Waxahachie Rally of Giants
D.B. Mathews
The 19th annual IMAA (International Miniature Aircraft Association) Rally of Giants was held June 10–13, 1999, at the Mid-Wac (Midlothian–Waxahachie) Municipal Airport on the south-central edge of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The event was hosted by the Grand Prairie (TX) Model Aircraft Association, IMAA Chapter 593.
Although attendance was lower than usual, those who did brave the mid-June Texas heat and humidity seemed pleased with the traditional fellowship and occasional flying that has been the attraction of IMAA events.
There was minimal waiting to fly at the rally; in fact, the public-address system announcer frequently encouraged more fliers. Wind was not a factor.
The runway was a very long concrete taxiway of a low-activity full-scale airport. Model flying was held up by full-scale operations only on a few occasions, proving that the activities are compatible.
The facility was laid out with two facing rows of modelers' tents and canopies. This provided a "street" for those who enjoy walking around and looking at other people's projects without getting in the way of those moving their models to the flightline, which ran parallel to the backs of the inside row.
The runway was fenced behind the inside row of tents, so models were moved left or right to the flight stations. Behind this "modelers' street," a wide fire lane allowed the modelers to pull up to the tents, unload their gear, then park farther back with the campers and mobile homes.
Commercial exhibitors were in tents farther up the street, along with concessions, model-checking stations, and the administration tents. Traffic flow was excellent, yet safety conscious.
There was one instance of channel interference detected on the frequency scanner; it was traced to radio frequency (RF) noise generated by a gas-burner engine with a non-shielded plug and frayed wires. The RF emitted was not on this model's frequency.
I attended the rally on the spur of the moment, with no commitment from a magazine for coverage. Consequently, I photographed models that I felt to be out of the rut and not likely to appear in coverage by other magazines.
MA
D.B. Mathews 909 N. Maize Rd., Townhouse 734 Wichita, KS 67212
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
