PHOTO GALLERY: Radio Control Airplanes
Mother Nature was unkind Saturday to a group of radio controlled airplane flying enthusiasts, as inclement weather rained down on a local flying club’s annual military fly-in exhibit.
The day’s steady downpour caused more than a few exhibitors at the 49th Mid-America Jumbo Squadron’s military themed fly-in at Fleming Park to cancel the flying of their respective models.
“In the morning, it was warm and muggy, but several people got flights in,” said 49th Squadron contest director Susan Calvin, recapping the day’s events, which centered on exhibitors from around the state flying military scale or military looking radio controlled airplanes. “After it started raining – we did have one guy who went out and braved it; he had someone holding an umbrella over him while he went out and flew his (model). But after that, they pretty much put the airplanes back under cover.”
After the rain came, Calvin said participants and spectators gathered at a shelter house near the flying field at Fleming Park and waited for the rain to pass. It never did.
“We all kind of gathered, visited with each other, fired up the grill, ate hot dogs, polish sausages and other snacks and gave away a lot of the prizes we had to give away,” Calvin said.
Calvin said more than 30 pilots registered for the fly-in and although most did not get the opportunity to participate in the event, they still enjoyed the planes that actually flew.
“At the beginning of the day,” Calvin said, “we played the national anthem and raised the American flag. While we were doing that, one of the fellows flew his airplane that carried a banner of the American flag. So while we were raising the flag during opening ceremonies, he was flying a banner of the flag around the airfield. That was a pretty big hit.”
The 49th Squadron will host a Jumbo Jamboree Aug. 23 at Fleming Park, Calvin said, adding models in that fly-in will exhibit radio controlled airplanes one-quarter the size of an actual airplane.
“There will be some pretty big birds,” Calvin said of next month’s event. “We expect a good turnout.”
For more information on the Jumbo Jamboree or the 49th Squadron, visit 49thsquadron.com
