Radio Control Giants
Sal Calvagna [[email protected]]
“I LOVE IT when a plan comes together.” These were words immortalized by the late George Peppard as Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith on the television series The A-Team. They also describe exactly how I felt after a great weekend of flying RC, meeting new modelers, and enjoying the company of good friends.
To briefly explain, my good friend Steve had moved from Florida to Charlottesville, Virginia. Since he’s an avid RCer, the first item on his to-do list was to seek out the local RC club and apply for membership. That was the Rivanna Radio Control Club, Inc. of Charlottesville.
Steve’s next step was to entice me to load up my van with Giant Scale models and head south to pay him and his wife Patty a visit the same weekend that the Rivanna RC Club was holding its fall fly-in. How could I refuse? After all, Virginia is much closer to New York than Florida is.
To top this off, we were joined by another good friend, Mike, who flew in from Florida to spend the weekend. I loaded my van full of Giant Scale models and headed south with my family.
The Rivanna Radio Control Club uses Milton Field, which is owned by the University of Virginia, for its flying site. The property has an interesting history.
In 1939 the university’s move to buy 90 acres of land bordering the Rivanna River for use as an airfield for the university’s aeronautical students stirred the ire of some residents in the surrounding agrarian communities. The University of Virginia was founded by Thomas Jefferson, and the property was once part of his 5,000-acre plantation and might have been one of the sites of his water-powered manufacturing enterprises.
Some concerns about using the 90 acres for an airfield were that the noise would drive visitors away from Monticello and hurt the area’s desirability for raising pedigreed horses and livestock. In addition, student pilots were said to pose untold hazards and property values in the area might plummet. The university’s position was that it already offered students ground training in aeronautics and it had a compelling reason for wanting to build an airfield.
On October 20, 1939, at a hearing by the State Corporation Commission in Richmond, Virginia, lawyers for the property owners’ association argued that Mr. Jefferson did not allow for an airport or a school of flight in the university’s 1812 charter.
The university prevailed and, with a commercial license in hand, purchased the 90 acres for $17,800. On April 28, 1940, the new airfield was dedicated. The airfield was used to train many student pilots, and at one time the university’s fleet included a Grumman Wildcat, a Spartan NP-1, and a couple of Stinsons. The airfield was officially closed in 1971.
Presently there is no full-scale flying at Milton Field and the runways are overgrown. However, thanks to the University of Virginia, flying is still part of the site through an agreement with the Rivanna Radio Control Club. The club uses a small portion of the airfield to fly remote-control models.
In mid-October I attended the Rivanna RC Club’s fall event. Saturday was mostly rainy, so only a few hearty modelers were present. On Sunday, with mostly overcast skies, roughly 25–30 modelers attended.
Fifteen-year-old Daniel Parmelee of Charlottesville expertly flew his Hangar 9 Taylorcraft ARF powered by a Zenoah G-26 gas engine. Daniel used a Multiplex radio system and informed me that he has been flying since he was six years old.
The Clipped Wing Taylorcraft is a replica of a one-of-a-kind full-scale airplane built by renowned aircraft restoration expert Jim Moss. The full-scale aircraft was flown by Margaret Ritchie when she won the National Aerobatics Advanced Class title in 1961. The model spans 85.5 inches and weighs roughly 13–15 pounds. Photos show Daniel with the Taylorcraft and the model settling into a three-point landing.
Other photos are of Daniel Barrick of Mount Sidney, Virginia, and his Arizona Models 1/4-scale de Havilland Tiger Moth ARF. The Tiger Moth is powered by a Zenoah G-26 and was painted with Krylon spray paint. The model spans 88 inches, has a length of 69 inches, and has 2,247 square inches of wing area.
The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth was first flown in October 1931. Although not the easiest airplane to fly, Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) adopted the aircraft as its basic trainer. More than 8,700 Tiger Moths were eventually manufactured, and approximately 4,200 went to the RAF, where thousands of pilots trained on them for World War II service. The airplane continued to serve the postwar RAF until 1951.
The Tiger Moth is sold as an almost-ready-to-finish model. You can find more information about it at the Arizona Model Aircrafters website: www.arizonamodels.com.
Two photos are of Gary VonFossen’s hybrid RC Skydiver platform that was constructed from a Senior Telemaster fuselage mated to the wing and tail feathers of a Kankakee Monocoupe. This model was also powered by a Zenoah G-26 gas engine. Gary fabricated the landing gear himself.
The model flew well and easily carried the 1/4-scale RC Skydiver aloft. The torso of the 1/4-scale aircraft houses two servos, a receiver, and the receiver battery pack. The RC Skydiver turns right or left by changing the shape of the parachute’s airfoil in a manner similar to wing warping on early aircraft.
For more information about Gary’s Skydiver, check the R/C Dropzone website: www.rcdropzone.com.
I enjoyed meeting and socializing with members of the Rivanna RC Club, and it was great to get together with old friends Steve and Mike. I want to thank club members Heyward MacDonald and Campbell White for their kindness and camaraderie.
That’s it for now. See you at the flying field!
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
