THE HEART of Ohio Huckfest: On
September 11, 12, and 13, 2009, the
Thistledown Flyers hosted the Heart of Ohio
Huckfest at the club’s field in Napoleon,
Ohio. The Huckfest was organized by the
Flying Giants and is one of five such events
held during 2009 across the country.
More than 100 pilots and 200-plus
aircraft joined the fun at Thistledown Field.
Although officially it was a three-day event,
flying began as early as Wednesday when
the first pilots rolled through the gates.
Aircraft of all types were welcome at the
event—from Giant Scale 3-D airplanes to
small foamies to helicopters, and everything
in between. Weekend highlights included
night flying under stadium lights, the Snap-
A-Saurus competition, and the E-ROC
(Electric Race of Champions): a pylon race
for small electrics.
Randy Nickler put this beautiful Yak through
its paces all weekend.
Friendly people and beautiful airplanes made
the 2009 Heart of Ohio Huckfest an event to
remember!
Nellie Shaffer took home the honors in the
Snap-A-Saurus snap-roll competition.
On Saturday night, participating pilots
were treated to a superb steak barbecue right
at the flying field! It was another great fall
fly-in at Thistledown Field, full of fabulous
flying and good friends.
The Thistledown Flyers hope you’ll plan
now to join them for next year’s event. Get
more information and photos at www.thistle
downflyers.com.
The Clarksburg Model Aviation Club held
its annual Dick Rader Memorial Fly-In at
Don Harrold field in Clarksburg, West
Virginia. The fly-in is named after one of the
club’s founding fathers, Dick Rader, and the
club is proud that the field they are flying
from is probably the oldest model airplane
field in the state, first used in the 1930s.
The weather couldn’t have been better,
with temperatures in the low-to-mid 80s and
barely any wind. Attendance was good with
everything from park flyers to Giant Scale to
3-D helicopters.
By all indications, everyone who
attended had a good time and most were
looking forward to returning next year. If
you are visiting the Clarksburg area and
want to hook up with a good group of
modelers, be sure to look them up on the
club’s Web site at www.cma1193.com.
The pits at Clarksburg.
On Sunday, September 20, the Loveland
Prop Busters sponsored the second annual
Southwest Ohio Seaplane Float Fly at
William Harsha (East Fork) State Park in
Bethel, Ohio. Bethel is located roughly 25
miles east of Cincinnati, Ohio.
The weather for this event was less than
desirable, with flying limited to breaks in
steady downpours of rain. The location of
the float fly is the beach area, with ample
space for parking and pitting and a very
clean sandy beach. The beach water area
provides ample room to take off and land in
the prevailing winds. Because of the rain, an
early prize giveaway occurred after lunch.
The members of the Loveland Prop
Busters work closely with the Ohio Parks
Department and the US Corps of Engineers to
procure this site as well as the club’s landbased
flying site located on East Fork State
Park property, which has a 30 x 300-foot
paved asphalt runway. The flying site is
surrounded by 80 acres of unobstructed
overfly area. The club maintains the site and
offers flight instruction for new members.
Check this club out at www.love
landpropbusters.org. Plans are underway for
the 2010 float fly which will be held on the
third weekend in September.
This Seawind was built and flown by Scott
Bortz from Lancaster, Ohio.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/01
Page Numbers: 173