District IX
Garrett Hultgren, president of the Rocky Mountain Modeleers (RMM), submits this report about the swap meet the club held. Perhaps your club might try to sponsor such an event.
Rocky Mountain Modeleers swap meet
"The event was good — considering this was our first time hosting such a gathering, I feel the turnout was excellent. We had 26 sellers and a lot of buyer traffic.
"Sellers came from several clubs in the Denver area including Arvada, Jeffco, and the RC Eagles, as well as from RMM, Love-Air RC, and the Longmont clubs. Some of the first people to arrive in the morning were from as far away as Colorado Springs.
"The meet was held at a community building at the Larimer County Fairgrounds complex. The use of the building is free to all nonprofit groups.
"This year, we reserved two large meeting rooms, which quickly filled up! We had to expand outdoors for a few remaining tables. We already have plans for next year and hope to reserve the large exhibit hall in the same building. This will give us much more room. I hope this event will continue to grow each year as I feel we need more of these kinds of functions in our area.
"We were able to coordinate with our local HobbyTown USA to come out and set up a booth to sell items at discount to the attendees as well. The company has been very supportive of our club and I hope it continues to support this event in the coming years. Next year we hope to increase attendance by increasing space and offering door prizes to all who register to sell.
"It took minimal effort to put the event together and the club made a little money to buy a new club trainer. Lots of items were sold and everyone enjoyed the day."
Sellers and attendees
- 26 sellers participated.
- Sellers came from:
- Arvada
- Jeffco
- RC Eagles
- Rocky Mountain Modeleers (RMM)
- Love-Air RC
- Longmont clubs
- Some attendees traveled from as far as Colorado Springs.
- Venue: community building at the Larimer County Fairgrounds (free to nonprofit groups).
- Plans: reserve the large exhibit hall next year and offer door prizes to registered sellers.
Winter events and mall shows
During the winter months when flying is difficult because of the weather, nonflying events such as mall shows are popular and generate new interest with the public.
The Grand Island Modelers Club of Nebraska had its annual mall show, a resounding success according to Jim Stulken, club president. Spectator interest was high, and there were more than $300,000 worth of models displayed.
Heart of America Float Fly
Darrell Watts, one of our best proponents of float flying, is holding his Heart of America Float Fly in Kansas. He usually draws quite a few water-fearless pilots from surrounding states to attend the event.
Models you might see (many from Michigan attendees) include:
- 1/4-scale Anderson Kingfisher
- 1/4-scale Sopwith Pup (shown in the photo)
- 1/4-scale Aeronca Champ
- 1/4-scale Maule Rocket
- 9-foot Decathlon
- Seawind
- Two Spectra IIs
- 68-inch Super Stearman
- Large Cessna Skymaster
- 96-inch Fly Baby
- Balsa USA Phantom 90 (likely)
- Darrell's aircraft: his 10.5-foot Otter and his old Eindecker
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
