donation

The Owatonna RC Modelers recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $150. The club is located in Owatonna, MN. The club hosted their Fun Fly on their 8 acres of land that was donated by the previous owners in 1986. Different clubs from around the area were invited to bring whatever RC planes they wanted to and have fun. The club offered free hot dogs and beans in exchange for a free-will donation. The club itself has between 35 and 45 members. If you would like to watch their interview, you can do so HERE. They're episode was on June 18th. 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 Academy of Model Aeronautics Foundation worked with the San Gabriel Valley Radio Control League to accept a collection of items, auction them off at an event, and then donate the money to the AMA Foundation.

The collection of items belonged to John Richard Polk, a member of the San Gabriel Valley Radio Control League. From the auction, the club raised $650 for the AMA Foundation. They used $150 of that to buy a brick in the AMA Walk of Fame in memory of John, and they donated the rest. "I would like to give special recognition to John Richard Polk and his family; Diane Polk, Eden Polk, Paulette Polk, Eric Polk, and Shannon Polk. They were all very kind in wanting to make a donation to the AMA Foundation. I had a great pleasure in dealing with this beautiful family. Thank you very much for your kind donation!" - President of San Gabriel Valley Radio Control League, Gilbert Lucero If you would like to know more about the AMA Walk of Fame Brick Program, you can check out our website HERE

The El Paso Radio Controllers recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $175. The club is located in El Paso, TX. The club hosted a fundraiser for The Armed Services YMCA on June 30th, 2019. This event tried to peak the interest of younger generations and tried to get them interested in the hobby. This day also specifically focused on working with military families and trying to get them involved in the hobby. The event had trainer airplanes and club instructors in attendance that were happy to teach anyone and everyone on how to successfully fly a radio controlled airplane and how to do maneuvers. You can watch this clip from their television airing to learn more information: CLICK HERE 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.

