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The Kootenai RC Flyers recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $75. The club is located in Libby, MT. The club hosted their annual fun fly on July 14. Last year, the club had to skip the event altogether due to the production of past Fun Fly events made it too much work for the small, casual club. The club currently has around 17 members but the amount of members fluctuates for the 8-year old club. The club is also open to people who fly drones. The club has their very own flying instructor, Norm Crum. He doesn't charge for anyone interested in getting into radio control flying. The club even has their own "trainer" planes with controls that allow the trainer to take over if an inexperienced pilot has problems. The AMA would like to thank the Kootenai RC Flyers for hosting their annual event. For more information about the Kootenai RC Flyers, visit Facebook.com/KootenaiRCFlyers. 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.      

In 2010, the Franklin County Radio Control Club had dwindled down to six or seven members. At the time, only two members were active flying members and their home airfield at Turners Falls Municipal Airport had become overwhelmed by vegetation and lack of care. The club decided to host a Father's Day Fun Fly to introduce more people to the hobby. The first year of the event, the club saw "way more people than expected" show up. By the following Tuesday, 14 people showed up to the group's regularly scheduled meeting who wanted to learn more about flying. Since then, the club has grown almost four times larger, with 23 members, 20 of which are actively flying. This year, the club hosted their eighth annual Father's Day Fun Fly at Turners Falls Municipal Airport on June 16-17. The event featured flyers showing off different miniature aircraft, from model planes and helicopters to drones. There was also extreme combat flying and races, special guest flyers, including national champion Dean Lampron, was at the event to show off many unique skills and abilities one can learn flying radio-controlled aircraft. Spectators were able to practice on a computer simulation, learning how to pilot a miniature aircraft. After practicing on a computer simulation, spectators were able to try flying through buddy box. Club vice president, David Korpieski, stated that the club chose to have an event on Father's Day due to the hobby's popularity among men and the event allows fathers to "pass the craft" onto their children. For more information about the Franklin County Radio Control Club, visit FranklinRC.com or find them on Facebook.  

The Casa Grande RC Flyers appeared in the news because members met with city officials to provide their annual update about the clubs activities, community service and field improvement plans. The club officers were in attendance at the meeting and they shared plans the club had to install sun shades over the pilot tables and the placing of a 20-foot-by-8-foot metal storage unit on the club's leased land.  The storage unit will be used to store the club's equipment, safety gear and other club items. The club also requested at the meeting that the field lease be amended to allow model aircraft up to 20 pounds to be flown. Currently, the limit is 10 pounds. The higher limit will allow for members to fly different types of aircraft including helicopters and drones. The club also informed the city in detail of the latest efforts regarding their work with the Casa Grande school system to educate the students on the principles of flight. They updated the city on the club's list of charitable organizations assisted because the club added Hospice this year. The club was awarded the AMA's highest honor by being named a "Gold Level Leader Club" for their community service and field facilities.  

The Hot Springs RC Flying Club recently hosted an event directed towards children. The club is located in Hot Springs National Park, AR. On May 10 the Hot Springs Radio Control club hosted 200 first graders from the Lake Hamilton School District. The children learned about basics of flight and were entertained by club members who flew model airplanes, drones and helicopters. At the conclusion of the event, a large model plane flew over the field and dropped candy for the children. To check out pictures from the event, click here. The AMA would like to thank the Hot Springs RC Flying Club for hosting an event to educate the future of model aviation.

The North Georgia Model Aviators recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $50. This club is located in Dawsonville, Georgia. The club recently found a new 40-acre flying field. The club broke ground in September 2017 and has been open to its members for three months. The field opened for its first public event March 22-24.The event was open to all RC aviators across the country in its first aerobatic fun fly event sponsored by RC plane manufacturer Extreme Flight RC located in cumming, GA. Currently, the field consists of a 550 foot runway and a newly constructed covered pavilion with stations for aviators to work on their planes. They also plan to add another 200 ft to the runway, run power to the pavilion and set up a weather station and camera system. The club has many sponsors who support the development of their flying field. The sponsors include Extreme Flight sponsored by Jase Dussia and John and James Geirrein. The club saw approximately 60 model planes take flight at their event. The event also included a raffle and barbecue with all proceeds going towards helping the nonprofit club. The clubs goal is to have the field open for other neighboring clubs to use since many clubs have closed in 2017. The North Georgia Model Aviators club is located at 323 Geirrein Road in Dawsonville, GA. 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 Flying For Good featured March submission is The Lancaster County RC Club. The club is located in Lancaster, PA. The club hosts a Charity Air Show and has a “Neighbor Thank You” program to give back. The club also gives flight demos and speeches at their local airport, churches, lions club, retirement communities and high schools. Each year, the club invites the public to their field for their annual Charity Air Show. The club raises money for Path, a local organization devoted to supporting those in need in their community through education and financial help. The club raises around $2,000 during their event. During the event, the top RC pilots and instructors in their club educate and entertain the public. With a donation, the public is allowed to try piloting an RC plane with the aid of two instructors and a buddy box system. There is a paintball shooting contest that is monitored by a certified marksman, safety officer and experienced pilot. Planes are put up for static display and there is a candy drop at the event. The club also has a flight simulator that they set up in their clubhouse for the public to try. The Neighbor Thank You program was implemented by the club to thank the surrounding neighbors of their flying field. It started because many times the club members would need to retrieve items from the farmer’s fields. Each year around Thanksgiving, they give their neighbors a gift card to say thank you for being a good neighbor. The club gives approximately $600 each year in gift cards. In addition, if a club member loses an aircraft in a farmer’s field, they give a $100 reward if they find it, along with an apology and a thank you. The AMA Foundation would like to thank the Lancaster County RC Club for their dedication to their community and their ability to give back to others. The AMA wants to know how your club has given back to charity. To learn more about the Flying For Good Program, click here.  

