2024 Nominees

Welcome to the page for the 2024 IRCHA Election. Below is a list of the nominees for the all the Board positions. Each member provided a bio about themselves and their involvement in the hobby. Please vote for the Board members you would like to see help lead the organization. Current IRCHA members will receive an email and/or text to record their vote. To be eligible to vote you must have registered with full payment that included an IRCHA membership at the 2023 IRCHA Jamboree or purchased an IRCHA Membership and for it to be current. To check the status of your membership please go to the membership status page. Voting will be open until May 3rd, please vote by May 3rd, 2024. If you want to join IRCHA and be able to vote please go to the IRCHA shop and select either the 2024 IRCHA Jamboree Pre-registration which includes an IRCHA membership or the IRCHA Membership by itself.

Hello, my name is Augusto Arevalo. I’m known in the RC helicopter hobby and among good friends as Auggie or Auggie Copter. I ran for a board member position last year and won allowing me to become a board member. My motivation at the time was to make IRCHA compliant with the law and its own bylaws. At the time I expressed that my extensive experience as a CEO gave me the ability to use my experience in legal aspects of business and contract law to help get IRCHA into compliance. It turned out it became useful last year.

After being a member for a while and having access to the internal documents I realized that IRCHA needed a shakeup to be able to comply with the law. I went to the 2023 Jamboree with the intention of resolving the legal issues, so I hired the largest law firm in Muncie and asked them to review the company documents and bylaws, tell me their opinion and if, as it was apparent, the company was not legally compliant for them to , come up with a legal way to force the board into compliance. The lawyers presented our findings and what needed to be done to make it compliant at the same meeting of the IRCHA members and they refused to comply with what was required by the law. Faced with this, I got together with the lawyers again and we developed a legal strategy and prepared a lawsuit to force legal compliance and to force them to make their seats available for election every two years as the bylaws required which they had refused to do. We presented our plan of legal action against the board to defend the rights of the IRCHA members to the board members and when they read what was about to happen if they didn’t comply, they agreed to resign.

Once they resigned, being the sole legal board member left I named a temporary board to help me run the organization until legal compliance was finally completed and a new board elected. We made the organization legally constituted again by running a member meeting vote to authorize the new corporation and to authorize the passing of all the old assets to the new legally constituted organization.

Despite me being able to stay in the board seat for the second year of the original the 2-year term, I believed that I should put my seat up for election so that people are able to decide if they want me to complete the remaining year. With this, if elected, I plan to be a board member for that second year and then if I end up deciding to run again then I will run again after one year is over.

I’ve been working on a lot of new things for IRCHA. People this year will notice a lot of changes and a more participative organization and more directed to the promotion of the hobby as its mission indicates. As seen in a video posted online, we have a new organizational chart with groups in charge of each activity for IRCHA. Several people have signed up for those groups and will be in charge of promoting and doing those activities fo the organization.

The Jamboree event will again be a celebration of the hobby for the hobbyists. Many things are back to normal. We now have a golf cart vendor on the premises at the old prices, we won’t have limitations or curfews on the golf carts, better and more food vendors, many fun competitions such as sub-200 pylon races, obstacle courses, more fun events like last year’s bottle drop and go-off station. Old-School Noon-demos, the BOB, the King of the midnight sun and to top it off we will have the fireworks back. I addition we will have a seminar tent where we will have all kind of seminars for people interested in different aspects of the hobby. I myself will be doing the instinctive flying technique lecture I did in Germany at ROTOR Live for people that want to learn to do 3D using that technique. These and more things will be at the Jamboree this year that will make it a memorable one.

Hobby History:

I have been in the Model Aircraft Hobby since I was 7 years old. starting with control line planes with my dad. Started into helicopters in 1975 with a Schluter Heli-Baby. I’ve been an AMA Contest Director for close to 30 years. I developed a video training course to help people develop instinctive flying abilities for RC Helicopter Flying and its “Auggie’s Ring” learning tool has been included in the Heli-X simulator and is being used all over the world. I developed and programmed the IRCHA Toolbox app for iPhone and Android that’s being used by thousands of Heli hobby enthusiasts.

I hope I can get your vote and be assured that, as most people already know. I am always open to communications via PMs on social media, texting, and phone calls so I’ll be a very accessible as I normally am to address any concerns from the members.

Happy Flying 🙂 Auggie.

