AMA District III - Ohio, Pennsylvania & West Virginia
District III Officers
Dave Chisholm
One of District III's newest Associate VP hails from Valencia, PA located in western Pennsylvania. Dave Chisholm has been involved in modeling from a very young age and has been an AMA member for over 15 years. He is currently a Leader Member and has served several times as a local AMA club VP and also as president.
Dave has a great passion for our hobby and currently holds
an AMA turbine waiver.
As you can see in the picture above, he enjoys the "Big Boy" toys! Dave also has held a private pilot license and has constructed several home built aircraft.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, VALENCIA, PA
Mark Feist
I am a longtime modeler having joined the Greater Cincinnati Radio Control Club (GCRCC) in 1980. My parents would take our family to the annual GCRCC Flying Circus RC airshow in the 1960’s and 70’s, where my passion for aviation and RC was formed. That passion was passed on to my sons Alex and Brian who have been building and flying RC planes from a very young age and have leveraged those skills into very successful aviation related careers. My professional career has been in information technology and large program management for the last 45 years building and deploying enterprise-wide systems for fortune 1000 companies and government agencies. In addition to the GCRCC, I am a member of the Rosewood RC Flyers in southern Indiana, and I travel to RC events all over the country. I have enjoyed many aspects of RC modeling from sport planes, pylon racing, EDF and turbine jets to scale projects. I also tried FPV and helicopters but was not very good at either one! I thoroughly enjoy building and have built multiple sport planes, scale WWI and WWII warbirds, classics, and jets.
Another passion of mine is promoting model aviation. The GCRCC’s Annual Flying Circus provides a platform by which we can promote the hobby to the general public, and I am proud to deliver that message through TV appearances, radio interviews, newspaper articles and digital outlets. I have also presented at numerous schools, organizations, and regional government bodies over the years. I was honored to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the AMA in 2023.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT
James Butler is our AVP for West Virginia and hails from
St. Albans, WV. Jim is a lifelong model railroader but always
wanted to get into the RC flying hobby. He is a retired law enforcement officer and started RC with a HobbyZone Super Cub.
Now, many planes later, Jim's basement has a score of
planes hanging from the ceiling. Jim enjoys taking foam
airplanes and vinyl wrapping them to look like a specific
aircraft. He enjoys models that are decorated to represent
aircraft with a local tie, such as the West Virginia National Guard.
Jim likes scale or scale-like warbirds and is especially proud
of his Air Force One model pictured above.
Jim is currently president of the
Mountaineer RC Flying Club in Tornado, WV.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, SAINT ALBANS, WV
Jeff Black hails from the Hanover/Gettysburg area of Southern Pennsylvania. He has been involved in our RC hobby for over
40 years. He got his start from his Dad flying control line. He has competed in racing and scale events, & also enjoys fun flys and IMAC.
Jeff has held many officer positions over the years including president and vice-president of the Flying Fools Aero Club in Hanover, PA. He was also active in the AMA sig group NCFFA and is the current president of the Blue and Gray Miniature Aircraft Squadron located in Gettysburg, PA.
As one of the District III AVP's, Jeff welcomes input from fellow AMA members for and help and assistance he can give.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, NEW OXFORD, PA
I have been involved in our hobby for over 50 years. As a kid, I was introduced to the hobby by my Dad, and he taught me to build and fly U-Control and RC Aircraft. I became interested in RC aerobatics at a young age, and flew my first pattern contest in 1969, and actually won my class! Over the next few years, I flew many more contests and eventually competed on four US Aerobatic Teams (F3a) (75-77-79-81) and flew in the Tournament of Champions 7 times from 1974 to 1982.
For the next 18 years I was inactive in model aviation.
In 2000 the AMA had a flying event they called "Homecoming", so I took a trip to Muncie, IN to see the AMA Headquarters and museum. After that weekend I was hooked! All the advancements that had been made over the years in airplanes and equipment absolutely amazed me and the AMA facility and museum was also a big inspiration. It made me think of what can I do for the betterment of model aviation since it had been so good to me? I contacted then District III V.P. Bob Brown and he immediately made me an AVP for the district. Since then, I have been actively involved in our district and from 2011 through 2023 I served as D3's Vice President.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT
Mike Barbee and his wife Barbara live in Delaware, Ohio and he has been involved in RC modeling for the past 30 years or so. He is a member of the Westerville Model Aeronautics Association
as well as the TORKS.
Currently Mike is involved in Scale Modeling and flying. He is president of NASA (The National Association of Scale Aeromodelers), one of the special interest groups of the AMA. He is also the East Coast Chairman of the Scale Masters.
