Lenn Airpark
by Douglas Cash and John Hunton
The town of Culpeper is located in northern Virginia. The history of RC flying sites in this area is one of relative turmoil, with facilities being lost to commercial development. The high cost of land in the Washington, D.C., metro area makes finding, obtaining, and maintaining model aviation fields a challenge.
Two clubs near Culpeper are operating on private land: the Skyline Fliers and the Fauquier Aero Recreation Modelers (FARM). There are several other clubs in the vicinity, and all try to work closely to support one another’s efforts in maintaining flying fields. This was recently exemplified when the Northern Virginia Radio Control club (NVRC) lost its site of more than 30 years. For two subsequent years the Prince William County Radio Control Flyers (PWCRCF) allowed NVRC members to use its field while they searched for a new location. The various club members keep a close watch for availability of land in the area that is suitable for flying models.
Near Culpeper, the Lenn brothers had farmed their land for many years. In addition to several large tracts of farmland, they owned 85 acres on which part of the Battle of Brandy Station took place during the Civil War. That was the largest cavalry skirmish of the war and the opening engagement of the Gettysburg Campaign. The area is known locally as “Lenn’s Bottom.” The Lenn brothers decided to donate that piece of land to Culpeper County to use as a park, and the Culpeper County Parks & Recreation gladly accepted it.
While the road-frontage part of the Lenn tract was suitable for developing ball fields, which are always in demand here, a back part of the property was narrow and located in a floodplain. The county did not know how to use that part of the land.
The Right Connection
Mike Dale recently settled in Culpeper County after retiring as CEO of Jaguar North America. Not only is he an active full-scale pilot who regularly flies his restored Percival Provost—which he learned to operate for the Royal Air Force before moving on to the de Havilland Vampire—but he is also an enthusiastic aeromodeler. Mike and the county administrator, Frank Bossio, worked together on the Culpeper County Airport Committee.
When Frank mentioned the Lenn park tract and asked Mike if he could think of any use for the back section, Mike immediately saw a potentially great RC flying site. He assembled a small number of fliers to tour the spot to see if it would be a good fit. Mike and his group created a new RC club to promote and develop the Lenn area as a flying site. RC pilots were drawn from the local Skyline and FARM clubs to form this organization, which was named the Culpeper Model Barnstormers (CMB).
The CMB drafted a charter and incorporation documents, then met with Parks & Recreation officials to refine the paperwork and make it acceptable to the county. An important point that was heavily discussed was that the county did not want to administer the flying site; it wanted the CMB to manage it for the county.
Taking Charge
Plans for site development were presented to the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors (BOS), which supported and accepted the concept of the flying site. The Lenn brothers, who were also aviators, affirmed the proposed use. They liked the idea so much that they added a deed restriction to the adjoining property, guaranteeing the club overflight privileges.
The county let the CMB know up front that it had no funding to help develop the facility. This presented a dilemma: with fewer than a dozen charter members, the club could not afford significant development costs. However, club workdays and the dedication of several members moved the project forward.
Nicholas Burhan (Nic), a retired U.S. Navy captain, led several dedicated members in spending a great deal of time clearing, mowing, and rolling the flying field. Nic was dedicated to getting the ground in shape, mowing and rolling it once a week. With his leadership, it wasn't long before the 100 x 600-foot runway began its transformation from farmland to smooth grass.
Access to the flying field was a nearly mile-long dirt road adjacent to Mountain Run Creek that was washed out in several places. The club worked with the county's environmental engineer to devise a way to repair the washouts: they filled them with coarse gravel to allow for drainage and passage. By members using the road to get to and from the flying field for a period of time, it was learned that the dirt roadway was stable except for where the washouts were, and even those places remained fairly stable during rains. That gave hope that the club could gather enough members to afford to lay gravel on the road.
Then a miracle happened. CMB member Bill McMullen worked for Dominion Power Company, which needed a place to dispose of a large quantity of coarse gravel used in temporary equipment lay-down areas. He arranged for the gravel to be delivered to the facility as it became available, to create a better road.
The Celebration
With the field taking shape, club members decided to have a grand opening to thank all the people who helped obtain and develop the site. The event was held on June 5, 2010.
