District V Report - 2003/02
Holley Flyers — 11th Annual Rally of Eagles Fly-In
I attended the 11th Annual Rally of Eagles Fly-In for Radio Control (RC) scale models. Manny Souza was the Contest Director (CD). The site was the Navy Outlying Field in Holley, Florida.
The Holley Flyers club has 40 dedicated members. Initially the club consisted of only five members — a spinoff from a much larger club — who formed a committee to initiate the rally. Today the club has 40 active fliers and supporters and an unsurpassed camaraderie atmosphere in modeling.
The Holley Flyers officers:
- Manny Souza, President
- Bill Hogue, Vice President
- Mark Pfeiffer, Secretary
- Bill Brown, Treasurer
- Warren Farris, Operations Officer
Club of the Month
Our Club of the Month is the Holley Flyers. The club will receive a framed plaque for being Club of the Month, and all members will receive a cloth patch that says "Club of the Month."
The Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Captain Bryan Watkins, allows modelers to use some of the Navy's outlying fields on weekends, including Holley Field.
The airplanes at the rally looked real, sounded real, and flew like real aircraft. At noon Manny had all the airplanes lined up in the center of the spacious runway so spectators could come out and inspect them. Manny is well regarded by the Navy (he was a Navy captain himself). There were at least 100 model airplanes and roughly 1,000 spectators.
Some important fliers from my neighborhood showed up; I had better show them or I'll be in deep trouble when I get home.
Council Meeting
We had a council meeting in October. District II VP Dave Mathewson and I passed a successful motion to delay cutting the contest directors' (CDs') membership dues in half for one year. I also asked the council to put all VP pages in the front of Model Aviation and print them in color. They're considering it.
Who's Who in AMA, District V
We've started a Who's Who in AMA, District V. If you've been a member for ten years, you qualify. Send me a resume of your modeling career.
Cape Coral R/C Sea Hawks Electric Fun-Fly
I attended the Cape Coral R/C Sea Hawks Electric Fun-Fly held at the club field in Ft. Myers, Florida. This fine club, with 250 members, hosts fly-ins and contests for a variety of modeling events.
The last time I was at the club field it was a cow pasture, complete with cows. Now there are no more cows — the club has an excellent field with a broad expanse for overflying. Field amenities include:
- A paved runway
- Paved access areas
- A permanent pavilion
- Steel fences
Chris explained that the Cape Coral club holds fun-flies and contests for:
- Giant Scale IMAA aircraft
- Sport Flyer airplanes
- Electric models
- Sailplanes
- RC Combat
- Helicopters
Awards
Because of the service this club provides for the modeling community, I requested and received an Award of Excellence for the organization. This is the highest award the AMA has for chartered clubs. I also received an Award of Excellence for the Tampa Radio Control Club.
Photos
If you want to see a lot of pictures of the Holley Flyers and the Cape Coral club, visit the District V website: www.modelair.org.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
