The last weekend in August saw crowds gather on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum to watch The Biggest Little Airshow, an RC spectacular featuring ace pilots from Southern California’s Warbird West and local Oahu fliers. The biennial event also featured a chance for kids to fly RC aircraft for the first time.
01. This F/A-18 Hornet was flown by Don Corum.
The top billing each day was an hour-long airshow performed by the Warbirds West pilot team flying exquisite Scale models. An even bigger attraction, for the kids anyway, proved to be remotely controlling their own airplane, first on a flight simulator, and then on the flightline.
The much used and abused Apprentice and AeroScout models, along with Spektrum radios, were donated by Horizon Hobby. A total of six pilot stations were set up, with a waiting time of up to an hour. Throughout the weekend, 420 kids received a 5-minute flying session, along with a pilot logbook.
“The wait, the heat, the humidity ... none of that mattered to these kids,” said Gen. Ray Johns Jr., USAF (Ret.), who was the director of the event. “And their smiles made it all worthwhile for the countless volunteers who helped make the weekend a success.” Ray said the show, which was first held in 2008, was attended by more than 5,000 people on Saturday and more than 3,000 people on Sunday. Over the years, more than 3,200 kids have gone through the RC flight training.
“Anyone who flies RC has noticed a certain aging of the participants, and events like these introduce kids to dream that a career in aviation is possible and gives our hobby a chance to grow,” said Matt Derego, a volunteer flight instructor from the Paradise Flyers RC Club. “We offer RC flight training to youngsters four times a year here at Ford Island, and the sessions at the show are by far the best attended.”
Several Paradise Flyers and Mid-Pacific Soaring Society club members are volunteer instructor pilots.
Noteworthy in the Scale flying exhibition was Don Corum’s 1/2-scale Pitts Challenger III biplane, which was powered by a six-cylinder 360cc engine and performed spectacular maneuvers. Also pleasing the crowd were two 1/4.5-scale T-33s flown in formation by Leo Huerta and Jan Sundberg.
The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum and the Battleship USS Missouri Memorial partnered up to present a weekend of events sponsored by the Bob & Dolores Hope Foundation. Special thanks go to Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum Chairman of the Board Gen. Johns, the museum staff, and the many volunteers for their support and assistance in coordinating this special event.
- A6M52 Zero (John Gerhardt) Manufacturer: Top RC Model Power: Saito FG-90R3 radial engine Scale: 1/4
- A6M3 Zero (Bill Derego) Manufacturer: Nick Ziroli Giant Scale Plans Power: Zenoah GT80 engine Scale: 1/5
- Viper Demo Team F-16 (Max Huerta) Manufacturer: Global Jet Club Power: Xicoy X180 turbine engine Scale: 1/6
- U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds F-16 (Don Corum) Manufacturer: BVM Jets Power: KingTech K-320 turbine engine Scale: 1/5
- Pitts Challenger III (Don Corum) Manufacturer: Bill Hempel Power: Kolm six-cylinder 360cc engine Scale: 1/2
- F/A-18 Hornet (Don Corum) Manufacturer: BVM Jets Power: KingTech K-320 turbine engine Scale: 1/5
- F4U Corsair (Bill Derego) Manufacturer: Nick Ziroli Giant Scale Plans Power: Saito FG-90R3 radial engine Scale: 1/4.5
- F4U Corsair (Mike Fetyko) Manufacturer: Peter Goldsmith Power: Valach five-cylinder radial engine Scale: 1/4
- F-86 (Ray Johns) Manufacturer: Tomahawk; built by HVN Custom Models Power: Jets Munt M210 turbine engine Scale: 1/3.7
- U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds T-33 Shooting Star, nonweathered (Jan Sundberg) Manufacturer: Fei Bao Power: AceX-190 turbine engine Scale: 1/4.5
U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds T-33 Shooting Star, weathered (Leo Huerta) Manufacturer: Fei Bao Power: KingTech K-180 turbine engine Scale: 1/4.5
P-40 Warhawk (Max Huerta) Manufacturer: Top Flite Power: Desert Aircraft DA-85 engine Scale: 1/5.5
P-51 Mustang (Hugo Carcamo) Manufacturer: Hangar 9 Power: Desert Aircraft DA-60 engine Scale: 1/5
B-17 (Jamie Fiffle) Manufacturer: Scratch-built from Don Smith plans Power: Four E-Flite Power 160 motors with 12S battery Scale: 1/9
Gloster Meteor (Larry De Rego) Manufacturer: Scratch-built from David Nelson plans Power: Two KingTech K-55G4 turbine engines Scale: 1/7.5
Sources
- Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, (808) 441-1000, pearlharboraviationmuseum.org
- Battleship Missouri Memorial, (808) 455-1600, ussmissouri.org
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