District I

District I

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

In last month’s column, I reported on one of the two annual memorial float-fly events that Associate Vice President Steve Brehm and I attended in 2021. The annual John Nicolaci Float Fly, hosted by the Bristol County Radio Control Club (BCRCC) on August 21, was the other premier event for this column.

BCRCC always does a superb job in organizing, preparing, and running this event each year to honor club member John Nicolaci, who helped secure Mary’s Pond as a permanent flying site before he passed away in 2009.

I hadn’t attended the event since 2017, so it was great to get to talk with many old friends and float-fly attendees, including John’s wife, Ruth. We set up the AMA shade structure and brought along AMA handouts for spectators and an FMS Beaver V2, which I hadn’t flown off the water, so I got my friend, Lee Woodworth, to perform the maiden flight.

The flying site is a fabulous 88-acre pond with a large, grass pit area running along the shoreline, plenty of off-road parking, and a safe, raised area for spectator viewing. Pilots enjoyed flying sport and fine Scale floatplanes

Man holding a large model airplane at a float-fly event — Gerry DuPont flew his highly modified, awesome kit-bashed Royal A6M5 Zero that is powered by an O.S. Engines FS-81 four-stroke engine.

in the pattern from the water all day. Contact Ned Watts at nedwatts@mac.com about the club’s August 20, 2022, float-fly event.

Thanks to BCRCC for yet another great event. Come join other fellow float fliers for the BCRCC’s August 20, 2022, annual John Nicolaci Memorial Float Fly on the beautiful 88-acre Mary’s Pond in Rochester, Massachusetts.