|
 Western
R/C Flyers is an AMA
(Academy of Model Aeronautics) chartered club in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. It
was established in the mid-1970's by several co-workers at the local
Western Electric production plant in Omaha. The plant made parts/pieces
for Bell Telephone and in the 70's had approximately 3,500 employees. It
is a very large facility with grounds covering approximately 60 acres and
buildings in the vicinity of 150,000 square feet. The plant still exists,
but is now part of Lucent Technologies, which still produces parts for the
telephone and switching industry and currently employs approximately 2,000
personnel.
The club was originally
just ten or so members and the name Western R/C was derived from
the name of the plant, "Western Electric". Today, under the
Presidency of Randy Tentiger, the club
varies between 80 and 100 members and is one of five clubs within a local
50-mile radius. Western R/C Flyers
is
dedicated to having fun with the R/C hobby, having few competitive events,
most being fun-flys. The only "serious" competitions are the Quickie
500 races and the S.W.I.F.T. soaring cross-country event. Other
events are primarily "just flyin' " fun-flys with no
competition, and this includes the Bud Hall Memorial IMAA fun-fly. There
are two other more specialised clubs coming under the sponsorship of
Western R/C Flyers. S.W.I.F.T. (stands for "Searching With
Intent of Finding Thermals"!) is a soaring
club. It started as an independent soaring club but lost its flying site.
Members were from Omaha and Lincoln, some 50 miles away, and eastern
Nebraska. With some of the S.W.I.F.T. members also in the Western Flyers,
they petitioned Western to sponsor them for use of their fields and
facilities several years ago. The two clubs combined their membership,
both flying under the AMA #857 sanction. S.W.I.F.T.'s major annual event
is a Cross Country competition, flown in July this year. You can meet the
2000 winner on the personal profiles
page. The
284 Aero Squadron, affiliated to the IMAA (International Miniature
Aircraft Association), was formed in the mid/late 80's due to the number
of Western members moving towards large-scale aircraft, 80" and
above. Also, Western was a very active participant in "Striking
Back", an air show/fly-in hosted by Byron Godperson of "Byron's
Originals" kits, fuel, etc. This was located in Ida Grove, Iowa,
approximately 75 miles north-east of Omaha. Many of the Western members
assisted the airshow and flew during the 5-day event. To fly at that
event, it was a requirement to be a member of the IMAA, and for this
reason the 284 Aero Squadron was formed.  284 Aero
Squadron has one special annual event, the Bud Hall Memorial Fun
Fly. This is a 2-day IMAA event bringing flyers from Iowa, Kansas,
Missouri, and Nebraska. Bud Hall was a long-time member of the Western
Flyers and was known for his building of large aircraft and modelling
experience of 50 years. He passed away several years ago, but a number of
his model aircraft have survived including several scratch-built "RoadRunners",
one of which is proudly displayed here by Bud's widow, Alice.
 Western
R/C Flyers has a great website, the home page of which is shown at the top
of this item and which comes up once you enter the site from their opener. The layout of the site carries the black background
throughout and it works very well. The
site has been developed and is maintained by Joe Halamek, who
kindly provided me with information about the club. On the left you can
see the extensive menu of pages covering specific subjects, many of which
are of real interest to browsers like me, as well as some pages of more
significance to club members and those considering joining the club. I was very interested to see a special
"Members Area", open only to members of the club. There are some
good piccies to enjoy on several of the pages shown here, and I've put a
few of them up on the photo gallery page. An
interesting variation on Western's Photo Gallery is that they offer a
personal photo page to their members to display their own pictures - nice
one, that!
Looking
round the site, I discovered that the club has two flying sites which Joe
tells me have well-manicured grass runways with pilot safety nets and
frequency use boards. The club also has access to a farm pond for float
flying activities. The club also holds a monthly meeting On the site,
there's news of the 2001 Annual Auction to be held on Saturday April 21
next year.
This sounds like a nice event, with a raffle and food provided for extra
fun and enjoyment! This is the club's main fund-raising activity and
usually attracts 200 - 300 modellers from around the Midwest, from
approximately 5 - 6 states! Items vary in number, but Joe says it's not
unusual to have 300 - 500 items up for bid. The club's treasury benefits
by 10% of the prices fetched. Western
R/C Flyers welcome visitors to their club but if, as with me, it's a bit
out of your way, then you can always visit them on their website: http://www.weflyrc.com
|
