District I — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
The Northern Connecticut RC Club (NCRCC) is one of AMA's most active clubs, annually sponsoring multiple flying events and an auction. Dennis Thibodeau, the club's contest director for warbird events, authored the following event report for this column.
Warbirds Fly-In — Ellington, CT (October 6, 2013)
On October 6, 2013, NCRCC hosted its inaugural Warbirds Fly-In, open to all World War I and II model aircraft at its Ellington field. NCRCC owns its flying site, which has a 600 x 75-foot grass runway and a 150 x 20-foot paved runway.
Co-CDs Guy Beaudoin Jr. and Walt Wosko Jr. were responsible for event sanctioning and planning. The field received a fresh cut and manicure by the club's grounds crew headed by Irv Thurrott. NCRCC's food concession stand was handled by Len Marchese and Bob Spooner.
On the morning of the event, Guy, Walt, and Dennis arrived at the site before sunup to finish setting up for pilot registration, which began at 8 a.m. Despite on-and-off rain all day, NCRCC registered 21 pilots, with attendees coming from as far away as Nashua, New Hampshire; Sturbridge, Massachusetts; the Albany, New York, area; and several Connecticut clubs. A number of spectators also attended.
Pilots were briefed on the field rules before flying began. All pilots were required to have a spotter with them at the flight line. Pilots brought and flew a variety of single- and multi-engine warbirds from small to Giant Scale. Each pilot had the opportunity to have his or her aircraft static-judged by a team of NCRCC judges and to enter it in a best-of-show competition for awards that were voted on by all the pilots.
The club thanks all of the area hobby shops and manufacturers that donated items that made the event raffle a big success, and the pilots who braved the cold, rainy weather to attend.
Event summary and acknowledgments
- Pilots registered: 21
- Aircraft: Single- and multi-engine warbirds, small to Giant Scale
- Volunteers and organizers:
- Co-CDs: Guy Beaudoin Jr., Walt Wosko Jr.
- Contest Director / Report author: Dennis Thibodeau
- Grounds crew lead: Irv Thurrott
- Food concession: Len Marchese, Bob Spooner
- Registration team: Guy Beaudoin Jr., Walt Wosko Jr., Dennis Thibodeau
- Thanks to: Area hobby shops, manufacturers, and all participating pilots and spectators for donations and support
As a result of the positive feedback from the event, the club scheduled a Warbirds Over Ellington Fly-In for September 27–28, 2014, with on-site camping and a Saturday night campfire. Please check the club's website for additional information: www.NCRCC.org.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