Congratulations to James Gager (left) and Danny Kane (right) who were both inducted into the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) Hall of Fame during the NMPRA Nats banquet Monday, July 15, 2019. James, who has spent much of his life very active in model aviation wanted to give back to the hobby after receiving the award. He decided to make a very generous donation of $2,000 to the AMA Foundation and $500 to the NMPRA. We asked James for his story on how he got started in the hobby, and the following is what he had to say: I’ve been asked to reflect on my participation in modeling and Quarter Midget racing in particular, so here are my recollections, obviously, so things may be remembered differently by others. My first modeling experience was at five years old and I still have the scar from it. My older brother who was twelve at the time was into building gas powered free flights and his work area and tools were completely off limits to me. One day he forgot to lock the little room that he used as a shop and while he was out I decided to build a little hand glider. Inexperience with using a very sharp X-acto knife led to a very deep cut to my left thumb and profuse bleeding. There was no way to hide it, so I had to show my mom, and then off to the doctor we went to get stitches. After a period of time, maybe months or a year of pestering my brother to show me how to work with modeling tools, he began to teach me how to safely build models. The next recollection of a highlight occurred when I was ten. One of the local grocery stores in the Chicago suburb that I lived in held a model building contest. There were several classes and I fit into the 8-12-year-old group. The store provided the model kit, most likely a Comet kit, of a high wing monoplane built with stick and tissue fashion. Other than using the kit and no adult help allowed, there were no rules. So, I built the kit and instead of using tissue as covering, I covered it with a 1/32” balsa sheet, and I finished it with automotive lacquer that I borrowed from my brother’s stash/ I don’t recall how the winners were picked, but I won my class. Not without controversy though, as some adults thought I cheated by using balsa sheet instead of covering. None the less, I was awarded the first prize for my class, a .35 powered U Control Kit, which I believe was called the Continental. Since I was ten and my only source of income was picking up discarded pop bottles along the highways, there was no way I could afford to build it, buy an engine or fuel for it, not to mention the support equipment to be able to fly it. I walked down to the local hobby shop and managed to convince them to trade me a ready-to-fly Cox Kit for the Continental. So started my U-Control flying. It’s a good thing that Cox plane was plastic, as it took a lot of abuse while I learned to fly. I continued to build U-Control until my mid-teens when I noticed other things were holding my interest more and more and I gave up modeling. A number of years later, now married, I was on my way home from work when I noticed my younger brother and his friend in that same grocery parking lot attempting to fly a Cox model plane. So, I stopped to help and that night the modeling bug bit again. I went to the hobby shop, bought a U-Control kit and started building it that night on the kitchen table. I flew U-Control for a number of years at the Chicago U-Liners field at the Kickapoo Forest Preserve field in Harvey. This would have been the mid-sixties at which time U-Control was falling from favor for R/C models. At the south-side of the forest preserve there was a group of few R/Cers, I watched them over a period of time and took the plunge. I bought a used Orbit radio (big mistake, there was a reason it was used) the next mistake was the airplane choice, I bought a popular bi-plane kit, not a good choice to learn on. After getting it built and setup I went out to the field to get some help in flying it. Nobody else showed up that day. Same the the next time I went out. After hanging around the field awhile (bored) I thought I’d just fire it up, tune the engine and taxi around a bit to check things out. Everything seemed fine so I gave it full throttle and I took it off. It was magnificent! A beautiful takeoff, airplane climbing at a steep angle, throttle back to level off and BOOM, into a stall and then a spin. I had no thought as to how to get out of the spin and so watched it smash into the ground. A total wreck. Shortly after that I moved to Kankakee, IL and there were no active R/C flyers that I could find. I’d built a new trainer plane, talked the local park folks into allowing me to fly out of and unused portion of the park and manager to teach myself to fly. From then on it was flying what were commonly called pattern planes and I participated in some competition flying. In 1969 I moved my family to Fort Wayne, IN and shortly after discovered the Fort Wayne Flying Circuits Model Airplane Club. Sometime in the early 70’s, QM .15 racing started across the nation and my interest in racing perked up. The first plane I built was a Rivets from what I believe were RCModeler magazine plans. I attended my first race in Lafayette, IN and from then on that was my all-consuming passion. Unfortunately my flying skills weren’t quite up to the performance level of the airplanes and I went through a lot of airplanes. By this time there were a number of fiberglass and foam airplanes on the market, but the quality and cost were onerous, so I decided to make my own kit. With the help of my best friend and flying buddy, Allen Booth, we developed a .15 size model of the scale ESTRELLITA. Allen carved the first fuselage plug and helped me make the molds. We then learned how to cut foam for the wing cores and with that it became the first GAS (Gager Aircraft Sales) model kit. The airplane proved to be a success and soon I was being asked to sell the kit, which I began to do. The Estrellitawas the first on nine different .15 QM kits I produced over the years. I also produced a couple of Formula 1 kits and some Sport Scale Kits. By this time I had become a Contest Director and through the Flying Circuits we were having annual QM and F1 contests at our Fort Wayne field. In the mid-70’s I believe we had the first money race ($1,000) split among QM and F1 winners. The money races continued for several years. At some later point, probably the late 70's or early 80's, QM .15 race attendance was declining across the country.  There were numerous reasons proffered for the decline, but a part of the decline was that there was only one viable engine and with the straight through exhaust, noise complaints were starting to limit airfields available to racing and the available airfields were also in decline. The contest board, (of which I was a member) at the request of the majority of QM racers and race sponsors, looked into making changes in the rules to try to reinvigorate the event.  It was decided to look into up-sizing the engine and airplane specifications to allow the use of the then Q-500 engine.  There were a couple of different motors available to Q-500 and they all had tuned mufflers to keep noise down. I built a test airplane to the newly up-sized proposed specifications and debuted it at that years Rough River QM .15 Championship race.  That size plane and engine combo was squarely in the speed range of the Q-500 and the majority of contest attendees thought the event should feature faster airplanes, so the airplane specifications were downsized slightly.  The thinking being, Q-500 would be the starting event for newcomers to racing and they could then progress to the faster Q-40 event and then progress to the premier F1 event. Once the new rules were passed, I started producing 3 different QM 40 kits. One of the highlights of my kit business took place at the prestigious Silver Cup race sponsored by the Toledo Weak Signals. This race was always held at the end of the Mid-west racing season and was always well attended by QM .15 racers from around the country.  At this particular race there were 51 entries and 29 of them were from kits I had produced. Along with participating in racing, I also wrote the Pylon column for Model Builder Magazine for about eight years.  I also wrote several columns on pylon racing for Model Airplane News. For several years I did some consulting work for the then Top Flight Models Company in both kit development and advertising. I continued modeling until about 2005 when I gave in to my long buried desire to work on old cars and trucks. With time for only one all consuming hobby, I gave up model airplanes. One thing that continually surprises me is the parallels in modeling and old car/truck restoration, and actually, in life itself. The AMA and AMA Foundation thank both James and Danny for their years of great service to the hobby. James has earmarked his contributions to purchase 5 bricks in the AMA Walk of Fame for himself, his son's, and his late wife, with the additional funds earmarked for AMA's educational programming. We would also like to thank the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association for it's continued support of the AMA Foundation with donations to the Cliff and Nancy Telford Memorial Scholarship.

