View from HQ
Joyce Hager Executive Director
‘What if you gave an air show and everybody came?’
THE FOLLOWING is a report I received from one of our members about what his club did to safeguard the permanency of their public-land flying field.
“What if you gave an air show and nobody came? That thought kept running through my mind after Rich Stech, the president of our RC [Radio Control] club, suggested that we present a two-hour air show, free to the public, as an Independence Day gift to our community.
“The Hartwell, Georgia, Tailspinners has 34 members and has been around a long time. But like most RC clubs, less than half of the membership is proficient enough with their flying skills to present a professional-looking air show.
“It was a daunting assignment our president had proposed, yet even those whose flying techniques were not the greatest agreed to pitch in and perform the less glamorous but necessary tasks such as garbage detail and car parking. And so we began.
“The organization of an event like this could have been overwhelming had it not been broken down into specific responsibilities. First we had to decide what we could do.
“We knew we could pull banners and flags, and drop bombs and parachutes, because we had done that at previous club events for our own enjoyment.
“We knew we had two good aerobatics pilots and one Pattern pilot who had a record of winning Precision Aerobatics contests. They could do solo spots. We had a helicopter pilot who was quite good. Another member was an experienced flier who flew a unique 1/4-scale Sopwith Pup with a large Snoopy as the pilot.
“Two of us had F-14 Tomcats with full Navy decals and we decided on a two-man military-style routine. We would practice high-speed, low-level strafing runs with lots of stall turns, big loops, a flaps-down photo pass, then end with a carrier-type landing out of the traditional Navy peel off.
“We also had a member with a four-engine B-17 and we had several other warbirds including a P-51 and a P-47. For a change of pace, we had two Electric Sailplanes and one glow Two-Meter Sailplane. For sheer excitement, we had a super-fast Delta flying wing and a speedy Pylon racer, both with pilots who could control them.
“In addition to being assigned to fly in a number of events, as club newsletter editor I was given the job of promotion. Using my computer I prepared a colorful poster advertising a free air show for July 4. From this, a number of black-and-white copies were made and distributed to businesses around town. The color copy went into the window and the black-and-white copies were placed on counters and replenished as customers took them away.
“We passed these flyers around at local craft shows, civic-club luncheons, and churches. At a club meeting each member took a handful and was asked to spread them about their own neighborhoods.
“I interviewed Rich, wrote an article, and took two pictures, one of Rich and another of Snoopy flying off in search of the Red Baron, and gave them to the local weekly newspaper, The Hartwell Sun. I also supplied them with additional photos of airplanes and members, captioned with an air show information telephone number.
“I asked them to use these photos as fillers each week in June and they did. The Sun was very cooperative, especially since I presented them with copy-ready material. Additionally, on the week before July 4 they printed our full-size flyer with a map showing directions to our field about three miles outside of town. All of this advertising was done at no cost to us.
“The local cable company put an ad for our air show on their Community Bulletin Board Channel and placed a flyer in their window that was seen by everyone who came by to pay a cable bill.
“Another member who has friends at the local AM radio station arranged for one of the local disc jockeys to tape an interview with two of us. That got a lot of air time.
“Meanwhile back at the field, the member who had been assigned the job of ‘air boss’ and his two assistants were trying to coordinate practice sessions. This was difficult since Saturday was the only possible day everyone might attend. Many had other responsibilities and couldn’t make it, so practice of the full airshow events was sporadic and had mixed success.
“My friend and I, both retired, practiced our Tomcat routine on off days and put almost six hours of air time into it. Our pattern pilot, also retired, was at the field three or four days a week with his spotter, practicing his routine.
“With only three dress rehearsals, the morning of July 4 arrived after a night of thunderstorms. It was unusually windy for a July day in the South—the kind of day you can fly a larger airplane, but it wouldn’t be a lot of fun.
“The wind wasn’t our only concern. We had no idea if three cars or 30 cars would show up. The town of Hartwell has a population of only 5,000 and only 20,000 in all of Hart County. July 4 is normally quiet since our few manufacturing plants shut down and give their employees vacation that week. I hoped that maybe a hundred people would show up, at least enough to make our efforts worthwhile.
