Here is a little history for last year (2002) for the Norfolk Aeromodelers.

 January - Willis Swindell, and I went to the King Orange down in Florida. Willis won first place in Profile Stunt with his twin engine Henkel 219. I came in third place in Profile stunt with my Twister. I also received second place in Intermediate Stunt with the Twister.  Winning first, second and third place trophies was something unheard of at the King Orange.  We were able to tweak in our airplanes for the weather conditions at Jacksonville Florida.

February As usual Abram Van Dover had the Tidewater Soaring Society Flea Market over in Yorktown. Our club rented a table and sold a bunch of R/C carburetors and some old kits. There were some great deals to be had.

March The first weekend was a Model Flea Market in Richmond VA.  Willis Swindell and I went and found some great deals on some items we needed.  AMA had a booth there and provided us with the latest regulations on model flying. We had our annual Building Contest.  Dick Bridges won first place with his Veco Chief.  I received second place with a Brodak Hawker Hurricane.  Chip Largent received third with his Sundance.  My honest opinion, Chips Sundance should have at least received second place.  The first and third place airplanes were built with great craftsmanship.  Mark Schneier brought in the ¼ scale Piper Cub that Terry Bull had started. Mark did a great job on finishing the Cub.

April The weather was bad for flying. Only a few flights were made.

May was fine-tuning of the building contest models.  We could not get Dick Bridges to fly his Veco Chief.

June was the MetroLiners Controlline stunt contest in Huntersville, NC. Willis Swindell and I were the only members from the Norfolk Aeromodelers that went this year.  This contest was very hot with temperatures around 100 degrees.  I came in third place in Intermediate Stunt. . Chip Largent and his wife took their motor home across country again this summer.  Brodak Flyin was held on Fathers Day weekend again this year.  Billy Dunn, Steve Fitton, Willis Swindell and I represented the Norfolk Aeromodelers this year.  We all of flew well there (no crashes). Willis Swindell and I came in first place in the FoxBerg Racing event.  We had a blast at Brodaks.  This is the one event if a person who is interested in control line should attend once in their lifetime.  Mark Schneier was able to get in the test flights of the Piper Cub.  The Cub turned out to be a great flying model.

July was hot and not much flying. We did get to trim out some to the Building Contest models/

August 11th, Abram Van Dover had his Charles Grant Memorial Cloud Tramp Mass Launch located near Bens Church. There was a good turn out. Willis Swindell and I participated in the launch.  Mark Schneier and his wife took pictures and videos to the event.  The Roanoke Rapids, NC had their annual Controlline Fun Fly near the end of August.  The temperature was too hot (about 100+degrees).  Steve Fitton, Jimmy Paul, Mark and Mike Schneier, Willis Swindell and I dealt with the heat.  I tried out the new Brodak 40 engine there on Williss Mauler.  The engine ran nice and had enough power to fly the stunt pattern.  The best thing there was when the Roanoke Rapids crew brought out the ice cold water melon.  We had a great time seeing everyone again.

September We tried out some new models and trimmed-out some old models.

October - The Metroliners Controlliners had their annual fall stunt contest in Huntersville, NC.  Steve Fitton, Jimmy Paul, Willis Swindell and I represent the Norfolk Aeromodelers.  The competition was tough. I placed second in Intermediate Stunt.  Steve Fitton lost his Time Machine due to the high winds. His engine did survive.  Jimmy Paul had a main wheel fall off during take-off on an official flight.  My Twister lost a tail wheel on take-off during an official flight.  I had to solder on a new one.  This was the contest where bad things jumped up at us.  Willis Swindell came to help us all out.  Willis did not fly due to surgery he had the month before.  We found a nice sea food restaurant there.  The food there was great. The fall Huntersville contest has a history of having a large turn out. Huntersville has a very nice flying site.

November - We only flew a few times at Fentress due to the bad weather.

December Willis Swindell taught his grandson, Robert, how to fly controlline with the club Flight-Streak trainer.  Robert did very well.  I think Robert had a good time because of the many questions he had about the model.  The very next weekend Bill Sequira bought out his son, Cole, for some controlline indoctrination.  We used Chip Largents trainer.  Cole was able to solo after minimal instructions.  I do not know who had the best time, the ones learning or the ones teaching.

So as you can see, we had some good times and bad times this past year. The year 2003 looks like it will be a good one. Catch you guys at the flying  field.

John Tate

President 2002