RC Warbirds Over Port Clinton: On August 24-25, 2013, I attended a new event in District III, RC Warbirds Over Port Clinton Fun-Fly and Fly-In, held at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in beautiful Port Clinton, Ohio.
I was originally invited to attend this event to represent AMA, however since I had recently completed a 50cc-size P-51B Mustang model, I thought this would be the perfect event to both fly and represent AMA.
Upon arrival, I was greeted by event promoter Brian Dee and was impressed by the beautiful facility. It’s a full-scale airport with plenty of flying room and an added attraction: an airplane museum. The show opened Saturday morning with a color guard and a full-scale flyover of P-51 Mustangs.
The model flying began and was nonstop all day with every warbird imaginable from World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam—you get the idea. There were plenty of static displays with vendors promoting not only model aviation but also the military services, full-scale aviation, and more.
An RC air show was held during with all types of model demonstrations from warbird formation flybys, 3-D helicopter and airplane aerobatics, and an awesome 3-D jet demonstration. If that wasn’t enough fun, you could easily walk over to the Liberty Aviation museum and see a wonderful display of aviation history, including a Ford Tri-Motor restoration.
On Sunday, my wife and I toured the area around Port Clinton and the beautiful island of Put-In-Bay. What a great area to have an RC fly-in. The event was so successful that it is scheduled for August 23-24, 2014, and promises to be even bigger and better.
For more information, visit the event’s website at www.rcwarbirdsopc.com. If you looking for a great model aviation event to attend in 2014 I suggest you reserve those dates and go to Port Clinton, Ohio. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
As I write this, it’s January 1, 2014. Many clubs in District III like to have a “frozen-fingers” flying day to celebrate the start of the New Year. Where I live, we had an usually warm day with a high temperature of 50° with no wind, which made a beautiful flying day.
However, I received an email and pictures from Kent Clingaman of the Defiance Prop Floppers in Defiance, Ohio, that was nearly the opposite in weather. Defiance is approximately two driving hours north and pilots in the area were flying in temperatures in the 20s and winds blowing 12-15 mph out of the north, which gave them a wind chill of 5°. Burr!
As my good friend, former AMA President Dave Brown, used to say, “You don’t have to be crazy to enjoy this sport but it sure helps.”
Thanks to all of the “crazy” modelers in District III who make model aviation so enjoyable!
Until next month, go fly and have fun!
