Gene Morris / gmorris@miconews.comA remote-control flier and his assistant prepare for a takeoff Saturday during a demonstration fly-in at International Park at Lake Miola.
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Radio-controlled planes take to the sky over Paola
More than a dozen controllers put on show for spectators at Lake Miola
By: Gene Morris, gmorris@miconews.com
Hit the throttle, open it up and let it go.
If you feel the need for speed, even in the sky over Lake Miola, then there is a remote-controlled plane for you.
Several registered pilots in town for a radio-controlled model seaplane air show at International Park showed off their fast planes, known as the sports cars of the remote-controlled aircraft world.
“For guys who like to hot rod, the North Star is the plane,” said Darrell Watts of Shawnee.
While he owns a couple of the planes himself, Watts is not all about the speed.
He brought one of his North Stars to the two-day demonstration on Saturday and Sunday simply to show it off.
“I decked that one out to show people what you can do with them,” Watts said of his North Star painted to look like a Hornet fighter jet built by McDonnell Douglas.
A number of the remote-controlled planes can fly 70 to 80 mph. Some of the North Star planes are capable of speeds close to 100 mph.
The air show was sponsored by the R.C. Barnstormers, a club based at Hillsdale Lake, and sanctioned by the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
Fourteen registered pilots took turns demonstrating their skills while dozens of spectators sat under shade trees at the lake to enjoy the show.
Radio-control pilots came from Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas for the event.
Rain on Friday night worried event organizers, but they were pleased with plenty of sunshine and a nice breeze on Saturday.
“We were very nervous with the weather setting up yesterday (Friday),” said Pat McGhee of Overland Park, president of the R.C. Barnstormers. “This worked out nice with just a little breeze.”
Flying over the lake, pilots brought seaplanes or modified their regular flying planes with floats for landing on the water.
The flying is pretty much the same for the water and the land, McGhee said. Where the new challenge comes in for the radio-control pilots is in taking off and landing.
“It is a different technique for taking off and landing with the water,” McGhee said. “On land, a plane will perform the same way every time. On the water, because of the waves, the plane will behave differently. So, every takeoff and landing is different. Other than that, they are very much the same for flying.”
HISTORY ON DISPLAY
A bit of combat aviation history sat on the grass in a model of the Fokker Eindecker E III mono-wing plane brought to the fly-in by Watts. Eindecker is German for monoplane.
The Eindecker E III was used in World War I. It had a synchronization gear that allowed bullets from the plane's gun to be timed to miss the propeller blades in front of it.
Other planes did not have this technology and shot at the blades, causing pilots to shoot themselves out of the sky. Steel reinforcement was added to the blades, but this caused bullets to ricochet back toward the pilots.
The “Eindecker Scourge,” as it was referred to by the British press in 1915, gave the German pilots a deadly advantage over their enemies.
Watts not only brought this plane, but he took the controls to show it off for a few circles above the lake.
“The early monoplanes, because of their design, were very maneuverable and very deadly,” he said.
DOWN TO THE DETAIL
The Cadillac of private aircraft planes was on display — a scale model of a Stinson Reliant. The model has a wing span of 100 inches and weighs 24 pounds. It is powered by a 4-horsepower motor.
Detail on the model was quite elaborate, right down to the access holes on the floats that allow the aircraft to land on water. The floats also had rails.
Getting into the plane is another quite impressive piece of detail work. One has to use a spring-loaded door handle, just like a passenger in the real thing, to get inside of the plane.
GETTING STARTED
A person wanting to get into the radio-controlled airplane hobby would be looking at spending $400 to $450 if he went out and bought everything new at hobby stores, Watts said.
The R.C. Barnstormers meet every first Thursday of the month at the Kansas City Power & Light Co. building near 199th Street and U.S. Highway 69 in Stilwell.
The club also flies regularly at the base of the Hillsdale Lake dam.
“For someone getting started, I wouldn't just go out and buy something,” Watts said. “Come to one of our meetings or out to where we fly at Hillsdale and ask questions. I wouldn't buy it without some advice.”
Flying isn't something a person can learn on his own, either, Watts advised.
“Don't teach yourself to fly,” he said. “Only 2 percent survive their first landing. Your orientation is not going to be there yet.”
With many of the planes weighing 4 to 25 pounds, a crashing plane is not just money out of someone's pocket, but it can dangerous to anyone on the ground.
“Even 5 pounds, with a piece of steel in front of it, could be dangerous falling at 75 miles per hour,” he said.
ON THE LIGHT SIDE
New battery-making technology has allowed remote-control fliers to move from heavier batteries to new lighter weight designs.
A Puddle Master, owned by Ron Frezl of Olathe, used to operate on a 300-watt electric motor that weighed 16 ounces. Technological advancements have allowed him to change to a 6-ounce motor with the same power capacity. With the lighter weight motor, he can fly twice as long as before.
For remote-controlled plane builders, it is all about getting the best design with the lowest weight possible for its wing span.
“The lighter you keep it, the more gently it flies,” Watts said.
