суббота, 15 сентября 2012 г.

Plane enthusiasts show model effort - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)

Hundreds of airplanes that flew into Ontario on Jan. 12 missed therunway and landed inside of the Ontario Convention Center.

The Academy of Model Aeronautics expected more than 10,000 modelaircraft enthusiasts to attend its three-day convention held inOntario for the past four years. The convention featured flightdemonstrations, seminars, and plenty of airplanes and accessories forsale.

'The Academy of Model Aeronautics is an organization who's missionis to protect model aviation in this country,' said Jay Mealy,programs director with the Indiana based organization. 'We interactwith local communities to help folks get flight sites and get modelclubs started. We represent clubs in dealing with the FederalAviation Administration because we're operating in the nationalairspace system.

'This show is one of the third largest in the country and it'salmost 30 years old,' Mealy said about the show that was heldannually in Pasadena prior to 1998 when the academy took it under itswings. 'Southern California represents a great deal of our membershipand we have 157,000 members. This show offers the members a chance tocome and see and touch and interact with manufacturers anddistributors, and with the elite of the sport. You'll see people whohave national championships.'

Dozens of model aircraft distributors were set up in a 'swap shop'where people could purchase everything from engines and propellers tomodel planes with wings that spanned 15-feet. Model helicopter kits,train engines and sets, and die cast cars were also sold in the shopand patrons were eager to purchase them.

There were a number of activities for children, like the ModelRocket Make and Take area where kids could learn to make modelrockets, and the Model Airport, operated by the Blacksheep ExhibitionSquadron from Burbank, kids could make rubber band powered planes andfly them in the test pilot area. Don Butman, a member of theBlacksheep Squadron, has been making the 1-ounce planes for decadesand a large crowd gathered around his booth to watch him fly thesmall aircraft.

'These are called No-Calorie sale airplanes and they're made ofbalsa wood and tissue paper,' explained Butman, who had been buildingmodel planes for 65 years. 'It has a rubber band motor. I take therubber band, tie a double knot, lubricate it with rubber lube, andtwist it about 1,000 turns and it will fly for about 30 seconds. Someof the planes fly for two to three minutes.

'I just enjoy building something and getting it to fly,' Butmansaid. 'If I get 30 seconds out of it I'm happy. There are very fewkits for No-Cal airplanes so we build them from scratch. I just go toa hobby shop and get the propellers for the plane and the wheels. Itake an outline of a plane and build it to scale, it takes about aweek to build one.'

It took much more than one week to build a model that was enteredin the convention's static model competition. The Boeing 80A-1 model,made from balsa wood, pinewood and plywood had a 13-foot wingspan andtook one year to complete. It's competition was a model 1917 WorldWorld 2 English Fighter plane that weighed 32 pounds, and a crosscountry glider that has flown 78 miles.

There we more than 130 exhibitors at the convention includingunique model clubs like the Vintage Radio Control Society, a nationalorganization that keeps older model planes alive.

'Our club is for models designed, kitted, manufactured or flownprior to 1970,' said Travis McGinnis, a member from the Coloradochapter of the club. 'After 1970 the designs changed but there'senough interest across the country to keep these things around. Allof these airplanes were framed out of balsa wood and now you see thefoam and fiberglass model planes. The older airplanes were built tobe more stable. There's a lot of interest and nostalgia in this sortof thing.'

Mike Zullo, a Bellflower resident, wasn't interested in olderplanes but he purchased three new model planes.

Staff Writer L. Alexis Young can be reached by e-mail atalexis.young@dailybulletin.com, or by phone at (909) 483-9365.