District IV

Edition: Model Aviation - 2023/04
Page Numbers: 98

District IV

Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland,
North Carolina, Virginia

Finally, flying season is here! I hope every one of you will make plans to attend an event, share your models, and enjoy your fellow modelers at their field. When members of your club show up at other club’s events they, in turn, will come to your gatherings. This increases participation and makes our events better. It helps your club’s coffer too!

At traditional gatherings, such as a polar swim or flying the first day of the year, many try to brave the day, no matter the conditions, and hold a first-of-the-year fly-in. This year, on January 1 in North Carolina, we had an exception to winter weather, with a beautiful 67° day, and I went flying! It only happened the one day, but it sure was nice to have a mid-winter break.

Associate Vice President Rick Cawley brought us this cool report on an annual event.

The Sanford Model Airplane club (www.facebook.com/sanfordmac) held its annual fly-in on January 21, with the morning’s temperature of 32°, giving this event its name: Freeze Your Tail Feathers 2023. That seemed quite fitting to start this fly-in, but as the day progressed, we had bright sunshine and temperatures rose into the 50s.

Stan Bordelon beside an enlarged Speedy Bee airplane — Stan Bordelon with his enlarged Speedy Bee.

Barney Blankenship with a Yak airplane — Barney Blankenship with his Yak.

Throughout the morning, more and more pilots arrived pulling trailers or driving their airplane transport vehicles, and we were running out of parking space. The day was a great success, with 50 registered pilots from four states ready to fly a variety of airplanes and one helicopter.

Aircraft filled the sky throughout the day and at times, there were waiting lines at the four flight stations. A few airplanes ended up in the trees, but most of them were repairable.

One of the highlights for me was lunch. I always like a good hot dog, and with the cool temperatures, the food tasted extra good. As I was eating, I won a pilot’s prize of a screw pack and a discount coupon from RTL Fasteners, plus a free lunch. It doesn’t get any better than that!

It was a good day for catching up with friends on their builds or this year’s upcoming flying events. Thanks go to Mark and Adam Cline for a successful and fun event.