AMA Hall of Fame member, Dave Gierke, is offering special promotional pricing for AMA members on his new novel. After three decades of research, followed by eight years of writing, Gierke finished his two-volume, lightly dramatized biographical novel based on the American aviation pioneer, Augustus Moore Herring. To Caress the Air: Augustus Herring and the Dawn of Flight – Book 1, takes place in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and chronicles the engineer’s aeronautical achievements, his ordeals, and his triumphs over severe adversity. The book’s setting is the New York State Supreme Court. Herring’s account is conveyed through his testimony during the 1921 civil action trial, Herring-Curtiss Company v. Glenn H. Curtiss, et al., which provides a venue for flashbacks that document his role in solving the age-old problem of manned, powered, heavier-than-air flight. Working with other luminaries of aerial navigation, including Lilienthal, Langley, Chanute and Glenn Curtiss, Herring moved his family from New York City, to Washington DC, to Chicago, to St. Joseph MI, and back to Long Island NY (with brief stops at Hammondsport NY, and Marblehead MA), all in the pursuit of solving the mysteries of dynamic flight.      Gierke states that unlike the Wright brothers, Herring believed that flying models were useful for developing full-size, man-carrying aeroplanes. During the 1890s he designed, built and flew many gravity-powered gliders and twisted rubber-powered craft. In 1902, he engineered and fabricated the world’s first practical internal combustion model airplane engine, which he used to power a successful free-flight model in January of 1903; this served as the basis for Ray Arden’s first engine in 1907. Gierke is a lifelong control-line and radio control modeler. He is also a columnist for Model Airplane News magazine. For a limited time, he is offering AMA members an exclusive pre-order deal for the ebook. To Caress the Air: Augustus Herring and the Dawn of Flight – Book 1 can be pre-ordered for only $1.99. In return for this price, Gierke requests that the purchaser writes a review of Book 1 and submit it to Amazon and Goodreads. The official launch date of To Caress the Air, Book 1 (ebook, paperback, hardcover) will occur on June 1, 2018, at which time the ebook price will revert to $9.99. For more purchase details, including a free gift and several never-before-published photos of Dave’s models, go to www.davegierkebooks.com.

The York County Flyers recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $75. The club is located in York, SC. The club hosts their “Fallen Eagle Memorial Fly In” which is an annual fundraising event for Hospice. The club has been putting on the event since 2007. Since then, the event has raised about $12,000 for Rock Hill-based Hospice and Community Care. The club has simulators, drone ride-alongs and homemade planes for kids to get the community involved in the hobby. Raising money for Hospice is important to the York County Flyers because they have seen their club members rely on Hospice. Their fly-in honors members they have lost throughout the years. One of the clubs goals is to get more teens involved in RC flying. The AMA would like to thank the York County Flyers for raising money for Hospice and giving back to the 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 Beresford Aera Radio Flyers recently received an AMA Club Recognition and Reward Grant for $75. This club is located in Alcester, SD. In February 2018, the club donated $250 to the Beresford Rural Office of Community Services, Inc. The ROCS Transit program operates a fleet of transportation vehicles in Beresford and several South Dakota communities. The program is designed to provide an affordable, accessible option for many communities to meet their transportation needs. The Beresford Aera Radio Flyers club includes members from the local area and surrounding towns and has been part of the area community for 29 years. The club builds and flies model aircraft at their field located west of the Beresford Gun Club. Club meetings are held at 2 p.m. on the 2nd Sunday of each month. Some members are experienced drone and rotorcraft pilots. The club also presents programs to local schools and community groups. The AMA would like to thank the Beresford Aera Radio Flyers for giving 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.

AMA Foundation staff members will be taking RC Resale on the road again for the Toledo Show: R/C Model Expo April 6-8 in Toledo, Ohio. We will be set up upstairs at the SeaGate Convention Centre, near the swap shop area. Thank you to the families of Donald W. (Bill) Carnes, William Irving, Wayne Nyberg, and Charles Rife, and to Charles Sylvia for donating the collections to make this sale possible. The Toledo Show: R/C Model Expo is North America’s largest and longest running R/C model expo. This three day event showcases all types of R/C models including planes, cars, and boats. Along with all the exhibitors, there will be an R/C model competition, speakers, swap shop, and an auction. This event runs April 6 through April 8 and is fun for the whole family. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit https://www.toledoshow.com/ Here’s a sneak peek at just a few of the planes RC Resale will have available! [gallery ids="4601,4600,4599,4598,4597,4596,4391,4388,4419,4418,4395,4392"] Foundation staff members are excited to take RC Resale on the road again after just completing a successful weekend in the Swap Shop of AMA Expo East in Secaucus, New Jersey. Over $5,000 was raised for the programs the foundation supports thanks to donor Charles Sylvia who donated over 20 planes for the weekend sale. We look forward to seeing you in Toledo! [gallery columns="2" ids="4606,4605"]