What's New/Latest Developments

The February club meeting is Friday, February 10th, 2011, at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be at the Fairland Sports and Aquatics Complex in Laurel, Maryland.

Come join us for some pizza or salad and lots of airplane talk afterwards at Pizza Hut! If you're on a diet, eat the salad, it's worth it for the fellowship after the meeting!

Don't forget to renew your membership. All FSA memberships expire on December 31st, so if you have not renewed, please do so now! We want you to return!

To make the process a bit easier for you, we put the 2012 membership form on the website. Click on the links to download a copy.

David Heinmuller, FSA's Membership Secretary, asks that your forms be mailed directly to him. His address is below. For your ease, the membership forms are available in both MS Word Format and in PDF Format.

I have also included the AMA Safety Code.

David's address is

The February Newsletter has been posted... go get it. This month the file size is more manageable, so it should be a quick download!

At the club's December meeting new club officers were voted in. The new club President is Dave Wilson. Dave has been a member for quite a few years, and ran Airplanes of the World last year.

Tom Salamon will continue as club Treasurer. Tom took over the job part way through this year. Jorden Epps is also returning as both club Secretary and Vice President. Dave Heinmuller will also continue to handle the club Membership duties.

Also, as a reminder, the club's membership year ends December 31st, so be sure to get your renewal in promptly.

For those who want to relive the past a little bit, here's a copy of the June 1991 HCRC Newsletter. Of course what was HCRC is now Free State Aeromodelers. The change happened when the club moved out of Howard County.

It's fun to see some pictures of members of the past and current members who were members then, like Keith Klingebiel and Jerry Richards. Also read about the meetings that the club used to run. As many as 50% of the club members used to attend the monthly meetings. Maybe it was the raffles or maybe it was the programs that drew the folks in. Who knows.

Like last month, this file is a bit large at 15 MB, so it will take a few minutes to download. Never the less, have fun reading it!

From Joe Franco, Educational Engineer at West Potomac High School:

Hi Everyone,

This is a 'Save the Date' notice about the next West Potomac High School Fun Fly coming up on Saturday, February 18th.

We will have our indoor set up and as always, try to have an outdoor flying (weather permitting) area!

Time will be 8 am to 2 pm, at the West Potomac High School. The flying area is in the school's Main Gym. Last February was a huge success, if you were there, I think you would agree. Lots of flyers! Please spread the word so we can keep this event going.

We are also always looking for sponsors, pass them my info if you know anyone that might be interested.

Thanks,

From Kirk Adams, FSA President...

For those who haven't heard, there is a bill in congress to authorize funding for the FAA. The Senate version of this bill passed recently with an amendment that the AMA helped get in place that instructs the FAA to be hands-off with model aircraft. It's a bit more complicated than that, but close enough. The House version of the bill is now under consideration.

So it's time to contact your representitive and let them know how you feel.

Lots of information and some form letters are available on the AMA's website. Here's a direct link to a form letter generator. Let Congress know how you feel, go to the above link, or contact your representitive on your own.

Kirk

A note from Kirk Adams, FSA President...

Starting this year, the club is trying something new to indicate who is a member and who is not at the field. We are going to be issuing colored ribbons that must be attached to your transmitter. If you need additional ribbons for more transmitters, please see me at the field or come to a club meeting where either me or Dave Heinmuller can give you the extras you need. If you lose or damage a ribbon, replacements are available. You can attach the ribbon to the antenna, the carrying handle, or anywhere else you want that makes it visible. The ribbons come a bit long, but you can cut them shorter so they don't get in the way, and you can use tape or whatever you want to keep it from moving if you prefer. The ribbons are to show membership status only, and don't change the need to use the frequency board system. If you have other questions, let me know.

Kirk

From Kirk Adams...

We now have shirts and mugs with the FSA logo available at Cafe Press at at this link.

If you were at the last meeting, you saw a prototype shirt that I had made. Since then, I improved the image size and quality, so these shirts should look better that what I had at the meeting.

Kirk