District XI Report
Saturday, June 26, dawned calm and clear. The Helena Flying Tigers' first Helicopter Fly-In was off to a good start. Things got even better when the crew from Heliproz showed up with a Raptor-50 and an engine to be raffled off by the club. Thank you, Eric!
Seth Mott from Clancy, Montana, a young member of the club, was the lucky winner. The weekend was full of spectacular flights, the renewal of old friendships, and the all-important exchange of ideas. At lunchtime, Ted Reichert provided free sodas and burgers with all the trimmings.
As usual, strong winds limited flying after lunch, so activities broke up early. Saturday's flights took their toll; although it was another beautiful flying day, attendance was down on Sunday. Wayne Venetz had a short flight that ended in an inexplicable loss of signal and a total loss of his Raptor-30. Despite the loss of equipment, a good time was had by all and we hope to do it again next year.
The first man out, Larry Bennert with his Raptor-50, gave a sterling performance including a chaos series (pirouetting flips) that was mind-boggling. Kurt Kreiger demonstrated autorotation repeatedly: time and again he would finish a flight sans power and just back it in and park it at his feet. What control!
Ted Reichert prefers to use a neck strap. He flies to music and says it soothes the nerves and keeps him ahead of the helicopter.
Lebanon Area RC Club (LARC) Report — submitted by Grace Dixon
The Lebanon Area RC Club (LARC) has been busy promoting the RC airplane hobby. Lebanon, Oregon, celebrated the reopening of its historic train depot with Excursion Day on May 15, and held the 95th annual Strawberry Festival on June 4 and 5. Both events gave us the opportunity to share our enthusiasm for RC airplanes with the community.
- On Excursion Day, LARC had a booth set up near the remodeled train depot. Several members brought airplanes to display, and informational leaflets from AMA were available to visitors. We fielded many questions about our models and RC flying. Club secretary Fred Schafer created some excitement when he helped "rob" the train depot as part of the festivities.
- On June 5, Lebanon held its Strawberry Festival Parade. The theme for LARC's float was "Strawberry Happiness Is... Flying RC Planes!" The float was constructed on a large trailer covered in black to resemble a runway, with model airplanes parked across its surface. Brian Funk, club president, also built stands that made some airplanes look as if they were taking off. Our entry won the third-place trophy for Nonprofit and Civic Organizations.
Our float was well received by spectators along the parade route. Comments from the crowd included:
- "Airplanes! Awesome!"
- "I can ride in that one!"
- "Wow!"
- "Looks like they're flying!"
- "Cool!"
- "Can I have one?"
Some of the attention was also due to the float's patriotic aspects, with many military-type airplanes on display and our banner proudly declaring, "We Support Our Troops."
LARC is looking forward to further opportunities to encourage others to join in the fun and satisfaction of the RC airplane hobby. Besides attending various local events, we are working on a new flying field and on a program to interest youth in RC flying.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
