District IV Report
Delaware / District of Columbia / Maryland / North Carolina / Virginia
Vice President
Bliss Teague Vice President 625 5th Ave., SW Hickory, NC 28602-2812 Home: (828) 324-2164 Fax: (828) 267-0956 E-mail: [email protected]
Note: For a listing of all district volunteer workers please consult a previous issue of Model Aviation.
Smokey Mountain Barnstormers (formerly Ferguson Field Barnstormers, Inc.)
Ferguson Field Barnstormers, Inc. has a new name—Smokey Mountain Barnstormers, Inc.—and a new flying field.
The club had been flying on Cherokee Indian property for many years and then encountered a problem. This is not unlike many other clubs' histories. In this case, the setback turned out to be a blessing: after much hard work, the club was able to acquire the use of a private airport nearby in Bryson City, North Carolina.
Members now have use of a 2,200-foot paved runway and 800 feet of grassed area parallel to the paved runway. Smokey Mountain Barnstormers, Inc. held its first event and field dedication October 4–5, 2003. There was a lot of flying and good food, as shown by the smiles on attendees' faces. Ken Solomon and Dwayne Wright supervised the event, and the writer was proud to have been part of it.
PoBoys PropTwisters — Cub Scout Demonstration (September 22–23, 2003)
David Brown of the PoBoys PropTwisters in North Carolina reported the following.
On the evenings of September 22 and 23, the club hosted Cub Scout Pack 151 from Indian Trail for an RC demonstration. The Scouts were finishing their aviation month and planned to visit the field with their parents.
On the first night the plan was to host first, fourth, and fifth graders, but the weather intervened. At the last moment, a change of venue was called, so David Brown, club secretary, met them at the church where they normally meet and did some inside demonstrations, including a video, slide show, and a show-and-tell with a trainer model.
The second night brought better weather, so the second and third graders attended, along with many from the night before who had missed the flying. The Scouts arrived at 6:30 p.m. in a convoy of cars. In all there were 56 Scouts and 39 Scout leaders and parents.
To get their attention, the club set up a balloon bust as the Scouts drove in and put up two airplanes, both gunning for the balloon. That spectacle brought everyone up to the safety rope quickly.
Following a few brief announcements, two buddy-box candidates were selected from the crowd. The fairest (and coolest) method of choosing they could think of was to drop ping-pong balls over the field from a Senior Telemaster and let the kids run out and grab the balls while the airplane circled in a distant holding pattern. Two balls were specially marked to indicate who would fly the buddy box later in the evening.
While the two buddy-box Scouts were briefed, Michael Hill, 2003 Nats Pattern winner, thrilled the crowd with a short aerobatic program. As anyone who has seen Mike’s routines would know, the crowd was delighted.
Abe Williams, club president, flew his Enduro and performed some pleasing 3-D maneuvers, finishing with a rotolanding (controlled flat spin to the ground). David Brown and Dave Collins then launched the Senior Telemaster with a piggyback glider; the kids were entertained to see the glider lift off the tugplane at altitude.
Mike Hill launched a Pattern Focus and did a few exciting laps, including an interactive wave with the crowd and some close high-speed passes. Danny Allsop flew his Cub and dropped two parachutes, which the kids were eager to retrieve (for safety reasons they were not allowed to go after the parachutes).
Abe Williams attempted another rotolanding on the field; although this attempt ended in a minor crash in the weeds, the crowd still enjoyed it.
Finally, the two buddy-box Scouts each took turns on the end of the buddy cord, using a trainer equipped with marker lights. David Brown flew the trainer box while Michael Hill assisted the kids on the buddy box. The children beamed as Mike led them through basic maneuvers.
To end the night, the Senior Telemaster was launched again to drop three pounds of candy, which the kids promptly retrieved. Everyone appreciated the exhibition, and the Scouts showed a strong interest in possibly investigating the hobby further.
Special thanks to:
- Michael Hill
- Steve Hill
- Mike Radeke
- Abe Williams
- Dave Collins
- Danny Allsop
- David Brown
The Scout leaders have already begun to ask about next year.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
