AMA All Season Flyer Award

The AMA All Season Flyer award is given to members who have " personally caused a model aircraft to become airborne outside at least one occasion during each month of the applicable calendar year."  The 2014 award goes to the following members:

Peter Chan

Michael Kouridakis

Steve Laughlin

Bruce Leach

Nick Michels

Phil Michels

Pat Moschiano

Anthony Sole

Jaroslaw Wojcik

Richard Young

Congratulations are in order for the intrepid all season flyers. These are the driven among us who fly in all weather. The cold and wind of spring and the heat of summer doesn’t deter them from going airborne.

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If you want to join the die-hards you have to fly at least once in each month of a calendar year.

From the AMA website: To fulfill the requirements of this patch mail in a typewritten, or handwritten copy of your declaration (see below) with your club secretary's signature. If you do not belong to a chartered club, include another active adult AMA member's signature with AMA number. DECLARATION: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT WHILE A DULY ENROLLED AMA MEMBER, I HAVE PERSONALLY CAUSED A MODEL AIRCRAFT TO BECOME AIRBORNE OUTSIDE AT LEAST ONE OCCASION DURING EACH MONTH OF THE APPLICABLE CALENDAR YEAR.

Tips to Keep You in the Air This Winter

As I write this the temperature outside is 8 degrees with a windchill below 0. We can't all live in sunny California and cold winter weather can put a damper on even the most dedicated hobbyist. It doesn't have to end your flying season though. There are a few tips to battle the cold I wanted to share.

Layer Up

Putting on multiple layers provides insulation and helps to trap your body heat inside keeping you warmer. I usually put on some pajama pants under real pants and wear a t-shirt, long sleeve, shirt, and then two jackets. A couple layers of socks never hurts either.

Electrically Heated Clothing

I recently picked up a Tour Master Heated Vest Liner from Amazon. It's made for motorcycle riders and connects to a 12V power source. I soldered on a Deans Plug and connected a 3S Lipo to the vest. Make sure you use a voltage warning device so you don't over discharge the battery. The heat from this vest is insane. It works instantly and will get so hot that you have to turn the temp down after a minute or two. I never knew something could work this well. It pulls 4.5A at full heat so make sure you bring several packs to keep it running. This is by far one the best purchases I have made for cold weather.

Stay in the car

Depending on your field location, you may be able to park with a great view of the field and flying area and actually fly from inside your car where it's warm and toasty. I remember doing this in the Boone, NC on the side of a mountain during a winter storm. The winds were high and it was seriously cold, but the winds were coming in just the right direction for sloping and I just had to fly. This was back when we were flying 72Mhz radios so I had the antenna sticking out of the window, but it was nice and cozy inside and I had a blast.

Face Mask

Covering your face in cold weather makes a huge difference. I picked up a face mask system from Amazon for $12.45 and it works great. It has perforated holes in the mouth area for fresh air and an opening for the nose that makes this comfortable and easy to breath with. You can add a larger beanie to keep your head even warmer. You lose most of your body heat through your head, so be sure to keep your head covered.

Transmitter Mitts

Anyone who has ever tried to fly with gloves on knows how bad of an idea that is. Even the thinnest of gloves can take away the feel of the sticks and make it difficult to fly much less enjoy it. The hands are the only area of your body that really needs to be exposed to fly. That's where a transmitter mit comes in. It encases your transmitter and your hands to protect them from the wind and you can even put hand warmers inside to get the temperature up. Check out Matt Gunn's Review of the Trans Mitt Hand Warmer. If you only do one thing, it should be to get a transmitter mitt.

We'd love to hear what you do to stay warm during the winter. Be it flying indoors, doing jumping jacks, or drinking coffee, leave a comment below and share your tips.