Club Meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month (except December) at 7:30 P.M. The meetings are held at:

Salinas Airport Terminal
40 Mortensen Ave.
Salinas, CA 93905
In the Landing Zone Restaurant

At these meetings the club conducts business, plans upcoming activities, and reports on recent activities. Sometimes a program features a special guest or topic, but the main emphasis is on show-and-tell presentations by club members. Coffee is provided for a coffee break, and a raffle of model related items is held. Visitors are always welcome at these meetings. The Board of Governors also holds a mid-month business meeting, to help reduce the time necessary for business at the monthly club meetings.

Directions To Our Meetings

Our flying field is located at 2460 Chualar River Road in Chualar Ca.

Christmas Dinner Meeting: Instead of a regular monthly meeting in December, a special Christmas Dinner Meeting is held. In recent years these have been held at the Elks Lodge in Salinas, The Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey and The Landing Zone Restaurant at the Salinas Airport. A social hour is followed by dinner.

Activities

Club activities emphasize good-time fly-ins and get-togethers rather than serious competition events. The yearly activities typically include the following events:

• Fly-Ins: Other clubs are invited to participate in a Giant Scale and a Toys-For-Tots Fly-In. The Toys-For-Tots Fly-In is "fly what you have". Also during Labor Day weekend SAM hosts an IMAA Giant Scale Fly-In event.
• Float Flies: Two or three weekend float flys, for SAM members only, are held each year at Lake San Antonio in South Monterey County. A wide variety of float planes are seen, from trainers to Giant Scale Schneider Cup race planes. Many members also travel to float flys hosted by other clubs.
• Glider Flies: Three organized glider flys are held annually at the Los Banos Creek Reservoir. These are popular events where mostly two-meter and hand-launch gliders, plus a wide variety of slope gliders are flown. When the wind cooperates, a full day of both thermal and slope soaring is enjoyed. Additionally, many members also take advantage of some great slope soaring at beach venues along the Monterey-Santa Cruz coastline.
• Fun Flies: Club fun flys are occasionally held. These are not the specialized plane, serious competition type events, but consist of fun events where luck can be as important as skill. Novice pilots are encouraged to participate in these events.
• Special Events: Some years club members have participated in special events at our flying field. A popular one was a series of contests of small rubber-powered models. All flew the same design, the Flying Aces Moth, with the winner having the best cumulative score from three out of five contests. Another was a similar series of contests with hand-launched catapult gliders.
• Ruddergate Parties: Once a month, during the good weather months, a ruddergate (aeronautical tailgate) potluck picnic is held at the flying field. The club furnishes barbecued hamburgers or hot dogs and beverages, and members bring a dish to share. These are popular events and are often combined with special events.
• Community Service: The club has participated in various community events. A wide variety of model aircraft have been put on static display at the annual California International Air show in Salinas, which is held to raise funds for local charities. Model aircraft have been displayed and flown at Boy Scout-A-Ramas, and youth groups hosted at the club flying field. Proceeds from the club's Memorial Fly-In have been donated to various charities, and each December a special fly-in produces a large number of toys for distribution to local disadvantaged children.

MEET THE OFFICERS

L: to R:  Jack, Jim, Chris, Malcolm, Bob
front: John, Dale

 

Officers
President:	Jim St John
Vice President:	Chris Meharg
Treasurer:	Bob McGregor
Secretary:	John Midgorden

Board of Governors

Malcolm Beety

Dale Oxford

Jack Jella

Field Maintenance:	Malcolm Bruce
Field Maintenance:	Malcolm Beety
Newsletter Editor:	John Midgorden
Webmaster	Joe Francis
Club Mailing Address: Salinas Area Modelers, Inc. P.O. Box 6351 Salinas Ca. 93912-6351