Flyers share model plane passions at Aqua Boom
Michael McDougall is one of several expert model airplane enthusiasts who will be on hand at Hank Nilsen Field in Kingsland on July 6 for Flights of Fancy during the Aqua Boom celebration. Kids can fly model planes from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and have a chance to win one of their own in a free drawing at 2 p.m. Staff photo by Suzanne Freeman
SUZANNE FREEMAN • PICAYUNE STAFF
KINGSLAND — If you want to know what it takes to fly an airplane without actually leaving the ground, you can find out July 6 with the Highland Lakes Flyers.
Each year, the model airplane group hands its joysticks over to eager kids wanting to turn their computer skills into real-life 3D action. Called Flights of Fancy, the event is held as part of the Aqua Boom celebration in Kingsland.
Training and flying begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 2 p.m. when one lucky flyer will win his or her own remote-control plane. It’s entirely free. Just show up ready to take over the controls at Hank Nilsen Field off RR 2545 at 702 Williamette Road. The model air strip is about two miles east of RR 1431.
“Kids take to this a lot easier than adults,” said longtime member Mike McDougall, who’s been flying model planes since the 1960s. “They were born playing computer games similar to this.”
Translating skills from the computer joystick to the buddy box is easy for most children, but for those of us adults who equate flying with uninterrupted time to read, it’s a bit more challenging. The idea of a buddy box is similar to a driving instructor’s car. It is connected to the plane’s wireless controller, so a trained professional can take over at any time to prevent accidents.
On a recent sunny morning at Hank Nilsen Field, I was given the opportunity to fly one of McDonald’s planes.
But first, I had to earn my flying privileges on the computer like most novices.
“Hold some back stick,” McDougall said as I crashed my pixel plane on an imaginary field. In other words, pull back on the joystick to raise the nose of the plane. Just as I thought I had the lingo down, I ran into a bigger problem: how to tell left from right.
“When the plane is flying away from you, right is right and left is left,” McDougall said. “When it comes back toward you, you have to be thinking in the cockpit. It’s just the opposite.”
At the computer, you get a first taste of the vertigo-like sensations you experience when overworking those particular directional brain cells. With a buddy box in hand and a plane in the sky, the feeling escalates.
Peering up at a plane in motion, it all seems effortless. On the ground, faces are tight with concentration, eyes locked on the aircraft while hands, arms and brain work in syncopation to create the miracle of flight. I quickly began to understand the focused looks on flyers’ faces as they guided their planes through loops, hovers and complicated swirls across the bright blue sky.
Before take-off, McDougall showed me how to prepare the plane.
Once in the air, the plane glided with grace and ease — or, at least, it did as long as the right hands were on the controls. A heavy touch and the craft will jerk in the air, sputter and sometimes even dive and crash. Thanks to the main controller hooked to my buddy box, my aircraft made its turns and swoops with dignity, came in for a safe landing and lived to give the exhilarating experience to yet another novice on another day.
That novice can be you. Bring the kids to Hank Nilson Field on July 6 and watch them turn into an experienced modeler. I haven’t rushed out to buy my ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) kit yet, but I can almost guarantee your kids are going to want one. They can even become a member of the Highland Lakes Flyers for only $2 a year, giving them access to a great flying facility and some of the best mentors around.
suzanne@thepicayune.com