Over the years, Mike has had many interests in RC ranging from pattern to pylon racing, Giant Scale racing, IMAC and for the past 22 years, Scale Modeling.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, DELAWARE, OHIO
John and Lisa Zoldak have been flying together since they
met over 20 years ago. Lisa spent much of her childhood
at the Corsair Model Aircraft Club field with her Dad,
Dave Wenman. She was Junior Modeler of the Year and even
won a trophy in a mall show!
They became members of the Alliance Balsa Bees in 2011. Soon after, Lisa was elected Secretary and started the Balsa Bees website. The next year, John was elected Vice-President and became a Contest Director. After 8 years, they passed the Bees torch & now travel, attending mostly 3D events all summer. while visiting different fields and clubs. They are both Leader Members of the AMA, belong to numerous clubs where they have held office, and built and run club websites.
As Associate Vice Presidents of District III, they will
continue to promote model aviation with great enthusiasm & pride.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTS, RAVENNA, OHIO
Tony Husak has been in model aviation for the last 45 years.
His first adventure was plastic cars and airplanes, then he moved
onto control line. In 1981 he joined the AMA & the Mentor Area
Radio Control Society (MARCS Club) and started flying RC. He has
flown all sizes of models including Giant Scale & pylon racing.
Tony volunteered to work at their Mall Show, and was later
a member of the Cleveland Aero Modeling Society (CAS). He eventually became the CD and President of CAS. For over
30 years of membership he has been President, Vice President, Treasurer, and a Member-at-Large. He has been responsible for
fun flys, been in Giant Scale IMAA-AMA Events, and was co-chair
of the Cleveland National Air Show. Tony has flown USRA
Giant Scale Racing for the past 12 years in Ohio, Texas and
California. Tony also promotes indoor electric flying through
the HEF (Holiday Electric Fly).
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, HARTSGROVE, OHIO
Al Myers is retired from AT&T and reports that RC activities are
now a big part of his routine. Al is a Leader Member, a CD,
a large model aircraft inspector and Assistant Director
of the IMAA in District III.
He is the club secretary for the Mahoning County Model Club (AMA#701) and has been for the past 20 years or so.
Al flies anything from a Vapor to a 42% Extra 330S. He has helped to organize an indoor Fly-In at an old school and now they fly there every Sunday morning. Al resides in Canfield, Ohio.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, CANFIELD, OHIO
Dan Luchaco is from Sayre, PA. He was first exposed to RC when his dad George began flying single channel planes back in 1955. Dan was only 5 years old. Dan & his older brother were always involved in all aspects of the hobby & got into RC using hand-me-down equipment.
Dan built a Digitrio Radio in his junior year in high school & RC became his #1 hobby from then on. The Sayre's Valley RC Model Club formed in 1965 & Dan has been active in the club ever since. He has been a club officer many times in most positions. He became a CD in 1975 & an AVP during Bob Brown's tenure as District III VP. Dan has had 447 continuous months of flying RC (37.25 YEARS). He has attended the Rhinebeck Air Show & AMA NATS many times. He flies sport planes, scale, IMAA size, ducted fan jets, gliders, Aerotowing, Heli's, Quickie 500 pylon racing & many other aspects of our RC hobby. He attended the Doylestown PA Internationals in 1971, & events in Las Vegas, White Plains & the Toledo Trade Show. Dan has also taught many a new flyer to fly U-Control & RC over the years.
Other interests for Dan include hunting, fitness, motorcycling & biking. He is retiring soon after 44 years in the railcar repair industry, which will allow more time for RC.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, SAYRE, PA
Jim was active in model aviation from his childhood since his father was active in RC before he was born. He watched his Dad fly control line but at first was scared to death of the noise from the engines! He first flew a control line when he was only 4 years old.
In 1966 he heard about a model show in Toledo and was able to talk his Dad into taking him and some friends to see it. He "Caught the Bug" of RC and has only missed one Toledo Weak Signal's Show since!
At age 13 he received a Heathkit 5 channel radio system and his uncle helped him with building the kit, and taught him a lot about electronics. His first job after High School was working for a Beechcraft dealership in their avionics department. In the mid-80's he joined IMAA and traveled the country to many giant scale fly-ins. He has flown pattern and scale airplanes. He has served as president, vice-president, secretary and board member of several RC clubs. He is an original member of the Dayton OH Giant Scalers.
He now works for the FAA as a maintenance inspector in the Cincinnati, OH office. His whole life has been involved with aviation, from small models to giant scale, and to his work with the FAA.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, FRANKLIN, OHIO
Meet our newest AVP, Erik Rudjord
