The year is moving fast, and
the date of our first race is quickly approaching.
I am hearing about quite a few new airplanes and pilots getting ready for
the season. If you know of someone
who needs some help with their project or getting to a race, let me know so that
I can direct some help their way. I’ve
been busy working on the Constitution and Bylaws, a 2000-2001 financial
statement, the rules package for this year, and a GR-7!
USRA
Secretary:
Please join me in welcoming our new
Secretary Stacy Hanbury. Stacy is Scott Hanbury’s loving, tolerant, and very
supportive wife. She loves going to
our events, and plans on making at least three of them this year. Stacy was instrumental in planning our annual meeting this
year, and has also written an article for RCX from the “airplane widow’s”
perspective. Perhaps we can talk
her into forming a support group for our significant others so we can have more
time to spend on the airplanes! Kidding
aside, welcome aboard Stacy and thank you for your help.
Constitution
and Bylaws:
The
amendments that the Board approved to the Constitution and Bylaws have been
incorporated into that document, and it is now available on our website at www.usra-racers.org.
I would encourage everyone here to take a few minutes to read through
this important
document to better understand how the USRA operates.
Incorporation:
The
final paperwork is being completed now on our Incorporation.
We will be incorporated in the state of Kansas, and will be listed as a
non-profit organization.
A big thanks to Loren Tregallis and Archie Snider for their help in
putting this together.
Financial
Statement:
I
have been going through the records that I have received from our outgoing
officers and putting together a report on our finances.
It lists the expenses that we have incurred the last two years, and also
the deposits that we have made.
If you would like to receive a copy of it, send me an email at kmcspadden@mwd.dst.ca.us
and I will forward a copy of it to you after the Board has finished reviewing
it.
2002
Rules and Specifications:
The
2002 rules are updated now, and will be up on the website this soon.
As I mentioned last month, no significant changes were made to the
aircraft rules, and only minor wording changes were made to the race procedures
for clarification.
The new points system will be detailed in this document, and it’s
important that you get up to speed on it before the first event.
I covered the basics of the point system in my report last month.
People have been asking me if we will have any awards this year for our
champions, and as I mentioned before, we have put in place a system that will
establish a prize fund, so yes there will be awards for our class champions.
The amount of the awards will be determined by the number of entries that
we have during the year, and the generosity of our sponsors.
Seguin,
Texas, “Wings over Randloph”:
The countdown to our first event is underway and Fred French and Rick
Grim are getting things ready for us down in Texas.
For those of you who do not know it, the race will be held at Randolph
Air Force Base right next to Seguin.
Seguin is only a short drive from San Antonio.
It looks like we will have lots of room to fly, and the city has plenty
of room for us too!
Lots of good places to stay, and nice restaurants as well…everything a
racer needs! Race
information is already up on our website, including maps, flyers, entry forms,
lodging info, and some info on the city.
Thanks again Fred and Rick, we are all looking forward to a great race.
While I am on the subject of the Texas race, let me make a plea to
everyone who is going to the race to sign up early.
You will get a substantial discount on your entry fees, and make our
promoter’s life much easier. If for some reason you end up having to drop out,
our promoters will get your money back to you…they are racers just like us,
and they really are nice guys!
The race will also start on Friday with tech, and racing will be
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
We will begin racing early on Saturday morning, so have your airplane
there on Friday for tech so that we can get started on time and get all of our
rounds in. Monday
is a holiday for most everyone, and this schedule will minimize the amount of
time our participants will have to take off work.
Tech
Inspections:
If you are building a new racer this year, please make every attempt to
get it inspected before you get to the event. Our District Representatives have
all the materials needed to measure your aircraft and issue a log book.
Our inspectors are racers too, and we should be considerate of their need
to tend to their own racer while at the race.
On-site inspections will be available as well, but let’s make every
effort to get those new planes done beforehand. This backlog of new racers
needing a tech inspection is greatest at the first race of the year, so help us
out by getting this done early.
Member’s
Conduct at Races:
I touched on this briefly in my last report, but it is important enough
to bring up again.
While we are at the races, we represent the USRA and our sport.
Your behavior there towards race officials, spectators, and other members
will be closely monitored.
We understand that this sport has moments of high tension and adrenaline,
but that will not be an excuse to misbehave.
Since the entire Board is made up of fellow racers, we know how we can
get caught up in the heat of battle, and we will take that into consideration,
but while you are at an event site, you and our sport are on display.
Please help us put our best foot forward.
If you have a problem with someone, solve it away from the event site
over a beer, don’t let it boil-over at the race.
I really don’t expect this to be a problem, but if we have an incident,
the promoter of the race and possibly the Board will take action, so consider
yourself warned, and please behave!
Magazine
Coverage:
Well that does it for this month, I will keep you posted on what’s going on. Let me know if you need any help.
Ken
McSpadden