Featured

The Southwest Area Park Modelers recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $175. The club is located in Arbutus, MD. The club held their Charm City Fly which featured dozens of planes and supported disabled veterans. The event included a candy drop, model airplane aerobatics, a raffle, and more. The event raised over $2,600 for their cause. If you would like to watch some of their event coverage, you can do so HERE and 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.

The River City Radio Controllers recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $100. The club is located in Louisville, KY. The 19th annual Wings for Kids Radio Controlled Air Show benefited the Norton Children's Hospital. The air show happened on Saturday, June 1st and Sunday, June 2nd at the Bill Fluke Airfield at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. Visitors saw exciting flying exhibitions including in-air dogfights and combat, aerobatic airplanes and vintage airplanes. The air show also featured nationally recognized pilots throughout the Midwest and beyond. There was fun activities for the whole family like candy drops from radio controlled airplanes, inflatables, face painting and flight simulators. Over the last 18 years, the River City Radio Controllers has raised more than $300,000. 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 Capital Area Radio Drone Squadron (CARDS) recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $175. The club is located in Grand Ledge, MI. The Capital Area Radio Drone Squadron hosted an airshow from June 6-8, 2019 from 9am to 5pm. The event featured more than 100 scale planes from aviation history. The planes were available for static viewing, as well as in air at the field.  Many of the planes had an 8 to 10 foot wing span, with some being even larger.This air show was the season opener for the Giant Scale Warbirds and Classics Alliance, which holds similar shows throughout the midwest. In the year 2020, CARDS will honor the RC hobby by celebrating its 50th anniversary as a club of enthusiasts dedicated the hobby. 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 Palm Beach Radio Control Association is our featured Flying For Good submission for April. Located in Boca Raton, FL, the club raised $10,500 for charity from November 2018 to April 2019. The club sponsored five fundraisers to benefit three local organizations as well as two national charities, Toys for Tots and The St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The club’s local fundraising efforts benefited the Alexander “Sandy” Nininger State Veterans Nursing Home, Ziggy’s Haven Bird Sanctuary, and the Hepzibah House for victims of human trafficking. In addition to raising awareness for each charity, many events featured fun flys, food and beverages, and raffle prizes. 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.  

Congratulations tot he Newport News Park Radio Control Club for raising $1,764.00 for the AMA Foundation! What an accomplishment! The Newport News Park Radio Control Club formed a committee and drafted up a proposal on how their club can contribute to the AMA Foundation in support of our mission and vision. The AMA's Mission is “to advance the organizational goals of the Academy of Model Aeronautics through the financial support of its charitable programs.” The AMA's Vision is “to inspire financial support for Aeromodelling as a hobby, sport, and scientific pursuit – a legitimate part of our communities and a necessary component of the aeronautical continuum.” The NNPRCC committee came up with a program called the “AMA Foundation Challenge.” This challenge consists of three primary objectives:

• Promote awareness of the AMA Foundation’s mission and vision
• Provide annual financial support to the AMA Foundation General Fund
• Challenge individuals and organizations to support the AMA Foundation

The first part of the challenge is to promote awareness of the AMA Foundation. To do this, the proposal calls for developing and maintaining a small supply of printed materials to have at club events. These materials will provide information about the AMA and ways to join the club. In addition to the printed materials, electronic materials will be hosted on the club website. This material would provide an overview of how the AMA benefits all model aviation enthusiasts and hyperlinks to the AMA Foundation website. Part two of the proposal is to provide annual financial support. Using club funds, the committee would purchase a “grand prize” item to sell raffle tickets for. The committee will sell raffle tickets for a period of time and after completion of the raffle, the club’s treasury will be reimbursed and all remaining proceeds will be allocated to the AMA Foundation General Fund. In addition to the grand prize auction, featured items will be raffled off exclusively during the club's National Model Aviation Day celebration including a completely ready-to-fly electric trainer, a 1-year club membership, and more! Lastly, the proposal suggests having a sponsored cookout for club members and guests, with prominently placed containers soliciting donations. All proceeds from the sponsored cookout will be allocated to the AMA Foundation General Fund. The final part of the AMA Foundation Challenge is to challenge others. The proposal calls for development of a brief report, to be used for post-event promotion. This report should include images or videos from the AMA Challenge activities before and during an event, a note of appreciation for participants and volunteers, and disclosure of the total proceeds raised. This report should encourage individuals, clubs and other organizations to meet or exceed the efforts put on by the club. The post-event report can be shared with various local and national media outlets. The AMA Foundation encourages other clubs to use the proposal made by the NNPRCC committee as an example to raise money for the foundation.

The Flying For Good featured March submission is the Coffee Airfoilers. The club is located in Tullahoma, TN. The club hosts their annual "Fly Away Cancer" event in April. The event will be held on April 27 at their flying field off of Wattendorf Highway in Tullahoma. There will be a pilot landing fee of $25 which includes lunch. All net proceeds will be donated to the Multi-County Cancer Support Network. The club has worked to raise $2,885 over the years at this event. 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 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 will host their 6th annual Air Show at their club field on March 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be a swap meet the morning of the event. Admission is free and the event will benefit the Valley Humane Society. The Air Show will feature model aircraft flights by professional pilots using fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and drones. A radio-controlled care race demonstration on the clubs car track will also be featured at the show. Superstition Hobbies will be at the event to offer both car and airplane products. A representative from Horizon Hobby will hold a Spektrum transmitter programming seminar at 10 a.m. In addition, a member of "Team Horizon" will fly in the air show featuring some of Horizon's best products. There will be a raffle with many prizes including a complete model aircraft ready for the winner to fly. Gates open at 8 a.m. for the swap meet and vendor set-up. The event will officially begin at 9 a.m.

The Flying For Good featured January submission is the Casa Grade RC Flyers. The club is located in Casa Grande, AZ. The club hosted their first annual "Fly-In For Hospice" event on January 12 at the club's field. The club invited other AMA members as well as other clubs to join them for flying and a swap meet. The event offered free first-person views from devices flying around the field. The visitors were able to view flights through special goggles connected to a camera mounted in the aircraft. Representatives from hospice were at the field entry gate accepting donations from visitors. The club also holds a fundraiser for the Casa Grande Food Bank in December. Altogether, the club helps three charities each year including the Valley Humane Society, the Casa Grande Food Bank and the Hospice Charitable Fund. The club raised about $500.00 for Hospice. To learn more about the Casa Grande RC Flyers, visit www.casagrandercflyers.com. 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 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.