'91 All American Nationals: General
Vince Mankowski
Wouldn't you like to have $1.00 for every hour spent preparing a site for the Nationals and for cleaning one up after it's over? The Academy of Model Aeronautics is built on volunteerism, and that rock‑bed foundation is apparent at the National Championships more than anywhere else. Because the 1991 Control Line and Radio Control events returned to Lawrenceville, Illinois, a certain amount of excessive labor was saved; however, there was still an incredible amount of work necessary to get someone else's site — Mid‑American Air Center — modified for our use.
The columns written by the other reporters will pass along information on the many separate contests that made up the National Championships — who came and who won, who sacrificed flying time so that others could fly in each particular event. We should all take a moment to thank those who gave up their chance to fly — those who worked very hard so that others could enjoy the events.
This general overview is being written so that readers will understand that the pit bosses, the judges, Event Directors, and all those who volunteer to run specific events are not the only ones who toil so that others may fly. There are those who:
- answer the phones
- install the portable toilets
- see that the trash is picked up and removed
- arrange concessions
- register and process entrants
- put up the tents
- make the signs
- acquire the sites
Whew! And then there's all of the equipment to mobilize and to re‑pack.
There are too many stories to relay in one short column, but I'll mention a couple. Take the Rhodes from the Pacific Northwest who met up with their friends, the Landries and the Viveritos, in Vermont and then traveled halfway back across the United States to Lawrenceville to work 12‑ and 14‑hour days so that others could fly.
And then there are guys like Bud Brown (a known Free Flighter) who will work two weeks in the hot sun laboring to prepare and host a Control Line and Radio Control National Championship.
Friendships develop and have been known to grow and prosper — like the one between an Event Director and score runner who met at a Nationals last year and who showed up this year as Mr. and Mrs. Greg Frohreich. Congratulations to both.
There are so many wonderful people and great stories to tell and far too limited a space in which to do it. Rather than leave someone out, let's just ask that should you come across someone who serves as an official at the National Championships, shake his hand and thank him. They really deserve it.
Work has already begun on the site selection process for 1992. AMA Executive Director Vince Mankowski and Bob Landry attended a workers' party and presented Peggy Viverito the Jim Buchanan Memorial Award. Given annually to a hard‑working volunteer, she exudes an attitude of "no task too big, no task too small" and says "I'll work 'til I drop" — a personality that epitomizes the spirit of the National Aeromodeling Championships.
You have seen the White Whale; now see Mike Lauman, the computer tabulator for RC Pattern, busy at work in what became known as the White Minnow. Mike has performed the computer tabulation of Pattern scores for the last several years and even worked his magic at the U.S.A.-hosted World Championships in 1988.
As soon as information is available, it will be relayed to you right here in the pages of Model Aviation magazine.
To say that the 1991 Aeromodeling Championships for Control Line and Radio Control went smoothly is an understatement. You know it is running very well when the biggest complaint concerns AMA members who, for some reason, cannot seem to read the little signs concerning vehicular parking.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
