VOLUME

January 1, 2004 Fun Fly. Bring goodies, share fellowship, fly planes, come you know what and ice. Typically we have had fog, ice, snow, sunshine, temperatures in the mid 40s, just great flying weather. There will be a goodly crowd with coffee, hot chocolate, whatever you bring. Four strokes take longer to warm up, beware. The engines run better and the planes fly great. Light gloves work well on controls. Flying will start whenever you get there, but generally around 11AM is when some get started.

Field News

The 2003 Flying Year is almost past history. It was a great and very successful year. Club events will be published in the next newsletter.

Minutes of December Meeting:

Springfield RC club Christmas party for 2003

The club met on December 4, 2003, 7 PM, at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 2340 W. Grand, Springfield, Mo. Jerry Kutz and president Dan Curtis helped round up approximately 50 members and wives for a wonderful time and celebration of Christmas. Jerry outdid himself by helping to provide a a delicious buffet style dinner with a choice of entree's, including ham and outstanding broiled chicken - all we could eat, and blackberry cobbler to top it off. A collection was taken to tip the ladies who prepared it. Jerry also offered prayer in the absence of OD. After dinner, President Dan introduced Larry Askren, one of the club's newer members. Larry explained how he had been flying gas models for several years, but now is getting involved in flying electrics at the indoor soccer field. He invited club members to come over on a Tuesday or Thursday morning to watch, and see what flying electrics all year around inside is like, and especially to a big fly-in there on December 27th. .

Dan then announced that he would soon appoint an event committee for the coming year. The first event will be the Chili fly on January 1st. He asked Russ Rhodes if he would continue as editor of the newsletter if we would help him with information, and to help send out hardcopies. Russ said he would, and Jerry Kutz offered to do the mailing if Ralph & Shirley would supply him with labels. Dan asked members to be thinking of any upgrades we thought might be necessary to the by-laws. Dan then announced that the new (old) officers are officially installed for the coming year. They are the same ones as served last year. Dan thanked everyone that helped make the year successful for the club. Kevin Murdock nominated Charley Newton to received the 4th Top Gun award. This was seconded by Sparky Wessels, voted on and affirmed, followed by a large applause.

Russ Rhodes did a fabulous job, as usual, entertaining us with film strips of the AMA nationals, and video tapes of the full sized air show in Joplin, as provided by James White and Lonnie Cort. He would call out names of club members during the show, in identifying us as the pilots of the stunt planes.

Doug Bennett did a terrific job, along with Russ assisting in handling the raffle. There were a lot of prizes - a lot of which was provided by Sleeth Hobbies. David and Jeanie were present, and were given a round of applause for their generosity.

The party lasted until about 9 PM, at which time there was lots of visiting and exchanging of season's best wishes. It was certainly enjoyed by all.

Membership Information Dues 2004

Effective January 1, 2004, all dues are payable on a calendar year basis for those who were members in 2002. As was the case in 2003, the dues for the year are $75.00 for adults and $50 for juniors (students under 18). The dues apply no matter when you decide to pay your 2003 dues.

As was the case last year, NEW members will pay a pro-rated amount based on what month they join the club for the first time.

NOTE: You must show proof that you have paid your AMA dues for 2004 in order to receive your 2004 Blacksheep member card. Either mail your dues with a copy of your AMA card or bring the card to the January meeting to show to the Treasurer.

You may mail your check payable to SPRINGFIELD R/C CLUB and a copy of your AMA card to:

Kevin Murdock, Treasurer, 3448 E. Stanhope Terrace, Springfield, MO 65809

President's Column

I hope each and every one of you and your families had a great Christmas and New Year. Where did 2003 go? Time truly does fly when we are having fun. 2003 was a nice year in the club. I do not remember seeing or hearing about many lost airplanes and we had no major injuries at the field. Membership seemed to hold steady around the 80 mark and our instructors did their usual great job in flight and safety training during the year. Speaking of instructors, if anyone else feels the calling please step forward and get your name in the pool. We could use several more instructors to help ease the load and to better serve our new members.

This year we held a pattern primer, float fly, pattern contest and a helicopter fly in. The primer once again was well attended for a local event and gave the contestants a taste of precision flying and the pressure of performing under a microscope. The annual Float Fly was held at Springfield Lake in August. It was a bit warm as usual but the members came out and worked as well as participated in the fly in. Attendance was down some from previous years but good food, good company and lots of flying time was the rule during both days. The pattern contest was well attended again this year but we did have a date conflict with the Chicago area, which caused us to loose a few flyers. I will be coordinating with the Chicago group so our date will not be in conflict this coming year. The club received major accolades from the contestants for our hospitality and our flying site. The October Heli Fly In was highly attended with around 50 flyers. Flying was constant for two days with some great flying and very few mishaps. The raffle was successful and the event was a nice moneymaker for the club while still being able to provide some very nice prizes. The club, again received praise for the site and the welcome, and the one request that I heard repeatedly was to have it for three days next year. The event committee is looking into this and will have their proposal for next year’s events at the January meeting. The year was busy but the activities were well received and well attended. I think our club has much to be proud of and I would like to say thank you to all that supported our events and club during the year.

Meeting attendance was down for most of the year. I hope to see more members at each and every meeting in the coming months. It is your club and your input is just as important as anyone else’s, when it comes to club matters. If everything is running smooth and your are contented, fine ,then come to the meeting and say so and say howdy to everyone. If you have an idea for a program or discussion you would like to hear then by all means make it know to a board member or officer. The officers for next year look a lot like the ones from last year. Since they will be a tad bit older and so much wiser, I would look for another good year in the future.

Lets all have a great 2004.

Dan

Club Contacts:

President: Dan Curtis- 887-2971	Vice President: George Ashley- 883-2621
Secretary: Ralph Todd- 859-3073	Treasurer: Kevin Murdock, 823-7865
Board of Directors: James White, Ron Cannell, Ray Niles, Lonnie Cort, Harrold Carrol, Charles Newton.
News Letter Editor: Russ Rhodes, 3164 S. Glenhaven, Springfield, Missouri 65804, rgr592f@smsu.edu
Web Site of Springfield RC Club: http://www.angelfire.com/mo2/blacksheeprc/index2.html

David Sleeth - Owner

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