Academy of Model Aeronautics
District IV

Serving the model aviation community in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia

District IV Logo USA!

This site is here for you, the District IV model aviator. It is our goal to make your hobby a little more fun and maybe a little easier. Whether you are a builder or a flier; control line, free flight, or radio control; soaring or powered... we want to give you information that will help you, keep you informed about what is going on, and hopefully even entertain you.

Carl Cantera, age 84, a well known and well respected area developer and businessman, and lifelong Delaware resident, died on Palm Sunday, April 5, 2009, at his home.
Carl was born and raised in Wilmington, the son of the late Domenick and Mariannina Cantera. He proudly served in both the United States Army and United States Navy. After his service to our country, Carl attended the University of Delaware, graduating in 1949 with a degree in civil engineering. After graduating, Carl joined Cantera Construction, the family business his father started in 1924. Under Carl's leadership, the business expanded, becoming Bellevue Holding Company. Among the many projects Carl was responsible for developing were local office buildings, shopping centers, apartment complexes, banks, and nursing homes, as well as residential waterfront developments in Maryland. The business continues today under the guidance of the third generation of the Cantera family. One of his hobbies was building and flying radio controlled model airplanes, and in 1953 he was a founding member of The Delaware R/C Model Airplane Club. He was involved in "Warbirds Over Delaware," an internationally known event featuring scale models of aircraft flown during times of war, held each year at Lums Pond. Also, Carl participated in car shows all across the country showcasing his award winning Ferrari collection, including the prestigious Best of Class award at the Invitational Pebble Beach "Concours d'Elegance."He enjoyed traveling extensively, driving all across the United States, touring the Orient, India, as well as many countries in Europe. On one of the trips he even experienced riding an elephant. For many years he enjoyed spending winters at his home in Hawaii with friends and family.
Carl will by deeply missed by his wife of 59 years, Betty J. Cantera; their 4 children, Richard D. Cantera (Maureen), Carolyn C. Harlin (Ray), Steven C. Cantera (Kathleen), and Jill A. Cantera (Rob Moores); 1 brother, Charles D. Cantera; 6 grandchildren, Lynn H. Kelley (William), Amy Cantera (John Wright), Michele Harra (Rob), Meredith Centrella, R.J. and Max Moores; and 4 great-grandchildren, Carolina, Merritt, Steven and Brinton. He will be fondly remembered by his many friends across the country as well.
Friends and family may call between 6-8 pm, Thursday, April 9, at the McCrery Memorial Funeral Home, 3924 Concord Pike, Talleyville, (located on Route 202, south of Silverside Rd. - with additional parking available in the rear lot of the Brandywine YMCA on Mt. Lebanon Rd.). A graveside funeral service will be held at 11 am, Friday, April 10, at Silverbrook Cemetery, Lancaster Pike and DuPont Rd.
Messages of condolence may be sent to McCrery Memorial Funeral Home

Joe McCary passed away Saturday afternoon, March 28th, after a long battle with cancer. His family was there along with Hank Mausolf and Ed Russell. Everyone's prayers and good wishes made this trying time a little bit easier on everyone involved. Joe was a past president of Fredericksburg Aeromasters, and he was always eager to share his knowledge with beginners and lend a hand when someone was having problems. We will miss Joe for his numerous contributions to the hobby we enjoy so much. There will always be a large hole to fill now that he is gone. He may have vanished into history, but his spirit will always remain strong.

"I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the Lord.
Whoever has faith in me shall have life, even though he die.
And everyone who has life, and has committed himself to me in faith, shall not die for ever."

What's New:

Wilmington Model Flying Club (#489) now has a website, and Northern Virginia RC Club (#636) has a new website address. You can find their listings in the Clubs section.
I was under the impression that no one read the Events section, but after several inquiries, I've resurrected it. Check it out to find events coming up in your area!
We have had several changes in our officers recently. Brad Booth is now our Safety Coordinator, Scott Richlen is our new CL Aerobatics Contest Board representative, and John Hunton has assumed the duties of the Electric Contest Board representative. In addition, Bliss Teague, our District VP, has a new email address. All of these updates can be found in the Officers section.
Wings Across America 2008
My name is Frank Geisler and I am the lead coordinator for the Wings Across America 2008 (WA-08). Our goal is to fly a battery powered radio controlled airplane in every one of our 48 continental United States. What sets this project apart from all the others every attempted or completed is that we will hand deliver the plane from pilot to pilot and will never ship the plane to the next pilot on the list. We will be creating a "chain" of pilots that theoretically will fly a model airplane all across the United States and back to the starting point. It is believed that we will have over 300 pilots participating in this event with some estimating the numbers to be double that. Another goal we have set for ourselves is to not have any one pilot drive more than 50 miles to deliver the plane to the next pilot. An aggressive goal, especially in the western United States, but we believe we can get enough pilots to make this happen. We don't plan on limiting the pilots wishing to participate as we see this as great way to promote our hobby.
Two events coming up that we plan on having the WAA-08 plane fly a demo flight at is SEFF and Joe Nall.
Here are some links:
Forum Links
Electric Only RC Forum
Pilot Map
The map is updated daily so check back often. Pilots wanting to participate can sign up on the forum links above or email Frank Geisler .
Two new sites have been added to our Links section:
One is a glider manufacturer named Archangel that has some beautiful aircraft.
The other is our own John Worth's RC Micro World, an online monthly subscriber magazine about the smallest and lightest of RC models, for both indoor and outdoor flying. Explore this free site, and you will be amazed at some of the unbelievably tiny components that are now available.
Photographs of some beautiful Control Line Precision Aerobatics planes have been posted in the Pictures section.
Want to turn your hobby into an exciting career? Navmar Applied Sciences is looking to hire RC pilots to fly their UAVs. If you're interested, be sure to read Become a UAV Pilot-1.pdf .
A major focus of the AMA Education Committe is promoting aerospace education activities across the country through school-based curricular and extra-curricualr activities. AMA is looking for members who currently are or have been classroom teachers. If you have experiences to share and are interested in assisting the Education Committee by participating in an on-line exchange of activities and ideas, AMA would like to hear from you. Please send your name, telephone number, email, and home address to Jack Frost, AMA Education Coordinator .
If you have not already done so, please read the Emergency Safety Alert .
1st U.S. R/C Flight School is looking for expert flyers to evaluate some of their new training manuals. If you think you might qualify, or if you would like to see what flight instruction the school offers, they are listed in the Links section.
Sport Aviator , an on-line supplement to Model Aviation , is up and running. You can find it in the Links section, at the AMA website under Publications, or go directly to it at www.masportaviator.com . Please check out this site; you'll enjoy it.
AMA has assembled a very professional new PR package, appropriate for such things as submission to local news media when seeking coverage for an upcoming event. The package is available to clubs from AMA on request. An exciting new video entitled "All Because of Model Airplanes" has also been released and is available from AMA for $19.95.
If you are interested in how to build a low cost automatic foam cutter, look in the Links section. Thanks to Tal Barnea for his effort.

What's Coming:

We are planning the addition of a section dedicated entirely to District IV show teams. Any information or pictures you may have would be greatly appreciated.