Dare County Radio Control Flyers

Our club had a good turnout today for an unplanned day of flying with seven members and and one guests attending.

Those present were: Richard Boyd; Stephen Yanacek; Philip Garey; Peter Fynn; Virgil Kee; Jim Shiels; Bernie Feaganes, and; Mike Douglas. Mike flew a very impressive helicopter and Bernie flew a midsize P-47 Thunderbolt. Mike also received an introduction to First-Person-View (FPV) flying by Philip Garey.

Twenty-three of our club members and their guests attended our annual Christmas party at the Thai Room Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills to recognize our club's accomplishments this year and to begin the holiday season with a celebration of friendship and goodwill.

Dinner this year consisted of a buffet that was both delicious and plentiful, and the service provided by our hosts was once again excellent. Our club members and their guests used their dinner time to chat and learn a bit more about each other.

Following dinner, club president, Jim Davis, summarized the past year and expressed his thanks to everyone for their hard work. Jim then displayed an Award of Merit he recently received from the Academy of Model Aeronautics recognizing our club's exemplary community awareness and outreach efforts. Jim then presented a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the Academy of Model Aeronautics to our club vice-president, Robert Yanacek, in recognition of his dedication and commitment to the club and aeromodeling.

Those attending were: Michael and Mary Alexander; Juan and Shannon Castillo; Robert and Diane Yanacek; Charlie Doss; Stephen Yanacek; Peter Fynn; Jim and Sharon Davis; Jim and Joyce Shiels; Bernie Feaganes; Mike Douglas; Grant and Tuija Dick; Philip Garey; Jim and Anna Watters; Virgil Kee, and; Skip Wescott and his date, Brenda.

Seeing an opportunity to do some late-year flying, ten of our club members met at the field today and were graced with low winds and moderate temperatures in which to conduct flight operations.

Many sorties were flown today, including practice flights by Jim Davis and Grant Dick with their Tiny-Toni aircraft that will be used in our upcoming pylon races. Of special note was that two of our newest members, Shannon Castillo and Brandon Fregans, successfully soloed with their aircraft today!

Our members departed following about four hours of flying with some good memories, looking forward to meeting once again on Friday for our club's annual Christmas party.

Jim Davis, Peter Fynn, Charlie Doss, Stephen Yanacek, Robert Yanacek, and Mike Kirkpatrick met today at the Jolly Roger Restaurant for breakfast and discussion if the weather conditions warranted a trip to the field to fly. Although most decided not to go, a few of us were at least able to enjoy some camaraderie and discuss ongoing projects and upcoming events, including our annual Christmas party.

Dare County Radio Control Flyers enjoyed the day celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Dare County Regional Airport in Manteo today by informing visitors about the club and its model aviation activities on the Outer Banks.

The airport was opened as a Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) and officially commissioned on March 3, 1943 where it was used by training squadrons operating F4F Wildcats, F6F Hellcats, SB2C Helldivers, TBM and TBF Avengers, PBY Catalinas, and F4U Corsairs. Following the war the airport turned over to Dare County and has been in continual operation since then as a civil airport for the county.

Our club members met with and spoke to a lot of nice people today, enjoyed the moderate temperatures and various displays, and were treated to some excellent music of the 1940s performed by Miss Theresa Eaman.

Nine of our club members met for our club's business meeting. We received a brief on the final results of our TAG event, set the date of our club annual Christmas party, discussed improving the field runway, made plans to winterize our mower, and set a schedule for three 'Tech Talk' workshops, beginning in January. These workshops will cover a number of topics related to model aviation including basic aerodynamics, transmitters, battery safety, and more.

With the recent increase in club membership, we took our popular pilot's breakfast gatherings at the Jolly Roger Restaurant to the next level today by needing three tables to seat the twelve members and two guests who attended. However, despite the larger number of attendees, Heather, our server, still managed to provided us with the good food and excellent service we always receive.

Those attending today were: Jim Watters; Philip Garey; Skip Wescott; Peter Fynn; Stephen Yanacek; Mike Alexander; Pete Carros; Robert Yanacek; Kathleen McCarron; Katie McCarron; Sean McCarron; Quinn McCarron; Grant Dick, and; Jim Shiels.

Club vice-president, Robert Yanacek, met today with Foster Downing to present him with the Richard Korrup Memorial Model Aviation Scholarship, consisting of a new-in-box Spektrum DX6i transmitter. This scholarship recognizes Foster's enthusiasm and desire to continue aircraft flying and modeling activities.

Foster is a new member of our club, and a middle-school student who attended the Outer Banks Festival of Model Aviation last month. He already owns and flies an AeroScout aircraft, however this new transmitter will undoubtedly take him to the next level of radio control modeling as it has greater capabilities than the one he currently uses.

Foster's scholarship was the second of two that was gifted to the club through the generosity of Carole Korupp in honor of her departed husband, Richard, who enjoyed model aviation, and serves to perpetuate his memory by recognizing and aiding a young recipient with a gift related to the hobby. The presentation of the first scholarship, to Patton McNeilly, was made last Saturday.

Cooler fall temperatures in the low-60s made flying pleasurable today as ten members met at the field to enjoy a day of flying, to welcome three members of the McNeilly family to our club, and to present a special award.

Winds from 9 to 11 miles per hour proved very manageable with Pete Carros, Skip Wescott, Stephen Yanacek, Jim Davis, Peter Fynn, and Jim Shiels performing many sorties with their usual airplanes. Gavin Fregans also performed two good flights and landings with his Apprentice S2 that he got into the air for the first time last weekend while his father, Brandon, proudly observed. Robert Yanacek was also present, but did not fly as he was busy taking photographs of the day's activities.

Corey and Krista McNeilly, along with their two young sons also joined us at the field today for their first time as official club members. They joined our club yesterday, along with their eldest son. Corey flew for the first time today and did very well with the instruction provided by Stephen Yanacek. Their oldest son, Patton, flew for his third time today, having previously flown twice at our public flying event in October. Patton flew well, assisted by Stephen's buddy-box and with a little help from Mom.

Following the day's flying, Patton was presented with the Richard Korrup Memorial Model Aviation Scholarship, consisting of a ready-to-fly ultra-micro P-51D Mustang. This scholarship was presented to him by club president, Jim Davis, in recognition of the enthusiasm and desire to fly model aircraft he has demonstrated.

Patton's scholarship was the first of two that was gifted to the club through the generosity of Carole Korupp in honor of her departed husband, Richard, who enjoyed model aviation, and serves to perpetuate his memory by recognizing and aiding a young recipient with a gift related to the hobby. A presentation of the second scholarship to middle-school student, Foster Downing, is forthcoming.

No flying is scheduled for next weekend as the Outer Banks Gun Club will be hosting a special event, however club members will still be able to enjoy interacting with their fellow members at our Pilot's Breakfast on Saturday at the Jolly Roger Restaurant.