AMA News - District IV Report
Spring Control Line Contest — Huntersville, NC
Report by Contest Director Ed Culver
The spring Control Line (CL) contest was held at the David Waymer flying field in Huntersville, NC. Twice a year the Metrolina Control Line Society (MCLS) puts on a contest that just seems to keep on growing. I was told that this was a warmup for Brodak's, which is a warmup for the Nationals. This year, 36 registered pilots from a 10-state area flew 68 entries.
AMA District IV Vice President Bliss Teague joined us. He didn't fly but he shook many hands and managed the bench-flying sessions quite well. We also had the pleasure of having Tom McClain, the Associate Vice President for Virginia, with us. Tom managed to take home one of the great-looking trophies we had this year. Allen Brickhaus, the Precision Acrobatics Model Pilots Association director from District VI, also came in for the event.
One of the best reasons to come to the contest was barbecue. Jim Stewart has made Carolina barbecue for this contest for a number of years now, and I have heard people say that his barbecue is the best reason to go to the contest.
Saturday's activities included Profile, Classic, Old-time, Basic Flight, and Sport Stunt. After the regular events were flown we had the inaugural running of the Sport Stunt event.
Saturday night found many of the fliers from out of town gathered for the typical exchange of opinions and slightly embellished stories. This was as enjoyable as the flying itself.
Terry McDowell continued his tradition of making ice cream and passing it out to all who came by. It was greatly appreciated after a hot day in the sun!
Sunday morning we got an early start because the weatherman was calling for thunderstorms in the early afternoon. It was very hot, but the thunderstorms held off until after we finished flying and handing out the trophies.
This year's Director's Choice Award went to Watt Moore in recognition of all he does to help the club, contests, and fun flys, and especially for what he does to help new people get started in the sport of model aviation.
Events
- Saturday events:
- Profile
- Classic
- Old-time
- Basic Flight
- Sport Stunt (inaugural running)
- Sunday events:
- Expert (own circle)
- Advanced (own circle)
- Intermediate and Beginner (together on the third circle)
Acknowledgments
I want to recognize the people who pulled this show together and made the contest a great success.
- Contestants and judges — without you we wouldn't have had the contest at all.
- Tabulators: Jeana Mills and Sarah Moore — for keeping the show rolling and honest.
- MCLS membership — for getting everything ready before the event.
- Jim, Kevin, and Shawn Stewart — for providing food and drinks.
- Vendors — for bringing CL supplies that our local hobby shops don't always provide.
My job as CD was made much easier because of all of you who participated in this event.
Looking ahead
The next contest at Huntersville will be October 19 and 20. The field will be open for practice on October 18 for anyone who wants to come in early. There are three paved circles and one grass circle.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
