamwork, competition, and success through a STEM-based education platform. The program provides teams of four to 10 middle and high school students with training, insurance, and equipment to compete in a waypoint and payload delivery challenge. To learn more about UAS4STEM visit https://uas4stem.org/.

The Heart of Texas Miniature Aircraft Club recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward grant for $75. The club hosted their 36th Annual Greater Southwest Jet Rally on September 6, 2018. The jet rally ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m and was free to the public but donations were accepted to fund a Texas State Technical College aviation scholarship. In 2017, club president, Steven Bird, requested the club members to think of ideas for a possible community charity which would be the clubs focus.  The club came up with many ideas but decided on a scholarship that would fund a financially needing, local Aviation Program Student Pilot attending Texas State Tech College. The club agreed on an annual $1,000 scholarship to the board for consideration and possible vote. The board voted to grant the Scholarship which would be the clubs annual community charity for one local student from the county or immediate surrounding counties attending TSTC Aviation Pilot program who demonstrates financial need. The Waco Chamber of Commerce, Aviation Alliance Division helped the club announce the new scholarship to the local press and community at their first quarterly luncheon of 2018. In January 2018, the scholarship was awarded to Hunter Anderson, a local student from the immediate area. Donations from the clubs annual Jet Rally along with their Big Bird event and Spring Club 40/EF1 races all contribute towards the scholarship and the clubs maintenance. 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 Casa Grande Flyers will hold an event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12 at their club airfield on 2725 S. Isom road in Casa Grande. The event will benefit the Hospice Charitable Fund of Central Arizona and is open to the public. The club will offer free flying lessons using an instructor's model aircraft, free first-person view airplane rides, a swap meet featuring many radio-controlled hobby items, and food service for both breakfast and lunch. Visitors will be able to watch and ask the pilots questions while they fly their model aircraft. Representatives from Hospice will be at the entry gate accepting donations from visitors who wish to support the cause. Donations are not required, but the club hopes the community will be generous in their support of the charity. The club field is located across from the public shooting range in Casa Grande. Directions to the club field can be found on the club’s website:  www.CasaGrandeRCFlyers.com along with a list of the many other special events the club holds for the community.  Membership information is also on that website.

The Casa Grande RC Flyers made many changes to their flying field in 2018. Membership has increased which has allowed the club to make improvements to their field. Some of the changes to the airfield included:

• A new remote weather station installed in January that allows members to see real-time weather conditions
• Two stainless steel sun shades over pilot tables
• A large steel storage unit
• Approval of an increase to the weight limit for aircraft used at the field from 10 to 20 pounds
• A new runway, a donation by the former Palm Creek flying club
• Addition of 120-volt AC power
• Increased charitable events including weekly "combat" airplane dogfights on Thursday mornings and a new "Fly in For Hospice"
• Over the last six years, the club has been able to donate money to charities such as the Casa Grande Food Bank, the Wounded Warrior Project, and the Valley Humane Society

The Casa Grande RC Flyers is an Arizona nonprofit corporation chartered and their goal is to promote interest in model aviation and give back to the Casa Grande community. The year 2018 was good to the Casa Grande RC Flyers so let the growth continue in 2019.

The Casa Grande RC Flyers held their annual National Model Aviation Day event on Dec. 8. The event was held at the clubs airfield in Casa Grande. More than 150 people attended the event and the event was free to the public. The club's new food service, Twisted Entree from Casa Grande, served meals from their menu. Tools and supplies to make the event more space were donated by Home Depot, Lowes and Norris RV and all of Casa Grande. The event benefited the Casa Grande Food Bank and the club members collected cash and food items. The clubs vice president, Ron St. Pierre, offered free first-person-view airplane rides to guests. The club's next major fundraising event, Fly In For Hospice, is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 12.

AMA youth member, Trey Hackman,  was selected as one of the 25 student ambassadors for the Back to Space program. Hackman is from Brownstown, Ind. The student ambassador competition was open to U.S. citizens enrolled in grades 8 through 12 and included students from all over the country. The Back to Space program allows student ambassadors to meet astronauts and discuss how to bring STEM into popular culture. Back to Space LLC was founded by Danielle Roosa, the granddaughter of Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa. The program's objectives are to preserve the legacy of the Apollo astronauts by focusing Americans on the 50th anniversary of Apollo; prepare and inspire high school-age students to focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), Apollo history and the future of spaceflight; and propel the United States to commit to finding a pathway to STEM education. The applicants were able to submit either an essay or video on one of four topics. Hackman chose to do a 3-minute video on the historical significance of the Apollo program. The winners of the program were invited to a gala event hosted by Back to Space on Oct. 19 at Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas. Hackman attended the gala with his parents. Hackman has been involved in model airplanes for around seven years. He believes that building model airplanes is a great hobby for the younger generation. Efficiency and endurance are what captivated Trey to the hobby. Last summer, Hackman worked at an egg farm to save up money to attend one day at Flite Fest. Trey is excited for the ambassador program because he will have the chance to meet some extraordinary people. Trey Hackman is the youngest member of the Southern Indiana Flying Eagles. By joining the club, he was able to meet people that shared his passion for aviation. Trey also enjoyed being able to connect with people outside of his age range. After high school, Trey plans to attend Purdue University.

The Casa Grande RC Flyers will host an event on Dec. 8 to celebrate National Model Aviation Day. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the clubs flying field off of Isom Road. The event is free but donations of non-perishable food items or cash will be accepted to benefit the Casa Grande Food Bank. The club has been hosting this event for six years, as long as the club has been in existence. The members of the club will be flying fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and drones. The public is encouraged to come and learn more about the hobby of RC flying. The club will also have their second swap meet of the winter season the morning of Dec. 8. Twister Entrees, a new food vendor, will be onsite serving breakfast and lunch for visitors. Over the last six years, the Casa Grande RC Flyers have raised money and provided needed items to charities such as the Casa Grande Food Bank, the Wounded Warrior Project and the Valley Humane Society. The club will host the "Fly In For Hospice" event on Jan 12, 2019 and profits will be donated to Hospice Charitable Fund of Central Arizona.

The Sedalia RC Flyers were selected as a 2018 Site Improvement Grant recipient. The club was able to add 400' of 1.5" underground conduit, 425' of 2-2-4 wire, a 100' power panel and multiple outlets to their building at the club flying field. Ten club members donated their time and energy to help install the additions to the field this fall. After 27 years of flying at the club field, the club finally has power to their site.

The Canandaigua Sky Chiefs recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $175. The club is located in Canandaigua, NY. The club hosted their annual Larry Bowerman Memorial Air Show and Fun Fly event on July 28-29. Flying started at 9 a.m. and all RC equipment and models were welcome. The event also had a 50/50 raffle. They also had a flying demo at noon. 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.