40 MODEL AVIATION
BY ROGER WEEKS
EVERGREENMODEL ANDMUSEUM COMPLEX
& FLYING FIELDS
F i n d i n g K e e p i n g
Modeling and full-scale aviation
history come together at this
amazing facility
SOME MONTHS AGO I wrote an article
about the model-flying program that is a
part of The Evergreen Aviation Museum:
the home of Howard Hughes’ H-4
Hercules, known as the “Spruce Goose”
and more than 80 other aircraft. The piece
related the history of the program, the
construction of one of the most beautiful
flying sites anywhere, and the relationship
The Evergreen Aero Modelers (TEAM) of
McMinnville, Oregon, has developed with
the museum.
The club is extremely proud of some
recent news concerning the complex. This
new information is startling—almost
unbelievable—and brings a laugh at times.
A TEAM member who had given
significant amounts of money for the
development of the club’s complex told me
he had given some money for the
construction of a permanent bathroom
building. Upon the acceptance of his offer
by the “powers that be” at the museum, a
bathroom complex costing $353,000 was
to be constructed!
The building is almost completed. It
contains a women’s side, a men’s side,
heat, and, I believe, air-conditioning. The
structure was built in a similar fashion to
the museum building, with tilt-up walls, a
special roofing system, etc. It is incredibly
beautiful and eminently usable.
The model-flying complex and the
wonderful addition will be used by others:
local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, CAP
(Civil Air Patrol) groups in the area, and
historical groups from all over. We
modelers thank all who were involved in
the funding and construction of this
building.
The Evergreen Aviation Museum is
currently building two additional
structures: an IMAX theater building and a
museum building that is a copy of the
existing one. These two facilities will
cover approximately five acres each.
Roughly 40% of the new museum
building will be used for space artifacts.
The rest of the space will be occupied by
the new aircraft that arrive at the museum
on almost a monthly basis and a glassed-in
restoration area.
At the restoration area the public can
watch museum staff construct full-scale
models of aircraft that are currently
unavailable, reconstruct existing aircraft
that need considerable work before they
can be viewed by the public, and build
other artifacts as needed.
In the years preceding the turn of the
century until approximately 2002, a
committee of modeling-club
representatives from the metropolitan area
of Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver,
Washington, searched for flying fields for
clubs in the vicinity as the need arose. The
Portland Area Model Aircraft Association
(PAMAA) worked long and hard to find
suitable sites.
In the back of all the area’s modelers’
minds was the dream of having a
permanent site. The flying fields the clubs
had at the time were leased, formally or
informally, from the owner. They were,
and most still are, at the mercy of the
property owners.
Modeler David Bibbee, who at one
time owned and ran a hobby shop in a
suburb of Portland, also had that dream,
but when he looked around nothing
seemed appropriate. He discussed the
issue with me because at the time I was
the PAMAA president. (I was also, and
still am, a docent at The Evergreen
Aviation Museum.)
Sometime before our conversation
David had the idea of approaching the
museum—museum founder Delbert Smith
in particular—to see if some of the land
around the magnificent facility would be
appropriate for a model-flying complex.
Oddly, I had been thinking the same
thing.
We talked, and David, who controlled
a trust fund, indicated that he was willing
to donate a significant portion of the
money for a model flying site at the
museum if the museum board and Del
Smith were agreeable. I encouraged David
to approach him, and he did so shortly
after our discussion.
The dream became reality. An agreement
was drawn up, and sufficient land was set
aside for an RC flying site and a paved
CL circle. Soon a second circle—with
grass—came into being.
The Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, is the centerpiece of this flight complex, and the Howard Hughes
Hercules—the Spruce Goose—is the main attraction. Photo by Lorenz “Don” Arner courtesy of The Evergreen Aviation Museum.
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May 2007 41
This photo was taken from one end of the RC-site runway. Notice the flight stations
and the safety fence. This facility is clean and beautiful.
The RC site features a paved pit area with a number of well-built safety starting
benches, a covered frequency-control board, and a spectator fence.
The CL area features a paved flight circle and a grass flight circle. The Spruce Goose
Vineyard is in the background.
The RC site would have a 20 x 100-
foot paved setup area with tables and a
frequency board. There would be three 12-
foot-wide paved taxiways to the runway,
which would also be paved. It would be
500 feet long and 28 feet wide, with a
similar-size grass runway on the outside of
the paved runway.
David was more than generous in
donating funds. He set aside $70,000 in
the beginning to spend on the project.