Other planes fly with gasoline, a combination of gasoline and oil or strictly model airplane fuel. The oil-and-gas combination costs the flier the same $3-plus per gallon, plus the oil, that goes into a car. Model airplane fuel can set the radio-controlled enthusiast back $12 per gallon.
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If you feel the need for speed, even in the sky over Lake Miola, then there is a remote-controlled plane for you.
Several registered pilots in town for a radio-controlled model seaplane air show at International Park showed off their fast planes, known as the sports cars of the remote-controlled aircraft world.
“For guys who like to hot rod, the North Star is the plane,” said Darrell Watts of Shawnee.
While he owns a couple of the planes himself, Watts is not all about the speed.
He brought one of his North Stars to the two-day demonstration on Saturday and Sunday simply to show it off.
“I decked that one out to show people what you can do with them,” Watts said of his North Star painted to look like a Hornet fighter jet built by McDonnell Douglas.
A number of the remote-controlled planes can fly 70 to 80 mph. Some of the North Star planes are capable of speeds close to 100 mph.
The air show was sponsored by the R.C. Barnstormers, a club based at Hillsdale Lake, and sanctioned by the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
Fourteen registered pilots took turns demonstrating their skills while dozens of spectators sat under shade trees at the lake to enjoy the show.
Radio-control pilots came from Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas for the event.
Rain on Friday night worried event organizers, but they were pleased with plenty of sunshine and a nice breeze on Saturday.
“We were very nervous with the weather setting up yesterday (Friday),” said Pat McGhee of Overland Park, president of the R.C. Barnstormers. “This worked out nice with just a little breeze.”
Flying over the lake, pilots brought seaplanes or modified their regular flying planes with floats for landing on the water.
The flying is pretty much the same for the water and the land, McGhee said. Where the new challenge comes in for the radio-control pilots is in taking off and landing.
“It is a different technique for taking off and landing with the water,” McGhee said. “On land, a plane will perform the same way every time. On the water, because of the waves, the plane will behave differently. So, every takeoff and landing is different. Other than that, they are very much the same for flying.”
HISTORY ON DISPLAY
A bit of combat aviation history sat on the grass in a model of the Fokker Eindecker E III mono-wing plane brought to the fly-in by Watts. Eindecker is German for monoplane.
The Eindecker E III was used in World War I. It had a synchronization gear that allowed bullets from the plane's gun to be timed to miss the propeller blades in front of it.
Other planes did not have this technology and shot at the blades, causing pilots to shoot themselves out of the sky. Steel reinforcement was added to the blades, but this caused bullets to ricochet back toward the pilots.
The “Eindecker Scourge,” as it was referred to by the British press in 1915, gave the German pilots a deadly advantage over their enemies.
Watts not only brought this plane, but he took the controls to show it off for a few circles above the lake.
“The early monoplanes, because of their design, were very maneuverable and very deadly,” he said.
DOWN TO THE DETAIL
The Cadillac of private aircraft planes was on display — a scale model of a Stinson Reliant. The model has a wing span of 100 inches and weighs 24 pounds. It is powered by a 4-horsepower motor.
Detail on the model was quite elaborate, right down to the access holes on the floats that allow the aircraft to land on water. The floats also had rails.
Getting into the plane is another quite impressive piece of detail work. One has to use a spring-loaded door handle, just like a passenger in the real thing, to get inside of the plane.
GETTING STARTED
A person wanting to get into the radio-controlled airplane hobby would be looking at spending $400 to $450 if he went out and bought everything new at hobby stores, Watts said.
The R.C. Barnstormers meet every first Thursday of the month at the Kansas City Power & Light Co. building near 199th Street and U.S. Highway 69 in Stilwell.
The club also flies regularly at the base of the Hillsdale Lake dam.
“For someone getting started, I wouldn't just go out and buy something,” Watts said. “Come to one of our meetings or out to where we fly at Hillsdale and ask questions. I wouldn't buy it without some advice.”
Flying isn't something a person can learn on his own, either, Watts advised.
“Don't teach yourself to fly,” he said. “Only 2 percent survive their first landing. Your orientation is not going to be there yet.”
With many of the planes weighing 4 to 25 pounds, a crashing plane is not just money out of someone's pocket, but it can dangerous to anyone on the ground.
“Even 5 pounds, with a piece of steel in front of it, could be dangerous falling at 75 miles per hour,” he said.
ON THE LIGHT SIDE
New battery-making technology has allowed remote-control fliers to move from heavier batteries to new lighter weight designs.
A Puddle Master, owned by Ron Frezl of Olathe, used to operate on a 300-watt electric motor that weighed 16 ounces. Technological advancements have allowed him to change to a 6-ounce motor with the same power capacity. With the lighter weight motor, he can fly twice as long as before.
For remote-controlled plane builders, it is all about getting the best design with the lowest weight possible for its wing span.
“The lighter you keep it, the more gently it flies,” Watts said.
Other planes fly with gasoline, a combination of gasoline and oil or strictly model airplane fuel. The oil-and-gas combination costs the flier the same $3-plus per gallon, plus the oil, that goes into a car. Model airplane fuel can set the radio-controlled enthusiast back $12 per gallon.