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Corky's CornerSummer 2006 by Corky Heitman FS-6 Hello Big Bird Lovers, It’s hard to believe, but I’m writing another Summer column for HighFlight. When you read this, the 2006 Joe Nall Fly-In, and the IMAA Summer Rally will already be history. IMAA is doing well. With new leadership from President Jim Giffin, and new Board members bringing new ideas to the table, the outlook is very bright. IMAA was one of the first organizations dedicated to Giant Scale, and has always been the unifying voice to represent our interests to the AMA, and to the world. Safety is our number one priority, and IMAA is working hard to maintain an excellent safety record, and to build a stringent safety program. We are very fortunate to have Jim Giffin on board as our President, since Jim has served for several years on the AMA Safety Committee. He, and IMAA Safety Director Mike Brown are dedicated to keeping Big Bird Flying safe, and are working to provide a new emphasis on safe and sane practices at the flying field.
IMAA is successful for several reason. One is our magazine. HighFlight is the one place where you can find 100% giant scale related content, 100% giant scale advertisers, and 100% giant scale event schedules and reports. And speaking of events, our Event Coordinator David Moro tells me that the number of Sanctioned Events is UP! This is great news. But, as always, let me remind you that the best way to insure that your event is well attended is to get out and attend other Chapter’s events. Yes... gasoline prices are up. So maybe it is time to start ride sharing... maybe take four or five guys in that big motorhome and share the gas cost. I’m afraid that gas prices are always going to be higher. (Our European friends have been paying a fortune for gas for years....) The point is, we can’t let something like that dampen our enthusiasm for our great hobby. And speaking of events, don’t let the small number of Chapter reports in this issue influence you about anything. The Summer issue is where, typically, there are a lot of event reports from the Winter flying season (which means from you Southern guys... in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, South Texas, etc.) For whatever reason, there just weren’t many reports sent in... so we have a thin Chapter Report section in this issue. The Spring and Summer events will pick up, and we should be back to normal in the Fall issue. So get out an enjoy your Summer. Attend as many events as you can. (And, of course, if you’d like to drop in to the Thistledown Flyers annual meet in September, you can have four great days of flying, great food, night flying under the stadium lights... AND three days of aerobatic flying exhibitions by Matt Chapman!) But when you have an “off” weekend, and are just staying at your home flying field.... why not pick up the neighbor kids and their Dad, and take them to the field for the day. Share the fun of this great hobby... put them on a buddy box, and let them experience R/C flight. We need to see a lot more pilots at the field who don’t have gray hair. Think about the people you know... maybe the ones whose kids are in high school or college. They probably flew models when they were kids, and probably would love to get back into the hobby... if they were just given a bit of a nudge. Don’t you think it’s worth your time to give them that nudge? O.K... I’ve written enough for this issue. I’ve got to go pack the motorhome, load the Super Cub, and head off for the Joe Nall. I’m looking forward to seeing all of you in South Carolina. As always, Pat Hartness, Mike Gregory, Bob Sadler, and the rest of the Confederate Air Farce will be "busting tail" to put on the Show of Shows.I can taste the barbecue now....
So get out there... Fly Smart... Fly Safe... and Have Fun! See you in the Fall issue! –Corky
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