George Eckhardt from Bellingham, Washington, reported that 29 US and Canadian pilots brought 63 airplanes and registered for the Bell Air RC Flyers 8th Annual Warbirds Over Whatcom, held July 27-28, 2013. There was good weather and more than 300 spectators contributed 200 pounds of food and $341 to the local food bank.
Guests of honor included three local World War II veterans—Capt. Joe Moser, Mel Derry, and Al Wackerbarth—all of whom were available to tell stories, sign autographs, and sell books.
Joe was a P-38 pilot who was shot down on his 45th mission and subsequently spent time in Buchenwald. Al spent WW II on a submarine in the South Pacific. He is an active Bell Air club member at the age of 88.
Mel, also 88, was a nose gunner on a B-24 for 52 missions in Europe, often without fighter cover until the famous Tuskeegee Airmen in their Mustangs joined the battle.
On display, complements of the local WW II museum, was a large selection of WW I and WWII artifacts. The Heritage Flight Museum of Bellingham gave the spectators and RC pilots a great thrill by making three low passes over the field with an AD Sky Raider, an AT-6, and Nieuport 17 replicas.
Sunday featured a Snoopy versus the Red Baron dogfight, flown by Jerry “Snoopy” McLean and Mike “Red Baron” Mosbrooker.
Thanks to the following for their support and donations: Performance RC of Burlington, HobbyTown of Bellingham, Hannegan Seafood of Bellingham, the Heritage Flight Museum of Bellingham, Tower Hobbies/Hobbico, Balsa USA, Troybuilt Models, and above all, John Vanderhage for his professional photography of the event and the Bell Air RC Flyers Club members who devoted many hours of their time and money to support this event. Great job guys and gals!
Richard Weaver, vice president of the Lake Sawyer Hawks R/C Club, in Hobart, Washington, told me about his club’s efforts in conjunction with the Maple Valley Kids Festival held on July 20, 2013. It many club members much time to put something like this together and such an effort reflects well on the model aviation community as a whole.
The kids had a great time learning how to build and fly a model airplane. The kids, along with their parents, and with the help of many volunteers from the Lake Sawyer Hawks, were able to build more than 300 small, rubber band-powered airplanes. The AMA Cub (Delta Dart) kits and supplies used in the free airplane build were made possible by the donations from AMA District XI, RC Hobbies, Vanderpas Enterprises, Alaska Airlines, and the Maple Valley Sign Shop.
The kids had a great time, and were thrilled that they could build an airplane and then see it fly. It was a fun day for all involved.
