Air show features ground control

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By Tamara Fudge | Monday, June 26, 2006 7:29 AM CDT | () comments

The sound of small motors and some serious talk about some serious toys filled the air Sunday as the Davenport Radio Control Society hosted its 11th annual Fun Scale Fly-In at the Seven Cities Sod Farm northwest of Davenport.

Several hundred people came to a different kind of tailgate party to watch 20 participants from the Davenport group, or DRCS, the Erie Radio Control Club and Quad-City Skyraiders of Moline fly more than 40 radio-controlled planes.

One by one, the planes took off from a small airstrip and, for 10-to-15 minutes each, performed loops, twists and turns, dives and other dazzling moves.

Mike Kaas of LeClaire, Iowa, flew his model of a P-38 Lightning, a World War II multi-engine fighter plane, and was grateful for the sunny skies.

“The wind’s a little challenging,” he noted. “If your hands aren’t sweating when the plane comes down, you haven’t had a good flight,” said Ron Gooch, “and twin-engines are five times harder to fly than single-engines.”

Originally from the Quad-City area but now living in Arkansas, Gooch returned home for this event. He credited his father, Richard, with introducing him to the hobby 45 years ago. “Back then we had a receiver with tubes in it. Then they had transistors. Now it’s solid chips,” he said.

Gooch’s Spirit of St. Louis was one of the larger machines with a wingspan of 145 inches. It is made of balsa wood; others have fiberglass and Styrofoam components.

“The engines are derived from lawn mower and weed eater engines but have much lighter castings and higher performance,” DRCS board member Phil Vernon said.

“They were developed specifically for the hobby trade,” he said, adding that they typically perform in the 60- to 100-mph range with fuels that include gasoline or a mix of alcohol and nitro. Electric models are possible thanks to light lithium batteries, and turbine (kerosene-based) engines are capable of reaching speeds of 200 mph, he said.

“Other events go cross-country when you work out of a vehicle,” said Vernon, who added that a crossing of the Atlantic Ocean once was completed using GPS controls.

Awards, granted by participant votes, included first, second and third places for Giant Civilian, Giant Warbird and Sport Scale categories, plus a Best of Show. The Erie club sold raffle tickets for rides in a full-size airplane as a fundraiser.

“It’s a good hobby,” said society treasurer Mike Smith, who got started in electric cars, along with his son and now concentrates on gliders and trainers.

“You learn a lot about building an airplane, and a lot of families get together.”

“Once you see what it is,” Kaas said, “you get hooked on it.”

The society has more than 100 members who build and run model aircraft, boats and cars. Meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the second Monday of each month at the Deere-Wiman Carriage House in Moline and are open to the public. For more information, visit www.davenportrc.org.

Contact the city desk at (563) 383-2245 or newsroom@qctimes.com.