THE INTERNATIONAL Miniature
Aircraft Association (IMAA) Alaska Float
Fly was June 27-28, 2009, in Wasilla, Alaska.
Greg McCullough reported on the event.
“Ah, summer in Alaska! I read in MA of a
float-fly to be held in Wasilla, about 260
miles from my home. I was thinking of
traveling in Alaska this year to see some
model flying and this was just the right
distance from home for an easy trip.
“I called to confirm the dates with CD and
president of the IMAA here in Alaska, Gary
Rude. During our conversation, I found out
that the float-fly was to be held at Gene
Birky’s home, an acquaintance of mine
whom I had not seen since 1983.
“The Wasilla area is spread out, and I was
not that familiar with all the outlying areas, so
a call to Gene when we got close allowed him
to talk us to his house.
“We crossed a grass bush-plane landing
strip and on the other side was Gene standing
in the roadway flagging us down. He not only
had a place for our RV to park, he also had
figured out how to turn it around in the small
confines of his front yard.
“Fliers had been arriving before we got
there and roughly 25 were in attendance.
Gene had made a small campground in his
front yard and nice gravel roads down to the
lake. He had a wonderful covered shelter and
barbecue grill, and there were plenty of
covered areas for those occasional rain
squalls that grow in south-central Alaska.
“Gene introduced me to his fellow IMAA
members including Don Pintar. Don had his
Canadair water bomber there that was
published in Model Airplane News. I met
Gary Rude, the IMAA president and CD for
this event. We had a nice chat while I gave
him my information for sign in.
“I was introduced to Paul Kriner of
Anchorage who brought a Great Planes J-3
Cub. His O.S. .91 engine was more than
enough for the Cub and Paul put on a very
smooth flight demo.
“I met Bill Resinger of Palmer, Alaska.
Bill was flying a North Star that he had
finished building this year. It was powered
with an O.S. .46 SF. Once in the air it flew
like a rocket, but unless there was a pretty
good chop on the water it usually took several
tries to get it in the air. Bill flew great!
“Justin Johnson of Chugiak, Alaska was
probably the youngest flier there, flying a
Hangar 9 Super Stick that he had only owned
a week or two. Not only that, but this was his
first time flying on floats. You would have
thought he’d been flying floats all his life!
“I ran into Kip Absher. Kip and Gene
were working on an all-foam floatplane
called a Wingo. It is kitted in Germany and
designed to be backpacked into remote lakes.
“I observed a young man flying what
appeared to be a Schneider Cup racer. I
eventually got over to talk to him found he
was Scott Dowd of Anchorage. I knew Scott
when he was only eight years old. He
purchased a Schneider Sport .60 on Graig’s
List. It was a nice-looking airplane and could
it fly! Harvey Manson of Anchorage was
there, too, with his Ultra Stick .60-90 and a
Mariner seaplane.
“Parked next to my RV was Charles
Tetreault of Peters Creek, Alaska. Charles
was putting together a Hobby Lobby Seawind
in his motor home (below). It was coming
together nicely and I’m sure he’ll have it
ready for next year’s fly-in.
“Lars Gleitsmann of Anchorage showed
up late, but it’s never too late to fly. Lars had
a rebuilt Bud Nosen Aeronca Champ in his
van. He said he bought it wrecked in
Germany, rebuilt it, installed floats of his
own design. No sedate takeoffs and landings
for Lars—just turn and burn!
“The IMAA in Alaska is having another
float-fly in August. You can count on me
being there. Great guys, great airplanes, and a
fantastic host—what could be better? I better
bring some extra money again. Gene sold me
a Great Planes 1/3-scale Pitts Special; I
wonder what I’ll bring home next?”
Author Greg McCullough trying to fly a Pete
Bowers Fly Baby OT 1941.
Lars Gleitsmann.
Don Pintar’s aircraft.
Scott Dowd’s model on the water.
District XI
Bruce Nelson, District XI Vice President; nelsondxi@hotmail.com
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
Bruce Nelson
Vice President
807 E. Vicksburg St.,
Spokane WA 99208
Fax: (509) 467-1852
Cell: (509) 863-7096
nelsondxi@hotmail.com
Associate Vice
Presidents
Rick Allison, Issaquah WA;
joanrick@comcast.net
Darrell Anderson, Great Falls MT;
d.l.anderson@bresnan.net
Al Culver, Wilder ID;
al.culver@hotmail.com
Jerry Holcomb, Vancouver WA;
jholcomb@pacifier.com
Gene LaFond, Wenatchee WA;
rcplanker@nwi.net
Reeves Lippincott, Wasilla AK;
reeves@mtaonline.net
Mike Mosbrooker, Oak Harbor
WA; mosbrsr@comcast.net
Claude Tanner, Boise ID;
ctan366@msn.com
Frequency Coordinator
Phil Tallman, Medical Lake WA;
(509) 299-5102;
phil.tallman@starband.net
District RC Coordinator
W.T. (Bill) Smith, Seattle WA;
wmtrnr2@comcast.net
Web site: www.yosemiteflash.com/
xiama.htm
District XI Volunteers
October 2009 181
