Mid-America Free Flight Champs
The anniversary of the Mid-America Free Flight Champs, as the
event has come to be known. Tri County Aero, which is
primarily a Radio Control (RC) club, has hosted this premier Free
Flight (FF) meet in the Midwest each year.
What was started in 1975, in response to Pat English’s (the
club’s lone FF member) suggestion that Tri County Aero sponsor an
FF meet, has continued uninterrupted.
Pat’s reasoning was that the club had access to an excellent site,
and FF events were scarce. He figured the contest would do well,
and it did. It did so well that in the ensuing quarter-century, it has
evolved from a one-day event with minimal attendance to an annual
two-day weekend that averages 80+ contestants and has
occasionally topped 100.
In all these years, the event has had four Contest Directors
(CDs). Pat English handles one day, but he insists that this year was
his swan song. The other day is normally CDed by Bud Brown—
now the club’s active FF competitor.
Helping Youth
The early afternoon air was about as good as it gets for model flying in October, with temperatures in the mid-60s and a very light southwest breeze in a direction that would allow us to use the longest takeoff and landing distance available. At least that was one thing off our minds as three members of the Tri County Aero Club waited at the 15-foot high gate with vehicles full of RC models. We were to fly in the fenced security compound that was the recreational area for the Southwest Indiana Regional Youth Village, Vincennes IN. We were to put on a flying demo for the youths who make up the population of this facility.
Fake Ford
"OUTSTANDING! That's wild. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Sounds like a swarm of bees. Really glad I was here." Those words were uttered by my flying buddy, Gary Wild, as he witnessed the first flight of the Fake Ford. For quite a while I had been infatuated with multi-engine RC, but the thought of asymmetrical thrust problems which would be encountered with the flameout of an engine (not to mention the financial loss of a kit-built model from a crash) had put me off. I took it upon myself to rectify this situation by designing and building a low-cost multi. I used the trimotor concept because it has fewer asymmetrical thrust
