Dare County Radio Control Flyers

Since the winds today were to high to fly, Peter Fynn, Philip Garey, and Robert Yanacek met at Grant Dick's house to assist our newest member, Charlie Doss, in selecting and ordering his first aircraft. Our time to do this was extended to over three hours because we had such a good time chatting with with each other about airplanes and our latest projects. We also enjoyed seeing Grant's collection of aircraft which included a four-engine B-17F Flying Fortress, an American Champion Citabria, a Cessna 182 Skylane, and a Supermarine Spitfire.

With temperatures in the mid-70s and a wind velocity ranging from 4 to 8 miles per hour, eight club members and two guests met at our field today for a fun-filled day of flying.

The day began at 8AM with six of our members meeting at the Jolly Roger restaurant for our popular "Pilot's Breakfast." Once breakfast was completed, we headed to the field and found our club president, Jim Davis, at work on the pilings for our new storage shed. While we unloaded our planes and equipment to begin the day's flight operations, Jim and Stephen Yanacek completed the work on the foundation so that actual construction of the shed could begin as soon as the necessary lumber is delivered.

Jim Shiels led off the day's flying with a number of flights with his UMX Turbo-Timber—which performed flawlessly in the low wind environment. Our newest member, Charlie Doss, was next in the air with an E-flite Valiant 480E under the supervision of flight instructor, Grant Dick. Although Charlie's landing was a bit hard, it was an experience that he learned from as evidenced by a second flight he made that ended in a perfect landing.

The day's excitement involved Peter Fynn performing engine and taxiing tests with his Stampe-Vertongen SV.4 biplane powered by a DLE 20 gas-powered engine. Both tests went well and Peter should have this plane into the air very soon.

Additional flights were flown including Jim Davis with his SIG 4-Star and powered glider, Peter Fynn with his Turbo-Timber, Philip Garey with his drone and AeroScout S, Grant Dick with his F4U-1D Corsair, and Stephen Yanacek with his Ugly-Stick and AeroScout S.

With the day's flight operations completed, we headed home looking forward to our club meeting this coming Thursday as well as more flying in the near future.

Two sons and three grandsons of local resident Rich Lewandowski joined us at the field today to give model aviation a try. Mark, Chris, Daniel, Philip, and Bryce Lewandowski were visiting the Outer Banks, and Rich made arrangements for them to spend the afternoon with us for some family fun and excitement under the overcast skies in Manns Harbor.

None of the Lewandowskis had ever flown before, nonetheless instructor pilot Stephen Yanacek had them in the air within a matter of minutes. Under Stephen's supervision, each of the five began with an assisted familiarization flight with either the AeroScout S or the Valiant 480E. Since all five performed their respective flights so well, Stephen provided only minimal assistance for their second flight. Each of the five was then provided with verbal instructions by Stephen on their landing approach that resulted in all landing their aircraft very well!

The day closed with club member, Peter Fynn performing a few flights with his Turbo Timber to demonstrate various maneuvers for our guests which included loops, rolls, stalls, and recoveries. We hope that the Lewandowskis will return home with some good memories of the time they spent with us learning to fly, and we wish them many more good landings in the future.

Jim Davis, Charlie Doss, Virgil Kee, Peter Fynn, Stephen Yanacek, Philip Garey, and Robert Yanacek met today for breakfast at the Jolly Roger restaurant in Kill Devil Hills to begin the Memorial Day weekend with talk about our club's latest news and our various model airplane projects.

We held the raffle to determine the winner of our new member promotion package that included a complete ready-to-fly AeroScout radio controlled airplane at our meeting last evening, unfortunately the winner of our drawing, Philip Garey, was unable to attend. However, the following morning our club's vice president, Robert Yanacek, was able to catch up with Philip at our pilot's breakfast and present him with his prize. Congratulations to Philip! Attending our pilot's breakfast today were Peter Fynn, Stephen Yanacek, Virgil Kee, Philip Garey, and Pobert Yanacek.

With hopes of flying today dashed by the rain, Peter Fynn, Stephen Yanacek, and Robert Yanacek met instead for breakfast at the Jolly Roger restaurant in Kill Devil Hills to talk about our latest model airplane projects.

Jim Shiels, Philip Garey, Stephen Yanacek, Peter Fynn, and Robert Yanacek met today for breakfast at the Jolly Roger restaurant in Kill Devil Hills to talk about model airplanes, flying, and upcoming club events.

Seven club members and one guest met at our flying field today under cloudy skies for another fun-filed day of flying. Despite the clouds, temperatures in the mid-60s and light winds made for great flying conditions.

Steve Smith led off the day's activities with a number of flights with his powered 2-Meter Tori glider. Both Robert Yanacek and Richard Boyd followed with successful sorties of their Apprentice S aircraft. Jim Davis was up next with his nitro-powered aircraft, making high-speed flight look easy.

Jim Davis and Steve Smith then launched their respective powered gliders and climbed to altitude to soar. Unfortunately, Steve's glider entered a cloud and disappeared—flying off never to be seen again¹. Following the loss, Grant Peacock began a search for the missing aircraft with his new DGI drone, however all efforts to locate the missing plane proved futile.

The highlight of the day was Stephen Yanacek introducing our guest, Charlie Doss, to radio control model aviation. Under Stephen's watchful eyes, Charlie performed a successful familiarization flight with Stephen's AeroScout S. With that flight completed, Charlie then flew a second time and successfully performed the entire fight, including both takeoff and landing.

The remainder of the day included Jim Shiels flying a number of his UMX airplanes, Stephen Yanacek flying his AeroScout S in first-person-view, Jim Davis flying his nitro-powered "Black Beauty" monoplane, and Stephen Yanacek flying his Maule M-7.

With the day's activities completed, we each headed home looking forward to meeting again soon for another day of flying and fellowship.

1. The lost glider was recovered a few days later when it was discovered in an adjoining field by a Dare County employee and dropped off at the Outer Banks Gun Club office.