I wrote last week about a hike in a new park in the county. The park adjoins the field where radio controlled aircraft are flown. The sign read “Visitors Welcome,” so we visited on our way out. The three guys who were there and flying were very friendly and taught this novice all she knows about radio controlled flying.
This was the one that caught our eye as we were hiking. It is a battery-powered jet, modeled after the F-16. The jet and his control of it were both pretty amazing. He said it was flying at 120 mph in a straight line. But of course, most of the time it was not flying in a straight line but doing all the loops and rolls that we think of when we see such a fighter jet. I did not even try to get any shots in the air!
This jet is made of fiberglass, and very light.
To launch it, he throws it.
This is the control for the jet. It was ultra-sensitive. His fingers barely moved.
To land, he cuts the engine and it glides to the grass.
The red, white and blue plane is made of styrofoam ---and so even lighter.
This helicopter was pretty cool too. It takes off from the ground.
While this is a hobby, the flyer of the helicopter told us that because of his skill, he was hired quite profitably to go to Iraq to fly unmanned aircraft for several months.
I asked and was assured that yes, this hobby is very addicting and flyers spend lots of time with their aircraft.
It was a lot of fun to watch and talk to these guys and we expect to keep an eye on the web page to attend an air show or demonstration.
Here is the webpage for the local group:
Here is a page with some video of jets on it:
Cool stuff!
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