Greetings KRAM!
Well our first fly-in of the year is successfully in the books and we had a great showing! There were approx 30 pilots registered and a good handful of family and friends out watching the action. The West Michigan Radio Flyers came to visit as well with a good handful of pilots; thanks for coming! It was a warm one, but the winds behaved and I think everyone had a good time. If you didn't make it, several pilot prizes were given out through the day including 3 t-shirts from RC Pilot Magazine that said "I'm all thumbs, what's your point? RC Airplane Pilot" on the back. Ed Bradley won one of them, which I thought that was appropriate! We also raffled off a West Michigan Park Flyers McFoamy that was donated by WMPF (Big thanks to WMPF!). The McFoamy was won by Ed Bradley (we think he rigged the tickets), but later decided he didn't want to get into electrics. So, we now have a McFoamy to raffle off at the club picnic next month! If you want a chance to win one, and honestly..who doesn't want to win a plane, I suggest you attend!!
Lee Frederickson *may* be awarded the first "poopy plane" trophy, as his AJ Slick(I think?) had a battery ejection mid-flight which ended with his plane nearly unharmed by the swamp, and the canopy floated into the poo. A rescue was successful with a rope lasso. Lets hope he gives it a good bath! The authorities are still on the fence if the entire plane must go in the pond to be awarded the trophy, news at 11.
We had a decent crew in the morning to help setup, but would've liked to see more! Setup takes nearly an hour, and more hands would make that quicker and easier. Those that helped setup got an extra pilot prize ticket as a thank you, and I will do similar things in the future to reward those that participate and help with club functions. A big thanks to the group that helped setup in the morning, and I hope to see more of you next time! Also a special thank you goes out to Mark and George for cooking in that HOT sun! Mark spent most of the day setting up, prepping and tearing down the dining area while the rest of us were flying. Make sure you give him your thanks next time you see him!
Your homework for the next meeting (which is July 3rd), is to think of one little thing that we could do to get more pilots and spectators at our events. This is your club, and I want to make our events fun for everyone. So bring your idea(s) to the next meeting! Also if you were at the Memorial Fly-In, I'd like to hear your comments and suggestions on how you think it went!
Keep your wings level and altitude positive,
Nik
