District III — Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia
Mark Radcliff, Vice President
- Email: [email protected]
- Address: 199 Heron Dr., St. Marys, WV 26170
- Phone: (304) 684-2133
- Website: www.amadistrict-iii.org
On Saturday, June 28, 2014, I loaded up my P-51B, the West By Gawd Virginian, and took a road trip to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love. The event, A Gathering of Mustangs, was hosted by the North East Philadelphia Radio Control Club (NEPRCC).
The club flying field is located inside the Benjamin Rush State Park. Upon arrival, I was impressed by the cleanliness and neatness of the park and the well-manicured grass runway. As the name implies, the event’s goal was to honor the iconic North American P-51 Mustang.
The first Mustang gathering was held in 2012 and was the brainchild of club member and Mustang enthusiast Aleksey Lomov. Aleksey is a Mustang lover and is especially interested in the Blue Nose Mustangs flown by the 352nd Fighter Group in World War II. Although the featured marque was the Mustang, the event was open to models of all types and sizes.
I applaud the efforts of NEPRCC President Angelo Tata and Vice President Aleksey Lomov for taking the initiative to host this unique event. Thank you, NEPRCC, for your hospitality in making my Mustang and me feel welcome. I look forward to seeing this event grow in the years to come.
On Sunday, June 29, I began the journey home. I made a slight detour and set my GPS to 375 Grim Airpark, Hamburg, Pennsylvania, home of the Farview Flyers RC Club. I had heard many good things about this field and club and wanted to see for myself what all the talk was about.
The field is roughly an hour outside of Philadelphia in the beautiful rolling hills and mountains of central Pennsylvania. When I arrived, I saw how the field got its name. The view is spectacular for as far as you can see. The flying site is on top of a mountain with a 1,000-foot, golf-course-like grass runway with no obstructions for miles—just beautiful, scenic rolling hills and farms. Breathtaking!
I was welcomed by club president Leo Buskirk and club safety officer Jim Ellis and told to get my stuff out and fly as long as I’d like. I saw everything from park flyers to turbines to giant scale to aerotowing gliders being flown. Leo and Jim informed me that this was a typical weekend of flying.
First impressions are lasting. As I was driving home, I couldn’t get over my first impression of the Farview Flyers. Not only is its field spectacular, but so are the members. Thank you, Farview Flyers, for a great afternoon of flying. I look forward to attending your events in the future.
For more information about the events and clubs I mentioned, please go to the District III website at www.amadistrict-iii.org. Click the Clubs tab and follow the links to the clubs’ websites.
Another month has flown by, so until next month—go fly and have fun!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