Motivation: I decided to step up and try to join the Board of Directors for the International Radio Control Helicopter Association (IRCHA) after I found out about some big problems caused by past leaders. When I learned about these issues, like the organization not following the rules it was supposed to and putting our hobby at risk and lack of financial accountability, I couldn’t just stand by and watch. I dug deep into what was going wrong, shared what I found with everyone, and took the heat from people and my own sponsors. I saw the risks to the hobby and how the 2023 FAI F3C/F3N World Championship was in danger of not occurring so I even used my own money to help make sure we could host it in the US and not be embarrassed by a failure to do so. These efforts showed me that my experience in running my own business for over 20 years and my skills could really help make IRCHA better. I’ve got a lot of ideas on how to make our hobby more exciting and how to get kids interested in science and technology through flying helicopters. Through my work with the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo and helping young people get into technology careers, I know I can help connect our helicopter flying hobby with learning about science and tech in a fun way.

Hobby History: I’ve been hooked on RC helicopters since 2006, after wanting one for over 20 years but not being able to afford it. This hobby has been a big part of my life, especially since 2017 when friends in the hobby (Frank Moradiellos and Jared Mincey) pushed me to get even more into it. In 2018, I met Nob Muraki, who inspired me to start competing. Winning the national championship in the Sportsman class in 2019 was a huge moment for me, and I kept competing in more events, sponsored by some of the companies that make and sell our helicopters. But after I found out and shared the problems within IRCHA, those sponsors left me. That didn’t stop me, though. I know this hobby is about more than just flying for fun; it’s about inspiring the next generation to do great things. That’s why I’m staying involved and why I want to help lead IRCHA into the future.

Motivation:
I would like to give back to a hobby that has given me so much. I enjoy helping other hobbyists and want to encourage new people to join. I am an IT professional working for one of the largest Professional Services Firms in the world with an experience that could probably be useful for IRCHA. This last 2023 IRCHA Jamboree I ran the IRCHA drag races and the IRCHA water gallon Jug drop events and had a great time doing so. Auggie asked me to run for the board and I agreed to do so because I want to help IRCHA be reborn.

Hobby History:
In 2003 I lost my sister to a tragic medical accident and was having difficulty dealing with the trauma of the situation. I had always been interested in RC helicopters, ever since seeing the movie FX, and dreamt of learning to fly one day. At that time I had no idea what high performance RC helicopters could do and even the fact that they were available in large sizes (700+). That summer I purchased a Nexus 30 helicopter and had no idea how to set it up. I was introduced to the Toronto RC Heli Club by the local hobby store where i purchased the helicopter and was informed that there was a fun fly event happening soon. I decided to attend the event to see what it was about and all I can say is the rest is history….lol. I was totally blown away by the level of skill from all of the pilots at the Toronto RC Heli club and all of the guest pilots that were in attendance. I was welcomed by a friendly group of guys, which I am still friends with to this day and they helped get me all setup. The joy that I felt when flying and the group of new friends that I met really helped me deal with a very difficult time period. I was able to focus on learning to fly and also enjoyed building models.

It’s been over 20 years now and I continue to look forward to the IRCHA Jamboree each year. IRCHA has been very successful in bringing helicopter pilots of all skill levels together to enjoy the hobby and to promote comradery.

I want to do my part in giving back to a community that has given me so much and I look forward to this opportunity to be a part of the IRCHA organization.

Motivation:
I think that IRCHA has long been an under utilized part of the RC Heli community. I believe that member collaboration and support is integral to this new chapter of IRCHA. I hope that as a member, my participation on the board would help create an organization that is valued and respected.

History:
People in the hobby know me as Tima, Andy Ross’s girlfriend. Andy was my gateway into the RC Heli community, and I have been his partner in crime over the last 9 years. I love being at the field and at events meeting new people and hanging out. I am always willing to volunteer and help at events because I love the people in the RC Heli community.

Motivation:
I have served as one of the temporary IRCHA Board members since Auggie brought legal action to make IRCHA compliant with the law and its own bylaws. He recently asked me to nominate myself for the board to help with the transition to a much better organization and I agreed under the condition that I won’t vote in any decision that affects or benefits me as a sponsor.

History:
I’ve been in the hobby since 1983. I currently own BK Hobbies and have been a professional pilot for many years helping manufacturers design, test and market their new products. I would like for ircha to be a successful organization once again. I cannot commit to this long term, but Auggie asked me and I honestly believe in the cause so I am willing to put at least a year of my time into it to try and make IRCHA great again.