Focus on Competition
Technical Director
Bob Underwood
It's been ten years — a whole decade. On July 1, 1985, I assumed the position of Technical Director for the Academy. What a ride it's been! Many of my tasks were clearly defined at the start, but they grew in number along the way. In later years at Reston, the "Technical Department" became lovingly referred to as the "Etc. Department." Anything that didn't seem to fit a pigeonhole gravitated in our direction. JoAnne Spampinato and Chip Smith comprised the remainder of the trio. We loved the fact that when the phone rang, we never knew which one of a zillion things we'd be plunged into when we answered.
Learning was an important part of the job. Working with the Frequency Committee, I became versed in the vagaries and funny little terms that haunt the radio world. To the average member I could reference dB and MHz in a way that suggested I knew what I was talking about, but at committee meetings I often just nodded knowingly while the experts spoke — generally way over my head.
I learned pasteup for a book — the AMA Competition Regulations, the FAI Sporting Code, the Membership Manual. I was warned that the Executive Director was not one to allow white space on a page. In the early days our budget was stretched like a violin string. After cutting and pasting that first AMA rule book, the printer's rep told me he'd never seen anyone squeeze so much text on a page. It took all my years of modeling skills with an X‑Acto to split those lines. Many members suggested (sometimes not too politely) that the print size was too small for us old men. My facetious response was simple: if you can't read it, you probably can't see well enough to fly anyway.
There were thousands of letters to write and thousands of calls to answer. The challenge, and quite frankly the most interesting part of the job, was the variety. What a thrill it was to help a newcomer weave through the complicated parts of modeling — to provide guidance on frequencies, field layout, scale documentation, rules, and myriad other subjects.
Were there "downer" days? Oh golly, yes. More often than not these came about because members were not prepared, didn't read, or were cantankerous for whatever reason. It was fun to develop little gimmicks to politely get across the point that the information was usually there if one took the time to read the material provided.
For instance, consider a member who called with a question fully explained in the Membership Manual. After directing him to that document, the conversation generally went like this:
Member: "I didn't get a Membership Manual." TD: "Oh golly. You should have received it by now. Did you get your stickers and the Supply and Service catalog?" Member: "Yep, but I didn't get the Membership Manual." TD: "That's strange. They were both sent in the same clear plastic envelope." Member: "Nope, mine didn't have the manual in the envelope." TD: "Now that really is strange, because the carrier for the mailing label is only on the manual. There's no place for it on the catalog!" Member: "My wife must have thrown it away."
Another downer was the many times members would not accept answers given by female employees. Debbie Brown had been doing sanction requests for years before I got there and knew the answers. If the member didn't like Debbie's answer because she was a woman, he would pass the question along to me. I would give exactly the same answer and the response would be, "Oh, now that you've explained it that way, I understand." Gentlemen, I believe there's a name for that.
There is pride in having ideas put into practice that work. At times I found resistance to some ideas; those became a special challenge. Rather than trying to ram ideas through, my strategy was to plant them in special flower beds — use others' reasoning to modify and nurture them. Depending on the idea and the political climate, various individuals were cultivated. Quite frankly, I loved the role of ombudsman and devil's advocate. It's exciting to witness the coming together of ideas through people — it's amazing how many of those ideas bloomed!
It's hard to believe I've written well over a hundred of these columns. When we first started them there was some trepidation on the part of the magazine staff concerning content. Fortunately, they allowed me considerable latitude and soon accepted the "Etc. Department" concept. I have two favorites over the ten years: two fables written to explain frequency concerns. What a response they evoked — talk about love/hate scenarios! All in all, writing this column has been a real high point of the TD job.
Following my stint as interim Executive Director, the Underwoods kind of, just a little bit, part-way retired to Missouri and have been doing TD "stuff" by wire. That's not easy, and I'm not certain that it is really fair to other staff members and the membership at large. There are a host of complications when it comes to polishing off a rule book, monitoring sanctions, and overseeing CD activity.
Another point that suggested it was time to shift the TD title was that we now have an intelligent, eager, and knowledgeable young man heading the Competitions Department. Steve Kaluf is ably supported by Teresa McKee, Tina Pool, Sarah Pryor, and Kim Knight, who have accomplished wonders in understanding AMA and modelers. There is an added feature to having those folks in place: a fresh viewpoint. Steve and I don't necessarily agree on all issues, but his logic is good and his motives are member-oriented. He's just headed into the forest and sees it well; I've been sitting in the middle of all those darn trees, and maybe the forest has disappeared to some degree.
So what's happening? This must mean Bob is retiring. Well, no — but I am going to shift titles. How about TD to ED? Oh heavens, no — not Executive Director! Nine months of that was plenty. Rather, ED spelled Education Director. Perhaps you've noticed that for a year I've been preparing a "NewComers" column. The appearance of this column has brought forth many new programs and a renewed interest in fostering youth activities. There are some exciting things we are beginning to work on, including an interactive network developed through Ball State University, workshops, program materials, and more. Gosh — it's great to be young again!
While my TD "authority" has been willingly relinquished to younger hands, the years of competition experience and staff involvement will not be cast aside. I will be more than willing to clarify issues and direction, serve as an association mentor, and help us move forward in a constructive, positive fashion. I'm not tied to the past, and I'm definitely not afraid to say, "I don't know" and "Whoops, I'm wrong!"
Thank you for ten years of wonderful involvement as your Technical Director. I feel I'm a better person for having served in that capacity, by working with the membership and learning and understanding our hobby/sport. Now, for the coming period as Education Director — let's get started!
Key Dates
- August 23–28: FAI Scale Team Finals, Muncie, IN
- August 25–September 3: F3C World Championships, Kasaoka‑Shi, Japan
- September 1–3: F2B/F2C Team Selection, Muncie, IN
- September 16–17: NSRCA District 4 Pattern Championships, Muncie, IN
- September 23–24: Spacemodeling Team Selection, Muncie, IN
- CIA F/F Contest, Muncie, IN
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