After 50 years and some tough decisions, the Cleveland Free Flight Society disbanded and donated their remaining funds to organizations who supported them throughout the years. Rich Weber, former President of the Cleveland Free Flight Society, stated: "When our club members made the difficult decision to disband the Cleveland Free Flight Society after a fifty year run, we had to make some more decisions on what to do with the funds left in our treasury. We made a list of ideas at our final meeting, and then sent out a questionnaire to all of the club members, asking them to vote on where they wanted the donations to go. The results of the membership survey showed that CFFS membership wanted to see that the funds went to the organizations that supported our activities over the years, and to help insure that aeromodeling remained strong for many years to come. The AMA Scholarship Fund and the AMA Foundation were natural choices. We hope the donations will aid those organizations in their work." The AMA Foundation thanks CFFS for their generous donation and wishes the best for everyone involved with CFFS in their future endeavors.

Terry Wiles and his wife won an AMA Goldberg award with a check for $200. After receiving the award with the check, the Wiles decided that they wanted to give back to the District IX Camp AMA Scholarship Fund. In the fall of 2015, Jim Tiller was new to the AMA Executive Council. Tiller was informed of a young man who would be a great candidate for Camp AMA. After returning home from an event, Tiller had received an $800 donation from the 95th Street Club in Kansas City to go towards money for AMA youth programs. The check was a memorial taken up by the club for one of their longtime members, Darrell Watts. After receiving the check, it was arranged for Matt Carlson to be the first recipient of the District IX Camp AMA Scholarship. With the generosity of local clubs and members like Terry Wiles, five more tuition scholarships have been given since the first. The recipients have been Toby Ray, Denver, CO, Austin Axmann, Kansas City, KS, Ethan Thibault, Rapid City, SD, Morgan Young, Denver, CO and Ashton Newton, Dakota City, NE. In February 2019, Wiles and his wife decided to donate 24 lasered cups from their business which is about $200 worth in their cost. By selling the cups, Wiles figured it would bring in around $480 to the scholarship fund. The cups sold in one day so they lasered an additional 24 cups which also sold in one day. The Wiles expect to raise over $1000 from the original $200 Goldberg check.  

The Flying For Good featured February submission is the Casa Grade RC Flyers. The club is located in Casa Grande, AZ. The Casa Grande RC Flyers held their sixth annual Air Show on Saturday, March 9. The event was free to the public and the event benefitted The Valley Humane Society. The event raised thousands of dollars for the humane society. The Casa Grande RC Flyers is an AMA Gold Level Leader club. There were about 250 people who attended the event. Among the funds raised for the event was a $2,000 donation from 10-time Oscar-nominated songwriter, Diane Warren, who is a cousin of President Alan Friedman. A highlight from the show was when a pilot who represents Hitec/Multiplex, Rick Chitty, few his flying lawnmower. In addition, Tony Quest who represents Horizon Hobby flew an F-16 jet and held a transmitter programming seminar for members and visitors.  Congratulations to the Casa Grande RC Flyers for having a successful event and raising money for their local humane society. 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.  

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 Binghamton Aeros Club recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $175. The club is located in Binghamton, NY. On Aug. 10-12, the club hosted their 33rd Annual Festival of Giants R/C Airshow at the Chenango Bridge Airport. The event was open to all giant scale aircraft. The club also had flight simulators and vendors at the event. The event proceeds went to support the Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse (CHOW). The event was free to the public but a cash or non-perishable food item donation was requested. The AMA Foundation would like to thank the Binghamton Aeros Club for hosting this event for so many years and for supporting local charities. 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.

Summertime is busy with visitors at the International Aeromodeling Center. One of the places many stop to see is our Walk of Fame, where hundreds of people are honored by their friends and loved ones. The Walk of Fame is a great way to remember friends, honor loved ones, and be a permanent part of aeromodeling history. The Walk of Fame is growing and becoming more popular each year and is quickly filling up! We just had 64 bricks engraved and are in the process of placing them in the Walk. We also just started a special 'Supporting Clubs' section in the Walk that features clubs who have donated $1000 or more to the AMA Foundation. We are grateful for all the support of the foundation and the programs it supports and are glad to recognize these clubs that go above and beyond! If you are interested in learning more about or would like to purchase a brick in the Walk of Fame, visit our Walk of Fame page here. [gallery columns="4" size="medium" ids="4909,4906,4908,4907"]