The paved areas called for a rubberized
blanket, 9 inches of gravel on top of that,
another layer of blanket, and then 4 inches
of asphalt. An automatic sprinkler system
and electrical service were to be set up for
the RC and CL areas. Suitable and
attractive fencing and plantings were
planned to control spectators, cars, and
active fliers. Contracts were made with a
local paving contractor and a local
landscaping contractor.
The time of the project’s inception to
its completion was almost two years,
during which time weather was a major
factor. Rain caused many delays—
especially during the winter months—and
other issues that were beyond anyone’s
control used up seemingly endless weeks
and months.
During this time The Evergreen Aero
Modelers was set up and chartered through
AMA. The club uses the same logo as the
other TEAM: The Evergreen Aviation
Museum.
Club members spent much time and
labor setting fence posts and railings for a
wood fence and stretching wire mesh
fencing, which was placed where needed.
Plastic posts and fencing along the RC
area were located per the plans. A small
wood building was purchased and
constructed by club members to house the
riding lawn mower, chairs, umbrellas, and
other paraphernalia that the club managed
to acquire.
As these plans became reality, the club
grew in members. There are approximately
70 now, half of which are CL fliers.
A CL contest has already been put
together and run successfully. Jerry
Eichten was the organizer and CD, and he
did a terrific job. It is hoped that this event
will be annual and continue for many
years. TEAM members are currently
discussing future contests for the RC field,
to include a regional electric event.
David Bibbee’s generosity since the
inception of this project has included
donating funds from his parents’ legacy
for the museum’s extensive educational
programs. They are now year-round.
The bulk of the participants are school
groups touring the museum during the
school year. These groups consist of
kindergarten through 12th-grade students
who attend classes on aviation, aviation
history, the physics of flight, and other
flight-related areas of interest.
As often as possible the students fly
Photos courtesy the author except as noted
LEX
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42 MODEL AVIATION
Jordan Mitts (L) and Eric Rymer enjoy some time flying, with
Eric teaching Jordan via buddy box. Teaching newcomers is a
major activity with this group!
Noel Martin and Merle Hoem use the buddy box to teach one of
a number of students from a local school to fly RC.
Author Roger Weeks gets into the buddy-box act by teaching a
number of local school students.
aircraft they construct or RC models via the buddy-box system.
Weeklong aviation “camps” take place at the museum during the
summer months.
The museum has purchased several “wet”-powered aircraft
for club and museum members to use in the educational
programs. They currently have five U.S. AirCore trainers that
use O.S. .46 LA engines and Futaba radios.
The buddy-box system is used extensively in the education
and training programs, including during summer camps and
sometimes during school-group visits to the museum. One
afternoon more than 90 first- through fourth-graders had the
opportunity to fly a model this way. Their excitement and joy
from having flown an airplane was something the buddy-box
instructors will never forget.
All buddy-box instructors are AMA and TEAM members.
Seeing students of all ages get the thrill of controlling, flying,
and manipulating an airplane gives indescribable rewards. The
educational staff never has to worry about having an adequate
number of instructors; they seem to come out in droves.
Museum visitors marvel at the beauty of the RC and CL
flying sites. A grove of magnificent oak trees separates the two,
providing shade and a grassy area for picnics related to flying
activities. TEAM has used the grove for such gatherings during
and after club fun-fly times. The model site is next to the
museum itself and situated alongside the Spruce Goose
Vineyard.
With the long-term agreement it has with the museum,
TEAM is pleased and excited to share this marvelous modelflying
area with those who come to see The Evergreen Aviation
Museum, the Spruce Goose, and the dozens of other airplanes in
the facility. CL and RC fliers are welcome to check in at the
museum desk, take their models out to the site, and fly to their
contentment.
A unique agreement has been put into place. TEAM club dues
are $20 per year with an AMA membership, and for that money
the member may fly all year. Museum visitors and nonclub
members can fly, but the museum charges $5 per day and
requires proof of AMA membership.
That money is used to help maintain the facility, but it also
helps maintain the grounds that the flying sites share. The
museum provides water for irrigation, the electricity the club
uses at the fields, the mowing of the fields and areas
surrounding the flying fields, and the maintenance of the oak
grove.
Bring your RC and CL airplanes and experience the museum
and the opportunity to fly at this incredible location. You will be
able to enjoy aviation and the incredibly beautiful Pacific
Northwest, with its towering mountains, high deserts, rivers and
lakes, and unbelievable beaches along the Pacific Ocean. MA
Roger W. Weeks
[email protected]
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