District IV Report - 2010/05

146 MODEL AVIATION
THERE HAS always been an interest in the
southeastern area of Virginia for modelers to
experience the challenges of indoor flying.
Many modelers would exploit wind tunnel
return chambers, vacant hangars, or even an
empty warehouse just to experience the rare
opportunity to fly within a confined area, free
of wind and weather.
The local RC community was delighted to
discover avid modeler Dick Parsell broke
ground with the management of a recently
constructed venue: The Boo Williams
Sportsplex located in Hampton, Virginia. We
are grateful for his efforts in finding this
wonderful indoor venue.
The Boo Williams Sportsplex officially
opened its doors to the modeling community
in January 2009. Few of us had aircraft at the
time that could utilize the spacious quad
basketball pavilion, but interest grew rapidly
and a group of modelers held the first Indoor
Fly-In at the Boo Williams Sportsplex on
February 22, 2009.
Weekly flying sessions progressed and
interest compounded when new indoor
models started arriving each week. Many
modelers, such as John Tate, journey about
an hour each way just to take in a few flights
each week at the Sportsplex. Others from the
Colonial Virginia Aeromodelers (CVA) in
Williamsburg, Virginia, endure the same
travel on a weekly basis to be a part of the
new gathering of indoor modelers.
Peninsula-based Brainbusters Free Flight
and Newport News Park RC members have
participated in the indoor flying sessions.
The Boo Williams Sportsplex offers a
unique place to fly; no single club organizes
or directs the flying sessions. The weekly
meetings are a conjoined participation of area
modelers fascinated with flying in an
extraordinary place that offers the finest
flying conditions in Virginia.
The Sportsplex hosted another fly-in on
Memorial Day in 2009 and everyone enjoyed
a great day of open flying and events. People
were thrilled when Steve Moulton, our local
District IV associate vice president (AVP),
dropped in and spent the day with us. The
Memorial Day Fly-In had 18 registered pilots
and nearly 50 aircraft filling the pavilion.
Young aviator, Noah Houlden, grabs the
controls while District IV AVP Steve Moulton
and event organizer Wade Saltzgiver observe
a successful flight.
Events included a crowd-pleasing obstacle
course and a figure-eight pylon race that was
a riot. John Backes won that event. The
airplanes that were fortunate enough to
survive went on to compete in a limbo
contest, won by Phil Goodwin.
None of any of this would have been
possible if it were not for Mr. Williams, Mr.
Hayes, and the rest of the wonderful staff at
the Boo Williams Sportsplex. These good
people have been extraordinarily gracious to
us by allowing us to fly inside their newly
constructed facility each week.
Please take time to visit this wonderful
facility if you are in the area. The Boo
Williams Sportsplex is located at 5 Armistead
Pointe Parkway, Hampton VA 23666; (757)
637-7300.
The Tidewater Radio Control (TRC) club of
Chesapeake, Virginia, hosted its annual Bud
Donnelly Memorial Mid-Atlantic Jet Rally on
Saturday and Sunday before Memorial Day,
2009. The event is open to all jet aircraft.
While most of the models flown were
turbine-powered gas engines, there were a
number of electric fan jets and a couple of
glow-powered fan jets this year. Twentyeight
pilots attended the two-day event,
representing states extending from North
Carolina to New York.
The pilots enjoy the friendly, low-pressure
atmosphere. Many return every year. TRC
provided trophies for various categories, and
selections were made by pilot ballot.
The US Navy Auxiliary Landing Field
(NALF) in Fentress is an excellent venue.
The RC model takeoff and landing area is the
paved taxiway parallel to the main runway
(approximately a mile long). The weather
was cooperative, with a slight wind heading
mostly down the runway.
A couple of short rain sprinkles did not
slow things down on Sunday. A food stand
and grill were brought in and staffed by
members of NALF. TRC arranged for
portable toilets and spectator safety fences.
CD Frank Rega kept things running
smoothly all weekend and ended the event
Sunday afternoon with the presentation of the
trophies and also the awarding of raffle prizes
that were provided by Bob Violett Models.
TRC is looking forward to sponsoring this
yearly event again on the 2010 Memorial Day
weekend. Article by Karl Blumenberg.
Photos by K. Blumenberg and T. Gore.
District IV
Bliss Teague, District IV Vice President; [email protected]
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia
Bliss Teague
Vice President
625 5th Ave. SW,
Hickory NC 28602
Tel.: (828) 324-2164
Fax: (828) 267-0956
[email protected]
Associate Vice
Presidents
George Abbott, Raleigh
NC; (919) 848-6719;
[email protected]
Randy Elliott, Radford VA; Home:
(540) 239-0645; Office: (540) 994-
2316; [email protected]
David Jones, Newport NC;
(252) 727-4750;
[email protected]
Ron King, Gainesville VA; (703)
765-1608; [email protected]
John Kirchstein, Newark DE;
(302) 731-2831;
[email protected]
Richard (Rick) Moreland,
Edgewater MD; (301) 261-7366;
[email protected]
Steve Moulton, Chesapeake VA;
(757) 421-4545;
[email protected]
Contest Coordinators:
RC: Andy Kane, 305 Natick Ct.,
Silver Spring MD 20905; (301)
785-3022; [email protected]
FF and CL: John Tate, 10
Hanbury Ave., Portsmouth VA
23702; [email protected]
Frequency Coordinator and
Safety Coordinator: Brad
Booth, 8416 Racine Road, Pleasant
Garden NC 27313; (336) 685-
0088; [email protected]
D i s t r i c t I V V o l u n t e e r s
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