Top Model and Top Free Flighter Survey
Elsewhere in this issue of Freeflight is the long postponed survey which will attempt to identify the ten most influential free flight models of all time and the ten most influential free flighters of all time. The survey is a response to a request made by the AMA to NFFS to provide them with a list of these models and modelers. The end result, as it was described to me, was that pictures of these fliers and examples of the models would be on display in a special NFFS section of the AMA Museum. Note that the survey has a substantial lead time. I am asking that all you free flight newsletter editors copy this survey and publish it in your newsletter sometime between the time you receive this edition of the Digest and August 1, 2002. I would like to have as wide a distribution of ballots as possible so that all free flighters, whether NFFS members or not, have the chance to make their choices known. The deadline for receiving completed copies of the survey is September 1. Thanks to all for your cooperation.

Symposium Patrons Pre-Sale
By the time you receive this copy of the Digest, you should have received a letter from Bill Vanderbeek, who is once again helping the NFFS by soliciting patron sales for the 2002 Symposium. This year’s Sympo is being edited by Bucky Servaites and promises to be of the highest quality and standards that you have come to expect over the past several years. The regular sale of the 2002 Sympo will commence at the NFFS Awards Banquet in conjunction with the 2002 USOC in Muncie. The retail cost of the Sympo will once again be $25.00. Thanks for becoming a Patron in 2002.

NFFS Banquet
As noted earlier, the NFFS Awards Banquet will be held at the Nats with a completely revised and shortened program. The meal service will be sit down style, and we are returning to the Convention Center near downtown Muncie. The cost of the banquet is now $25.00 per person. Unfortunately, this correction was not made in the 2002 Contest Entry form, which still lists the price of the banquet at $20. If you have not sent in your entry form yet, please make sure that you send in $25 for the banquet. If you have already sent in your entry and enclosed only $20, be prepared to pony up another $5 for your banquet ticket. Sorry for the glitch.

Website Club Listing
Thanks to the efforts of Rick Pangell, Bud Tenny and webmaster Joe Mekina, the NFFS website <freeflight.org> now features a listing of free flight clubs. This list undoubtedly has some corrections to be made, so I ask you to look it over, and if your club is listed and has completely correct information, let Joe Mekina know. If it needs correction, also let Joe know. We would like to keep it up-to-date and accurate, and we would hope all free flighters will find this listing helpful.

Club Survey
Chris Borland, who is a member of the famous Oakland Cloud Dusters, recently volunteered to conduct a survey of free flight clubs to determine how many free flight club members are also members of the NFFS. If you are a club leader and received this survey form from Chris, and you have not yet filled it out and sent it back to him, please do so ASAP. The membership of the NFFS needs to encompass all free flighters, and currently it falls far short of this goal. Your help is appreciated.

Publication Schedule
The bylaws of the NFFS call for the publication of 10 issues per year of the Digest. Ordinarily, this means that we do some double issues during the summer. However, Walt Rozelle is moving from Georgia to Florida soon, and the double issues will coincide with his ability to produce them while settling into his new digs. I have asked Walt to keep us all informed of this temporarily revised publication schedule. On a similar note, we are continuing to have long delivery delays for the Digest. Sometimes, it takes up to 4 weeks from the time the issues is mailed in Davis, CA to the time it arrives in your mailboxes across the USA. As I noted last month, short of upping the membership fee substantially so we can pay for First Class postage, we are at the mercy of the postal service. What we will be doing is moving the mailing date for future issues from the first week of the month to the last week of the prior month. That means each issue will be mailed sooner by at least a week, and even though the delivery time will undoubtedly not change, the Digest should arrive at least a week sooner each month.

Education Plan
The NFFS Education Committee and the Planning and Operations Committee have been working on the NFFS education plan. This plan, when implemented, should serve to grow our ranks and increase the number of youngsters who are involved with aviation. It will also give us the help we need to encourage and organize our members to be more involved in projects such as the Science Olympiad. Our plan is taking final shape now, and we are awaiting an upcoming meeting with the AMA Education Committee and major AMA officers so that we can make sure we are not conflicting with their efforts. More to come on this item in the near future.

See you all next month.