In coordination with Culpeper Parks & Recreation, invitations were sent to Culpeper County BOS members, the county administrator, local politicians, and all RC clubs within 100 miles. Advertisements were placed in local newspapers and announcements posted on several Internet forums. Between 100 and 120 people attended the open house, including four BOS members, a Parks & Recreation committee member, the county administrator, and aeromodelers from nearby clubs who came to lend support and put on a great show.
A BOS member flew his full-scale Robinson R22 helicopter in, put on a center-stage performance, and landed at the field. Open flying for all AMA members who showed up began, with activity temporarily halted at 11 a.m. for an air show and opening ceremonies.
The demonstration began with a full-scale flyover led by Mike Dale in his rare Percival P.56 Provost T.1, followed by a WACO ZPF-7, a de Havilland Chipmunk, a Taylorcraft 20 Sedan, and a Cessna 172. They gave a low flyby to start things off, and then the model show began.
Duane Beck piloted an electric-powered ParkZone Radian glider that soared above the rest of the show for more than an hour. Pete Carpenter flew a small ParkZone Cub. In the scale segment, Bill Hadden flew a 10-foot-span electric-powered Halifax bomber and an 8-foot Handley Page H.P.42, both built by a team led by Mike Dale. Marsh Dehart flew a fully detailed Vario Bell 47 helicopter in a M*A*S*H scheme, complete with two wounded soldiers and "Hot Lips" Houlihan.
Gene Albrecht got his turbine-powered Composite-ARF Rookie II off the grass and gave a great show with high-speed passes and vertical rolls. After the performance, the jet's retracting gear would not extend fully, so Gene decided to bring it down with the gear retracted. He attempted a landing pass, aborted, and on the next attempt the approach was a bit high. The model touched down smoothly, became airborne again, and then a slight dip of the right wing on the second touchdown caught the wingtip, flipped the model over, and it nosed in upside-down. The model suffered some damage but was fully repaired later. Gene took the mishap in stride and joined the club before leaving, as did many others.
Duane Beck handed off the Radian to Douglas Cash and then performed an RC aerobatic routine with an electric-powered Sebart Angel 50S. Flying demonstrations were halted at noon for opening ceremonies. Local Boy Scout Troop 550 performed the flag ceremony, and Wayne Payne led the crowd in singing the national anthem.
John Barrett of Parks & Recreation provided a public-address system and a tent. The Lenn brothers, Parks & Recreation, the BOS, and all the modelers who supported the endeavor were thanked. Supervisor Bill Chase led the noon ribbon-cutting ceremony, praised the Lenn brothers, and spoke about the field as a great example of volunteerism: "Everything in the world doesn't have to cost a lot of money," he said.
Other guests included supervisors Steve Nixon, Steve Walker, and Sue Hansohn, and County Administrator Frank Bossio. The CMB provided lunch for everyone at the conclusion of the ceremony, and the model air show resumed with Andrew Benjamin's high-alpha demonstration. Vince Tabacco, Bill Hadden, and Mike Dale zipped their small electric-powered ducted-fan models around the field in mock combat. That performance was a big hit with the crowd: Vince's F9F Panther foamie was theatrically "shot down" and made to look like a Styrofoam cooler after impact, Bill's F9F forced down Mike's Vampire, and Bill's model was the last flying.
Nate Delesline wrote an article covering the event that was published in the Culpeper Star-Exponent. The piece is available on the Internet (see Sources).
Late-Breaking News
The access road into the site is almost a mile long and had been improved with gravel only in areas that needed it badly, so the field was still difficult to reach after heavy rains until further improvements were made.
Dominion Power upgraded many miles of its transmission lines that summer and used gravel to stabilize worksites. The company agreed to restore the worksites and needed a place to move the used gravel. Thanks to Bill McMullen and Dominion Power, the CMB now has a gravel access roadway and parking area.
(Editor's note: If you would like additional information regarding the process that club members went through to form the CMB, please contact one of the authors.)
- John Hunton — [email protected]
- Douglas Cash — [email protected]
Sources:
- Culpeper Model Barnstormers
18063 Stevensburg Rd. (County Road RT-663) Culpeper, VA 22701 www.cmbclubrc.com
- Star-Exponent article: http://bit.ly/b4BIYL
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
