Dave Cairns shared that the Naperville Prop Masters Aero RC Club, in Naperville, Illinois, held its annual Polar Bear Fly on January 3. Thirteen hardy pilots flew airplanes, quadcopters, and helicopters on a cold and cloudy day at the Springbrook Prairie Airfield.
Mike Morton reported that the Henderson Radio Control Model Airplane Club in Hendersonville, Kentucky, held its 26th Annual Snowbird Fly-In on January 1. The weather was great, with temperatures near 50°, a clear sky, and a nearly calm wind. A total of 24 club members and their families were out for the potluck lunch. There was a great assortment of food with chili, rice and beans, a roasted ham, Italian meatballs, tamales, assorted sandwiches, and a great variety of desserts that included five different pies, one cake, brownies, pecan brittle, and baked cream cheese dessert.
There were 19 pilots from four different regional clubs who also attended the event. Aircraft of all sizes were up and down all day from 9:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Two members flew their maiden flights on a 60-size Mamba and a 60-size RV-8. Almost all of the aircraft were electric powered, but there were a couple of glow-fuel burners flying up and down too.
There were a couple of minor mishaps; one member’s covering delaminated on the wingtip, which made landing fun, and there was one minor crash when a member was executing a high-alpha maneuver close to the runway and pulled the wrong direction. The airplane will live to fly again, but it will need some time in the shop.
Bill Spencer shared that the Champaign County Radio Control Club (CCRCC) in Champaign, Illinois, hosted its first RC Airplane Build Day on Saturday, January 10, bringing together 50 members for a hands-on day of building and fun. Participants of all ages constructed 31 Flite Test Nutballs, including 24 youth/student builds and seven adult builds, with teamwork and creativity on full display.
Thank you to Horizon Hobby for donating Spektrum receivers for the youth/student builders, University of Illinois (UIUC) Professor Jason Merrett for laser-cutting the foam board kits, and the UIUC Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for hosting the club. Many Nutballs took flight that evening at the Mahomet Fieldhouse. Next up is a February Build Day and adding LED lights!
This month, Jeremy Church, from the Jasper RC Flyers in Jasper, Indiana, sent me a copy of the letter that his club had sent to the city, which owns the club’s flying site. It’s a good idea to send letters like this to landowners that state the worth of the flying club to the community. I don’t have space to include the actual letter, but I will list an outline of its contents.
- Thanks to the city for the club’s flying field.
- STEM and youth engagement for the year, including school demonstrations.
- Community events and partnerships.
- Annual open house success.
- Civil Air Patrol squadron involvement.
- Community service and outreach.
- Pride, with two former youth members pursuing aviation careers.
To see your club in print, send me pictures and a short article. It will get in the magazine. Email it to amadistrictvi@modelaircraft.org. Keep in mind that the pictures must be at least 500KB stand-alone JPG files.
Gary Himes
Vice President District VI