“Everyone assembled at the field at 8 a.m. to prepare for the show scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. As my buddy and I were running up our engines and checking batteries, he said ‘My gosh, look at that.’
“It frightened me. I thought he’d spotted something that would ground one of my airplanes. ‘Out there,’ he said, pointing.
“I looked. It was 9 a.m. and already cars were lining up at the gate to our field, stretching in a long line back along the road as far as one could see. As they poured in it became obvious that the parking spaces we had assigned would never be adequate. Our attendants began parking them around the perimeter of the field, and people were pouring out in droves, lugging their lawn chairs and picnic baskets.
“At final count about 325 cars crowded onto our field and almost 1,000 people stayed for two hours as we gave them our best. And they applauded, even when we nervously made bad landings. On any given flying day we expect a crash or two, but that day every engine started, there were no midairs, and no disasters. All of us were flying with as much skill as we could muster.
“Before the dust had settled, we knew that we had created another tradition for our town. We knew that from now on, people would expect a July 4 air show from the Hartwell Tailspinners.
“What did we learn from this experience? Our purpose in organizing an air show was to ‘pay back’ the community for the use of our 40 acres of county property (an old, abandoned landfill) that we possess only on a year-by-year lease. We wanted to show that we were putting this property to good use. It never hurts to do something nice for the public, if you are using public land for RC purposes, you are using public land for RC purposes.
We learned early in our practice sessions that we must have a good sound system with a wireless microphone and an input for a CD player. The club sprang for a $300 unit (with two outdoor speakers that we mounted on PVC poles).
"During the show the announcer described the maneuvers and after starting with the National Anthem, various selections of music were used as background for the air action. Without a good narrator, the audience would have been ignorant of what was happening and the show would have flopped.
"We also learned there is no substitute for practice. Seven airplanes were involved in our banner-towing events. We had fliers who had been at every practice session, some who had made a couple, and one who just showed up that morning. That won't happen again.
"A combination of luck and a lot of shouting by the air boss is the only thing that prevented a number of collisions. In the future, no matter how skilled the pilot, if he cannot commit to making the full number of dress rehearsals he won't be included in the multiplane events. Practice may not make perfect, but it is the next best thing.
"One member became our pyrotechnics man. Fireworks are outlawed in Georgia so that wasn't an option. But this inventive gentleman devised a remote-controlled 'bomb' made of an open-topped one-gallon tin can with a small paper cup of black powder placed inside. An igniter for a rocket was stuck into the powder. On top of the can rested a balloon filled with acetylene gas. When set off, this device makes a loud explosion and produces dense, black smoke.
"One of these was placed inside a small cardboard house on the far side of the field. During the show the announcer informed the audience that the Red Baron was hiding out in that little house. Snoopy promptly flew his Sopwith Pup over it, dropped his 'bomb,' the house exploded, and the crowd actually cheered.
"We charged no admission, no parking fee, and we urged visitors to bring their own food and many of them did just that. As a convenience to those who didn't, we sold hot dogs for a dollar, hamburgers for a dollar-and-a-half, and canned soda at fifty cents each. These prices covered our expenses, but the intention was not to make a profit—it was a free show. The concession stand was manned by wives of club members, and we sold out.
"One gentleman who purchased $5 worth of food gave the server a $10 bill. As she handed back his change, he said, 'Keep it. This is the greatest thing my family has seen.'
"It was comments like that which made it all worthwhile. We learned that if you work hard, spread the word, and provide a good, fast-moving show, people will enjoy watching small airplanes just as much as full-scale air shows.
"We had a stack of 'Frequently Asked Questions about RC' that were snatched up by visitors to the concession stand. We hope those will encourage others to join our club and our hobby and become AMA members.
"Now, as we prepare for next year, I'm thinking, 'What if you gave an air show and everybody came?'"
Happy flying,
Joyce Hager Executive Director [email protected]
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
