District IX Report
Colorado / Kansas / Nebraska / North Dakota / South Dakota / Wyoming
Vice President
Russ Miller 980 N. 3rd St., Carrington, ND 58421 Tel.: (701) 652-2321 Fax: (701) 652-2994 E-mail: rumiller@daktel.com
Associate Vice Presidents
- Max Hansen, 1909 Wisconsin SW, Huron, SD 57350
- H. Michael Harrington, 6112 Ashton Ct., Ft. Collins, CO 80525
- Fred Hildebrand, 4015 Somerset Circle, Casper, WY 82609-3161
- Nathan Lancaster, 3597 S. Kendall Street, Denver, CO 80235
- Troy Lapp, 3419 Heartwood Drive SE, Mandan, ND 58554
- Travis McGinnis, 8027 W. 81st Circle, Arvada, CO 80005
- Don Moden, 410 Hart St., Salina, KS 67401
- Jim Ricketts, 4921 Fernwood Drive, Sioux Falls, SD 57103-5573
- Jack L. Sibert, 3611 Kimberly Circle, Lincoln, NE 68506-4524
- Mark T. Smith, 14632 W. 50th Street, Shawnee, KS 66216
Frequency Coordinator
Steve Mangels, c/o Radio Service Center, 918 S. Sheridan, Denver, CO 80226
News from Colorado
Secretary of the Sterling Miniature Aircraft Association, E.R. Jelniker, submitted the following report about the club’s Combat event.
The Sterling Miniature Aircraft Association (SMAA) held its fifth annual Combat competition on June 6, 2004. There was Slow and Survivable Combat (SSC) in the morning and Open Class B in the afternoon.
After two days of severe storms, high winds, and tornadoes in the area, Sunday started out calm and warm with very few clouds. Later in the day the temperature reached 95–100°F with winds up to 20 mph.
CD (Contest Director) Marv Ferdig and his committee did an excellent job getting the events underway, with advertising in the local newspaper, on a local radio talk show, and on Web sites, and by securing the AMA sanction. All necessary boundaries were in place and the field was curried by the grounds crew and in excellent shape on Saturday.
Some pilots arrived on Saturday, others by 6 or 7 a.m. Sunday. Sign-in was completed by 8 a.m. The weigh-in of aircraft was completed by 8:30 and the assembled field judges met at 9:30 for instructions. Unfortunately, winds began blowing at 9 a.m., but they were blowing away from the combat engagement boundary.
Thirteen pilots registered for the event. Teams were from Longmont, Greeley, Evergreen, Colorado Springs, and Denver, Colorado, and from Nebraska. One team flew in from Los Angeles, California, and had time to participate in the SSC. Launching was done by hand, with one launch by catapult. At times the gusty winds caused launch and flying problems. No impound was necessary as there were no frequency conflicts.
President Dennis Owen served as head time judge at all combat heats. Nine pilots got the SSC contest underway at 10:10 a.m. Each of the six heats lasted five minutes. Heats were run at 15- to 20-minute intervals. Normal wind-related flying problems were encountered during heats, and the sixth heat featured a mid-air collision.
Prize money and framed certificates were given to the first three finishers. George Kerr from Aurora, Colorado, was top gun in this event. The dinner committee served a lunch of barbecue beef sandwiches, baked beans, salad, cake, iced tea, and lemonade.
At 1:05 p.m., Class B Open began with the same format as SSC. Wind was not as much a factor for this event. Eleven pilots started. In the air they looked like a bunch of mosquitoes after each other. A spectacular mid-air collision occurred in the first heat. The third heat produced two mid-air collisions and, amazingly, one airplane survived and completed the round. The sixth heat also produced a mid-air collision.
Mid-air collisions are dramatic: the bang of the collision, the engine and fuselage coming down, and the wings fluttering away in the wind. Retrieval took some time as the wind carried the wings a distance from the field.
The event was completed at 3:10 p.m. Afterward, all pilots cleaned up and prepared to leave. During this time, the two pilots from California treated attendees to a fly-by before heading to Los Angeles.
Awards were presented to the first three in this event, with Tom Neff from Aurora, Colorado, taking top gun with more than 2,000 points. All of the pilots expressed enjoyment of the event and appreciation for a well-organized meet.
SMAA will host another Combat event on October 17, 2004, and hopes it will be as successful as this one.
News from Kansas
Daniel Edwards of the Capital City Radio Control Club in Topeka, Kansas, sent in the following report about an open house held at the club’s new field.
The Capital City Radio Control Club held an open house at its new flying field on August 28, 2004. We had not held a fly-in at our previous field for a number of years, so all club members were eager to get together, fly, and debut our new site.
The site features a 710- x 120-foot grass runway and a pit area shaded by several trees. The day dawned cloudy and windy; a rainstorm had roared through just a few hours before. The wind settled down, a beautiful day emerged, and pilots and aircraft began to arrive.
The event was well attended, and we heard favorable comments from our guests. Two new members even joined on the spot. Pilots came from Lawrence, Manhattan, and Eudora. We sold burgers, hot dogs, and bratwurst; the concession area was busy as long as aromatic smoke wafted from the grill. Darrell Colton, Jack Eighmey, and Don Rieger were the talented chefs.
Marvin Renyer provided a public address system. He, Tim Kearney, and Patrick Kearney took turns informing visitors about the aircraft and pilots. Greg Inkman and Daniel Edwards safety-checked airplanes and took turns running the transmitter impound. George Jones, club president, lent a hand wherever needed and flew many flights with his Giant Stinger. Greg Inkman tempted potential pilots with his buddy-box setup.
Many types of model aircraft flew, and the talent of our guest pilots was impressive. There was a lot of 3-D flying and pattern work. Two 1/4-scale World War I–era aircraft were present: Daniel Edwards’ Sopwith Pup and John Dalton’s Fokker Dr.I. They looked great parked together.
It was a fun and successful open house. We’re grateful to all the club members who helped make it work and look forward to hosting another fly-in.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
