Navigating the U.S.S. Enterprise around basketball nets
Jennifer Lea Reynolds
jensunshine3@gmail.com
When I belonged to a flying club in New Jersey years ago, it was common for club members to head to the gymnasium after monthly meetings. No, we weren’t partaking in some warbird pilot vs. aerobatic pilot volleyball championship or sneaking in gymnastic flips for fun. We simply wanted to fly indoors. The monthly meetings were held at a local high school, where the staff was kind enough to let us use the gym for some stick time.
I use the words “we” and “us” loosely. As for my involvement, I was more
about observing these flights than actually making them. I tried once and decided that things such as a basketball net were far more intimidating than any too-close tree at the flying field. As the years passed, I continued flying outdoors and at certain out-of-state events. But indoors? No way would you catch me flying inside—until earlier this year.
My husband and I visited our friend, Marcy Jones (of Marcy’s Marvelous Wheel Chocks) and his wife in February. The trip to southeastern Vermont allowed us to catch up with each other, including checking out the indoor flying at nearby Landmark College, which takes place from January through April. While driving there, I kept telling my husband, “Remember, I’m not sure if I’ll even fly at this. It’s been a while since I’ve flown indoors.” If I have an issue with that bunch of trees at the far corner of our field, things such as walls and ceilings certainly won’t put me at ease.
New-Found Confidence
That all changed when I stepped inside the gym. A few people were flying at the Landmark College gymnasium, including an enthusiastic young girl. The variety of aircraft was pretty neat, too. Marcy flew his EPP Yak 55 foamie, while I—after a half-hour of sizing up the place and no longer being able to resist the urge to fly—was happy that he let me fly his ParkZone Ember.
“We’re all so grateful to fly in their gym,” said Marcy, who’s been flying there for approximately seven years. He said flying indoors has helped him in two key areas. “First, it has helped teach me to use the rudder because walls come up really quickly.”
The second way it’s helped is that it speaks to the notion, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” Marcy explained that flying during these months keeps pilots on top of their skills, where they might otherwise miss out on flights during the winter. “It’s made me feel so much more comfortable being able to fly year-round,” he said.
At my flying club in New Hampshire, the Winnipesaukee Radio Controllers, several members also enjoy indoor flying. Member Max Rothemund explained that RC pilots are happy to have year-round use of the Gilford Youth Center, where there’s a 22-foot ceiling, and the Laconia Community Center, which has a ⅔-size basketball court with a 17-foot ceiling.
“These size restrictions make it necessary for us to learn and conquer the unique challenges of indoor flying, which are flying in a stall with a high angle of attack and using well-controlled throttle management,” Max said.
To Marcy’s point, he adds, “Most of us had been flying for 20 years without learning to use the left stick.” The added bonus of being able to fly indoors, regardless of the season, is a plus. “We
can practice and develop our flying skills, which carry over to outdoor flying, in all kinds of weather.”
Boldly Flying Where No Airplane Has Flown Before?
At the Lake County Radio Control Club in Illinois, Jack Cutrone said that he’s been flying indoors for approximately four years. “I fly UM [ultra micro] planes, a lighted Blade MSR [helicopter], the Twisted Hobby’s Mini Yak, and the Starship Enterprise.”
He explained that there’s an arrangement between his club and the local school in which pilots can fly in the gym from November through March. The gymnasium has three full basketball courts, a space that’s approximately 100 x 150 feet with a 30-foot ceiling.
“Flying indoors presents its own challenges and requires a slightly
different mindset,” Jack explained. “Flying three mistakes high [while] outdoors is a good practice, but flying three mistakes high in a gym with a 30-foot ceiling is itself a mistake, and altitude is not always your friend.”
Add to that the occasional issue of indoor air currents, and there are indeed challenges. Still, Jack noted that midair collisions are few and far between, with many members flying everything from Blade 230-size helicopters and E-flite ultra micro airplanes, to the USS Starship Enterprise and an FPV quadcopter, with ease—the latter was many times even flown carefully through the rafters.
Flying at the Landmark College gym and hearing these stories has me eager to fly indoors more often—something I once shied away from. I’m sure that in between the elapsed time from turning this column in and it being published, I’ll have put in some indoor stick time with my flying friends in New Hampshire.
No more “remember, I’m not sure if I’ll even fly at this” hesitations from me!
